World weighs laws to rein in mighty algorithms


US whistleblower and former Facebook engineer Frances Haugen says people deserve to know more about how the content they see is shaped by the jumble of data that gets fed into the social media machine -- or how algorithms work (AFP/JOEL SAGET)

Katy LEE
Fri, November 19, 2021

From the YouTube videos we're recommended to deciding who gets a job, algorithms wield an ever-growing influence over our lives -- and policy-makers worldwide want to rein them in.

While China is worried about delivery app algorithms that encourage their drivers to speed, US lawmakers are grappling with social media recommendation systems that have sent some users down dangerous rabbit-holes.

"Algorithms can be useful, of course, but many people simply aren't aware of just how much their experience on these platforms is being manipulated," John Thune, one of numerous US senators proposing new social media legislation, wrote in a CNN op-ed.

Facebook has faced fierce criticism after a whistleblower revealed that executives knew the site's algorithm systematically promoted inflammatory posts in people's newsfeeds, fuelling division and unrest from India to Ethiopia.

Frances Haugen, the ex-Facebook engineer behind the revelations, believes people deserve to know more about how the content they see is shaped by the jumble of data that gets fed into the social media machine.

"I think if we just say, 'we are going to regulate algorithms', that is so amorphous," Haugen told AFP in an interview last week.

"I think it's more powerful to say, 'Hey Facebook, you have a lot more transparency than we do'," and force the company to reveal more about how its systems work, she said.

- More boring social media? -

Campaigners and lawmakers may agree that tech giants' algorithms need more public oversight, but how to achieve that is a different matter.

"There are some really hard unanswered questions," said Daphne Keller, director of platform regulation at the Stanford Cyber Policy Center.

In the European Union, where lawmakers are debating two vast pieces of tech legislation, "some proposals say algorithms should prioritise authoritative sources of information, and others say they should prioritise diverse sources", Keller noted.

"How do you reconcile those two goals?"

The path forward is just as unclear in the US, where dozens of legal amendments have been proposed by lawmakers torn over what exactly it is about social media that needs fixing.

"On the left, people don't like all the harmful stuff like hate speech and misinformation; on the right, people think that their free speech is being taken away," summarised Noah Giansiracusa, author of "How Algorithms Create and Prevent Fake News".

Politicians and academics have suggested various means of limiting the harmful side-effects of social media algorithms -- none without their complications.

Some suggest platforms like Facebook and Twitter could be made legally liable for what they publish, which would discourage them from amplifying posts that spread hate or misinformation.

But in the US, where most social media giants are based, Giansiracusa said this would quickly face legal challenges from critics charging that it violates the right to freedom of speech.

Alternatively, governments could restrict social networks' ability to personalise what people see in their feeds.

YouTube and Facebook have been accused of unintentionally radicalising some people in this way, feeding them post after post of conspiracy theory-laden content.

Social media companies could be obliged to simply show people posts in chronological order -- but that risks making scrolling down a feed more boring.

The algorithms would no longer be able to calculate what a user will probably find interesting -- a photo of a close friend getting married, for instance -- while downgrading tedious posts about what an acquaintance had for lunch.

"There is no simple solution," Giansiracusa concluded.

- Garbage in, garbage out -

Beyond social media, the world's reliance on digital technology means algorithms increasingly affect real-world outcomes -- sometimes drastically.

China's cyberspace watchdog is mulling further regulation of tech firms' algorithms, not least after criticism of how food delivery apps like Meituan and Alibaba's Ele.me treat financially vulnerable gig workers.

Such apps have faced criticism for docking drivers' pay if they don't arrive fast enough, effectively encouraging reckless driving.

And studies have shown how artificial intelligence can prove racist or sexist, from resume-scanning tools that favour male candidates, to US risk assessment software that recommends white prisoners for parole more frequently than black counterparts.

Both are examples of a computing principle known as "garbage in, garbage out" -- the idea that algorithms can replicate human biases if they're fed data embedded with those biases.

Regulators are increasingly seeking ways of preventing these discriminatory outcomes, with the US Federal Trade Commission signalling it will penalise companies found to be selling biased algorithms.

"How algorithms shape our newsfeed is important," Keller said. "But when algorithms send people to jail or deny them employment -- that doesn't get enough attention."

kjl/cdw

On gun rights, Supreme Court ‘originalists’ don’t look at ‘original’ history of guns

Michael Coblenz
Fri, November 19, 2021, 7:06 AM·3 min read

Ah yes, Originalism. A majority of the current conservative members of the U.S. Supreme Court claim to be “originalists” who assert that the Constitution should be interpreted based on the “original intent” of the Framers. According to self-described originalists, Justice Brent Kavanaugh, the Court can glean this intent by looking at the “text, history, and traditions” of the Constitutional provision in question.

We can see how these originalists apply their theory in the recent Supreme Court gun rights case of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which deals with New York state’s restriction on carrying a concealed handgun in public. What does the text, history, and tradition have to say about this issue?

The text – the Second Amendment – states: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” This is ambiguous and doesn’t really address whether a person can carry a concealed weapon in public. What do history and tradition teach?

How did governments deal with guns in the new nation? There were quite vigorous controls over weapons in the colonies during the Revolution, and most were adopted when the colonies became states. Some states mandated that every able-bodied man of legal age own a “militarily useful” weapon. Most required an accounting of these weapons – through registration and reporting to the government – or mandated a “muster” of all able-bodied men with their weapons. New Hampshire and Rhode Island conducted door-to-door surveys to ensure compliance. Ten of the original 13 states also had “impressment” laws allowing militias to confiscate private weapons, which obviously meant a citizen wouldn’t have a firearm for self-protection.

These laws were the historical consequence of the Revolution, where citizen-soldiers formed militias to fight the British. They also correspond with the idea that the Second Amendment was about the ownership of weapons as part of an organized militia.

There were plenty of other laws restricting gun ownership that didn’t deal with militia uses. Most states only allowed able-bodied white males to have weapons, and specifically forbade women, blacks (free or enslaved), natives, mixed race – and in a few states Catholics – from owning a firearm. Some states, and quite a few cities, had strict rules on the storage of gunpowder, which at the time was quite dangerous. Many states, particularly slave states, required the “safe storage” of weapons to ensure they didn’t fall into the wrong hands. Oh, and almost all states had strict rules on carrying weapons in public.

This was the history and tradition that the Supreme Court drew on when it considered gun rights cases. For 217 years the Court said the Second Amendment didn’t provide a general right of gun ownership, and therefore the states were free to broadly regulate weapons.

But in 2008, in District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court changed course, and held that the Second Amendment provided an individual right to keep and bear arms. Justice Antonin Scalia ignored two centuries of clear history and said that the “central component” of the Second Amendment was “the inherent right of self-defense.”

At oral argument before the Court on Nov. 3, none of the so-called “Originalists” asked either party about this history of Founding Era gun control. But they had many questions about restricting a citizen’s ability to own a gun for self-defense. While this may be a rational concern, it has absolutely nothing to do with the text or the original understanding of the Second Amendment to the Constitution.

Based on the questioning at oral argument, it seems likely that the Supreme Court will strike down the gun control restrictions in the NY State Rifle case. This will expand individual gun rights. But it will also clearly show that the conservative justices’ assertions about “originalism,” and their claims to have a core set of beliefs, are nonsense.


Michael Coblenz is a patent attorney in Lexington. He can be reached at mike@coblenzlaw.com.

INFINITE SIEG FUCKING HEILS: Alas, Kyle Rittenhouse Is An American

ABBY ZIMET

November 20, 2021

So pudgy little blank-eyed sociopath Kyle Rittenhouse walked, an outcome both deeply disturbing and woefully unsurprising given the right-wing noise, the broken jury, the hack bigot of a judge, and don't forget the bedrock white supremacism that an American so-called justice system is designed to uphold. Thus, the unanimous verdict that a dumb-as-a-rock 17-year-old punk who took it upon himself to cross a state border toting an ill-begotten assault rifle to "protect" businesses was not guilty of anything in a country where you face harsher consequences for offering water to thirsty voters in line than murdering two BLM protesters; where a skateboard is deemed a deadly weapon and an AR-15 is a "first aid kit"; where, "Ha, let the boy be black and it would've been life." Swiftly and repulsively ncheering on the implausible finding of young Kyle's "innocence" were multiple sick, white, damaged, insecure yahoos and bullies masquerading as alleged GOP members of Congress. A gleeful Madison Cawthorn intoned, "Be armed, be dangerous and be moral" - no cognitive dissonance there - and neo-Nazi Paul Gosar funned (his specialty) that he'll arm-wrestle Matt Gaetz to hire Kyle for an intern if he somehow manages to graduate high school, and quizzed constituents whether Kyle should get a Congressional Medal of Honor - options "Yes" and "Yes again." Also former guy praised Kyle as "a law-abiding...CHILD." One patriot spoke for us all: "Fuck the Republican Party."

