Bipartisan senators move to block Saudi arms deal over Yemen involvement



Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., led a group of bipartisan senators on Thursday with introducing a joint resolution to stop a Biden administration arms deal with Saudi Arabia. Pool file photo by Greg Nash/UPI | License Photo

Nov. 18 (UPI) -- A group of bipartisan senators introduced a bill Thursday to block the Biden administration from completing an arms sale to Saudi Arabia over its involvement in the Yemen civil war.

The $650 million arms deal with the Kingdom approved by the State Department earlier this month is the first major military sale by the Biden administration, and it has come under criticism from some politicians and activists as they object to the role the U.S. Middle Eastern ally is playing in the Yemen conflict, including its recently instated fuel blockade of the war-torn country that has prevented food and water from getting in.

The joint resolution unveiled Thursday voices disapproval of the sale by Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., and Mike Lee, R-Utah.

"A message needs to be sent to Saudi Arabia that we don't approve of their war in Yemen," Paul said in a statement. "By participating in this sale, we would not only be rewarding reprehensible behavior, but also exacerbating a humanitarian crisis in Yemen. I order Congress and the Biden administration to consider the possible consequences of this sale that could accelerate an arms race in the Middle East and jeopardize the security of our military technologies."

Yemen, which borders the Gulf of Aden to its south and Saudi Arabia to its north, has been submerged in conflict since March 2015 when the internationally recognized and Saudi-backed government launched an attack against Houthi rebels.

The United Nations has described the situation as the world's largest humanitarian crisis with some 21 million people in need of humanitarian assistance including more than 11 million children.

In February, President Joe Biden announced the end of U.S. support for offensive military operations in Yemen. The arms deal was approved Nov. 4 by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which has described the weapons involved as defensive in nature.

"This proposed sale will support U.S. foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country that continues to be an important force for political and economic progress in the Middle East," it said in a statement.

The deal includes 280 AIM-120C-7/C-8 advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles, which are predominantly used for defensive iron strikes, and 596 LAU-128 missile rail launchers as well as containers, support equipment and other forms of spare parts and technical support.

Last week, Rep. Ilhan Omar introduced a similar bill in the House to block the arms sale, which she said was "simply unconscionable" as the Kingdom continues "to slaughter innocent people and starve millions in Yemen.

"We should never be selling human rights abusers weapons, but we certainly should not be doing so in the midst of a humanitarian crisis they are responsible for," she said in a statement.

3,000 flip-flops placed in National Mall in protest of U.S. funding Philippine military

Activists placed 3,000 flip-flops on the National Mall Thursday in a call for Congress to pass the Philippine Human Rights Act, which would cut support for Philippine military and police over human rights violations.

 Photo by Tasos Katopodis/UPI | License Photo


Nov. 18 (UPI) -- Activists on Thursday placed flip-flops on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in protest of extrajudicial killings carried out by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.


Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., a sponsor of the bill wrote on Twitter that the "human rights tragedy must end." Photo by Tasos Katopodis/UPI | License Photo

As part of the protest organized by the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, demonstrators placed 3,000 pairs of flip-flops, each representing 10 of the 300,000 killings carried out under Duterte's leadership as they urged U.S. lawmakers to stop providing military aid to the nation.

The protest sought to encourage Congress to pass the Philippine Human Rights Act, which would cut support for Philippine military and police until alleged human rights violations have been examined.

It calls for suspension of U.S. security assistance and vetoing of loans to the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippines National Police and also requires the U.S. State Department and U.S. Department of Defense to report to Congress on the misuse of the aid, "including but not limited to extrajudicial killings, intimidation, illegal sales, and misappropriation."

Democratic Oregon Reps. Suzanne Bonamici and Earl Blumenauer also released a joint statement calling for the bill's passage. Photo by Tasos Katopodis/UPI | License Photo

The bill cites the threat posed by Duterte and the military to trade unionists, journalists, small farmers, LGBTQ activists and critics of the government.

One of the bill's sponsors, Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., reacted to the demonstration on Twitter.

"This human rights tragedy must end. It's time to pass my bill, the Philippine Human Rights Act," she wrote.

Democratic Oregon Reps. Suzanne Bonamici and Earl Blumenauer also released a joint statement calling for the bill's passage.

