Fruit compound may have potential to prevent and treat Parkinson's disease

Peer-Reviewed Publication

JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICINE

 

IMAGE: AN ILLUSTRATION OF PARIS WITH THE CRYSTAL STRUCTURE OF FARNESYLTRANSFERASE, THE ENZYME THAT ENABLES FARNESYLATION. view more 

CREDIT: JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICINE

Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have added to evidence that the compound farnesol, found naturally in herbs, and berries and other fruits, prevents and reverses brain damage linked to Parkinson's disease in mouse studies.

The compound, used in flavorings and perfume-making, can prevent the loss of neurons that produce dopamine in the brains of mice by deactivating PARIS, a key protein involved in the disease's progression. Loss of such neurons affects movement and cognition, leading to hallmark symptoms of Parkinson's disease such as tremors, muscle rigidity, confusion and dementia. Farnesol's ability to block PARIS, say the researchers, could guide development of new Parkinson's disease interventions that specifically target this protein.

"Our experiments showed that farnesol both significantly prevented the loss of dopamine neurons and reversed behavioral deficits in mice, indicating its promise as a potential drug treatment to prevent Parkinson's disease," says Ted Dawson, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Cell Engineering and professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Results of the new study, published July 28, in Science Translational Medicine, detail how the researchers identified farnesol's potential by screening a large library of drugs to find those that inhibited PARIS.

In the brains of people with Parkinson's disease, a buildup of PARIS slows down the manufacture of the protective protein PGC-1alpha. The protein shields brain cells from damaging reactive oxygen molecules that accumulate in the brain. Without PGC-1alpha, dopamine neurons die off, leading to the cognitive and physical changes associated with Parkinson's disease.

To study whether farnesol could protect brains from the effects of PARIS accumulation, the researchers fed mice either a farnesol-supplemented diet or a regular mouse diet for one week. Then, the researchers administered pre-formed fibrils of the protein alpha-synuclein, which is associated with the effects of Parkinson's disease in the brain.

The researchers found that the mice fed the farnesol diet performed better on a strength and coordination test designed to detect advancement of Parkinson's disease symptoms. On average, the mice performed 100% better than mice injected with alpha-synuclein, but fed a regular diet.

When the researchers later studied brain tissue of mice in the two groups, they found that the mice fed a farnesol-supplemented diet had twice as many healthy dopamine neurons than mice not fed the farnesol-enriched diet. The farnesol-fed mice also had approximately 55% more of the protective protein PGC-1alpha in their brains than the untreated mice.

In chemical experiments, the researchers confirmed that farnesol binds to PARIS, changing the protein's shape so that it can no longer interfere with PGC-1alpha production.

While farnesol is naturally produced, synthetic versions are used in commerce, and the amounts people get through diet is unclear. The researchers caution that safe doses of farnesol for humans have not yet been determined, and that only carefully controlled clinical trials can do so.

Though more research is needed, Dawson and his team hope farnesol can someday be used to create treatments that prevent or reverse brain damage caused by Parkinson's disease.

###

Other researchers involved in this study include Areum Jo, Yunjong Lee, Rin Khang, Hojin Kang, Sangwoo Ham, Ji-Yeong Lee, Hanna Kim, Hyein Kim, Hyojung Kim and Joo-Ho Shin of the Samsung Biomedical Research Institute, Suwon, South Korea; Tae-In Kam, Sung-Ung Kang, Stewart Keifert, Senthilkumar Karuppagounder, Hyejin ParkShih-Ching Chou, Sungtaek Oh, Haisong Jiang, Sheila Pirooznia, George Umanah, Xiaobo Mao, Manoj Kumar, Han Seok Ko, Yun-Il Lee, Shaida Andrabi, Chan Hyun Na and Valina Dawson of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Deborah Swing and Lino Tessarollo of the Diana Helis Henry Medical Research Foundation; Ho Chul Kang of the Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, South Korea; Byoung Dae Lee of the Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Suwon, South Korea; Jin Whan Cho of the Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea and Sun Ha Paek of the Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.

This work was supported by grants from the JPB Foundation, the Cure Parkinson's Trust, the Bachmann-Strauss Dystonia and Parkinson Foundation, the Adrienne Helis Malvin Medical Research Foundation, the Diana Helis Henry Medical Research Foundation and the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute.

Patents related to this work include US9274128B2, entitled Transcriptional Repression Leading to Parkinson's Disease, and WO2017161155A1, Methods for Preventing or Treating Parkinson's Disease by the Farnesylation of PARIS.

Additional funder: Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute

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JOURNAL

Science Translational Medicine

Man's new best friend: 

What cats can

teach us about human genetics and precision medicine

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CELL PRESS

Although cats have lived alongside humans for millennia, it remains a dogs' world. This bias has historically bled into science as well. It's time for cats to get their day, argues veterinary medicine expert Leslie Lyons (@LyonsLab) in a Forum published July 28 in the journal Trends in Genetics. Cats, she says, have the potential to be a valuable model organism for geneticists, as the feline genome is ordered similarly to humans.

"Using cats in research is really overlooked, since people don't realize the advantages," says Lyons, of the Department of Veterinary Medicine & Surgery at the University of Missouri. "The dog or mouse genome have rearranged chromosomes that are quite different than humans, but the domestic cat has genes that are about the same size as humans, as well as a genome that, like humans, is very organized and conserved."

