'They are wicked': Myanmar's strike holdouts keep up junta defiance

Issued on: 30/07/2021 -

Ongoing strikes have left Myanmar's junta deprived of staff to manage utilities, issue bills and collect taxes STR AFP/File


Bangkok (AFP)

Doctors healing patients from hiding, teachers giving up their classrooms and bankers losing their savings are among the stubborn holdouts still on strike to protest Myanmar's military coup six months ago.

Thousands of civil servants joined a mass walkout in the days after the February ouster of Aung San Suu Kyi's government in an effort to deny the junta legitimacy, manpower and resources.

It is difficult to know how many are still participating in the campaign, with many sacked for joining protests and a severe coronavirus outbreak likely keeping others away from their desks.

The strikes have left the junta deprived of staff to manage utilities, issue bills and collect taxes.

It has appealed for medical workers, engineers and IT specialists to come forward to help its coronavirus response -- and dangled the promise of vaccines for those who do.

A state-backed power company in the commercial capital Yangon warned customers this month that a running boycott on bill payments was bleeding it of cash and affecting electricity supply.

AFP spoke to a doctor, a teacher and a banker about how they were resisting the junta regime. All asked to use pseudonyms for safety reasons.

- 'I will choose to die' -

Shwe Ya Min worked for Myanmar's central bank for 17 years but she and her husband both went on strike soon after the coup, joining colleagues in a walkout that paralysed the banking system.

Businesses have since struggled to pay employees and buy supplies, the World Bank said this week in a report forecasting the country's economy would contract by 18 percent in 2021.#photo1

Shwe Ya Min and her husband were both fired in May for not coming back to work, a dismissal she said was a "relief" -- even though it came with a demand they return their back pay.

"We loathe (the junta) very much," she says. "They are wicked."

She and her family are not paying any government bills and have stopped sending their daughter to school in the commercial capital Yangon, but money is tight.

"We have been eating with what we saved, which will last only until next month," she says.

Some of her colleagues "are selling eggs and betel nut to pay the rent", she adds.

But she says has no regrets about the decision.

"I will choose to die from starvation instead of going back to work."

- 'We won't turn back' -

Doctor Yin Maung, 33, left his job to work in a clinic providing free treatment for wounded protesters in Mandalay, Myanmar's cultural capital.

He was one of nearly 500 doctors studying for advanced degrees in the city to be expelled from the programme after defying repeated calls to come back to work.

He now practices medicine underground with other doctors, giving online and phone consultations to Covid-19 patients who still boycott junta-run hospitals.#photo2

He lives in fear of being arrested -- or worse.

"I fear they will kill me from behind while I am treating the patient," he tells AFP.

Remote medicine is hard: "Doctors are happy only when they are in contact with patients," he says.

"The goals I lived with my whole life are now hopeless."

"But, it also gives a stronger determination that we won't turn back."

- 'All of us are depressed' -

Khin Lin, her mother and her sister all worked as teachers until they joined the civil disobedience movement, giving up salaries they used to support their relatives.

Her mother was just eight months shy of retirement and a pension when the coup hit, but ignored requests from her extended family to keep working.#photo3

Many fellow teachers have also stayed away -- the beginning of the academic year in June saw shuttered schools and empty lecture halls across the country.

Khin Lin now goes from house to house to teach, work she finds "exhausting", but she needs the money.

The 28-year-old says she is dismayed that some colleagues would "betray and return to work, instead of fighting together."

The strike is taking a toll on her family life, with the added stress of spending more time at home together as Myanmar battles its latest coronavirus surge.

"All of us are depressed," she says.

But she says that no matter what difficulties lie ahead, she will continue to participate in the civil disobedience campaign.

"I am naturally stubborn and determined... I continue what I have to do," she adds.

"They don't treat us like human beings."

© 2021 AFP

Flawed scientific papers fueling Covid-19 misinformation

Issued on: 30/07/2021 -
Anti-vaccination activists protest in New York City on June 20, 2021 Roy Rochlin GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
3 min
ADVERTISING


Washington (AFP)

Scientific studies with poor methodology and inaccurate findings are exacerbating a Covid-19 misinformation crisis that is discouraging vaccination and putting lives at risk.

The intense public interest in the pandemic and divisive debate in the United States over how to address it facilitates the spread of faulty research papers online, including by vaccine opponents. And even if a study is retracted, it is too late.

"Once the paper is published, the damage is irrevocable," said Emerson Brooking, resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab, which focuses on identifying and exposing disinformation.

Flawed papers "have been fuel to the fire for Covid-19 skeptics and conspiracy theorists. They are frequently the subject of viral online activity. Their findings are further filtered through salacious and misleading articles from fringe websites," Brooking told AFP.

