Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to leave post after 8 years


By —Danica Kirka, Associated Press
Feb 15, 2023 

LONDON (AP) — Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon said Wednesday that she plans to step down after more than eight years in office, amid criticism of her drive to expand transgender rights and her strategy for achieving independence from the United Kingdom.

Sturgeon made the announcement during a news conference at her official residence in Edinburgh, Bute House, saying the decision wasn’t a response to the “latest period of pressure.” But she added that part of serving well was knowing when to make way for someone else.

“In my head and in my heart I know that time is now,” she said. “That it’s right for me, for my party and my country.”

Sturgeon, 52, has led Scotland since 2014, when Scots narrowly voted to remain part of the United Kingdom. While the referendum was billed as a once-in-a-generation decision on independence, Sturgeon and her Scottish National Party have pushed for a new vote, arguing that Britain’s departure from the European Union had changed the ground rules.

The U.K. government has refused to allow a second referendum.

The first female leader of Scotland’s devolved government, Sturgeon said she planned to remain in office until the SNP elects a new leader. Scotland is part of the U.K. but, like Wales and Northern Ireland, has its own semi-autonomous government with broad powers over areas including health care.

Sturgeon’s announcement caught political observers by surprise amid her staunch support for both independence and legislation that would make it easier for people in Scotland to legally change genders.

“This is as sudden as Jacinda Ardern … Geez,” tweeted SNP lawmaker Angus MacNeil, referring to the resignation last month of New Zealand’s prime minister.

Sturgeon came under pressure in recent weeks after she pushed the gender recognition bill through the Scottish parliament over the objections of some members of her own party. That raised concerns that Sturgeon’s position on transgender rights could undermine support for independence, the SNP’s overarching goal.

WATCH: Nationalism, talk of independence on the rise in Scotland, Wales

Joanna Cherry, an SNP member of Parliament, said the resignation provided an opportunity for the party.

“We must restore the SNP’s tradition of internal party democracy, open respectful debate and intellectual rigour and we must also put the welfare of everyone living in Scotland back at the heart of our endeavours,” Cherry said on Twitter.

Sturgeon said she had been “wrestling” with whether it was time step down for a number of weeks. She said she wasn’t resigning because of recent criticism, though she acknowledged that the “physical and mental impact” of the job had taken their toll.

Sturgeon led Scotland through the coronavirus pandemic and guided her party during three U.K.-wide elections and two Scottish elections.

“If the question is, can I battle on for another few months, then the answer is yes, of course I can,” she said. “But if the question is, can I give this job everything it demands and deserves for another year, let alone for the remainder of this parliamentary term, give it every ounce of energy that it needs in the way that I have strived to do every day for the last eight years, the answer honestly is different.”

For the past few months, much of that energy has been focused on a renewed drive for independence and the gender recognition bill, which would allow people aged 16 or older in Scotland to change the gender designations on identity documents by self-declaration, removing the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria.

Hailed as a landmark by transgender rights activists, the legislation faced opposition from some SNP members who said it ignored the need to protect single-sex spaces for women, such as domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers.

Criticism of the bill increased after reports that a convicted rapist was being held in a women’s prison in Scotland while transitioning. The inmate was transferred to a men’s prison after being assessed by prison authorities.

While the Scottish parliament approved the legislation, it has been blocked by the British government because it would present problems for authorities in other parts of the U.K., where a medical diagnosis is needed before individuals can transition for legal purposes.

Sturgeon had vowed to take the British government to court, arguing that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s administration had made a “profound mistake” by vetoing the legislation.

Sturgeon also came under fire for saying she would make the next Scottish parliament election a de facto referendum on independence after the government in Westminster refused to sanction a new vote on Scotland’s links to the U.K.

The party is set to hold a conference on the strategy next month, with some members saying it won’t work and others criticizing Sturgeon for waiting too long to press ahead with independence.

Bronwen Maddox, chief executive of the Chatham House think tank, said it was clear Sturgeon had made her mark, being both influential and divisive. But she failed to secure the ultimate prize.

“She’s been more successful in one way of being a figurehead, leading her party and leading the Scottish government, but she has failed to do the one thing she really set out to do, which is to secure independence,” Maddox said.
China's growing middle-class kingdom in Singapore is causing heartburn | Explained

The reasons behind the middle-class Chinese citizens making the move to Singapore are manifold — political stability, economic growth, and access to a high quality of life, among other things.


Saikiran Kannan
Singapore,UPDATED: Feb 16, 2023 

A file photo of Chinese pedestrians in Beijing (AP)


By Saikiran Kannan

For some time now, high-net-worth individuals and successful business families from mainland China have looked towards Singapore as an ideal option. Now, however, it’s not just the uber-wealthy who are eying the sovereign island country. Even China’s middle class, young students, and the working population are reportedly looking to move to Singapore. And we can look at the recent “Lunar New Year” controversy as a microcosm to understand the implications of this change in demographics.

