Amendment would ban ‘servitude’ by California prison inmates

By DON THOMPSON

February 25, 2021

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FILE - In this Aug. 17, 2020, file photo, inmate firefighters - notable by their bright orange fire gear compared to the yellow worn by professional firefighters - prepare to take on the River Fire in Salinas, Calif. California could change its constitutional ban on slavery to remove the words "unless for the punishment of crime," further reducing the state's already faltering dependence on thousands of inmate firefighters, under a proposed amendment backed Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, by local officials and actor-activist Danny Glover. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California relies on thousands of inmates to fight massive wildfires, churn out vehicle license plates, mop prison floors and myriad other tasks — all for wages that rarely top a few dollars a day.

Opponents want to end what they call a visage of slavery. They propose to amend the state Constitution’s ban on indentured servitude to remove an exemption for people who are being punished for crimes.

Prison labor predominantly affects Black and Latino people who make up the majority of inmates, San Francisco Supervisor Matt Haney said Thursday. He is asking the Board of Supervisors to become the first to formally back the overhaul proposed by Democratic Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager of Los Angeles.

“Even through the COVID-19 pandemic, California inmates have been forced to work for as low as 8 cents per hour,” he said. “Many have been on the front lines fighting our increasingly dangerous wildfires, earning just $2 to $6 a day.”

California has long depended on inmate firefighters to help battle increasingly monstrous wildfires. But their numbers have dwindled in recent years as the state has eased sentencing laws and shifted more offenders to county custody instead of state prisons.

Along with daily wages of $2.90 to $5.12, depending on skill level, inmate firefighters get an additional $1 an hour when assigned to emergencies, corrections officials said.

The state also depends on inmates to work as cooks, custodians, gardeners and many other roles that keep the prison system running from day to day.

Inmates also work for the Prison Industry Authority, which has produced most of the prison system’s protective equipment during the pandemic along with more traditional products such as vehicle license plates, furniture, road signs, clothing and numerous food products.

Ending such programs “would be devastating to California, especially on the fire crews,” said Nina Salarno, president of Crime Victims United of California. “This law would hurt rehabilitation efforts ... because you are then taking away incentives for inmates to learn skills and trades so they can come back into society and be self-sufficient.”

State officials did not comment on the proposal to end the practice, but the authority promotes the programs as training inmates to be “job ready” upon release. Those inmates “are getting jobs and paying taxes. For every inmate that does not return, taxpayers save money!” it says on its website.

Inmates who apply to work for the authority receive credits toward earlier release, along with the potential for industry certifications in fields such as comoputer coding, welding or metal working. Nearly 4,700 inmates are currently in the program, which has space for more than 6,700 inmates.

They are generally paid 40 cents to $1 an hour, though the limited number who work for private companies while serving their sentences receive industry-comparable wages.

Legal Services for Prisoners with Children executive director Dorsey Nunn, who co-founded the reform group All of Us or None, was sentenced to life in prison when he was 19 then paroled in 1981.

He disputed the benefits of the prison work while arguing that an amendment would do more to promote racial equity and healing than recent efforts to rename schools and tear down statues of controversial figures.

“People actually thought that my rehabilitation was occurring because they were forcing me to work. Actually, involuntary servitude gives work a bad name,” Nunn said. “You can’t volunteer when you’re being forced to do this stuff. Nobody in their right mind in the state of California would take a job if they was paying you 15 cents an hour or seven cents an hour or $2 a day.”

He and other proponents hope a change in the California Constitution would eventually lead to a similar ban in the U.S. Constitution. The state’s current wording dates from 1974 and reads, “Slavery is prohibited. Involuntary servitude is prohibited except to punish crime.”

The proposed amendment would change the wording to, “Slavery and involuntary servitude are prohibited.”

George Galvis, co-founder of All of Us or None and executive director of Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, said there still could be room under the change for prison work and rehabilitation programs leading to jobs.

“The key word is ‘involuntary,’” Galvis said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that there won’t be employment or vocational programs and opportunities,” but he said inmates should be paid competitively.

The good job-training programs now benefit relatively few of California’s 95,000 inmates, argued Nunn, while “half the people that work in the prison are sweeping, picking up paper and doing other stuff. It’s no great skill being taught and they’re being paid pennies on the day.”

Putting the amendment before voters would take a two-thirds vote in both chambers of the Legislature, where Democrats hold such an edge. Proponents noted that similar changes have already been adopted in the more conservative states of Colorado, Nebraska and Utah.

The Abolish Slavery National Network says similar efforts are underway in New Jersey and South Carolina. Changing the U.S. Constitution would take approval from two-thirds of states.

Riverside County Supervisor Manny Perez intends to bring up a resolution supporting the California effort when his board meets March 9. He called inmate labor part of “the lingering legacy of slavery.”

 

Virginia lawmakers vote to legalize marijuana in 2024

By DENISE LAVOIE and SARAH RANKIN59 minutes ago

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Sen. Jeremy McPike, D-Prince William, left, Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, center and Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, right, confer on marijuana legislation before the floor session of the Virginia Senate, which is meeting inside the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond, Va., Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021. (Bob Brown/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia lawmakers gave final approval Saturday to a bill that will legalize marijuana for adult recreational use, but not until 2024, when retail sales of the drug would also begin.

With a compromise bill clearing the House and Senate, Virginia becomes the first Southern state to vote to legalize marijuana, joining 15 other states and the District of Columbia. The legislation now goes to Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, who supports legalization.

The bill was a top priority for Democrats, who framed legalization as a necessary step to end the disparate treatment of people of color under current marijuana laws. But talks between Democrats in the House and Senate grew tense in recent days, and a compromise version of the massive bill did not emerge publicly until late Saturday afternoon.

