Indiana Senator Walks Back Instruction To Teacher Not To Condemn Nazism To Students

Mary Papenfuss
Sun, January 9, 2022

A right-wing Indiana state senator has backtracked on his shocking instructions to a history teacher during a legislative hearing this week not to criticize Nazism or fascism to his students.

During the hearing Wednesday, teacher Matt Bockenfeld noted that his class was “learning about the rise of fascism and the rise of Nazism right now,” adding: “I’m just not neutral on the political ideology of fascism. We condemn it, and we condemn it in full.”

The purpose, he said, is to help students “recognize it and combat it. That is why we learn: To use history to make a better world.”

Republican Sen. Scott Baldwin responded: “We need to be impartial.” He also said he wasn’t “discrediting” Nazism.

Baldwin emphasized that it’s fine to discuss the existence of the “isms,” like fascism and Nazism. But “we’ve gone too far when we take a position on those ‘isms,’” he told Bockenfeld. “We need to be the purveyor of reason. We just provide the facts.”

After a furious backlash, however, Baldwin amended his comments on Thursday to the Indy Star.

“Nazism, Marxism and fascism are a stain on our world history and should be regarded as such, and I failed to adequately articulate that in my comments,” he said.

Baldwin uttered his jaw-dropping instruction at a legislative hearing on state Senate Bill 167, which would require schools to form committees including parents to review all curricula. It would also prohibit schools from teaching a variety of concepts related to sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color and national origin as part of an assault on critical race theory.

The direction is similar to what has happened in Texas, where the state legislature last year dropped a requirement that students be taught that the white supremacist terror campaign of assault and murder by the Ku Klux Klan was “morally wrong.”

Bockenfeld tweeted that he was concerned the Indiana bill would mean a teacher could be reprimanded for “encouraging students to be mortified by ideologies like white supremacy.”

He added after posting Baldwin’s remarks: “My worst fears were confirmed.”

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

WHITE ORTHODOX FASCISTS MARCH
Amid tensions, Bosnian Serbs celebrate outlawed holiday

Members of the police forces of Republic of Srpska march during a parade marking the 30th anniversary of the Republic of Srpska in Banja Luka, northern Bosnia, Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022. This week Bosnian Serb political leader Milorad Dodik was slapped with new U.S. sanctions for alleged corruption. Dodik maintains the West is punishing him for championing the rights of ethnic Serbs in Bosnia — a dysfunctional country of 3.3 million that's never truly recovered from a fratricidal war in the 1990s that became a byname for ethnic cleansing and genocide. 

(AP Photo/Radivoje Pavicic)

by RADUL RADOVANOVIC
Sun, January 9, 2022

BANJA LUKA, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Amid Bosnia’s greatest political crisis since the end of its 1992-95 interethnic war, the country’s Serbs celebrated an outlawed holiday Sunday with a provocative parade showcasing armored vehicles, police helicopters and law enforcement officers with rifles, marching in lockstep and singing a nationalist song.

Addressing several thousand spectators gathered in Banja Luka, the de-facto capital of the Serb-run part of the country, Bosnian Serb nationalist leader Milorad Dodik disparaged sanctions Washington slapped on him last week over his alleged corrupt activities and threats to tear the country apart.

“This gathering is the best response to those who deny us our rights, … who keep imposing sanctions on us,” Dodik said.

“It proves to me that I must listen to you, that you did not elect me to fulfil Americans’ wishes but to fulfil the wishes of Serb people,” he added.

The Jan. 9 holiday commemorates the date in 1992 when Bosnian Serbs declared the creation of their own state in Bosnia, igniting the multi-ethnic country’s devastating, nearly 4-year-long war that became a byname for ethnic cleansing and genocide.

The holiday was banned in 2015 by Bosnia’s top court which ruled that the date, which falls on a Serb Christian Orthodox religious holiday, discriminates against the country’s other ethnic groups — Muslim Bosniaks and Catholic Croats.

During the war that killed 100,000 people and turned half of the country’s population into refugees, Bosniaks and Croats were persecuted and almost completely expelled from the now Serb-administered half of Bosnia.

After the war, under the terms of the U.S.-brokered Dayton peace agreement, Bosnia was divided into two semi-autonomous governing entities — Republika Srpska and one dominated by Bosniaks and Croats.