What is the Lunar New Year controversy?

The use of the term "Lunar New Year" instead of "Chinese New Year" sparked a heated debate among local Reddit users in Singapore. This started after a student from China at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), a top-ranked international university with thousands of overseas students, allegedly defaced a board that announced the celebration of the Lunar New Year. The word “Lunar” was struck out and replaced with the word “Chinese”. Later, the student shared the photo on a Chinese social media platform and eventually, a screenshot of that made its way to Reddit. The post on the NTU subreddit read: "A Chinese student at NTU fumes over the use of 'Lunar New Year's instead of 'Chinese New Year,' alleges censorship and discrimination on campus."

However, many Reddit users appeared to disagree with the student's claim, saying that the use of "Lunar New Year" has always been the norm and that it is not exclusively associated with the Chinese community. One Reddit user wrote, "We've always been using Lunar New Year for CNY," and another added, "The Korean, Vietnamese, and some others celebrate on that day as well. It is not exclusively Chinese."

Another Reddit user suggested that the issue was only being raised by ultra-nationalist Chinese citizens who support the Communist Party of China (CCP), further alleging that most of the local Chinese population in Singapore and Malaysia did not have a problem with the naming convention.

One person who claimed they worked at the university wrote about this incident and the vandalism and expressed deep regret and disgust over it. They said that the display was later cordoned off after the vandal removed the tape used to fix it. They called this behaviour "damn disgusting."

The debate surrounding the use of "Lunar New Year" instead of "Chinese New Year" is not limited to Singapore. In New York, a woman from Beijing was allegedly arrested after she tore down a poster that said "Lunar New Year" in a mall. Recently, the British Museum faced similar controversy after promoting events related to Korean New Year as "Korean Lunar New Year." Despite protests from Chinese netizens, the British Museum initially refused to change the term, but eventually removed the related Twitter posts and promotional articles due to pressure. On the evening of January 20, the British Museum held an event titled "Celebrating Seollal Lunar New Year," which included a traditional Korean music and dance performance and a curator's explanation at the Korean Pavilion. This prompted further protests from Chinese netizens, and the British Museum once again removed the promotional articles on Twitter and its website. On January 22, the British Museum posted a picture of a Chinese Qing Dynasty woman holding a rabbit and wrote "Chinese New Year" on the hashtag. These incidents highlight the sensitivity surrounding the use of the term and the importance of being inclusive and respectful of cultural diversity.

Experts have opined that regardless of the stance one takes, it is important to be respectful of cultural diversity and to consider the feelings of those who may be affected by the language or term used to describe the holiday. It cannot be just called “Chinese New Year”.

Aside from this, diplomatic and political experts have also raised concerns that Mainland Chinese people moving into Singapore must respect the local rules and sentiments and stick to following the diverse and accepting culture that is considered the ethos of Singapore.

“The ‘One China’ policy should be restricted to China and Hong Kong, and the incoming Mainland Chinese people should not carry it around wherever they go, especially in Singapore”, said Vincent Koh (name changed), who studies in a premier Singapore University.

The rising cost of living and realty prices led by the influx of Chinese

The reasons behind the middle-class Chinese citizens making the move to Singapore are manifold — political stability, economic growth, and access to a high quality of life, among other things.

In recent years, both China and Hong Kong have experienced a great deal of political turmoil and unrest, leading many residents to seek out a more stable and secure environment. Singapore is known for its stable political environment, as well as its rule of law and efficient government. This makes it a desirable destination for many people who want to escape the uncertainties and instability of their home countries.



Victor Cheng, a consultant for a real estate and relocation services advisory told India Today. “I see a definitive change in the cost of living and rental prices of houses, including HDBs.”

HDBs refer to public housing societies constructed by the Housing & Development Board of Singapore. They are like government quarters or government housing blocks built in India. Official HDB data shows that from Q4 in 2021 to Q4 in 2022, the average rental price increase has been around a whopping 34 per cent. This not only affects the locals but also affects white-collar ex-pats and foreign workers (including Indians) living in Singapore. Tenants face a difficult time renewing their lease/rental agreements as homeowners want to keep up with the trends of rising rental prices.
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“I see many young Chinese students and workers in Singapore renting out private condominiums and HDBs for higher rates, which has in turn driven the rent prices skywards”, added Victor. The attractive tax structure and a lack of fear on the surveillance front make Singapore the “Asian Switzerland” for many of these mainland Chinese.

As of 2021, Singapore just had a population of around 55 lakh. In such a context, an influx of a large group of rich families, students, and youngsters can certainly influence many aspects of a city-state country.

For instance, the registration of Rolls-Royce cars in Singapore skyrocketed in 2021 and 2022 and continues to remain at peak levels in 2023, causing waiting lists for these vehicles to extend for several years. According to showroom sources, the majority of new buyers are from China. Aside from cars, Chinese restaurants with Michelin stars may have difficulty securing a dinner reservation until September later this year.