“It’s been a lot of work to get here, but I would say that we’re on the path to an equitable law allowing responsible adults to use cannabis,” said Sen. Adam Ebbin, the chief sponsor of the Senate bill.

Several Democrats said they hoped Northam would send the legislation back to them with amendments, including speeding up the date for legalization.

“If we have already made the decision that simple possession should be repealed, we could have done that today and ended the disproportionate fines on communities of color,” said Sen. Jennifer McClellan.

“Let’s be absolutely clear — this bill is not legalization, and there are a lot of steps between here and legalization,” she said.

Northam’s spokeswoman, Alena Yarmosky, said the governor “looks forward to continuing to improve this legislation.”

“There’s still a lot of work ahead, but this bill will help to reinvest in our communities and reduce inequities in our criminal justice system,” she said.

Under the legislation, possession of up to an ounce (28.3 grams) of marijuana will become legal beginning Jan. 1, 2024, at the same time sales will begin and regulations will go into effect to control the marijuana marketplace in Virginia.

Under a provision Senate Democrats insisted on, the legislation will include a reenactment clause that will require a second vote from the General Assembly next year, but only on the regulatory framework and criminal penalties for several offenses, including underage use and public consumption of marijuana. A second vote will not be required on legalization.

The Senate had sought to legalize simple possession this year to immediately end punishments for people with small amounts of marijuana, but House Democrats argued that legalization without a legal market for marijuana could promote the growth of the black market.

Lawmakers last year decriminalized marijuana, making simple possession a civil penalty that can be punished by a fine of no more than $25.

House Majority Leader Charniele Herring said that while the legislation isn’t perfect, it was a “justice bill.”

“This moves us in a ... direction to strike down and to address those institutional barriers, and over-policing, over-arrests, over-convictions of African Americans who do not use marijuana at a higher rate than our white counterparts, but we seem to get the brunt of criminal convictions,” Herring said.

A recent study by the legislature’s research and watchdog agency found that from 2010-2019, the average arrest rate of Black individuals for marijuana possession was 3.5 times higher than the arrest rate for white individuals. The study also found that Black people were convicted at a rate 3.9 times higher than white people.

The bill calls for dedicating 30% of marijuana tax revenue — after program costs — to a Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund. The money would be used to help communities that have been historically over-policed for marijuana crimes, with funds going toward scholarships, workforce development and job placement services, and low- or no-interest loans for qualified cannabis businesses.

Virginians who have a marijuana-related conviction, have family members with a conviction, or live in an area that is economically distressed could qualify as social equity applicants who would get preference for licenses to get into the marijuana marketplace as cultivators, wholesalers, processors and retailers.

The largest portion of the tax revenue from marijuana sales would go toward funding pre-K for at-risk kids.

The bill drew sharp criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia and and other racial justice advocacy groups.

“Today, the Virginia General Assembly failed to legalize marijuana for racial justice. Lawmakers paid lip service to the communities that have suffered decades of harm caused by the racist War on Drugs with legislation that falls short of equitable reform and delays justice,” the ACLU said in a tweet.

Groups that opposed legalization entirely have said they are concerned that it could result in an increase in drug-impaired driving crashes and the use of marijuana among youth.

Republican lawmakers spoke against the measure Saturday night, saying such a critical issue deserved a less rushed approach.

“I would say there are not more than two or three members of this body that have a clue about the comprehensiveness of what this bill does,” said Senate Minority Leader Tommy Norment.

Invading retrovirus linked to high rates of lymphoma, leukemia among koalas


A novel retrovirus is rapidly rewriting the koala genome, and researchers say it is causing high numbers of cancers in the animals. File Photo by Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 26 (UPI) -- A novel retrovirus is rapidly rewriting the koala genome, and new research -- published Friday in the journal Nature Communications -- suggests the virus, known as the koala retrovirus, or KoRV, is responsible for elevated rates of lymphoma, leukemia and other cancers among northern Australia's koala population.

Like HIV and other retroviruses, KoRV makes copies and inserts its DNA into the host's genome. These mutations can cause health problems.

The genomes of almost all animals, including humans, contain the remnants of past "germ line" infections. Because most of these infections -- identified by degraded viral fragments -- occurred millions of years ago, figuring out how they might have impacted animal health is near impossible.

Koalas, on the other hand, have provided scientists the opportunity to study a retrovirus invasion in real-time.

In Australia and New Zealand, koalas are regularly attacked by dogs and hit by cars. As a result, large numbers of koalas are rescued and rehabilitated -- and tested for diseases.

"The koalas undergo thorough diagnostic procedures under general anaesthetic performed by experienced wildlife veterinarians which allows diagnosis of tumors or cancer," lead study author Gayle McEwen, scientist at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, told UPI in an email.

As a result of this practice, cancer rates among koalas are well documented. Captive and rescued koalas are also regularly tested for KoRV.

RELATED Koala virus could explain junk DNA in the human genome

Because retroviruses have been shown to cause cancer in other animals, researchers hypothesized that KoRV was to blame for elevated cancer rates in koalas.

To confirm the connection, researchers sequenced DNA from wild koalas diagnosed with cancer. Genomic analysis revealed the locations where KoRV had inserted its DNA.

By comparing retrovirus insertion sites between healthy koalas and koalas with cancer, as well as genetic differences between healthy and tumor tissues in individual koalas, researchers identified a strong correlation between KoRV mutations and genes causing cancers common among koalas.

