PRISON NATION  USA
Senate launches group to examine embattled US prison system

By MICHAEL BALSAMO and MICHAEL R. SISAK

 Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., takes a question from a reporter during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 28, 2021. The U.S. Senate is launching a bipartisan working group of lawmakers to scrutinize conditions within the federal Bureau of Prisons in the wake of Associated Press reporting that uncovered widespread corruption and abuse in federal prisons across the U.S. The working group is led by Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Democrat from Georgia and Sen. Mike Braun, an Indiana Republican. 

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Senate is launching a bipartisan working group of lawmakers to scrutinize conditions within the Bureau of Prisons following reporting by The Associated Press that uncovered widespread corruption and abuse in federal prisons.

The working group, being led by Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., and Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., is aimed at developing policies and proposals to strengthen oversight of the beleaguered federal prison system and improve communication between the Bureau of Prisons and Congress.

The group plans to examine the conditions of incarceration inside America’s 122 federal prisons, protect human rights and promote transparency. The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., also will be part of the group.

The federal prison system, a hotbed of corruption and misconduct, has been plagued by myriad crises in recent years, including widespread criminal activity among employees, systemic sexual abuse at a federal women’s prison in California, critically low staffing levels that have hampered responses to emergencies, the rapid spread of COVID-19, a failed response to the pandemic and dozens of escapes. And late last month, two inmates were killed in a gang clash at a federal penitentiary in Texas, prompting a nationwide lockdown.

In early January, the embattled federal prisons director, Michael Carvajal, announced he was resigning amid growing criticism over his leadership of the bureau. The Justice Department is searching for a new director — even posting advertisements on LinkedIn — but hasn’t found a replacement yet.

“America’s prisons and jails are horrifically dysfunctional and too often places where brutality and criminality are prevalent,” Ossoff said in a statement to the AP on Thursday. “The Senate Bipartisan Prison Policy Working Group will identify and advance solutions.”

Ossoff, Braun and several other lawmakers, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, have introduced legislation to require the director of the Bureau of Prisons to be confirmed by the Senate, as is the case with nearly every other major federal agency.

In a statement, Durbin said the working group was “essential to helping us achieve our goal of creating safer conditions for those at correctional facilities.” He said the trio was “committed to working on a bipartisan basis to improve conditions and safety, strengthen transparency and communications, and reduce recidivism in our federal prison system.”

The Senate passed legislation that Ossoff had introduced to require federal prisons to repair and upgrade security systems, including broken surveillance cameras. Failing security cameras in federal prisons have allowed inmates to escape undetected and were the center of the investigation when wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was awaiting trial on charges he sexually abused girls as young as 14, killed himself behind bars in 2019.

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Sisak reported from New York. Follow Balsamo at twitter.com/mikebalsamo1 and Sisak at twitter.com/mikesisak. Send confidential tips by visiting https://www.ap.org/tips/.

WAR IS RAPE
Sexual assault reports increase at US military academies 

THEY ARE STILL PATRIARCHICAL

THIS IS MY RIFLE, THIS IS MY GUN, 

ONE IS FOR KILLING, ONE IS FOR FUN

By LOLITA C. BALDOR

A Cadet listens during a commencement ceremony for the Class of 2020 on the parade field, at the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., June 13, 2020. U.S. officials say reported sexual assaults at the U.S. military academies increased sharply during the 2020-2021 school year, as students returned to in-person classes amid the ongoing pandemic. The increase continues what officials believe is an upward trend at the academies, despite an influx of new sexual assault prevention and treatment programs.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Reported sexual assaults at the U.S. military academies increased sharply during the 2020-21 school year, as students returned to in-person classes during the coronavirus pandemic.

The increase continues what officials believe is an upward trend at the academies, despite an influx of new sexual assault prevention and treatment programs.

Comparing the totals over the past three years, however, is tricky. The number of reports dropped at all the academies during the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 school year, when in-person classes were canceled and students were sent home in the spring to finish the semester online.

Although there were fewer reports that year than the previous year, one senior defense official said that based on trends the total likely would have shown an increase if students had not left early. In addition, the number of reported assaults in 2020-21 was also higher than the pre-pandemic school year of 2018-19.

According to the Pentagon report released Thursday, the overall jump in cases was driven by increases at the Air Force Academy and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. There were 131 assaults reported by cadets or midshipmen in 2020-21, compared with 88 the previous year and 122 a year earlier.

Of the 131, cadets at the Air Force Academy in Colorado reported 52 assaults, compared with 46 at West Point in New York and 33 at the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland.

During a visit to West Point earlier this month, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth met with academy leaders, staff members and cadets and talked about the sexual assault problem. She said they talked about the so-called Trust Program, which is led by cadets and helps train them to address sexual assault and harassment and encourage intervention when they see questionable behavior.

“West Point is working hard to increase cadets’ trust in their reporting system while at the same time preventing events from happening in the first place,” Wormuth said, adding that West Point has increased resources for victims “to ensure the academy handles each case with care.”

Victims at the academies are encouraged to report assaults, and at times students will come forward to talk about unwanted sexual contact that happened in the years before they started school there. If those episodes of unwanted sexual contact are included, as well as those involving students but reported by individuals outside the schools, the total sexual assault reports for 2020-21 is 161. That also is an increase over the pre-pandemic year, when there were 148.

The latest increase comes as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other leaders struggle to curb sexual assaults across the military, amid escalating criticism from Capitol Hill. Lawmaker are demanding better prevention efforts and more aggressive prosecutions.

Austin and others have acknowledged that while they continue to study what works and what doesn’t, they haven’t yet found the answers.