Lyons writes that cats could be an asset for helping researchers better understand our genetic "dark matter." Although making up 95% of our DNA, it has long been considered filler information of little to no consequences, yet approximately 10% of the noncoding regions within the dark matter of the genome are conserved across mammals, suggesting that it has an important, misunderstood role. Cats have been found to have genetic diseases related to dysfunction of their genetic dark matter, making them a potential model organism for this type of research.

"As we discover that perhaps animals have more similar spacing between genes and the genes are in the same order, maybe that will help us to decipher what's going on with humans," Lyons says. "Working with a primate is on the expensive side, but a cat's affordability and docile nature make them one of the most feasible animals to work with to understand the human genome."

Another reason why cats could enlighten the human genome is that we have the technology to clone cats and make transgenic cats. The first cat clone, Cc, short for CopyCat, was generated in 2001. Her cell donor was a typical calico cat with black, orange, and white fur, but Cc didn't turn out to have any orange on her coat, defying Mendel's laws and other basic genetic principles. This was a clue that something was happening in Cc's genes that researchers are just now beginning to understand.

Cats could also play a role in precision medicine for genetic diseases, in which instead of treating the symptoms, researchers fix the actual gene and what the gene does. For example, certain breeds of cats are prone to the genetic illness polycystic kidney disease, which also afflicts humans. Lyons writes that if we could treat this disease with precision medicine in cats, we could apply those learnings to us.

"So, if you and your cat walk in the vet's door and there is not a trauma, there is not a feeding problem, there might be a genetic problem with the cat. Vets could sequence the genes and potentially more quickly find the cause of what's going on and then develop a treatment that is more appropriate than just treating the symptoms," Lyons says. "We can provide a more tailored healthcare program for our pets, and more funding would put all the different pieces into place."

###

Trends in Genetics, Lyons, L.: "Cats - telomere to telomere and nose to tail" https://www.cell.com/trends/genetics/fulltext/S0168-9525(21)00142-6

Trends in Genetics (@TrendsGenetics), published by Cell Press, is a monthly review journal that provides researchers and students with high-quality, novel reviews, commentaries, and discussions and, above all, fosters an appreciation for the advances being made on all fronts of genetic research. Visit: http://www.cell.com/trends/genetics. To receive Cell Press media alerts please contact press@cell.com.

---

JOURNAL

Trends in Genetics

DOI

10.1016/j.tig.2021.06.001

 BAD NEWS FOR THOSE HELD IN PRIVATE PRISONS

Hearts from donors who used illicit drugs or overdosed safe for transplant, cuts wait time

Circulation: Heart Failure and Journal of the American Heart Association Report

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION

DALLAS, July 28, 2021 -- Survival rates after a heart transplant are unaffected if the organ donor had used illicit drugs or died due to an overdose, a fact that is increasing the availability of hearts due to the rise in drug overdose deaths in the U.S., according to two new unrelated research studies published today in two of the American Heart Association's scientific journals.

During a heart transplant, the patient's failing heart is replaced with a healthy heart from a recently deceased donor. The most common reasons for a heart transplant are that one or both ventricles of the heart aren't functioning properly or severe heart failure is present. In 2019, the United States recorded the highest number of heart transplants, with 3,552 transplantations performed. As of March 11, 2020, 3,661 people were on the waiting list for a heart transplant, and 52 people were on the waiting list for a heart and lung transplant, according to the American Heart Association's 2021 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistical Update.

Data made available in 2019 found "no downside" to transplanting hearts from people who had used illicit drugs, and the practice has become routine, according to Howard Eisen, M.D., chair of the American Heart Association's Heart Failure and Transplantation Committee of the Clinical Cardiology Council, who was not involved in either study.

"This research confirms previous data that these hearts - once considered high risk - are safe," Eisen said. "These findings should encourage institutions who are not routinely using hearts from drug users to do so. It will reduce the waiting time and the number of deaths among people on the heart transplant waitlist."

The first study, "Intoxicated Donors and Heart Transplant Outcomes: Long Term Safety," reviewed data from 2007- 2017 and is published today in Circulation: Heart Failure, an American Heart Association journal.

Tragically, the opioid epidemic has led to an increase in potential heart donations, however, many of these hearts go unused due to the concern that the donor's illicit drug use may decrease the chances of survival among heart-transplant recipients, explained lead study author David A. Baran, M.D., system director for advanced heart failure and transplantation at Sentara Heart Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia.

In the largest study to-date examining illicit drug use of heart transplant donors, and the only analysis to examine the toxicology data of donors obtained at hospital admission, Baran and colleagues reviewed nationwide information from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) database. They considered illicit drug use of donors in a comparison of survival after heart transplant for more than 23,000 adult, heart transplant recipients between January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2017. UNOS maintains a registry of all organ transplant activity in the United States and documents information about donors and recipients, including illicit drug use of the organ donors.

In this analysis, the average age of the heart donors was 32, and the average age of heart transplant recipients was 53. Using information from hospital urine tests before the donors died, the researchers identified the type and number of illicit drugs the donors had used, including opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine, alcohol, marijuana, barbiturates, amphetamines, phencyclidine (PCP) and others. Researchers noted that alcohol use appeared to decline over the decade of the analysis period, while all other drug use increased.