Each part has its own government, parliament and police, but the two are linked by shared, state-wide institutions, including the judiciary, army, security agencies and tax administration. All actions at a national level require consensus from all three ethnic groups.

Bosnian Serb political leader Milorad Dodik, second left, holds a cake marking St. Stevan's day, the patron-saint of Republic of Srpska, and the 30th anniversary with Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfirije, fourth left, Prime Minister of Republika Srpska Zeljka Cvijanovic, third right, and Banja Luka mayor Drasko Stanivukovic, second right, in Banja Luka, northern Bosnia, Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022. Dodik was slapped with new U.S. sanctions for alleged corruption. Dodik maintains the West is punishing him for championing the rights of ethnic Serbs in Bosnia — a dysfunctional country of 3.3 million that's never truly recovered from a fratricidal war in the 1990s that became a byname for ethnic cleansing and genocide. (AP Photo/Radivoje Pavicic)

Dodik has for years been advocating the separation of the Bosnian Serb mini-state from the rest of the country and making it part of neighboring Serbia.

This winter, he intensified his secessionist campaign, pledging to form an exclusively Serb army, judiciary and tax system. He described Bosniaks as “second-rate people” and “treacherous converts” who sold their “original (Orthodox Christian) faith for dinner.”

Earlier Sunday, as part of holiday celebrations, Bosnian Serb officials participated in Serb Christian Orthodox ceremonies, broadcast live on local television, in the city’s main church, while a special police unit sang, while marching in the parade, a song about defending the Orthodox Christian cross and “the shiny new Serb Republic.”

The celebrations of the divisive holiday continue each year despite it being outlawed by the top court, and have been consistently criticized by the U.S. and the European Union.

However, the parade and other ceremonies on Sunday, were attended by the top officials of neighboring Serbia, including prime minister Ana Brnabic and parliament speaker Ivica Dacic; Russian and Chinese diplomats in Bosnia; and several officials of France's far-right National Rally party.

In recent months, the staunchly pro-Moscow Dodik has repeatedly voiced hope that the Serbs’ “true friends” — Russia, China and the champions of illiberal democracy within the European Union — will serve as his bulwark against the “tyranny” of Western democracies

Sen. Rubio Slammed For Anti-Semitic Dog Whistle In Bashing 'Upscale Liberal' Media

Mary Papenfuss
Sun, January 9, 2022

Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio was called out for coded anti-Semitism after he bashed “upscale liberals who control the media” for the continued coverage of last year’s historic Jan. 6 insurrection.

Critics erupted after Rubio’s tweet on Friday clearly evoked the anti-Semitic trope that Jews control the media as he griped that the insurrection wasn’t like “Pearl Harbor or 9/11.”

It might not be the best time to antagonize voters. Democratic Florida Rep. Val Demings is running this year to unseat Rubio.

“Upscale Liberals = Jews,” tweeted Rachel Vindman, wife to Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman who testified at Donald Trump’s impeachment trial about his strong-arming Ukraine’s president in a bid to trigger an investigation into Joe Biden’s son Hunter.

“Come on, lil’ Marco,” Rachel Vindman added, using Trump’s nickname for the Florida senator, “fly that race flag high! I hear your people are into that these days. Be LOUD and PROUD in your racism,” she urged sarcastically.

Fred Guttenberg, who lost his daughter, Jaime, in the 2018 mass shooting at Florida’s Parkland High School, echoed Vindman. “Don’t hide behind your anti-Semitism, Marco,” he tweeted.

“As for 9/11, my brother died because of it. The main difference is January 6th was a terror attack by Americans, invited by people like you,” Guttenberg added.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) didn’t bash Rubio for anti-Semitism, but did disparage his comment about Pearl Harbor. “What happened to you, man?” he asked Rubio.

Some critics wondered why Rubio dramatically changed his perspective to be so dismissive of the Jan. 6 insurrection when he once blasted it as unpatriotic “anti-American anarchy.”

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Far-right Patriot Front heckled and branded
an 'embarrassment' by demonstrators at an anti-abortion march in Chicago

Alia Shoaib

Sun, January 9, 2022

The white nationalist group Patriot Front attends the March For Life on January 8, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois.Kamil Krzaczynski/Getty Images

• Far-right group Patriot Front clashed with anti-abortion demonstrators at a rally in Chicago.

