Saturday, November 12, 2022

DEMOCRATS HAVE HISTORIC MIDTERM WIN OVER GOP
Michael Moore: Republicans tried to make America into a 'theocracy' — and it cost them big

Matthew Chapman - Yesterday - RawStory

On Thursday's edition of MSNBC's "The Beat," liberal filmmaker Michael Moore — one of the few pundits to predict that Republicans would not experience a "red wave" in the 2022 midterms — broke down the key factor he believed made the difference, and that made him suspect all along that Republican strength was not what it appeared.


Michael Moore (MSNBC)

Specifically, Moore suspected that analysts weren't capturing the voter anger over the Supreme Court's decision to eliminate national abortion rights — and that that was the driving motivation of enough voters to make the difference.

"The day, June 24th, that the conservative majority — Catholic conservative court decided to issue a religious edict that the American public was to follow the rules of the bishops of the catholic church — in other countries we have a name for that when the top religious leaders," said Moore

"Theocracy," said anchor Ari Melber.

"Yes. Sorry, it doesn't compute," said Moore. "I knew that night when I went to bed on Supreme Court night, June 24th, I just — boy, I just relaxed. I thought, well, oh my god, there goes the red wave. You've told the majority gender — not a small clique or not a small section of society — you've told the majority gender that we're going to have an apartheid situation here, where the majority is going to be told by the minority how you're going to live your life."

"That doesn't fly if you're a red-blooded American," Moore added.

Filmmaker and activist Michael more re-joins the Beat after the 2022 midterms proved not to bring a “red wave” and after he ...
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MSNBC delivers breaking news, in-depth analysis of politics headlines, as well as commentary and informed perspectives.
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Filmmaker Michael Moore joins MSNBC's Ari Melber on the midterms in the final week of campaigning, predicting a Democratic ...
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MSNBC delivers breaking news, in-depth analysis of politics headlines, as well as commentary and informed perspectives.
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Filmmaker Michael Moore joins Bill to share his optimism for the Democratic Party's chances in the midterm elections. Connect ...
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Michael Moore joined Alex Witt to talk about why he is optimistic that the Democrats will keep both the House and Senate ...
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10,000 brains in a basement: The dark and mysterious origins of Denmark's psychiatric brain collection

LONG READ

Samantha Bresnahan - CNN

For years, there had been whispers. Rumors swirled; stories exchanged. It wasn’t a secret, but it also wasn’t openly discussed, adding to a legend almost too incredible to believe.

Yet those who knew the truth wanted it out.

Tell everyone our story, they said, about the brains in the basement.


A family secret

As a child, Lise Søgaard remembers whispers, too, though these were different – the family secret kind, hushed because it was too painful to speak it out loud.

Søgaard knew little about it, except that these whispers centered on a family member who seemed to exist solely in one photograph on the wall of her grandparent’s house in Denmark.

The little girl in the picture was named Kirsten. She was the younger sister of Søgaard’s grandmother, Inger – that much she knew.

“I remember looking at this girl and thinking, ‘Who is she?’ ‘What happened?’” Søgaard said. “But also this feeling of a little bit of a horror story there.”

As she grew into adulthood, Søgaard continued to wonder. One day in 2020, she went to visit her grandmother, now in her mid-90s and living at a care home in Haderslev, Denmark. After all that time, she finally asked about Kirsten. Almost as if Inger had been waiting for that very question, the floodgates opened, and out poured a story Søgaard never expected.



Upper left: Kirsten (top center) and her sister Inger (bottom left) on a family outing with their aunt, uncle and cousin. Lower left: The Abildtrup family in the early 1930s. Kirsten, center left holding her mother's hand, was the youngest of seven children. Right: The photo of Kirsten that hung on the wall and first caught Søgaard's attention as a young girl. - Lise Søgaard

Kirsten Abildtrup was born on May 24, 1927, the youngest of five brothers and her sister, Inger. As a child, Inger remembers Kirsten as quiet and smart, the two sisters sharing a close bond. Then, when Kirsten was around 14 years old, something began to change.

Kirsten experienced outbursts and prolonged bouts of crying. Inger asked her mother if it was her fault, often feeling that way because the two girls were so close.

“At Christmas, they were supposed to go on a visit to some family members,” Søgaard said, “but my great-grandmother and father, they stayed home and sent all of their children away except for Kirsten.”

When they got back from that family visit, Søgaard said, Kirsten was gone.

It was the first of many hospitalizations, and the start of a long and painful journey that would ultimately end in Kirsten’s death.

The diagnosis: schizophrenia.

The brain collectors

Kirsten was first hospitalized towards the end of World War II, when Denmark and the rest of Europe were at last on the verge of peace.

Like so many places, Denmark was also grappling with mental illness. Psychiatric institutions had been built across the country to provide care for patients.



Doctors prepare a patient for electroshock therapy at Augustenborg Psychiatric Hospital in Denmark, 1943. - A E Andersen/Ritzau Scanpix/AP

But there was limited understanding of what was happening in the brain. The same year peace came to Denmark’s doorstep, two doctors working in the country had an idea.

When these patients died in psychiatric hospitals, autopsies were routinely performed. What if, these doctors thought, the brains were removed – and kept?

Thomas Erslev, historian of medical science and research consultant at Aarhus University, estimates that half of all psychiatric patients in Denmark who died between 1945 and 1982 contributed – unknowingly and without consent – their brains. They went to what became known as the Institute of Brain Pathology, connected to the Risskov Psychiatric Hospital in Aarhus, Denmark.

Doctors Erik Stromgren and Larus Einarson were the architects. After roughly five years, said Erslev, pathologist Knud Aage Lorentzen took over the institute, and spent the next three decades building the collection.



Dr. Larus Einarson, shown here teaching a class, was one of the co-founders of the brain collection at the Institute of Brain Pathology. - Arne Sell/Aarhus University

The final tally would amount to 9,479 human brains – believed to be the largest collection of its kind anywhere in the world.

Nearly 10,000 brains on the move

In 2018, pathologist Dr. Martin Wirenfeldt Nielsen got a call. The brain collection, as it would come to be known, was on the move.

A lack of funding meant it could no longer stay in Aarhus, but the University of Southern Denmark in the city of Odense had offered to pick up the mantle. Would Wirenfeldt Nielsen be interested in overseeing it?