Also inevitably rejoicing, and scarily saying the quiet parts out loud, were the hate-mongering, bottom-feeding, proudly out anti-Semites and white supremacists who've crawled out of their fetid swamps and caves to embrace awful little Kyle as one of their own. It's ugly: "INFINITE SIEG FUCKING HEILS!....Open season on lib trash commies!...Antifags and BLMKKK gotta be shitting....Sieg Kyle!...DO YOU SEE, WHITE MAN? We still have power...Sorry kikes, better luck next time...As far as the media is concerned, (Kyle) should have let those anti-Whites murder him for being White...You were warned...Kyle is already suiting up to patrol Jews tonight...Do not use this as an excuse to relax - we are still being genocided, raped & erased daily." As though this was not a country bathed in blood and conquest where white men have long used guns with impunity to get what they want - against black kids buying Skittles, lefty protesters armed with skateboards, black men out jogging - many celebrated "a major turning point in the quest for justice" wherein, "We can protect our communities now!" "We have permission to defend ourselves," exulted one; when another challenged that with, "We don't need fucking permission and never did," a third chimed in, "But now it's a legal precedent." Cheered the neo-Nazi Occidental Templars, "Good American legal precedent and license to kill violent commies."

In fact, of course, the precedent and license is longstanding. We can thank the NRA, who "gave us Kyle Rittenhouse" and all the other "white men hopped up on cowboy fantasies (who) went out looking for trouble and waving guns at it" through a decades-long battle to re-define "self-defense." We can also thank our savage history. Patrick Blanchfield, a writer who teaches at Brooklyn Institute for Social Research, peers back to 1816, when Andrew Jackson unilterally invaded Spanish Florida to decimate a "Negro Fort" of Natives and runaway slaves in what was deemed an act of “national self-defense” - because it turns out the much-touted 2nd Amendment right to "self-defence" applies only to propertied white men to whom "the mere presence of non-white others (is) seen as an existential threat." Thus is Kyle Rittenhouse, writes Blanchfield, "but the latest iteration in a long line of American men who have decided to insert themselves and their guns into situations in which they somehow find themselves compelled to kill." They "vindicate an entire hierarchical social order by exercising their prerogative to assert ballistic control over space and dispose of the bodies of others"; their all-American - even killers' - "recourse to armed self-defense, he notes, likely entirely coincidentally "tends to favor those left standing when the the gunsmoke clears - and has since the very beginning." In such a grievous way, at least for now, "The system abides."

 

Update: So does Tucker Carlson, who it turns out had a Fox News crew embedded with Rittenhouse through the trial. WTF.




ABBY ZIMET

Abby has written CD's Further column since 2008. A longtime, award-winning journalist, she moved to the Maine woods in the early 70s, where she spent a dozen years building a house, hauling water and writing before moving to Portland. Having come of political age during the Vietnam War, she has long been involved in women's, labor, anti-war, social justice and refugee rights issues.

Rittenhouse verdict sets new legal precedent on White Privilege


Stephanie Willis
Fri, November 19, 2021, 

OPINION: The Rittenhouse Privilege has set a precedent that permits individuals to claim self-defense in the most outrageous of cases.

Kyle Rittenhouse being found not guilty on all counts after more than 24 hours of deliberations can be summed up with one simple phrase: White privilege. It’s an all too familiar theme we witness when White defendants are on trial for killing us.

The privilege that Rittenhouse displayed and benefited from, however, was clearly on another level. When privilege is raised in the legal arena, it is referring to communications between certain individuals that are protected – communication between husband and wife, doctor and patient, attorney and client.

I dare say Kyle Rittenhouse was cloaked with a privilege you cannot find in any legal precedent – The Rittenhouse Privilege. Throughout the trial there were instances in which it was quite apparent that the scales of justice tipped in favor of Kyle Rittenhouse.

Let’s start with the jury makeup. After the jury process, 18 individuals were selected to listen to the trial. Of these 18 individuals, 12 were selected at random by the defendant, Kyle Rittenhouse, to deliberate. These individuals consisted of seven women and five men – only one was a person of color.

The next thing to consider is the venue. The case was tried in Kenosha, which according to Census data is over 75% White. In the past, Kenosha country voted Democratic but went for Donald Trump in the 2016 election. It is also particularly important to consider the fact that Wisconsin is a gun friendly state. But we must also ask ourselves Gun Friendly toward whom?

Kyle Rittenhouse (Photo: Twitter)

We saw how law enforcement drove past Rittenhouse, a then 17-year-old not adhering to the curfew, who had just shot and killed Anthony Huber (26) and Joseph Rosenbaum (36) and injured Gaige Grosskreutz (36). They drove past him but didn’t think twice about firing their artillery at Jacob Blake.

One would have thought because the victims in this case were White, this case would be open and shut. But the victims who were in Kenosha to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake were villainized and treated in an all too familiar manner – but in this case the victims were not Black. By order of Judge Bruce Schroder, the victims in this case would not be referred to as victims by the prosecution throughout the trial.

According to reports, this is a long-standing rule Judge Schroeder has maintained in his court. But when Judge Schroeder’s ringtone is “God Bless the USA” — Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaign song — you just can’t help but wince a little.

Kyle Rittenhouse was charged with seven counts. The State of Wisconsin had the burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Rittenhouse committed the seven counts, which included first degree intentional homicide with a dangerous weapon. However, before the jury even began deliberating, two of the seven counts (possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under eighteen and failure to comply with emergency order) were dismissed by the judge.

Kyle Rittenhouse and attorneys for both sides argue about a video in Kenosha Circuit Court on November 12, 2021 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (Photo by Mark Hertzberg-Pool/Getty Images)

Trials can be a rollercoaster ride; one minute you’re up and then the next minute you’re fighting to keep it all together. Attorneys expect there to be setbacks because the courtroom is volatile. However, there were critical mistakes committed by the prosecution. You can’t pick your witnesses but there’s an unofficial rule when conducting your examination, direct or cross — don’t ask a question that you do not know the answer to.

During direct examination, Ryan Balch — who walked around with Rittenhouse patrolling the streets in Wisconsin — testified that Rosenbaum acted in a “hyperaggressive” manner; Richard McGinnis testified that Jason Rosenbaum went after Rittenhouse and attempted to reach for the gun when Rittenhouse shot him. Later during cross examination, Grosskreutz testified he thought Anthony Huber attempted to harm Rittenhouse. These statements alone were key in the claim of self-defense.

When claiming self-defense, the defendant cannot be the aggressor. It was necessary for the jury to find Rittenhouse believed there was an unlawful threat to him and that the amount of force he used was reasonable and necessary. This is why Rittenhouse testified incessantly that he used force necessary to remove the treat to him. But none of the victims who were killed were armed – Rittenhouse brought a gun to a fist fight. Rittenhouse cried his crocodile tears, used his privilege, and convinced the jury that he was walking around in Kenosha past curfew with an AR-15 because he was trying to deliver medical aid.

The Rittenhouse Privilege weaved its way into the cracks of the courtroom in Kenosha. We knew the tactics that would be played, he’s White, he’s male and, to use the words of Judge Schroeder Rittenhouse, he is brazen. He walked his way into the courtroom. Just as he audaciously walked past the brigade of police vehicles while carrying an AR-15 across his body, crossed state lines and went home while Rosenbaum and Huber lay dead on the streets of Kenosha.

The Rittenhouse Privilege has set a precedent. There is now legal precedent which permits individuals to claim self-defense in the most outrageous of cases. Be forewarned – this precedent will only extend to individuals who can claim the Rittenhouse privilege.