• Videos show demonstrators calling the group an "embarassment" who are "hijacking a pro-life movement."

• Patriot Front is a "white supremacist group" who espouse "racism, anti-Semitism, and intolerance," the ADL said.

Anti-abortion demonstrators confronted the far-right group Patriot Front members who wanted to attend a March for Life rally in Chicago on Saturday.

In videos posted on social media, the white supremacist group members can be seen at the march in their signature khaki pants, navy blue jackets, baseball caps, and face coverings.

Many also wore shin pads and carried shields.

"What are you carrying shields for? This is a peaceful demonstration," one March for Life demonstrator shouted at the group.

"You guys are an embarrassment," the demonstrator said.

Patriot Front members stood silently during the exchange while holding flags and a large banner that read, "strong families make strong nations."

Another demonstrator can be seen shouting at the group for "hijacking a pro-life movement."

According to leaked audio from a Patriot Front meeting in December, obtained by The Daily Dot, the group's founder Thomas Rousseau told followers they had the support of people who attend events by the anti-abortion rights group March for Life.

Members of the group have attended several anti-abortion rallies in Chicago over the past three years, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

After the clash with demonstrators on Saturday, videos show Patriot Front members leaving in vehicles with taped-over license plates.

Patriot Front is a "white supremacist group whose members maintain that their ancestors conquered America and bequeathed it solely to them," according to The Anti-Defamation League.

The group espouses "racism, anti-Semitism, and intolerance under the guise of preserving the ethnic and cultural origins of their European ancestors," the organization said.

The group broke off from the white nationalist group Vanguard America after a man linked to the latter killed a woman at the notorious "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.

Cassie Miller with the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, told 6abc that Patriot Front is arguably "the leading white supremacist group in the country," with 42 chapters across the United States.

The group is known for staging "flash" protests and torch demonstrations.

In December, more than a hundred members of Patriot Front marched in downtown Washington, DC, chanting "reclaim America."

Dealership told worker to stop taking her ADHD medication — then fired her, lawsuit says



Hayley Fowler
Fri, January 7, 2022

A former sales representative at a car dealership in Louisiana will get $100,000 from her one-time employer accused of firing her after roughly two months on the job.

The woman had ADHD and was prescribed Adderall, which she said played a role in her firing.

Honda of Covington agreed to pay the former employee back pay and damages after the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency tasked with enforcing anti-discrimination laws in the workplace, filed a lawsuit on her behalf.

The suit accused the dealership of discriminating against her in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a civil rights law that bars discrimination based on disability in all facets of public life, including employment.

A lawyer for Honda of Covington and a representative with the dealership did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Jan. 7.

The EEOC first sued Honda of Covington in September 2020. Covington is in eastern Louisiana, across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans and about 85 miles west of Biloxi.

According to the lawsuit, the woman was hired as a sales consultant in August 2016. She reportedly told the dealership on her hiring form that she has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, which the Mayo Clinic says can cause “difficulty paying attention, hyperactivity and impulsive behavior.”

The woman also disclosed that she is prescribed Adderall as treatment.

Honda of Covington required the woman to take a drug test as a condition of her employment, which showed amphetamines in her system, the EEOC said. But a medical review officer confirmed they were the result of her Adderall prescription and she was cleared to start work.

About two months later, the woman’s husband got in a motorcycle accident and had to be hospitalized, according to the lawsuit. Her boss subsequently said she looked “emotional” at work and told her to stop taking her medication, the EEOC said.

“Understanding from these statements that (he) disapproved of her medication and fearing the loss of her job if she failed to comply, (the woman) decided not to take her medication on days she was scheduled to work a full day,” the complaint states.

The woman arrived for her next full-day shift without taking Adderall, the EEOC said.

According to the lawsuit, her boss pulled her aside that day and said she was “acting weird, off, and unfocused.” He asked her if she was taking her medication and then told her to take a drug test.

The woman went to a clinic the same day and got tested. Just as before, the EEOC said, the results came back positive for amphetamines.

A medical review officer asked for proof of her prescriptions a few days later on Oct. 14, 2016, which she provided, attorneys said.

But it was too late.

According to the complaint, Honda of Covington fired the woman before the review officer could confirm the amphetamines were a match for her Adderall prescription. Her termination was attributed to a positive drug test.