As a result of this increase in business, private wealth managers and other financial services have experienced exponential growth. With the growth in scale, it has become practical for many major investment banks from the US, Europe, and Japan to transfer more senior staff to Singapore from Hong Kong.

Victor also spoke about the latest trend in the Chinese middle-class investing in Singapore with a view of moving there permanently or setting up homes for their kids to study in Singapore. The budget is usually around INR 6 to 10 crore (1.5-2 million Singapore dollars). While Hong Kong was the most preferred destination for such investors, anti-government protests have made them choose a quieter Singapore. Over the last year or so, many Mainland-Chinese families have been wary of settling in Hong Kong as they don’t feel secure enough interacting with locals there and feel their strong Chinese accent makes it difficult for them to integrate with locals in Hong Kong owing to their hatred towards the CCP and the Mainland Chinese.

To counter the number of foreigners buying private property in Singapore, the stamp duty rate for foreigners in Singapore was raised to 30 per cent after record increases in realty prices. This year especially has seen rental and house prices hit the roof much to the displeasure of Singapore locals.
ALSO READ 'Concerned' over India-China border tensions, says Germany’s NSA Plötner

How have the locals reacted to this situation?

Singaporeans are always vocal about their views, be it on the ground or on social media. With respect to the NTU fiasco, many locals including university students were livid and disappointed with how the student from China reacted to the use of the term “Lunar” instead of “Chinese”. Many attributed the behaviour to the way the CCP trains the mind of its citizens. Some of them also commented that if the Chinese students did not like how Singapore celebrated its festivals, they could discontinue their studies and go back to China.

Albert Tan, a local Singaporean commented: “I don't know who this Chinese student is who is unhappy with the use of lunar new year instead of Chinese New Year. This student should remain in China instead of studying in Singapore. Then he can enjoy every festive season in China. It's quite shameful that being a Chinese national, he does not even know why the term "Lunar New Year" is used since its inception about 3,800 years ago. Chinese chose the 1st day of the lunar calendar for ancestors’ worship. Today, it becomes a holiday for family gatherings and sharing blessings with loved ones.”

Nevin Thomas (name changed), a local Singaporean shared his views on the large influx of PRC citizens. He uses the popular aphorism, “The rich get richer, the poor get poorer”. He is worried about the rise in the cost of living and how incomers are flashy when it comes to showcasing their wealth. He said, “Every neighbourhood now sees people driving around in flashy new cars, partying hard and not even trying to integrate themselves into the current societal standards or culture”.

It is also true that even though the major race-ethnicity of Singapore is that of the Chinese race, they do not see themselves as part of China, contrary to the “One China” theory promoted by the CCP. The Singaporean Chinese have a culture of their own that is unique to Singapore, which also amalgamates the cultural values and ethos of Malays and Indians.

Chin Han, a Singaporean blogger wrote: “If incoming foreigners who want to settle or study in Singapore do not want to embrace the local way of doing things, it’s these people that Singaporeans don’t want. They are the ones who are trying to undermine Singapore’s culture by making it seem like we are a Chinese country. They like to conveniently forget that Singapore is multicultural. They also want to link everything back to China. If you’re not happy about this and if you love your country so much, you can just choose to stay in China. Who are you to make such a fuss!”

From “Pratas” to “Chicken Rice” to “Nasi Goreng”, Singapore has built a harmonious society for years under the leadership of the late Lee Kuan Yew who is referred to as the father of Singapore. Any change or any external influence that tries to spoil the status quo is unlikely to be taken lightly.
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--- ENDS ---
Australia mine collapse: Two men missing at Dugald River

It is believed the men's vehicle fell 25m when the mine collapsed

By Tom Housden
BBC News, Sydney

A search is under way for two men who have been missing for more than 24 hours after a Queensland mine collapse.

The men were driving 125m (410ft) underground inside the Dugald River mine near Cloncurry when the ground gave way on Wednesday, local media say.

They fell 25m into a void, but a third person they were working with escaped and raised the alarm.

Their vehicle has been located using a drone, but rescuers have found no sign of the missing men.

The pair have not responded to efforts to contact them by radio.

The men - named in local media reports as Dylan Langridge and Trevor Davis - are believed to be "fly-in, fly-out workers", a common practice in parts of Australia where staff are flown temporarily to remote work sites.

All operations at the zinc mine have been halted as the search intensifies, mine owner MMG said.

MMG's parent company Perenti said rescuers worked all night using heavy equipment to gain access to the vehicle.

And on Thursday morning a spokesman for the mine said a mission had begun to recover it from below.

"We expect that this process will take some time," he said, adding, "our thoughts remain very strongly with the families of our missing colleagues."

