USA
Especially hostile week for abortion rights: Report

Twenty-eight restrictions on abortion were signed into law across seven states between April 26 and April 29, according to a new report, marking an especially hostile week for abortion rights.

ATTACK ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS BY FUNDAMENTALIST WHITE MEN & CATHOLIC PRIESTS

What to know about new abortion restrictions and what that could mean for Roe v. Wade

"The current barrage of coordinated attacks must be taken seriously as the unprecedented threat to reproductive health care and rights that it is," Elizabeth Nash, principal policy associate on state issues for the Guttmacher Institute, which put out the report, said in a statement. "The year 2021 is well on its way to being a defining one in abortion rights history."

According to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports reproductive rights, the pace of restrictions enacted so far this year puts 2021 on track to see historic high numbers of abortion restrictions. At this point in 2011, regarded by the research institute as the most restrictive year for abortion rights since Roe v. Wade was decided, 42 restrictions had been enacted; this year, the nation is up to 61 restrictions enacted across 13 states

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© Sue Ogrocki/AP, FILE Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt speaks during a news conference in Oklahoma City, Feb. 11, 2021.

The wave of abortion restrictions on the state level comes as the Biden administration has begun taking steps to fulfill its promise of shoring up abortion rights. It also comes as the Supreme Court has a new makeup with the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and former President Donald Trump's appointment of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who signed anti-abortion advertisements as a Notre Dame Law School "University Faculty for Life" group member.MORE: Is Ginsburg's death the end of Roe v. Wade? This time, some experts say, it could be.

Nash, of Guttmacher, told ABC News in an email the rise in restrictions this year could be due to "a far more conservative federal court system, backlash to the 2020 presidential election, and more conservative state legislatures that know abortion restrictions play well to the extreme ends of their base."

The laws signed this week include a near-total ban on the procedure in Oklahoma and a ban on abortion after 20-weeks' gestation in Montana.

© Ross D. Franklin/AP, FILE Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey speaks during a bill signing, April 15, 2021, in Phoenix.

Some of the laws, including the Oklahoma ban, are expected to be challenged by rights groups. This is by design, Nash posited, as conservative lawmakers have been pushing laws in the hopes a challenge will make it up to the Supreme Court that could challenge the Roe decision itself. Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that established abortion as a right nationally, was further endorsed by the Supreme Court in 1992's Planned Parenthood v. Casey and 2016's Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt.

Many of the other newly signed laws, however, may go unchallenged, including laws that, in practice, make abortion more difficult to access and require doctors provide medically dubious information.

Filmmaker hopes new doc on Canadian and other ISIS brides will help 'leave hatred behind,' allow repatriation

Desmond Brown
CBC 30/4/20221

© The Return: Life After ISIS Hamilton native Kimberly Polman has expressed regret about being part of the ISIS caliphate, and has been requesting that she be allowed to return to Canada. She's one of the women featured in the new documentary The Return: Life After…

Hamilton native Kimberly Polman is among former ISIS brides featured in The Return: Life After ISIS by Alba Sotorra Clua and her Barcelona-based production company, and the filmmaker hopes the new documentary will give insight into the issues surrounding repatriation.

Sotorra Clua said the documentary, currently one of the films being shown digitally during the Hot Docs Festival, focuses on the plight of Polman and other women from Western countries who joined the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, but then came to regret it.

"This brings a different light on the issues and the question of repatriation," Sotorra Clua told CBC News via telephone from Barcelona.

"Civil society, politicians and policymakers — it can make them rethink the way we are dealing with this issue.

"At the moment, the Western world is rejecting repatriation, and maybe if they watch the film, they can have a different point of view," said Sotorra Clua, of Alba Sotorra Cinema Productions.

Polman, who was raised as a Reformed Mennonite and was the winner of the Women's Opportunity Award in 2011 (Soroptimist International), left Canada and her three adult children in 2015 to join ISIS in Syria.

Sotorra Clua said Polman made that decision for humanitarian reasons, after she saw a Facebook post saying nursing skills were needed in the caliphate.

One year after her arrival, Sotorra Clua said, Polman became disenchanted with ISIS and tried to escape, but was caught and taken to prison, where she was brutally interrogated and raped, and was eventually forced to sign a statement agreeing to face capital punishment if she ever tried to leave again.

Polman finally surrendered to the Kurdish troops in 2019 and has been held in Kurdish detention camps ever since, waiting to come home.

Sotorra Clua said Polman and the other women featured in her documentary have expressed regret and shame, but are also are hopeful about forgiveness and being given a second chance by their countries of origin.

"I was very intrigued and moved by the stories of these women," Sotorra said.

Polman is a dual Canadian-U.S. citizen. In addition to expressing regret about being part of the ISIS caliphate, she has been requesting that she be allowed to return to Canada

In March, Global Affairs Canada told CBC News it is aware of "Canadian citizens being detained by Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria and is particularly concerned with cases of Canadian children in the region."

But the agency said that because of the security situation on the ground, its ability to provide "any kind of consular assistance in Syria remains extremely limited."

The group of Western women in the Syrian detention camp featured in the documentary are from different parts of the world, including Canada, the U.S., the U.K., the Netherlands and Germany.

They include Briton Shamima Begum and Hoda Muthana, both from the United States.

Begum was born and grew up in London, as a British citizen. When she was 15, she and two other girls, Amira Abase and Kadiza Sultana, left the U.K. to join ISIS. Today, Begum, whose three children are dead, is imprisoned in the al-Roj camp in territory controlled by Syrian Kurds.

Begum has failed at the U.K.'s highest court to restore her British citizenship, in a case that's a test of the U.K.'s policy to strip the citizenship of Britons who joined ISIS and are now being detained by Syrian Kurdish groups without trial.

In November 2014, Muthana, now 26, left her home to join ISIS. She tricked her family into letting her go to Atlanta, from New Jersey, for a school field trip, and instead boarded a plane to Turkey and then to Syria to meet with ISIS.

A few weeks later, she married Suhan Abdul Rahman, an Australian jihadist, who died a few months later during a battle. She went on to marry at least two more times, according to reports.

Working with Sevinaz Evdike, a Kurdish women's rights activist, Sotorra Clua said she had "unprecedented access" and spent many hours speaking to and filming some of the thousands of displaced ISIS brides and their children.

While they are deprived of basics, Sotorra Clua said what emerges is the slow growth of a sense of community between the women.

Sotorra Clua said as Evdike puts the "wives" through trust exercises, diaries and letters to their younger selves, the story of the nightmare that was ISIS unfolds.
'Honest dialogue' in wake of ISIS's defeat

Sotorra Clua said the aftermath of ISIS's defeat was devastating, leaving thousands of women and children of more than 50 nationalities with nowhere to go.

"I'd been following the stories of these women who'd made headlines around the world, and branded as traitors. I wanted to hear them first-hand, and what followed was emotionally challenging," she said.

"I myself lost friends in the war, so there was some tension. But as time passed, the walls of fear and pain fell to make room for an honest dialogue.

"The only way out for all of us is to leave hatred behind and start over with compassion, forgiveness and understanding," Sotorra Clua added.

The Return: Life After ISIS is among films available digitally during Hot Docs, which runs through May 9.

Plastic gets to the oceans through over 1,000 rivers

Laura Parker 
NATGEO 30/4/2021


The problem with plastic waste just got more complicated—and so did the effort to stanch its flow into the world’s oceans.