The woman said she told her boss the final results would show it was her medication for ADHD and questioned how the dealership would justify her firing.

“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” her boss reportedly said in response, the lawsuit states. “We’ll cross that bridge if we get there.”

The final results did, in fact, come back negative, the EEOC said. Still, the woman’s termination paperwork attributed the decision to drug use.

The woman filed a charge of discrimination shortly after she was fired and, in June 2019, the EEOC determined there was reason to believe Honda of Covington had discriminated against her based on her disability. The agency attempted to resolve the matter out of court before filing suit last year.

The dealership denied many of the allegations outlined in the complaint before reaching a settlement in December, court documents show.

In addition to the $100,000 payment, Honda of Covington agreed to conduct training and revise its policies to comply with the ADA and provide regular updates to the EEOC. A federal judge approved the agreement on Jan. 4.

Giant sea bass are thriving in Mexican waters – scientific research that found them to be critically endangered stopped at the US-Mexico border


Arturo Ramírez-Valdez, Researcher, University of California San Diego
Sun, January 9, 2022,

Giant sea bass are listed as a critically endangered species. Maru Brito, CC BY-ND

I was looking at the seafloor, focused on identifying fish species as I normally did when diving off of the California coast, when suddenly I felt something large above me. When I turned my head I saw a giant fish – more than 6 feet (2 meters) long – calmly interested in the air bubbles coming from my SCUBA regulator. This was 2016 and was my first encounter with a giant sea bass.

I am a marine ecologist, and I study how international borders pose challenges for conservation and management efforts in the marine environment. Although there are no walls or fences in the ocean, borders still act as stark barriers for a variety of things.

Giant sea bass live off the west coast of North America in both Mexican and U.S. waters. I have found that large differences in regulation and research effort between the two countries has led to a significant misunderstanding of giant sea bass population health.

A map showing high density of giant sea bass along the west coast of the U.S. and along both sides of the Baja Peninsula.

Different countries, different science

The giant sea bass is the largest coastal bony fish in the Northeastern Pacific. It can grow up to 9 feet (2.7 meters) long and weigh up to 700 pounds (315 kg). It lives in coastal waters from northern California to the tip of the Baja California peninsula in Mexico, including the entire Gulf of California.

In California, commercial fishing for the species began in the late 1880s. Large fish used to be very abundant across the entire range, but the fishery collapsed in the early 1970s. As a response, in 1981 the U.S. banned both commercial and recreational fishing for giant sea bass, and there are many ongoing research and population recovery efforts today.

The collapse and subsequent protection and flurry of research in the U.S. stand in stark contrast to Mexico. In Mexico, there are minimal regulations on fishing for the species, and there is almost a complete lack of data and research on it – there are only three studies on giant sea bass with any data from Mexico.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers giant sea bass to be a critically endangered species due to the population being “severely fragmented, leading to a continuing decline of mature individuals.” But this decision was based on a report that had no data whatsoever from Mexico. This lack of data is concerning, considering 73% of the species’ range is in Mexican waters.

This knowledge gap made me wonder if ecologists had the wrong idea about the health of giant sea bass populations.

A man standing behind a very large black fish on a scale.
Healthy fish in Mexico

In 2017, I led an effort to document the giant sea bass population in Mexico and look for clues to what it was in the past. At the beginning of the project, my colleagues and I feared that the records in Mexico would confirm the precarious situation of the fish in the U.S. But the reality turned out to be the opposite.

A man in orange overalls on a small blue boat sitting behind four large black fish on the deck.

To our surprise, we found giant sea bass everywhere in the fish markets and fishing grounds from our very first assessments. The fishmongers were never out of the fish; instead, they would ask us, “How many kilos do you need?” It was clear that for fishers in Mexico, the species is still common in the sea, and therefore, in their nets. It is still possible to find big fish up to 450 pounds 200 kilograms, and the average catch was around 26 pounds (12 kilograms).

It was fantastic to see an abundance of these fish in markets, but I also wanted to understand the fishery trends through history and how current fishing levels compared to previous years. I looked at historical and contemporary fishing records and found that the Mexican commercial fleet has caught an average of 55 tons per year over the past 60 years, and the fishery has been relatively stable over the past 20 years, with a peak in 2015 at 112 tons.