Inaccurate information about vaccines is especially dangerous at a time when uptake of the shots has slowed in the United States, where health officials say almost all recent Covid-19 deaths occurred among those who were not immunized.

- 'Shock your socks off' -

Medical journal Vaccines published a peer-reviewed paper in late June titled "The Safety of Covid-19 vaccinations -- we should rethink the policy." It concluded that Covid-19 shots were causing two people to die for every three they saved -- findings that quickly spread on social media.

A tweet from scientist and Covid-19 vaccine critic Robert Malone summarizing the paper garnered thousands of retweets. A video in which conservative pundit Liz Wheeler discussed the study -- which she said "will shock your socks off" -- has been viewed more than 250,000 times on Facebook.

But Vaccines then retracted the paper, saying it contained "several errors that fundamentally affect the interpretation of the findings."

At least four Vaccines board members resigned as a result of the study's publication, including Katie Ewer, an associate professor and senior immunologist at the University of Oxford's Jenner Institute.

"It should have been recognized that this paper would have a big impact," said Ewer, who was not involved in its publication. "That no one at the journal picked up on that... is very worrying, especially for a journal dedicated to vaccines."

Malone's tweet about the paper is no longer available, but Wheeler's video still appeared on Facebook weeks later.

The Gateway Pundit, a website that frequently publishes inaccurate claims, reported earlier in the year that a Stanford University study found mask wearing, which US health authorities recommended to help slow the spread of Covid-19, to be "ineffective" and harmful.

- 'Do a better job' -

The study -- "Facemasks in the Covid-19 era: A health hypothesis" -- was subsequently retracted by the journal Medical Hypotheses, which said it selectively cited published papers and included "unverified" data.

The Gateway Pundit's article -- which has been shared tens of thousands of times as a link or screenshot on social media -- was updated to say the study's author was unaffiliated with Stanford, but it failed to mention the retraction.

Some of the biggest scientific journals, including The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine, have retracted papers related to the coronavirus crisis, and even a limited number of faulty studies can cause extensive damage online.

Scientific papers have been drawn into the public eye in "an unprecedented way," so experts must "do a better job" of explaining their work to a lay audience that may lack the skills to assess them, said Maimuna Majumder, a computational epidemiologist at the Harvard Medical School.

"Not all of the studies that have been produced and widely shared during the pandemic have been scientifically robust," Majumder said.

"This is particularly troubling because poorly-executed studies have proven to be capable of influencing individual-level decision-making during the pandemic, including those pertaining to vaccination."

© 2021 AFP

HERE IS THE MOST RECENT EXAMPLE OF RIGHT WING KNOW NOTHINGS CHALLENGING SCIENCE AS POLITICS





THE RIGHT PRESCRIPTION

Nope, I Won’t Mask Up Again

The science doesn’t support the latest CDC whim. 

by DAVID CATRON

July 30, 2021, 


Last March, I followed the CDC’s advice and got fully vaccinated against COVID-19. I did so more out of a sense of civic duty than any actual fear that I might contract the virus. It was just an easy and scientifically sound way to help slow its spread. Naturally, I was delighted when the CDC finally announced that fully vaccinated people could safely participate in indoor and outdoor activities without wearing inconvenient and clinically useless face masks. Now, the CDC has reversed itself and issued new guidance telling 163.6 million fully vaccinated Americans to put our masks back on. Sorry, no sale.

First, the CDC published no data supporting its bizarre reversal. The Washington Post reports: “In the text of the updated masking guidance, the agency merely cited ‘CDC COVID-19 Response Team, unpublished data, 2021.’” Moreover, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky is struggling to produce a plausible explanation. She claimed without evidence on ABC News that “new science” has emerged showing that fully vaccinated people should be masking.

Meanwhile, Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) points out that the CDC decision was based on a defective study involving a vaccine that hasn’t been approved in the U.S.:


The “game-changer” data the CDC used for the mask mandate is from a single study from India. The study was rejected in peer review. . . . And just before the new decision was made, the study’s status was mysteriously changed — it no longer listed the study as “rejected after peer review.” The site said it was a “glitch.” Pretty convenient glitch. . . . The “party of science” isn’t listening to science. They never have. This latest mask guidance is proof. But Democrats don’t care. Because this isn’t about public health. It’s about public control.

Crenshaw is right. The Democrats never approved of lifting any of the “temporary” mitigation measures they imposed on us last year, ostensibly to get COVID-19 under control. When the CDC finally acquiesced to public pressure last spring and permitted the vaccinated to return to our normal lives, they immediately revealed themselves as anti-science zealots. We began to hear calls for vaccine passports despite the absence of public enthusiasm. A recent Gallup survey found that majorities oppose such passports for restaurant dining, staying in hotels, and entering the workplace. But Democrats don’t trust us with so much liberty.