Nate Galbreath, acting director of the Pentagon’s sexual assault prevention office, said the department is encouraged that students are more willing to come forward and report assaults, allowing victims to get help and perpetrators to be held accountable. But the leaders across the military said they are also very concerned that the trends are going in the wrong direction, and Galbreath said that while there is an unprecedented attention on the problem right now, there is “still much more work to be done.”

Galbreath acknowledged that prevention efforts have been underway for years, but he said programs that may have worked in the past do not necessarily work now. He said the department is using scientific studies to narrow down what programs actually are successful.

Officials also say it is difficult to determine what impact the pandemic may have had. Students returned to the academies in the fall of 2020 but faced widespread restrictions, random COVID-19 testing and a mix of online and in-person classes. In many cases bars, restaurants and other businesses around the campuses may have been closed or less accessible.

A planned anonymous survey of the students, which often can provide greater insight into the problem, was not conducted in 2020 due to the pandemic. The survey normally is done every two years, and officials believe it provides a more accurate picture of assaults, harassment and unwanted sexual contact. A survey will be conducted this spring, Galbreath said.

New leaked data shows most donors to 'Adopt-a-Trucker' GiveSendGo page were Canadian

OTTAWA — A new data leak shows that about 60 per cent of donors to an "Adopt-a-Trucker" page on the online fundraising platform GiveSendGo were Canadian and 37 per cent were American

.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

About US$540,000 was raised on the page to support anti-vaccine mandate protesters in Ottawa and throughout Canada, according to data on donations made up to Feb. 10.

The new tranche of data was obtained by transparency group Distributed Denial of Secrets, which has previously provided the media with leaked information from right-wing organizations.

The analysis shows that more than 7,400 donors contributed an average of about US$72.29 for a total of US$540,166.58.

It was released on Tuesday following an earlier leak from the "Freedom Convoy 2022" page on Christian crowdfunding website GiveSendGo, which raised US$8.4 million.

That earlier leak showed that 56 per cent of donors to that page came from the United States and 39 per cent from Canada.

GiveSendGo said in tweet late Tuesday that it was attacked by "malicious actors" and was aggressively pursuing action for what it called a cybercrime.

The company said the attack came on Sunday evening but it would not be deterred. It said it shut down the site at the time of the intrusion to prevent "further illegal actions against our site" and had conducted further security audits before being able to bring it back online.

"We are in a battle. We didn't expect it to be easy. This has not caused us to be afraid. Instead, it's made it even more evident that we cannot back down," said the statement, which expressed thanks for the "continued support, prayers and the countless emails letting us know you are standing with us."

GiveSendGo did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Canadian Press.

Many of the donors in the latest leak expressed boisterous solidarity with the protesters in a comment section next to their donations.

"Sending trillions of angels to guide and protect all of the brilliant and brave truckers and supporters of freedom! This is such an amazing movement. Keep the joy and love in your hearts! It's working! The world is waking up and the tide is shifting! Bravo Canada!!!" wrote one U.S.-based donor.

A Canadian contributor cheered the protesters on, but also encouraged them to "back off protests" in provinces where premiers have announced a clear end to vaccine mandates. "Let the other provinces see that the protesters are listening. If the premiers don't follow (through) on (their) word, then protest again."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday that the government was invoking the Emergencies Act in attempt to end the protests against vaccine mandates and other COVID-19 restrictions that continue to snarl Ottawa.

The measures include giving power to banks to suspend or freeze the accounts of those supporting the blockades and force crowdfunding platforms and cryptocurrencies to follow anti-money laundering and terrorist financing laws.

The protesters had originally used the website GoFundMe to raise more than $10 million before the website shut them down for breaching its terms of service and calling the protest an "occupation."

That prompted the protesters to turn to other websites such as a GiveSendGo, which has been hit by data breaches.

Last week, the Ontario government successfully petitioned a court to freeze access to millions of dollars donated through GiveSendGo to the convoy protesting COVID-19 restrictions in Ottawa and at several border crossings.

The province obtained an order from the province's Superior Court of Justice that prohibits anyone from distributing donations made through the website's "Freedom Convoy 2022" and "Adopt-a-Trucker" campaign pages.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2022.

Mike Blanchfield and Jordan Press, The Canadian Press

How American cash for Canada protests could sway US politics

By RICHARD LARDNER, MICHELLE R. SMITH and ALI SWENSON

A man wearing an American flag walks by police guarding the Canadian parliament building from demonstrators protesting the country's COVID-19 restrictions, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022, in Ottawa, Ontario. The protests in Canada that have blocked border crossings with the U.S. and gnarled trade have been promoted, cheered and funded by American anti-vaccine groups, right-wing activists and conservative elected officials. (AP Photo/Robert Bumsted)


WASHINGTON (AP) — The Canadians who have disrupted travel and trade with the U.S. and occupied downtown Ottawa for nearly three weeks have been cheered and funded by American right-wing activists and conservative politicians who also oppose vaccine mandates and the country’s liberal leader.

Yet whatever impact the protests have on Canadian society and the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, experts say the outside support is really aimed at energizing conservative politics in the U.S. Midterm elections are looming, and some Republicans think standing with the protesters up north will galvanize fund-raising and voter turnout at home, these experts say.

“The kind of narratives that the truckers and the trucker convoy are focusing on are going to be really important issues for the (U.S.) elections coming ahead,” said Samantha Bradshaw, a postdoctoral fellow at the Digital Civil Society Lab at Stanford University. “And so using this protest as an opportunity to galvanize their own supporters and other groups, I think it’s very much an opportunity for them.”

Police poured into downtown Ottawa on Thursday, and work crews erected fences around Parliament, in what protesters feared was a prelude to a crackdown.

About 44 percent of the nearly $10 million in contributions to support the protesters originated from U.S. donors, according to an Associated Press analysis of leaked donor files. U.S. Republican elected officials, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, have praised the protesters calling them “heroes” and “patriots.”