According to U.S. and Mexican records, the largest yearly catch ever recorded for giant sea bass in Mexico was 386 tons in 1933. Biologists consider a fishery to have collapsed when total catches, under the same effort, are less than 10% of the largest catches on record. So a steady trend of 55 tons per year shows that the fishery in Mexico has not collapsed. It is clear that giant sea bass populations have faced severe declines throughout their range; however, the health of the species is not as dire as thought.

Another interesting finding from my research is that the apparent collapse of the giant sea bass fishery documented in the 1970s actually began as early as 1932.

Over the first half of the 20th century, as the U.S. commercial fleet overfished U.S. waters, they began fishing in Mexican waters too – but they continued to count all catches as from the U.S. This changed in 1968 when the two governments signed the Mexico–U.S. Fisheries Agreement, limiting how much fish each country’s fleet could take from the other country’s waters. The collapse of the U.S. fishery in the 1970s was not due to a drastic reduction in fish numbers in Mexican waters, but driven by changes in fishing regulation between the U.S. and Mexico. The California fish populations had been depressed for decades, but this was hidden by fish from Mexico.

A large dark fish swimming in a kelp forest and surrounded by smaller fish.

Better data, better management

Based on my research, I believe that the giant sea bass may not qualify as a critically endangered species. My analysis of modern catch data suggests that the population of this iconic fish is likely much larger than biologists previously thought, especially in Mexico.

I am leading the next assessment for the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and now that we have accumulated better data, we can make a more informed decision that balances responsible management of the species with human needs.

I hope that our study inspires policymakers in the U.S. and Baja to start a conversation about how to manage this incredible fish in a collaborative way. But I feel our work also has larger implications. It shows how asymmetry in research and data can create significant barriers to understanding the past and present status of a species like the giant sea bass and make it harder to implement sustainable practices for the future.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Arturo Ramírez-Valdez, University of California San Diego.

Read more:

To protect ocean environments, ‘good enough’ might be the best long-term option


Scientists at work: Uncovering the mystery of when and where sharks give birth


Scientist at work: Tracking the epic journeys of migratory birds in northwest Mexico

Arturo Ramírez-Valdez receives funding from the UC-Mexus CONACYT Number: 160083; PADI Foundation, Grant App. 29020 and 33095; Mia J. Tegner Memorial Research Fellowship at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego; the Mohamed bin Zayed Species, Grant Number: 192521063, and Link Family Foundation.

I'm a CEO at One of the World's Biggest Shipping and Logistics Companies. Here's How My Industry Can Go Green


Vincent Clerc
Sun, January 9, 2022

Operations At Port Of Los Angeles As Shipments Fall

Container ships at anchor outside the Port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California, U.S., on Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021. Shipments to the Port of Los Angeles fell 8% year over year in October. Photographer: Tim Rue/Bloomberg via Getty Images Credit - Bloomberg via Getty Images—© 2021 Bloomberg Finance LP

In 2021, because of the pandemic, we saw unprecedented supply-chain disruptions but also took important steps toward a decarbonized and sustainable global supply chain. It was a truly industry-wide effort, with Maersk and X-Press Feeders ordering what will be the world’s first container vessels running on carbon-neutral “green“ methanol—the first scalable carbon-neutral solution available for such ships—among the milestones.

Increased customer demand for green transport has helped push companies and shipowners to invest in in carbon-neutral vessels, and industry expectations are for this to not only continue in 2022, but to accelerate. Companies are waking up to the fact that progress is needed now and new solutions must be implemented on all aspects of the business. This is illustrated by the fact that the vast majority of container lines now stand firmly behind a net-zero target of, at the latest, 2050.

Shipping has long been caught up in a chicken-and-egg situation. No investment in vessels that can sail on carbon-neutral fuels has meant no investment in the development of carbon-neutral fuels and vice versa. With this vicious cycle broken and new, carbon-neutral vessels expected to hit the waters starting in 2023, the market for green shipping fuels is opening up. Beginning in 2024, Maersk alone will need between 300,000 and 400,000 metric tons of carbon-neutral fuel for its new methanol ships.