After the CDC set the vaccinated free last May, former Obama administration official Kavita K. Patel wrote in The Hill that trusting Americans to follow an honor system on vaccinations was magical thinking: “People are much more likely to lie, especially if they enter a business or establishment with the majority of persons unmasked and they are simply asked to self-report vaccination status.” This provides a valuable insight into the contempt Democrats have for the voters.

Harvard’s Martin Kulldorff and Stanford’s Jay Bhattacharya explain in the Wall Street Journal how inequitable and dangerous vaccine passports would become.

Vaccine passports are unjust and discriminatory. Most of those endorsing the idea belongs to the laptop class — privileged professionals who worked safely and comfortably at home during the epidemic. Millions of Americans did essential jobs at their usual workplaces and became immune the hard way. Now they would be forced to risk adverse reactions from a vaccine they don’t need. Passports would entice young, low-risk professionals . . . to get the vaccine before older, higher-risk, but less affluent members of society. Many unnecessary deaths would result.

Also, as a practical matter, mandating vaccine passports would inevitably create a black market through which forgeries could easily be purchased. Indeed, they are already available. Second, it isn’t necessary to rely on the honor system. If you have been fully vaccinated, your chances of contracting COVID-19 or the dreaded Delta variant in a restaurant or grocery store are very nearly zero. Even considering the immunocompromised, it isn’t reasonable to impose a passport mandate on the entire country to accommodate 3.6 percent of the population. Consequently, the public should reject vaccine passports and face masks.

All of this brings me back to my refusal to wear a mask that no one who recalls middle school biology believes will protect me. The last time I was in a doctor’s office, I asked if it was really necessary to wear a mask. He took off his own mask and said, “I’ve been vaccinated, and you’ve been vaccinated. You have a higher chance of being struck by lightning than of contracting the virus.” Another physician with whom I cycle from time to time put it a little more coarsely (this is the cleaned-up version): “If you can detect flatulence through your face mask, it won’t protect you from COVID-19, the Delta variant, or any other virus.”


So, I’m not going to wear a mask. If any employee of any retail establishment asks me to put on a mask, I will take my custom elsewhere. If anyone in any public building paid for by my tax dollars tells me to don a mask, I will tell them, “No,” and invite them to call the police if they dislike that response. If anyone bothers me in any place of public accommodation, I will politely tell them to mind their own business and advise them that I myself will call the police if they continue to harass me. I’m not wearing a face mask.


David Catron
FOLLOW THEIR STORIES:VIEW MORE
David Catron is a recovering health care consultant and frequent contributor to The American Spectator. You can follow him on Twitter at @Catronicus.

Hubris: Experts add up reasons for US 'failure' in Afghanistan

YOU CAUGHT BIN LADEN IN PAKISTAN WITH A SPECIAL HIT TEAM

THAT WAS ALL THAT WAS REQUIRED NOT A FULL SCALE NATO 

INVASION OF AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ WAS A BRUTAL SIDE SHOW

THE PASHTUN WHO ARE THE TALIBAN ARE HQ IN NORTHERN PAKISTAN IN WAZIRASTAN PROVINCE WHICH BORDERS AFGHANISTAN AND PAK IS USING THEM AGAINST AFGHANISTAN AND ITS OWN PROVINCE OF BALOCHISTAN 

Issued on: 30/07/2021 -

US soldiers arrive at Bagram Air Base, in Afghanistan in 2002: experts say the two-decade US war effort has 'failed' due to hubris and misundertanding

 ROSLAN RAHMAN AFP


Washington (AFP)

Lies, ego, hubris and self-deception: US experts are counting up the reasons for failure in the two-decade US war in Afghanistan, calling it ill-fated from the beginning, comparable to the America experience in Vietnam.

ROFLMAO
On Thursday the official US watchdog on operations in Afghanistan said it is too early to call the war a complete failure, because the government retains a slim chance of prevailing over the Taliban, the hardline Islamists that the US and allies ejected from power in November 2001.

But he said that the US forces, who will depart next month, leave behind a corrupt and unmotivated Afghan security forces and a government that could easily succumb to the insurgents.

The "big question," said John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, is "after all the money, $86 billion, and 20 years, why did we see such poor results?"

Sopko, whose Congressional mandate was to monitor the effectiveness of the military and development effort, said in a discussion with reporters Thursday that two words describe the US experience.

"One is hubris, that we can somehow take the country that was desolate in 2001, and turn it into a little Norway."

"And the other thing is mendacity. We exaggerated, over exaggerated, our generals did, our ambassadors did, all of our officials did, to Congress and the American people, about 'we're just turning the corner, we're about ready to turn the corner.'"

He said that the US military was fixated on short-term achievements and constantly changed its objectives to look better.