10,000 brains in a basement: The dark and mysterious origins of Denmark's psychiatric brain collection© Provided by CNNPathologist Dr. Martin Wirenfeldt Nielsen now oversees the brain collection, housed in Odense, Denmark. - Samantha Bresnahan/CNN

“I’d sort of heard of it in the periphery,” Wirenfeldt Nielsen recalled. “But my first real knowledge about the vast extent of it was when they decided to move it down here … (because) how do you actually move almost 10,000 brains?”

The yellowish-green plastic buckets housing each brain, preserved in formaldehyde, were placed into new white buckets that were sturdier for the transport, and hand-labeled in black marker with a number. And then the brains, give or take a few (no one knows where bucket #1 is, for example) made their way to their new home in a large basement room on the university’s campus.

“The room wasn’t actually ready when they moved it down here,” Wirenfeldt Nielsen said. “The whole collection was just standing there, buckets on top of each other, in the middle of the floor. And that’s when I saw it for the first time … That was like, okay, this is something I’ve never seen before.”

An ethical reckoning

Eventually, the nearly 10,000 buckets were placed on rolling shelves, where they remain today – waiting – representing lives, and a range of psychiatric disorders.

There are roughly 5,500 brains with dementia; 1,400 with schizophrenia; 400 with bi-polar disorder; 300 with depression, and more.

What separates this collection from any other in the world is that the brains collected during the first decade are untouched by modern medicines – a time capsule of sorts, for mental illness in the brain.

“Whereas other brain collections … (are) maybe specified for neurodegenerative diseases, dementia, tumors, or other things like that – we really have the whole thing here,” Wirenfeldt Nielsen said.

But it has not been without controversy. In the 1990s, the Danish public got wind of the collection, which had been sitting idle since former director Lorentzen’s retirement in 1982.

It would kick off one of the first major ethical science debates in Denmark.

“There was a discussion back and forth, and one position was that we should destroy the collection – either bury the brains or get rid of them in any other ethical way,” said Knud Kristensen, the director of SIND, the Danish national association for mental health, from 2009 to 2021, and current member of Denmark’s Ethical Council. “The other position said, okay, we already did harm once. Then the least we can do to those patients and their relatives is to make sure that the brains are used in research.”

After years of intense debate, SIND changed its position. “All of a sudden, they were very strong proponents for keeping the brains,” Erslev said, “actually saying this might be a very valuable resource, not only for the scientists, but for the sufferers of psychiatric illness because it might prove to benefit therapeutics down the line.”

Related video: A look at the brain like you've never seen it before
Duration 3:08  View on Watch

“For (SIND),” Kristensen said, “It was important where it was placed and to make sure that there would be some sort of control of the future use of the collection.”

By the time it moved to Odense in 2018, the ethical debate was largely settled, and Wirenfeldt Nielsen became caretaker of the collection.

A few years later, he would get a message from Søgaard. Was it possible, she asked, that he had a brain there belonging to a woman named Kirsten?

Searching for Kirsten

In the search for what happened to her great aunt Kirsten, Søgaard realized there were clues all around her. But piecing together what exactly had happened to her grandmother’s sister was slow, filled with dead ends and false starts.

Yet she was enthralled, and began officially reporting her journey for Kristeligt Dagblad, the Copenhagen-based newspaper where she worked – eventually bringing it to light in a series of articles.

At one point, Søgaard decided to focus on a single word her grandmother had told her, the name of a psychiatric hospital: Oringe.

“I opened my computer and I searched for ‘Oringe patient journals,’” she said. After putting in a request through the national archives, “I got an email that said, ‘Okay, we found something for you, come have a look if you want.’ … I felt this excitement … like, she’s out there.”

Journalist Lise Søgaard made it her mission to find out what happened to her grandmother's little sister, Kirsten -- a journey that would take her places she never imagined. She shared that experience with CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta at her home outside Copenhagen in April 2022. - Cameron Bauer and Samantha Bresnahan/CNN

That excitement was short-lived. At the national archives, they placed a mostly empty file in front of her. It wasn’t much to go on, but it confirmed Kirsten’s diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Without another solid lead, Søgaard wondered where to go next. Then, almost in passing, as they looked through old family photos together, her mother said something that she’d never heard before.

“She said, ‘You know, they might have kept her brain,’ and I said, ‘What?!’” Søgaard told CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta at her house outside of Copenhagen. “And she told me what she knew about the brain collection.”

Living with schizophrenia

At age 95, Søgaard’s grandmother, Inger, could still clearly picture visiting her little sister Kirsten in the hospital, after the symptoms she first started experiencing at age 14 continued to progress.

Upon one visit, Inger remembered, “(Kirsten) was lying there, completely apathetic. She was not able to speak to us. … Another day we went to visit her, and she was gone from her room. They told us she had thrown a glass at a nurse, and they had sent her to the basement, to a room where they (restrained) her with belts. And we were not allowed to go in, but I saw her through a hole in the door; she was lying there, strapped up.”



One floor of the Oringe psychiatric hospital is now a museum, which displays medical treatments and patient rooms such as this one. - Samantha Bresnahan/CNN

Inger felt confused and scared, she said, because it could have been anyone, including her, that might get “sick.”

At Sankt Hans, one of the largest and oldest psychiatric hospitals in Denmark, Dr. Thomas Werge walks the same grounds he did as a child, when his own grandmother was hospitalized there. Now, he runs the Institute for Biological Psychiatry there, where he and his team study the biological causes that contribute to psychiatric disorders.

A 2012 study found that roughly 40% of Danish women and 30% of Danish men had received treatment for a mental health disorder in their lifetimes – though Werge estimated that number would “almost certainly” be higher if the same study was done today. (By comparison, that same year, less than 15% of US adults received mental health services.) Among the other Nordic countries, including Sweden and Norway, Werge said the numbers would be comparable to Denmark’s, as there are “similar [universal] health care systems and standards for admission.”

“Mental (health) disorders are all over,” he added. “We just do not recognize this when we walk around among people. Not everybody carries their pain on the outside.”

For schizophrenia, there are no blood tests or biomarkers to signify its presence; instead, doctors must rely only on a clinical exam.

Schizophrenia presents itself in what the World Health Organization (WHO) calls “significant impairments in the way reality is perceived,” causing psychosis that can include delusions, hallucinations, disorganized behavior or thoughts, and extreme agitation.

Roughly one in 300 people are affected by schizophrenia worldwide, according to the WHO, but less than one-third of those will ever receive specialist mental health care.

