PURGE FLATTEN, REPLACE WITH WOMEN LEADERSHIP

General who replaced senior officer accused of sex assault is now himself under investigation for sexual misconduct

Canadian military has been rocked by allegations of sexual misconduct by senior leaders over the past 10 months.

Author of the article:David Pugliese • Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date:Oct 15, 2021 • 10 hours ago • 3 minute read

Lt. Gen. Steven Whelan is under investigation for sexual misconduct, the Canadian Forces announced Friday.

 PHOTO BY DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENCE /Supplied photo
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A general brought in to replace another senior officer accused of sexual assault is now himself under police investigation for sexual misconduct.

The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service received an allegation of sexual misconduct against Lt.-Gen. Steven Whelan, the Canadian Forces confirmed Friday night. “The investigation is ongoing and no further information can be released,” it added in a statement.

Whelan is chief of military personnel and had been brought into that job earlier this year to take over from Vice-Adm. Haydn Edmundson. Edmundson went on leave in March after military police started an investigation into an allegation from a former sailor that the naval officer had sexually assaulted her.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and Acting Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre were informed on June 2 that Whelan was being investigated. The decision was made to keep the lieutenant general on the job.

It was only after the Globe and Mail newspaper asked questions about Whelan on Friday that it was announced he would be put on leave.

Both Eyre and Sajjan have faced criticism from survivors about failing to deal with sexual misconduct in the senior ranks.

“Given recent developments, after discussing with the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff, Lt.-Gen Whelan agrees he must step aside as the Commander, Military Personnel, effective immediately,” the Canadian Forces said in its statement.

Earlier this week this newspaper revealed Lt.-Gen. Trevor Cadieu, who was to take command of the Canadian Army, is now under police investigation after allegations were raised about sexual misconduct. Cadieu has denied any wrongdoing.

The Canadian Forces has faced criticism about its decisions to hide investigations about alleged sexual misconduct by senior leaders.

The military personnel command that Whelan led was in charge of eliminating “harmful and inappropriate behaviour” in the Canadian Forces as well as recruiting.

Over the last 10 months, the military has been rocked with allegations of sexual misconduct by senior leaders.

Retired chief of the defence staff Gen. Jon Vance faced a number of sexual misconduct allegations and in July was charged with one count of obstruction of justice.

In August, Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin was charged with sexual assault.

Military police are still investigating Vice Admiral Haydn Edmundson after a former member of the navy alleged she was sexually assaulted.

Maj.-Gen. Peter Dawe was put on paid leave since early May after it was revealed he wrote a positive character reference to try to influence the sentencing of an officer convicted of sexual assault.

The senior military leadership quietly brought Dawe back to defence headquarters in September to work on sexual misconduct review files. But defence sources, who questioned the ethics of putting Dawe in such a new role, tipped off this newspaper. The resulting anger for sexual assault victims forced the Canadian Forces to temporarily remove Dawe from his new job and raising new questions about whether the senior leadership was serious about dealing with sexual misconduct.

The Liberal government has not yet decided what to do with Adm. Art McDonald, who is still technically chief of the defence staff, although he only served in that job for a couple of weeks. McDonald temporarily stepped aside Feb. 25 after military police launched an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct.

In August, police stated their investigation did not find evidence to support laying charges. Shortly after McDonald’s lawyers released a statement noting the officer was coming back to his job even as the federal government pointed out it still hadn’t decided his future.

The Liberal government responded by sending McDonald and leave and promoting Eyre to full general. McDonald has claimed that he has the “moral authority” to lead the military.

SHIA MUSLIM MINORITY
Fearful of Taliban, targeted by ISIS, persecuted Hazaras flee Afghanistan  

By Stewart Bell & Jeff Semple Global News
October 16, 2021

When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan two months ago, they vowed to respect women and girls, despite a history of oppressing them. But human rights groups, as well as Afghans who have fled the country, paint a far gloomier picture of the future. Jeff Semple reports from Islamabad, Pakistan.

Down a narrow street in Bhara Kahu, on the northeast edge of Islamabad, a smiling man named Mustafa guided a reporter through a stairwell to a second-floor apartment.

The shoes amassed at the front door were the first sign it was a crowded place.

Inside, there was little in the way of furniture, only pillows, and eight families of refugees with the distinctive features of Afghan Hazaras.

Sacks of donated flour and rice leaned against a wall. A ceiling fan whirled, battling the afternoon heat.

Mohammad Ishaq sat on the carpet with his legs crossed, bandaging his left wrist with white gauze.

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A girl living at an apartment filled with Hazara refugees from Afghanistan. Jeff Semple/Global News

He said it was broken by the Taliban when they came to his house in Kabul, asking for his daughters.

He tried to bluff them, claiming he had no children. But the Taliban saw all the shoes by the door. They accused him of lying and attacked him, he said.

After they left, the family fled for the Pakistan border.

The cramped apartment Ishaq now shares with other poor families in the Pakistani capital has become a makeshift refugee camp for Afghans.

All are ethnic Hazaras, who make up almost a tenth of Afghanistan’s population but are a persecuted minority.

READ MORE:  At an Islamabad hotel, Afghans who worked for Canada’s military await a new life

The return of the Taliban to power in August has stoked fears among Hazaras, who have long been mistreated for their ethnicity and Shia faith.

The last time the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, it declared “jihad” against Hazaras, and abuses and mass killings followed.

After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Hazaras were part of the U.S.-backed North Alliance that ousted the Taliban, and they were represented in the new government.