"During President Duterte's regime, we have seen widespread and well-documented extrajudicial murders in a so-called 'War on Drugs,' and Philippine security forces are suspected in the murders of pro-democracy advocates, Indigenous people and other voices of dissent," they wrote. "It is unconscionable that U.S. military aid continues to flow to the Philippine government."

The Communication Workers of America and the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines organized the protest. Photo by Tasos Katopodis/UPI | License Photo

The Silent Build-Up to a Super-Eruption That Could Catastrophically Affect Global Climate

By UNIVERSITY OF GENEVA NOVEMBER 17, 2021

Geologists from the UNIGE and Peking University have developed a technique that makes it possible to estimate the maximum size of a future super-eruption of Toba volcano in Sumatra.

It is estimated that about 5-10 volcanoes worldwide are capable of producing a super-eruption that could catastrophically affect global climate. One of these volcanoes hides below the waters of Lake Toba in Sumatra and has caused two super-eruptions in the last one million year. But when will the next one be? Will there be any warning signs? To answer these questions, an international team of geologists led from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, and Peking University, China, developed an analysis of the levels of uranium and lead in zircons – a mineral typically found in explosive volcanic eruptions – to determine how long it took the volcano to prepare for its super-eruptions. Unfortunately, these results, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), refute the notion that unusual geological signs would herald an imminent super-eruption. Instead, the magma silently accumulated in the magma reservoir until these massive explosions occur.

The Toba volcano in Sumatra caused two of the largest eruptions known on the Earth: the first 840,000 years ago, the second 75,000 years ago, each measuring about 2’800 km3, enough to blanket the whole of Switzerland with 7 cm thick of ash, and representing 70,000 times the amount of magma erupted to this moment by the ongoing La Palma eruption. Two other smaller eruptions took place, one 1.4 million years ago and the other 500,000 years ago.

Photo of Lake Toba in Sumatra and its island created by the accumulation of magma in the volcano’s magma reservoir. Credit: © UNIGE

Geologists from UNIGE and Peking University are interested in the Toba volcano because there is no historical record of human response to a super-eruption of the size that it produced in the past. Such an event would affect the global climate and pose numerous problems, particularly in terms of food supply, not to mention the migration of populations. “Toba volcano forms a caldera, meaning that previous eruptions have created a large depression that is occupied today by meteoric water,” explains Luca Caricchi, professor at the Department of Earth Sciences at the UNIGE Faculty of Science and co-author of the study. At the center of the lake is an island that raised from the water because of the push of the magma injected in the subvolcanic reservoir. “We can see that this island is gradually increasing in height, indicating that the volcano is active and that magma is accumulating underneath,” says Ping-Ping Liu, a professor at the Faculty of Earth and Space Sciences of Peking University and leading author of the article. But are we close to the next super-eruption?

Measuring uranium and lead in zircon

Zircon is a mineral that is found in the products of explosive volcanic eruptions. “One of its characteristics is that it takes uranium within its structure,” explains Ping-Ping Liu. Over time, the uranium decays into lead. “So by measuring the amount of uranium and lead in zircon with a mass spectrometer, we can determine its age,” says the geologist. The scientists determined the age of a large number of zircons extracted from the products of different eruptions: the youngest zircon provides information on the date of the eruption and the older zircons reveal the history of magma accumulation preceding the super-eruptions. 

“The first super-eruption occurred around 840,000 years ago after 1.4 million years of magma input, whereas magma fed the second super-eruption at 75,000 years accumulated only in 600,000 years,” notes Luca Caricchi. Why was the time of magma accumulation halved even if the two super-eruptions were of the same size? “This is linked to the progressive increase of the temperature of the continental crust in which Toba’s magma reservoir is assembled,” explains Ping-Ping Liu. The input of magma has gradually heated the surrounding continental crust, which makes the magma cool slower. “This is a ‘vicious circle’ of eruptions: the more the magma heats the crust, the slower the magma cools and the faster the rate of magma accumulation becomes,” she says. The result is that super-eruptions can become more frequent in time.

Estimating the rate of magma accumulation to anticipate the size of the next super-eruption

This technique, based on zircon geochronology, can also be used to estimate the rate of magma input in a magma reservoir. “Today, we estimate that about 320 km3 of magma could be ready to erupt within the reservoir of Toba volcano,” says Luca Caricchi. If such an eruption would occur now, this would be a very catastrophic event that strongly affect not only the highly populated island of Sumatra but also the global environment. Geologists have estimated that currently about 4 km³ of eruptible magma is accumulating within Toba’s magma reservoir every thousand years and that this rate was rather stable throughout its eruptive history. “The next super-eruption of the size of the last two would therefore take place in about 600,000 years,” he continues. This does not rule out that smaller eruptions could occur in the meantime.