Stephanie Willis
Stephanie is an Attorney and Policy Strategist focusing on reforming the Criminal Legal System. Stephanie was an anchor on the Law and Crime Network and has provided legal analysis for Fox News.

‘Cruel, False And Bigoted’: Lauren Boebert Ripped On-Air By Local TV Anchor


Ed Mazza
Fri, November 19, 2021

A TV anchor in Colorado tore into extremist Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) for the “the cruel, false, and bigoted things she says for attention and fundraising.”

In a commentary for 9NEWS in Denver, Kyle Clark demanded that news outlets hold Boebert accountable.

“We hold Congresswoman Boebert to a far lower standard” than other lawmakers, Clark said after Boebert launched an Islamophobic attack on Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn) and falsely smeared her as being in something called a “jihad squad.”

Boebert’s home-state TV news anchor appeared to have reached his limit.

“If we held her to the same standard as every other elected Republican and Democrat in Colorado, we would be here near-nightly chronicling the cruel, false and bigoted things that Boebert says for attention and fundraising.”

He added: “This is not about politics ― assuming politics is still about things like taxes, national security, health care, jobs and public lands. This is about us, as journalists, recognizing that we’ll hold a politician accountable if they say something vile once, but we won’t do it if they do it every day.”

Clark called it an unfair double-standard that penalizes politicians of both parties who display human decency.

See his full commentary below:

Hamilton wears rainbow helmet in Qatar practice

Issued on: 19/11/2021 - 


Lewis Hamilton takes part in practice ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix 

ANDREJ ISAKOVIC AFP

Doha (AFP) – Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton wore a rainbow-coloured helmet during Friday's practice sessions at the Qatar Grand Prix after saying Formula One was "duty bound" to raise awareness over human rights and equality in the country.

The tiny Gulf state is hosting its first F1 race this weekend and has signed a 10-year contract from 2023. Qatar's motorsport chief recently said drivers would be free to "speak their minds" on controversial issues such as human rights.

Hamilton's helmet sported pride rainbow colours designating support for LGBTQ+ rights and displayed the words "We Stand Together" on the back.

The Mercedes star spoke out Thursday about equal rights and increasing scrutiny on some of the countries the sport visited.

"I do feel that there are issues in these places that we are going to, as there are around the world, but of course (this) seems to be deemed as one of the worst in this part of the world," he said.

"I do think as these sports go to these places they are duty bound to raise awareness for these issues and these places need scrutiny and need the media to speak about these things. Equal rights is a serious issue.

"However I am aware that in this place they are trying to make steps and it can't change overnight."

USA
Study: Amid closure threats, rural ERs save lives at rates similar to urban hospitals


Despite limited resources, rural hospital emergency rooms provide care similar in quality to their urban counterparts, a new study has found. Photo by paulbr75/Pixabay

Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Patients treated at rural emergency rooms have health outcomes similar to people who receive care at urban facilities, a study published Friday by JAMA Network Open found.

This is despite many of these hospitals being underfunded and operating under the threat of closure, the researchers said.

Although rural hospitals see far fewer patients than their urban counterparts, those covered by Medicare and treated in ERs in either type of region had about a 4% risk for death after suffering an emergency health condition, such as a heart attack or stroke, the data showed.

However, about 6% of patients treated in rural ERs were transferred to other hospitals, compared to 2% of those who initially receive care in urban facilities, according to the researchers.

"Our results should be reassuring to rural communities, rural clinicians and rural health policymakers [because], as a whole, it appears rural emergency departments function well in the care of patients," study co-author Dr. Margaret Greenwood-Ericksen told UPI in an email.

"We initially expected to see a more significant difference in mortality, [but] the findings indicate that [emergency departments] are doing well for the patients they serve," said Greenwood-Ericksen, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

An analysis published in 2020 by the journal Health Affairs found that death rates are higher in rural regions of the United States than in more urban areas due at least partially to limited access to quality healthcare in less populated parts of the country.

RELATED  Most in rural areas 'comfortable' with telehealth during pandemic, study finds

With primary care and specialty clinics often a farther away, hospitals and emergency rooms "are ... critical points of access for care for rural communities," according to Greenwood-Ericksen.

However, rural facilities "are frequently not resourced like peer institutions in metropolitan areas," she said.

Since 2010, more than 100 rural hospitals in the United States have closed, and nearly 200 have been shuttered since 2005, a report from the Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill found.

RELATED Study: Death rates from chronic conditions, 'deaths of despair' rising in rural U.S.

In 2020 alone, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 20 rural hospitals closed or stopped providing inpatient care, according to the Sheps center.

As a result, millions of people in the United States have or are at risk losing valuable healthcare access within their home communities -- care that can save lives, Greenwood-Ericksen said.

For this study, Greenwood-Ericksen and her colleagues analyzed more than 470,000 patient outcomes from Medicare beneficiaries treated at rural and urban emergency rooms between 2011 and 2015.

Although mortality rates were similar for patients with life-threatening illnesses, such as heart attack or stroke, treated at rural and urbans ERs, rates were higher at rural ERs for conditions more related to symptoms such as chest pain and vomiting.

Patients treated at rural ERs for chest pain, for example, were 54% more likely to die within 30 days than those cared for at urban facilities.

Similarly, those who arrived at a rural ER with nausea and vomiting or abdominal pain were about 70% more likely to die within 30 days than those treated at urban hospitals

In addition, about 25% of patients treated in rural ERs were eventually admitted to the hospital compared with nearly 40% of patients at urban ERs, the researchers said.

The similarities in patient outcomes between rural and urban ERs highlight the importance of access to critical care for treating life-threatening conditions, particularly as many of these facilities are at risk losing funding and resources, according to the researchers.

"As [these facilities] provide lifesaving services to their communities, their closure may result in a rise in rural patient mortality," Greenwood-Ericksen said.

Rolls-Royce claims 3 world records with electric plane that flew 387 mph

Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Rolls-Royce said on Friday that it's claiming three new world records, including one for fastest all-electric vehicle in the world -- an aircraft that it said flew close to 400 mph.

The company said its electric "Spirit of Innovation" plane reached the record speed during a recent run.

Rolls-Royce, which is a different entity from Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said that three sets of record data were submitted to be recognized by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale.

Rolls-Royce said the "Spirit of Innovation" holds records for aircraft hitting a top speed of 345 mph over nearly two miles, reaching 330 mph over three miles and climbing 9,800 feet in 202 seconds.


The aircraft was created in conjunction with powertrain supplier YASA and Electroflight in the Accelerating the Electrification of Flight project.

Fifty-percent of the project was funded by the Aerospace Technology Institute along with the British government's Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Innovate U.K.

The aircraft took its inaugural flight in September.

HEXED 
Chemical in human body odor triggers aggression in women, but not men

MEN DON'T NEED MORE AGGRESSION TRIGGERS

A chemical in human body odor triggers aggression in women, but is calming for men, which researchers say may be a function of evolution. Photo by moritz320/Pixabay



Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Sniffing a chemical in human body odor blocks aggression in men but triggers it in women, an analysis published Friday by the journal Science Advances found.

The chemical in question, called hexadecanal, or HEX, is also emitted by infants when under stress, the researchers said.

This may be why the odor it produces leads to more aggressive behavior in women, as it taps into the maternal instinct to protect their offspring, according to the researchers.

At the same time, the HEX scent may also suppress male aggression by design, as it could put the child at risk.

The findings suggest that sex-specific differences in the human olfactory system result in divergent reactions to these "social odors," the researchers said.

"Impulsive aggression is a major factor in the human condition, yet how exactly aggression is triggered or blocked in the human brain remains unclear," wrote the researchers, from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel.

However, "we observed that sniffing a body volatile, namely, HEX, significantly decreased aggression in men yet significantly increased aggression in women," they said.

For this study, the researchers recruited 127 participants for a double-blind test in which half were exposed to HEX in unmarked specimen jars.

Study participants took part in a computer game used to measure aggressive behavior, in which each player competes against another "player" -- in reality, a game algorithm -- designed to provoke them.

In a later phase of the game, the participants get to unleash their aggravation by blasting their opponents with a loud noise, and the volume of the blast is recorded as a measure of aggression.

The noise blast data indicated that HEX significantly lowered aggression in men but significantly increased it in women, researchers said.