To sustain the newfound momentum, there are important regulatory components that must shape up. This past year has made it quite clear that the market is currently what drives developments in the area of decarbonization of shipping. Aside from the first investments in carbon-neutral vessels, this was most clearly demonstrated by a coalition of leading global retailers including Amazon, IKEA and Unilever who announced a target of switching all of their ocean freight to vessels powered by zero-carbon fuels by 2040. In 2022, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the United Nations agency in charge of regulating shipping, will need to make significant progress on three points in order to steer the agenda the way it should.

Read More: Did We Just Blow Our Last, Best Chance to Tackle Climate Change?

Firstly, the industry needs a more ambitious net-zero emissions goal. The current international target is to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by at least 50% by 2050—but we actually need to be at net zero by 2050 at the latest to stand a chance to remain aligned with the Paris Agreement. In the coming year, we must acknowledge that reality and take significant steps to adjust the targets accordingly in 2023 when they will be up for review in the IMO.

We also need a “drop dead” date for the building of new fossil-fuel-powered vessels. Industries only function with clear and enforceable deadlines, so another goal for 2022 should be to support a hard stop—sometime in the coming decade—for newly constructed conventional-fuel-powered ships.

Read More: Climate Crises Dominated 2021. But These Innovations Offer Some Hope

Lastly, we need a substantial global price on carbon emissions to reduce the current cost gap between green and fossil fuels. A more punitive carbon price would go a long way in driving behavior change in the shipping industry. The European Union is currently working on its own regional measures, but the IMO should set an international price to create a level playing field—$150 per ton of greenhouse gas emissions is a good target and would generate enough revenue to help fund efforts to mature zero-carbon seafaring technology; partly cover operating expenditure for shipowners using renewable fuels; and help support climate-mitigation projects in developing countries—whether they are shipping-related or not. Climate change affects us all, but it affects some areas of the world disproportionately and we must use the resources we have to help those who are the most impacted.

The foundation for all of this has been laid, but starting in 2022, the shipping industry needs to move faster, act smarter and continue to make bold decisions.

This essay is part of a series on concrete goals the world should aim for in 2022 in order to put us on track to avert climate change-related disaster. Read the rest here.

Science Museum boards up display on early human migration because it is ‘non-inclusive’

Craig Simpson
Sat, January 8, 2022

An interactive exhibit at the Science Museum's 'Who am I?' exhibition

The Science Museum has boarded up a display on DNA and early human migration as part of work to address its “non-inclusive narrative”.

Curators are to alter the “Who Am I?” gallery covering human biology, including a cabinet that deals with genetics.

The display explaining mankind’s migration from Africa was earmarked for alteration in order to “update (the) non-inclusive narrative”, internal documents show, and the exhibit has been boarded up.

The display titled “How Did You Get Here?” stressed humanity’s common lineage, with a panel stating that the “human journey began in Africa” and “all humans alive today descend from African ancestors”.

Maps in the display also showed how mankind ultimately spread to the Americas and Polynesia, and displayed figurines, model boats, a bow, and drum to illustrate the far-flung areas of Homo Sapien colonisation

The cabinet on prehistoric “pioneers who open up new worlds” has been covered with white hoardings that state staff are “updating the contents of this case” and asking visitors to “bear with us and enjoy the rest of the gallery”.

A nearby plinth titled “Out of Africa” - the name of the theory of human migration from the continent - is now bare, but a display on “the first European” remains in place.

The Science Museum has not given a schedule for the changes to the display, and has not clarified which specific objects in the cabinet resulted in the display being assessed as “non-inclusive”.

Another exhibit from the Who Am I gallery, which explains brain science, genetics and identity

It is understood the display contained a hula girl figurine - an object that has recently been criticised for presenting a stereotypical view of Polynesian people - and genetic studies relating to the San people in South Africa, who in 2017 devised a code of ethics for scientists studying them.

A spokesman for the museum said: “The How did I get here? display in the Who Am I? gallery is currently covered while curators review content that is more than a decade old relating to migration, race and genetics which no longer reflects current scientific thinking.

“We are planning to update the Who Am I? gallery on a rolling basis, where resource allows, to reflect areas where there has been fresh research or a shift in scientific understanding.”

The changes follow the earmarking of the Who Am I? gallery for updates, with The Telegraph previously revealing that a cabinet on gender differences titled “Boy Or Girl?” was also up for review following “complaints about a lack of mention of transgender”.