Fox News host Sean Hannity told two protest organizers on his show on Wednesday that “you do have a lot of support from your friends in America. That I can tell you.” He added: “We have a movement in America that’s starting very soon.”

Trudeau and other senior Canadian officials have been sharply critical of the financial support coming from other countries.

“What this country is facing is a largely foreign-funded, targeted and coordinated attack on critical infrastructure and our democratic institutions,” Bill Blair, Canada’s minister of public safety and emergency preparedness, said earlier this week.

Ian Reifowitz, professor of historical studies at the State University of New York, called the protests a “gift” for Republicans in the U.S., and he predicted they’ll use the populist appeal of the demonstrations to raise money ahead of the midterm elections in November.

“They constantly need fresh outrages,” said Reifowitz, the author of “The Tribalization of Politics: How Rush Limbaugh’s Race-Baiting Rhetoric on the Obama Presidency Paved the Way for Trump.”

“It’s a terrific (issue) eight or nine months before the election for them,” he said. “It allows you to bank money, bank volunteers and energize the base, which is what you want to do.”

Demonstrators in Ottawa have been regularly supplied with fuel and food, and the area around Parliament Hill has at times resembled a spectacular carnival with bouncy castles, gyms, a playground and a concert stage with DJs.

GiveSendGo, a website used to collect donations for the Canadian protests, has collected at least $9.58 million dollars, including $4.2 million, or 44%, that originated in the United States, according to a database of donor information posted online by DDoSecrets, a non-profit group.

The Canadian government has been working to block protesters’ access to these funds, however, and it is not clear how much of the money has ultimately gotten through.

Millions of dollars raised through another crowdfunding site, GoFundMe, were blocked after Canadian officials raised objections with the company, which determined that the effort violated its terms of service around unlawful activity.

The GiveSendGo database analyzed by AP showed more than 109,000 donations through Friday night to campaigns in support of the protests, with a little under 62,000 coming from the U.S.

The GiveSendGo data listed several Americans as giving thousands or tens of thousands of dollars to the protest, with the largest single donation of $90,000 coming from a person who identified himself as Thomas M. Siebel.

Siebel, the billionaire founder of software company Siebel Systems, did not respond to messages sent to an email associated with a foundation he runs and to his LinkedIn account.

A representative from the Siebel Scholars Foundation, who signed her name only as Jennifer, did not respond to questions about whether he had donated the money. But she said Siebel has a record of supporting several causes, including efforts to “protect individual liberty.”

“These are personal initiatives and have nothing to do with the companies with which he is associated,” she wrote.

Siebel has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican candidates and organizations over the last 20 years, according to Federal Election Commission records, including a $400,000 contribution in 2019 to a GOP fundraising committee called “Take Back the House 2020.”

The GiveSendGo Freedom Convoy campaign was created on Jan. 27 by Tamara Lich. She previously belonged to the far-right Maverick Party, which calls for western Canada to become independent.

The Canadian government moved earlier this week to cut off funding for the protesters by broadening the scope of the country’s anti-money laundering and terrorist financing rules to cover crowdfunding platforms like GiveSendGo.

“We are making these changes because we know that these platforms are being used to support illegal blockades and illegal activity, which is damaging the Canadian economy,” said Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.

Perhaps more important than the financial support is the cheerleading the Canadian protesters have received from prominent American conservative politicians and pundits, like Hannity, who see kindred spirits in their northern neighbors opposing vaccine mandates.

On the same day Lich created the GiveSendGo campaign, retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn shared a video of the convoy in a post on the messaging app Telegram.

“These truckers are fighting back against the nonsense and tyranny, especially coming from the Canadian government,” wrote Flynn, the former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency who served briefly as former President Donald Trump’s national security adviser.

A few days later, Flynn urged people to donate to the Canadian protesters. Earlier this week, he twice posted the message “#TrudeauTheCoward” on Telegram, referring to the prime minister who leads Canada’s Liberal Party.

Fox News hosts regularly laud the protests, and Trump weighed in with a broadside at Trudeau, calling him a “far left lunatic” who has “destroyed Canada with insane COVID mandates.” Cruz called the truckers “heroes” and “patriots,” and Greene said she cannot wait to see a convoy protest in Washington.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he hopes truckers come to America and “clog up cities” in an interview last week with the Daily Signal, a news website of the conservative Heritage Foundation.

Far-right and anti-vaccine activists, inspired by the Canadian actions, are now planning American versions of the protests against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions modeled on the Canadian demonstrations.

The protests in Canada have also created a moneymaking opportunity for some, including a chain of “New England for Trump” stores, which were selling merchandise inspired by the demonstrators. A mesh-back “Freedom Convoy 2022” trucker hat goes for $25. —-

Swenson reported from New York, and Smith reported from Providence, Rhode Island. Associated Press writers Amanda Seitz in Washington, Larry Fenn in New York, Frank Bajak in Boston and Camille Fassett in Oakland, California, contributed to this report.

Fox News panel erupts after Geraldo calls out right-wing media for 'inciting' Canadian trucker convoys

Brad Reed
February 16, 2022


Fox News' Geraldo Rivera caused a stir on Wednesday when he called out right-wing media for the "incitement" of anti-vax trucker convoys in Canada, which he argued had made lives miserable for ordinary Canadians.

During a debate about the convoys, Rivera's cohosts claimed that the truckers were broadly supported by the Canadian public despite multiple polls showing them to be wildly unpopular.

"You know what is not popular in Canada is this 'Freedom Convoy,'" Rivera argued. "What about the freedom of the homeowners to live in peace? What about the freedom of the shopkeepers to do business? What about the freedom of the autoworkers to get parts?"

In fact, the polls show Rivera is right.