Baran and colleagues found that the percentage of transplant recipients who survived was comparable between transplant recipients who received a heart from a donor who used any illicit drugs and those whose donors did not use drugs. For example, the percentage of surviving heart transplant patients whose donors used opioids and those whose donors did not was about 90% after one year; about 77% at five years and roughly 60% at 10 years. The findings were comparable for other types of illicit drugs, even among heart donors who tested positive for multiple--five or more--illicit drugs.

"We thought that illicit drugs like cocaine or methamphetamine, which can lead to heart attacks, would prove to be dangerous," Baran said. "However, we were wrong. We should not reject a heart from a donor just because they used one or more illicit drugs."

The main limitation is that the study included only those hearts that were accepted for transplantation. Other limitations include the medical administration of opioids in the hospital could be misleading, the possibility of errors when information was entered into the database and the lack of a central laboratory to confirm the results submitted by local laboratories.

Co-authors are Justin Lansinger, B.A.; Ashleigh Long, M.D., Ph.D.; John M. Herre, M.D.; Amin Yehya, M.D.; Edward J. Sawey, M.D.; Amit P. Badiye, M.D.; Wayne Old, M.D.; Jack Copeland, M.D.; Kelly Stelling, R.N.; and Hannah Copeland, M.D. The study received no external funding.

The second study, "National Trends in Heart Donor Utilization Rates: Are We Efficiently Transplanting More Hearts?" compared data from 2003-2007 to 2013-2017. The article published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access journal of the American Heart Association.

Researchers from Wisconsin suggest that broader acceptance of hearts from donors who died due to a drug overdose or donors who had hepatitis C could alleviate the strain on the current waitlist for a heart transplant.

"We hope that patients who are awaiting transplants are encouraged to accept hearts from donors who had hepatitis C or who died due to a drug overdose, if their health care team finds the donor heart to be an appropriate match," said lead study author Ravi Dhingra, M.D., M.P.H., medical director of the heart failure and transplant program and associate professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dhingra and colleagues explored if the donor pool should include people who have died due to a drug overdose or who had hepatitis C. Hepatitis C is a viral liver infection that spreads through contact with contaminated blood, such as from shared needles; from mother to infant during pregnancy and delivery; or due to an organ transplant from someone infected with hepatitis C. Because the infection can be treated with the advent of new, direct-acting, antiviral medications, hepatitis C is much more manageable, leading to an increase in availability of organs from donors who had hepatitis C.

They noted that physicians are required to obtain separate consents from patients regarding acceptance of hepatitis C-donor organs and prior authorization from health insurance carriers to cover the cost of hepatitis C medications, if needed by the transplant recipient.

"About 20% of patients on the heart-transplant waiting list die while waiting to receive a transplant or become too sick to remain good transplant candidates," Dhingra said.

Dhingra and colleagues accessed the UNOS database to compare the number of donor hearts accepted or declined for transplant from 1995 through 2018. They compared heart transplant recipients' survival from donors who died from a drug overdose or had hepatitis C to survival from donors who had not died of a drug overdose or had hepatitis C.

Compared to organ heart donors from 2003-2007, donors in 2013-2017 were older, weighed more, were more likely to have high blood pressure and diabetes and to have used illicit drugs, which increases the risk for hepatitis C. However, compared to 2003-2007, the risk of death among transplant recipients in 2013-2017 was 15% lower one month after the heart transplant and 21 percent lower one year later.

The study reviewed major additional risk factors among transplant recipients that could have affected survival after the heart transplant, although it could not prove cause and effect between donor or recipient characteristics and post-transplant survival.

###

Co-authors are Naga Dharmavaram, M.D.; Timothy Hess, Ph.D.; Heather Jaeger, R.N.; Jason Smith, M.D.; Joshua Hermsen, M.D.; and David Murray, M.D. The study was funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

Additional Resources:

Multimedia is available on the right column of release link: https://newsroom.heart.org/news/hearts-from-donors-who-used-illicit-drugs-or-overdosed-safe-for-transplant-cuts-wait-time?preview=247ee8fc7b1a0945623c2bb5125fa3bd

After July 28, 2021, view the Baran manuscript and the Dhingra manuscript online.

Heart transplants from donors with hepatitis C may be safe and could help decrease organ shortage
Hearts from unusual donors could meet growing transplant demand
Organ transplants make a turnaround from COVID-19 decline

About Heart Transplant

Follow AHA/ASA news on Twitter @HeartNews
Follow news from the Journal of the American Heart Association @JAHA_AHA
Follow news from the AHA's Circulation: Heart Failure journal @CircHF

Statements and conclusions of studies published in the American Heart Association's scientific journals are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the Association's policy or position. The Association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. The Association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific Association programs and events. The Association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and biotech companies, device manufacturers and health insurance providers and the Association's overall financial information are available here.

About the American Heart Association

The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. We are dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities. Through collaboration with numerous organizations, and powered by millions of volunteers, we fund innovative research, advocate for the public's health and share lifesaving resources. The Dallas-based organization has been a leading source of health information for nearly a century. Connect with us on heart.org, Facebook, Twitter or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.