The proposals were criticised by Maya Forstater, executive director of campaign group Sex Matters and winner of a prominent employment tribunal relating to her “gender-critical” views, who said: “It is concerning that a place dedicated to science is being swayed by cultural trends in this way.”

Science ‘shaped by the zeitgeist’

Sir Gregory Winter, the Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist, said that influence from cultural trends was in some ways inevitable for scientific organisations

He told The Telegraph: “Science is driven mainly by scientists seeking an understanding of ourselves, our world, and our past, our present and our future. It is also driven by scientists seeking to use this information for practical and - often commercial - purposes.

“Inevitably scientists have had to engage with the public and with the zeitgeist.

“For example, science has been shaped by the zeitgeist, as in the regulations relating to embryo research and the genetic engineering of organisms. Scientists have also shaped the zeitgeist - spectacularly with climate change.

“As for museum curators, they also have to engage with the public and the zeitgeist. It is entirely possible to explain the same science in different ways to the public, and it is not unreasonable for curators to review their efforts in the light of new research or other considerations.

“As far as I am concerned, the key test for a museum exhibit is whether it represents the underlying scientific consensus in a clear and engaging manner to a wide constituency.

“I would have liked to use the word ‘truth’ rather than ‘consensus’ - but sometimes, as in evolutionary studies with sparse data, it may be impossible to establish a ‘truth’.

“Of course, organisations should not ‘pander too much’, but they should engage.”

Tensions rise again against Peru's Las Bambas mine, despite latest deal

Fri, January 7, 2022, 

LIMA, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Peruvian Prime Minister Mirtha Vasquez said on Friday she would travel again next Friday to an area of frequent protests against MMG Ltd's Las Bambas copper mine as tensions with community protesters build up once again.

The trip will be Vasquez's third to the area since she was appointed in October, following repeated road blockades that have disrupted Las Bambas' operations.

The Chinese-owned copper mine, which has faced repeated protests since it opened in 2016, is one of the biggest mines in Peru, the world's second largest copper producer where mining is a key source of tax revenue.

In December, protesters from the Chumbivilcas province blocked the road for over a month, forcing it to suspend operations and causing a major problem for the leftist administration of President Pedro Castillo, who has promised to prioritize the demands of marginalized communities.

The Chumbivilcas communities - mostly indigenous citizens of Quechua descent - have repeatedly accused the Chinese company of failing to provide jobs and money to the region, one of the poorest in Peru, despite the vast mineral wealth.

Las Bambas just restarted copper output after Vasquez traveled to Chumbivilcas last month and brokered an agreement https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/peru-community-agrees-lift-blockade-las-bambas-mine-silent-next-steps-2021-12-30 onsite to prevent further blockades.

But some Chumbivilcas communities have since said they reject that agreement and called on Vasquez for further negotiations, according to meeting minutes seen by Reuters dated Jan. 6.

Vasquez told reporters she hopes to hear concerns and resolve any social conflict through dialogue.

A group of four communities said they rejected part of the agreement, including a section that commits locals not to pursue further road blockades.

"Having analyzed the agreements, they do not address the proposals and demands of the communities ... and in that sense they do not represent the voice of the people," the meeting minutes said, which called on Vasquez and Castillo to meet with them in person next Friday.

It is unclear if Castillo will attend the meeting. He has generally deferred to Vasquez to handle issues related to Las Bambas.

"The masses also agree that if the President of the Republic does not come, there will be no dialogue and as a result we will launch a protest," the minutes said. (Reporting by Marcelo Rochabrun; Editing by Sandra Maler)

FACT FOCUS: Unfounded theory used to dismiss COVID measures

FILE - Dr. Robert Malone gestures as he stands in his barn, Wednesday July 22, 2020, in Madison, Va. An unfounded theory taking root online suggests millions of people have been “hypnotized” into believing mainstream ideas about COVID-19. In widely shared social media posts this week, efforts to combat the disease have been dismissed with just three words: “mass formation psychosis.” The term gained attention after it was floated by Malone during a Dec. 31, 2021 appearance on a podcast.

(AP Photo/Steve Helber)More


ANGELO FICHERA and JOSH KELETY
Sat, January 8, 2022, 10:04 AM·5 min read

An unfounded theory taking root online suggests millions of people have been “hypnotized” into believing mainstream ideas about COVID-19, including steps to combat it such as testing and vaccination.