A recent Angus Reid Institute poll showed "more than two-thirds strongly oppose the protesters' approach and behavior"; a Leger poll showed "nearly two-thirds think the protesters are a selfish minority"; a recent Ipsos poll showed 59 percent agreed with the description of the protesters as "anti-vaxxers and bigots"; and a Maru Public Opinion poll showed 56 percent of respondents saying they don't agree with the protests in "any way, shape or form."

Rivera then went on to slam right-wing media for pushing the protests even though they were backfiring in the court of public opinion.

"It is conservative media that has gone from support to incitement," Rivera charged.

"Incitement!" replied an indignant Greg Gutfeld. "Are you saying we're inciting them?!"

Greg Gutfeld claims the Freedom Convoy "is actually being welcomed" by Canadians.\n\nGeraldo: "It is conservative media that has gone from support to incitement."\n\nGutfeld: "Are you saying we're inciting it?!"\n\nGeraldo then points to polls showing large opposition to the protests.pic.twitter.com/no3ytMWZbm— Justin Baragona (@Justin Baragona) 1645049744

REVEALED: Trump-loving Texas CEO who loaned former president his plane sent $20K to 'Freedom Convoy'

John Wright
February 16, 2022

Benjamin Pogue (Facebook)

A Trump-loving Texas construction company CEO — whose father received a pardon from the former president — has been among the top donors to the Canadian "freedom convoy" on the fundraising site GiveSendGo, according to reports.

Benjamin Pogue of McKinney, Texas, the president and CEO of Pogue Construction, donated more than $385,000 to Trump's re-election campaign in 2020, Business Insider reported Wednesday. Pogue's contributions included providing the former president with the use of Pogue's own private jet, the Associated Press reported.

On Sunday, hackers leaked the names of more than 92,000 people who contributed to the anti-vaxx, anti-government freedom convoy through GiveSendGo, a Christian crowdfunding site, which helped raise $8.7 million for the protest.

“My personal contribution reflected my respect for individuals who were willing to take the time and effort to make their voices heard,” Pogue said in a statement to news media, according to the Dallas Morning News. “It is not an endorsement of any illegal activity. Hopefully, the issue is on its way to a peaceful resolution.”

According to the Morning News, following Pogue's contributions to Trump's campaign in 2020, the former president granted a pardon to his father, Paul Pogue.

Paul Pogue, who founded Pogue Construction Company in 1978, pleaded guilty in 2010 to underpaying taxes by more than $400,000 and was sentenced to three years in prison.

Business Insider noted that the freedom convoy "has been linked to Trump supporters in multiple instances."

"Several news outlets have posted photos of the protest that include hats and signs referencing Trump and the slogan 'Make Canada Great Again,'" the report notes. "Local news reported that during the first week of the protests a man was seen riding through the protesters on horseback, carrying a 'Trump 2024' flag."

Trump himself expressed support for the freedom convoy in a statement, saying the protesters were "doing more to defend American freedom than our own leaders by far."

The leaked data from GiveSendGo showed that more than half of donations came from the U.S.

"Also included in the leaked data were the messages that some donors posted alongside their donations," Vice News reported. "The messages contained over 13,000 references to 'God' or 'Jesus' as well as thousands of references to 'tyranny.' While most of the users’ messages were relatively benign, there are a number of more troubling posts, like this from one user: 'I look forward to the day you tyrants are swinging from a noose.'"

Truckers brace for a possible crackdown in besieged Ottawa

By ROB GILLIES, WILSON RING and ROBERT BUMSTED

1 of 14

Police are followed by yelling protesters as they attempt to hand out a notices to protesters in Ottawa, on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. Hundreds of truckers clogging the streets of Canada's capital city in a protest against COVID-19 restrictions are bracing for a possible police crackdown. (Justin Tang /The Canadian Press via AP)

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Police poured into downtown Ottawa on Thursday in what truckers feared was a prelude to a crackdown on their nearly three-week, street-clogging protest against Canada’s COVID-19 restrictions.

Work crews in the capital erected fences outside Parliament, and for the second day in a row, officers handed out leaflets warning the protesters to leave. Busloads of police converged on the area in the morning.

“It’s high time that these illegal and dangerous activities stop,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared in Parliament, not far from where the more than 300 trucks were parked.

“They are a threat to our economy and our relationship with trading partners,” he said. “They are a threat to public safety.”

Many of the truckers in the self-styled Freedom Convoy reacted to the warnings with scorn, and those parked in front of Parliament Hill blared their horns in defiance of a court injunction against honking. As of midday, the vast majority appeared to be staying put.

“I’m prepared to sit on my ass and watch them hit me with pepper spray,” said one of their leaders, Pat King. As for the big rigs parked bumper-to-bumper, he said: “There’s no tow trucks in Canada that will touch them.”

Ottawa represented the movement’s last stronghold after weeks of demonstrations and blockades that shut down border crossings into the U.S., inflicted economic damage on both countries and created a political crisis for Trudeau.



The protests have shaken Canada’s reputation for civility and rule-following and inspired similar convoys in France, New Zealand and the Netherlands.

Early this week, the prime minister invoked Canada’s Emergencies Act, empowering law enforcement authorities to declare the blockades illegal, tow away trucks and punish the drivers by arresting them, freezing their bank accounts and suspending their licenses.

On Thursday, Trudeau and some of his top ministers took turns strongly warning the Ottawa protesters to clear out or face the consequences, in an apparent move by the government to avert a clash, or at least show it had gone the extra mile to avoid one.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said the government had begun freezing truckers’ accounts as threatened. “It is happening. I do have the numbers in front of me,” she said.

Ottawa police likewise distributed flyers on both Wednesday and Thursday urging the truckers to end the siege, and also helpfully placed notices on vehicles informing owners how and where to pick up their trucks if they are towed.