This innovative method can be applied to any other volcano globally and could serve to identify which volcano is closest to a super-eruption. “This is a great advance, because with few super-eruptions in the last 2 million years, it is not possible for us to obtain statistically significant values for the frequency of these catastrophic events at a global scale,” explains Ping-Ping Liu. “Our study also shows that no extreme events occur before a super-eruption. This suggests that signs of an impending super-eruption such as a significant increase in earthquakes or rapid ground uplift, might not be as obvious as pictured in disaster movies by the film industry. At Toba volcano, everything is happening silently underground, and the analysis of the zircons now gives us an idea of what is to come,” concludes Luca Caricchi.

Reference: “Growth and thermal maturation of the Toba magma reservoir” by Ping-Ping Liu, Luca Caricchi, Sun-Lin Chung, Xian-Hua Li, Qiu-Li Li, Mei-Fu Zhou, Yu-Ming Lai, Azman A. Ghani, Theodora Sihotang, Tom E. Sheldrake, and Guy Simpson, 1 November 2021, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2101695118

ANOTHER VERSION OF  CARBON CAPTURE

AUSTRALIA

‘A farce’: experts dismiss government claims a controversial and unproven technology will cut emissions by 15%

Burning vegetation and injecting emissions underground ‘ecologically risky’ and ‘should be avoided’

Researchers have dismissed the Morrison government’s use of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage technology in its net zero emissions 2050 modelling. 

Photograph: The AGE/Fairfax Media

Supported by


Graham Readfearn
@readfearn
Thu 18 Nov 2021 16.30 GMT

Experts have questioned how a controversial energy technology that doesn’t currently exist in Australia could be earmarked as a major source of cuts to greenhouse gas emissions in the Morrison government’s plan to reach net zero by 2050.

According to the government’s modelling report of its “technology not taxes” plan, a technique known as BECCS – bioenergy with carbon capture and storage – would be removing about 15% from the nation’s gross greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

But the approach, which involves burning vegetation or waste for power and then capturing the carbon dioxide and injecting it underground, is not one of the priority technologies the government has picked to support.

The government’s modelling report has already come under fire from experts for questionable assumptions and an approach which leaves the gas industry to grow while relying on international offsets.

Experts said it was not clear how the government had arrived at the BECCS figure, with some saying the technique itself was unproven, problematic and ecologically risky.

Does Angus Taylor’s projection of a 35% 2030 emissions cut really ‘support the Paris agreement’?

BECCS theoretically requires three key elements – the availability of biomass such as trees, vegetation or waste and land and water to grow it; a power plant to burn the biomass and capture the CO2; and then a geological formation underground close by where the CO2 could be injected.

There was no mention of BECCS in the government’s latest progress report on its low emissions technology plans, published earlier this month.

According to the government’s modelling report, BECCS removes 38m tonnes of CO2 by 2050 under its technology plan, compared to 253Mt of gross emissions from sectors including electricity, transport and agriculture.

Other scenarios modelled by the government include even higher levels of BECCS.

BECCS is included in many global efforts to map out routes for economies to reach net zero, but remains controversial because of its potential to compete for land and resources currently used to produce food.

Dr Kate Dooley, a researcher at the University of Melbourne and an expert on how land could be used to mitigate climate change, said based on the government’s numbers, about 14m hectares – or about 6% of all Australia’s agricultural land – would be needed to generate emissions reductions at that level.

She said: “BECCS is an unproven technology with significant land area requirements which at a global scale have been shown to pose tradeoffs and serious risks for resource use, biodiversity, and food security.”

Dooley said while Australia’s size meant there were good opportunities to cut emissions on land, much of this potential came in reducing clearing.

She added: “Risky unproven technologies such as BECCS should be avoided in favour of options with greater co-benefits.”


Morrison government’s carbon capture plan at crossroads as Coalition MPs raise opposition

Energy and climate change program director at the Grattan Institute, Tony Wood, said including BECCS in the government’s planning at all “would be problematic because the report says it’s based on an assumption the technology is not economically viable in absence of incentives.