In a statement, Perenti CEO Mark Norwell said rescue teams were focused on resolving the "evolving" situation "as quickly and safely as possible".

"Everyone at Perenti is feeling the impact of this incident and whilst we hold deep concerns for the safety of our colleagues, we continue to be hopeful that a positive outcome can be achieved."
Sydney WorldPride launches biggest event in city since Olympics

Kat Wong14:13, Feb 16 2023

ANNA KUCERA/SUPPLIED
Sydney WorldPride creative director Ben Graetz (in drag as his alter ego Miss Ellaneous).

With rainbow trains and trams at the ready, the stage is set for WorldPride to take over Sydney, Australia for the harbour city's biggest event since the 2000 Olympics.

The 17-day celebration of the LGBTQI community opens on Friday with 500,000 visitors expected to attend some 300 free and ticketed events.

Arts Minister Ben Franklin says the festivities will give Sydney "a rainbow-coloured shot in the arm".

"We're all holding hands to show the world what an extraordinary city this is - that it is truly vibrant and inclusive and diverse," he said on Thursday.


Rainbow-wrapped trams and trains will take visitors to a variety of events including Fair Day, an all-day extravaganza of food, shopping and picnic opportunities.


Locations around Sydney's CBD are painted as a rainbow display.

The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade will celebrate its 45th anniversary when it takes the street party back to its spiritual home on Oxford Street on February 25.

The celebrations will conclude with the Pride March on March 5, when 50,000 people will walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in a show of global equality.

Sydney WorldPride CEO Kate Wickett says everyone is invited.

"There are going to be parties. Lots and lots of them," she told reporters.

"Parties, performance art, theatre, comedy, sports - you name it, we've got it because you're all invited.

"The city will be abuzz and alive with colour and we couldn't be more proud."

However, Wickett says WorldPride is more than a month-long jamboree.

1000 Sydneysiders create a Progress Pride flag at the Opera House

"We're a party with purpose," she said.

The harbour city will also host the southern hemisphere's largest-ever LGBTQI human rights conference.

More than 1500 activists, commissioners and politicians, including United States envoy Jessica Stern, will discuss issues affecting the queer community around the world.

"Sydney is a wonderful and open city for all and we want to share that with the world," Wickett said.

"We are a beacon and we have a responsibility to help others."

Sydney Mardi Gras CEO Albert Kruger says the event is also an opportunity to shine a light on issues on Sydney's doorstep.

"Here in NSW, the home of Mardi Gras, religious schools can still discriminate against LGBTQI students and teachers," he said.

"Trans and gender diverse people face cruel barriers accessing identity documents and LGBTQI people are still subject to conversion practices," he said.

"We still have a long way to go and this is indeed a vehicle for protest and change."
Pablo Neruda died with toxic bacteria in his body, say forensic scientists
SCIENCE REPORTER

Judge Paola Plaza speaks to reporters in Santiago, Chile, on Feb. 15, after receiving a report by international forensic experts regarding the cause of death of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.

The Chilean poet Pablo Neruda died with toxic bacteria in his body, scientists have found, a result that is consistent with – though not proof of – allegations that the Nobel laureate and diplomat was poisoned soon after a military coup toppled Chile’s government in 1973.

After a detailed analysis, parallel teams working in Canada and Denmark found DNA belonging to Clostridium botulinum in a single molar and in bone fragments that were sampled in 2015 after the poet’s body was ordered exhumed.

The neurotoxin-producing species, which causes botulism, is one of the most dangerous pathogens known.

“We’re feeling very confident that it was present in his body when he died,” said Debi Poinar, a research associate with McMaster University’s Ancient DNA laboratory in Hamilton, who led the Canadian part of the investigation.

Researchers hope Pablo Neruda's bones hold answer to poet's death

Ms. Poinar was among the experts who presented their findings to a Chilean tribunal on Wednesday. Although the hearing was not open to the press, lawyers had leaked news earlier in the week that suggested forensic teams had verified that Mr. Neruda was poisoned.

“We made it clear that we could not say that,” Ms. Poinar said. She added that further investigations could help remove some of the remaining ambiguity around the poet’s death.

Born in 1904, Mr. Neruda was internationally celebrated for his literary works, including Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, first published in 1924. A prominent left-wing intellectual and avowed communist, he served as Chile’s ambassador to France from 1970 to 1972 during the government of president Salvador Allende.

He died on Sept. 23, 1973, just 12 days after the U.S.-backed coup that swept Mr. Allende from power and hours after he returned home from a clinic where he suspected that he had been injected with something.

The suspicion that Mr. Neruda was the victim of a covert assassination is long-standing. It is bolstered by the fact that Clostridium botulinum is a known biological weapon that was employed by agents of general Augusto Pinochet, who ruled Chile following the coup until 1990. In 2021, five ex-officials of the regime were convicted of using the toxic bacteria to poison a group of political prisoners who were held in a Santiago jail in 1981.