The standard treatment since the mid-1950s has been anti-psychotic drugs, which typically work by manipulating dopamine levels: the brain’s reward system. But, Werge said, it can come with a cost.

“Schizophrenia and psychosis are linked to creativity,” he said. “So, when you try to inhibit the psychosis, you also inhibit the creativity. So, there’s a price for being medicated … Whatever causes all these problems for humans is also what makes us humans in the good sense.”

Brain #738

Though there haven’t been many significant scientific breakthroughs regarding an understanding of the disease, researchers have confirmed that genetics and heritability play a significant role.

According to Werge, the heritability estimate is as high as 80% – the same as height. “It’s not a surprise to people that if you have very tall parents … there’s a lot of genetics in that,” he said. “The genetic component is equally large in most of the mental disorders actually.”

Those inherited genetic factors either come from the parents, he added, or can arise in a child even if the parents don’t carry the gene.

Søgaard, who has two young children, said the genetic connection was not a driving motivator in her mission to find out what happened to Kirsten, but she has thought about what it means for herself and her family.

When families reach out about possible relatives in the brain collection, “that’s an ethical dilemma that we need to take into consideration,” Wirenfeldt Nielsen said. In Søgaard’s case, she received approval for the Danish National Archives to check the set of black books that contain the names of every person whose brain is in the collection.

There on the list was Kirsten’s name.

“I got an email back [from the National Archives], and they scanned the page where Kirsten’s name was, and her birthday, and the day they received the brain. And in the column out to the left, there was a number,” Søgaard remembered. “Number 738.” She immediately wrote an email to Wirenfeldt Nielsen, asking if that number corresponded to the bucket with Kirsten’s brain.

“I said, ‘Yes, that’s it,’” Wirenfeldt Nielsen recalled. But he also said he couldn’t be sure the bucket was there because a few are missing for unknown reasons. He ventured down to the basement storage room to verify it was there.

On one of the rolling shelves sat bucket #738.

Kirsten’s brain.



Bucket #738 -- Kirsten's brain -- sits on a shelf among the rest of the brain collection in the basement at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense.
 - Samantha Bresnahan/CNN

When Søgaard first saw it, she felt compelled to hug the bucket.

“I had learned a lot about Kirsten,” she said. “I feel some kind of connection … (and) I know the pain that she felt, and I know what she went through.”

The ‘white cut’

What Kirsten went through was another extraordinary beat in this incredible story, and the long history of psychiatric care in Denmark.

As part of her treatment, Kirsten received what’s known commonly in Denmark as “the white cut.”

In medical terms: a lobotomy.

The procedure was an integral part of the country’s psychiatric history. During the time the brain collection was running from the 1940s until the early 1980s, Denmark reportedly did more lobotomies per capita than any other country in the world.

“It’s a very poor treatment, because you destroy a big part of the brain,” Wirenfeldt Nielsen said. “And it’s very risky, because you can kill the patient, basically – but they had nothing else to do.”

Treatment options were limited, and in many ways extreme. Seizures were induced by placing electrodes on either side of the head; insulin shock therapy meant patients were administered large doses of insulin, reducing blood sugar and resulting in a comatose state; and the lobotomy, either transorbital – using a pick-like instrument inserted through the back of the eye to the front lobe – or prefrontal.

The prefrontal lobotomy was pioneered by a Portuguese neurologist, Antonio Egas Moniz. Now considered barbaric, he actually won the Nobel Prize for the procedure in 1949.

A tool is inserted into the frontal lobe, scraping away tracts of white matter – the reason behind the “white cut” moniker. “Emotional reactions … are located at least in part in the frontal lobe,” explained Wirenfeldt Nielsen, “so they thought that just by cutting (there), that could sort of calm the patient down.”


Left: Portuguese neurologist Antonio Egas Moniz was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1949 for pioneering the prefrontal lobotomy. Upper right: Lobotomies became a popular treatment option from the 1930s to the early 1950s. Here, a surgeon drills into a patient's skull at a hospital in England, 1946. Lower right: By cutting tracts through brain matter in the frontal lobe, the belief was the lobotomy could treat symptoms of mental illness. - Boyer/Roger Viollet/Getty Images, Kurt Hutton/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images, Illustration: Prof. E.A.V. Busch

In Kirsten’s case, Inger said there were glimpses of “the old Kirsten” before she got the white cut – but after that, she was gone. In 1951, the year after her lobotomy, Kirsten died.

She was just 24 years old.

A promise for the future

On a metal table in a small, standalone building on the grounds of Oringe psychiatric hospital, Kirsten’s brain was removed, set into a small plastic bucket, placed in a wooden box, and shipped – by regular mail carrier – to the Institute of Brain Pathology at Risskov, to join the brain collection.

Søgaard saw the metal table, where a white wooden block still sits on one end – where the heads were placed – and upon which small marks are still visible today. This is where the skulls were opened.



The standalone building at Oringe (left) housing the autopsy room where Kirsten's brain was removed in 1951 still stands today, and includes the wooden boxes (right) that were once used to ship the brains to Risskov. - Samantha Bresnahan/CNN

Despite the graphic reminders, in reporting out this story both for herself, and for the newspaper, “it was important (for me) to not write a story that was a horror story,” she said, adding it was easy to look back and say, “How could you do that?”

“I don’t think the doctors wanted to do bad. I think they actually wanted to do good. … I think the most ethical thing you can do is to make sure that you know exactly what you can do with these brains. And that’s what they’re doing now. They’re trying to find out, ‘How can they help us?’”

There have been studies using the collection over the years, including a discovery in 1970 of what is now known as familial Danish dementia, and a new study is ongoing, focused on mRNA in the brains, by Danish researcher Betina Elfving.

For the most part, the brains represent untapped, enormous potential. Yet the one in bucket #738 has already done something extraordinary, thanks in large part to Søgaard herself. She worked to break the cycle of stigma surrounding mental health disorders by sharing her most personal, intimate family details with the world.

“(My grandmother) expressed gratitude,” Søgaard said. “She also said, ‘I feel like I’m moving closer to my sister now.’”
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Elon Musk's takeover was so poorly planned the company got locked out of its own Twitter account, report says

ktangalakislippert@insider.com (Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert) - Yesterday 

Elon Musk attends Heidi Klum's 21st annual Halloween party at Sake No Hana at Moxy Lower East Side on Monday, Oct. 31, 2022, in New York. 
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP© Evan Agostini/Invision/AP


Elon Musk's first weeks as owner of Twitter have been mired in controversy and changes to the site.