But they have continued to face repression, as well as horrific violence – much of it recently attributed to the Islamic State faction in Afghanistan, ISIS-K.

The terror group claimed responsibility for bombing a Shia mosque in Kunduz on Oct. 8, and a similar attack that killed more than 40 in Kandahar on Friday.

Suicide bomber kills 46 at Afghanistan mosque, wounds more than 140 – Oct 8, 2021

The Taliban’s official spokesperson denounced the latest bombing on Twitter, calling it a crime, and said security forces had been ordered to arrest those behind it.

A baby on her lap, Marzia said her husband, a driver, was killed in a bombing in the Hazara district of Kabul three-and-a-half months ago.

She did not know who was responsible, but several attacks occurred in the Hazara neighborhood Dasht-e-Barchi around that time. The bombing of a girls’ school in May killed almost 100.

Widowed and broke, Marzia said she sold everything she had and crossed into Pakistan. She said she was afraid of the Taliban and didn’t want to go back to Afghanistan.

“I came here because I don’t have anybody,” she said.

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Islamabad’s Bhara Kahu neighborhood. Jeff Semple/Global News

Supported by locals who donate food and put them up in vacant rooms, the apartment residents have asked the United Nations refugee agency to resettle them in other countries.

But they face challenges in Pakistan while they wait.

A 2018 report by Pakistan’s National Commission for Human Rights lamented a “sharp increase in sectarian violence” between Shia Hazaras and the country’s Sunni majority.

“Hazaras have consistently been targeted by terrorists and religious fanatics since 1999 through suicide bombings and targeted killings, with more than 2,000 having reportedly been killed in the last 14 years,” it said.

The Canadian government has vowed to resettle 40,000 Afghans, notably those who worked for Canada’s military, but also vulnerable groups such as persecuted minorities.

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Global National’s Jeff Semple films Hazara refugees at an Islamabad apartment,.

 Stewart Bell/Global News

Asked how many Hazaras were being resettled through the program, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada did not answer.

A spokesperson said 2,400 Afghans had arrived so far.

“We will continue to do everything we can to support Afghan refugees and show Canadian leadership in the face of this humanitarian crisis,” Peter Liang said.

But the Canadian Hazara Humanitarian Service said thousands of Hazaras were “either prisoners inside the Taliban’s lair or refugees in despair across neighbouring borders.”

The non-profit group has been fundraising to bring more Hazaras to Canada.

“Our non-profit organization has been flooded with messages and cries for help by Hazaras in Afghanistan as well as Hazara-Canadians that have loved ones stranded back home,” the group said on its Go Fund Me page.

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Shoes at the entrance to an Islamabad apartment where Hazara refugees wait to be resettled. Jeff Semple/Global News

At the house for Hazara refugees, a man hobbled into a room on crutches carrying an X-ray. He said he was running away from an explosion in Kabul when he fell and broke his leg.

His son worked as a truck driver for the International Security Assistance Force in Bagram, he said. The family feared retribution from the Taliban and fled to Pakistan.

On the day they left, they saw the Taliban breaking into homes, looking for people, he said.

Leila, another resident of the refugee house, said she believed Hazara women would be forced to marry Taliban men.

For Hazaras, life was already hard before the Taliban took over the country, Leila said. Their schools, hospitals and mosques were under attack.

Now the Taliban is back in power, she said there was no hope.

Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca

Unhappy with prices, US ranchers look to build own meat plants


 In this June 10, 2020 file photo, cattle occupy a feedlot in Columbus, Neb. Frustrated with persistently low prices, ranchers and others in the beef industry are moving to reverse decades of consolidation and planning to open new slaughterhouses. The plants will be smaller than those owned by the four beef company giants that now slaughter over 80% of the nation's cattle. That has led to some skepticism about whether the new plants will succeed. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Like other ranchers across the country, Rusty Kemp for years grumbled about rock-bottom prices paid for the cattle he raised in central Nebraska, even as the cost of beef at grocery stores kept climbing.

He and his neighbors blamed it on consolidation in the beef industry stretching back to the 1970s that resulted in four companies slaughtering over 80% of the nation’s cattle, giving the processors more power to set prices while ranchers struggled to make a living. Federal data show that for every dollar spent on food, the share that went to ranchers and farmers dropped from 35 cents in the 1970s to 14 cents recently.

It led Kemp to launch an audacious plan: Raise more than $300 million from ranchers to build a plant themselves, putting their future in their own hands.

“We’ve been complaining about it for 30 years,” Kemp said. “It’s probably time somebody does something about it.”

Crews will start work this fall building the Sustainable Beef plant on nearly 400 acres near North Platte, Nebraska, and other groups are making similar surprising moves in Iowa, Idaho and Wisconsin. The enterprises will test whether it’s really possible to compete financially against an industry trend that has swept through American agriculture and that played a role in meat shortages during the coronavirus pandemic.

The move is well timed, as the U.S. Department of Agriculture is now taking a number of steps to encourage a more diverse supply in the beef industry.

Still, it’s hard to overstate the challenge, going up against huge, well-financed competitors that run highly efficient plants and can sell beef at prices that smaller operators will struggle to match.

The question is whether smaller plants can pay ranchers more and still make a profit themselves. An average 1,370-pound steer is worth about $1,630, but that value must be divided between the slaughterhouse, feed lot and the rancher, who typically bears the largest expense of raising the animal for more than a year.

David Briggs, the CEO of Sustainable Beef, acknowledged the difficulty but said his company’s investors remain confident.