The occupation has infuriated many Ottawa residents.

“We’ve seen people intimidated, harassed and threatened. We’ve seen apartment buildings that have been chained up. We have seen fires set in the corridors. Residents are terrorized,” said Canadian Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino. “And it is absolutely gut-wrenching to see the sense of abandonment and helplessness that they have felt now for weeks.”

The protests around the country by demonstrators in trucks, tractors and motor homes initially focused on Canada’s vaccine requirement for truckers entering the country but soon morphed into a broader attack on COVID-19 precautions and Trudeau’s government.

The biggest, most damaging of the blockades at the border took place at the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit. Before authorities arrested dozens of remaining protesters last weekend and lifted the siege, it disrupted the flow of auto parts between the two countries and forced the industry to curtail production.

The final border blockade, in Manitoba, ended peacefully on Wednesday.

The movement has drawn support from right-wing extremists and veterans, some of them armed, and authorities have hesitated to move against them, in part out of fear of violence.

Fox News personalities and U.S. conservatives such as Donald Trump have egged on the protests, and Trudeau complained on Thursday that “roughly half of the funding to the barricaders here is coming from the United States.”

Some security experts said that dispersing the protest in Ottawa could be tricky and dangerous, with the potential for violence, and that a heavy-handed law enforcement response could become propaganda for anti-government extremists.

The trucks were parked shoulder-to-shoulder downtown, some with tires removed to hamper towing. Some were said to be chained together. Police were especially worried about the children among the protesters.

“There is not really a playbook,” said David Carter, a professor at Michigan State University’s School of Criminal Justice and a former police officer. “I know there are police chiefs in the U.S. looking at this and developing strategic plans and partnerships to manage a protest like this if it should occur in their cities.”

As tensions rose on Thursday, Canadian Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said: “To those who have children with them, this is no place for children. Take them home immediately.”

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Gillies reported from Toronto. Associated Press writer Andrew Selsky in Salem, Oregon, contributed to this report.

Canadian police vow to clear trucker-led protest blocking Ottawa streets within days

 

US Medical boards pressured to let It slide when doctors spread COVID-19 misinformation

By Blake Farmer, Nashville Public Radio

The Federation of State Medical Boards is tracking legislation introduced by Republicans in at least 14 states that would restrict a medical board’s authority to discipline doctors for their advice on COVID-19. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Tennessee's Board of Medical Examiners unanimously adopted in September a statement that said doctors spreading COVID-19 misinformation -- such as suggesting that vaccines contain microchips -- could jeopardize their license to practice.

"I'm very glad that we're taking this step," Dr. Stephen Loyd, the panel's vice president, said at the time. "If you're spreading this willful misinformation, for me it's going to be really hard to do anything other than put you on probation or take your license for a year. There has to be a message sent for this. It's not OK."

The board's statement was posted on a government website.

But before any physicians could be reprimanded for spreading falsehoods about COVID-19 vaccines or treatments, Republican lawmakers threatened to disband the medical board.

The growing tension in Tennessee between conservative lawmakers and the state's medical board may be the most prominent example in the country. But the Federation of State Medical Boards, which created the language adopted by at least 15 state boards, is tracking legislation introduced by Republicans in at least 14 states that would restrict a medical board's authority to discipline doctors for their advice on COVID-19.

Dr. Humayun Chaudhry, the federation's CEO, called it "an unwelcome trend." The nonprofit association, based in Euless, Texas, says the statement is merely a COVID-19-specific restatement of an existing rule: that doctors who engage in behavior that puts patients at risk could face disciplinary action.

Although doctors have leeway to decide which treatments to provide, the medical boards that oversee them have broad authority over licensing. Often, doctors are investigated for violating guidelines on prescribing high-powered drugs. But physicians are sometimes punished for other "unprofessional conduct." In 2013, Tennessee's board fined Republican U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais for separately having sexual relations with two female patients more than a decade earlier.

Still, stopping doctors from sharing unsound medical advice has proved challenging. Even defining misinformation has been difficult. And during the pandemic, resistance from some state legislatures is complicating the effort.

A relatively small group of physicians peddle COVID-19 misinformation, but many of them associate with America's Frontline Doctors. Its founder, Dr. Simone Gold, has claimed patients are dying from COVID-19 treatments, not the virus itself. Dr. Sherri Tenpenny said in a legislative hearing in Ohio that the COVID-19 vaccine could magnetize patients. Dr. Stella Immanuel has pushed hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 cure in Texas, although clinical trials showed that it had no benefit. None of them agreed to requests for comment.

The Texas Medical Board fined Immanuel $500 for not informing a patient of the risks associated with using hydroxychloroquine as an off-label COVID-19 treatment.

In Tennessee, state lawmakers called a special legislative session in October to address COVID-19 restrictions, and Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed a sweeping package of bills that push back against pandemic rules. One included language directed at the medical board's recent COVID-19 policy statement, making it more difficult for the panel to investigate complaints about physicians' advice on COVID-19 vaccines or treatments.

In November, Republican state Rep. John Ragan sent the medical board a letter demanding that the statement be deleted from the state's website. Ragan leads a legislative panel that had raised the prospect of defunding the state's health department over its promotion of COVID-19 vaccines to teens.

Among his demands, Ragan listed 20 questions he wanted the medical board to answer in writing, including why the misinformation "policy" was proposed nearly two years into the pandemic, which scholars would determine what constitutes misinformation, and how was the "policy" not an infringement on the doctor-patient relationship.

"If you fail to act promptly, your organization will be required to appear before the Joint Government Operations Committee to explain your inaction," Ragan wrote in the letter, obtained by KHN and Nashville Public Radio.