During the chaotic handoff, login details for the official @Twitter account weren't shared, Platformer reported.

Twitter staff were locked out of the company's own social account for 12 days, according to Platformer.

During Elon Musk's chaotic Twitter takeover, login details for the company's official account weren't shared with new leadership, according to reporting by Platformer.

The $44 billion acquisition of the social media company has been disorganized, according to employees and experts alike, with reports of mass layoffs that were in some cases reversed and employees left "in limbo" about their working status.

Sources told Platformer, a newsletter run Casey Newton, former editor of The Verge, the login details for the official @Twitter social account were among the details lost in the fray.

The Twitter team finally accessed its account on Wednesday, after about 12 days, Platformer reported, though the account has not posted since October 13.

Musk's purchase of the social media platform has been mired in controversy for months leading to the acquisition that was completed two weeks ago. In the days since, advertisers and influential users have been leaving the platform, citing concerns over rising hate speech and changes to the user experience.

Among the recent inconsistent changes to Twitter — including the rolled-back layoffs — Musk has also implemented new rules about parody accounts and waffled back and forth on if an $8 Twitter Blue subscription will give users a verification badge — a feature that was suspended today — and whether or not a gray "official" check would replace the old verification system.

Musk and representatives for Twitter did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.
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Sask. NDP accuses Dustin Duncan of disparaging public education

“The Minister of Education refuses to admit the Loch Ness is not real” 

Jeremy Simes - 

Education Minister Dustin Duncan speaks to reporters about enhanced regulations for qualified independent schools in August.© Provided by Leader Post

Education Minister Dustin Duncan says he isn’t ragging on public and Catholic schools after the NDP accused him of doing so for his remarks on student grades.

House Leader Nicole Sarauer grilled Duncan on Thursday during question period in the Saskatchewan legislature, accusing him of dragging the publicly funded systems “through the mud,” after he suggested qualified independent school students have better marks than kids who attend Catholic or public schools.

Duncan had told the chamber on Tuesday that 57 per cent of students in qualified independent schools scored higher than 80 per cent on their departmental exams over the last year, whereas 54 per cent of students in Catholic or public schools scored higher than 80 per cent.

Duncan pointed to the marks as evidence students in qualified independent schools are receiving a “good education.” He re-affirmed that the government supports parents being able to send their kids to independent schools.

On Thursday, Duncan told the assembly he wasn’t criticizing public education when he made his comments.

He said he was trying to demonstrate that, regardless of where students attend school, they are “performing at or near the same mark.”

He said 68 per cent of students in associate schools, which are religious schools that have an operating agreement with public schools, had a mark above 80 per cent for their departmental exams.

“Students, even in independent schools … are learning the curriculum and can score near where public school students are when it comes to departmentals,” he said.

Sarauer told the chamber qualified independent schools aren’t held to the same standards “and that their marks are inflated.”

She said public and Catholic schools don’t get to pick and choose their students.

“I hope this minister really realizes he’s not the minister for qualified independent schools. He’s actually the minister for all of education,” she said.

Duncan has been under fire over the past two weeks over allegations of abuse at some qualified independent schools, including Legacy Christian Academy, as well as for some of the material that has been taught at these schools.

Former students of Legacy said they had learned from a biology textbook that stated people and dinosaurs co-existed. It citied the Loch Ness Monster, which is a mythical creature, as proof dinosaurs exist today .



Stefanie Hutchinson, Caitlin Erickson and Coy Nolin, former students of Legacy Christian Academy, speak to the media after raising concerns about allegations of abuse at the school and what they call unacceptable learning material.© Provided by Leader Post

Advocate considering investigation into Legacy Christian Academy allegations

While Duncan says it’s possible the independent schools weren’t fully following the curriculum prior to 2012, he said the textbook is no longer heavily used as a resource for qualified independent schools.

He told reporters on Tuesday there are a couple of chapters in the book that are not considered problematic, including ones that deal with genetics, photosynthesis and evolution.

He said the ministry worked with qualified independent schools in 2013 to ensure they were following the curriculum.

Caitlin Erickson, who has filed a lawsuit in regards to alleged abuse at Legacy , has said controversial teachings continue to persist, noting many of the resources are listed on the Saskatchewan Association of Independent Church Schools (SAICS) website.

Duncan said he would have to look at the website again, but added the ministry has reviewed the workbooks being taught by schools that follow SAICS.

“For the most part, aside from the faith-based elements, I think the ministry is comfortable that the information that is in the workbooks and the information that is part of the curriculum could likely be used in any school in the province,” he said.

He said the Accelerated Christian Education workbooks that were used prior to 2012 were deemed unacceptable. The ministry worked with schools to rewrite their workbooks to align them with the curriculum, he said.

He noted the government doesn’t have much control over what’s being taught in registered independent schools, which don’t receive government funding. He said they don’t receive the same level of oversight.

However, Sarauer accused Duncan of not being harsh on the teachings.

“The Minister of Education refuses to admit the Loch Ness is not real,” she quipped.

Q&A: Did dinosaurs and humans coexist, as controversial Sask. textbook claims? We asked an expert

















CBC/Radio-Canada - 

Dinosaur history has been a hot topic in the Saskatchewan Legislature, leading the provincial education minister and Opposition critic to jaw at one another over the questionable facts of an independent curriculum.

The debate surfaced after former students of Saskatoon's Legacy Christian Academy demanded its curriculum — called Accelerated Christian Education, or ACE — be banned.

The government opposition read from a biology textbook used at an independent Saskatchewan school that read, in part, "scientific evidence tends to support the idea that men and dinosaurs existed at the same time."

The Loch Ness monster was also referenced in the textbook read by the Opposition as "proof that dinosaurs still exist today."

When CBC requested to speak with a paleontologist from the Royal Saskatchewan Museum to clear that up, that request was routed through to the Education minister's office who said the minister wasn't available, despite him not being requested.

Instead, Stefani Langenegger, host of CBC's The Morning Edition, spoke with paleontologist Graham Young, a curator of geology and paleontology at the Manitoba Museum.

The following transcript has been edited for clarity and length.

A: Dinosaurs inhabited the planet for a very long time, from about 230 million years ago to about 66 million years ago. So, well over 100 million years: far longer than the time since they became extinct.