 

How relaxing Covid-19 restrictions could pave the way for vaccine resistance

Peer reviewed – opinion - humans

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA

Relaxing Covid-19 restrictions could pave the way for new vaccine-resistant virus mutations – according to researchers at the University of East Anglia and the Earlham Institute.
A new article published today warns against relaxing Covid-19 restrictions prematurely.
It describes how we are in an ‘arms race’ with the virus and how rising cases could provide opportunities for it to evolve into even more transmissible variants.
The researchers fear that any new variants could be more virulent, more vaccine resistant, and more dangerous for children and vulnerable groups such as transplant patients.
Lead author and editor in chief of Virulence, Prof Kevin Tyler from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said: “Over the past 17 months, economies, education and mental well-being have suffered tremendously due to the restrictions imposed in an attempt to stem the spread of the pandemic.
“Although vaccines have weakened the link between infection and mortality, they should not be used as an argument to justify a broad change in policy for countries experiencing an exponential increase in infection numbers.
“This is because most of the world’s population are still unvaccinated, and even in countries with efficient vaccination programmes, a significant proportion of society, particularly children, remain unprotected.
“Relaxing restrictions boosts transmission and allows the virus population to expand, which enhances its adaptive evolutionary potential and increases the risk of vaccine-resistant strains emerging by a process known as antigenic drift.
“Put simply, limiting the spread of Covid-19 as much as possible restricts the number of future deaths by restricting the rate with which new variants arise.
“Successive SARS-CoV-2 variants such as the Alpha and Delta variants, have displaced one another since the outbreak.
“Slowing down the rate of new variant emergence requires us to act fast and decisively, reducing the number of infected people including children with vaccines and in combination with other public health policies.
“In most cases, children are not vaccinated against Covid-19 because the risk to them becoming seriously ill is very low. But new strains may evolve with higher transmissibility in children, and vaccinating children may become necessary to control the emergence of new variants.
“In other words, a policy of relaxing restrictions while children are not vaccinated, risks inadvertently selecting for virulent variants that are better able to infect children and are also more problematic in vulnerable groups.
"Children may be particularly at risk because they are the only group that has remained unvaccinated. But there is no guarantee that the virus won't evolve the ability to infect children too, and the data shows that new variants are relatively more often found in younger age groups.
"Only when a large proportion of the world’s population is vaccinated, or has acquired immunity from infection, can we relax other social measures.
Co-lead author and evolutionary biologist Prof Cock Van Oosterhout, from UEA’s School of Environmental Sciences, said: “We have an arms race on our hands.
“On the human side, the arms race is fought with vaccines, new technology such as the NHS Covid-19 App, and our behavioural change, but the virus fights back by adapting and evolving.
“It is unlikely we will get ahead in this arms race unless we can significantly reduce the population size of the virus.
“But given that the infection rate is about the same now as it was during the first wave, we are pretty much ‘at evens’ with this virus. And as with many other coevolutionary arms races, there are no winners.
“This is what evolutionary biologists mean when we say that coevolution is a ‘zero-sum game’. But what you cannot do is suddenly drop your guard in the middle of an arms race. That gives your opponent - the virus - a real advantage. So we must continue doing the things we have been doing for the past 18 months, particularly in countries where the number of infected people is increasing.
“Entrusting public health measures to personal responsibility is a laissez-faire approach that many governments are now taking towards Covid-19 management.
“During exponential transmission of virus, we need an ongoing, mandatory public health policy that includes social distancing and the compulsory wearing of facemasks in crowded indoor spaces such as shops and on public transport.
“Our current vaccination programmes alone will not end the pandemic and scientific evidence suggests that we can only safely start to relax social restrictions when the R number is below one,” he added.
Co-author and director of the Earlham Institute (EI), Prof Neil Hall, said: "As long as there are large numbers of unvaccinated people around the world transmitting the virus, we're all at risk.
"High numbers of Covid-19 cases increase the likelihood the virus will evolve to become more virulent, more transmissible, or capable of evading vaccines. It's critical we continue using public health measures to bring transmission rates down. We have to co-exist with caution - if we ignore global health policies which have proven to reduce infection, the virus will further adapt.
"When we weigh up the benefits and risks in vaccinating young people, we have to consider the impact on wider society too. The current approach to protecting young people seems to be letting them reach herd immunity through infection. Every day that approach continues, we give the virus the upper hand and prolong this pandemic - increasing the burden on healthcare systems and economies."

###

‘COVID-19 adaptive evolution during the pandemic – Implications of new SARS-CoV-2 variants on public health policies’ is published in the journal Virulence on July 28, 2021.
The article was led by researchers at UEA in collaboration with Norwich Research Park colleagues at the Earlham Institute, as well as it the University of Pittsburgh, the University of California Davis, the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, and King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

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JOURNAL

Virulence

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Commentary/editorial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

COVID-19 adaptive evolution during the pandemic – Implications of new SARS-CoV-2 variants on public health policies

Open letter criticizing Apple's plan to scan iPhones for child sexual abuse material attracts 5,000 signatures

Kevin Shalvey

An Apple store employee in New York. Mark Lennihan/AP Photo

An open letter signed by 5,000 asked Apple to rethink photo scans for child sexual abuse material.

The scanning "threatens to undermine fundamental privacy protections," the letter said.
WhatsApp chief Will Cathcart and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden voiced concern.
10 Things in Tech: Get the latest tech trends & innovations

An open letter asking Apple to rethink its rollout of photo scanning to identify child sexual abuse material has been signed by about 5,000 organizations and individuals.

"While child exploitation is a serious problem, and while efforts to combat it are almost unquestionably well-intentioned, Apple's proposal introduces a backdoor that threatens to undermine fundamental privacy protections for all users of Apple products," the letter said.