In response to a request for comment, Ragan said that "any executive agency, including Board of Medical Examiners, that refuses to follow the law is subject to dissolution."

He set a deadline of Dec. 7.

In Florida, a Republican-sponsored bill making its way through the state legislature proposes to ban medical boards from revoking or threatening to revoke doctors' licenses for what they say unless "direct physical harm" of a patient occurred. If the publicized complaint can't be proved, the board could owe a doctor up to $1.5 million in damages.

Although Florida's medical board has not adopted the Federation of State Medical Boards' COVID-19 misinformation statement, the panel has considered misinformation complaints against physicians, including the state's surgeon general, Dr. Joseph Ladapo.

Chaudhry said he's surprised just how many COVID-19-related complaints are being filed across the country. Often, boards do not publicize investigations before a violation of ethics or standards is confirmed. But in response to a survey by the federation in late 2021, two-thirds of state boards reported an increase in misinformation complaints. And the federation said 12 boards had taken action against a licensed physician.

"At the end of the day, if a physician who is licensed engages in activity that causes harm, the state medical boards are the ones that historically have been set up to look into the situation and make a judgment about what happened or didn't happen," Chaudhry said. "And if you start to chip away at that, it becomes a slippery slope."

The Georgia Composite Medical Board adopted a version of the federation's misinformation guidance in early November and has been receiving 10 to 20 complaints each month, said Dr. Debi Dalton, the chairwoman. Two months in, no one had been sanctioned.

Dalton said that even putting out a misinformation policy leaves some "gray" area. Generally, physicians are expected to follow the "consensus," rather than "the newest information that pops up on social media," she said.

"We expect physicians to think ethically, professionally and with the safety of patients in mind," Dalton said.

A few physician groups are resisting attempts to root out misinformation, including the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, known for its stands against government regulation.

Some medical boards have opted against taking a public stand against misinformation.

The Alabama Board of Medical Examiners discussed signing on to the federation's statement, according to the minutes from an October meeting. But after debating the potential legal ramifications in a private executive session, the board opted not to act.

In Tennessee, the Board of Medical Examiners met on the day Ragan had set as the deadline and voted to remove the misinformation statement from its website to avoid being called into a legislative hearing. But then, in late January, the board decided to stick with the policy -- although it did not republish the statement online immediately -- and more specifically defined misinformation, calling it "content that is false, inaccurate or misleading, even if spread unintentionally."

Board members acknowledged they would likely get more pushback from lawmakers but said they wanted to protect their profession from interference.

"Doctors who are putting forth good evidence-based medicine deserve the protection of this board so they can actually say, 'Hey, I'm in line with this guideline, and this is a source of truth,'" said Dr. Melanie Blake, the board's president. "We should be a source of truth."

The medical board was looking into nearly 30 open complaints related to COVID-19 when its misinformation statement came down from its website. As of early February, no Tennessee physician had faced disciplinary action.

This story is part of a partnership that includes Nashville Public Radio, NPR and KHN.

ECOCIDE

World-first research confirms Australia’s forests became catastrophic fire risk after British invasion

The Conversation
February 16, 2022

Mega-Fire Australia AFP / PETER PARKS

Australia’s forests now carry far more flammable fuel than before British invasion, our research shows, revealing the catastrophic risk created by non-Indigenous bushfire management approaches.

Contemporary approaches to forest management in Australia are based on suppression – extinguishing bushfires once they’ve started, or seeking to prevent them through hazard-reduction burning.

This differs from the approach of Indigenous Australians who’ve developed sophisticated relationships with fire over tens of thousands of years. They minimise bushfire risk through frequent low-intensity burning – in contrast to the current scenario of random, high-intensity fires.

Our research, released today, provides what we believe is the first quantitative evidence that forests and woodlands across southeast Australia contained fewer shrubs and more grass before colonisation. This suggests Indigenous fire management holds the key to a safer, more sustainable future on our flammable continent.


Indi Pictured: Fire Lines, 2019. Archival waxed inkjet Print 100cm x 125cm.

 © Alan McFetridge. www.alan-mcfetridge.com

Not just a climate story

Globally, climate change is causing catastrophic fire weather more often. In Australia, long-term drought and high temperatures were blamed for the Black Summer bushfires in the summer of 2019-20. This event burned 18 million hectares, an area almost twice the size of England.

The unusually high fire extent in forests prompted several important questions. Could these massive fires be explained by climate change alone? Or was the way we manage forests also affecting fire behaviour?

Recent catastrophic fires in Australia and North America prompted renewed scrutiny of how the disruption and exclusion of First Nations’ burning practices has affected forest fuel loads.

Fuel load refers to the amount of flammable organic matter in vegetation such as leaves, twigs, branches and trunks. Large fuel loads in the shrubby layers of vegetation enable flames to more easily reach tree canopies, causing intense and dangerous “crown” fires.

Long before British invasion of southeast Australia in 1788, Indigenous people managed Australia’s flammable vegetation with “cultural burning” practices. These involved frequent, low-intensity fires which led to a fine-grained vegetation mosaic comprising grassy areas and scattered trees.

Landscapes managed in this way were less prone to destructive fires.


Cultural burning in Djabugay Country.
Australian Museum

But under colonial rule, Aboriginal people were dispossessed of their lands and often prevented from carrying out many important practices.

The colonisers suppressed Indigenous cultural burning – sometimes to protect fences – causing the land to become overgrown with shrubs.

Colonial vegetation management involved clear-cutting and intense intentional burning to create land on the plains for agriculture. Forests in rugged and less desirable terrain were left unmanaged or exploited through logging.

A fire-fighting mentality came to dominate fire management in Australia, in which fires are seen as a threat to be prevented, or stopped once they start. This thinking underlies mainstream fire and land management to this day.