In widely shared social media posts this week, efforts to combat the disease have been dismissed with just three words: “mass formation psychosis.”

“I’m not a scientist but I’m pretty sure healthy people spending hours in line to get a virus test is mass formation psychosis in action,” reads one tweet that was liked more than 22,000 times.

The term gained attention after it was floated by Dr. Robert Malone on “The Joe Rogan Experience” Dec. 31 podcast. Malone is a scientist who once researched mRNA technology but is now a vocal skeptic of the COVID-19 vaccines that use it.

But psychology experts say the concept described by Malone has no basis in evidence, and is similar to theories that have long been discredited. Here’s a look at the facts.

CLAIM: The concept of “mass formation psychosis” explains why millions of people believe in a mainstream COVID-19 “narrative” and trust the safety and efficacy of the vaccines.

THE FACTS: Malone highlighted the unfounded theory on a podcast hosted by comedian and commentator Joe Rogan. During the episode, Malone cast doubt on COVID-19 vaccine safety and claimed the mass psychosis has resulted in a “third of the population basically being hypnotized” into believing what Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, and mainstream news outlets say.

Malone went on to say that the phenomenon explained Nazi Germany.

“When you have a society that has become decoupled from each other and has free-floating anxiety in a sense that things don’t make sense, we can’t understand it, and then their attention gets focused by a leader or a series of events on one small point, just like hypnosis, they literally become hypnotized and can be led anywhere,” Malone said. He claimed such people will not allow the “narrative” to be questioned.

Crediting a professor in Belgium, Malone also said in a December blog post that this “mass hypnosis” explains millions of people becoming captivated by the “dominant narrative concerning the safety and effectiveness of the genetic vaccines.”

Psychology experts say there is no support for the “psychosis” theory described by Malone.

“To my knowledge, there’s no evidence whatsoever for this concept,” said Jay Van Bavel, an assistant professor of psychology and neural science at New York University who recently co-authored a book on group identities. Van Bavel said he had never encountered the phrase “mass formation psychosis” in his years of research, nor could he find it in any peer-reviewed literature.

“The concept has no academic credibility,” Stephen Reicher, a social psychology professor at the University of St Andrews in the U.K., wrote in an email to The Associated Press.

The term also does not appear in the American Psychological Association's Dictionary of Psychology.

“Psychosis” is a term that refers to conditions that involve some disconnect from reality. According to a National Institutes of Health estimate, about 3% of people experience some form of psychosis at some time in their lives.

Richard McNally, a professor of clinical psychology at Harvard University, wrote in an email that people who support COVID-19 vaccines and public health guidance are not delusional. Rather, they are “fully responsive to the arguments and evidence adduced by the relevant scientific experts.”

Health officials have found the COVID-19 vaccines to be safe and effective — especially in terms of protecting against serious illness.

The description of “mass formation psychosis” offered by Malone resembles discredited concepts, such as “mob mentality” and “group mind,” according to John Drury, a social psychologist at the University of Sussex in the U.K. who studies collective behavior. The ideas suggest that “when people form part of a psychological crowd they lose their identities and their self-control; they become suggestible, and primitive instinctive impulses predominate,” he said in an email.

That notion has been discredited by decades of research on crowd behavior, Drury said. “No respectable psychologist agrees with these ideas now,” he said.

Multiple experts told the AP that while there is evidence that groups can shape or influence one’s behaviors — and that people can and do believe falsehoods that are put forward by the leader of a group — those concepts do not involve the masses experiencing “psychosis” or “hypnosis.”

Steven Jay Lynn, a psychology professor at Binghamton University in New York, said Malone’s argument that a group can “literally become hypnotized and can be led anywhere” is premised on a myth about hypnosis.

“His claim represents a serious misunderstanding of hypnosis and doubles down on the popular misconception that hypnosis somehow transforms people into mindless robots who think what the hypnotist wants them to think and do the hypnotist’s bidding,” Lynn said in an email. “The scientifically established fact is that people can easily resist and even oppose suggestions.”

Before the concept of “mass formation psychosis” took off in recent days, it had percolated online in recent months.

Mattias Desmet, the professor in Belgium who Malone cited for formulating the idea, did not return requests for comment. Malone also did not return a request for comment.

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Fichera reported from Philadelphia; Kelety from Phoenix.

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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.