“But there’s nothing in the report that describes what incentives would trigger such an investment. It’s imposed on the modelling without any justification, but it offsets a substantial amount of emissions.

“These are extraordinary numbers to have in a report without any justification of how this would work, how it would happen and what the costs would be.”

Tim Baxter, a senior researcher at the Climate Council, said the inclusion of BECCS in the government’s modelling was a “farce”.

“The pretence that BECCS will get off the ground at this scale in Australia without careful, intelligent planning is absurd,” he said.

Chief executive of Climate Analytics, Bill Hare, said BECCS will “likely work” but wasn’t yet proven at scale anywhere in the world.

There has been little research carried out into the potential for BECCS in Australia. One study, published in 2018, did suggest a potential 25Mt of CO2 could be stored a year by 2050 through BECCS.

Australia could become a net negative emissions economy. The technology already exists
Frank Jotzo

But the research, from the University of Melbourne, was based on sourcing waste biomass “to avoid the ecological uncertainties and social challenges of dedicated energy crops.”

A co-author of that study, Prof Peter Cook, who also consults to industry and government on carbon capture and storage (CCS), said he was not aware of any BECCS projects in Australia and only a small number overseas where government incentives were being provided.

He said a challenge of combining bioenergy with CCS – which is among the government’s priority technologies – is “you can’t do it everywhere, you need the right rocks or you have to pipe [the CO2] a long way.”

He said BECCS was feasible and was among several technologies that would be needed in the future to pull CO2 out of the atmosphere.

But he added: “But it’s much better if we stop putting CO2 in the atmosphere in the first place.”


Andrew Forrest criticises use of carbon capture and storage saying it fails ‘19 out of 20 times’

On Thursday, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency released a roadmap to show the growth potential for the bioenergy industry in Australia.

There was no mention of combining bioenergy with CCS. But the roadmap said growing the bioenergy industry could cut emissions, divert waste from landfill, and improve the nation’s fuel security.

Guardian Australia asked emissions reduction minister Angus Taylor how the emissions reductions from BECCS were calculated for the report, why it wasn’t a priority technology, and where the government thought the biomass would be sourced from.

A spokesperson for the minister said in a statement: “Consistent with other long term emissions modelling exercises, including work by the [International Energy Agency] and US, the [Global Trade and Environmental Model] includes BECCS.

“Analysis by McKinsey does not include BECCS and achieves a similar net emissions outcome to the GTEM model. This illustrates that there are a range of technologies that will contribute to Australia achieving net zero emissions by 2050.”

Psychologists suggest more humility is needed in the social, behavioral and life sciences

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Rink Hoekstra and Simine Vazire, psychologists with the University of Groningen and the University of California, Davis, respectively, have published a Perspective piece in the journal Nature Human Behavior calling for more humility in the social, behavioral and life sciences. In their paper they outline a methodology for imbuing intellectual humility into the paper writing and publishing process.

As Hoekstra and Vazire note, there has been a crisis of sorts in the social, behavioral and life sciences over the past few years, involving multiple reports of the inability to replicate results in academic papers. The authors contend that this is due to a lack of intellectual humility and suggest that there is too much bragging and not enough acknowledgment of the limitations inherent in such work. They suggest a more humble approach is needed if the factors that led to the crisis are to be changed, and they have created guidelines aimed at changing the publishing process. They believe this will restore faith in the work being done.

The suggested changes include making titles and extracts more honest in their descriptions of the work and the achievements. Similar changes need to be made in introductions; researchers need to stop exaggerating the impact of their work and certain elements of the work itself. Methods sections need to remain true to their intended purpose—outlining the work in a way that allows others to replicate what was done. Unflattering details should not be omitted, nor should explanations of why decisions were made. They also suggest that researchers alter their focus in the results section; instead of including only the positive aspects of the research, they suggest giving readers some insight into some of the challenges faced or examples of things that did not work out as planned. And then finally, in the discussion section, they suggest researchers avoid trying to give ironclad results when they are not warranted. In many social science experiments, they note, results may suggest a finding rather than actually showing it exists.

The team concludes by noting that changing perceptions of researchers in the softer sciences will not be easy but failing to do so could prove disastrous for everyone in the field if changes are not made.