RELATED Remains of leukemia ancestor found in bat genome

When comparing the genomes of different koalas, researchers found KoRV insertion sites varied dramatically. Among the genomes of humans and other animals, the signatures of ancient germ line infection are mostly found in the same places in any two individuals.

"Over time, endogenous retroviruses accumulate mutations and become degraded and so there will be fewer re-integration events and only some specific integrations will remain in the population until eventually all individuals in the population have integrations at the same loci -- ones which don't have a highly deleterious effect," McEwen said.

The diversity of KoRV mutations found in koala genomes confirmed the retrovirus infection is still in its earliest stages. That's bad news for koalas.

"The constant generation of new integrations increases the likelihood that they will land someplace harmful, such as in oncogenes," co-author Alex Greenwood, professor of wildlife diseases at Leibniz-IZW, told UPI.

An oncogene is a gene that has the potential to cause cancer.

Despite the diversity of KoRV insertion sites revealed by the latest analysis, researchers were surprised to find that KoRV mutations were concentrated around certain hotspots.

The proteins that guide the viral DNA insertion process seem to prefer certain sequences in a host's genome.

"Many of the genes that are hotspots are very active -- meaning the DNA tends to be 'open' and accessible," Greenwood said.

Unfortunately, some of the more open, or active, sites on the genome are those that host large concentrations of genes related to cell proliferation.

Because KoRV mutations can affect germ line cells, they can rapidly spread through animal populations."With a normal germ line mutation, there is a 50:50 chance that it will be passed on to offspring from the parent carrying that mutation. However, with KoRV, it can frequently generate new integrations in individuals," McEwen said.

"As multiple KoRV integrations build up, then the chance of any progeny inheriting at least one endogenous KoRV integration from an affected parent becomes more than 50 percent, and this will continue to rise with further integrations," McEwen said.

The findings help explain how rapidly spreading germ line infections by retroviruses can aid the proliferation of serious health problems.

The scientists said they hope to gain further insights into the spread of KoRV mutations and their health affects by analyzing the genomes of groups of koalas living on islands, where they've separated from larger population.

They also plan to study the links between KoRV mutations and other koala disease, including chronic chlamydia and wasting disease.

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Seal rescued after crossing Canadian highway


A seal was given a ride back to the ocean in Prince Edward Island, Canada, after the animal was spotted crossing a highway and heading into a field in the opposite direction from the water. Photo courtesy of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Police in Canada's Prince Edward Island said they wrangled a loose seal for the second time in a week after one of the animals was spotted crossing a highway.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Prince Edward Island said officers stationed in the Queens district were called out Tuesday on a report of a seal pup crossing a highway near Fairview and headed toward a field, in the opposite direction from the water.
A member of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans joined in the search, and the team used a snowmobile and a drone to locate the wandering seal.

The seal was loaded onto the snowmobile and taken back to the road, where a Department of Fisheries and Oceans vehicle was waiting to transport the animal to the north shore for release.

The rescue came only days after a seal was found wandering down a sidewalk in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, about a half-mile away from the nearest water. That seal also was given a ride back to the shore and released.

Oregon man encounters extremely rare fox in parking lot




Feb. 26 (UPI) -- An Oregon man captured photos of his unusual encounter with an extremely rare animal: a Sierra Nevada red fox.

Alan Miles, of Bend, said he was in the parking lot of Skyliner in Mount Bachelor when he saw another person taking photos of an animal.

"I saw a lady taking a photo of this animal on the hill, looked up and it was this very unusual animal -- it was not a dog -- and just thought it was real special," Miles told KTVZ-TV.

Wildlife experts reviewed Miles' photos and identified the animal as a Sierra Nevada red fox. The species is considered extremely rare, with fewer than 50 believed to exist in the wild in California.

The Oregon Department of Fish And Wildlife said the species was first confirmed to be living in Oregon in 2015.

"Very little is known about the Sierra Nevada red fox," Fish and Wildlife biologist Jamie Bowles said. "We haven't taken a look yet at population size estimates or density in our area."

The photos that Miles snapped show an animal that has mostly black fur, with white at the end of its tail and on its paws.

"So it is a misnomer, their name, the Sierra Nevada red fox," Bowles said. "We actually see a lot more of the darker-coated foxes here in Central Oregon, specifically in the higher elevations."

Iceberg size of Los Angeles breaks off from Antarctica


Image of the North Rift crack on the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica in January leading to an iceberg as large as Los Angeles on Friday. Photo by Andy Van Kints/British Antarctic Society

Feb. 26 (UPI) -- An iceberg the size of Los Angeles broke off the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica on Friday, but chances of it moving a significant distance or running aground are still unknown, according to the British Antarctic Survey.

The iceberg had been slowly breaking away from the Brunt Ice Shelf, a nearly 500-foot-thick floating ice shelf, at about a half-mile per day since January as it pushed northeast. That crack widened several hundred feet in a matter of hours Friday before completely breaking free.

The iceberg covers from 469 to 503 square miles, roughly the size of California's largest city and slightly bigger than New York City's 468 square miles.

Jane Francis, director of the British Antarctic Survey said her team had been monitoring the ice shelf daily using an automated network of high-precision GPS instruments that surround its Halley Research Station. The devices measure how the ice shelf was deforming and moving.

The team also used satellite images from the European Space Agency and NASA along with the German satellite TerraSAR-X.

"Our teams at BAS have been prepared for the calving of an iceberg from Brunt Ice Shelf for years," Francis said in a statement. "Over the coming weeks or months, the iceberg may move away; or it could run aground and remain close to Brunt Ice Shelf."

The research station is located inland from all the active chasms and remains connected to the continent. She said their instruments would give them early warning if a new iceberg creates any changes around the station.