Apple on Thursday said it would later this year begin scanning photos for child sexual abuse material (CSAM.) The scans would create data hashes of the photos that would be compared to CSAM databases held by anti-abuse organizations, according to Apple.

"Before an image is stored in iCloud Photos, an on-device matching process is performed for that image against the known CSAM hashes," Apple said.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation on Thursday published a blog opposing the update, calling it a "backdoor" that could be used to spy on Apple users. Parts of that blog were excerpted on the open letter's website, appleprivacyletter.com.

The letter was posted on Friday, and by Sunday morning it had been signed about 5,000 times. The list of co-signers was a who's who of privacy advocates and organizations, including Freedom of the Press Foundation, where NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden is a board member and president.

Apple CEO Tim Cook in Oakland. Noah Berger/AP Photo

"No matter how well-intentioned, Apple is rolling out mass surveillance to the entire world with this," Snowden said on Twitter. "Make no mistake: if they can scan for kiddie porn today, they can scan for anything tomorrow. They turned a trillion dollars of devices into iNarcs—*without asking.*"

Some who signed the letter identified themselves as current or former Apple employees. Insider has reached out to Apple for comment.

WhatsApp head Will Cathcart on Friday said Apple's decision to scan images raised concerns. "I think this is the wrong approach and a setback for people's privacy all over the world," he wrote in a Twitter thread.

In another Twitter thread, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said he'd tried hard to see the move from Apple's point of view. "But inescapably, this is government spyware installed by Apple based on a presumption of guilt," he wrote.

Sweeney's company has previously criticized Apple in a well-publicized court battle over its App Store rules.

Fox News' attack on teachers part of a larger assault on democracy: AFT president

Ray Hartmann
August 08, 2021

Randi Weingarten (CNN)

With schools set to reopen in less than a month, the national debate has grown hotter over how public education should respond to the reality of a resurging pandemic.

Among the biggest issues: Should teachers be required to become vaccinated to return to the classrooms? But that's hardly the only raging question.

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) sits in the eye of the storm as public education becomes ever more engulfed in America's culture war. Attacks from the political right have hardly been limited to vaccine questions, with rash claims about Critical Race Theory (CRT) -- among efforts to rewrite history-- also in the forefront.

The nation's second-largest teachers union and its president, Randi Weingarten, have become a favorite target of right-wing media. In Weingarten's view, it's all part of an overarching effort to attack teachers. And truth.

Raw Story caught up with Weingarten Saturday for this exclusive interview:

Q. What is the latest on the union's position regarding vaccine mandates?

A. The circumstances have changed in the last few weeks. The Delta variant is so virulent, yet kids under 12 can't get a vaccine yet. The good news is that it looks like full approval by the FDA is in the offing of these vaccines, and that's one of the issues people have been concerned with. These factors have given rise to us reconsidering the other measures to get more and more people vaccinated, including requiring vaccinations. We're in the middle of those conversations with our leaders and members.

Q. So, your position might be changing because of the evolving situation?

A. We are 1000% behind vaccines. They are the most effective way of dealing with the variant. But until this moment, we've thought that voluntarily shots in the arms were the most effective way to get more people vaccinated in this very polarized world and with all the misinformation that's out there. But circumstances have changed so we're thinking about other ways of creating vaccine access, including evaluating our position on employer mandates.

Q. How do concerns about the effects of the Delta variant on kids factor into that thinking?


A. We're very concerned, particularly since younger children don't have access to the vaccine. We're seeing a changing circumstance in the last three weeks, and we're seeing in places like Florida, Louisiana and Texas that this variant can affect children far more than the virus previously did.

Q. Do you have a timetable for that decision? Perhaps in the next week?

A. I would say it's sometime soon.

Q. What is your reaction to how you're being betrayed in the conservative media -- personally and as a union -- as one of the main reasons, along with Dr. Anthony Fauci, as to why schools have been closed and so forth?

A. There is a group of people in America led by Fox News that wants to keep the anxiety, the fear, the chaos, the disinformation and people angry and on edge. That's what they're doing. It's terribly unfair and misplaced. But I'm a big girl and I'm going to my job, which is to get schools open -- and keep them open -- in a safe way. That is what educators in America want. That is what children in America need. And that is what we at the AFT are trying to do. Teachers want what children need.

The post-truth society which has also helped fuel the Big Lie about voting is very disturbing and is really undermining of democracy. And public schooling is the key to democracy. So, these all have political overtones and I understand it. But we don't whine about it: We just organize. I just wish they didn't have the kind of megaphone they have because they're scaring a lot of people and creating a lot of ground for anxiety and hate, and it's just wrong.

This is not about me, it's about my members, it's about teachers, it's about bus drivers. It's about the people who every single day, have been out there engaging kids in the last 16 months. It's about the nurses who, regardless of where things were in terms of COVID, were out there at the bedside. These folks are real heroes. They've engaged kids. They've protected families. They've helped nurse people back to health. And yet, they get scapegoated at every turn. And some of it is also by the mainstream media on the issues of vaccine mandates.

Look at what we're dealing with. We're dealing with lots of these anti-vaxxers, who are really, really resistant, and we have to meet fear and we have to meet misinformation with facts.