© Photograph by Afrianto Silalahi, Barcroft Media/Getty Images PEKANBARU, INDONESIA - DECEMBER 17, 2020 : Aerial photo shows floating plastic and styrofoam trash polluting a corner of Siak River, Pekanbaru.

Rivers are the primary conduits for plastic waste to the seas. In 2017, two separate groups of scientists concluded that 90 percent of river-borne plastic waste that flushes into the oceans is conveyed by just a handful of large, continental rivers, including the Nile, Amazon, and Yangtze, the world’s three longest rivers. Cleaning up those rivers—10 rivers were named in one study and 20 in the other—could go a long way toward solving the problem, experts agreed.

(These maps show the journey of plastic waste through rivers to the sea.)

New research published today in Science Advances has turned that thinking on its head. Scientists found that 80 percent of plastic waste is distributed by more than 1,000 rivers, not simply 10 or 20. They also found that most of that waste is carried by small rivers that flow through densely populated urban areas, not the largest rivers.

Thus, the Yangtze, which traverses 3,915 miles across China and empties into the East China Sea, and was ranked most polluted by plastics, has been displaced by the 16-mile-long Pasig River in the Philippines, which flows through the capital city of Manila, home to 14 million people.

That’s quite a shift. But it speaks to two important issues key to understanding and solving the plastic waste problem. The research underscores the pervasive spread of plastic waste into literally every crevice of the planet, and the need for solutions far more logistically complex and costly than some of the plastics campaign sloganeering suggests. The study also reinforces what marine scientists and other experts have long argued: that the ultimate solution to protecting oceans and freshwater systems is to contain plastic waste on land, where it originates.

© Photograph courtesy The Ocean Cleanup Las Vacas river in Guatemala

Gary Bencheghib, who heads Sungai Watch, a campaign now cleaning up 45 rivers in Bali, says the research from 2017 didn’t make much sense to him.

“The 10-rivers study surprised me more than anything when it came out,” he says. “It wasn’t reinforcing what we were seeing on the ground in Indonesia in the smaller streams. We live in the tropics in a volcanic region where there are literally rivers every 500 meters and they’re all choking on plastic.”
Better data, big changes

Humans have used rivers since the dawn of civilization to carry away their waste. Yet as the plastic trash issue exploded in the last decade, most of the research focused on plastic in the oceans. Analysis of rivers and other freshwater systems has lagged behind. For example, the first full-scale assessment of plastic waste in India’s Ganges River, conducted by the National Geographic Society, concluded just 18 months ago. A similar analysis of the Mississippi River began last month after 100 mayors of cities along the river corridor joined together to sponsor it as a first step toward reducing plastic waste. Japan is conducting a survey to track plastic in both the Ganges and Mekong Rivers.

The new research was based on new modeling and conducted by several of the same scientists involved in both 2017 river studies. They say the data available four years ago was limited, and led to a heavy focus on the size of river basins and population density. In all, the scientists analyzed plastic waste in 1,656 rivers for the new study.

The new modeling takes into account activity in those river basins, such as the proximity of rivers to coastlines, as well as the effects of rainfall, wind currents, and terrain, including slope, that ease the movement of plastic into waterways. Plastic flows more easily into rivers from paved urban areas, for example, than it does in forests, and travels farther in rainy climates than dry ones. The researchers also took into account the proximity of landfills and dump sites to river banks, and concluded that those within six miles (10 kilometers) of rivers are likely to spill into them.

“One big difference from a few years ago is we don’t consider rivers mere conveyor belts of plastics,” says Lourens J.J. Meijer, the study’s lead author. “If you put plastic into the river hundreds of kilometers from the mouth, it doesn’t mean that that plastic will end up in the ocean.”

The farther plastic waste has to travel along a river, the less likely it will actually reach the seas. On the Seine River in France River in France, for example, plastic water bottles with labels dating to the 1970s have beached themselves along the riverbank.

One of the surprises, Meijer says, is that small rivers on tropical islands carry so much plastic waste, such as in the Philippines, Indonesia, and the Dominican Republic. Likewise, rivers in Malaysia and Central America, which are fairly short, also disgorge heavy concentrations of plastic waste.

“Not always the usual suspects like the Ganges or Yangtze,” Meijer says.

Another finding is how plastic flows into the oceans differ by climate. In tropical regions, rivers disgorge plastic into the seas continuously, while rivers in temperate regions can flush most plastic in a single month, usually August in the rainy season, or single events, such as flash floods.

One storyline from the 2017 studies remains constant: Most of the rivers that transport plastic to the seas are in Asia. Of the first 50 rivers on the new list, 44 are in Asia, a reflection, the authors say, of population density.

“Asia and Southeast Asia are the hot spots, but that could change,” says Laurent Lebreton, a co-author. “I am a bit concerned for Africa for the decades to come. The population is growing, it is really young, and the economy is getting better so people will buy more stuff.”
A focus on solutions

The research, which underwent a two-year peer review before publication, was funded by The Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit founded by Boyan Slat, the Dutch entrepreneur whose quixotic $30 million effort to clean up the plastic in the Pacific Ocean turned him into an international celebrity. Both Lebreton and Meijer work for the nonprofit.

Slat’s team has since developed a trash-eating machine called the Interceptor to collect trash from rivers. It is roughly a variation on Mr. Trash Wheel, the googly-eyed trash barge propelled by a water wheel that has been cleaning up the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland, since 2008 and now leads a fleet of four trash wheels there.

In 2019, Slat announced plans to mass produce 1,000 Interceptors and deploy them within five years. The pandemic slowed the pace, but several of the devices are at work on rivers in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Dominican Republic. The challenge, Slat says, is scaling up to meet such an ambitious goal. “It’s not very difficult to address one river,” he says. “It’s very difficult to do ten or one hundred or one thousand.”

George Leonard, chief scientist at the Ocean Conservancy, who was not involved in the study, says the challenges of cleaning up 1,000 rivers, despite the advancements in equipment designed to handle such a chore, calls attention to the message long prescribed by his organization. “We have always said we need to keep plastic out of the ocean in the first place, rather than relying on cleaning it up as a solution. That means keep it out of the rivers, too.”

2 Edmonton tech companies recognized for environmental innovations
Madeleine Cummings

CBC 30/4/2021

© Anthea Sargeaunt 2S Water CEO Anthea Sargeaunt holds the sensor that earned her company first prize at a recent international mining industry competition.

STEEL TOED RUNNING SHOES!

Two Edmonton companies have impressed mining industry leaders from around the world, taking home two of the top three prizes at a recent clean technology competition.

2S Water and Copperstone Technologies placed first and third, respectively, at the Mining Cleantech Challenge on April 22.

Of the 56 teams that applied, a dozen were chosen to present their technologies virtually to a global panel of mining industry experts and investors.

Anthea Sargeaunt, the CEO of 2S Water, said winning the competition was "an incredible honour."

"Having this validation from big mining companies, that what we're doing is important to them, just means so much to us right now," she said in an interview on Wednesday with CBC Edmonton's Radio Active.

Finding metals in mining water

2S Water has spent the past three years researching and developing sensors that detect metals in water.

The sensors can be put to work in multiple industries, including municipal wastewater and oil and gas.

The company's product resembles a black box and connects to a pipe. Water flows through it and data comes out in real time.

"That lets them adjust their processes so they can make sure the water is actually safe and clean before it passes through their water treatment and into the environment," Sargeaunt said.