In addition, whole-brain analyses using magnetic resonance imaging and other scanning technologies revealed that HEX increased activity in the left angular gyrus of the brain, the region involved in perceiving social cues, in both men and women.

In men, however, smelling HEX increased connectivity between the angular gyrus and a brain network involved in social appraisal and aggression, but decreased this connectivity in women.

Although a study published in 2020 indicated that humans emit body odors related to aggression, it has not been known how human aggressive behavior may be affected by social chemical signals, the researchers said.

"HEX may exert its effects by modulating functional connectivity between the brain substrates of social appraisal and the brain substrates of aggressive execution," the researchers wrote.

"This places chemosignaling at the mechanistic heart of human aggression and poses but one added example to the rapidly growing body of evidence implicating social chemosignaling as a major, albeit mostly subconscious, power in human behavior," they said.

Dams may help against climate change, but harm fish, freshwater ecosystems

Conservation groups are pushing for four dams on Maine's Kennebec River, including the Lockwood Dam in Waterville, to be removed to make way for spawning salmon and other migratory fish.

 Photo by J.Monkman/NRCM

BANGOR, Maine, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- The debate over what hydroelectric dams contribute to the environment -- either as useful tools in the fight against climate change or an impediment to migratory fish and freshwater ecosystem health -- is heating up in Maine as officials decide the future of one power-generating embankment.

The proposed relicensing of a major dam on Maine's Kennebec River has officials and fishers, among others, once again wrestling with difficult questions about the environment and the future of the region's natural resources.

To remain in good legal standing, Brookfield Renewable Partners needs new state and federal licenses for its Shawmut Dam in Farfield.

Earlier this year, the company withdrew its relicensing applications with Maine's Department of Environmental Protection and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission after state regulators warned Brookfield that its water quality certificate was going to be denied.

According to Maine regulators, the dam, as it is being operated, is not sufficiently salmon friendly.

Federal protections for the iconic fish, which first was listed as endangered in 2000, stipulate that 96% of salmon that approach each dam on the lower Kennebec must pass safely upstream within 48 hours, but state regulators told Brookfield they'll accept no less than a 99% success rate.

With the Shawmut Dam's licenses in jeopardy, conservationists and environmental groups have seized the opportunity to push for the removal of four dams on the Lower Kennebec River, which they claim are keeping Atlantic salmon from reaching spawning grounds farther upstream.

"If they do get it relicensed, that means that you have to wait another 30, 40, 50 years before trying to take the dams out again, and by then it might be too late," Greg LaBonte, an avid fly fisher and founder of Maine Fly Guys, told UPI.

LaBonte, who said he typically is a strong supporter of all types of fish conservation efforts, remains unconvinced by the dam removal plans, but appreciates the urgency of advocacy groups like Trout Unlimited and the Atlantic Salmon Federation.

"It's now or wait half a century, and I get that," he said. "It's a tough call."

The Atlantic salmon, which spends most of its life in the ocean but returns to spawn in freshwater rivers, was listed as endangered in 2000. Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Small salmon migrations

Atlantic salmon once were plentiful in all of Maine's major rivers, from the Saco to the St. Croix, returning by the thousands each year to spawn.

From 1912 to 1990, the first Atlantic Salmon caught in Maine's Penobscot River each season was delivered to the president of the United States.

The Penobscot still welcomes a few hundred returning salmon each year, but elsewhere on Maine's waterways, salmon runs rarely exceed a half-dozen fish. Most of those that return are not wild fish, but instead hatchery raised fish released into Maine rivers as juveniles, or smolts.

Environmental groups insist those numbers would be higher if not for the human-built barriers that prevent the natural movement of water, nutrients and fish.

It's not just the height of the dams that thwart salmon, which typically are powerful swimmers and adept leapers. Its also the nature of the water that accumulates above and below.

"The impoundments are really bad, too, because they're often filled with invasive species and are difficult to navigate because they don't have any obvious flows or riffles to guide the fish upstream," Landis Hudson, executive director of the nonprofit Maine Rivers, told UPI.

Impoundments also are one of the reasons why Hudson doesn't think Brookfield's dams, which generate hydroelectricity, should be viewed as a green energy solution. Impoundments on the Kennebec, which flows into the rapidly warming Gulf of Maine, elevate water temperatures.

"Main stem dams like we see on the Kennebec speed up the negative ecological impacts of climate change," Hudson said.

Some dams, including the Lockwood Dam in Waterville, are equipped with fish ladders that allow fish to bypass the dam, but finding the narrow passages isn't always easy.

Last spring, several fish had to be rescued after they became stranded in pools below the dam. Researchers suspect many spawning fish languish for weeks searching for a detour.

"If these fertile female salmon are hanging out below Lockwood so long that by the time they move past it, they are about to keel over, how can we expect these fish to recover, ladder or not?" Hudson asked rhetorically.

Ambivalence toward removal

As of November, only 15 salmon made it to Lockwood Dam's fish ladder, according to the Maine Department of Natural Resources.

It's those modest numbers that inspire LaBonte's ambivalence toward the dam removal plans.

Like others, he worries that the dam's removal would imperil Sappi North America, a paper mill in Skowhegan that relies on water withdrawal from the impoundment behind Shawmut.

If the dam were removed, Brookfield claims the mill would have to curtail operations, putting the livelihoods of several hundred Mainers in jeopardy.

"I could live with that if there was a guarantee that when you take the dams out, the anadromous fish were going to really bounce back," LaBonte said. But he's skeptical.

Salmon aren't the only species dams are impeding, however. They're just the most iconic.

"People rally around salmon for the same reasons they rally around a polar bear or moose," LaBonte said. "These are species that people get intrigue from for no other reason than being curious or romantic about the animal."

That's important for groups that may cultivate a more sophisticated appreciation for ecological health, but that rely on casual nature lovers for funding.

"When you're trying to fundraise or get social backing, it's hard to get that when you're talking about things that aren't well understood or covered in the media," LaBonte said. "If they were to say river herring or shad, people aren't going to get as excited about that because they don't have any relationship with those species."

Much more than salmon

Those less romantic species are where the benefits of dam removal shine through -- and evidence can be found just a few dozen miles downstream from Lockwood Dam.

"The Lower Kennebec and its tributaries, including the Sebasticook River, is probably one of the largest success stories for migratory fish on the Atlantic seaboard, with the return of a run of both alewives and shad -- previously stopped by the Edwards Dam in August that came out in 1999 -- in the millions," Jeff Reardon, Maine Brook Trout Project director at Trout Unlimited and a veteran of dam removal projects, told UPI.

In addition to alewives and shad, eels and herring all now return to the Kennebec in great numbers each year. The recovery quickly garnered the attention of riparian predators.

"The Sebasticook now hosts one of the largest concentrations of eagles on the East Coast," Reardon said. "Every tree on the river bank has one or more eagles in it for miles and miles."

Most of Maine's rivers are quite nutrient poor, so the influx of biomass and nutrients from the ocean are a boon for not just eagles, but also for ospreys, ducks and more.

With the removal of the four dams, beginning with Lockwood, Reardon and others estimate that success will spread upstream.

LaBonte said it might also allow pike, an invasive species and voracious predator, to travel farther upstream and access the salmon nurseries in the Sandy River.

But Reardon, whose organization occasionally supports dams and other barriers to stem the movement of invasive species, says pike prefer slower water -- the found above and below dams.

With the dams gone, fewer stretches of the Kennebec where pike can proliferate will exist. Besides, Reardon said, pike already are present in lakes connected to the Sandy River and Upper Kennebec.

"The explosion of pike that we've seen elsewhere, we wouldn't expect to see in this situation," Reardon said.

A plethora of problems

Reardon and Hudson acknowledged that all dam removal efforts warrant problem solving, whether it's mitigating invasive species, updating wastewater management systems or accommodating businesses that rely on impoundments.

"There have been several other large, complicated dam removal projects in Maine, and each of those projects involved changes to infrastructure that were complicated and in some cases expensive, but people did come together to figure out how to fix them," Hudson said.

Reardon said he has been involved directly in efforts to design and build new water intake infrastructure for mills affected by dam removals.

"That's a problem that's solvable, it's just a question of engineering," he said.

The threat of losing even a modest economic engine in Central Maine moved the state's governor, Democrat Janet Mills, to publicly guarantee the protection of the Sappi mill. Mills has floated the idea of a "nature-like fishway," a newer technology more conducive to fish migration than traditional ladders.