We're able to do very good age dating on rocks using a variety of methods. Of course, dinosaurs are in sedimentary rocks, but sedimentary rocks, especially in geologically active regions, often have volcanic layers in them and you can date the age of a volcanic rock or an ash using chemicals in it.

They're getting to know quite a lot about human evolution because there's been such a focus on it but it depends how you define "human." We're homo sapiens.

So our first relatives who belong to that group of species are from right about two million years ago. So to contrast, the last dinosaurs were 33 times as long ago as the first human relatives.

I'm not going to talk about biblical evidence, that's far outside my area of expertise, and I'm not going to involve myself in Saskatchewan politics, but there is absolutely no scientific evidence for that.

Yeah, that's been something that's been going on for many decades.

Basically, there's a dinosaur trackway site in Texas and it seems that people have periodically added human footprints to that by carving them in and there's been some quite detailed analysis that shows that any of the so-called human footprints there do not have the characteristics of fossil footprints.

Fossil footprints deform sediment, so the human footprints are something someone wishfully added.

We know quite a lot. The Loch Ness monster is something that developed from old myths and, in the 20th century, apparently from hoaxes.

North Americans may not realize Loch Ness is not a huge lake by our standards. It's not like Lake Winnipeg, it's not an expanse of water, it's a long narrow lake and if there was anything that was at all like a plesiosaur in there, it would be observed on a daily basis.


A view of the Loch Ness Monster, near Inverness, Scotland, April 19, 1934. The photograph, one of two pictures known as the 'surgeon's photographs,' was allegedly taken by Colonel Robert Kenneth Wilson, though it was later exposed as a hoax by one of the participants, Chris Spurling, who, on his deathbed, revealed that the pictures were staged by himself, Marmaduke and Ian Wetherell, and Wilson. References to a monster in Loch Ness date back to St. Columba's biography in 565 AD. More than 1,000 people claim to have seen 'Nessie' and the area is, consequently, a popular tourist attraction. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)© Keystone/Getty Images

I think it's really important that all of us get a really solid grounding in general Earth science so that people understand the deep history of the planet, that they understand things like where fossil fuels have come from and the causes of earthquakes so that they know not to build in places that are most likely to be affected by earthquakes or by tsunamis.

There are so many aspects of Earth science that are critical to being a good citizen and I think that's the important thing is that people need that sort of solid grounding in this sort of science.

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Friday, November 11, 2022

CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA REDUX

San Bernardino Votes to Secede from California, Form 'Empire' State

Giulia Carbonaro  
Newsweek

Anarrow majority of voters in San Bernardino, California, has voted in favor of a measure allowing county officials to initiate the process of seceding from the state of California.


People line up to vote at Plummer Park on November 8, 2022 in West Hollywood, California.
© David McNew/Getty Images

Measure EE asked the electorate whether San Bernardino County elected representatives should "study and advocate for all options to obtain the county's fair share of state funding, including secession from the State of California," according to the Voter Information Guide for San Bernardino County.

The possibility of seceding from California was added to the proposition by Jeff Burum, a real estate mogul, who said the state wasn't doing enough to help the county with its increased population.

At the moment, San Bernardino County counts some 2.18 million residents, the fifth-highest population in the entire state.

"I would never willfully want to leave this state," Burum told The San Bernardino Sun. "But I can tell you this, if you're just going to continue to abuse me and abuse us, sometimes you don't have a choice but to stand up for yourself."

He also suggested that the county be turned into a new state with the name of "Empire."

The measure, put to San Bernardino's voters on November 8, was passed 51.3 percent to 48.7.

Newsweek has contacted Burum and San Bernardino County for comment.

Will San Bernardino Actually Secede From California?

It's unlikely that San Bernardino will secede from California, even though the passing of this measure technically allows elected officials to initiate the project.

The measure is mostly symbolic, showing that the county is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure it gets its "fair share" of state funding, including secession. But it's unclear whether a secession from the state would even be legally or constitutionally possible.

According to the Constitution, any secession must be approved by the State legislature and Congress.

Though there are cases in which previous secession attempts have worked out—Maine seceding from Massachusetts in 1820 and West Virginia being recognized as a new state in 1863—numerous attempts at breaking up California in recent years have all failed.

San Bernardino County wasn't the only case where secessionist movements gained a victory in these midterms.

Three counties in Illinois—Brown, Hardin, and the northeastern portion of Madison County—have passed referendums that technically allow initiating the process of secession from the state, joining some 24 that had already approved of similar non-binding measures.

In Oregon, a majority of residents in Morrow County and Wheeler County voted in favor of joining Idaho, moving the state line between the two states to create a "Greater Idaho."

Oregon counties vote ‘yes’ on secession from state: report

Bob Brigham - Yesterday 



Map of© provided by RawStory

The secessionist movement by conservative Oregon counties seeking to join Idaho continues to gather steam.

"Residents in Morrow County and Wheeler County have voted in favor of a measure related to moving the state line between Oregon and Idaho, joining nine previous eastern Oregon counties to vote in support of 'Greater Idaho," KPTV reported. "The Oregon Secretary of State website shows on Wednesday afternoon that of 800 votes in Wheeler County, 58% were in favor, and of the 3,837 votes in Morrow County, 60% were in favor."

Harney County joined the movement in the 2021 election, joining, "Lake, Grant, Baker, Malheur, Union, Sherman, and Jefferson

According to the group pushing the idea, Citizens for Greater Idaho, there are now 11 counties that have supported the idea at the ballot box: Baker, Grant, Harney, Klamath, Jefferson, Lake, Malheur, Morrow, Sherman, Union, and Wheeler. The group says Wallowa will vote next.

Related video: The movement to expand Idaho's border into Oregon
Duration 5:38 View on Watch


KPTV noted, "like many of the previous votes, the measures approved on Tuesday did not directly address moving the state border."

There are significant procedural steps to allow the proposal to occur.

"For 'Greater Idaho' to become a reality, the state legislatures of both Oregon and Idaho would need to approve of the change, and that approval would then also need to be approved by Congress," KPTV reported. "Additionally, Idaho’s state constitution in Article XVII sets the name and boundaries of the state, which would need a state-wide vote to amend."

Citizens for Greater Idaho leader Mike McCarter released a statement following the vote.