Detecting metals in water is important for the mining industry, Sargeaunt said, because metal can cause machinery to peel and corrode. It can also lead to environmental fines, lost revenue and site closures. The Canadian coal-mining company, Teck Coal, recently received a $60-million fine for contaminating rivers in British Columbia. In that case, waste rock had leached selenium and calcite into the water.

Mining companies typically test water by sending samples to a lab, she said, but it can take between 72 hours and 10 days to receive the results. Sensors can speed up that process, saving time and money.

Robots take on tailings ponds

Copperstone Technologies, founded by three graduate students from the University of Alberta in 2014, builds robots for hazardous site investigations.

Like 2S Water, the company's technology has multiple applications. In a mining context, the robots can traverse waste areas called tailings ponds, which can be dangerous for humans to navigate.

CEO Craig Milne said the company's amphibious robots move easily between different types of terrain all year round. They can also carry heavy loads.

More proactive monitoring could prevent environmental catastrophes like the 2014 Mount Polley mine tailings spill in B.C., Milne said.

Canadians 'outperforming' competition

The Colorado Cleantech Industries Association runs the annual competition. Before the pandemic, it was held in Denver.

Helen El Mallakh, the executive director of the CCIA, said the Edmonton companies impressed the judges because they both presented cost-effective products with a wide application and large growth potential.

Canadian companies swept the podium this year, with Richmond, B.C.-based Ideon Technologies winning second prize.

"We're increasingly seeing that the Canadian companies are really outperforming a number of other companies," El Mallakh said.

Both Edmonton CEOs said the recognition has led to follow-up meetings with people they met during the competition and business opportunities.

REZ DOGS A NATIONAL PROBLEM
A Cree Woman's Call to Action on Animal Welfare

Save Rez Dogs is an Indigenous-based, grassroots initiative started in 2016. The founder, Leah Arcand, from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, began to use the hashtag #SaveRezDogs while working and teaching a land based program in Thunderchild First Nation.

Save Rez Dogs provides resources and information for communities who are dealing with the overpopulation of dogs on reservations, and the subsequent issues that this can cause. The organization is sounding a call to action for communities to gather resources and develop their own dog management plan, as every community's needs will be unique.

Leah shares that this began when she was teaching a land-based program for grade 7 and grade 8 girls at Thunderchild first nation. She began to feed and care for the friendly neighborhood dogs that would hang around the school. Leah Arcand joined SaultOnline to talk more about the initiative.

“Using the land-based program, I was integrating our relationships with the dogs to my girls and role modeling and reframing the stereotypes that we hear every day about, that dogs are pests and all this sort of stuff. I think we've kind of forgotten about how we should be treating animals.”

“I started getting donations, so I started feeding more dogs, and using the hashtag #SaveRezDogs on my social media. I was using my personal Facebook to share stories or situations about these dogs, and that’s when the momentum started for me. I started to become known as 'the dog person' in the community.”

Leah proposes 5 calls to action that all communities should consider:

“We can't wait for the Chief and Council to do something. Even if they do, in most cases that I have witnessed, they authorize to shoot dogs after a community post is up.” Leah continues to state the importance of being a good role model. “It's not right for kids as young as 7 to say that their community shoots dogs.”

Save Rez Dogs has even captured the attention of Buffy Sainte-Marie, showing her support through a Facebook comment and donation.

New Collar Collective is an Ontario-based rescue initiative that has teamed up with Save Rez Dogs to host a webinar happening tonight. Leah will be talking about how Indigenous animal welfare is in crisis, and how colonialism is at the root of these issues. This is to support and empower Indigenous communities and help save the rez dogs and other animals in the process through education and action.

Save Rez Dogs offers information and resources available to communities who are dealing with overpopulation and neglect of rez dogs.

Join the conversation and see how action can be taken in your local community.

Josie Fiegehen, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, SaultOnline.com

ALBERTA

GYPSD will not pilot complete draft curriculum


Teachers within Grande Yellowhead Public School Division (GYPSD) that wish to pilot an aspect of the curriculum can do so with the support of their school and parent community.

“A teacher that may want to pilot a portion of curriculum would need to have the support of the community and the principal to do that, that the will of the community is taken into consideration and as is the community of the school is taken into consideration,” clarified Hinton trustee, Ellen Aust, at the board meeting on April 21.

If a teacher desired to pilot an aspect of the curriculum, they would have to work through the principal, who would work through the central office with the parents and school council, explained Carolyn Lewis, GYPSD superintendent.

“If the community, the parents, were not in agreement with that, then obviously the teacher would not be piloting the curriculum,” Lewis said.

She explained that there are some teachers who have publicly stated they are in support of the curriculum, and the division respects all its employees’ opinions.

“GYPSD is about dialogue, it’s about respect, it’s about coming into a conversation with many different perspectives and respecting all of them,” Lewis said.

A central-office curriculum working group will continue to review the entire draft Alberta K-6 curriculum during the 2021-2022 school year on behalf of GYPSD.

Lewis said the decision to review via the working group pays respect to all parents, students, teachers, and support staff.

Aust voiced her appreciation for the feedback she received before the board made its decision, which came from scientist specialists to early educators to indigenous people who didn’t see themselves reflected in the curriculum.

Trustee Shirley Caputo, also from Hinton, noticed this curriculum drew some attention throughout the community, with many people claiming it is a lot to expect of children.

Caputo trusts that with the experience and expertise of the working group, input will be shared with Alberta Education on behalf of GYPSD.

Jasper trustee, Dale Karpluk added that concerns with the draft include a shift to knowledge from critical thinking, age appropriateness, focus on European history, focus on Christian and monotheistic religions, a lack of indigenous representation, inaccurate outcomes, and Canadian and local knowledge being replaced by American knowledge.

Aust asked if additional staff would have an opportunity to join the working group as there has been renewed interest with the release of the draft.

Carra Aschenmeier, GYPSD’s managing director of learning services, explained that teachers will have an opportunity to share their input but won’t be at the table for every single working group meeting.

“Our curriculum working group will certainly devise a way for our teachers who wish to provide input to definitely do that,” Aschenmeier said. “Collectively we are certainly better experts than in smaller groups.”

The working group has been in place for nearly three years and is made up of teachers and central staff.

“On our curriculum working group we have teachers from kindergarten, elementary, middle school, we also have Indigenous representation and a French immersion teacher,” said Aschenmeier.

Over the next school year, the curriculum working group, which meets multiple times during the school year, will unpack the draft documents page by page, explained Dr. Kelly Harding, GYPSD assistant superintendent.

They will carefully consider each outcome through their lens as learning leaders, subject-area experts, and with their knowledge of students’ abilities at each development stage, she said.

“They will then share that comprehensive review with Alberta Education. Given the expertise and experience of the curriculum working group, no classroom piloting with students is required,” Harding said.

Minister of Education, Adriana LaGrange communicated that she is seeking Albertans’ input on the draft curriculum and identified that School Divisions have flexible options for how they provide feedback.

Aschenmeier and superintendent Lewis both acknowledged the hard work being done by teachers during the pandemic and said the working group allows GYPSD to provide feedback without asking every teacher and school to pilot.

“Board, I know how much you care about our teachers, as do I, and so we thought this action proposal would respect and care for our teachers but still keep us at the table with government. It is really important to be at the table, whether you agree with something or not. You can’t have a say if you’re not at the table and we don’t want GYPSD to be shut out of the government conversations,” Lewis said during the meeting.

Aschenmeier noted that the board would never put staff in jeopardy, but she would have voted to pilot the draft in “regular times.”