Current mainstream fire management focuses on suppression techniques.
Sean Davey/AAP

Uncovering past landscapes

Our research set out to examine vegetation change at 52 sites across much of Australia’s southeast before and after colonisation in 1788. A large proportion of these are in forested areas of Victoria and New South Wales.

Scientists can develop a picture of past vegetation by extracting tiny fossilised grains of pollen from ancient sediment in wetlands and lake beds. Different plants produce pollen grains with different shapes, so by analysing them we can reconstruct past vegetation landscapes.

We also calibrated the amount of pollen to vegetation cover, to determine the past proportions of trees, shrubs, and grasses and herbs.

We did this using new modelling techniques that allow the conversion of pollen grain counts to plant cover across the landscape. These models have been widely applied in Europe, but our work represents a first in Australia.

We could then quantify vegetation changes before and after British invasion. We found forests in the southeast are now much denser, and more flammable, than before 1788.


Researchers preparing a platform for extracting lake sediment cores.

 Photo by Haidee Cadd.

We found grass and herb vegetation dominated the pre-colonial period, accounting for about half the vegetation across all sites. Trees and shrubs covered about 15% and 34% of the landscape, respectively.

After British invasion, shrubbiness in forests and woodlands in southeast Australia increased by up to 48% (with an average increase of 12%). Shrubs replaced grassy areas, while tree cover has remained stable overall.

Considering the vast area covered by our analysis, the shrub increase represents a massive accumulation of fuel loads.


The transition from pre- to post-colonial fuel structure in southeastern Australian forests, according to results presented in our recent publication in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (Mariani et al., 2022).

More than 200 years of neglect

In 1770, natural history artist Sydney Parkinson described the landscape along Australia’s east coast as “free from underwood […] like a gentleman’s park”.

In 2011, historian Bill Gammage published a controversial book titled The Biggest Estate on Earth. It contained several paintings of early colonial Australia in which the landscapes resembled a savanna, with large gaps between trees and a grassy understorey.

Nowadays, many such areas are dense forest. Our research is the first region-wide analysis that gives scientific credence to these historical accounts of a landscape very different to what we see today.


Painting by Eugen von Guerard, Crater of Mt Eccles (Budj Bim National Park), Victoria (1858). Sourced from Gammage, 2011, The Biggest Estate on Earth.

The disposession of Indigenous Australians by British invaders has had a deep social and ecological impact. This includes neglect of the bush, the direct result of denying Aboriginal Australians the right to exercise their duty of care over Country, using fire.

Australia’s forests need fire, deployed by capable Indigenous hands. Without it, increased fuel loads, coupled with climate change, will create conditions for bushfires bigger and more ferocious than we’ve ever seen before.

Michela Mariani, Assistant Professor in Physical Geography, University of Nottingham; Michael-Shawn Fletcher, Associate Professor in Biogeography, The University of Melbourne, and Simon Connor, Fellow in Natural History, Australian National University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

EU space policy: 'We cannot rely on foreign services' for defence and civil security

Europe needs a bolder space policy, French President Emmanuel Macron declared at an EU meeting in Toulouse, France, warning that Europe’s sovereignty is at stake if it falls behind rival powers in a key field for technology, science and military competitiveness. Dr. Didier Schmitt, Head of Strategy for Human and Robotic Exploration at the European Space Agency (ESA), joins France 24, spelling out what is at stake: Whether it's broadband internet access, digital communications or future mobility, "it's a wake-up call," explains Dr. Schmitt. "Do we want to have our autonomous cars and other activities like this be dependent on international or private service providers or not?"

Experts: End of Lockheed bid for Aerojet Rocketdyne may impact space, missile markets

By Paul Brinkmann

Aerojet Rocketdyne tested an RS-25 engine for NASA's Space Launch System moon rocket at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi in 2017. Photo courtesy of Aerojet Rocketdyne

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin, the largest U.S. defense contractor, has dropped its proposal to buy rocket-engine maker Aerojet Rocketdyne, but experts said another suitor could emerge.

The Sacramento-based Aerojet has produced engines for the space shuttle, is working on engines for NASA's next moon rockets and is also developing hypersonic missile systems for the U.S. military.

Lockheed said Monday it was dropping the merger plan because the Federal Trade Commission sued to block the deal due to fears that Maryland-based Lockheed would achieve a stranglehold over missile production.

But the end of Lockheed's bid doesn't mean someone else won't come along and buy Aerojet, according to Cynthia Cook, a director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

"It would not be surprising if Aerojet ended up being purchased by another company -- the fact that they agreed to be acquired by Lockheed Martin indicates that they are open to this, even though they have released a statement saying they would press ahead as an independent company," Cook, who heads the center's Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group, told UPI.

And although the Biden Administration has signaled it will oppose anti-competitive consolidation in the defense industry, Lockheed and other contractors may seek other acquisition targets soon, she said.

"It's too soon for us to know how the Biden Administration will handle similar deals in the defense sector. We need a few more examples before we can draw conclusions," Cook said.

RELATED Lockheed, Northrop to compete for Next Generation Interceptor program

Aerojet Rocketdyne is best-known for producing RS-25 rocket engines that powered the space shuttle, while it has modified those for use on the newer SLS moon rocket for NASA. The space agency is preparing to launch an uncrewed SLS this spring.

Aerojet also works on engines for hypersonic missile systems, a niche where it has only one other U.S. competitor, Virginia-based Northrop Grumman.

Lockheed CEO James Taiclet said in a statement Monday that buying Aerojet "would have benefited the entire industry through greater efficiency, speed and significant cost reductions for the U.S. government." But he said the company didn't want to proceed in a federal suit against the FTC.

RELATED NASA's moon rocket roars to life during shortened test-firing

The FTC had argued that buying Aerojet would have allowed Lockheed to cut off other contractors from critical components needed to build missiles.