“We call on the Legislature to let each half of the state go their separate ways in peace," McCarter said. "If western Oregon doesn’t like the risk of being forced to accept the gubernatorial candidate it voted against, then it should simply stop holding our counties captive in this unhappy marriage. Actually, it’s not even as dramatic as a divorce because we’re not breaking up a family."
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WORLDS SMALLEST VIOLIN
Varcoe: 'Windfall tax' in Europe hits home for Calgary oil and gas producer

Opinion by Chris Varcoe, Calgary Herald - 

If those backing a windfall tax on the oilpatch want a peek at what it creates — aside from more revenues for governments — Calgary-based Vermilion Energy offers a glimpse: uncertainty.


Oil barrels are pictured at the site of Canadian group Vermilion Energy in Parentis-en-Born, France, on Oct. 13, 2017.© Provided by Calgary Herald

With a global energy crisis unfolding today, the reverberations have reached Vermilion, a mid-sized petroleum producer that is active in Canada, the United States, Australia and several European countries.

On Thursday, Vermilion reported third-quarter net earnings of $271 million in a period of high energy prices, up from a loss of $147 million a year earlier.

The company also announced it could pay an estimated $250 million to $350 million for 2022 because of the new temporary “windfall tax” being imposed by European Union (EU) countries on profits by oil and gas producers.

In a news release, Vermilion said it doesn’t “believe a windfall tax is an appropriate solution as it will not incentivize new domestic supply, nor reduce consumption, and it may ultimately result in higher natural gas prices in Europe.”

Uncertainty surrounding the new tax led the Canadian company to pause its share buyback program in the fourth quarter so it can fully assess the impact of the levy on its debt targets.

“It’s been an interesting time with the policy in Europe. It’s during this energy crisis, it’s discussions from price caps to windfall taxes on oil and gas companies,” Vermilion president Dion Hatcher said on a conference call.

“Our ask, as we think about the policies in Europe, is really we want stable and predictable policies.”

With energy prices soaring following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, the EU approved a temporary windfall tax in September aimed at fossil fuel companies in the region.

Some details have yet to be ironed out by individual countries and it’s unclear whether the tax will apply retroactively to 2022, prospectively to 2023, or for both years, according to Vermilion.

If it hits both years, the potential cumulative costs are estimated at $650 million to $750 million, based on the current commodity price outlook.

Vermilion’s shares fell almost eight per cent on Thursday to close at $27.25 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, while the overall S&P/TSX Capped Energy Index climbed by 2.5 per cent.

“It’s all about the EU windfall tax,” said analyst Phil Skolnick of Eight Capital. “It’s just a knee-jerk reaction to them saying they’re pausing the (buybacks) and that caught some people off guard.”

Ottawa could reap $4.4 billion from extending windfall tax to other sectors: PBO


Vermilion has a diverse base of international operations, including in France — where it’s the No. 1 domestic oil producer — along with Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands.

About a third of its production of 84,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day came from outside North America, but it contributed an oversized amount of free cash flow as the company received premium prices for its natural gas and oil in Europe.

Continental gas prices hit all-time highs above $120 per million British thermal units (mmBTU) at Europe’s benchmark futures market in late August. Vermilion estimates the realized price for all of its gas production will average $22 per mmBTU this year, compared with $5 for gas in Alberta.

Calls for a windfall tax have gathered steam in recent months as gasoline prices and energy bills have jumped for consumers, while producers around the world have reported record profits.

During the run-up to the American mid-term elections, President Joe Biden warned last week of a similar windfall tax on the U.S. sector, while saying it’s time oil companies “stop the war profiteering.”

In Canada, the federal government opted not to bring in a windfall tax, but announced plans to introduce a new levy on public companies repurchasing their own shares, beginning in 2024.

“This is a time of unprecedented profits in the oil and gas sector. Right now, that money is almost entirely being handed back to shareholders,” said Keith Stewart of Greenpeace Canada, which is calling for a windfall tax.

The levy on corporate share buybacks , which have grown in popularity across the sector in the past year, amounts to a different form of a windfall tax on the sector, said Ben Brunnen, founder of Verum Consulting.

Governments in Canada are already collecting more royalties and taxes tied to higher oil and gas prices, he noted.


FILE PHOTO: Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland delivers the fall economic statement in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on November 3, 2022.

If policymakers want to see more benefits, they should encourage industry growth, rather than create new taxes, said Brunnen, former vice-president of fiscal and economic policy with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.

“Investors have been patient with the oil and gas industry over the last decade or so, struggling to get some good returns. And when those returns finally come, they get penalized,” he said.

“It’s short-sighted economic policy.”

At Vermilion, the company expects to unveil its 2023 capital budget in January that’s similar to this year’s $550-million program. Hatcher said there’s a potential for more money being allocated to increase European gas output.

“We have the ability and desire to drill more wells in Europe and if ongoing discussions with regulators are productive, we will look to allocate additional capital to the region in 2023,” he said.

Hatcher would also like to see government policies recognize the industry’s contribution to energy security, displacing the need to import supplies.

“Going back to ‘97, we have put meaningful capital at risk to provide secure energy in Europe … without the guarantees of return,” he said.

“Our business is cyclical and there are periods of low prices, and there are periods of high prices. And we need those periods of high prices to offset the lows.”

Chris Varcoe is a Calgary Herald columnist.

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Letter: It's time to turn away from fossil fuels to power new builds

Reader Letters - 
Leader Post

We’re way behind on electrification in Regina when it has advantages that would benefit us while helping to fight the climate crisis. Building right with all electric the first time will save money on energy costs for buildings with the costs of operating high-efficiency electric appliances being lower with savings over time. A study by Inclusive Economics and UCLA’s Luskin Center for Innovation found that there could be significant job growth from electrifying new and existing buildings. Most of the new jobs would be in construction, with opportunities for job growth in other sectors as well, including manufacturing.


Solar panels on a row of townhouses.© Provided by Leader Post

Building electrification (also known as beneficial electrification or building decarbonization) involves the shift to electricity rather than burning fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal for heating and cooking. We need to be going to all-electric buildings powered by solar, wind and other sources of zero-carbon electricity. Electrification is an effective decarbonization strategy that can be rolled out on a municipal basis because the electricity used can be generated with clean resources.

So why are we building backwards with buildings that are not highly energy efficient or electrified? It’s developers nickel and diming with no accountability to the City of Regina or the province to build with a focus on decarbonization. We need to stop looking for the cheapest shortcuts in buildings in our province and city and look for the solutions that have the best long term benefit environmentally and economically. If we’re serious about sustainability then it’s time to get serious about electrification.