“Cattle people are risk takers and they’re ready to take a risk,” Briggs said.

Consolidation of meatpacking started in the mid-1970s, with buyouts of smaller companies, mergers and a shift to much larger plants. Census data cited by the USDA shows that the number of livestock slaughter plants declined from 2,590 in 1977 to 1,387 in 1992. And big processors gradually dominated, going from handling only 12% of cattle in 1977 to 65% by 1997.

Currently four companies — Cargill, JBS, Tyson Foods and National Beef Packing — control over 80% of the U.S. beef market thanks to cattle slaughtered at 24 plants. That concentration became problematic when the coronavirus infected workers, slowing and even closing some of the massive plants, and a cyberattack last summer briefly forced a shutdown of JBS plants until the company paid an $11 million ransom.

The Biden administration has largely blamed declining competition for a 14% increase in beef prices from December 2020 to August. Since 2016, the wholesale value of beef and profits to the largest processors has steadily increased while prices paid to ranchers have barely budged.

The backers of the planned new plants have no intention of replacing the giant slaughterhouses, such as a JBS plant in Grand Island, Nebraska, that processes about 6,000 cattle daily — four times what the proposed North Platte plant would handle.

However, they say they will have important advantages, including more modern equipment and, they hope, less employee turnover thanks to slightly higher pay of more than $50,000 annually plus benefits along with more favorable work schedules. The new Midwest plants are also counting on closer relationships with ranchers, encouraging them to invest in the plants, to share in the profits.

The companies would market their beef both domestically and internationally as being of higher quality than meat processed at larger plants.

Chad Tentinger, who is leading efforts to build a Cattlemen’s Heritage plant near Council Bluffs, Iowa, said he thinks smaller plants were profitable even back to the 1970s but that owners shifted to bigger plants in hopes of increasing profits.

Now, he said, “We want to revolutionize the plant and make it an attractive place to work.”

Besides paying ranchers more and providing dividends to those who own shares, the hope is that their success will spur more plants to open, and the new competitors will add openness to cattle markets.

Derrell Peel, an agricultural economist at Oklahoma State University, said he hopes they’re right, but noted that research shows even a 30% reduction in a plant’s size will make it far less efficient, meaning higher costs to slaughter each animal.

Unless smaller plants can keep expenses down, they will need to find customers who will pay more for their beef, or manage with a lower profit margin than the big companies.

“We have these very large plants because they’re extremely efficient,” Peel said.

According to the North American Meat Institute, a trade group that includes large and mid-size plants, the biggest challenge will be the shortage of workers in the industry.

It’s unfair to blame the big companies and consolidation for the industry’s problems, said Tyson Fresh Meats group president Shane Miller.

“Many processors, including Tyson, are not able to run their facilities at capacity in spite of ample cattle supply,” Miller told a U.S. Senate committee in July. “This is not by choice: Despite our average wage and benefits of $22 per hour, there are simply not enough workers to fill our plants.”

The proposed new plants come as the USDA is trying to increase the supply chain. The agency has dedicated $650 million toward funding mid-size and small meat and poultry plants and $100 million in loan guarantees for such plants. Also planned are new rules to label meat as a U.S. product to differentiate it from meat raised in other countries.

“We’re trying to support new investment and policies that are going to diversify and address that underlying problem of concentration,” said Andy Green, a USDA senior adviser for fair and competitive markets.

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Follow Scott McFetridge on Twitter: https://twitter.com/smcfetridge

Strike dodged with deal between film and TV crews, studios


A poster advocating union solidarity hangs from a Costume Designers Guild office building, Monday, Oct. 4, 2021, in Burbank, Calif. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike for the first time in its 128-year history. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)


LOS ANGELES (AP) — An 11th-hour deal was reached Saturday, averting a strike of film and television crews that would have seen some 60,000 behind-the-scenes workers walk off their jobs and would have frozen productions in Hollywood and across the U.S.

After days of marathon negotiations, representatives from the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and from the studios and entertainment companies who employ them reached the three-year contract agreement before a Monday strike deadline, avoiding a serious setback for an industry that had just gotten back to work after long pandemic shutdowns.

“This is a Hollywood ending,” union president Matthew Loeb said. “Our members stood firm.”

The workers still must vote to approve it, but the strike has been called off with the tentative deal.

Many in Hollywood celebrated the news.

“Good for @IATSE for standing your ground. And don’t forget we got your back anytime you need us,” comedian, actor and writer Patton Oswalt said on Twitter.

Another actor, comic and writer, Yvette Nicole Brown, tweeted ”#UnionStrong!” along with a link to a story reporting the agreement.

“Congratulations IATSE brothers and sisters!” Jennifer Garner said on Instagram.

The effects of the strike would have been immediate, with crews not only on long-term productions but daily series including network talk shows walking off their jobs. Shows with short turnarounds like soap operas would also have felt immediate effects.

The union represents cinematographers, camera operators, set designers, carpenters, hair and makeup artists and many others.

Union members said previous contracts allowed their employers to force them to work excessive hours and deny them reasonable rest via meal breaks and sufficient time off between shifts. Leaders said the lowest paid crafts were receiving unlivable wages and streaming outlets including Netflix, Apple and Amazon were allowed to work them even harder for less money.

IATSE’S statement Saturday said the agreement “addresses core issues, including reasonable rest periods; meal breaks; a living wage for those on the bottom of the pay scale; and significant increases in compensation to be paid by new-media companies.”

The union reported on Oct. 4 that its members had voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike, setting off industry-wide fears, but talks immediately resumed between IATSE and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios and other entertainment companies in negotiations.