She explained that it is important for GYPSD to be heard and provide valuable feedback.

Trustees encourage parents, teachers, and subject matter experts to continue providing feedback on the draft curriculum throughout the next school year.

The Evergreen Catholic Separate School Division (ECSSD) decided not to pilot the draft curriculum in the upcoming school year, mainly due to the lasting impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

To read through the draft curriculum and provide feedback, go to alberta.ca/curriculum.

Masha Scheele, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Hinton Voice

AUSTERITY STUPIDITY
Edmonton terminates helicopter program to control mosquitoes, could see 40 per cent population increase

© David Bloom City of Edmonton pest management coordinator Mike Jenkins said Thursday the city is eliminating its aerial spray program to control mosquitoes, which could lead to a 40 per cent population increase.

Video player from: YouTube (Privacy Policy, Terms)

The City of Edmonton is terminating its helicopter program to combat mosquitoes, which could lead to a 40 per cent population increase in outlying areas of the city.

Mike Jenkins, the city’s pest control coordinator, said the elimination of the aerial spray program was passed by council during fall budget discussions as a way to save about $1 million a year.

 Although it may lead to an increase of mosquitoes by about 40 per cent in a typical season, Jenkins said this increase will be in dense forest areas on the outskirts of the city.

To offset the elimination of the aerial program, Jenkins said the city is adding more resources and traps to control ground and ditch habitats. Helicopters were used to spray about 80 per cent of the habitat in the city with a larvicide product that would prevent mosquito populations from hatching.

“We’re still treating most of the habitat that is close into the city with higher proximity to residential areas,” Jenkins told reporters Thursday morning. “So although we do expect to see an increase in mosquito numbers because of the loss of the aerial program, we do think that we will still be able to meet our goals in reducing the mosquito population and still have an effective mosquito control program going forward.”

Despite changes to the control program, Jenkins said the city is anticipating mosquito levels to be lower this year than the average due to mostly dry conditions. Crews have been out on city parkland since April 12 to control the mosquito population and Jenkins said the spring season isn’t expected to be bad. After that, it all depends on the amount of precipitation.

“We anticipate the mosquito numbers will be lower this year as we are coming out of a very dry winter. Our spring so far has been very dry and at times cool. However, conditions can change very quickly as we move through the season. It takes just one decent amount of precipitation to deliver enough moisture for dormant mosquito eggs to hatch,” Jenkins said. “Many of our spring species are those really aggressive daytime biters. Right now there’s very little moisture on the ground and very little habitat for those mosquitoes, so we’re not expecting many of those.”

Residents can also do their part to reduce mosquitoes near their homes by eliminating areas with low-lying amounts of water that mosquitoes can breed in such as bird baths, old tires or barrels. One of the best tools is to have an oscillating fan going in the backyard, Jenkins said. Mosquitoes don’t like landing in windy conditions, especially changing windy conditions so a fan could prompt them to move on.

Standing bodies of water in residential areas should be reported to 311 to eliminate potential development sites for mosquito larvae. There are more than 30 types of mosquitoes in Edmonton.

Female-Led Initiative Raises $1M for Game Designed to Teach Girls How to Code

As the tech sector continues to grow, the number of women in STEM-related fields continues to decrease. According to Girls Who Code, 37% of computer scientists in the '90s were women, but today, women only make up 24% of all computer scientists.

© YouTube Screenshot Erase All Kittens

Research shows that this disparity starts when girls are still in school. Due to a variety of reasons — including lack of exposure, lack of interest, etc.—fewer girls study computer science while still in junior and senior high. As a result, fewer girls choose to study computer science at the university level, and from there, even fewer secure careers in the field.

The female founders behind Erase All Kittens (EAK) understand the importance of exposing girls to coding when young, which is why they've created a "Mario-style" web-based game with the aim of teaching girls how to code.

As first reported by TechCrunch, EAK has reached 160,000 players in over 100 countries. And now, EAK has raised $1 million in seed funding to take the game to new heights.

Excited to announce that we've raised $1M to build and launch the new version of Erase All Kittens - thanks for the writeup @mikebutcher! @TechCrunch https://t.co/FoCMdJUZns #startup #impactinvesting #edtech— Erase All Kittens (@EraseAllKittens) April 29, 2021

EAK told TechCrunch that 55% of the game's players are girls, 95% of whom want to learn more about coding after playing the game. This is largely because EAK is designed differently than the educational tools that most young girls and boys are used to.

The founders of EAK explained to TechCrunch that because most coding education tools for children are designed by men, those tools appeal more to young boys. According to EAK, these male-designed tools tend to teach "repetitive coding, in a very rigid, instructional way." As a result, most young girls display a general lack of interest in coding, which leads to the disparity seen in STEM-related careers.

In a blog post, EAK described it this way: "To better diversify coding for girls and beyond, coding needs to be perceived as less of a 'maths-like subject, and more as a language that develops other practical skills, like problem-solving and creativity. Coding is a fun challenge that breaks larger problems into small manageable tasks, relying on logic, imagination and communication to come up with innovative solutions."

Research conducted by Girls Who Code and Accenture supports this claim that simple exposure to coding isn't enough to fix the current gender disparity. Campaigns, educational tools, etc. must appeal to girls, or else the disparity could only worsen.

Thankfully, with two women at the helm, EAK was designed with girls in mind.

In her interview with TechCrunch, Dee Saigal, Co-Founder, CEO and Creative Director of Erase All Kittens shared: "We're designing a coding game that girls genuinely love — one that places a huge emphasis on creativity. Girls can see instant results as they code, there are different ways to progress through the game and learning is seamlessly blended with storytelling."

Right now, the game is free to play; however, TechCrunch reports that a newly designed version will launch in July, and will teach kids HTMS, CSS and JavaScript skills. And yes, the founders want educators to use the game as a tool to get all kids, especially girls, interested in coding at a young age.

Reports TechCrunch: "The new game will be sold to schools and parents, globally. EAK will also be carrying out a one-for-one scheme, where for every school account purchased, one will be donated to underserved schools via partnerships with tech companies, educational organizations and NGOs."

To not only diversify the industry but also address the shortage of skilled tech workers entering the workforce, changes must be made at the bottom of the pipeline. By focusing on not only exposing young girls to coding programs but capturing and retaining their interest, the tech industry will very likely see an increase in skilled applicants and cutting-edge ideas.

Newsweek has reached out to Dee Saigal for comment.

For Rosa Reveals The Ugly History Of Forced Sterilizations

Cristina Escobar 

“We’re still here,” Kathryn Boyd-Batstone, the filmmaker behind For Rosa, tells Refinery29, referencing our nation’s lack of progress when it comes to reproductive justice. Premiering May 1 on HBO, the short film follows the story of one Latina and her decision to become part of the Madrigal 10, a group of mothers who filed a class-action lawsuit against L.A. County-USC Medical Center in the 1970s, helping to define informed consent and stop the hospital’s eugenics-informed practice of forced sterilizations of women of color.

© Provided by Refinery29

Although For Rosa takes place some 50 years ago, forced sterilization is hardly a thing of the past. Last year, it was reported that ICE was performing mass hysterectomies on migrant women at one of its Georgia detention centers. The year before, Indigenous women in Canada joined together to sue the country’s national health system, citing documented cases of sterilization occurring up until as recently as 2018. In California, 1,400 women, most of them Black, were forcibly sterilized in prisons between 1997 and 2014. Puerto Rico is still dealing with the legacy of mass sterilizations and the continued disparities around reproductive justice.