Larry Neufeld, Regina
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CONSERVATIVE ALBERTA ECONOMIST 
Jack Mintz: The real climate policy question — why is Trudeau's carbon tax so low?
ASKS A GOOD QUESTION OF THE TORIES
THEY HAVE NO CARBON TAX PLAN

Opinion by Jack M. Mintz -Financial Post

Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson speaking to the 
Calgary Chamber of Commerce.

Public finance economists — myself included — have long argued that the best way to reduce GHG emissions is to impose a “price” via an emission trading system (ETS) or carbon tax . The idea is not new. British economist Arthur Pigou first proposed environmental taxes a century ago.

A Pigou argument for carbon pricing is based on both effectiveness and least economic cost. Businesses and households react to the price by adopting technologies or conservation practices to reduce emissions without any need for further political meddling in markets. As a bonus, recycling the revenues to reduce uncompetitive taxes such as the income tax results in a “double dividend” by improving both the environment and the economy .

The federal minister of natural resources, John Wilkinson, seems to agree — except for the double dividend bit: Ottawa gives its carbon tax revenues back to households in lump-sum transfers. But the minister is so sold on carbon taxes he’s willing to guarantee carbon prices in private-sector contracts and commit to paying penalties if the tax is cancelled — presumably in order to keep a future Poilievre government from doing just that. Legal issues aside, is it really smart to force a policy decision like this on future voters?

In the runup to the COP27 talkfest in Egypt, the OECD published a report on “ Pricing greenhouse gas emissions: Turning climate targets into climate action.” Because worldwide GHG emissions keep increasing and are expected to do so for the rest of decade perhaps it should have been called “Turning climate targets into climate in action.”

The OECD argues that carbon taxation and ETS systems are spreading, with 71 jurisdictions now pricing at least some GHG emissions. But dig into the numbers and you find the average 2021 global carbon tax was only 71 U.S. cents per tonne of CO2 — just 95 Canadian cents! Add in ETS pricing and the average carbon price shoots up to €4.29, or just C$5.80 — which amounts to a hill of beans.

To persuade us carbon pricing is important, the OECD also includes excise taxes on gasoline and diesel. They bring the carbon price up to €17.52 (C$23.67). But in most places the purpose of such taxes has been to fund subsidized road transportation and operate as a surrogate tax on congestion costs, not to price GHG emissions. Besides, it’s a very poor carbon levy because it only applies narrowly to just a few sources.

With the recent spike in energy prices, many countries have been handing out subsidies to help consumers cope. Net of subsidies, the 2021 carbon price (not including excise taxes on fuel) is €3.43 (C$4.06). Despite the Trudeau government’s rhetoric, Canada is in the middle of the pack with the 31st highest carbon price: €21.69 (C$29.36).

Maybe we should start asking the obvious question: why are carbon prices so low? They certainly haven’t caught on — not compared with the value-added tax (VAT), for instance, which started in 1954 in France and grew in 30 years to become an important revenue source in over 150 countries. VAT revenues now account for almost a fifth of total tax revenues in OECD countries while carbon revenues are bupkis – roughly three per cent of the total.

So why is carbon pricing failing as a policy? At least five reasons.

First, it is very visible, leads to higher prices for necessities (transportation and heating), and hurts low-income and rural voters. Hidden taxes and even costly regulations on businesses are politically easier: voters don’t see them raising prices, even though they do.

Second, voters like policies that give them money rather than take it away. Outside California the U.S. has very little carbon pricing. But Washington just passed legislation providing almost a half-trillion dollars in climate subsidies. Subsidies financed by higher deficits or corporate taxes are more appealing than taxes — until they break the bank.

Third, many countries have little faith in the effectiveness of carbon pricing, actually preferring clean energy regulations and mandates. Even Jonathan Wilkinson , when he was environment minister, was convinced that even with the carbon price rising to $170 per tonne mandates and clean fuel regulations were needed if Canada was to reach its (unrealistic) GHG emission targets by 2030.

BULLSHIT
Fourth, without international coordination carbon policies have significant impacts on competitiveness that could lead to deindustrialization and job losses in energy-intensive industries. For Canada, this is especially important. Our carbon policies are on a different track than those of our largest trading partner, the U.S. Even if we match the Americans’ huge new subsidies, our high carbon price will make Canadian businesses less competitive than U.S. companies. Border tariffs with the U.S. might offset our disadvantage but wouldn’t stop Canadian businesses shifting production south to the largest market in the world.

Fifth, energy security and poverty will force countries to trade off climate change with other public objectives until practical technologies develop commercially. In today’s energy crisis, European countries are scrambling for coal, natural gas and oil to support both consumers and industries.

Though it does bring in revenues, which is always appealing to governments, carbon pricing just doesn’t cut it for many countries, as the OECD has now shown.
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CAPTALI$T CLIMATE CRI$I$ OPPORTUNITY

Faulkner: Climate change migration and the future of real estate

Dennis Faulkner - Yesterday - Edmonton Journal

Canada is already at or near the top of the list of the best countries to live in. Alas, there is possibly another reason to move to Canada — climate change.


Forest fires and floods are some of the climate change effects that will affect where people live.

Forward thinkers and generational planners may see a move to Canada as the best way to thrive in a climate-changed world.

Some residents of California have moved because of the increase in wildfires. Many no longer feel safe. They have migrated to other parts of the United States, where the wildfire risk is much lower.

Declining river levels in the United States, including the Colorado River, Mississippi River and Missouri River, are reaching dangerously low levels.

California has to keep implementing new restrictions for the acceptable use of the precious waters of the Colorado River. Many farmers have had to limit and change what crops they grow in California because of the shortages.

The Colorado River runs down to Mexico or used to. Now what runs into Mexico is more like a trickle.

The Missouri and Mississippi Rivers are now so low that there are backlogs of vessels waiting to get to tidewater. These vessels contain grains and other products for world export.

The delay in getting food resources affects revenue for exporters and farmers and may contribute to food shortages in parts of the world.

On the West Coast of Canada, some waterways have dried up, which is affecting salmon’s ability to spawn.

Related video: Climate change has 'massive' impact on health, expert says
Duration 1:32   View on Watch

In the last several years, there has been an increase in the frequency and intensity of storms, droughts and wildfires. All these changes to our weather patterns come with great additional costs.