“We went toe to toe with some of the richest and most powerful entertainment and tech companies in the world, and we have now reached an agreement with the AMPTP that meets our members’ needs,” Loeb said.

AMPTP spokesman Jarryd Gonzales confirmed the agreement had been reached.

A Monday strike deadline was set on Wednesday when talks stagnated, but the union said subsequent negotiations were productive.

It would have been the first nationwide strike in the 128-year history of IATSE, and would have affected not just the Los Angeles area and New York but growing production hubs like Georgia, New Mexico and Colorado.

During negotiations, many prominent names in entertainment spoke out in favor of the union’s demands, including Octavia Spencer, Mindy Kaling and Jane Fonda. The Directors Guild of America issued a statement of solidarity too, signed by the likes of Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, Barry Jenkins, Ron Howard and Ava DuVernay.

___

Associated Press Film Writer Lindsey Bahr contributed to this story from Pittsburgh.

___

Follow AP Entertainment Writer on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton.

 Hollywood film-crew union IATSE reaches tentative deal, averting strike

2021/10/17 
By Lisa Richwine and Bhargav Acharya

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A union that represents about 60,000 behind-the-scenes workers in film and television reached a tentative deal with producers on Saturday, averting a strike that threatened to cause widespread disruption in Hollywood, negotiators said.

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), which includes camera operators, make-up artists, sound technicians and others, said negotiators agreed to a new three-year contract.

"This is a Hollywood ending," Matthew Loeb, president of the union, said in an emailed statement. "Our members stood firm. They're tough and united."

Shutdowns from the COVID-19 pandemic had caused a production backlog that led to crews working up to 14 hours a day to feed programming to streaming services.

The union had threatened to strike starting Monday if it was unable to reach an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

A strike would have shut down film and television production around the United States in the biggest stoppage since the 2007-2008 strike by Hollywood screenwriters. It would have hit a wide range of media companies including Netflix Inc, Walt Disney Co and Comcast Corp.

IATSE was seeking to reduce working hours and raise the pay of members who work on shows for streaming platforms, where lower rates were set 10 years ago when online video was in its infancy.

IATSE, in its statement, said the proposed contract addresses those issues, including rest periods, meal breaks, a living wage for those on the bottom of the pay scale, and significant increases in compensation to be paid by new-media companies.

The new labor agreement is subject to approval by IATSE's membership.

Bitcoin-mining power plant raises ire of environmentalists
By MICHAEL HILLyesterday


1 of 7

Smokestacks from the Greenridge Generation power plant tower above nearby homes, Friday, Oct. 15, 2021, in Dresden, N.Y. One Bitcoin mining operation in central New York came up with a novel solution in finding cheap energy to run the power-gobbling computer arrays that create and transact cryptocurrency: It took over Greenidge Generation which now produces about 44 megawatts to run 15,300 computer servers, plus additional electricity it sends into the state's power grid. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)


An obstacle to large-scale bitcoin mining is finding enough cheap energy to run the huge, power-gobbling computer arrays that create and transact cryptocurrency. One mining operation in central New York came up with a novel solution that has alarmed environmentalists. It uses its own power plant.

Greenidge Generation runs a once-mothballed plant near the shore of Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes region to produce about 44 megawatts to run 15,300 computer servers, plus additional electricity it sends into the state’s power grid. The megawatts dedicated to Bitcoin might be enough electricity to power more than 35,000 homes.

Proponents call it a competitive way to mine increasingly popular cryptocurrencies, without putting a drain on the existing power grid.

Environmentalists see the plant as a climate threat.

They fear a wave of resurrected fossil-fuel plants pumping out greenhouse gasses more for private profit than public good. Seeing Greenidge as a test case, they are asking the state to deny renewal of the plant’s air quality permit and put the brakes on similar projects.

“The current state of our climate demands action on cryptocurrency mining,” said Liz Moran of Earthjustice. “We are jeopardizing the state’s abilities to meet our climate goals, and we set the stage for the rest of the country as a result.”

The former coal plant, in a touristy region known for its glacial lakes and riesling wines, was converted to natural gas by Greenidge and began producing electricity in 2017. Bitcoin mining at the plant, which has a 106-megawatt capacity, started in earnest last year. The company said it was “bringing a piece of the world’s digital future” to upstate New York.

“For decades, this region has been told it would see new industries and opportunities,” Greenidge said in a prepared statement. “We are actually making it happen, and doing it fully within the state’s nation-leading high environmental standards.”

Bitcoin miners unlock bitcoins by solving complex, unique puzzles. As the value of Bitcoin goes up, the puzzles become increasingly more difficult, and it requires more computer power to solve them. Estimates on how much energy Bitcoin uses vary.

Greenidge said it mined 729 bitcoins over three months ending Sept. 30. The value of cryptocurrency fluctuates, and on Friday, one bitcoin was worth over $59,000.

Opponents are frustrated that Greenidge applied to run a power plant but are now operating a mine that is taking up more of the plant’s power.

Greenidge says mining was not part of the plan when the plant came back online and note they continue to provide power to the grid. From January through June, Greenidge said it used 58% of its power for mining.

Supporters see it as an economic boon in a part of upstate New York that could use the help. Douglas Paddock, chairman of the Yates County Legislature, testified at a public hearing this week that the plant has brought 45 high-paying jobs and made a “significant contribution” to the area through tax payments and capital investments.