"Every time we went in, the US military changed the goalposts, and made it easier to show success. And then finally, when they couldn't even do that, they classified the assessment tool," he recalled.

Washington, he said, thought "that we would create a strong central government."

"And that was a mistake. .... And if you if you talked to any experts on Afghanistan, they would have said, it was a mistake. The problem is, we didn't listen to any of them."

- Afghans saw US as invaders -

"There can be little doubt that we lost the war," Carter Malkasian, a former senior Pentagon official who served in Afghanistan for years, wrote in a newly published book.#photo1

He said that the Taliban showed more will to fight "invaders," while the people viewed the government as dependent on non-Muslim foreigners.

"The very presence of Americans in Afghanistan trod on a sense of Afghan identity that incorporated national pride, a long history of fighting outsiders and a religious commitment to defend the homeland," Malkasian wrote.

"We believed things were possible in Afghanistan-- defeat of the Taliban or enabling the Afghan government to stand on its own -- that probably were not."

From the very beginning, experts say, corruption in the government and security forces, helped by the massive amounts of money the US poured in, eroded any sense of commitment to Kabul.

Meanwhile, even if they were also disliked and poorly managed, the Taliban were more intensely motivated, by religion and hate for the "infidels".

Sopko said that no one could expect the Afghan forces to fight if their salaries weren’t paid, they didn't have food, and their ammunition and the fuel for their vehicles was all stolen by corrupt officials.

"The police and soldiers did not want to put their lives on the line for a government that was corrupt and prone to neglect them," said Malkasian.

- Rights abuses -

A report this month by Human Rights Watch said from early on atrocities and rights abuses by the Afghan government and US forces undermined the many positive benefits of social and economic development that the Americans brought.#photo2

HRW cited "the obliviousness or apathy of US generals about atrocities being committed by Afghan forces, the US military, and CIA units."

The group also said under-reported civilian casualties from US airstrikes, like a 2009 bombing that killed 100 civilians in western Farah province, eroded potential support in the countryside for the Americans.

"In these 20 years, the propensity of the United States to prioritize short-term military gains over the creation of genuinely democratic institutions and the protection of human rights fatally undermined both the US mission and the entire post-2001 state-building effort," HRW said.

- 'We will do this again' -

As it exits, Sopko said the US leaves behind a country still suffering huge power shortages and a large, untrammelled trade in opium and heroin, problems US officials had just "kicked down the road."#photo3

"Don't believe what you're told by the generals and ambassadors or people in the administration saying we're never going to do this again. That's exactly what we said after Vietnam," Sopko said.

"Lo and behold we did Iraq. And we did Afghanistan. We will do this again. And we really need to think and learn from the 20 years in Afghanistan."

© 2021 AFP

Family of Henrietta Lacks, unwitting medical heroine, takes on Big Pharma


Issued on: 30/07/2021 - 

A portrait of Henrietta Lacks, known for her unusually fast cell growth, on show in New York April 6, 2017 

Nicholas Hunt GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP


Washington (AFP)

The family of Henrietta Lacks -- a Black woman whose cells, harvested without her knowledge, were used for several medical breakthroughs -- announced plans Thursday to sue the big pharmaceutical giants that profited from those discoveries.

In 1951, the 31-year-old Lacks, a mother of five, died of cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

During attempts to treat her, cells from her tumor had been taken and transmitted to a researcher without her knowledge -- and used for decades without her family's knowledge.

"For far too long, the Lacks family has been exploited, the Lacks family has been taken advantage of. And we say no, no longer. No more," her grandson Alfred Carter said Thursday.

"So pharmaceutical companies: you are on notice."

The Lacks family has retained prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who has represented the relatives of many African Americans killed in incidents with police, including the loved ones of George Floyd.

"Black life must be valued in America," Crump said, announcing he would file a complaint on October 4 to mark the 70th anniversary of the disputed samples.

Lacks' cells, dubbed HeLa cells, have enabled laboratories around the world to develop vaccines -- especially against polio -- as well as cancer treatments and certain cloning techniques, an industry worth billions of dollars.

Her family first discovered how Lacks had helped medical science in the 1970s, and only understood her legacy thanks to Rebecca Skloot, who wrote the 2010 best-seller "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks."

Crump's colleague Christopher Seeger said the complaint would target any company that had "profited from the use" of the cells and had not reached an agreement to compensate the family.

Neither Crump nor Seeger named specific companies expected to figure in the legal action.

In 2013, Lacks' descendants did reach a deal with Johns Hopkins University for two family members to sit on a committee responsible for authorizing future uses of HeLa cells. But the agreement did not include compensation.

Johns Hopkins Hospital says that it has never sold or benefited from the discovery or distribution of HeLa cells, and does not own the rights to them.

© 2021 AFP

ABOUT TIME
Vaccinated Americans are getting angry at holdouts

Issued on: 29/07/2021 - 

A woman arrives to receive her Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine at a mobile

 vaccine clinic hosted by Mothers in Action in Los Angeles 

Frederic J. BROWN AFP/File

Washington (AFP)

America's latest coronavirus wave, driven by the hyper-contagious Delta variant, has left vaccinated people seething at the unvaccinated for prolonging the pandemic and ensuring the return of restrictions rather than the carefree summer they were promised.

"It's almost like they don't care about the rest of the world. They're being selfish and self-centered," Alethea Reed, a 58-year-old health care administrator in the capital Washington told AFP.

"As somebody who falls in a higher risk category, and has a spouse who falls in a very high risk category, it's really frustrating," said clinical social worker Anne Hamon, 64, adding she was upset she had not been able to convince her own brother to take the shot.

With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week recommending that vaccinated people go back to masking across much of the country, the mood was hardening among those who believe their lives were being disrupted as a result of others' choices.

Nationwide, 60.2 percent of US adults are fully vaccinated, far below the 85 to 90 percent epidemiologists now believe is necessary to contain the virus, despite the fact that the shots have been readily available for months.

The average rate masks stark regional differences that correlate closely to political preferences, with the lowest uptake in Republican voting states in the South, and the highest in the liberal Northeast.

Until recently, the conversation around vaccine holdouts had focused on alleviating their concerns, making Covid shots as easy to get as possible, and driving up demand through gift giveaways and prize draws.

Now, though, there is "a shift from understanding to impatience, and from incentives to consequences," former Republican speechwriter David Frum, who recently wrote a piece called "Vaccinated America has had enough" in The Atlantic, told AFP.

Momentum is building for mandates, with Facebook, Google and Netflix saying they will require many employees to get their vaccines.

On Thursday, President Joe Biden announced the country's millions of federal workers would need to either get vaccinated or submit to regular tests and wear masks, following similar steps taken by California and New York.

While there are many reasons for vaccine hesitancy, ranging from anti-science opposition rooted in conspiracy theories, to mistrust in the health care system stemming from historic racism, patience is wearing thin.

"There comes a point where, when you see a harmful action, the question of why it is happening becomes less important," said Frum.

"Behind every drunk driving incident, there is a personal crisis of addiction. But however sad that story is, you have to be off the road."

In a televised address, Biden acknowledged "many of you in the majority are frustrated with the consequences of the failure of the minority to get vaccinated," but vowed to do more to address the situation, including measures like paid vaccine leave.

- Exhausted health workers -

Traumatized doctors who thought that hospitalized Covid cases were going to be a thing of the past are making emotional pleas.

In hard hit Alabama, physician Brytney Cobia wrote a recent viral Facebook post saying that all but one of her patients were unvaccinated.

"One of the last things they do before they're intubated is beg me for the vaccine. I hold their hand and tell them that I'm sorry, but it's too late," she said.

Matthew Heinz, a doctor in Tucson, Arizona told AFP that while cases at his hospital were far below their peak from last year, "people seem to think it's done and it's not," and he continues to see a steady stream of younger patients.

Heinz, who is also a local elected Democratic official, said he and colleagues were pushing to implement a mandate for Pima County government workers -- setting up an expected legal clash with the Republican governor Doug Ducey who has issued an order banning such measures.

There are, however, some signs of change among conservatives too.

Fox News stalwart Geraldo Rivera told his viewers this week that the unvaccinated among them were "arrogant" and "selfish," adding that opposition to vaccine passports was "caveman stuff."

Days earlier, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, blasted vaccine holdouts for lacking "common sense," and "letting us down."

Medical sociologist Richard Carpiano of University of California, Riverside told AFP the anger of the current moment is a reassuring sign that, for all the attention grabbed by the vocally vaccine hesitant, a majority of people "believe in science, and know what they need to do."

"That kind of concern, or outrage, depending on how it gets channeled can be effective for things like mobilizing elected officials," he said.

© 2021 AFP

 THE FAILURE OF CELIBACY COVER UP

Defrocked US cardinal charged with sexual abuse

Issued on: 30/07/2021 

Theodore McCarrick has been charged with three counts of sexual abuse 

CHIP SOMODEVILLA GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File

New York (AFP)

Former US cardinal Theodore McCarrick has been charged with sexually assaulting a teenage boy, court documents showed Thursday, making him the most senior Roman Catholic official in America to face criminal charges in the massive clergy abuse scandal.

The 91-year-old, a former archbishop of Washington DC, was slapped with three counts of indecent assault and battery against a child over 14, according to a filing in a Massachusetts district court.

McCarrick was thrown out of the Catholic Church in 2019, becoming the highest-ranking Church figure to be expelled in modern times.