Simon Garrod, director of operations at British Antarctic Survey said the team moved the station inland to make sure it would not be carried away when an iceberg eventually formed.

"That was a wise decision," Garrod said. "Our job now is to keep a close eye on the situation and assess any potential impact of the present calving on the remaining ice shelf. We continuously review our contingency plans to ensure the safety of our staff, protect our research station, and maintain the delivery of the science we undertake at Halley."

Study: Social media users behave a lot like animals searching for food


New research suggests that the addictive quality of likes and comments on social media is similar to the response of rats and mice seeking food rewards for completing tasks. Photo by rawpixel/Pixabay


Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Is that an influencer or a lab rat? New research suggests the two have more in common than one might think.

According to a new paper, published Friday in the journal Nature Communications, the quest for affirmation in the form of likes and followers on major social media platforms follows a pattern of "reward learning" -- a phenomenon typically used to describe animals seeking out food rewards.

"These results establish that social media engagement follows basic, cross-species principles of reward learning," study co-author David Amodio said in a news release.

"These findings may help us understand why social media comes to dominate daily life for many people and provide clues, borrowed from research on reward learning and addiction, to how troubling online engagement may be addressed," said Amodio, a professor at New York University and the University of Amsterdam.

The world has never been more online and, increasingly, human interactions are mediated by social media platforms.

Critics have complained that social media platforms encourage addictive behavior, compelling users to seek out online engagement and affirmation, while forgoing healthy in-person interaction.

The use of social media has inspired hundreds of studies and social science experiments, but what exactly drives addict-like behavior remains unclear.

RELATED Study: Lockdowns may not have long-term psychological effect

For the latest study, researchers analyzed the posting patterns of some 4,000 users on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. Specifically, scientists looked at the temporal spacing of more than 1 million posts.

The analysis showed users post more often when the likes are flowing. When affirmation is harder to come by and the likes dry up, users post less frequently.

Researchers used computer models to compare the behavior of social media users to animals seeking food rewards.

The models revealed strong parallels between social media engagement and the behavioral patterns of rats inside a Skinner Box, an experimental container in which animals perform actions, like pressing various levers, to receive food rewards.

In separate experiments, researchers had volunteers post memes on an Instagram-like platform. As predicted, the users posted more often when they received more likes.

"Our findings can help lead to a better understanding of why social media dominates so many people's daily lives and can also provide leads for ways of tackling excessive online behavior," said lead author Bjorn Lindstrom, assistant professor of behavioral psychology at the University of Amsterdam.

Pyrite isn't a reliable proxy for Earth's oxygenation, study says

While pyrite may not be a good proxy for ancient oxygen levels, researchers suggest it can offer insights into local sea level changes and tectonic plate dynamics. Photo by John St. James/Flickr


Feb. 26 (UPI) -- When did Earth first acquire large amounts of oxygen? What did the planet's earliest microbial communities look like?

Many of the secrets of primordial Earth -- its climate conditions and biochemical composition -- are hidden in layers of marine sediments. To reconstruct Earth's past, scientists rely on certain chemical signatures preserved in the grains of sedimentary rocks.

Now, new research suggests at least one of those signatures, a mineral called pyrite, is unreliable as a proxy for ancient oxygen levels.

Pyrite, an iron sulfide formed in the presence of bacteria, operates as a strong control on oxygen accumulation in Earth's oceans and atmosphere, but it turns out that control is highly localized.

According to a new study, published Friday in the journal Science Advances, the relationship between sulfide formation and oxygen accumulation is dictated by local sedimentary processes.

The findings undermine the results of surveys using pyrite as a globally consistent proxy for ancient oxygen levels.

For the study, researchers drilled two boreholes: one along the shelf just off the eastern coast of New Zealand and another in the same ocean basin but a few hundred miles away, in the middle of the Pacific.

RELATED Experiment considers chemical composition of prehistoric ocean

"We were able to get a gradient of shallow to deep sediments and compare the differences between those isotopic compositions in pyrite between those sections," study co-author David Fike said in a press release.

"We demonstrate that, for this one basin in the open ocean, you get very different signals between shallow and deep water, which is prima facie evidence to argue that these signals aren't the global fingerprint of oxygen in the atmosphere," said Fike, a professor of Earth and planetary sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.

While pyrite may not be the best proxy for ancient oxygen levels, researchers suggest the mineral can offer unique insights local sea level changes and tectonic plate dynamics.

RELATED Scientists discover planet's oldest oxygen oasis

After drilling the boreholes, scientists compared the sulfur isotope ratios found in pyrite sampled throughout the sedimentary rock.

They analysis showed pyrite formation in the borehole drilled close to shore was strongly influenced by sea level-driven changes in local sedimentation process. In the borehole drilled in the deep ocean, pyrite formation was unaffected by changes in sea level.

"There is a water depth threshold," said co-author Roger Bryant, who earned his postdoctoral degree while working in Fike's laboratory but now works as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Chicago. "Once you go below that water depth, sulfur isotopes apparently are not sensitive to things like climate and environmental conditions in the surface environment."

Fike notes that "the Earth is a complicated place," and said it is important to recall this when attempting to reconstruct its changes over time based on current observations.

"There are a number of different processes that impact the kinds of signals that get preserved. As we try to better understand Earth's long-term evolution, we need to have a more nuanced view about how to extract information from those signals," Fike said.

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Poll: Education level a prime driver of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy
ByHealthDay News


A new poll suggests that education level is likely to influence whether someone in the United States is willing to get a coronavirus vaccine. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

In the early weeks of the U.S. vaccine rollout, race looked like it would determine who was willing to get a shot in the arm, but education level now plays the most powerful role in that decision, new research shows.

More than three-quarters of adults with at least a bachelor's degree have been vaccinated or plan to be, compared to 53% of those without a college degree, according to a new survey of more than 6,200 U.S. participants.

"Results of our surveys earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic -- before vaccines were approved -- indicated that race and ethnicity would play a greater role than education level in people's willingness to get the vaccine. But one year into this pandemic, with vaccines now being rolled out across the U.S., education level has become a greater factor than race," said survey director Jill Darling. The data came from the Understanding Coronavirus in America Study.

Earlier in the pandemic, levels of education didn't play as large a role in Americans' attitudes about COVID-19 vaccines, according to the researchers from the University of Southern California's Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research.

RELATED Experts: Slow vaccine rollout shows U.S. public health 'disinvestment'


Overall, respondents believed there is a 30% chance that someone who has been vaccinated will still get COVID-19 and a 26% chance of serious side effects from a vaccine.

But those rates were 23% and 15%, respectively, among people with a college degree, compared with 34% and 31%, respectively, among those with less education, the findings showed.

Among respondents without a college degree, rates of those who said they're unlikely to get vaccinated are about the same among Black people, at 32%, and White people, at 35%.

RELATED Medical student 'vaccine corps' could help reach underserved areas

But the rate of Black people who said they aren't sure if they'll get vaccinated is much higher, at 23%, than among White people, at 11%.

Interestingly, the survey also found that respondents with college degrees were more likely to know someone who's been vaccinated. The overall rate among respondents was 54%, but it was 69% among those with a bachelor's degree or higher, compared with 46% among those without a college degree.

Among Hispanics, 74% of those with a college education know someone who has been vaccinated, compared to 46% of those with less education. Among Black people, the rates were 55% and 41%, respectively.

RELATED More parents reluctant to give cancer-fighting HPV vaccine to their kids

"Our findings indicate that, in addition to tailoring vaccine awareness campaigns to high-risk groups, policymakers should emphasize the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines particularly to those without college degrees," researcher Kyla Thomas, a sociologist with the Dornsife Center, said in a university news release.

"Trust is the big story here: Policymakers need to build trust among less-educated Americans," Thomas added.More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on COVID-19 vaccines.


Copyright 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

'If This Task Was Urgent Before, It’s Crucial Now.' U.N. Says World Has 10 Months to Get Serious on Climate Goals


Aryn Baker
Fri, February 26, 2021

Climate Change In Bangladesh

Salinity effect seen in soil as a result trees has died after Cyclone amphan hit in Satkhira on February 23, 2021. Credit - Kazi Salahuddin Razu—NurPhoto via Getty Images

The language of diplomacy rarely allows for a true sense of emotion or urgency. But reading between the lines of the latest report commissioned by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)—the body representing the 197 member nations of the Paris Agreement to minimize a global average temperature rise this century—the message is clear. The world has precisely ten months to get our act together if there is to be any hope of staving off a climate catastrophe by the end of the century.

If member nations are to achieve the Paris Agreement target of limiting global temperature rise above preindustrial levels by 2°C—ideally 1.5°C—by 2100, they must redouble efforts and submit stronger, more ambitious goals to reduce carbon emissions, according to the report. The document tabulates the national climate action plans [NDCs], of each member nation. The NDCs, which were due at the end of 2020, are essentially blueprints laying out emission reduction targets for each country along with plans detailing how they will meet those stated goals.

So far, the plans all coming up short. The report shows that while the majority of the 75 nations that have submitted NDCs increased their individual commitments, their combined impact puts them on a path to achieve only a 1% reduction in global emissions by 2030, compared to the 45% reduction needed to hit the 1.5°C temperature goal. “This report shows that current levels of climate ambition are very far from putting us on a pathway that will meet our Paris Agreement goals,” said Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change. “While we acknowledge the recent political shift in momentum towards stronger climate action throughout the world, decisions to accelerate and broaden climate action everywhere must be taken now.”

Another report will be released prior to COP 26, the global meeting on Climate Change, currently scheduled for November in the U.K., giving stragglers time to catch up, says Espinosa. “It’s time for all remaining parties to step up, fulfill what they promised to do under the Paris Agreement and submit their NDCs as soon as possible. If this task was urgent before, it’s crucial now.”

Read more: 2020 Was a Year of Climate Extremes. What Can We Expect in 2021?

The former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, who also served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and is now Chair of The Elders, was scathing in her assessment of the commitments made by some of the world’s biggest polluters and did not hesitate to single out countries by name. “Major economies need to ramp up their ambition – starting with the U.S., where expectations are high for an emissions and finance pledge to make up for lost time. Others like Japan, Canada, Korea, New Zealand and China, have committed to net zero goals by mid-century, but we are still missing their promised new near-term plans to get there,” she said in a statement released ahead of the report.

Robinson was particularly withering when it came to Australia’s commitments, noting that it was not enough for the country to “repackage a plan that was already inadequate five years ago. The good news is there is still time for radical improvement if Australia wants to keep pace with their major allies and trading partners.”

The clock is ticking for Australia, as well as everyone else.
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Tougher climate plans urgently needed as world still ‘very far’ from meeting Paris goals, says UN


Daisy Dunne
Fri, February 26, 2021




A report says only two of the world’s 18 largest emitters came forward with more ambitious climate plans in 2020(AP)More

Countries must submit tougher climate plans this year if the world is to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, the UN has warned.

Under the Paris Agreement, countries pledged to keep global warming to “well below” 2C above pre-industrial levels, with the aspiration of limiting temperatures to 1.5C.

As part of the deal, all countries were due to submit revised climate plans, which are known as “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs), by the end of 2020.


However, a progress report from the UN finds that only 75 “parties” – which includes individual countries and the European Union – met the 31 December deadline. These countries represent just 30 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

And the UN’s analysis of these plans finds that, when considered together, they would see emissions fall by just one per cent by 2030, when compared to levels in 2010.

This is far below the level of reduction needed by 2030 to put the world on track to limiting global warming to 1.5C by the end of the century, the UN said.

A landmark report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the global authority on climate science, found that emissions would need to decline by around 45 per cent by 2030, when compared to 2010 levels, to give the world the greatest chance at limiting global warming to 1.5C.

UN chief Antonio Guterres said the interim report should signal “a red alert for our planet”.

“2021 is a make or break year to confront the global climate emergency,” he said in a statement. “The science is clear, to limit global temperature rise to 1.5C, we must cut global emission by 45 per cent by 2030 from 2010 levels.

“Today’s [report] shows governments are nowhere close to the level of ambition needed to limit climate change to 1.5C and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.”

The report highlights that the world’s biggest emitters, in particular, must significantly raise their ambition this year if the world is to meet its climate goals, he added.

Just two of the world’s 18 largest emitters came forward with more ambitious climate plans by the end of 2020, the report says. This includes the UK and the EU. Some major emitters submitted new climate plans that were no more or even less ambitious than their previous pledges, researchers previously told The Independent.

An upcoming round of UN climate talks known as Cop26, which are to be held in Glasgow in November, will provide a key opportunity for raising climate ambition.

Alok Sharma has been appointed Cop26 president AFP/Getty

Alok Sharma, the UK minister who has been appointed Cop26 president, said the UN’s findings should “serve as an urgent call to action”.

“I am asking all countries, particularly major emitters, to submit ambitious 2030 emission reduction targets,” he said.

Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said that the progress report should be viewed as a “snapshot” rather than “a full picture”.

This is because many countries said that they faced difficulties meeting the 2020 deadline due to challenges posed by the Covid pandemic, she said. She added that a second NDC progress report will be released before Cop26.

“This report shows that current levels of climate ambition are very far from putting us on a pathway that will meet our Paris Agreement goals,” she said.

“While we acknowledge the recent political shift in momentum towards stronger climate action throughout the world, decisions to accelerate and broaden climate action everywhere must be taken now. This underlines why Cop26 must be the moment when we get on track towards a green, clean, healthy and prosperous world.”

Mohamed Adow, director of the climate think tank Power Shift Africa, said the results of the UN’s analysis were “staggering”.

“If you would believe the rhetoric of world leaders you’d think they were making great progress and about to solve it,” he said.

“This is why it’s good to have a report that lays out the facts in stark reality.”

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Climate crisis ‘biggest security threat humans have faced’, Sir David Attenborough tells UN

The mystery of India’s ‘lake of skeletons’

Soutik Biswas - India correspondent
Sat, February 27, 2021

High in the Indian Himalayas, a remote lake nestled in a snowy valley is strewn with hundreds of human skeletons.

Roopkund Lake is located 5,029 metres (16,500ft) above sea level at the bottom of a steep slope on Trisul, one of India's highest mountains, in the state of Uttarakhand.

The remains are strewn around and beneath the ice at the "lake of skeletons", discovered by a patrolling British forest ranger in 1942. For more than half a century, anthropologists and scientists have studied the remains.


The lake has attracted curious scientists and visitors for years. Depending on the season and weather, the lake, which remains frozen for most of the year, expands and shrinks. Only when the snow melts are the skeletons visible, sometimes with flesh attached and well preserved. To date, the skeletal remains of an estimated 600-800 people have been found here. In tourism promotions, the local government describes it as a "mystery lake".

For more than half-a-century anthropologists and scientists have studied the remains and puzzled over a host of questions.

Who were these people? When did they die? How did they die? Where did they come from?

One old theory associates the remains to an Indian king, his wife and their attendants, all of whom perished in a blizzard some 870 years ago.

The remains of an estimated 600-800 people have been found at the site

Another suggests that some of the remains are of Indian soldiers who tried to invade Tibet in 1841, and were beaten back. More than 70 of them were then forced to find their way home over the Himalayas and died on the way.

Yet another assumes that this could have been a "cemetery" where victims of an epidemic were buried. In villages in the area, there's a popular folk song that talks about how Goddess Nanda Devi created a hail storm "as hard as iron" which killed people winding their way past the lake. India's second-highest mountain, Nanda Devi, is revered as a goddess.

Earlier studies of skeletons have found that most of the people who died were tall - "more than average stature". Most of them were middle-aged adults, aged between 35 and 40. There were no babies or children. Some of them were elderly women. All were of reasonably good health.

Also, it was generally assumed that the skeletons were of a single group of people who died all at once in a single catastrophic incident during the 9th Century.

The latest five-year-long study, involving 28 co-authors from 16 institutions based in India, US and Germany, found all these assumptions may not be true.

Scientists genetically analysed and carbon-dated the remains of 38 bodies, including 15 women, found at the lake - some of them date back to around 1,200 years.

Only when the snow melts, do the skeletons become visible at the lake site

They found that the dead were both genetically diverse and their deaths were separated in time by as much as 1,000 years.

"It upends any explanations that involved a single catastrophic event that lead to their deaths," Eadaoin Harney, the lead author of the study, and a doctoral student at Harvard University, told me. "It is still not clear what happened at Roopkund Lake, but we can now be certain that the deaths of these individuals cannot be explained by a single event."

But more interestingly, the genetics study found the dead comprised a diverse people: one group of people had genetics similar to present-day people who live in South Asia, while the other "closely related" to people living in present-day Europe, particularly those living in the Greek island of Crete.

Also, the people who came from South Asia "do not appear to come from the same population".

"Some of them have ancestry that would be more common in groups from the north of the subcontinent, while others have ancestry that would be more common from more southern groups," says Ms Harney.

So did these diverse groups of people travel to the lake in smaller batches over a period of a few hundred years? Did some of them die during a single event?

No arms or weapons or trade goods were found at the site - the lake is not located on a trade route. Genetic studies found no evidence of the presence of any ancient bacterial pathogen that could provide disease as an explanation for the cause of deaths.

Tourism promotions describe Roopkund as a 'mystery lake'

A pilgrimage that passes by the lake might explain why people were travelling in the area. Studies reveal that credible accounts of pilgrimage in the area do not appear until the late 19th Century, but inscriptions in local temples date between 8th and 10th Centuries, "suggesting potential earlier origins".

THE IDES OF MARCH

Why QAnon are pinning their last desperate hopes on Trump emerging as president on March 4

JOSHUA ZITSER
FEB 27, 2021, 
  \ 

John Rudoff/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesSome QAnon conspiracy theorists believe that former President Donald Trump will be sworn in on March 4, 2021.

QAnon followers believe that Trump will be reinstated as president on March 4, 2021.

The conspiracy theory is rooted in the discredited beliefs of the sovereign citizen movement.

It has gained popularity with QAnon followers after being circulated on Telegram and Gab.

QAnon followers, unable to cope with Joe Biden’s elevation to president in January, have now coopted a new belief to argue that the next legitimate inauguration date will be on March 4.

After President Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20, 2021, some QAnon believers concluded that their conspiracy theory was a “lie.” But its most fervent followers weren’t ready to give up on their conspiratorial beliefs, clinging to an absurd hope that former President Donald Trump will be sworn in at a later date.

Using ever-shifting goalposts, the pro-Trump conspiracists have now set their eyes on March 4, 2021.

Where does the conspiracy theory come from?

The belief that Trump will be sworn in on March 4 is rooted in theories promoted by the obscure sovereign citizen movement.

The sovereign citizen movement is a highly-fragmented grouping of Americans who believe taxes, US currency, and even the US government to be illegitimate.


A minority of them believe that laws do not apply to them at all, resulting in the FBI designating some members as “domestic terrorists” and “anti-government extremists.”

A central tenet of the movement is that the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, converted “sovereign citizens” into “federal citizens.”

This belief also goes so far as to dismiss the validity of any presidency after 1868, making Ulysses S. Grant the last valid president.

The ideas are esoteric and, arguably, nonsensical.

“You really feel like you’re in an Alice in Wonderland world when you start going through the ideas of the sovereign citizens,” Michael Barkun, professor emeritus of political science at Syracuse University, told Insider. “It’s like you’ve gone down some kind of rabbit hole into a parallel universe.”

Some sovereign citizens also believe that an obscure law from 1871 reveals that the US has become a corporation.

The District of Columbia Organic Act established a single municipal government for Washington, DC. The use of the word “corporation,” referring to an incorporated district, has led to the mistaken interpretation of this to mean that the entirety of the US became a business.

“Some believe that President Joe Biden is the executive of a bankrupt corporation – the United States Inc.,” said Travis View, conspiracy theory expert and host of the QAnon Anonymous podcast.

Creating an alternate reality based on a misinterpretation of a minor detail in an old law is typical of conspiracy groups, Media Matter’s deputy research director Stefanie Le told Insider.

“They can create elaborate mythologies based on the smallest and least significant details,” she said.
Why March 4?

Before the 20th Amendment in 1933, all presidents were sworn in on March 4.

It was introduced to shorten the “lame duck” period between elections and the start of new administrations.

Given that followers of the sovereign citizen movement reject all constitutional amendments passed after the 14th amendment, they do not view this date change as legitimate.

QAnon followers, who failed to see Trump inaugurated in January, have recycled the argument and reinvented the next legitimate inauguration date.

They say that on March 4, 2021, Trump will succeed the last legitimate president, Grant, to become the 19th president.

AP Images

Believers of the March 4 conspiracy think that former President Donald Trump will succeed former President Ulysses S. Grant as the 19th president of the US.

Le told Insider: “Now that one of their most highly-anticipated events – the January 20 inauguration – has failed to come true, they’re grasping for explanations from other conspiracy theories.”

View said that there is no clear logic to it besides the blind faith that Donald Trump is the chosen one to save humanity.

Andrew Harnick/AP PhotoJoe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Jill Biden holds the Bible during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, January 20, 2021.

‘Maybe we should gather again and storm the Capitol on March 4’

Adopting conspiracy theories from other groups to contribute to a specific, imaginary narrative isn’t unexpected.

It’s QAnon’s survival method “because their own predictions have fallen apart,” said Le.

The forums populated by QAnon adherents are now buzzing with chatter about March 4.

Telegram and Gab have led the way according to research by Media Matters seen by Insider, and it is widely circulating on 4Chan and right-wing forum Patriots.win, the researchers said. The rumors have also reached TikTok, reported the Independent.

There have been real-world consequences to the March 4 rumor-mill.

Notably, Trump’s DC hotel has hiked prices for March 3 and March 4. It is the only luxury hotel in the area to increase its rates for those nights.

The US Capitol Police, fearing potentially violent clashes, have ordered almost 5,000 National Guard troops to remain stationed in Washington, DC, on March 4.

Brandon Bell/Getty Images

National Guard troops are expected to stay in Washington, DC, until mid-March.

Rep. Adam Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, referred to the conspiracy theory during a hearing on the matter.

“Some of these people have figured out that apparently 75 years ago, the president used to be inaugurated on March 4,” he said. “OK, now why that’s relevant? God knows. At any rate, now they are thinking, ‘maybe we should gather again and storm the Capitol on March 4’ … that is circulating online.”

A HASC Democratic spokesperson told Insider that Smith had seen the reports identifying March 4 as “another inflection point” in the capital.

“The House Armed Services Committee’s role is to validate that military personnel are used in accordance with their aligned task and requirements,” the spokesperson said.
Will QAnon ever give up?

Security is also expected to be high throughout March to anticipate the still-unscheduled State of the Union address.

The Capitol Police plans to maintain an elevated presence due to intelligence suggesting that extremists have discussed plans to attack the Capitol building during the speech, Politico reported.

Experts, however, don’t expect the insurrectionist violence of January 6 to be replicated on March 4.

Barkun, who previously advised the FBI on security threats posed by extremist groups, said he is confident that sufficient attention is being paid to QAnon’s activities.

View also doubts that there will be widespread violence. “I think the events of January 6 spooked a lot of Q followers,” he told Insider.

But none of the experts Insider spoke to believe QAnon is going away any time soon. It is commonplace for conspiracy theory groups to deal with incorrect predictions by just kicking the can down the road.

“They will construct more and more complex rationalizations that push the events that they wish for farther and farther into the future,” Barkun told Insider.

Amazon workers say the company is plagued by systemic issues that disproportionately harm Black employees, according to a report

KEVIN SHALVEY
FEB 27, 2021, 

Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Amazon released a diversity report in December 2020.

According to Recode, Amazon employees witnessed systematic disadvantages for Black workers. 

Workers told the outlet underrepresented people were sometimes hired at levels below their qualifications.

Amazon responded to Recode, saying it disagreed with the characterization of its company culture. 

More than a dozen current or former employees at Amazon’s corporate headquarters say they witnessed systematic disadvantages for Black and underrepresented workers, according to Recode.

The tech news website quoted an Amazon diversity manager, who said: “We struggle to bring [Black] folks in because there’s not a whole lot of desire, in my opinion, to go outside of our normal practices.”

Once inside the company, those employees sometimes had difficulty advancing, the manager told the outlet.

Later this year, Andy Jassy will take over as chief executive at the retail giant, replacing founder Jeff Bezos. Jassy has spoken about diversity at the company previously, saying at a June 2020 event that the issue was “really important.”

He added: “Frankly, as a technology industry, I think we can be much better. It’s, in my opinion, still way too homogenous.”

Amazon’s most recent diversity data report showed that about 26.5% of its employees were Black, 22.8% were Hispanic, and 13.6% were Asian. About 10.6% of its US managers were Black, 9.5% were Hispanic, and 19.5% were Asian, according to that data.

Amazon staffers also told Recode that Black employees had sometimes been hired for lower-level jobs than they were qualified for. The outlet quoted a diversity and inclusion manager as saying: “It is not uncommon for women, and especially Black women, to have a role advertised at one level but extended an offer at a position that is lower.”

In a statement, Amazon told Recode: “We disagree with this characterization of Amazon’s culture and believe that it misrepresents the facts and is based on the views of a small number of individuals.”

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment on Saturday.

On Twitter, former Reddit CEO Ellen Pao said the reporting on Amazon was “too sad and exhausting so please read it.”

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

New York attorney general sues Amazon over COVID-19 response lapse


OliverScott


New York attorney general (AG) has sued online retail giant Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) over the handling of worker safety guidelines in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.


In the February 16, 2021 filing, AG Letitia James focuses on the retailer’s handling of two warehouses located on Staten Island and a delivery depot in Queens.

The AG argues that Amazon failed to offer adequate safety protection for workers in the two warehouses. James adds that the retailer retaliated against employees who raised concerns over the conditions.

She cited the March incident where Amazon fired activist Christian Smalls for allegedly violating a paid quarantine. The activist initially led a protest regarding the conditions at the Staten Island warehouse. James adds that by firing Smalls, Amazon was sending a chilling message to other employees. James argues that:


“Amazon employees reasonably fear that if they make legitimate health and safety complaints about Amazon’s Covid-19 response, Amazon will retaliate against them as well.”


James further alleges that Amazon failed to properly clean its buildings, conduct efficient contact tracing for known COVID-19 cases. She notes that Amazon’s growth came at the expense of human life while cutting corners to avoid following the law. The lawsuit states that:


“Throughout the historic pandemic, Amazon has repeatedly and persistently failed to comply with its obligation to institute reasonable and adequate measures to protect its workers. Amazon has cut corners in complying with the particular requirements that would most jeopardize its sales volume and productivity rates.”

Amazon dismisses lawsuit on COVID-19 violations

The company’s spokesperson, identified as Kelly Nantel, insists that Amazon cares about employee safety while disregarding the lawsuit’s contents. Amazon cites the company’s temperature screening policy, signs advising social distancing, and employee shifts at its Staten Island facility as strict measures put in place to protect workers.

“We don’t believe the attorney general’s filing presents an accurate picture of Amazon’s industry-leading response to the pandemic,” Nantel said.

The lawsuit wants also the court to compel Amazon to upgrade its protections for workers and reinstate sacked employees.

The New York AG filing means that Amazon’s initial suit barring James from suing the company failed. Amazon had filed its lawsuit in Brooklyn federal court to stop her from suing. Amazon argues that through the lawsuit, James was overstepping her mandate.