Educators have been engaging kids and they have been kids' lifelines, but they have been thrown a lot of stuff that they've had to deal with. "Remote, hybrid, in-school, hybrid, remote." They have done everything they could to help our kids be engaged, survive and now thrive.

This is about the undermining of our profession, it's about the undermining of teachers, and it's about not actually crediting or honoring them for who they are in the work they have done.

Q. Speaking of your work, how has the debate about Critical Race Theory impacted your lives?

A. In terms of this issue of our teaching honest history, I'm a high school social studies teacher. I taught in the 90s. Our kids need to know the history of this country. And they need to be able to understand and to have the skills to assess current events. That's what history teachers do, and this is important for all kids.

Those of us who've taught history and social studies for years are a little stunned by this debate. Like really, we can't teach slavery anymore? It's just like core curriculum in some states where we must teach that slavery was a betrayal of our Founding Fathers, which is absolutely not true.

Yes, some of our history is uncomfortable. It's uncomfortable talking about the fact that our country had a legalized system of slavery until the Civil War and had lots of other legalized systems of discrimination like Jim Crow. That is uncomfortable, but our job is to make sure that kids can get through uncomfortable situations. And if they do, it's going to give them a skill set for the future. Our job is to help them become critical thinkers, to help them, assess these issues going forward. And it's our job to teach history and teach the effects of history and to teach current events, and the effects of it. That is part and parcel of a full education for children.

We don't teach CRT in pre-K through high school. This is a college-level analysis of law and whether systemic racism exists in some of the laws and in this country. And so, what's happened here is again an undermining of public education, an undermining of teachers, an attempt to scare parents. And using it in the elections -- as Steve Bannon and others have said -- to try to stop what's been the trend of more families and women and working moms and stay-at-home moms in the suburbs starting to vote for Democrats. So, we know where it's coming from, and we know who is behind it. But at the end of the day, the consequence of this group of people winning is that it's going to hurt our kids.

Q. Are you seeing similar controversy over how history or current-events teachers might portray the insurrection at the Capitol?

A. Yes, I think that that's part of this. This is all about the push to pretend that January 6 didn't happen or to create a narrative that, that nothing bad happened that day. But our democracy could have died that day. Think about the difference between how that day is viewed, through a political lens in the United States, versus how 911 is viewed as we get to the 20th anniversary. It tells you a lot about the problems in the country. There's a push to stop us from teaching the truth or create context for these very important moments. What happened that day? Why did it happen? These are legitimate questions that you teach in an age-appropriate way through public education.

Q. What do you think is the legacy of Donald Trump and Betty DeVos for teachers and public education?


A. Betsy Devos is a destabilizer. We've have had Education Secretaries who believed that there should be vouchers and charters and a competitive environment in schools. But they also believed in public education. And while they believed that a public school should be the best it can be and that you had to have a system of great neighborhood public schools and public-school choice, this was the first Secretary of Education who didn't believe that. She didn't believe in a public system. She didn't believe we should be investing in a public system as a primary way of helping all kids thrive and learn. So, at every moment that she could, she destabilized it. This was a destabilizing strategy. And Trump believed in the chaos theory of governing instead of the unifying theory of governing. He believed in chaos and divisiveness and that's what you see here. The disturbing piece is that truth took a second seat to wanting power.

 

Social experiment in Germany brings young and old together

Migration and demographic change are transforming societies worldwide. A documentary film about a German project has a vision for the future.

    

The documentary "Wir alle. Das Dorf" describes a long-term project

It's a dreary scene: a few people standing on an empty field in the rain. Nothing about this place seems promising. But the people don't seem to care. Some are curious, some euphoric, but all are confident. "Here's my bed," says one woman as she points to a spot on the ground, and then jumps for joy.

The plan is to build a village on this field in the Wendland region of the German state of Lower Saxony — a village that is ecological, intercultural and based on solidarity. With the help of its own cooperative, rents will be kept affordable. 300 people are to live here, consisting of 100 older people, 100 younger people — preferably with families — and 100 refugees. The idea is for them to be there and to look out for each other.

Demographic change is a global issue 

The question of how we want to live in the future is shaped not only by the climate, but also by demographic change. Most societies are aging — in Germany, one in two people are older than 45, according to surveys by the Federal Statistical Office. In Indonesia, the average age is expected to rise by eight years by 2050, and in China by more than nine years. Who will take care of the elderly? And how do we prevent an increasing gap between the generations?

The number of single households in Germany has also been steadily rising, from 34% to 42% between 1991 and 2019. One-third of women living alone are between 60 and 79 years old. In rural areas, population figures are declining as people move to the cities. Demand for alternative forms of living, such as shared multi-generational living arrangements, is increasing.

That scene in the empty field happened five years ago. Filmmakers Antonia Traulsen and Claire Roggan captured it for their documentary, Wir alle. Das Dorf (All of Us. The Village). "It's a socio-political and cultural question of how we want to imagine life in the future," says Traulsen, who actually lives close to the experimental village.

Bringing together different generations and people from different backgrounds

The filmmakers accompanied the project for four years. "At first, we didn't understand where their euphoria was coming from," says Traulsen. It became clear over time "that people really care about making a difference."

Unexpected conflicts

12 houses now stand on the former farmland, and about 50 people live there. By the end of the year, the number of residents is expected to rise to about 90. Negotiations are underway to purchase another plot of land. "Demand is huge," says Hauke Stichling-Pehlke, one of the project's initiators. He describes himself and others who were involved early on as pioneers.

Rural structures everywhere are disintegrating, says Stichling-Pehlke. "That's why this is not just a housing project, but a hub in the district that is sustainable and fit for the future." He says it's about continuing to develop the community together, and not just the one in the village. "When I see people pursuing their visions it's already close to the initial idea," he adds.

The film also shows conflicts. In the early phase of the project, locals and refugees discussed and agreed to floor plans for the future houses. Years later, when the houses were being built, one refugee family had different ideas, making it unlikely they could move into the village. One woman reacted with anger, arguing everyone agreed when the plans were presented, while another admitted that perhaps the refugees were not sufficiently involved.

The initiators, Hauke Stichling-Pehlke and Thomas Hagelstein

"The refugees had other problems at the time, some didn't even have their residency status clarified," says Roggan. "For these people, it was about basic things; for them, it wasn't tangible that there might be a house here in three years."

In the wake of the 2015/2016 refugee crisis, the German society was faced with the question of how to integrate the refugees. Rarely were refugees asked how they wanted to be integrated. The village project shows that there is no blueprint for integration — not even if it is well-intentioned.

The film also reveals cultural traditions and reservations. A young woman from Afghanistan says at a meeting that she has to take care of her parents and stay close by, even though she had to attend college. The group reassures her that she doesn't have to stay in the area because they would help out, like organizing doctor's appointments. But the notion was unthinkable for her — family takes care of family.

Good at compromise

At first glance, the people who were part of the initial group don't seem as diverse as the project proclaims to be — there's a Waldorf school teacher, a remedial teacher, an educator, a few leftist members of the anti-nuclear power movement.

Antonia Traulsen and Claire Roggan, the filmmakers

But tensions arise even in what looks like a pretty homogeneous group. Everyone is expected to contribute as much as they can and want to, but there are no binding guidelines. But is it fair that some people contribute more than others, even though they all pursue the same goal?

"It's impressive how much the people listen and constantly question themselves instead of blaming others," says Roggan. Her co-filmmaker, Antonia Traulsen, says the constant negotiation of compromises is a reason the village is thriving and growing. "It's an art to stay in the conversation even in disputes and not to be offended, but to enjoy the variety of opinions."

In this respect, this social experiment on a field in Lower Saxony might be considered a test run for the future coexistence of society.

The filmmakers are currently touring cinemas with Wir alle. Das Dorf.

This article was translated from German.

Myanmar: Protests mark anniversary of 1988 uprising

A third of a century after facing off against a violent military regime, protesters in Myanmar are still on the streets. The flash protests show no signs of stopping.


The military's violent response has not been able to quell the ongoing popular protests across Myanmar


Protesters came out in cities across Myanmar on Sunday to protest against the military junta and to mark the 33rd anniversary of an uprising against military rule that was violently put down.

People took to the streets in the main cities of Yangon, Mandalay, Sagaing and others, local news reported. The military has faced ongoing popular opposition since it launched a coup in early February that ousted the elected government and civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Protesters remembered the thousands of people, many of which were students, that rose up against military rule in 1988. That uprising was crushed in a bloody crackdown.

"Thirty-three years ago today, they [armed forces] killed many civilians and they are still killing the people," Thet Naing, a protester in Yangon, told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur news agency.

Protesters adapt to military violence

Demonstrations against the current junta have also faced violent responses from the military. According to a local monitoring group, over 900 people have been killed in clashes with the military.

The regime has not, however, been able to quell the protests. Activists have been organizing flash mobs that quickly rally to express popular dissent and then melt away before armed forces can react.

They also organized online campaigns, bringing people out, dressed in red, to show the eight-finger salute, which has become one of the symbols of the protest movement, and to hold banners saying: "Let's return the old blood debt of 1988 in 2021."

MYANMAR: PROTESTERS HIT WITH TEAR GAS, STUN GUNS
Taking to the streets
A protester wearing a gas mask sits on a blocked road in Yangon on Tuesday, March 2. Police in Yangon fired tear gas on Monday at crowds who returned to the streets to protest last month's coup.  12345678

New generation, same struggle

The military dictatorship 33 years ago responded to the massive pro-democracy movement by firing on protesters and jailing thousands of people.

The movement launched Aung San Suu Kyi — who was arrested at the time of the putsch and is facing a series of charges including possession of illegal walkie talkies — as a pro-democracy activist. She was known for being the daughter of General Aung San who had fought for independence from the British empire.

"In 1988, our country sacrificed a lot — many people lost their lives. But the dictatorship is still alive," Ko Sai Win, a protester in Mandalay, told the AFP news agency. "It is like a black shadow on our country."

ab/jlw (dpa, AFP)

A ‘Christian nation’ no longer: why Australia’s religious right loses policy battles even when it wins elections

The Conversation
August 08, 2021

Despite having a devoutly Christian prime minister, the role of the Christian right in Australia has waned in recent years. Mick Tsikas/AAP

Conservative Christians are prominent in Australia's Liberal-National Coalition parties. Scott Morrison and Tony Abbott are two of the most devout and theologically conservative prime ministers in Australian history.

State Coalition parties have had influxes of religious conservatives as the Coalition absorbs Christian parties and their voters. At the same time, the Christian right is suffering major defeats on its biggest issues.