A global effort to understand why some people are resistant to SARS-CoV-2 infections

More information: Rink Hoekstra et al, Aspiring to greater intellectual humility in science, Nature Human Behaviour (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41562-021-01203-8

Journal information: Nature Human Behaviour 

© 2021 Science X Network

FAKED SCIENCE
McMaster University puts ecology professor on leave after investigation into a 'series of concerns'
Dan Taekema 

© Supplied by McMaster University Jonathan Pruitt, a McMaster University professor and Canada 150 Research Chair has been placed on paid leave following an investigation by the university.

McMaster University in Hamilton has placed a high-profile science professor on paid leave following an investigation into what it describes as a "most serious matter."

Jonathan Pruitt is an evolutionary ecologist who was awarded a coveted Canada 150 Research Chair — a federal program designed to attract the world's top researchers to Canada.

McMaster has described him as an "internationally recognized" academic who studies the "collective traits of different animal societies" — including ants, wasps and spiders — and how those traits affect their survival.

Pruitt joined McMaster in 2018, coming from the University of California, Santa Barbara. However, following a "series of concerns that were raised, both internal and external to the university," he has been placed on administrative leave, according to McMaster spokesperson Wade Hemsworth.

Pruitt did not respond to a request for comment sent through his university email address.

McMaster did not provide any specific details on the concerns that led to Pruitt being placed on leave, but did say they were investigating under the university's policies, including its research integrity policy.

The Hamilton Spectator previously reported some scientific journals and academic colleagues raised issues with some of his data, which led to academic articles being retracted.

Calls for more transparency

One of the academics whose work with Pruitt was later retracted was Nicholas DiRienzo, who described news his former collaborator had been put on leave as a "relief" — mainly for the students working with the professor now.

DiRienzo was an assistant professor at the University of Arizona at the time of their collaboration and is now working as a data scientist in the private sector.

He said he and other academics found issues related to Pruitt's use of data and had a stressful time spending "hundreds of hours exploring data, writing reports, working with editors," in an effort to do what "we could to correct the record on papers we were directly involved in and access to data on."

Now "the field as a whole needs to know what of his science is valid and what isn't," he said.

DiRienzo said he doesn't believe his interaction with Pruitt had a deep impact on his career. However, the same can't be said for graduate students whose body of work is essentially all shared with their supervisor, he said.

"McMaster should have made this decision a year ago when at that point multiple papers had been retracted across multiple journals. All those retractions required us to deeply demonstrate that he manipulated data," DiRienzo wrote in an email to CBC.

DiRienzo called on McMaster to be more transparent about the investigation into Pruitt, adding that the repeated requests he's made for more information have been met with a "generic answer" from the university saying they're not going to release their report publicly.

More information is needed so scientists can better understand what happened, he said, noting some journals have said they're waiting for an outcome of the investigation before retracting papers.

"They're digging deep into his history of work and have access to much more information," said DiRienzo.

Pruitt restricted from teaching, research

Manipulating, changing or omitting data and findings is considered research misconduct under McMaster's policy.

Under the policy, a finding of research misconduct can result in consequences ranging from a letter of concern to sanctions including withdrawing research privileges, suspension or dismissal.

McMaster said its investigation into Pruitt is complete.

"Additional interim measures are in place restricting Pruitt from any engagement in teaching and research, including any access to research funding," according to Hemsworth

.

© Patrick Doyle/Canadian Press Jonathan Pruitt (third from the left) poses with some of the other Canada 150 Research Chairs in Gatineau, Quebec in 2018.

Pruitt's own dissertation at the University of University of Tennessee, Knoxville, now carries a note stating "this paper has been withdrawn."

A spokesperson for the University of Tennessee said Pruitt currently holds a PhD, but did not respond directly to questions about the note on his dissertation or what it means for his work.

"The University of Tennessee is committed to integrity in all of its research endeavours, including student work," read a brief statement emailed to CBC.

"The university is prohibited from disclosing student information, including the presence or absence of a research integrity investigation."
'Progress continues'

Hemsworth said Pruitt will remain on leave until the process is complete, though the university does not know how long that will take.

In the meantime, he added, Pruitt's students from this term are being transition to a new instructor who will be in place this week.

DiRienzo said despite what happened, the field has "done a wonderful job rallying behind" those whose work was impacted.

Pruitt was a "major player" in several areas of research but he was only one academic.