LaBonte also suspects a compromise somewhere short of total dam removal is the most logical solution. He said it also might be time to abandon the dreams of salmon returning to the Kennebec in great numbers.

LaBonte cites a former mentor, Rory Saunders, Downeast Coastal Salmon Recovery Coordinator with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who said, "Salmon aren't dying from any one cause. They're dying from a death by a thousand cuts."

"Dams are just one part of the problem. Salmon have many, many more, mostly out in the ocean," LaBonte said. "If you took just a small portion of the salmon recovery funding and used it for habitat restoration for striped bass and brook trout, we might be better off."

20,000 nurses, mental health workers join 'sympathy strike' in SF Bay Area


San Francisco, Calif., is seen beyond the Golden Gate Bridge on March 16, 2020. 

File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI | License Photo

Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Nurses and mental health employees by the thousands are expected to participate in a sympathy strike in the San Francisco Bay Area on Friday to support protesting engineers at Kaiser Permanente facilities.

About 20,000 members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers at medical centers in San Jose, Fremont and Oakland are expected to join engineers with a rally at Kaiser headquarters in Oakland.

"Nurses know the devastating impact that short-staffing has on our community's health and well-being," CNA President Cathy Kennedy, a registered nurse at Kaiser in Roseville, said according to the San Jose Mercury News.

"We also know that in order to provide the safe patient care our communities need and deserve, we must be able to count on our coworkers and they must be able to count on us. So we are standing with the Kaiser engineers in their righteous fight for a safe and just workplace."

RELATED Kaiser strikes deal with pharmacists union to avert labor strike

Engineers, who saw their contract expire on Sept. 17, had been striking for wages comparable to other engineers in Northern California. The striking Local 39 IUOE represents about 600 operating engineers with Kaiser.

"All of those engineers, their [hourly] wages are all within about a nickel of each other and Kaiser has us better than $1 out the first year, better than $3 out the second year and $6 out the third year," Walter Thiel, a striking stationary engineer, told KCRA-TV.

Kaiser has called the wage demands "unreasonable" and beyond what other unions have asked for.

"Unfortunately, after many hours bargaining on Tuesday and Wednesday, there is no movement in negotiations with Local 39," Kaiser said, according to KCRA-TV. "The union insists it receives much more -- in some cases nearly two times more -- than other union agreements covering Kaiser Permanente employees."

ICC Suspends Investigation Of Philippines 'War On Drugs'


By AFP News
11/19/21 

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte Needs 'Psychiatric' Exam, Says U.N. Human Rights Chief


The International Criminal Court has suspended its investigation into suspected rights abuses committed under Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's "war on drugs" following a request from Manila.

The Hague-based court in September authorised a probe of the campaign that has left thousands of people dead, saying it resembled an illegitimate and systematic attack on civilians.

Duterte was elected in 2016 on a campaign promise to get rid of the Philippines' drug problem, openly ordering police to kill drug suspects if officers' lives were in danger.

At least 6,181 people have died in more than 200,000 anti-drug operations conducted since July 2016, according to the latest official data released by the Philippines.

ICC prosecutors in court papers estimate the figure to be between 12,000 and 30,000 dead.

According to court documents, Philippine ambassador Eduardo Malaya requested a deferral.

"The prosecution has temporarily suspended its investigative activities while it assesses the scope and effect of the deferral request," ICC prosecutor Karim Khan wrote in a court notification dated November 18.

He said the prosecution would request additional information from the Philippines.

Duterte pulled Manila out of the ICC in 2019 after it launched a preliminary probe, but the court says it has jurisdiction over crimes committed while the Philippines was still a member.

President Rodrigo Duterte was elected on a campaign promise to get rid of the Philippines' drug problem

 Photo: POOL via AFP / LISA MARIE DAVID

After long refusing to admit the court had any power to intervene and refusing to cooperate, Duterte backtracked in October to say he would prepare his defence.

Despite its request to the ICC, Manila said it maintained that the court had no jurisdiction.

"We reiterate that it is the position of the Philippine government that the International Criminal Court has no jurisdiction over it," Duterte's spokesman Karlo Nograles said in a statement Saturday.

"In any event, we welcome the judiciousness of the new ICC prosecutor, who has deemed it fit to give the matter a fresh look and we trust that the matter will be resolved in favour of the exoneration of our government and the recognition of the vibrancy of our justice system," he said.

In his letter requesting a deferral, ambassador Malaya said the Philippine government was investigating the alleged crimes against humanity committed during the drug war.

He said the Philippine government "has undertaken, and continues to undertake, thorough investigations of all reported deaths during anti-narcotic operations in the country".

Human Rights Watch dismissed the claim that the Philippines' existing domestic mechanisms afford citizens justice as "absurd" and an attempt to stave off the ICC probe.

"Only 52 out of thousands of killings are in early stages of investigation. Despite many clear-cut cases of murder, no charges have even been filed," the rights group's Asia director Brad Adams tweeted Saturday.

"The reality is that impunity is the norm under President Duterte, which is why the ICC needs to investigate. Let's hope the ICC sees through the ruse that it is."

Censors, Legal Hurdles Stifle China's #MeToo Movement


By Jing Xuan TENG and Beiyi SEOW
11/19/21

China's #MeToo movement has stumbled in the face of swift internet censors, a patriarchal society and a legal system that places a heavy burden on the claimant.

Explosive claims this month by tennis star Peng Shuai that a former top Communist Party politician had sexually assaulted her marked the first time allegations have hit the top layer of government.

But her accusations were swiftly scrubbed from the Chinese internet, and she has not been seen publicly since.

Others have faced the same fate, with an increasingly austere Beijing cracking down on any form of grassroots social movement.


The global #MeToo movement reached China in 2018 when a wave of women published allegations of sexual harassment against university professors.

Threatened by the prospect of an uncontrolled mass movement, authorities quickly began blocking social media hashtags and keywords.

A court this year dismissed the case of Zhou Xiaoxuan (left), who accused a state TV host of groping her Photo: AFP / GREG BAKER

The phrase #MeToo is still blocked.

Prominent feminists face regular police harassment and detention -- including activist Sophia Huang Xueqin, arrested in September for "inciting subversion of state power", according to Reporters Without Borders.

Although leader Xi Jinping has declared women are "an important force driving social development and progress", there are barely any women in key government roles in China.

Political leadership is a man's world, with only one woman in the Communist Party's elite 25-member Politburo.

Xi has also been aggressively pushing a conservative narrative of women as mothers and wives.

A plain-clothes policeman takes away a sign which reads "We Stand Together" from a supporter of Zhou Xiaoxuan outside court 

Photo: AFP / GREG BAKER

New legislation clarifying the concept of sexual harassment passed last year in China, but accusers still face major obstacles.

"You have to constantly prove you're honest... and that you're not using this issue to hype yourself," a woman who had made an allegation of sexual misconduct told AFP, asking to remain unidentified as she feared retaliation.

But for the accused, "it's actually very simple", she said.

"He can just deny it and does not need to prove his innocence."

The cases that see the light of day are often shot down by courts -- and a large majority of cases brought under sexual harassment charges are the accused pressing back with defamation charges.

Wang Qi, a World Wildlife Fund employee who alleged online that her boss had forcibly kissed and repeatedly harassed her, was hit with a retaliatory defamation lawsuit from him in 2018.

Peng Shuai alleged that a former top Communist Party politician sexually assaulted her 

Photo: AFP / Greg WOOD

She was ordered to apologise by a court which concluded she had insufficient proof and had "spread falsehoods" about him.

And a Beijing court this year dismissed the case of Zhou Xiaoxuan, who accused state TV host Zhu Jun of groping her when she was an intern.

The court said Zhou had provided insufficient evidence.

Zhu in turn sued Zhou for defamation.

Courts require accusers to show evidence far stronger than that provided by the accused, often turning away witnesses close to the accusers including friends and colleagues, according to research from Yale Law School in May.

This discourages "employers and survivors from disciplining alleged harassers or speaking out, because they know they might be sued and be made to carry a heavy burden of proof", the researchers wrote.

Other women who come forward with stories of harassment and assault are subjected to personal attacks.

Prominent journalist Zhang Wen was accused of rape by an anonymous letter-writer in 2018, prompting other women to come forward with harassment allegations.