Some opposition to the plant centers on the potential effects of its water withdrawals from Seneca Lake. But air quality issues have taken center stage as the state Department of Environmental Conservation reviews the plant’s air emission permits.

Greenidge has said it’s in compliance with its permits and that the plant is 100% carbon neutral, thanks to the purchase of carbon offsets, such as forestry programs and projects that capture methane from landfills.

Opponents claim the plant undercuts the state’s efforts to dramatically slash greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decades under its 2019 climate law.

A large coalition of environmental groups and other organizations this week asked Gov. Kathy Hochul to deny the air permit for Greenidge and to take a similar action to keep an existing plant near Buffalo from becoming a mining site. The coalition wants Hochul to set a “national precedent” and enact a statewide moratorium on the energy intensive “proof-of-work” cryptocurrency used by bitcoin miners.

Environmentalists estimate that there are 30 plants in New York that could be converted into mining operations.

“I really think more than anything, this plant is a significant test for whether the state’s climate law is really worth anything,” said Judith Enck, who served as the EPA’s regional northeastern U.S. administrator under President Barack Obama.

Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand have separately asked the federal Environmental Protection Agency to exercise oversight.

Around the country, there are other power plants being used for cryptocurrency mining under different types of arrangements.

In Venango County, Pennsylvania, a generation plant that converts coal waste into power is being used to mine bitcoins and can provide electricity to the grid when needed. Stronghold Digital Mining has plans to replicate that kind operation at two other sites in Pennsylvania.

And in Montana, a coal-fired generating station is now providing 100% of its energy to Marathon Digital Holdings for bitcoin mining under a power purchase agreement.

“We had previously done what many miners do, which is you find an industrial building, set it up for mining and then you contract for power from the grid,” Marathon CEO Fred Thiel said. “And we wanted to flip that model upside down because we knew that there are lots of underutilized energy generation sources in the U.S.”

Thiel said that harmful emissions are low because of the quality of the coal and pollution controls, and that the plant would be carbon offset by the end of next year. He said his company is focused on moving toward renewable energy, saying cryptocurrency miners can provide crucial financial incentives to build more clean energy projects.

New York state has yet to make a determination on Greenidge’s permits.

Greenidge said that even if the plant ran at full capacity, its potential emissions equate to 0.23% of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for 2030.

However, state Environmental Commissioner Basil Seggos tweeted last month that “Greenidge has not shown compliance with NY’s climate law” based on goals in that law.

“New York state is leading on climate change,” Seggos said in a prepared statement, “and we have some major concerns about the role cryptocurrency mining may play in generating additional greenhouse gas emissions.”

MORAL PERSUASION WON'T WORK ON BIG PHARMA
Pope asks pharmaceutical companies to release patents for COVID-19 vaccines

Pope Francis is shown during Easter Mass in St Peter's basilica in Saint Peter's Basilica, in the Vatican in April. On Saturday, he called on bio-tech companies to release the patent on COVID-19 vaccines. Photo by Stefano Spaziani/UPI | License Photo


Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Pope Francis appealed to pharmaceutical companies to drop their patents on COVID-19 vaccines to make them more widely available in poor countries.

Francis made his remarks Saturday during a 38-minute speech delivered via video link to the World Meeting of Popular Movements, which brought together social justice movements from around the world, reports America magazine, a Catholic-focused publication.

The first pope from Latin America, Francis pointed out that only 3 or 4% of the populations of some countries are vaccinated.

"Make a gesture of humanity and allow every country, every people, every human being, to have access to the vaccines," Francis said, according to a transcript of his remarks.

As the pandemic drags on, a sizable gap in access to vaccines has grown between rich and poor countries. Roughly 77% of shots administered worldwide have gone to people in high- and upper-middle-income countries, according to The New York Times vaccine tracker.

In the U.S. and Canada, 67% of the population has had at least one dose of COVID-19, according to the tracker. In Latin America, that number is 60% and 56% in Asia. In the Middle East, 40% of the population has received one dose, and 7.5% in Africa.

Some public health officials have argued that bridging the disparity in vaccination rates is necessary to ending the pandemic and preventing the emergency of highly transmissible variants of the virus, such as the Dela varian. They've criticized upper-income countries for prioritizing booster shots over getting the first doses to the world's poor.

"We will not stop the Delta variant or COVID-19 until the world is vaccinated," Dr. Anna Durbin, director of the Center for Immunization Research at Johns Hopkins University, told reporters last month.

"Data on the need for booster shots is still coming in, but we really need to focus on getting the unvaccinated vaccinated before we can think about booster doses," she said.

In his speech, Francis made other wide-ranging appeals. He asked financial institutions to cancel debt for poor countries, natural resource industries to stop polluting, corporations to make food more accessible to the hungry and arms manufacturers to cease, among others.

"Personal change is necessary, but it is also indispensable to adjust our socio-economic models so that they have a human face, because many models have lost it," said Francis. "And thinking about these situations, I make a pest of myself with my questions. And I go on asking. And I ask everyone in the name of God."

New tool predicts the Earth's landscape as sea levels rise

By Lauren Fox, Accuweather.com

Cars are left stranded on the Long Island Expressway due to flooding from a massive downpour of rain from Hurricane Ida on September 1.

 File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

How will climate change alter the landscape of the Earth over the next few hundred years? New interactive tools developed by researchers at Climate Central can paint that picture.

The tools demonstrate how much sea levels could rise if changes are or are not made in carbon pollution levels. If changes aren't made, Ben Strauss, CEO and chief scientist of Climate Central, a consortium of independent scientists and journalists based in Princeton, N.J., said that millions of people living along coastlines will be at-risk, and Asia will be the region of the world that will be most at-risk. Among all the nations at-risk, Vietnam has the highest risks from rising sea levels.

In the United States, South Florida, Boston, New York City and the Bay Area in California are most at risk of "a great deal of threats as well," Strauss said.

Hanoi, Vietnam, the nation's capital, could become below sea level if the current rate of warming on Earth continues. Image courtesy of Climate Central

The graphics reveal what various landmarks across the world will look like in 2100 with 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming and 3 C (5.4 F) of warming. With 1.5 C of warming, research suggests that ocean levels will rise 1.5 feet by the year 2100, compared to if the Earth warms 3 C, which would result in sea levels rising 21 feet by 2100.

"This study really looks at long-term sea levels where the threat would be permanent and complete inundation," Strauss said. "There a possibility to build defenses for sure, but we have to ask how deep a bowl they want to live in the bottom of."

The sections in yellow show which parts of Florida would be under water if global warming continues to rise at a rate of 3 degrees C, while the purple shows which parts would be underwater if global warming was scaled back to just 1.5 degrees C. Image courtesy of Climate Central
Some 50 cities across the globe are at risk of losing their most-developed areas to rising sea levels.

"Even the low end is serious, but we'll have some time to deal with it," he said.

Under the "best-case scenario," Strauss said, sea levels could rise from 5-10 feet in the next few centuries, with 30 feet or more being the worst-case scenario.

"The whole point of our research was to show how large a choice we have," Strauss said. "It's really a choice between a manageable future and one where there would be so much sea level rise that many of our great coastal cities are likely to be lost."

According to Climate Central, some of the "most ambitious" goals from the Paris Climate Agreement would cut exposure by around 50.

Strauss said that while the rise will occur over multiple centuries, the study mainly focused on how much sea levels will rise -- not how quickly -- as the speed of the rise can be very difficult to predict.

"Think about your freezer. If you unplug your freezer, you know it's going to thaw, but you don't know hour by hour how many things will melt or when it will all finish melting," Strauss said. "The same thing is true when you do scientific projections of sea-level rise."

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The rise may not reach its full effects for a few centuries, but what is done now to mitigate it is important. Strauss said the actions that are taken in the next few decades will "lock-in" the future for many of these historic locations that once seemed destined to last the test of time.

In many cities, the mitigation efforts may be too expensive or sea levels could be too high to fight back against, so saving them could be unrealistic at that point in time. Once the carbon is in the air, Strauss said it will continue to warm the planet for centuries to come.

"We would see relocation and loss of the great heritage we have and all of those coastal places," Strauss said. "It's up to us to prevent that."

We now know how badly our cities will be flooded due to climate change
Matthew Rozsa, Salon
October 16, 2021

A rescue workers walks in a flooded area to help residents as the Charente River overflows in Saintes after days of rainy weather causing flooding in western France, France, February 8, 2021. REUTERS - STEPHANE MAHE

When it comes to climate change, the point of no return has already passed.

That is the message of a new report published in the esteemed scientific journal Environmental Research Letters. It paints a picture of a future Earth in which, regardless of actions taken today, hundreds of millions of people will be displaced from their homes by rising sea levels. The carbon dioxide emissions already released into our atmosphere will linger for hundreds of years, warming the oceans and thus causing sea levels to rise. The only question now is whether the damage can be limited.

The answer, according to the report, is yes — but humans will need to take specific, drastic actions as soon as possible.

"Meeting the most ambitious goals of the Paris Climate Agreement will likely reduce exposure by roughly half and may avoid globally unprecedented defense requirements for any coastal megacity exceeding a contemporary population of 10 million," the authors write. (The report was co-written by Benjamin H. Strauss and Scott A. Kulp of Climate Central, DJ Rasmussen of Princeton University and German scientist Ander Levermann.) The long-term goal of the Paris Agreement is to limit the mean increase in global temperatures to no more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Even if that happens, however, oceans will continue to swell, meaning there will be millions upon millions of drenched city dwellers.

"Roughly 5 percent of the world's population today live on land below where the high tide level is expected to rise based on carbon dioxide that human activity has already added to the atmosphere," Strauss told AFP. With roughly 7.8 billion human beings alive today, this means approximately 390 million currently live on land that will be under the high tide level as a result of climate change.

That said, reducing the temperature rise is crucial, experts say. If Earth's average temperature increases by even half a degree Celsius, an extra 200 million people will be vulnerable to the effects of sea level rise and increased storm surges. Each successive degree only increases the damage, as sea levels progressively rise and thereby displace more people.

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In the report, the scientists offer detailed projections for the 20 most-affected large countries (those with at least 25 million people) in terms of the percentages of their populations that currently occupy land below high tide lines based on different warming scenarios. If the planet merely warms by 1.5°C, 2.8 percent of the population of the United States could be directly impacted. Increase that by half a degree, and suddenly 5.9 percent of Americans could deal with rising sea levels. If it goes up by 3°C or 4°C, 7.9 percent or 9.9 percent of the American population could see rising sea levels where they live.

Things will be particularly bad in New York City, where officials are already considering sea walls and other measures to fortify its population against rising sea levels. Even under the most ambitious Paris Agreement target, land will fall under the high tide line that is currently home to 6.7 percent of the population. At 2°C, that rises to 13 percent; at 3°C, it reaches 19 percent; and at 4°C, it hits 28 percent.

The most vulnerable region, however, is Asia. Nine of the ten megacities at the highest risk are on that continent, and many of the countries with the starkest projections are also located there. The jump from 1.5°C to 2°C makes the difference, in Vietnam and Bangladesh, between more or less than half of their total populations living below the high tide line. If the planet's temperature rises to 4°C above pre-industrial levels, more than 60 percent of those nations' populations could fall below the high tide line. More than 30 percent of the populations of Egypt, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Japan and Myanmar would also suffer that fate in a scenario where the temperature rises by more than 4°C.

Climate Central has also released visual illustrations of how prominent American landmarks will look after sea level rises. Almost all of the land around the Statue of Liberty National Monument will be submerged, as will the area surrounding Space Center Houston. Yet these and other major landmarks would almost certainly have to be abandoned long before sea levels rose that high, as there will be an increase in heavy rainfalls and storm surges.

MANDATES WORK COST NOTHING
State lotteries didn't help boost COVID-19 vaccination rates, study says
By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay News

Lotteries were ineffective at improving vaccination rates in states that offered them, with a new study showing rates were the same in states with the contests and those without them. 

File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

A shot at winning $1 million did nothing to budge the number of people who got the COVID-19 jab.According to a new study, lotteries in 19 states designed to encourage people to get vaccinated for COVID-19 did not alter the rate of those who got the shot. In fact, vaccination rates were the same in lottery and non-lottery states.

"It's possible that the group that you're trying to convince to get vaccinated is not convinced that they want the vaccine at all," said researcher Andrew Friedson, an associate professor of economics at the University of Colorado in Denver.

"Maybe they've been subject to some incorrect information with regard to the dangers of vaccines or with regard to the benefits of vaccines, and then unless you're able to adjust their beliefs, no incentive is going to make a difference," he said.

For the study, Friedson and his colleagues looked at the number of COVID-19 vaccinations given per 1,000 people before and after the lotteries were announced.

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The researchers compared that data to the number of COVID-19 vaccines given in states that did not offer prize incentives.

The investigators found little to no association between having a lottery and vaccination rates. There was essentially "zero difference" in vaccination rates in states that had a lottery versus those that didn't, Friedson said.

"If you believe something is dangerous, a lottery ticket is not going to convince you to do it," he noted.

RELATED Poll: Two-thirds of parents plan to vaccinate kids age 5-11 against COVID-19

Friedson thinks the only approach that might work to reach those who refuse to get vaccinated is some sort of education program that would convince people the vaccines are safe and effective.

"I'm willing to try anything within reason," he said. "So we've tried lotteries, they seem like they're not working, and now it's time to move on and try something new."

But changing minds is difficult, Friedson said, and there may be a hardcore group that won't get vaccinated, no matter what you do.

"I hope not," he said. "But that is certainly a possibility. We're definitely getting into a group that's far more difficult to convince, and I do not know what it's going to take."

The report was published online Friday in JAMA Health Forum.

Dr. Kevin Schulman, a professor of medicine at Stanford University's Clinical Excellence Research Center in Palo Alto, Calif., thinks lotteries were worth trying.

"Lotteries were important tactics to try and increase vaccination at a state level. Many of the states implementing lotteries were 'red' states, so I'm grateful that the Republican leadership began to get engaged in vaccination efforts. In the end, a tactic is not a communication strategy," Schulman said.

Communication tactics should be tested and evaluated to see if they are effective, Schulman added. "However, if a tactic fails, you need to implement other approaches to vaccine communication. In many cases, the lottery was a single effort and when it didn't have the intended effect, we didn't see follow-up with other programs," he said.

Another expert isn't surprised that offering money to people to go against their beliefs doesn't work.

"Most people make health choices weighing the risks, costs and benefits. In the case of vaccines, many chose to get vaccinated, as they value leading a long, healthful life," said Iwan Barankay. He is an associate professor of business economics and public policy at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, in Philadelphia

"Those who did not get vaccinated were not swayed by those precious health benefits, so it seems illogical that a few dollars in expected payouts could convince them otherwise. The result that small incentives do not affect health outcomes has been replicably shown in multiple recent clinical trials," he explained.

Also, a recent randomized field experiment in Philadelphia that varied incentives to get vaccinated also showed no effect on vaccination rates, Barankay said.

"There are, however, real socioeconomic and cultural barriers which lead people to avoid vaccines based on their preferences or experiences -- but again, small dollar amounts won't be able to address these," he added.

It is the experience of seeing friends, family and colleagues becoming sick, and the gains vaccine mandates bring in vaccination rates that make a difference, Barankay said.

"It is important to continue the effort to show people real data from their communities on the hospitalization rates of vaccinated versus unvaccinated people, and how mandates inside companies reduce COVID-19 case numbers due to an increase in vaccination rates," he said.More information

For more on COVID-19 vaccines, head to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Copyright © 2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Pet care a primary reason some resist staying in the hospital

By Cara Murez, HealthDay News

One major reason people hesitate or refuse to stay in the hospital is worries over who will care for their pet, according to experts. 

File Photo by Jaromir Chalabala/Shutterstock

Dr. Tiffany Braley works with patients who have experienced strokes and other serious health conditions, treating them at the Michigan hospital where she works as they begin their recovery.

Braley noticed there was a trend among patients who resisted being admitted to or staying in the hospital: They just wanted to get home, because they had no one to care for their beloved pets.

"I was pretty struck by the experience. I realized at that point that I was discovering what I thought was likely an unrecognized need among the hospitalized patients," said Braley, an associate professor of neurology and clinical neuroimmunologist at University of Michigan Health/Michigan Medicine, in Ann Arbor.