"The lines of research that were valid have been progressing just fine as plenty of other scientists kept plugging along doing science the right way," said DiRienzo.

"If anything this whole experience has shown how [when] even aggressive scientific fraud gets weeded out, the record corrects itself, and progress continues."

Eleven-year-old girl who bathed in hot spring diagnosed with gonorrhea: Case study

The girl developed the symptoms after bathing in a busy hot pool at the edge of Italy's Specchio di Venere (Mirror of Venus)

YOU STILL DO NOT GET STD/STI FROM TOILET SEATS

Author of the article:National Post Staf
Publishing date:Nov 17, 2021

Specchio di Venere Lake (Venus' mirror) was formed in an extinct volcanic crater, fed by rainfall and hot springs. 

PHOTO BY GETTY IMAGES

An 11-year-old Austrian girl has been diagnosed with gonorrhea after returning from a family vacation to Italy where she reportedly bathed in a hot spring.

The girl first developed symptoms after bathing in a heavily frequented hot pool at the edge of crater lake Specchio di Venere (“Mirror of Venus”) on Pantelleria Island, Italy.

According to a case study published September 17, she developed vulvovaginitis — inflammation and irritation of the vagina or vulva, usually soothed with anti-fungal cream.

Vaginal swabs tested positive for Neisseria gonorrhoeae, a sexually-transmitted bacterial infection. Her family members however tested negative.

Researchers learned that the family members had waded into different pools at the lake, with her and her father entering one pool while her mother and sister went into another.

Although the disease can be transferred through sexual contact, the young girl adamantly denied have any contact of the kind, said researchers from New Zealand’s University of Auckland and Austria’s University of Salzburg in the study.

Instead experts believe the warm temperature, acidic nature of the water and presence of organic particles could explain why she was infected with the virus. Historical reports of gonococcal epidemics in children’s hospitals also show the disease traced back to common baths, the study stated.

Her pediatrictian recommended whey baths for two weeks to restore her vaginal flora and settle her symptoms. By week four, her swab came back negative.

Although the story ends well for the girl, “this is not a diagnosis to be missed,” the researchers wrote in the study, published in the Journal of Medical Case Reports . “A presumption that a gonococcal infection is diagnostic of sexual abuse can be dire, with children wrongfully removed from their parents’ care and their caregivers facing false charges of sexual crimes.”

They suggested adding a sign, a shower and antibacterial soap near the hot springs, to educate visitors on the risks of bathing frequently in the shallow pools.

RICHIE RICH WHITE KID & FAMILY GET AWAY WITH RAPE
Man who raped four teenagers gets no jail time, judge says: 'Incarceration isn't appropriate'

The judge did not elaborate on why he did not impose jail time on Christopher Belter

Author of the article:
Washington Post
Timothy Bella
Publishing date:Nov 18, 2021 • 

Christopher Belter

 PHOTO BY NIAGARA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE

A New York man who pleaded guilty to rape and sexual abuse for assaulting four teenage girls during parties at his parents’ home will not face jail time after a judge on Tuesday sentenced him to eight years probation.

Niagara County Court Judge Matthew Murphy said he “agonized” over the case of 20-year-old Christopher Belter, who was accused of committing the crimes when he was 16 or 17. Belter pleaded guilty in 2019 to a series of felony charges that included third-degree rape and attempted first-degree sexual abuse, as well as two misdemeanor charges of second-degree sexual abuse.

Although Belter faced a maximum sentence of eight years in prison, Murphy concluded that jail time for the man “would be inappropriate” in a ruling that shocked the courtroom.

“I’m not ashamed to say that I actually prayed over what is the appropriate sentence in this case because there was great pain. There was great harm. There were multiple crimes committed in the case,” Murphy said, according to WKBW. “It seems to me that a sentence that involves incarceration or partial incarceration isn’t appropriate, so I am going to sentence you to probation.”

Belter, of Lewiston, N.Y., will have to register as a sex offender as part of his sentence. Murphy told Belter in court that the probation sentence would be “like a sword hanging over your head for the next eight years.” The judge did not elaborate on why he did not impose jail time.

Steven Cohen, an attorney for one of the victims, denounced the judge’s sentencing, saying to reporters on Tuesday, “Justice was not done here.” He told The Washington Post on Wednesday that his client, who was joined by some of the other victims in the courtroom, was “deeply disappointed” in the sentencing.