Since 2018, Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia have all liberalised their abortion laws. This happened under Coalition governments in NSW and SA, to the dismay of some conservatives. Abbott and Barnaby Joyce appeared at protests against the NSW laws. Morrison declined to get involved, despite his “conservative" views on abortion.

In the 2017 postal survey on marriage equality, only five of the Coalition's 76 federal seats saw majorities vote “no". The law subsequently passed with the support of most Coalition MPs.

In a new article in Religion, State and Society, I examine why Australian Christian conservatives are losing policy battles even when they win elections. Compared to the United States, Australia does not have a strong link between Christianity and nationalism. I show that, if anything, the concept of Australia as a “Christian nation" has declined over the past decade. This makes it harder for religious traditionalism to piggyback on the electoral success of exclusionary nationalism.

The rise and fall of the Christian right

Religious adherence is declining in Australia, but this doesn't necessarily mean the end of religious influence in politics.

In her book Nations Under God, Anna Grzymala-Busse shows religious groups can continue to shape policy even in countries where people are averse to their involvement in politics. They can do this when they are seen as being “above politics". Religious figures are powerful when they appear to be giving non-partisan guidance to political figures, legitimised by a strong relationship between church and nation.

Australia's history has not created the kind of fusion between Christianity and nationalism that we see in places like Poland or the United States. But during the prime ministership of John Howard, politicians increasingly blended Christianity into a conservative vision of the Australian nation. This in turn created a favourable environment for religious influence.
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In a 2014 article, Marion Maddox described the success of the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) in Canberra. Howard brought the ACL to prominence by treating it as a “legitimate peak body" for Christianity.

The ACL's political access continued under Labor prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard. At a 2007 ACL conference, Rudd and Howard both spoke, with Rudd describing how his Christian beliefs gave him a unifying vision for the nation.

Gillard, raised Baptist but a self-described atheist, held private meetings on anti-discrimination laws with ACL leader Jim Wallace. In a 2011 interview, Gillard described herself as a “cultural traditionalist" who believed it was important for people to understand the Bible because “the Bible has formed such an important part of our culture". As prime minister, Gillard opposed same-sex marriage.

Maddox warned that Australians had failed to recognise the “extremist" right-wing nature of the ACL. It successfully presented itself as “middle of the road" politically, theologically and culturally. In reality, it represented a small, ultraconservative slice of mostly neo-Pentecostal Christianity.

Even at the peak of the Christian right's power, political scientists noted its electoral and policy limitations. Abbott's 2013 election victory didn't help it. His ascendancy hardened “culture war" divisions, limiting the influence of Christian conservatives to the Coalition side of politics. Labor stopped courting conservative Christian votes, despite having conservative Christian voters.

The Coalition could form electoral majorities, but was itself divided on the big “moral" issues where conservatives are in the minority.
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Read more: Same-sex marriage results crush the idea that Australian voters crave conservatism

From 'Christian nation' to 'religious freedom'

Critics of religious influence see ominous signs in the Morrison government's push for a religious freedom bill. They warn such legislation will carve out spaces for religious groups to discriminate. But the shift to a religious freedom agenda also marks a retreat of religious power in Australian life.

As Carol Johnson and Marion Maddox point out, Australia's biggest churches used to oppose efforts to expand religious freedom. They did so from a position of majority dominance, worried that efforts to protect minorities could lead to stricter separation of church and state.

In 2008, the Human Rights Commission conducted the Freedom of Religion and Belief in Australia Inquiry. An analysis found 40% of public submissions included the “assertion that Australia is a Christian nation". That assertion is much rarer today.

Even large churches are now conscious of being in a national minority on issues like marriage and sexuality. In 2017 the Turnbull government announced a Religious Freedom Review in response to conservative worries about the implications of changing marriage laws. In my analysis of the 15,500 public submissions to the review, I found just four assertions that Australia is a Christian nation or country.


Former prime minister Tony Abbott has referred to Australian society as 'relentlessly secular'. Joel Carrett/AAP

The term “Christian nation" was used 101 unique times across print media (in reference to Australia) from the beginning of 2016 to the end of 2020. It appears to be in decline as a term. It appeared 35 times in 2016, 34 times in 2017 (the year of the same-sex marriage referendum), 16 times in 2018, 7 times in 2019 and 8 times in 2020. Furthermore, nearly half the times it was mentioned, it was by someone refuting the claim that Australia is a Christian nation.

When Australians do refer to their country as “Christian", they are usually talking about heritage, rituals, holidays and census numbers. These may involve implied racial boundaries.

But Australians generally lack the classic ingredients of true religious nationalism: a sense of being “chosen" by God or of a sacred covenant between God and the nation.

Read more: How religion rises – and falls – in modern Australia

Many of Australia's devoutly Christian politicians don't like calling Australia a Christian nation. Indeed, Abbott once described Australia as “relentlessly secular". I can find no record of Morrison publicly calling Australia a Christian nation or country. The last prime minister to do so was Malcolm Turnbull, who described Australia as a “majority Christian nation" sharing a biblical heritage with Israel.

The debate around religious freedom reflects a new concept of religious traditionalists as minorities requiring protection. It also reframes religious alliances in terms of multiculturalism and diversity.

Conservative religious actors will fight to protect their existing privileges and will try to carve out new ones. But they are no longer in a position to bring Australian society into line with their beliefs.

David Smith, Associate Professor in American Politics and Foreign Policy, US Studies Centre, University of Sydney

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