Whether forced sterilizations are happening in California, Canada, the Czech Republic, or China, they represent a kind of genocide, a way to kill a people quietly while pretending to offer patients medical care.

For Rosa brings this heartbreaking reality to life. The film takes us back to what happened in Los Angeles when doctors performed tubal litigations on Latinas, specifically mothers undergoing emergency C-sections, targeting them because of their vulnerability and the fact that they were already getting surgery. Sometimes doctors performed these sterilizations without the patient’s knowledge or consent or after coercing women with tactics like withholding pain medication until the mothers-to-be gave their permission for the procedure. According to Boyd-Batstone, the hospital in question in the 1978 Madrigal v. Quilligan case had gotten a “$2 billion grant to help with family-planning and ‘help’ with the rates of Black and brown families in the area.” They did it using English-only forms and nurses with limited Spanish proficiency, pretending that was enough for women many of whom were in active labor to give informed consent. This was during a time in American history when fears of “welfare queens” taking too many resources, Latinas and other women of color having too many babies, and low-income women of color generally taking advantage of the system abounded among many white people.

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While the judge ruled in favor of the doctors, the Madrigal 10 helped to change laws and practices. The California Department of Health revised its sterilization guidelines, and the California State Legislature repealed the state’s sterilization law. This was only possible thanks to the efforts put forth by these courageous women. These 10 Latinas, who’d been sterilized without their consent, risked stigma, shame, and violence to come forward and testify. Their young, Latina attorney Antonia Hernández didn’t let age or lack of resources stop her from taking on this complicated, important case. “She was 26 when she started the case, having just graduated from UCLA, working her first job at the legal aid office,” says Boyd-Batstone. “They weren’t really giving her funding, and she had the conviction to go up against the court system and defend [and organize] these women who are all older than her and have children.”

For Rosa focuses on the women’s decision to take action, despite the risks involved. The film’s heroine Eva, played by Melinna Bobadilla, is a young mother who’s looking forward to having a second kid and feels the pressure to live up to her community’s expectations to have a big family. The filmmakers also paid attention to the discrimination faced by Black and brown women, portraying how women with darker skin and more Afro- or Indigenous features were targeted. Boyd-Batstone, a white woman, says she and Bobadilla had “a lot of discussion” about racism. Bobadilla shared her personal experiences as a Xicana in Hollywood. It was important to both of them that For Rosa was not another “story centered around trauma [and] disparity,” says Boyd-Batstone. Instead, it’s a humanizing look at one woman’s strength and impact: “It doesn’t matter what your opinions on reproductive justice or racism [are]. You can connect with [Eva],” adds the filmmaker.

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This empathy is key to creating change. At the time, the Madrigal 10 was supported by a mass movement with rallies and protests, featuring Black and brown women on the posters, and magazine articles with titles like “Chicanos for Welfare.” Latinos were coming together to organize at a time in which society was criminalizing them. Together with a few whistleblowers at the hospital, this cross-racial group of plaintiffs, their attorney, activists, and organizers were able to make real change. They didn’t eradicate white fears about changing demographics or even win their court case, but they did make California change its system to better protect the rights of women of color.

For Rosa ends before the court case begins, but Boyd-Batstone reveals she is working on a feature-length film to bring the story of the Madrigal 10 to even more people. As forced sterilizations continue and women’s sexual and reproductive health remains in jeopardy, we need to share these narratives of how individuals and communities came together and made real change. If we forget the history of the Madrigal 10, it’s at our own peril.

Speaking about her granddaughter, one of the real-life Madrigal 10 women Consuelo Hermosillo told NPR, “I want her to have liberty in doing what she wants, going to school wherever she wants, [deciding] how many kids she wants.” It’s a simple wish, and one we are still failing to achieve for far too many women of color.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodnes

Cape Breton Mi'kmaq community angered at alleged government seizure of lobster traps

ST. PETER'S, N.S. — A Mi'kmaq First Nation in Cape Breton says federal fisheries officers seized 37 lobster traps that were set today by an Indigenous harvester.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The Potlotek First Nation, located about 75 kilometres south of Sydney, N.S., issued a news release indicating the community had authorized the traps as part of its livelihood fishery.

Indigenous fishers in Nova Scotia say a 1999 Supreme Court of Canada decision affirming the Mi'kmaq treaty right to fish for a "moderate livelihood'' lets them fish when and where they want. That decision was later clarified by the court, however, which said Ottawa could regulate the treaty right for conservation and other limited purposes.

Earlier this year, federal Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan had said if bands haven't negotiated agreements with Ottawa and received federal licences for moderate livelihood fisheries, then the government would enforce regulations.

Chief Gerald Toney, fisheries lead for the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs, says in the release the harvester was operating under the community's plan and was doing so within a federal commercial season.

The Fisheries Department wasn't immediately available for comment today.

Chief Wilbert Marshall of Potlotek First Nation says the seizure is a failure of the federal government to uphold treaty rights and called the actions of fisheries officers "shameful and unlawful."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 30, 2021.

The Canadian Press

Sikh advocacy group says India blocked Canadian website to fund COVID-19 patients

OTTAWA — A Sikh advocacy group says the government of India has blocked a Canadian website that aims to raise funds for COVID-19 patients abroad.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a lawyer for Sikhs For Justice, said it launched a website Tuesday to connect patients in four Indian states with donations to buy liquid oxygen.

"Economically poor and economically downtrodden Indians do not have enough money to buy oxygen for their families and for the patients," Pannun said.

Oxygen cylinders have seen drastic markups amid a supply shortage as the pandemic ravages the country.

"A $2 cylinder, they are selling it at $30, a 1,500 per cent increase, even though the dead bodies are piling up," he said.

A screenshot provided by the group, which has chapters in Toronto, New York City and London, shows a computer unable to connect with the server of the new site, OxygenFund.org.

Pannun said only the Indian government has the authority to bar access to the web page, which he says received more than 60 applicants in the first 24 hours followed by thousands of WhatsApp calls since the site went off-line in India.

India's government did not respond to requests for comment Friday.

With the web page unavailable there, the organization has been swamped with WhatsApp calls over the last few days, largely from the states of Maharashtra and West Bengal.

"We have thousands of missed calls. Thousands. It's ringing non-stop," Pannun said, noting Sikhs For Justice has four people working "around the clock" to answer queries.

The group launched another site Thursday, Oxygen4Punjab.org, which was blocked again within hours, he said.

Anshuman Gaur, India's deputy high commissioner to Canada, says his government has labelled Sikhs For Justice a terrorist group, but could not comment on whether the state blocked its site.

"They are banned," he said in a phone interview.

The international organization, which advocates for an independent Sikh state and promotes humanitarian aid, was labelled "unlawful" in 2019 by the Indian government led by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

Last year, the government posted a short list of Sikh organizations and individuals it deems to be "terrorists." The list included Pannun, who has dismissed the designation as a reaction to his peaceful advocacy for an independent Sikh state.

Sunmeet Kaur, a registered nurse and community volunteer in the Greater Toronto Area, said the downed website could cost lives.

"Time is of the essence here … People are unfortunately dropping dead because they don't have access to basic things like oxygen," she said.

"Donors are ready and waiting, but we don't have anywhere to send this to right now."

The donations were not intended for a particular group, she added, but for anyone needing help in one of four pandemic-battered states: Punjab, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Sikhs make up a large portion of Punjab's population, but a small fraction of that of other states.