In 2017, the McMaster team helped to determine that Mr. Neruda did not die of prostate cancer, which has been listed as his official cause of death.

Together with their Danish counterparts, the team was then able to demonstrate the presence of Clostridium botulinum after collecting and reconstructing fragments of bacterial DNA from Mr. Neruda’s remains, in particular the interior of the tooth that they sampled.

In their investigation, researchers turned up the DNA of other bacteria, including those that cause tooth decay, and another species associated with a urinary-tract infection that the poet is known to have had. This added to the team’s confidence that they were sampling microbes that were present in Mr. Neruda’s blood when he died rather than those that may have shown up long after his burial.

“We think we’ve done a pretty good job of creating a picture of what the microbial life of his blood was at the time of death,” Ms. Poinar said.

But the result was not enough to make firm conclusions about the cause of Mr. Neruda’s death because, unlike some human pathogens, Clostridium botulinum can also live in soil.

To eliminate the possibility, the McMaster team then tested soil samples obtained from around the burial site. They were not able to find a match with the Clostridium botulinum present in Mr. Neruda’s body.

The team also undertook a more detailed exploration of the DNA they retrieved to see if they could identify the genes associated with the neurotoxin that is produced by the deadliest strains of the Clostridium botulinum. However, the team was only able to reconstruct about one-third of the bacterial genome that lacked most of the genes required to enable the toxin. This meant the result was not enough, on its own, to say that Mr. Neruda had been killed by the bacterium.

“We got some really interesting scientific information on this thing, but it’s not definitive. It doesn’t tell us what happened,” said Charles Brenner, an expert panel member and forensic mathematician affiliated with the University of California Berkeley Human Rights Center.

Dr. Brenner added that the result was still a big step forward, considering that “up to now there was nothing but rumours.”

In their report, the McMaster team said that another avenue of investigation would be to sample the remains of those prisoners who were known to have died of Clostridium botulinum in 1981. If the bacteria that killed them were to match the one that was found in connection with Mr. Neruda, it would provide a definitive link to the Pinochet regime, since the chance of two genetically identical strains showing up under such circumstances would be astronomically small.

“It would be a slam dunk,” Ms. Poinar said.
OFF ON A WILD CONSPIRACY CHASE
House Judiciary Committee subpoenas Big Tech executives as content moderation probe escalates
Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, speaks during a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on what Republicans say is the politicization of the FBI and Justice Department and attacks on American civil liberties, on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023, in Washington.

By Joseph Clark - The Washington Times - Wednesday, February 15, 2023

The House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed executives from the five major U.S. technology firms on Wednesday as the panel deepens its probe into alleged collusion between Big Tech and the federal government to suppress free speech.

Committee Chairman Jim Jordan is demanding that the chief executive officers from Facebook parent, Meta Platforms; Google parent, Alphabet; Microsoft; Apple and Amazon.com turn over any communication between their companies and the federal government relating to content moderation or suppression.

In letters accompanying the subpoenas, Mr. Jordan wrote that his committee aims to “understand how and to what extent the Executive Branch coerced and colluded with companies and other intermediaries to censor speech.” He said the goal is to develop new legislation “such as the possible enactment of new statutory limits on the Executive Branch’s ability to work with Big Tech to restrict the circulation of content and deplatform users.”

Mr. Jordan, Ohio Republican, requested last year that the companies cooperate voluntarily with a Republican-led probe into the matter, before the GOP gained the majority in the House, giving the party subpoena power.

The companies failed adequately to respond “without compulsory process,” the chairman wrote.

Not included in the list of CEOs receiving subpoenas is Elon Musk, who began releasing a trove of internal documents following his takeover of Twitter. The documents revealed the liberal bent among Twitter employees that led to suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story on the platform weeks before the 2020 presidential election and the suspension of former President Donald Trump’s account days after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

Republicans have long suspected a concerted effort on behalf of the platforms to silence conservative voices online through so-called shadow bans or by bending internal content moderation policy to outright ban certain users. Those suspicions have largely been proven true, in Twitter’s case, by Mr. Musk’s steady drip of internal documents.

The “Twitter Files” have also unveiled the extent to which the platform’s executives worked with federal law enforcement and intelligence officials to moderate content.

Republicans on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee grilled Twitter’s former chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde, former deputy general counsel James Baker and former head of trust and safety Yoel Roth in a hearing earlier this month focused on their decision to suppress The New York Post’s story on Oct. 14, 2020, exposing the Hunter Biden laptop.

The executives told lawmakers that they made a mistake when they censored the Hunter Biden laptop computer story weeks before the 2020 presidential election, but they brushed off accusations that they were directed to do so by the federal government.

Mr. Jordan, who also serves on the oversight panel, seized on the witnesses as they dismissed concerns that the government was involved. He noted that the FBI held weekly meetings with Twitter executives before the company suppressed the Post’s report.