Judge Matthew J. Murphy III.

“My client threw up in the ladies room following the sentencing,” Cohen said. “If Chris Belter was not a White defendant from a rich and influential family, in my experience . . . he would surely have been sentenced to prison.”

Barry Covert, Belter’s attorney, declined to comment. After the sentencing was handed down, the defense attorney told reporters that Belter regretted what he did as a teen.

“He is tremendously remorseful for what he has done,” Covert said, according to the Buffalo News. “There are clients who are never able to empathize with their victims no matter how much counseling they receive. Chris isn’t one of them.”

From a rich and influential family

The crimes took place between February 2017 and August 2018 at Belter’s parents’ home in a wealthy neighborhood of Lewiston, a few miles outside Niagara Falls. During that time, three 16-year-old girls and a 15-year-old girl were assaulted in four separate incidents, according to the judge.

IT WAS A FAMILY AFFAIR

The “party house” label at Belter’s family home was fueled by his mother, Tricia Vacanti, now 50; his stepfather, Gary Sullo, 56; and Jessica M. Long, 42, a family friend, who allegedly supplied teen girls with alcohol and marijuana, according to state police. The three adults, who police say helped groom the women for sexual assaults by Belter, have pleaded not guilty in Lewiston Town Court to misdemeanor charges of child endangerment and unlawfully dealing with a child. None of them returned requests for comment on Wednesday.

“It’s not a party house case. It was a house of sexual assault,” Peter Wydysh, the assistant district attorney in Niagara County, said during the sentencing. “That is what happened there. That is not something we should look past.”

The fourth teen who was assaulted by Belter gave what Murphy described as a “gripping statement” of how she focused on a plant while she was being raped.

It was a house of sexual assault

“During the rape, he told her to stop being such a baby. She focused her attention on the leaves of the plant as she cried during the attack,” Murphy wrote, according to the News. “The Defendant told her that, if she stopped resisting, it wouldn’t hurt as much.”

In 2018, Belter, then 17, was charged with first-degree rape, third-degree rape and sexual abuse for the assaults. As part of a plea deal, Belter pleaded guilty in 2019 to lesser felony charges of third-degree rape and attempted first-degree sexual abuse. The judge at the time, Sara Sheldon, placed Belter on two years interim probation and gave him the chance to apply for youthful offender status in his sentencing, which would have lessened the maximum prison time and allowed him to not register as a sex offender.

Sheldon, who has since retired, predicted Belter would struggle to comply with the restrictions placed on him in his initial probation — and she proved right. Belter acknowledged in court last month that he had violated his probation by installing software on his personal computer that allowed him to view pornography, which was restricted. Belter had told his probation officer that he had been watching porn since he was 7 years old, the News reported.

When Murphy denied him youthful offender status and ruled last month that Belter would be sentenced as an adult, the judge wrote that the 20-year-old had “recently been treated with medication to lessen his libido.”

“The assumption when Judge Murphy denied youthful offender status was that Chris Belter would receive prison time,” Cohen told The Post. “There were absolutely no consequences for the defendant’s repeated violations of Judge Sheldon’s terms of probation.”

Before the sentencing was announced, Belter addressed the courtroom that he had “come to feel deep shame and regret for my actions,” according to WKBW. He addressed the victims in attendance, saying, “None of you deserved to be in this situation.”

“I hope each of you could close that wound I gashed,” he said. “I know though, that a scar will remain that will serve as a reminder of the evil of that night.”

Belter is due back in court on Dec. 3 to determine what level of sex offender he will be classified as moving forward, Cohen said.

Winds whip up volcanic ash from 1912 eruption in Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Volcano scientists issued an alert Wednesday, warning that a cloud of ash — from an eruption more than century ago — was headed toward Alaska’s Kodiak Island.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The ash is from the powerful 1912 eruption of Novarupta, a volcano on the Alaska Peninsula that dropped volcanic ash that is still visible today.

Strong northwesterly winds in the vicinity of Katmai National Park and Preserve and Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes on Wednesday kicked up the loose volcano ash.

“Generally, this time of year, we get these some these northwestern winds that can come down from the Katmai region and really scour some of the free ash that that’s deposited from the 1912 eruption and then bring it up to height," Hans Schwaiger, a U.S. Geological Survey research geophysicist at the Alaska Volcano Observatory, told The Associated Press.