Zhang hit back online at his accusers in an effort to discredit them in comments that were freely allowed to circulate.

They were heavy drinkers who dated many men, he wrote, adding that his original accuser "had changed boyfriends multiple times at university".

But Beijing has allowed allegations to swirl when it suits them.

A female employee at e-commerce giant Alibaba alleged this summer that she had been sexually assaulted on a work trip by her manager and a client, in a case that drew widespread coverage and commentary across Chinese media.

The company was coming under intense pressure from state regulators at the time, and Alibaba fired the manager and vowed to crack down on "ugly" company culture.

Once the furore died down, however, police eventually dropped the case, saying the manager's act of "forced indecency" was not a crime.

And Canadian-Chinese pop star Kris Wu faced a rare arrest in August after a 19-year-old woman accused him online of rape -- coinciding with an official crackdown on celebrity excess.

Equally, fallen Communist Party officials expelled for corruption are frequently accused of sexual misconduct -- but it will "only be revealed after their downfalls due to political struggles, as part of the facts of their crimes," veteran Chinese feminist Lu Pin wrote in a recent essay on Peng Shuai.

"Meanwhile the women are used as evidence of their bad reputation."

Protests Cast Spotlight On Chinese Factories In Serbia


By Miodrag SOVILJ
11/19/21 

When Dung Nguyen left Vietnam to work abroad, the 37-year-old said he'd been assured he would be employed by a German company in Serbia, only to have his passport taken away upon arrival at a Chinese-run factory where conditions were dire.

The situation at the factory and the alleged deception used to lure employees has made headlines in Serbia after Nguyen and hundreds of other Vietnamese went on strike this week.

The strike that started on Wednesday was a rare show of defiance by labourers at a Chinese-backed enterprise in the country.

Beijing has invested billions in Serbia and neighbouring Balkan countries in recent years, hoping to expand its economic footprint in central Europe.


Serbia has been quick to cash in on China's interest, as it seeks to court a range of investors amid the ongoing tug of war between the East and West over influence in the Balkans.

But Belgrade has repeatedly been accused of giving Chinese-owned companies a free hand in how they run their operations.

Vietnamese workers went on strike this week over conditions at a Chinese-run factory in Serbia

 Photo: AFP / OLIVER BUNIC

Critics from civil society, human rights groups and in the media say the government has turned a blind eye to environmental concerns and potential human rights violations.

The Vietnamese workers were employed to build a factory for the Chinese tyre company Linglong in the small northern city of Zrenjanin, considered a centrepiece of Beijing-backed investment in Serbia.

But according to Nguyen, the living and work conditions were untenable and not what he had been promised when he was recruited for the job.

"We are living as if we were in jail... all our passports were kept by the Chinese when we arrived at the airport," Nguyen told AFP in a video message sent from inside the living quarters.

"I cannot talk more as I am afraid my saying would impact others," he added.

Even before the strike, private security guards were posted near the workers' dormitories next to the factory site and journalists including from AFP were prevented from entering the premises.

The strike was a rare show of defiance by labourers at a Chinese-backed enterprise in Serbia

 Photo: AFP / OLIVER BUNIC

Human rights organisations A11 and ASTRA published a joint report earlier this week demanding "urgent action" from Serbian authorities.

"A large number of established facts indicate the possibility that workers are victims of human trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation," it said.

According to the report, the Vietnamese workers had not been provided with heating, electricity or hot water and the facilities lacked adequate infrastructure and sewerage.

"The conditions were nowhere near suitable for housing human beings," Danilo Curcic, a human rights lawyer from A11 said during an interview with local broadcaster N1 TV.

"I don't think it's an overstatement to say that some people do not keep animals in those conditions."

Construction workers at the Zrenjanin factory had already staged two strikes within the last six months, according to A11, sparked by unpaid salaries and a lack of food.

Beijing has invested billions in Serbia and neighbouring Balkan countries in recent years, aiming to expand its economic footprint in central Europe 

Photo: AFP / OLIVER BUNIC

A short documentary aired by N1 this month also showed workers living in cramped conditions inside a makeshift dormitory at the site.

"It is unacceptable that an aspiring EU member state seems to tolerate this on its territory and remains silent on cases of potential forced labour in Europe," Viola von Cramon, a member of the European Parliament for Germany, told AFP.

Linglong said that the Vietnamese workers were not officially employed by the company and had been hired by a Chinese subcontractor.

"Linglong's only obligation to its contractors is to pay them compensation for the work performed under the contract," the company said in a statement.

It added it was planning meetings with subcontractors to "inform them about the values the company upholds" and demanded the workers were transferred to "better accommodation".

It did not respond to an AFP request for further clarification.

Vietnam's foreign ministry said officials had received no reports of "violence and harassment" at the factory but said it was monitoring the situation.

In a 2019 case that cast a disturbing light on unscrupulous trafficking networks, 39 Vietnamese migrants were found dead in a refrigerated truck in Britain after it had crossed the Channel from Europe.

Serbian leaders have batted away accusations of malfeasance at Linglong.

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic suggested the incident might have been a conspiracy targeting Chinese investment in the country, after confirming that the Vietnamese workers were being moved to more appropriate accommodation.

President Aleksandar Vucic has vastly expanded ties with Beijing since coming to power and says the two countries enjoy a "steel friendship".

Serbia was one of the first countries in Europe to receive coronavirus vaccines from China, while Vucic kissed the Chinese flag last year after receiving medical supplies sent by Beijing early on in the pandemic.

Following this week's headlines, the Serbian leader doubled down, saying Chinese investments would continue to be a top priority.

"What do you want, to destroy an investment worth $900 million?" Vucic said Friday.

"If the Vietnamese need to be helped, we will help. But we will not chase the investors away."

Tesla’s Fremont Factory ‘Resembles A Frat House’ Harassment Lawsuit Claims


By Maggie Valenti
11/19/21 

A woman has accused Tesla of contributing to an environment where sexual harassment was “rampant” at its factory in Fremont, California, in a new lawsuit.

In an interview with The Washington Post, worker Jessica Barraza accused the company of allowing the situation to unfold.

The lawsuit states the Tesla factory “resembles a . . . frat house.” Barraza is reportedly on doctor-ordered medical leave for post-traumatic stress and anxiety.

Tesla hired Barraza as a production associate in 2018. In the lawsuit, she claims male colleagues subjected her to harassment, which included catcalling and inappropriate physical touching, and that superiors knew about and took part in the toxic environment. A human resources complaint did nothing to protect her.

Specifics listed in the complaint include male workers who remarked on Barraza’s “coke bottle” figure, “fat a--” or “onion booty.”

The complaint also states that male workers would “brush up against Ms. Barraza’s backside (including with their groins) or unnecessarily touch her under the pretext of working together in close quarters.”

Barraza’s complaint was filed in California Superior Court, but Tesla CEO and SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk is not named in the suit. Though Musk is not named, Barraza cited a tweet he wrote in The Washington Post interview that contributed to the toxic culture.

“Am thinking of starting new university: Texas Institute of Technology & Science,” Musk wrote. The acronym would be TITS (a reference to women’s breasts). “It will have epic merch, universally admired,” Musk continued.

“That doesn’t set a good example for the factory — it almost gives it like an … ‘he’s tweeting about it, it has to be OK,’ ” Barraza told The Washington Post. “It’s not fair to myself, to my family, to other women who are working there.”

This is not the first time the Fremont factory has been the site of harassment. In October, Tesla was ordered by a judge to pay $137 million to a former contractor who was subjected to racial harassment.

In 2017, former Tesla engineer AJ Vandermeyden sued Tesla, alleging women were denied promotions and paid less than their male counterparts, then faced retaliation after reaching out to human resources. Tesla fired Vandermeyden months after her claims went public.

“Tesla is responsible for the systemic sexual harassment occurring in its factory,” Barraza’s attorney, David A. Lowe, told The Verge. “We are bringing this case to put a stop to the harassment against Ms. Barraza and her colleagues.”

Japan Unveils Record $490 Bn Stimulus To Boost Pandemic Recovery


By Kyoko HASEGAWA
11/19/21 

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced a record $490 billion stimulus for the world's third-largest economy Friday as he looks to shore up the country's patchy pandemic recovery.