Climate change aside, the Canadian government has significantly increased our immigration quotas. Canada typically processes about 260,000 immigration applications each year. That level is increasing.

In 2019, Canada welcomed 341,000 new permanent residents. In 2021, we welcomed 401,000 permanent residents, which broke the old record set in 1913.

This year is expected to increase to as many as 420,000 applications processed, with even more increases expected in 2023 and beyond.

We will likely see more business and corporate migration to Canada, as well.

The increase in immigration is necessary to support our economy and replace our aging and retiring baby boomers.

This increased immigration will put upward pressure on housing demand. Rental demand will likely increase across the nation. Demand for home ownership will follow.

We already have a housing shortage in Canada. That shortage may be as high or higher than 2 million homes.

The recent rapid increase in mortgage rates has resulted in downward pressure on housing demand across Canada. Many areas of British Columbia and Ontario have seen significant drops in valuations since the beginning of the year.

Some are anticipating as much as a 30 per cent valuation drop in housing in regions of B.C. and Ontario. The prairie provinces did not appreciate significantly over the last 10 years and may not see much of a correction at all.

What affects values the most is the relationship between demand and supply.

The increased levels of immigration in Canada may reduce the amount of downward correction in values. Climate change migration could contribute to stronger housing demand in Canada for decades to come.

The prairie provinces could be at the top of the list of many new Canadians seeking housing affordability and employment opportunities. In the coming two to five years, we may see the housing values in prairie provinces significantly outperform many regions, including Ontario and B.C.

Canada could see a significant increase in immigration applications related to climate change issues in the years and decades to come.

Dennis Faulkner works as a realtor at Re/Max River City and holds a bachelor of arts degree with a major in macroeconomics. He can be contacted at hello@simplyrealestate.ca
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Deep inside Greenland's melting ice cap, the situation is dire

Mark Robinson - 
The rocks at the edge of the ice looked more like someone had backed up a gravel truck and dumped it rather than the remnants of what had once been encased deep in a glacier.

Picking my way through the piles and onto the Greenland ice cap itself during a StormHunters expedition back in 2013 was a crash course in not breaking an ankle. Gravel mixed with meltwater and crumbling ice poured past my feet and I wondered if what I was seeing was regular summer melt, or if this was one of the first signs of a serious problem.

Lucky for me, a powerful new documentary called Into The Ice answered my question — but the answer wasn’t the one I’d hoped for.

Into The Ice, a film by documentarian Lars Ostenfeld, took him high up onto the Greenland ice cap as he followed three sets of scientists delving deep into the frozen surface.

As Ostenfbeld explained, when I spoke with him over a video call in advance of the film’s screening at the Planet in Focus Festival, getting a better look of what’s happening inside the glacier is an important as seeing what the satellites are telling us.

“Half of the ice melt is happening inside the ice and we have no idea what’s going on in there. The satellites and the radar are only seeing the surface and that’s where our knowledge is coming from,” he told The Weather Network.



Deep inside Greenland's melting ice cap, the situation is dire© Provided by The Weather NetworkOn the ice caps of Greenland during the filming of Into the Ice. (Courtesy of Lars Ostenfeld)

So, to understand how the ice is changing and document how climatologists are finding new ways to document those changes, Ostenfeld travelled across the ice cap with Jason Box, dropped into a deep moulin (a meltwater hole in the ice) with Alun Hubbard, and examined ice cores with Dorthe Dahl-Jensen.

Each section of the documentary has its share of adventure, but it’s the section where Ostenfeld descends into the moulin that had my heart going (and I’ve been inside live volcanoes).

I asked Ostenfeld what emotions were going through his mind as he stood at the edge of the ice.

He laughed as he told me, “First of all, it was a good idea back in Denmark to climb down in the moulin. It sounded like a great adventure, but when I was standing there at the edge, looking down, it was totally black. You could see the ice and it just went down into a black hole. Nobody knew how deep it was and nobody knew where it ends. That was scary.”

Watch also: 'Zombie ice' is threatening our seas, but what is it? 
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Heading down into the moulin was dangerous beyond anything he’d ever done before.

“We took it in slow steps,” he said. “When I was down at 60 metres there was a small plateau and I could stop and film from there. I was scared: very, very scared. My knees were shaking, my heart was going, but my safety guy, and expedition leader, was right beside me and the way he spoke to me, and the way he handled things made me feel safe.”

Getting to the bottom was a goal for both Ostenfeld and the scientists. For the former, getting a shot from the bottom of the hole would be potentially a first in filming, and for the scientists, and it was a chance to determine how much melt was ongoing within the ice cap.

On his first attempt, Ostenfeld only made it part of the way down as Alan Hubbard, his companion glaciologist, decided the ice was too warm and dangerous to make it all the way to the bottom. On the second attempt, spoiler alert, the scene had my stomach in knots while watching the film.


At the end of the day, the real point of the documentary wasn’t to have an adventure, but to make people feel the effects of climate change.

“It is happening and I want people to feel it and take it seriously. This film celebrates science and the scientists and I want people to listen to what they are saying. It's like a Cassandra complex: you know what’s happening in the future but you feel like no one’s listening. And I want people to listen to the scientists because we can do something. If everyone does something small, it adds up over time,” Ostenfeld explained.



Deep inside Greenland's melting ice cap, the situation is dire© Provided by The Weather NetworkHeading down a deep moulin (a meltwater hole in the ice) during the filming of Into the Ice. (Courtesy of Lars Ostenfeld)

Completing the film changed Ostenfeld’s perspective on climate change and the natural world.

“One, I didn’t realize how big nature is and the problem is enormous. There’s a lot of ice that is melting so it will affect the whole world,” he said. “And second, I had the same feeling as Jason (one of the scientists) in that, is anyone listening? I began the film just because I was curious about what was happening to the ice and didn’t know much about it. After I finished filming and editing, I’m more worried about it now.”

While I know that the Greenland ice cap isn’t going anywhere soon, I’m hoping that when I next return the piles of ice debris won’t be that much larger and the ice that much smaller.

But, I’m not confident it won’t be bad news.

Into the Ice is playing a wide variety of film festivals in Europe and North America and Ostenfeld hopes to bring it to a streaming service soon.

Thumbnail image: Into the Ice. (Courtesy of Lars Ostenfeld)
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