He had been found guilty by the Vatican of sexually abusing at least one teenage boy in the 1970s and of sexual misconduct with adult male seminarians.

McCarrick, who played a key role in raising funds for the Holy See from wealthy US donors, was stripped of his cardinal's title in 2018 before he lost his priest's status the following year.

A 450-page Vatican report published in 2020 concluded that McCarrick was able to rise through the ranks of the Church despite years of sexual misconduct allegations.

The Vatican admitted last November that late pope John Paul II ignored advice against promoting McCarrick over the sexual assault rumors that were later substantiated.

Prosecutors allege that McCarrick groped the victim when he was 16 in 1974 as they walked around the campus of Wellesley College in Massachusetts during his brother's wedding reception.

The victim says that McCarrick led him into a room and groped his genitals while "saying prayers," according to the criminal complaint.

The ex-cardinal has been the subject of several civil lawsuits brought by accusers but this is the first criminal case against him.

The man's lawyer, Mitchell Garabedian, said his client was "showing an enormous amount of courage" by bringing the complaint.

"This is the first cardinal in the United States ever charged criminally for a sexual offense against a minor," he said in a statement to AFP.

McCarrick's attorney, Barry Coburn, told AFP he and his client "look forward to addressing the case in the courtroom."

The Catholic Church has been shaken by a string of child sex abuse scandals in recent years.

A grand jury investigation into Pennsylvania dioceses in 2018 exposed the systematic cover-up by the Church of sexual abuse by "over 300 predator priests".

More than 1,000 child victims were cited.

Between 1950 and 2016 the US Catholic Church received 18,500 complaints against 6,700 members of the clergy, according to the site bishop-accountability.org.

Several senior church members in the US have been forced to resign for protecting sex offender priests, including the late cardinal Bernard Law.

© 2021 AFP

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH HIERARCHY'S COVER UP OF SEX ABUSE WAS TO PROTECT ITS IDEOLOGICAL FIXATION ON CELIBACY WORKING

Peru's Castillo chooses leftist party colleague as PM

Issued on: 29/07/2021 - 

Supporters of Peruvian President Pedro Castillo attended a ceremony at the Pampa de la Quinua where the new prime minister, Guido Bellido, was sworn in 

ERNESTO BENAVIDES AFP

Ayacucho (Peru) (AFP)

Peru's President Pedro Castillo on Thursday named a prime minister from within his Marxist-Leninist Free Peru party -- 41-year-old Guido Bellido who first became a lawmaker six days ago and has never held public office.

Inaugurated in Lima himself just Wednesday, Castillo presided over Bellido's swearing-in at the Pampa de la Quinua, site of the 1824 battle that ended Spanish domination of Peru and South America at large.

Bellido, an electronic engineer, vowed he would represent the interests of all Peruvians and advance "the fight against corruption."

He is one 37 Peru Libre lawmakers elected to the 130-member Congress in April. Under Peruvian law, parliamentarians can also hold government positions.

Like the president, Bellido has a rural, peasant background. Both wear traditional white sombreros -- though Bellido's hails from his native Cusco region and that of Castillo, 51, from Cajamarca.

Peruvian media say Bellido was investigated by prosecutors for an alleged "apology for terrorism" over statements made after taking up his parliamentary seat last Friday -- which assured him immunity from prosecution.

In statements to the Inka Vision online news outlet, he appeared to defend people who supported the Shining Path Maoist guerrilla group which fought the state from 1980 to 2000 and is dubbed a "terrorist" organization by Lima.

"The country was a disaster, there were Peruvians who mistakenly took a path -- are they Peruvians or not?" he said, adding: "What do you have against the senderistas?"

Senderistas is the name for followers of Shining Path, which some detractors have sought to link Castillo to, though he has insisted he fought against the movement as a "rondero" or peasant patrol member.

The other 18 members of Castillo's cabinet will be announced late Thursday, the presidency has announced.

Rural school teacher and trade unionist Castillo took office on Wednesday promising an end to corruption and a new constitution. He has vowed to upend a quarter century of neo-liberal government and create a better life for struggling Peruvians.

He was declared the election victor on July 19, more than six weeks after a runoff race against rightwing free-market defender Keiko Fujimori, whose allegations of voter fraud then had to be reviewed by an electoral jury.

Fujimori, who faces a corruption trial for allegedly accepting illegal funding for two previous presidential campaigns, said her Popular Force party would be a "firm wall against the latent threat of a new communist constitution" under Castillo.

© 2021 AFP

THE OLD STUDIO SYSTEM RETURNS 

TO SCREW ACTORS AGAIN

Scarlett Johansson's 'Black Widow' paycheck is tied to box-office performance. She's suing Disney for releasing it simultaneously on streaming.

insider@insider.com (Katie Canales)

 

© Provided by Business Insider "Black Widow." Disney/Marvel Studios

"Black Widow" actor Scarlett Johansson is suing Disney over the movie's dual-release.