"I knew there wasn't a lot of information on this topic. So, I reached out to several colleagues here at Michigan Medicine from social work and from nursing who also love animals. They confirmed that, in general, hospital systems really don't have formalized plans in place to assess pet care needs or to help provide assistance with pet care for patients who are in a hospital," she said.

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"I learned very quickly that it's usually social work who's called upon to handle this task, if they find out sometime during a hospitalization that a patient needs help with pet care, but often they're not brought in to help until late in the hospital course. And, at that point, they usually don't have many resources to offer patients," Braley noted.

Working through their office of patient experience, Michigan Medicine researched the issue, reaching out to approximately 1,300 "patient advisors," a network of former patients and family members who had previously offered to share experiences.

The team got responses from 113 people, 63% of whom said they had experienced difficulty when figuring out pet care during their own hospitalizations or the hospitalizations of a loved one.

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About one-third said their decision or the decision of someone they knew about whether to stay in the hospital as recommended by the medical team was impacted by their pet care needs.

And about 16% of respondents said they knew someone who had left the hospital against medical advice to care for their pets.Pet care organizations "The overwhelming majority also really saw value in developing better systems, including foster care programs, maybe partnerships with foster care programs, to help address this need for patients who are hospitalized," Braley said.

It's not an issue for everyone. Some patients do have family, friends or neighbors who quickly step in to care for a pet when someone is hospitalized, but for some patients their primary social network is their pet.
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"We don't know, are they at home without food? Are they all by themselves? Are they at risk while their owners are in the hospital?" Braley said.

Possible solutions, in addition to the first step of asking patients about their pets early in their care, could be creating partnerships between hospital systems and community pet care services, whether those are humane societies or other foster programs.

"We've been in preliminary discussions already with the Michigan Humane Society, who is very eager to help become a potential partner and scale up resources as necessary in order to address this need," Braley said.

Michigan Humane Society already does some work through its compassionate foster care program offering foster care for pets in situations similar to what Braley has described, said Matt Pepper, CEO and president of the humane society.

"The health care system obviously needs to recognize and be asking people when they're scheduling critical treatments or for any type of hospitalization, 'Do you have a pet and do you need help with your pet?' And then it's incumbent upon organizations like us to work collectively with them to create those solutions," Pepper said.

The humane society's program isn't a huge network of foster homes, Pepper said, but could support several families who need pet care while seeking medical treatment.Filling a need

"The other part of that is I think that we need to do a better job of not only making the health care system aware of this, but make the community aware that this is an opportunity for people to help and step in," Pepper said.

"The more awareness we bring to it, it elevates another opportunity for the community to get involved in not only helping animal welfare and the pets that are involved, but helping their neighbors and their fellow residents of their communities," Pepper said.

These types of programs can be good for both pets and people, Pepper said.

"I think we also need to realize the role that pets play in our quality of life, that they can absolutely have a positive impact on how we heal and recover, our emotional state, our physical state. You're much more likely to be active and healthy if you have a pet," Pepper said.

"So, having a pet is absolutely a positive thing. But in these instances, when people don't know what to do, they will make decisions that will impact their own personal health based on their pets," Pepper said.

Since 2011, an organization based in Pennsylvania has been offering foster care for pets, both for individuals who are hospitalized and also for individuals enlisted in the military who are deployed and have no one to care for their pets while they're gone.

PACT for Animals founder Buzz Miller said the nonprofit organization has provided 1,600 companion animals with volunteer foster homes for free since they began, and it now has about 500 to 600 foster homes in 49 states.

"I saw a need and we're solving it," Miller said. "We couldn't charge because most of the people we help are lower income. Military people we help aren't five-star generals, they're primarily privates, kids making $20,000 a year. They can't afford to put their animal in doggy daycare. And they love the animal."

The Michigan Medicine findings were published this month in the Journal of Patient Experience.

The survey sample was small and not diverse, with most of the respondents white and women. The hospital is now conducting surveys with patients who are more diverse.

The researchers plan to evaluate how pet ownership may impact patients' length of stay, how many patients deferred services, what services were deferred and potentially how that affected their health outcomes.More information

The ASPCA has more about fostering animals in need.

Copyright © 2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

'Testicle bath' birth control device earns Germany's Dyson Prize

Oct. 15 (UPI) -- A German inventor's unique ultrasound "testicle bath" birth control device for men took the top prize at the country's James Dyson Awards.

Rebecca Weiss, an industrial design graduate from the University of Munich and inventor of the COSO male birth control device, was named Germany's winner of the James Dyson Award, which "celebrates, encourages and inspires the designers of new problem-solving ideas."

The COSO uses an ultrasound "testicle bath" to temporary stop sperm mobility. The device only needs to be used every few months to keep the sperm inert and prevent eggs from being fertilized during sex.

Weiss said the inspiration for the device came after she was diagnosed with precursor cervical cancer, which has been tied to oral contraceptive pills.

"When my partner and I were looking for an alternative method, we became aware of the lack of male contraceptives," Weiss told Dyson Award officials.

"This problem is not unique to me personally. It affects many others as well as is made evident in the current growing public discussion about the lack of contraceptive alternatives."

Weiss said the lack of male birth control options led her to develop "a new contraceptive approach for men in my master's thesis.

The inventor said she is hoping the Dyson Award will help her obtain funding to put the COSO through clinical trials.

As Germany's winner of the Dyson Award, Weiss is now shortlisted for the international award, which carries a $45,000 prize.