Winds were expected to carry the ash about 100 miles (161 kilometers) southeast toward Kodiak Island, and an aviation alert to aircraft was issued for the low-lying event. Scientists estimated the cloud would not go above 7,000 feet (2,133.6 meters).

Some of these events can cause a light dusting of ash in nearby communities.

“This particular one looks like it’s not as ash rich as some of the other ones so there’s probably going to be negligible ash fallout from it,” Schwaiger said.

The three-day Novarupta eruption, one of the world’s largest, began June 6, 1912, and sent ash as high as 100,000 feet (30,480 meters) above the Katmai region, located about 250 miles (402 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates 3.6 cubic miles (15 cubic kilometers) of magma erupted, about 30 times what spewed from Mount St. Helens in Washington state 40 years ago.

The Novarupta eruption was the most powerful of the 20th century and ranks among the largest in recorded history.

The ash was deposited in what is now known as the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, depositing about 600 feet (183 meters) of ash in places.

High winds and dry, snow-free conditions will produce these ash clouds intermittently, the observatory said in a statement, adding that there is no eruption in place.

The statement said all seven of the volcanos in the Katmai area, including Novarupta, remain at the lowest level of green, or normal.

Kodiak Island has a population of about 13,000 and is home to a large U.S. Coast Guard base. It is accessible only by airplane and ferry boats. The fishing industry is the predominant business on the mountainous island.

Mark Thiessen, The Associated Press

WATERSPORTS BANNED AT NASCAR

Brass Against Singer Apologizes for 

Peeing on Fan’s Face as NASCAR 

Permanently Bans Band From Its Venues

WILL TRUMP SHOW UP EVER AGAIN?

Tue, November 16, 2021, 

The post Brass Against Singer Apologizes for Peeing on Fan’s Face as NASCAR Permanently Bans Band From Its Venues appeared first on Consequence.

The old adage “there’s no such thing as bad press” apparently doesn’t apply when you intentionally urinate on a fan’s face in the middle of a festival performance. At least that seems to be the case for Brass Against and their singer Sophia Urista, who on Tuesday night issued yet another apology for her actions this past weekend at Welcome to Rockville Festival in Daytona Beach, Florida.

“I have always pushed the limits in music and stage. That night, I pushed the limits too far,” Urista wrote in a statement posted to her personal Twitter account.

“I love my family, the band, and the fans more than anything and I know that some were hurt or offended by what I did. I apologize to them and want them to know that I didn’t mean to hurt them.”

“I am not a shock artist,” Urista added. “I always want to put the music first. I’m grateful for all of your continued love and support.”

As previously reported, during Brass Against’s set at Welcome to Rockville last week, Urista singled out a male fan in the crowd with a beer can on his head. She called him up onto the stage while the band was covering Rage Against the Machine’s “Wake Up.” She then told him to lie down on the stage, at which point she pulled down her pants and urinated on his face. The man, seemingly thrilled by the act, then proceeded to stand up and spit the liquid into the audience.

At least on social media, Urista’s antics have been well received by fans. “Your band should be thanking you, you’ll get the attention your band deserves because the music is fantastic,” wrote one Twitter user. “You do you. Artistic expression should not have to be apologised for. If anyone has a problem they need to reassess where they are in life and perhaps find something real to be offended by,” added another. Another person wrote, “You did nothing wrong and actually it was probably the coolest thing someone is rock has done for an untold number of years.”

But corporate interests aren’t so thrilled. On Thursday, Brass Against was banned from performing at NASCAR properties (Welcome to Rockville was held at Daytona National Speedway.)

“Daytona International Speedway doesn’t condone the inappropriate actions that took place during Thursday’s Welcome to Rockville event,” said NASCAR spokesman Russell Branham. “We are working with promoter Danny Wimmer Presents to address the issue. The band will not be included in future programming at NASCAR venues.”

Welcome to Rockville promoter Danny Wimmer Presents also excluded mention of Brass Against from its recap of the festival sent to publications including Consequence on Thursday.

On the plus side, Daytona Beach Police has ruled out criminal charges against Urista.

Consequence has repeatedly reached out to Urista for comment, but she has not responded.

Brass Against Singer Apologizes for Peeing on Fan’s Face as NASCAR Permanently Bans Band From Its Venues
Alex Young