In his letters on Wednesday, Mr. Jordan noted the “benchmark” that Mr. Musk set on “how transparent Big Tech companies can be about interactions with government over censorship.”

“The Twitter Files have exposed how Big Tech and the federal government have worked hand in hand in ways that undermine First Amendment principles,” he said. “Numerous internal documents from Twitter reflect the weaponization of the federal government’s power to censor speech online.”

He said it is “necessary for Congress to gauge the extent to which this occurred” at the five other companies as well.

Democrats have dismissed the Republican-led probes into Big Tech as a political stunt and have gone on the attack against Mr. Jordan, specifically, for doling out subpoenas after bucking those sent his way by the Democrat-led House Jan. 6 committee.

“He is playing partisan politics in the most obvious and ham-handed way,” Congressional Integrity Project Executive Director Kyle Herrig said of Mr. Jordan. “After defying his own subpoena to appear before the committee investigating an insurrection against the United States, an insurrection that he lent a hand in, Jordan is handing out subpoenas like candy on Halloween.”


• Joseph Clark can be reached at jclark@washingtontimes.com.

HUBRIS

Starbucks' Schultz declines to appear before Senate panel

Starbucks’ interim CEO Howard Schutz has declined a request to appear before a Senate committee seeking to question him about the coffee chain’s response to an ongoing unionization campaign at the company’s U.S. stores

ByDEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer
February 15, 2023, 

Starbucks’ interim CEO Howard Schutz has declined a request to appear before a Senate committee seeking to question him about the coffee chain's response to an ongoing unionization campaign at the company's U.S. stores.

In declining the call from the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Shultz earned a stern rebuke from the committee’s chairman, Sen. Bernie Sanders.

“Apparently, it is easier for Mr. Schultz to fire workers who are exercising their constitutional right to form unions and to intimidate others who may be interested in joining a union than to answer questions from elected officials,” Sanders, a Vermont Independent, said Wednesday in a statement.

The Vermont Independent sent a letter to Schultz earlier this month asking him to appear March 9 for a hearing about the unionization campaign and Starbucks' “compliance with federal labor law.” The letter was signed by the committee’s 10 Democrats.

At least 286 company-owned U.S. Starbucks stores have voted to unionize since late 2021. Starbucks doesn’t support the effort, and the process has been contentious. Regional officers for the National Labor Relations Board have filed 76 complaints against the company for various issues, including failure to bargain. Starbucks, meanwhile, has filed 86 unfair labor practice charges against the union, Starbucks Workers United.

In its own letter sent to the committee on Tuesday, Starbucks noted that Schultz __ a longtime Starbucks CEO who came out of retirement last year to assume the interim CEO job __ will be transitioning out of that role at the end of March. Laxman Narasimhan, a former PepsiCo executive, will become Starbucks’ new CEO on April 1. Schultz will remain on the company’s board.

Seattle-based Starbucks said AJ Jones II, Starbucks’ chief public affairs officer, would be better suited to discussing the unionization campaign since he has been more closely involved. The company also said it has been bargaining to reach a contract agreement at more than 200 stores that have voted to unionize.

It’s unclear how the committee will proceed. In his statement Wednesday, Sanders said he intended to “hold Mr. Schultz and Starbucks accountable for their unacceptable behavior and look forward to seeing him before our committee.”

The committee has the power to subpoena Schultz, but it’s not yet clear if it will use it. A message seeking comment was emailed to a committee spokesman Wednesday.

REST IN POWER
Raquel Welch, star of ‘One Million Years B.C.’ and ‘The Three Musketeers,’ dies at 82

BYMARK KENNEDY AND THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
February 15, 2023 


Raquel Welch, whose emergence from the sea in a skimpy, furry bikini in the film “One Million Years B.C.” would propel her to international sex symbol status throughout the 1960s and ’70s, has died. She was 82.

Welch died early Wednesday after a brief illness, according to her agent, Stephen LaManna of the talent agency Innovative Artists.

Welch’s breakthrough came in 1966’s campy prehistoric flick “One Million Years B.C.,” despite having a grand total of three lines. Clad in a brown doeskin bikini, she successfully evaded pterodactyls but not the notice of the public.

“I just thought it was a goofy dinosaur epic we’d be able to sweep under the carpet one day,” she told The Associated Press in 1981. “Wrong. It turned out that I was the Bo Derek of the season, the lady in the loin cloth about whom everyone said, ‘My God, what a bod’ and they expected to disappear overnight.”

She did not, playing Lust for the comedy team of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore in their film “Bedazzled” in 1967 and playing a secret agent in the sexy spy spoof “Fathom” that same year.