The lawsuit argues that Disney violated her contract by debuting the film online and in theaters.

A source said the move cost her up to $50 million since her salary is largely based on box-office performance.

Scarlett Johansson is suing Disney after the company simultaneously released her film "Black Widow" on its Disney+ streaming platform and in theaters, according to court documents shared with Insider.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the news.

Johansson argues that Disney violated her contract, potentially bilking her out of significant income, because her salary was largely based on box-office performance. A source told the paper the actor could be missing out on $50 million.

According to the report, Johansson was concerned about the movie being released in part on Disney+. Her representatives contacted Marvel to ensure that the movie would solely be released in theaters. The report also said Marvel's chief counsel said they would speak with her if those plans changed.

"Black Widow" raked in $158 million in its global box-office opening, while Disney saw $60 million in sales from at-home viewing purchases.

Video: Scarlett Johansson sues Disney over 'Black Widow' streaming release, 'ignoring' contract (USA TODAY)

"It's no secret that Disney is releasing films like Black Widow directly onto Disney+ to increase subscribers and thereby boost the company's stock price - and that it's hiding behind Covid-19 as a pretext to do so," John Berlinksi, Johansson's attorney, told Insider in an email. "But ignoring the contracts of the artists responsible for the success of its films in furtherance of this short-sighted strategy violates their rights and we look forward to proving as much in court."

He also said this won't be the "last case where Hollywood talent stands up to Disney and makes it clear that, whatever the company may pretend, it has a legal obligation to honor its contracts."

A Walt Disney Company spokesperson told Insider that "there is no merit whatsoever to this filing. The lawsuit is especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Disney has fully complied with Ms. Johansson's contract and furthermore, the release of Black Widow on Disney+ with Premier Access has significantly enhanced her ability to earn additional compensation on top of the $20M she has received to date."

Disney+ and other streaming services took the unprecedented step and debuted movies at the same time online and in theaters in 2020 because of the pandemic. For example, Disney's live-action Mulan remake saw a dual release, as did "Wonder Woman 1984" And "Zack Snyder's Justice League" on Warner Bros.' HBO Max.

Read more: Hollywood insiders say there's growing tension at Disney as CEO Bob Chapek chafes at Bob Iger's 'long goodbye'

But the move prompted backlash from the filmmaking world, including from directors Christopher Nolan and Patty Jenkins, who helmed the "Wonder Woman 1984" project. Many speculated how traditional filmmaking could be affected by releasing high-budget, high-quality movies online.

You can view the lawsuit in full  on Business Insider

Scarlett Johansson sues Disney over 'Black Widow' streaming release

Issued on: 29/07/2021 

US actress Scarlett Johansson, one of Hollywood's biggest and top-paid stars, was reportedly entitled to a percentage of box office receipts from "Black Widow" VALERIE MACON AFP/File

Los Angeles (AFP)

Scarlett Johansson is suing Disney over its decision to release superhero movie "Black Widow" on streaming at the same time as in theaters, alleging a breach of contract which cost the star millions of dollars.

Johansson, one of Hollywood's biggest and top-paid stars, was entitled to a percentage of box office receipts from the much-anticipated Marvel film, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday at Los Angeles Superior Court.

The film was originally due for a big-screen release last year, but was delayed multiple times due to the Covid-19 pandemic and was eventually released this month simultaneously in theaters and on Disney+.

Box office analysts have cited the film's streaming debut as a major factor in a lackluster -- by Marvel film standards -- release for a film that has grossed just over $150 million in domestic theaters in three weeks.

"It's no secret that Disney is releasing films like Black Widow directly onto Disney+ to increase subscribers and thereby boost the company's stock price -- and that it's hiding behind Covid-19 as a pretext to do so," said Johansson's attorney John Berlinski in a statement to AFP.

"This will surely not be the last case where Hollywood talent stands up to Disney and makes it clear that, whatever the company may pretend, it has a legal obligation to honor its contracts," he added.

Disney -- which owns superhero movie powerhouse Marvel Studios -- did not immediately respond to AFP request for comment.

Like many Hollywood studios, Disney is increasingly prioritizing streaming as a source of future revenue.

Following the film's opening weekend, Disney issued a press release claiming "Black Widow" had earned "over $60M" on Disney+ alone, where it was available to subscribers at an additional $30 cost.

Johansson's lawsuit says that to "protect her financial interests, Ms. Johansson extracted a promise from Marvel that the release of the Picture would be a 'theatrical release,'" which she understood to mean it would not appear on streaming until a traditional "window" of time had elapsed.

But "Disney wanted to lure the Picture's audience away from movie theatres and towards its owned streaming service, where it could keep the revenues for itself while simultaneously growing the Disney+ subscriber base, a proven way to boost Disney's stock price," it alleges.