The 56 trillion yen injection, the third since the Covid crisis struck last year and expected to be approved by the cabinet later in the day, "is enough to deliver a sense of safety and hope to the Japanese people", Kishida said.

The spending will include a variety of measures, said to include cash and coupon handouts to families with children under 18 who meet an income cap, as well as pay rises for nurses and careworkers.

The vast spending plans come after Japan's economy shrank far more than expected in the second quarter as leaders struggled to overcome the outbreak by imposing containment measures in Tokyo and other cities.


Former prime ministers Yoshihide Suga and Shinzo Abe poured 40 trillion yen and 38 trillion yen respectively into the economy in 2020, although some analysts and media have raised doubts over how effective that spending has been.

"We have been able to build economic measures that will open the new society after the pandemic," Kishida said at policy talks between the cabinet and ruling coalition.

He said the fiscal spending was expected to rise as high as 79 trillion yen including other elements such as loans from funds.

Kishida triumphed in a general election last month, having pledged to unleash a huge spending programme after his predecessor Suga stepped down, partly over his government's virus response.

Fumio Kishida's stimulus is the third to be injected into the Japanese economy since the pandemic began last year Photo: POOL via AFP / Stanislav Kogiku

Businesses, especially restaurants and bars, have endured months of on-off restrictions on opening hours and alcohol sales since the pandemic began. Japan's borders also remain shut to tourists.

Government data showed this week that Japan's economy shrank 0.8 percent in the three months to September -- far worse than market expectations -- as a record surge in virus cases hit spending and supply-chain issues hampered business.

However, daily cases have nosedived in recent months, and more than three-quarters of the population are now fully vaccinated, with most restrictions now lifted nationwide.

Economists said the stimulus would support Japan's growth to some extent, although some media outlets have questioned the effectiveness of handouts and criticised a lack of clarity on how the spending will be financed.

Japan already has an enormous public debt load, amounting to 250 percent of gross domestic product according to the International Monetary Fund.

The government should explain why the stimulus package "is necessary and what effects are expected", Kengo Sakurada, chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives, told reporters this week.

He also noted that Japan's Board of Audit says nearly half of the stimulus already implemented by previous governments had yet to be used.

"We need accountability from the government on why this one will be successful," he said.

Tesla, electric SUVs get poor scores from Consumer Reports

Thu, November 18, 2021
By Joseph White

(Reuters) -Vehicles from Tesla Inc and electric sport utilities from rival brands are among the least reliable models sold in the United States, a reflection of the risks of new technology, Consumer Reports said on Thursday.

Consumer Reports, a nonprofit organization that evaluates products and services, said Tesla, the world's most valuable automaker, ranked 27th out of 28 brands, just ahead of Ford Motor Co's Lincoln brand.

"Electric SUVs as a vehicle category is the absolute bottom in terms of reliability," Consumer Reports director of vehicle testing Jake Fisher said Thursday during a presentation to the Detroit Automotive Press Association.

Among electric SUVs, Fisher said Ford Motor Co's Mustang Mach-E "is the only one with above-average reliability."

Consumer Reports recommends the Tesla Model 3 sedan and rates its reliability as "average." But Fisher said the rest of Tesla's vehicles are below average.

The popular Model Y SUV, Tesla's best-selling vehicle, has problems with poorly fitting body panels, leaks and issues with its climate control, Fisher said.

The larger Model X SUV "still has problems with the falcon wing doors," Fisher said.

Consumer Reports has been critical of Tesla's Autopilot and Full Self Driving automated driving systems. Fisher said Consumer Reports still has concerns that drivers will rely too much on technology that cannot safely take over driving, but that did not factor into the reliability scores.

"Full Self Driving is not full self-driving at all," Fisher said. "It's a convenience feature."

Electric vehicle drive systems, or powertrains, are not the main source of problems, Fisher said. The issues reported by owners are with other features.

Manufacturers "are using EVs as a technological test bed," Fisher said. "Those are the things that go wrong."

The top-ranked brand overall in the survey was Lexus, and eight of the ten top-scoring brands were Japanese. That continues a long-running trend.

Among brands owned by Detroit automakers, Buick was the only one in the top ten, in fifth place.

The Buick Envision, which is assembled in China, was the most reliable compact luxury SUV in the Consumer Reports survey.

(Reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Nick Zieminski)

The chaos on Canada's west coast is a preview of climate change woes to come


Damon Linker, Senior correspondent
Thu, November 18, 2021

British Columbia flooding. Illustrated | REUTERS, iStock

World leaders have just returned home from COP26, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, eager to talk about the progress they made in devising strategies to combat climate change. Right on time, events on the west coast of Canada have given us a glimpse of our perilous environmental future.

This past June, British Columbia was sitting under a highly irregular "heat dome" that drove temperatures up to astonishing heights. Fires, smoke, and life-threatening heat enveloped both sides of the U.S.-Canada border, but things were especially bad above the 49th parallel, with the town of Lytton topping out at 121 degrees Fahrenheit and ending up completely consumed by flames from a brushfire.

Now, just a few months later, an "atmospheric river" has delivered a wind-swept deluge to the same area, bringing widespread washouts, mudslides, and avalanches. The consequences for infrastructure — and, as a result, already buckling supply chains — have been especially shattering.

Writing in the National Post, author Terry Glavin notes that the Port of Vancouver and other marine terminals in the area "are now cut off from the rest of Canada, by road and by rail," with the Coquihalla Highway and Highway 3 both impassable. It may be possible to resolve the rail disruptions fairly quickly, but the same isn't true for roads. A government official estimates it could take "several weeks or months" to get them reopened. And because the flooding has been so widespread across the region, diverting truck traffic through the United States to the south isn't a great option either.

Add in entire towns under water, polluted municipal water systems, and gas lines severed with winter weather on the way — and we're left with a devastating picture of coastal western Canada. It's just the latest disturbing image of what awaits the world over the coming years and decades.

Extreme weather events — storms, floods, drought, deadly heat and cold — are bad enough in themselves. But they don't just do immediate damage to people and private property. They also play havoc with the networks of commerce and travel on which our modern lives and economies depend.

Yes, we need to do what we can to cut emissions so things don't become even worse down the road. But they're going to become pretty bad regardless. Internalizing that fact is an important task, not least because doing so might goad us to develop a nimbleness in our response to disasters and resilience in our supply chains once the worst discrete weather events have receded.

Human beings can get used to anything. We're going to have to get used to calamity.

One woman's determination unlocked science behind reforestation on an arid southwest forest

Laura Rabon
Thu, November 18, 2021

ALAMOGORDO — Tucked back in carefully chosen locations on the Lincoln National Forest, you can see baby trees poking up from the ground among the blackened logs

remaining from fires that laid bare patches of the forest. These fledgling trees aren’t here by accident. They are here because of one woman’s determination to unlock the science behind reforestation in the arid southwestern forest.

Forest Service silviculturist Marisa Bowen has spent the last five years coordinating the planting of 170,000 trees.

Forest Service silviculturist Marisa Bowen, known as Reese to her friends and coworkers, revived the tree planting program on the Lincoln National Forest after others had given up 20 years ago. Previous efforts to replant trees in fire scars on the Lincoln National Forest showed only mild success. Forest staff began to wonder if the limited returns were worth the hours and money spent on the program. In 2017 Bowen began researching the old methodology and successfully tweaking how, what, where and when the trees were planted.

Since then she has coordinated the planting of 170,000 trees in the Little Bear (2012) and Scott Able (2000) fire scars and learned the little details that make a big difference when doing reforestation in a drought-stricken forest.

“Everyone thinks it’s an easy, straightforward process. Just get some seeds and plant them, right?” Bowen smiles and says. “Turns out it’s a bit more complicated if you want the trees to survive.”

While the Forest Service acknowledges it has too many trees in some part of the forest, it also has too few in other areas. Prompt reforestation in these areas allows for the accelerated regeneration of the woods after natural disturbance, such as wildfire, climate change, and insect and disease infestations. Reestablishing forest cover provides wildlife habitat, clean and abundant water for animals and humans, carbon sequestration, future timber that can be responsibly harvested, forested recreation opportunities, and prevents soil erosion.