Her curves and beauty captured pop culture attention, with Playboy crowning her the “most desired woman” of the ’70s, despite never being completely naked in the magazine. In 2013, she graced the No. 2 spot on Men’s Health’s “Hottest Women of All Time” list. In the film “The Shawshank Redemption,” a poster of Welch is used to cover an escape tunnel, the last of three women he used images of after Rita Hayworth and Marilyn Monroe.

In addition to acting, Welch was a singer and dancer. She surprised many critics — and won positive reviews — when she starred in the 1981 musical “Woman of the Year” on Broadway, replacing a vacationing Lauren Bacall. She returned to the Great White Way in 1997 in “Victor/Victoria.”

She knew that some people didn’t take her seriously because of her glamorous image. “I’m not Penny Marshall or Barbra Streisand,” she told the AP in 1993. “They’ll say, ‘Raquel Welch wants to direct? Give me a break.”‘

Welch was born Jo-Raquel Tejada in Chicago and raised in La Jolla, California. (The Jo in her name was from her mother, Josephine). Welch was a divorced mother when she met ex-actor turned press agent, Patrick Curtis.

“The irony of it all is that even though people thought of me as a sex symbol, in reality I was a single mother of two small children!” she wrote in her autobiography, “Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage.”

Curtis became her manager and second husband and helped shape her into a glamor-girl with hundreds of magazine covers and a string of movies, plus exercise videos and books like “The Raquel Welch Total Beauty and Fitness Program.”

Though she would appear in exploitative films, she also surprised many in the industry with fine performances, including in Richard Lester’s “The Three Musketeers,” which earned her a Golden Globe, and opposite James Coco in “Wild Party.” She was also nominated for a Globe in 1988 for the TV movie “Right to Die.”

Married and divorced four times, she is survived by two children, Damon Welch and Tahnee Welch, who also became an actress, including landing a featured role in 1985’s “Cocoon.”

SHE PLAYED A TRANS WOMAN
IN MYRA BRECKENRIDGE



https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/raquel-welshs-sex-change-calamity-making-myra-breckinridge-worst

 

Jun 22, 2020 ... Raquel Welch's sex-change calamity: the making of Myra Breckinridge, ... and a San Francisco transsexual known as 'Bunny' Breckinridge, ...

https://www.advocate.com/news/daily-news/2012/02/09/raquel-welch-myra-breckinridge-mae-west-janis-joplin

 

Feb 9, 2012 ... Actress Raquel Welch calls her 1970 film version of Myra Breckinridge, in which she played a transgender woman, a "stinker" and hopes ...


https://groovyhistory.com/mae-west-raquel-welch-myra-breckinridge-facts-trivia

Aug 17, 2020 ... In 1970 20th Century Fox thought it had a hit on its hands with Myra Breckinridge, an X-Rated sex comedy starring Raquel Welch and Mae West ...

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/raquel-welch-dead-star-one-million-years-bc-myra-breckinridge-1235326714

2 hours ago ... Raquel Welch, a Hollywood sex symbol and '60s actress famous for her ... as Lilian Lust in (1967), as a transgender revolutionary in Myra ...

https://www.out.com/entertainment/popnography/2012/02/09/catching-raquel-welch

Feb 9, 2012 ... Before we even have the chance to gather our courage and ask film legend Raquel Welch about the infamous movie flop Myra Breckinridge--which ...



New discovery to bulk up gluten-free fibre supplement

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE

Scientists have for the first time constructed the reference genome for the source of the popular fibre supplement, psyllium husk, which could boost supplies of the versatile plant-derived product.

University of Adelaide experts conducted research on psyllium, also known as Plantago ovata.

“We extracted and sequenced the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) from leaf tissue to construct the chromosome-level reference genome for Plantago ovata and used ribonucleic acid (RNA) from other parts of the plant to predict the function of its genes,” said the University of Adelaide’s Professor Rachel Burton, a researcher from the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine.

“This is a significant development because it will pave the way for improvements to the quality and quantity of psyllium crops.”

DNA is the molecule that contains genetic information needed for the development and functioning of an organism while RNA acts as a messenger, carrying instructions from DNA to build proteins.

This finding has been published in the journal Scientific Reports and is the result of a decade-long investigation by University of Adelaide researchers into the genetic makeup of the plant.

Psyllium has been used for food and medicinal purposes for thousands of years.

The seeds of the plant are milled to produce a soluble fibre used in pharmaceuticals and supplements to improve gut health and control blood cholesterol.

Psyllium is also a common ingredient in gluten-free food. The seeds and their husks are naturally gluten-free and when mixed with water, produce a sticky substance that replicates some of the functions of gluten in bread.

This quality makes psyllium an essential ingredient in gluten-free bread and it can be used in a whole range of other baked goods. With the market size of gluten-free foods expected to reach USD$8.3 billion in 2025, demand for psyllium is predicted to increase.

The plant is highly susceptible to changes in environmental conditions and diseases which not only affects the yield, but also the price and quality of this valuable commodity.

“To date, efforts to improve the quality and quantity of psyllium husk have been hampered by the lack of a reference genome,” said the University of Adelaide’s Dr James Cowley, who is also from the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine and co-authored this study.

“The development of a high-quality Plantago ovata reference genome will not only help to boost breeding programs but will also support lab-based experiments to better understand how carbohydrates in plants are constructed so we can tailor them for food and pharmaceutical uses.”

First author Dr Lina Herliana conducted this research while pursuing her PhD at the University of Adelaide’s Waite Campus.

“We predict the availability of this reference genome will lead to the development of new cultivars with higher yields that are more adaptable to environmental conditions. This will stabilise the production of psyllium products and seed or husk prices,” said Dr Herliana.

The long-term project to understand the fundamental biology of psyllium was supported by an Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence and Linkage Project.

It is expected that this discovery will accelerate further research into genetic improvement and breeding of psyllium.

Soil restoration the key to better health and wellbeing in urban areas

City-dwellers disadvantaged by loss of biodiversity in the environment

Peer-Reviewed Publication

FLINDERS UNIVERSITY

Flinders University 

IMAGE: DR CRAIG LIDDICOAT, LEFT, AND ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR MARTIN BREED WITH ONE OF THE EDIBLE GARDENS ESTABLISHED FOR STUDENTS AND STAFF AT FLINDERS UNIVERSITY’S BEDFORD PARK CAMPUS IN ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. view more 

CREDIT: FLINDERS UNIVERSITY

From China’s mega-cities to Australia’s sprawling suburbs, scientists are calling for grassroots action to raise awareness about the role of soil biodiversity to promote better human health and wellbeing.

Loss of urban biodiversity, declining green open spaces and increasing pollution in urban ecosystems around the world are reducing citizens’ exposure to the age-old beneficial elements of soil microbes to promote immunity and reduce allergies and other illnesses including asthma in humans, warn experts from China, Europe and Flinders University in South Australia in a new article in the journal njp Urban Sustainability.

“With 70% of the human population expected to live in cities by 2050, we argue that we need to maintain contact with healthy soil both indoors and outdoors to maintain and improve immune fitness, help to suppress pathogens and benefit the human microbiome,” says the first author Professor Xin Sun, who leads the Urban Soil Ecology Group at the Institute of Urban Environment at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

“The potential for improving human health by enhancing urban soil biodiversity is an important yet little understood field of fundamental and applied research,” she says.

She joined colleague Professor Yong-Guan Zhu, Director General of the Institute of Urban Environment, Dr Stefan Geisen and colleagues from Germany’s University of Göttingen, Russia and the Netherlands, as well as experts from Flinders University College of Science and Engineering in drawing attention to the importance of soil biodiversity to human health – along side its vital role in producing food and greenery in urban settings. 

“Unfortunately, land management linked to urbanisation, surface sealing, compaction, pollution and removal of vegetation can adversely affect soil biodiversity which traditionally have been one of Earth’s largest reservoirs of biological diversity,” says Flinders University collaborator on the study, restoration genomics researcher Dr Craig Liddicoat.

“Cities are seeing the collapse of the natural environment, destablised food webs and rapid changes to soil biodiversity, which in turn risks creating unhealthy urban environments,” says Associate Professor Martin Breed, who is working with New Zealand’s University of Waikato to investigate 'restoring health-promoting soil biodiversity'.

“We need to revisit strategies to rebuild the quality and exposure to soils via restoration and work on more creative ways of greening and rewilding our cities to improve not only the environment, but also our own health,” he says.

As well as large urban parks, researchers point out that private backyards, potted indoor plants, and even road verges, footpaths and green roofs and walls can all elevate exposure to soil – in tandem with efforts to remediate and remove soil pollutants to regain a balance of soil biodiversity necessary for more healthy city environments.

Conserving and restoring biodiverse green spaces and establishing more green infrastructure benefit the maintance of soil health by increasing soil biodiversity, suppressing soil pathogens and antibiotic resistance bacteria and reducing the amount of the microorganisms associated with methane and nitrous oxide emissions.

Appropriate management of soil biodiversity in cities can reduce the risk of immune-mediated diseases and improve human health in cities via reducing pathogens, purifying soil pollutants, as well as enhancing the human immunoregulation and modulating the human microbiome, the research concludes (see attached Figure 2).

The article, ‘Harnessing soil biodiversity to promote human health in cities’ (2023) by Xin Sun, Craig Liddicoat, Alexei Tiunov, Bin Wang, Yiyue Zhang, Changyi Lu, Zhipeng Li, Stefan Scheu, Martin F Breed, Stefan Geisen and Yong-Guan Zhu has been published in npj Urban Sustainability (Nature Partner Journals, Stringer Nature) DOI: 10.1038/s42949-023-00086-0