"Disney wanted to substantially devalue Ms. Johansson's agreement and thereby enrich itself," it adds.

Rival studio Warner Bros was slammed last year for a similar decision to release all of its 2021 movies simultaneously in theaters and on its HBO Max platform.

Warner re-negotiated many of its deals with stars and filmmakers, reportedly paying out $200 million to compensate for the loss of box office earnings.

© 2021 AFP

Singh meets with Indigenous leaders at residential school where unmarked graves found


KAMLOOPS, B.C. — NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is reiterating demands for more concrete action after meeting with Indigenous leaders at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C., that bears unmarked graves.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

In front of the institution's brick entrance, Singh told reporters that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau must make good on his six-year-old pledge to fulfil all 94 calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

He also asked Ottawa to drop its legal battles against a pair of rulings involving First Nations children, and demanded further progress in areas from clean drinking water on reserves to housing and climate action.

Singh choked up as he described walking near a burial site detected by ground-penetrating radar and holding what are believed to be the remains of 215 children.

"This is where it happened ... 215 little kids," he said. "I'm struck by how hard it is to be here, a lot harder than I thought it would be."

Video: Unmarked graves in B.C. have 'far reaching impact,' Indigenous leader says (cbc.ca)

Singh is the first federal leader to meet with Tk'emlups te Secwepemc Chief Rosanne Casimir following the announcement of the graves in May.

The federal government said last month it will substantially increase funding beyond the $27.1 million pledged in the 2019 budget for searches for unmarked graves.

The funding announcement followed recent discoveries of more than 1,000 unmarked graves at residential school sites that continue to traumatize Canada's Indigenous Peoples.

Trudeau has acknowledged that governments continue to remove Indigenous children from their communities and place them in far-flung foster homes for the purported reason of protecting their well-being as a legacy of earlier attempts at cultural genocide.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2021.

The Canadian Press

Ashley Callingbull Discusses Being A Survivor Of Abuse, Speaking Up For Her Indigenous Culture & More

 “It wasn’t just a system that was trying to civilize us; it was genocide, and people need to accept that.”

Becca Longmire 

Ashley Callingbull speaks out about being a survivor of physical, mental, and sexual abuse in a candid new interview with Fashion.

© GABOR JURINA/FASHION Ashley Callingbull.

The 31-year-old from Alberta is not afraid to speak up for others, especially when it comes to issues of mental health, self-confidence, and her Indigenous culture.

Callingbull, who was crowned Miss Canada in 2010 and Mrs. Universe in 2015, tells the publication she will continue to voice her opinion even if it sets non-Indigenous people off: “I’m not speaking against Canadians; I’m speaking for Indigenous people.

“A lot of Canadians don’t want to hear the truth, but truth is our power.”

Callingbull was five years old when she and her mother left their home in Enoch Cree Nation in Alberta for Maskwacis (formerly known as Hobbema) to live with her mother’s boyfriend.

RELATED: Gord Downie Fund’s ‘A Day To Listen’ Celebrates Indigenous Voices On 400 Radio Stations And Broadcasters Across Canada

He had a “charming persona” that covered up the terrible things he did to people, stating the abuse started not long after the move. Her mom didn't know about it because he threatened to kill them both, with the abuse continuing for five years before they escaped.

Callingham was 10 years old when she had to testify in court, telling herself she'd never speak out again after the abuser and his family laughed at her.

She turned to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain before her kokum Charlotte Callingbull urged her to stay on the "red road", which is a path to wellness. The inspirational star says many Indigenous people have yet to break the cycle of harm.

Callingbull says her own abuser was abused by his parents, who experienced the same while attending residential school.

“Everything they did to his parents, his parents did to him and then he did to me,” she says, insisting this behaviour isn't necessarily a thing of the past.

Callingbull also discusses the remains of 215 Indigenous children, some as young as three, being found near the former site of Kamloops Indian Residential School.

Her moshom (grandfather) George attended St. Albert Youville residential school in Edmonton from 1944 to 1948, its last year of operation, where he had "boiling water" thrown over him after arriving only speaking Cree.

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation uncovered the names of 46 children who had died at the Catholic-run institution, Fashion writes.

Charlotte, who sadly passed away in 2006, attended Ermineskin Indian Residential School in 1953-1962 where she "watched children starve and get put in cages."

Callingbull also reveals how her grandmother told her that a priest would impregnate young girls and then dispose of their babies.

The model, who insists she will continue to speak up, says she hopes that the recent heartbreaking discoveries of bodies found on several former residential school sites serve as a turning point for Canada.

She tells the publication, “It wasn’t just a system that was trying to civilize us; it was genocide, and people need to accept that.”