Finding the right sites

Five years ago, Bowen and the GIS department at the Forest Service mapped the terrain burned by fires over the years. They were searching for areas where replanting trees was most needed and where they had a shot of survival. After a careful review, they chose 8,315 acres of severely burned forest at various locations across the forest.

The sites were in areas where all the trees were destroyed, and with them, the seed source that would have naturally replenished the trees. They also considered the state of the soil, access to the area, and nearby private land. It is also worth noting official wilderness areas are not eligible to be replanted per wilderness regulations. In just five years, they have successfully replanted 20 percent of the area with Ponderosa pine,

Douglas Fir, Engelmann spruce, and southwestern white pine.

Bowen inspects a three-year-old ponderosa pine seedling.

“Fire burns in a mosaic pattern. It doesn’t burn uniformly,” explained Bowen. “In the same fire you can see patches of forest that were completely untouched next to burned areas. If some trees survive in the area, it has hope of coming back. I was looking for areas with total overstory removal and no seed source remaining, but with soils that were still able to support vegetation.”
The art and science of seed collection

Success is in the details. Trees, like humans, have their own genetic makeup passed down from tree to seedling. Bowen only uses seeds collected from the same elevational levels on the same forest. Using seeds already adapted to the unique ecosystem of the Lincoln National Forest in southern New Mexico gives the tree the best shot of long-term survival.

Seed collection is an exercise in patience. It turns out conifer trees only produce a good seed crop every 7-15 years, depending on the species. For the first few years of the program, she relied on seeds collected decades ago, some from as far back as the 1970s that had been stored at a Forest Service nursery in Idaho. The trees would produce some cones each year, but when Bowen opened the cones, she discovered underdeveloped seeds that weren’t viable for collection. However, nature was on their side because, in 2018, the trees produced a mast crop with huge cones and plenty of seeds.

Specially trained tree climbers from the Lincoln National Forest and nearby Mescalero Apache Tribe climb to the very top of dozens of trees to carefully clip the cones.

Specially trained tree climbers collect cones from dozens of trees to ensure they have enough genetic variety.

“I love it, but you can’t be scared of heights,” joshed tree climber Wells Viana. “It’s slow, technical work, but it’s rewarding. You’re attached to the tree and covered in sap. When the wind blows it feels like the rest of the world is moving and you’re staying still, when in fact, it’s the opposite. The tree climbers collect cones from multiple different trees of the same species.

“We want to make sure to get a genetic variety for each species, which wouldn’t happen if we only used seeds from one tree… and of course, we leave some so the forest can regenerate itself,” explained Viana.

The seeds are also an important food source for wildlife.

Once collected, cones are placed in burlap bags and rotated daily to avoid rot until refrigerated trucks arrive to take them to Forest Service nurseries. Forest Service nurseries and seed extractories remove the seed from the cones and grow seedlings for planting. The seedlings are shipped back to the forest in the late summer of each year.

Forest staff use recently collected seeds to replant the southwestern white pine, once a staple species in the forest. In the 1980s, its numbers began to dwindle after an outbreak of White Pine Blister Rust hit the forest. The fungus attacks white pines and kills more than 95 percent of the trees it infects by cutting off pathways for water and nutrients.

White pines are large trees that can live up to 450 years if undisturbed.

“It’s tragic. You’ll find one white pine in a sea of dead ones that survived the outbreak. The hope is that tree has a genetic resistance to the Blister Rust. By using its seeds, the seedling may get those genes that allow it to survive when it is exposed to the fungus, which almost always happens.” Bowen said.

The U.S. Forest Service estimates 3-5 percent of white pines are resistant to the devastating effects of the pathogen.

Plant in summer, not the spring

For the past five years, a crew of tree planters has arrived from Oregon in late summer or early fall. They move quickly across the landscape digging holes, placing seedlings inside, and installing beige tubes around the baby tree called sentry tree shelters. The reusable shelters garner attention from forest visitors who aren’t quite sure why they are there. The shelters stay on for two years, and dramatically increase the rate of survival for the tree. The shelter helps retain moisture, shades the plant from the harsh New Mexican sun, and protect the new seedling from being eaten by the hearty population of elk and deer.

Conifer cones are cut in half to inspect the viability of the seeds inside.

Trees used to be planted in neat, tidy rows, giving the forest an unnatural row-crop feel.

“I’ve stood in those older reforested areas, and it’s creepy the uniformity of it all,” said Bowen. “It’s supposed to be a forest, not a farm.” Today, the crew plants the trees in clusters to mimic how natural forests develop, which isn’t in straight, clean lines.

Foresters also thought the best time to plant was in the spring before the monsoons arrived, but almost all the trees died.

Bowen explained, “The soil is bone dry in spring on the mountains. Usually, we haven’t gotten rain for months, and we don’t have the snowpack we used to. Now we plant in August and early September after the heavy monsoons when the soil is wet, the temperatures aren’t as hot, and we will likely get a few pulses of moisture.”

It’s working too. Depending on the site, the tree survival rate averages between 60-80 percent, beating Bowen’s expectations of 50 percent. A high level of tree mortality is always anticipated when doing reforestation.

Forest staff chooses severely burned sites with no surviving trees, like this hillside burned by the Scott Abel Fire 20 years ago.

“Think of it this way; trees produce an enormous number of seeds because they know the vast majority of them won’t make it. We are replicating a natural process, so some level of tree mortality is inevitable,” Bowen stated.

Next year will be a big moment for Bowen and her crew. Six years after planting the first seedlings, the initial area can officially be called “reforested.” It will take another 20 years for the trees to reach full maturity and begin producing their own seeds, a reminder of how long it can take a landscape to recover.

“Coordinating the reforestation program takes a lot of time and work, but it’s one of the most rewarding part of my job,” Bowen said. “In the future, I’d like to see the program grow and to identify more areas that could benefit from reforestation.”
Money doesn't grow on trees

Reforestation is expensive. Bowen estimates she spends $200,000 a year on the program, and she relies heavily on partner organizations to help fund the work. The Lincoln National Forest partners with four organizations that help fund the tree planting efforts: The National Forest Foundation, American Forests, One Tree Planted, and the Arbor Day Foundation. The forest has been awarded money each year from one or more of the organizations, which is partly why the program has accomplished so much in such little time.

American Forests is the oldest national nonprofit conservation organization in the United States, founded in 1875. It has helped to fund replanting efforts on the Lincoln National Forest every year since 2018.

“We loved everything about this project, and so did our donors,” said American Forests Forest Restoration Manager Austin Rempel. “Locations like the Lincoln National Forest are so important. They are forested sky islands isolated by desert on all sides. Every tree counts in that scenario. A small project in these areas can have an outsized impact,” he added.

Reforestation in the face of climate change

The race is on to establish healthy mature trees sooner rather than later. As temperatures continue to rise and drought continues, the types of trees that thrive at certain elevations has already begun to shift. Historically, pinyon and juniper trees grew at lower elevations on the

Lincoln National Forest and then transitioned to ponderosa pine and eventually mixed conifer of pine, fir and spruce trees at high elevations. After a landscape altering event, like a wildfire, the lower elevation tree species are being seen at increasing higher and higher elevations, as they seek out terrain with the water and temperatures they have adapted to over millennium.

Reforestation presents opportunities to address the effects of climate change by managing plant genetic diversity and capturing carbon to counter greenhouse gas emissions.

The Forest Service National Forests Genetics Program is working to improve reforestation efforts in the face of climate change. Climate change is fueling extreme droughts and severe wildfires. Trees that aren’t killed by these threats are weakened. This leaves them vulnerable to disease and pests. The program identifies genetic variations in tree species that make them more resilient to higher temperatures and leads the development of trees with resistance to insects and diseases.

The program manages 70 highly productive seed orchards of many species developed through selection, breeding, and testing. These seed orchards cover over 25,000 acres, and include species such as Douglas fir, western larch, western white pine, ponderosa pine, sugar pine, white fir, eastern white pine, shortleaf pine, longleaf pine, slash pine, and whitebark pine. The program also conserves forest tree genetic material (primarily through collecting and long-term storage of seeds) before it is lost to climate change, pest and diseases, wildfire, and other natural disasters. The Forest Service works on over 100 species, including non-commercial conifer and hardwood tree species, native grasses, and wildflowers.

This article originally appeared on Ruidoso News: One woman's determination unlocked science behind reforestation on an arid southwest forest