"It's just wherever it’s needed. You can see the situation is very dire," Kaur said.

"People are posting videos of burning bodies on the sidewalks, because there's really long lineups for the funeral, cremation and burial grounds."

Some Canadians are wiring funds to family in India directly.

"In Punjab it's much easier, because lots of people have family back home. They're used to sending money over and helping out where they can. But we don't know people in Maharashtra or West Bengal or UP," said Kaur.

"It's a matter of life and death."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 30, 2021.

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press

FOSSIL FISH

Hold on! 240-pound fish, age 100, caught in Detroit River

© Provided by The Canadian Press

DETROIT — Now that's a whopper — a very old whopper!

A 240-pound (108.8 kilograms) sturgeon that could be more than 100 years old was caught last week in the Detroit River by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The "real life river monster" was nearly 7 feet (2.1 metres) long, the agency said Friday on Facebook, where the photo was shared more than 24,000 times by late afternoon.

“Based on its girth and size, it is assumed to be a female and that she has been roaming our waters over 100 years. She was quickly released back into the river” after being weighed and measured, the Fish and Wildlife Service said.

The typical lifespan is 55 years for a male sturgeon and 70 to 100 years for females, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

This fish was caught on April 22 near Grosse Ile, south of Detroit, while a three-person crew was conducting an annual sturgeon study. Frozen round goby, a tasty snack for a sturgeon, was used as bait on a long line that was deep in the river.

It took about six minutes to get the fish into the boat with a net.

“I felt the fish thumping on the line. As it got closer, it just got bigger and bigger,” said Jason Fischer, who was with fellow biologists Paige Wigren and Jennifer Johnson.

Wigren recalled thinking, “Yep, this is going to be a real good fish story.”

“She was tired out and didn't fight us very much,” Wigren said. “Imagine everything that fish has lived through and seen.”

Lake sturgeon are listed as a threatened species in Michigan. Anglers can keep one a year, but only if the fish is a certain size and is caught in a few state waters. All sturgeon caught in the Detroit River must be released.

IN CANADA ALL FRESH WATER STURGEON ARE CAPTURE

AND RELEASE.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for FOSSIL FISH 

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for STURGEON 

Canada's most beautiful, deadly spider calls the Okanagan Valley home

Jaclyn Whittal 

29/4/2021

The itsy, bitsy spider sat down on my garden hose.

This was not just any spider. My husband ran inside to tell me that we have a black widow in our garage. We are still fairly new to the Okanagan Valley in the B.C. Interior, so I was skeptical.

Could it actually be? Read below to find out what we saw.

THE LOOK, THE SHAPE, THE COLOUR

Meet the Latrodectus hesperus, the scientific name for the western black widow spider. Everything I read previously about the black widow is that it has a distinct sheen to them. A glossy, black outer coat like an arachnid leather jacket of sorts. This one had this look.

Another unique attribute to the black widow is the shape. It has an hourglass-like body with the head proportionally smaller than the rear end. The big differentiator from other spiders is a red marking on their belly. This little (not so little) spider had this shape, too. Finally, the size checked out correctly, measuring approximately at 3-4 cm with long, black legs, this image is straight out of a Stephen King novel I know.

I’m confident that we have a black widow here, but there was one distinct marking that we couldn’t see. We did not flip him/her upside down to see if it had a clear, red marking on its belly. I was too anxious to bring it away from my property and move it to the bush.

© Provided by The Weather Network

OKANAGAN VALLEY HOME TO MANY, EVEN MORE THIS YEAR DUE TO COVID

The Okanagan Valley is home to the western black widow spider, different from its southern cousin found in the Deep South, and the northern black widow found in parts of Eastern Canada. COVID-19 has had an impact on us all, even the spider populations.

The western black widow in the valley is said to be more present these days. Why? Not as many people squishing them as normal because a lack of people/tourists the past year means it didn't have to battle it out with them. The truth is, they are really quite harmless, I learned.

This spider I saw in my garage was confirmed by PhD candidate Andreas Fischer with Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. Fischer told me that "it's the only spider in Canada that can harm us to the point that we should go to the hospital and seek medical attention. But they don't like to bite."

Most of the black widow spiders in B.C. really look for hot and humid conditions. The Okanagan valley certainly gets hot in the summer. Andreas said that they seek out moisture sources and are often found lingering near garden hoses, like in my case, or on irrigation systems, as well as dark corners or closets indoors when they like to come inside during the fall season. Yikes! Turn the lights on!

WHAT TO DO IF YOU COME ACROSS ONE, AND WHAT ABOUT PETS?

If you are lucky (or unlucky) enough to come across one of these venomous spiders, it is best you do not confront or agitate them. After all, she did just lose her husband...see what I did there? Female black widows have potent venom containing a neurotoxin that can be harmful to pets and humans. Though they are truly not out to get us. They are shy and timid and if left alone, they will not bite. It is best to stay calm says Andreas, let them crawl off you. Do not panic or squeeze the spider or they may bit you.

Some known symptoms from this venom include pain, nausea, goosebumps and localized sweating. The venom is exuded from the spider's fangs and injected into the enemy, and you should see a doctor immediately if you have been bit. Most of the time though they do not bite, but females may be tempted to bite to protect their eggs.

"Death is very unlikely based on a black widow bite, but I would definitely recommend that you stay calm, and then seek medical attention," advises Andreas.

© Provided by The Weather Network

Pets can be severely impacted by black widow spider bites. They may show signs of severe muscle pain, cramping, tremors, drooling, vomiting, diarrhea, and even death. Much like humans, they are given antivenom medications. If you suspect your dog or cat was bitten by a black widow spider, call your veterinarian immediately.

Thumbnail courtesy of Andreas Fischer.

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Antibacterial Soap vs. Regular Soap: Which Should You Be Using?

Meghan Jones, RD.com

© Photo: NickyLloyd/Getty Images

Antibacterial vs. regular soap

Antibacterial soap is not any more beneficial at destroying COVID-19 than regular hand soap. Why and what's the difference between the two in the first place?

Antibacterial soap "contains extra chemicals designed to kill or inhibit the replication of bacteria," explains Kasey Nichols, NMD, the medical contributor for RAVEReviews.org. That sounds good, but it turns out that all those chemicals don't actually provide any extra power when it comes to fighting viruses. "Antibacterial soaps target bacteria, and coronavirus is a virus. So an antibacterial soap is unnecessary," says Morton Tavel, MD, clinical professor emeritus of medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine.

Even when not just dealing with the coronavirus, antibacterial soap isn't any more beneficial than regular soap. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has yet to find any evidence that antibacterial soaps are more effective than any other type of soap. Regular soap gets the job done—even when that "job" is killing the novel coronavirus.

How does soap kill the virus?

You might still be skeptical. After all, this virus is so nefarious that it's easy to doubt that just plain soap could negate it. Well, fortunately, it can!

Technically, "soap is not designed to kill germs on contact, but rather to wash germs away," explains Dr. Tavel. Essentially, soap does what water can't—it breaks down the fatty membrane that viruses have around them, causing the whole virus to break down. That membrane repels plain water similarly to the way oil does. Introduce soap and its ingredients, called surfactants, which attracts the contents of the membrane, causing it to break down. "The surfactants in soap lift up and break apart dirt and microbes from your skin, and the friction of rubbing your hands together helps remove the particles so they get washed down the drain," Dr. Tavel explains.

This process takes time, which is why it's so important to wash your hands for at least 20 seconds. Pair regular soap with the thorough washing of your hands, and viruses are removed from your hands and washed away—no fancy chemicals needed. (Discover the 15 diseases you can prevent just by washing your hands.)
Is antibacterial soap dangerous?

Well, the jury's still out on that subject. But the FDA has definitely found a couple of valid causes for concern when it comes to using antibacterial soap. One of the most common antibacterial agents is triclosan, which has been shown in some animal trials to alter hormone function. Its effects have undergone investigation from both the FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

That's not all. "There has also been concern surrounding whether or not antibacterial soap chemicals are causing bacteria to become more resistant to these chemicals and other antibacterial drugs," Dr. Nichols explains. Basically, the very bacteria that these soaps are supposed to kill might instead be evolving to become stronger and fight them.

Unless you're someone who already buys antibacterial soap, you don't have to worry about these concerns—because antibacterial soap isn't more helpful against the virus anyway! So stick to regular liquid and bar soaps. And, of course, make sure you're taking the most important step to prevent the virus: properly washing your hands. Wash for 20 seconds, making sure to scrub everywhere, including the backs of your hands and between your fingers.

.Next, we find out the difference between bar soap vs. liquid soap.

The post Antibacterial Soap vs. Regular Soap: Which Should You Be Using? appeared first on Reader's Digest

Gallery: 7 Harmful Beauty Product Ingredients That You Should Swap Out (Reader's Digest Canada)

  

1/7 SLIDES © Photo: ShutterStock

FRAGRANCE

"If you only change one thing in your beauty routine, the ingredient you should avoid is fragrance," says Lindsay Coulter, the David Suzuki Foundation's resident green living expert. Labelled as "parfum" on Canadian beauty product labels, fragrance isn't just in colognes or perfumes; in fact, it's added to everything from body wash to shampoo to face creams. Even unscented products can contain fragrance compounds that act as masking agents. "It shows up as one word [on the ingredients label], but it can be a concoction of hundreds of different ingredients," Coulter explains. According to research published by the Canadian Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association, these anonymous chemical compounds can trigger allergies and asthma, cause hormone disruption, and in many cases, are harmful to fish and other wildlife after they get washed down the drain.

Not ready to give up smelling pretty? There are still plenty of green alternatives, says Jen Newell, a Toronto-based naturopath. "I recommend that people opt for products with essential oils or other natural scents," Newell says.

  

2/7 SLIDES © Photo: ShutterStock

PARABENS

Parabens are preservatives that can be found in everything from makeup to moisturizers to fragrances. Problem is, numerous studies have shown that these chemicals—which are easily absorbed through the skin—have the potential to interfere with hormone function and have been linked with breast cancer. How do you rid your beauty routine of this particularly harmful ingredient? Keep an eye out for products that are labelled "paraben-free," and study the ingredient list carefully, as these pesky preservatives can be listed in different ways, including "methylparaben" or "propylparaben

    

3/7 SLIDES © Photo: ShutterStock

TRICLOSAN

Triclosan is an antibacterial agent that can be found in antibacterial soaps, body washes, hand sanitizers, toothpaste and mouthwash. The issue with triclosan, Coulter says, is that it kills all bacteria—good and bad. Although this ingredient is not yet regulated in Canada, the Food and Drug Administration in the United States banned its use in September 2016 on the grounds that it could pose health risks, including bacterial resistance and hormonal effects. The good news? It's easy to steer clear of this harmful ingredient, as triclosan is listed on product labels

4/7 SLIDES © Brett Walther

SODIUM LAURYL SULPHATE

Sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS, sometimes also known as SLES) is a chemical additive that makes super-foamy bubbles and suds. It's often listed as a main ingredient in soap, shampoo, face wash and dish soaps, says Coulter. The reason that SLS should be avoided is that it can be contaminated with ethylene oxide, which the International Agency for Research on Cancer lists as a known human carcinogen (cancer-causing chemical). Check your soaps for this ingredient before purchasing and don't fret if the SLS-free product you try doesn't produce a rich lather like your old shampoo or body wash. A lack of suds doesn't mean it's not doing it's job, says Coulter; it simply means you're skipping out on a harmful chemical.

   

5/7 SLIDES © Photo: ShutterStock

PHTHALATES

Phthalates are commonly found in fragrance compounds and may be labelled simply as "parfum" on product packaging, says Newell. Research suggests they can disrupt hormones during critical periods of human development (such as a baby's development in utero) and they've also been associated with male infertility.

If you're having trouble identifying which products might contain harmful ingredients such as phthalates, Newell recommends downloading the Think Dirty App to your smartphone. It allows you to scan the bar codes of the products in your daily beauty regimen, and then assesses their degree of safety. 

  

6/7 SLIDES © Photo: ShutterStock

OXYBENZONE

Oxybenzone is the active ingredient in many popular sunscreens, but Newell recommends avoiding it when possible—and for good reason. According to a study published in the International Journal of Andrology, oxybenzone has been linked to skin reactions and it may even disrupt hormones. There have also been studies indicating that when oxybenzone is exposed to sunlight it can form free radicals that cause skin cell damage. This doesn't mean you should skip sunscreen altogether, of course. It's easy to avoid this chemical if you stick with mineral-based zinc or titanium oxide sunscreens.

7/7SLIDES © Brett Walther

PETROLATUM

Petrolatum or petroleum jelly is often used in moisturizers, lip balms and hair products because it acts as a moisture barrier and creates a sheen. The David Suzuki Foundation lists petrolatum as one of its "Dirty Dozen" harmful ingredients to avoid, as it can be contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which the European Union lists as a carcinogen. Nevertheless, the use of PAHs are not currently restricted by Health Canada.

If you want to skip petrolatum just to be on the safe side, try organic coconut oil or shea butter to moisturize your skin.

If you're feeling overwhelmed when it comes to "greening" your beauty routine, begin the transition slowly. "Start with the products you use most often and then eventually replace those items that you only use every once in a while," recommends Newell.

Biden tells trans Americans he has their back as GOP governors sign more anti-trans bills

By Devan Cole, CNN

President Joe Biden pledged his support for transgender Americans during his address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, telling members of the community he's standing by them at a time when they face a barrage of attacks by GOP-led state legislatures.

© Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 28: U.S. President Joe Biden addresses a joint session of congress as Vice President Kamala Harris (L) and Speaker of the House U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (R) look on in the House chamber of the U.S. Capitol April 28, 2021 in Washington, DC. On the eve of his 100th day in office, Biden spoke about his plan to revive America's economy and health as it continues to recover from a devastating pandemic. He delivered his speech before 200 invited lawmakers and other government officials instead of the normal 1600 guests because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"I also hope Congress will get to my desk the Equality Act to protect LGBTQ Americans. To all transgender Americans watching at home -- especially young people, who are so brave -- I want you to know your president has your back," Biden said during his address.


The remark was met with applause by people in attendance at Biden's speech as well as trans advocates who say his comments are critically important for young trans people to hear during a year in which Republican-controlled legislatures around the country have been moving at a fast pace to impose restrictions on their lives.

So far this year, Alabama, South Dakota, Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee have enacted bans on trans girls and women competing on sports teams that match their gender identity, with West Virginia's Republican governor signing a similar ban hours before Biden delivered his remarks. Lawmakers in Florida also sent their Republican governor a bill containing an anti-trans sports ban on Wednesday. And earlier this month, Arkansas approved another measure that prohibits physicians in the state from providing gender-affirming treatments to trans youth.

According to data from the Human Rights Campaign, at least 117 bills have been introduced in various state legislature the current legislative session that target the transgender community, the highest number the organization has recorded since it began tracking anti-LGBTQ legislation more than 15 years ago.

"With his heartfelt words, President Biden is giving hope to transgender Americans -- particularly transgender young people. He's sending a clear message that he sees them, that he understands their struggles, and that he's committed to making their lives better," said Mara Keisling, the executive director for the National Center for Transgender Equality, in a statement to CNN.

"At a time when some state legislators are targeting trans kids and trying to ban them from playing sports or deny them life-saving health care, the President is letting children know that they have a friend and ally in the White House, and that is so incredibly important," she added.

Rachel Crandall-Crocker, a Michigan-based transgender activist and founder of International Transgender Day of Visibility, told CNN that the remarks show "that our community is really making progress. It's a really wonderful indicator of that."

"I think that he's setting a tone here and it's a really groundbreaking tone," she said, adding that she hopes Biden's comments set a pattern for future presidents.

Biden made history last month when he issued the first-ever presidential proclamation of its kind in recognition of the Transgender Day of Visibility, which aims to celebrate the achievements of trans rights activists and increase awareness about ongoing challenges transgender and gender-nonconforming people ​face.

The President has also delivered on several key policy matters for trans Americans. Earlier this year, he nixed a Trump-era ban on most transgender Americans joining the military and an executive order he signed on his first day in office compels agencies to implement a recent Supreme Court decision prohibiting sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination in the workplace in laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex.

He also helped bring a first to the community with his nomination of Dr. Rachel Levine to a key post in the Department of Health and Human Services. Levine later became the first out transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate.

And among first lady Jill Biden's group of virtual guests for Biden's address was 16-year-old Stella Keating, the first transgender teen to testify before the US Senate, according to the White House, advocating for the Equality Act. The act amends the 1964 Civil Rights Act to protect people from being discriminated against based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Canada Soccer Hall of Fame inducts eight women 'legends' in Class of 2021

Eight women, including five members of Canada's original 1986 women's team, are headed to the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The Class of 2021 inductees are Sue Brand, Annie Caron, Carla Chin Baker, Janet Lemieux, Luce Mongrain, Suzanne Muir, Cathy Ross and Sue Simon.

The eight "legends" represent Canada’s first decade in international soccer, from the original selections in 1986 through to Canada’s first participation at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1995.

Collectively, they won 18 national titles from 1982 to 1995, eight CONCACAF silver medals from 1991 and 1994, and the CONCACAF Women’s Championship in 1998. Six featured at either the 1988 FIFA Women’s Invitational Tournament or the 1995 Women’s World Cup.

Their induction marks the 35th anniversary of the Canada women’s team. The eight will be honoured May 6 on Canada Soccer’s digital channels.

“Canada Soccer congratulates this group of first-class athletes who have been honoured by the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame for their incredible impact on the game at both the national and international levels,” Canada Soccer president Nick Bontis said in a statement.

The first Canadian women's camp opened July 1, 1986, in Winnipeg, with Canada’s first two international “A” matches a week later against the U.S. in Blaine, Minn. Since then, the Canadian women’s team has played more than 400 international “A” matches while the program itself has featured more than 900 players from the youth to senior level.

The Canada Soccer Hall of Fame honours Canadian players who have played the game with excellence at the international and club level.

With the eight new selections for 2021, the Hall now features 202 honoured members: 137 players, 13 coaches/managers, 10 referees, and 42 builders. Players now make up two-thirds of the members.

The 2021 class is also a part of the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame's priority to establish equity within the modern Canadian players category from both the men’s and women’s programs.

CANADA SOCCER HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2021

Sue Brand, fullback (Edmonton

A five-time national championship Jubilee Trophy winner, Brand was Canada’s top player at the FIFA Women’s Invitational Tournament in 1988 and won a silver medal at the 1991 CONCACAF Women’s Championship. She was the only player to feature in every Canada international minute from December 1987 to April 1991.

Annie Caron, attacking midfielder (Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que.)

Caron is one of six original members of the 1986 national team in 1986 that also represented Canada at the 1995 Women’s World in Sweden. She was Canada’s joint goal-scoring leader after the first six seasons of the women’s national team program..

Carla Chin Baker, goalkeeper (Aurora, Ont.)

A two-time runner-up at Canada Soccer’s national championship, Chin Baker was one of six original members from the 1986 national team who also represented Canada at the 1995 World Cup. She was Canada’s all-time goalkeeper leader in international “A” appearances from 1986 to 1997.

Janet Lemieux, sweeper (Edmonton)

A four-time Jubilee Trophy winner, Lemieux was an original member of the 1986 national team. She played for Canada in every international minute in 1986 and 1987 until she was forced out through injury.

Luce Mongrain, centre back (Trois-Rivieres, Que.)

A third-place finisher at the 1998 national championships, Mongrain was the Canadian women's youngest international at age 16 in 1987. She won two CONCACAF silver medals and featured for Canada at the 1995 World Cup.

Suzanne Muir, midfielder/fullback (Dartmouth, N.S.)

A Jubilee Trophy winner, Muir was one of seven Canadians to feature at both the 1995 and '99 World Cups. The first Nova Scotia player inducted into the Soccer Hall of Fame, she helped Canada win the 1998 CONCACAF Women’s Championship.

Cathy Ross, centre back (Coquitlam, B.C.)

A Jubilee Trophy winner, Ross was one of the six original members from the 1986 team who also represented Canada at the 1995 World Cup. She was the only player to feature in every Canadian women’s international “A” match from 1986 to 1991.

Sue Simon, goalkeeper (Edmonton)

A joint-record six-time Jubilee Trophy winner, Simon was Canada's original starting goalkeeper in 1986, recording an MVP performance in Canada’s first international win against the U.S. on July 9, 1986, She once held Canada’s all-time record for clean sheets at the national championship.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2021

The Canadian Press

Canadian regulator allows oil pipeline Trans Mountain to keep insurers names private

© Reuters/Candace Elliott FILE PHOTO: The expansion of the Canadian government-owned Trans Mountain oil pipeline advances in Acheson

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - The Canada Energy Regulator (CER) granted on Thursday a request of government-owned oil pipeline operator Trans Mountain to keep the names of its insurers confidential, to protect them from pressure by protesters.


Activists have stepped up pressure on banks and insurers to drop financing and insurance for fossil fuel companies, leading to European companies like AXA and Zurich pulling back from underwriting coal and oil sands projects.

Trans Mountain has said it incurred higher costs last year due to dwindling insurance options.

CER decided that sharing the names of Trans Mountain's insurers could make it harder to obtain insurance at a reasonable price, and that the names are commercial information. A Canadian government corporation owns and runs the pipeline.

Much of the oil Trans Mountain transports from Edmonton, Alberta to the British Columbia coast comes from Alberta's oil sands - a focus of protests due to their high carbon emissions.

The regulator's decision is troubling and makes it more difficult for indigenous groups to oppose such projects, said Charlene Aleck, spokesperson for Tsleil-Waututh Nation Sacred Trust Initiative.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce supported Trans Mountain's request, saying in a letter to the CER that disclosing insurers would otherwise jeopardize the pipeline's ability to secure affordable coverage for its required C$1 billion in liabilities.

The decision applies only to the pipeline that is currently operating, not an expansion project under construction.

Trans Mountain is nearly tripling capacity of the pipeline to carry 890,000 barrels of crude and refined products per day.

(Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)