"Without competitive pressure, Lockheed can jack up the price the U.S. government has to pay, while delivering lower quality and less innovation. We cannot afford to allow further concentration in markets critical to our national security and defense," FTC Bureau of Competition Director Holly Vedova said in a news release.

But trying to block Lockheed's deal doesn't make sense if the government wants to see Aerojet Rocketdyne thrive, Marco Cáceres, space analyst for Virginia-based Teal Group, told UPI in an interview.

It's important to recognize that Aerojet is facing stiff competition for rocket engines from Elon Musk's SpaceX, numerous small launchers and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, Cáceres said.

SpaceX makes their own rocket engines, while Blue Origin has been trying to develop a new engine for United Launch Alliance -- which is jointly owned by Lockheed and Boeing.

Those newer space companies, however, have shown no interest in building engines for missiles, he noted.

"The one thing that the government should do to foster competition and provide more diversity in terms of competitive launch is precisely to have allowed" the merger, he said.

"I think you're in danger of losing Boeing and Lockheed, two big legacy companies in launch services, because they just can't compete on price with SpaceX, they don't have the reusable technology, either," Cáceres said.

HIS BOSSES LIED
George Floyd: Former officer Tou Thao says use of knees in restraint was part of training

By Clyde Hughes & Daniel Uria
FEB. 15, 2022 

Tou Thao testified Tuesday that he was taught in his training with the Minneapolis police department to use his knees to keep a suspect pinned as Derek Chauvin did in the fatal arrest of George Floyd. File Photo courtesy of the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office

Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Tou Thao, one of three former Minneapolis police officers charged in the death of George Floyd, testified Tuesday that he was taught to use his knees to keep a suspect pinned to the ground as part of his training with the department.

The former officers -- Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane -- face federal charges of violating Floyd's civil rights during his arrest in May 2020, which resulted in his death. Former officer Derek Chauvin suffocated Floyd by kneeling on his neck for nearly 10 minutes.

The three are charged with violating Floyd's rights while acting under government authority. During the arrest, Kueng knelt on Floyd's back, Lane held his legs and Thao warned bystanders to stay back.

Specifically, the federal charges accuse Lane, Kueng and Thao with depriving Floyd's rights under color of law -- and Thao and Kueng are also charged with willfully failing to intervene while Chauvin used unreasonable force that resulted in death

.

Thomas Lane (L), J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao (R) face federal charges of violating George Floyd's civil rights in his arrest and death in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. Photos courtesy Hennepin County Sheriff's Office

Thao's attorney Robert Paule on Tuesday showed the jury a photo of Thao, taken during his training at the police academy in 2009 that showed him and another cadet using their knees to pin a handcuffed actor posing as a suspect to the ground in a prone position.

"Just to be clear, is this something that was typically taught at the academy when you were there? Paule asked Thao.

"Yes," Thao replied.

Thao also said he was never told that such a maneuver was "improper."

On Monday, former Baltimore police officer and use-of-force expert Timothy Longo testified that the former officers should have intervened and provided medical attention.

Longo said that the officers failed to comply with acceptable police practices. Other experts testified that Floyd's arrest was "a survivable" event and that CPR could have saved his life.

Thao on Tuesday testified that he had "no idea" how serious Floyd's condition was until after paramedics took him away in an ambulance and firefighters arrived on the scene to assist paramedics with CPR.

"I kind of connected the dots ... OK. I guess this guy was in critical condition when they left," Thao said.

Under cross-examination from Assistant U.S. Attorney LeeAnn Bell, Thau said he was aware that Chauvin placed his knee on Floyd's kneck and that Floyd had stopped talking and appeared unconscious. He also acknowledged that police are trained to begin CPR immediately if someone loses a pulse and no paramedics are present and have a duty to intervene if another officer is committing a crime.

Thao also testified that Floyd complained he couldn't breathe as officers attempted to get him into the squad car, but noted that similar complaints had become "a regular occurrence" after Eric Garner, a 43-year-old Black man, uttered the same complaint as a New York City police officer placed him in a banned chokehold that led to his death.

He also testified that he and Chauvin drove to the scene at Cup Foods, the convenience store where Floyd was arrested, to back up Lane and Kueng despite a dispatcher calling them off.



"From my experience, Cup Foods is hostile to police. It's a well known Bloods hangout," he said, adding Lane and Kueng would not have been aware of this as they were rookies.

When they arrived Thao testified that he witnessed the two officers struggling to get Floyd into a squad car and said he had "never seen this much of a struggle" adding that it appeared Floyd was on some kind of drugs and that he had "super-human strength that more than three officers could handle."

Initially, Thao said he suggested using a hobble device to restrain Floyd but said he decided against it as he said it appeared Floyd was exhibiting "excited delirium" a diagnosis that usually refers to a person experiencing dangerous levels of agitation. He added that the use of the device would also require a sergeant's approval and could have delayed the arrival of emergency medical services.

Instead, he told jurors that he radioed dispatch to set up EMS response and acted as a "human traffic cone" by standing in the street to prevent cars from hitting Floyd and the officers.

When asked why he didn't get physically involved with Floyd he said he had other responsibilities.

"I had a different role," he said. "I assumed they were caring for him."

Kueng is expected to testify in his own defense, Lane told the judge Tuesday he will take the stand.

Prosecutors spent close to three weeks laying out their case against the officers and called witnesses that included police officers, medical personnel and eyewitnesses. A teenager who filmed the arrest was a witness for the prosecution.

In December, Chauvin pleaded guilty to two charges of depriving Floyd of his rights during the arrest and failing to provide medical aid. He has not yet been sentenced on those charges. Last April, he was convicted on state charges for Floyd's death and sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison.