Lauren Boebert campaigns against all government benefits — and it may haunt the GOP in the 2022 midterms

Bob Brigham
July 10, 2021

Zoom question and answer appearance screenshot

Controversial Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) excited the left on Saturday after a clip from her speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) provided fodder heading into the 2022 midterm elections.

While Republicans have largely avoided talking about policy while instead focusing on manufactured culture wars outrages, Boebert laid out her vision.

"We're here to tell government we don't want your benefits. We don't want your welfare," she said.

"Don't come knocking on my door with your Fauci ouchie," she said, probably referring to the effort to go door-to-door in with information about where to get a coronavirus vaccine.

"Republican congresswoman wants to end VA healthcare, VA disability payments and the GI Bill for America's veterans. Can't wait till the vets in her district find out!" he said.

Democratic strategist Jesse Ferguson looked at how Democrats could exploit Boebert's speech for political gain.

"GOP wants to repeal the rescue plan and take back your $1,400 checks," Ferguson

"You leave us the hell alone," the GOP congresswoman said.

The idea of cutting Medicare and Social Security has often been called the "third rail" of American politics in reference to the electoral lethality of going after the popular programs.

Democrats were ecstatic, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez urged Boebert on.

"Tell 'em loud and proud girl! GOP will strip your unemployment protections and dismantle any semblance of a public safety net we have left!" Ocasio-Cortez posted to Twitter.

Occasional New York Daily News columnist Brandon Friedman noted how harshly cutting benefits would impact veterans

"Lauren Boebert's restaurant received a $233,305 PPP check and she receives a $174,000 taxpayer-funded salary," podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen wrote.

"This is one step removed from promising to get the government's hands off of Medicare," said The Washington Post's Helaine Olen.

Georgetown Prof. Don Moynihan noted a 2011 poll showing that 70% of Tea Partiers did not want to cut Medicare.

"One thing that has proven true again and again is that people actually like and want the government benefits that they get," he wrote.

Chef Andrew Zimmern said, "Dangerous, uninformed, naive, … someone should show the congressperson who in her district uses fed benefits of all kinds."

MSNBC's Mehdi Hasan questioned if Boebert's plan would work

Ocasio-Cortez knocks Boebert for call to end extra jobless benefits

Dominick Mastrangelo 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) ripped Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) for remarks regarding government unemployment benefits during a conservative gathering in Dallas over the weekend.

© Getty Images Ocasio-Cortez knocks Boebert for call to end extra jobless benefits

"We're here to tell government, we don't want your benefits, we don't want your welfare. Don't come knockin' on my door with your Fauci ouchie, you leave us the hell alone," Boebert said Saturday at CPAC, the annual gathering of conservative politicians, activists and organizers, referring to infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci and the Biden administration's COVID-19 vaccine push.

"Tell 'em loud and proud girl!" Ocasio-Cortez responded to Boebert in a tweet Saturday evening. "GOP will strip your unemployment protections and dismantle any semblance of a public safety net we have left! Then make working people pay way more for everything on low wages while Wall St gets a meal ticket!"

"Good ol conservative values baby!" the progressive lawmaker added.

Boebert, a conservative currently serving in her first term, was among a bevy of members of Congress loyal to former President Trump who spoke at CPAC over the weekend.

One day before, fellow Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn (N.C.) rallied the crowd by warning against President Biden's proposed "door-to-door" COVID-19 vaccine campaign, claiming the same methods could be used to "take" people's guns and Bibles.

"Think about the mechanisms they would have to build to be able to actually execute that massive of a thing," Cawthorn said. "And then think about what those mechanisms could be used for. They could then go door-to-door and take your guns. They could go door to door and take your Bibles."

Boebert made headlines earlier this year when she appeared to carry a gun on the streets of Capitol Hill in an advertisement.

Ocasio-Cortez has attacked Boebert and Cawthorn's fellow Republicans in the House for downplaying the dangers posed to members during the Jan. 6 insurrection by Trump supporters at the Capitol.

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China's 'wolf warrior diplomacy' has come to Wall Street
llopez@businessinsider.com (Linette Lopez) 

Chinese President and Chairman of the Communist Party Xi Jinping appears on a large screen as performers dance during a mass gala marking the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party on June 28, 2021 at the Olympic Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing, China. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

China's assertive, nationalistic behavior - known as "wolf warrior diplomacy" - has come to the financial markets.

This week Beijing punished a Chinese tech company that listed on the New York Stock exchange, and announced rules to govern all Chinese companies listed abroad.

Consider this part of the Chinese Communist Party tightening its grip on power at home, and closing its doors power from abroad.

This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.

It was only a matter of time before Beijing's heightened nationalism came to Wall Street.

This week, Chinese authorities punished Didi, a ride sharing company, for its June 30 public debut on the New York Stock Exchange. Shortly after the Didi crackdown, Beijing announced new measures that could restrict Chinese companies going public abroad.

What all this is telling us is that Beijing is no longer going to tolerate its tech stars making foreigners rich on foreign exchanges. And it is further evidence that China is closing its society and economy to the West.

Bring it all back home

In order to more freely list on foreign stock exchanges, Chinese companies create something called a "variable interest entity." In such an arrangement, a Chinese company creates another company in a tax haven like the Cayman Islands where foreigners can invest. The Chinese company then signs an agreement that gives control and profits to the Cayman entity, from which money is distributed to shareholders and the company back in China. For years, Beijing generally looked the other way when it came to VIEs.

Now, according to Bloomberg, Beijing's new regulations are designed to limit the ability of Chinese companies to set up these entities. The proposed rules would govern what data can and can't be shared abroad, target "illegal securities activities," and set up extra-national laws Chinese companies would have to follow regardless of where they are listed.

Didi shares are down around 20% since it's IPO, in part because Beijing announced these measures, and in part because it has become a target for authorities at home. On July 2, the Cyberspace Administration of China announced it was investigating Didi. Two days later China's app stores were ordered to stop allowing users to download Didi. The CAC claims that Didi was illegally collecting user data.

And perhaps that's true. But it's also likely that this is a signal that "wolf warrior" aggression - a kind of Chinese diplomacy named after a hyper-nationalistic film- has come to financial markets. Two other Chinese tech companies listed in the US - Kanzhun and Full Truck Alliance - also had their downloads halted by Chinese regulators. The almost 250 Chinese companies worth $2 trillion in market cap listed on major US exchanges should all be watching their backs.

China is closing

Video: China's 'wolf warrior diplomacy' raises risks of a military clash with foreign countries: Asia Society (CNBC)

There are two main reasons for this seemingly sudden crackdown - one is China's increasing antagonism with the West, and the other is the Chinese Communist Party's own desire for power and self-preservation. Together they amount to the reality that China is once again closing its doors to the world, reversing the opening that began in the 1970s.

As part of a larger crackdown on civil society, the Chinese Communist Party has been tightening its control over any sources of power that might challenge it at home. That includes tech billionaires like Alibaba founder Jack Ma, who has recently been publicly brought to heel by Beijing. And it includes tech companies, like Tencent and Pinduoduo, another e-commerce giant.

Targeting tech companies that list abroad also puts pressure on Chinese companies to consider an IPO to list in Shanghai or Hong Kong instead. It is no secret that China's encroachment into Hong Kong prompted an exodus of financial firms from the city. Making it the new landing place for Chinese tech companies to go public could help it maintain its status as a global financial center.

It is also no secret that the US and China are at risk of what some call "decoupling"- essentially breaking ties and creating a world with separate US or China-centric technologies and financial centers. In some ways, because the two powers have become so antagonistic, this is already happening. Domestically, Beijing has been investing in technological advancements with the hopes making the country a techno-superpower by 2025. Now it's calling its companies home.

What's doubly important is that none of the above is primarily about making China rich. It's all about hoarding power for the CCP. Under President Xi Jiinping that has become Beijing's motivation above all else, and we should all expect it to act accordingly - even when it means hurting its own domestic companies.

A chilling effect

Last year Congress passed the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, which requires foreign companies listed on US stock exchanges to be audited by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's. If they refuse for three years in a row they can be delisted. Last month, the Senate passed a law that would shorten the time frame to two years in a row.

The problem with this is that so far, Chinese regulators will have absolutely none of it.

This is a stare down. If Chinese companies listed here in the US do not comply they will be delisted. If they do comply Beijing could come down hard on these companies at home. In the meantime recriminations are flying. GOP Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida called the Didi IPO "reckless and irresponsible" weeks before Beijing clamped down on the company, arguing that Didi is a black box.

Rubio and Democratic Sen. Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania introduced a bill in May that would prohibit companies from going public on US exchanges if they do not comply with US regulators and submit to an audit from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

All of this pressure from Beijing and Washington will, without a doubt, have a chilling effect on Chinese companies listing here in the United States. So yes, this is another form of decoupling - and it's coming from both sides of the Pacific.

1. Wolf Warrior - Wikipedia

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_Warrior
   • Overview
   • Production
   • Plot
   • Cast
   • Box office
   • Popular culture
   • External links

   The script went through 14 drafts over seven years. In order to portray more realistic combat scenes, the movie used five missiles (each at a value of one million yuan), more than 30,000 rounds of ammunition, and a variety of Chinese active military aircraft, including the Chengdu J-10, Harbin Z-9, and CAIC Z-10. In one large battle scene, 32 active tanks appeared in the same shot, including a Type 96 tank.
   In order to prepare for the film, with the support of Chinese PLA Nanjing Military Region, Wu Jing traine…

   Wikipedia · Text under CC-BY-SA license

KENNEY DEMANDS 3% ROLLBACK FROM NURSES HOW'S THAT WORKING OUT
Royal Alexandra, Lacombe hospitals temporarily close beds due to staffing shortages
Nicholas Frew 

© David Bajer/CBC The Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton, seen here in this file image, has had to temporarily close six beds.

Temporary staffing shortages have forced two Alberta hospitals to close 17 hospital beds combined, Alberta Health Services says.

The Lacombe Hospital and Care Centre has closed 11 beds as a temporary measure and a "last resort," according to a health services statement, as vacancies for registered and licensed practical nurses have yet to be filled.

A "short-term staffing shortage" at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton has caused it to temporarily close six beds in its emergency department, health services said.

The health authority is working to quickly resolve both situations and is making efforts to fill the vacancies, a spokesperson said.

The beds in Lacombe — 120 kilometres south of Edmonton — will be reopened once staffing levels are stabilized. In the meantime, patients at the hospital will continue receiving proper care and there is still capacity for admitting patients to the facility, AHS said.

There are 24 hospital beds left at the Lacombe hospital, 20 of which are currently occupied by patients. There is space for patients to receive care, including private space for palliative patients, and the emergency department remains open, health services said.

There are no other service disruptions at that site, AHS added.

At Royal Alexandra meanwhile, there remain 50 beds open and the emergency department is open and accepting patients as, health services said.

Patient flow for hospitals in the Edmonton Zone is managed by AHS. There are several other emergency departments in and around the city patients can attend too, AHS said.

Nursing shortages worsened by pandemic: union

The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, which represents over 95,000 public sector workers, says it has heard from members throughout the province that memos sent out over the past couple of months warned of potential bed closures due to low staffing levels.

The 11 hospital beds in Lacombe are the most recent consequence of AHS not filling vacant positions, said Bonnie Gostola, a union vice-president.

"The community is going to suffer for it," she said, adding that the bed closures could force people to travel to other communities to seek care.

"It's going to push people out of their homes and out of their communities — out of their comfort."

© Gaetan Lamarre/CBC David Harrigan, director of labour relations of United Nurses of Alberta, says morale among the province's nurses is as low as it's ever been.

Nursing shortages throughout most parts of Alberta are creating a vicious cycle of sorts, says the director of labour relations of United Nurses of Alberta, which represents over 30,000 nurses.

People will accept nursing positions, but their workload becomes overwhelming because the facilities in which they work are understaffed, said David Harrigan. That leads to the employees either moving to a different facility, or leaving the industry entirely, Harrigan said.

The vacancy issue started several years ago, but the COVID-19 pandemic has compounded it and nurses are exhausted, said Gostola. But there is also a fear that once the pandemic is over, their jobs or salaries will be cut so the province can save money as it tries to recover financially.

"They're just fed up. They're done," she said.

There is a high level of anger and disillusionment among nurses toward provincial officials and morale is as low as it's ever been, said Harrigan.

Alberta Health Services and the provincial government have to decide whether they want to fix the vacancy problem or provoke a fight with nurses, who were labelled as heroes throughout most of the past 16 months, said Harrigan.

CRIMINAL CRYPTO CAPITALI$M
Take a look inside this underground crypto mining farm in Ukraine with its 3,800 PlayStations and 5,000 computers

kshalvey@insider.com (Kevin Shalvey)

© Security Service of Ukraine Around 5,000 computers were used in the mine, Ukraine officials said. Security Service of Ukraine

Ukraine police last week seized around 9,000 games consoles and computers in an illegal crypto mine.

The mine was stealing as much as $259,300 in electricity each month, investigators said.

Police said it was the largest underground crypto mine to have been discovered in Ukraine.

A huge underground cryptocurrency mining operation has been busted by Ukraine police for allegedly stealing electricity from the grid.

Police said they'd seized 5,000 computers and 3,800 games consoles that were being used in the illegal mine, the largest discovered in the country.

The mine, in the city of Vinnytsia, near Kyiv, stole as much as $259,300 in electricity each month, the Security Service of Ukraine said. To conceal the theft, the operators of the mine used electricity meters that did not reflect their actual energy consumption, officials said.

"Such illegal activity could lead to power surges and left people without electricity," the security service said.

Police said that criminal proceedings had begun over the theft of water, electricity, and thermal energy. The mine was run by residents of Kyiv and Vinnytsia, a city about three hours outside the capital, police said.

© Security Service of Ukraine Gaming consoles in the crypto mine in a photo released by officials. Security Service of Ukraine

Photos released by state investigators show a cavernous room filled wall-to-wall with metal racks of neatly lined-up computers and Sony Playstation consoles.

Along with the computers and consoles, officials said they also seized more than 500 graphic cards, 50 processors, and documentation on the site's electricity consumption. They also took notebooks, phones, and flash drives, according to the press statement.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Transport minister orders CN, CP to take new wildfire prevention measures

OTTAWA — Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra ordered Canada's two major railroad operators to step up their fire prevention efforts as of Sunday as wildfires continue to scorch British Columbia.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The Canadian National and Canadian Pacific railways must ensure a 60-minute response time to any fires detected along rail lines running through Lytton, B.C., with the goal of extinguishing or controlling the blaze and asking the local fire service for help if necessary, Alghabra said in a release.

"Unprecedented weather conditions in British Columbia continue to pose a serious threat to public safety and railway operations," the statement reads. "The government of Canada remains committed to supporting those affected by the devastating wildfires in British Columbia and will not hesitate to take any safety actions that are necessary to mitigate these risks to public safety and the integrity of railway tracks and infrastructure."

The ministerial order comes after the Transportation Safety Board launched an investigation as a result of new information on the suspected source of a devastating wildfire that raced through Lytton on June 30.

The safety board said Friday the information came by way of probes by the RCMP and BC Wildfire Service into the cause of a blaze that destroyed much of the village and killed two people, though no cause has been disclosed.

It is not yet known which rail line is linked to the train in question, and neither Canadian National nor Canadian Pacific has filed any occurrence reports related to the Lytton fire, the board said.

CN has said its trains were not linked to the fire, and CP resumed its service through Lytton on Monday.

More than 200 wildfires are burning in B.C. as a recent heat wave and parched conditions combined to raise the fire risk in many parts of the province to high or extreme.

Lightning also continued to challenge wildfire crews in the province in the past few days.

The new order, in effect until Oct. 31, calls for at least 10 fire detection patrols every 24 hours on stretches of track that run through Lytton. It also makes conductors responsible for spotting and reporting fires on those lines and requires removal of combustible materials following "vegetation control measures."

CN and CP must also consult with First Nations governing bodies along the two rail lines to work Indigenous knowledge of the region into their fire hazard reduction and fire preparedness plans.

Alghabra had ordered all train traffic through Lytton to halt on Thursday and Friday while residents were on escorted bus tours through the village to take stock of the damage.

Sunday's order requires slower train speeds when the fire danger level for the area is "extreme" anywhere across the country. No locomotive can pass through one of those areas unless it has been inspected in the past 15 days to ensure its exhaust passages are clear of combustible material.

CN and CP must also implement an "interim extreme weather risk fire mitigation plan" within 14 days and send it on to municipal and Indigenous governments, the order states.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 11, 2021.

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press

OPPS

Haiti suspects say they meant to arrest, not kill president -report

By Andre Paultre and Sarah Marsh

© Reuters/STRINGER Gunmen assassinate Haitian president at his home, in Port-au-Prince

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - A group of Colombians and Haitian Americans suspected of assassinating Haitian President Jovenel Moise told investigators they were there to arrest him, not kill him, the Miami Herald and a person familiar with the matter said on Sunday

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© Reuters/STRINGER Gunmen assassinate Haitian president at his home, in Port-au-Prince

Moise was shot dead early on Wednesday at his Port-au-Prince home by what Haitian authorities say was a unit of assassins made up of 26 Colombians and two Haitian Americans, plunging the troubled Caribbean nation into deeper political turmoil.

© Reuters/RICARDO ARDUENGO A woman walks on a sidewalk following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise

The murder and uncertainty about who hatched the plot is the latest in a succession of blows to hit the struggling country.

The United States has rebuffed Haiti's request for troops and the United Nations would need Security Council authorization to send armed forces.

Citing people who had spoken to some of the 19 suspects detained so far, the Miami Herald said they said their mission was to arrest Moise and take him to the presidential palace.

A source close to the investigation said the two Haitian Americans, James Solages and Joseph Vincent, told investigators they were translators for the Colombian commando unit that had an arrest warrant. But when they arrived, they found him dead.

© Reuters/RICARDO ARDUENGO This aerial view shows people buying goods in a street market following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise

Haitian police did not reply to a request for comment.

The news follows reports that some of the Colombians had said they had gone to work as security personnel on Haiti, including for Moise himself.

Photos and X-ray images posted on social media at the weekend said to be from Moise's autopsy showed his body riddled with bullet holes, a fractured skull and other broken bones, underscoring the brutal nature of the attack.

© Reuters/RICARDO ARDUENGO A gasoline street vendor pours gasoline from a bucket into used soft drink bottles following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, in Port-au-Prince

Reuters could not independently confirm their authenticity.

Via social media, Haitians in parts of the capital Port-au-Prince were planning protests this week against the interim prime minister and acting head of state Claude Joseph.

Joseph's right to lead the country has been challenged by other senior politicians, threatening to exacerbate the turmoil engulfing the poorest country in the Americas.

Meanwhile, one of Haiti's top gang leaders, Jimmy Cherizier, a former cop known as Barbecue, said on Saturday his men would take to the streets to protest the assassination.

Cherizier, boss of the so-called G9 federation of nine gangs, said police and opposition politicians had conspired with the "stinking bourgeoisie" to "sacrifice" Moise.

Several rounds of gunfire rang out overnight in the capital, which has suffered a surge in gang violence in recent months, displacing thousands and hampering economic activity.

(Reporting by Andre Paultre in Port-Au-Prince and Sarah Marsh in Havana; Writing by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

 Star light, star bright...as explained by math

KING ABDULLAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (KAUST)

Research News

 

IMAGE: A NEWLY DEVELOPED METHOD MATHEMATICALLY DESCRIBES PERIODIC CHANGES IN THE BRIGHTNESS OF STARS. THE MODEL CAN ALSO BE APPLIED TO SIMILAR VARIABLE PHENOMENA SUCH AS CLIMATOLOGY AND SOLAR IRRADIANCE. view more 

CREDIT: © 2021 MORGAN BENNETT SMITH

Not all stars shine brightly all the time. Some have a brightness that changes rhythmically due to cyclical phenomena like passing planets or the tug of other stars. Others show a slow change in this periodicity over time that can be difficult to discern or capture mathematically. KAUST's Soumya Das and Marc Genton have now developed a method to bring this evolving periodicity within the framework of mathematically "cyclostationary" processes.

"It can be difficult to explain the variations of the brightness of variable stars unless they follow a regular pattern over time," says Das. "In this study we created methods that can explain the evolution of the brightness of a variable star, even if it departs from strict periodicity or constant amplitude."

Classic cyclostationary processes have an easily definable variation over time, like the sweep of a lighthouse beam or the annual variation in solar irradiance at a given location. Here, "stationary" refers to the constant nature of the periodicity over time and describes highly predictable processes like a rotating shaft or a lighthouse beam. However, when the period or amplitude changes slowly over many cycles, the mathematics for cyclostationary processes fails.

"We call such a process an evolving period and amplitude cyclostationary, or EPACS, process," says Das. "Since EPACS processes are more flexible than cyclostationary processes, they can be used to model a wide variety of real-life scenarios."

Das and Genton modeled the nonstationary period and amplitude by defining them as functions that vary over time. In doing this, they expanded the definition of a cyclostationary process to better describe the relationship among variables, such as the brightness and periodic cycle for a variable star. They then used an iterative approach to refine key parameters in order to fit the model to the observed process.

"We applied our method to model the light emitted from the variable star R Hydrae, which exhibited a slowing of its period from 420 to 380 days between 1900 and 1950," says Das. "Our approach showed that R Hydrae has an evolving period and amplitude correlation structure that was not captured in previous work."

Importantly, because this approach links EPACS processes back to classical cyclostationary theory, then fitting an EPACS process makes it possible to use existing methods for cyclostationary processes.

"Our method can also be applied to similar phenomena other than variable stars, such as climatology and environmetrics, and particularly for solar irradiance, which could be useful for predicting energy harvesting in Saudi Arabia," Das says.

POLLUTERS NON PAYES

Over 25 years, world's wealthiest 5 percent behind over one-third of global emissions growth: study

Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams

www.rawstory.com

As world leaders prepare for this November's United Nations Climate Conference in Scotland, a new report from the Cambridge Sustainability Commission reveals that the world's wealthiest 5% were responsible for well over a third of all global emissions growth between 1990 and 2015.

"Rich people who fly a lot may think they can offset their emissions by tree-planting schemes or projects to capture carbon from the air. But these schemes are highly contentious and they're not proven over time."
—Peter Newell,
Sussex University

The report (pdf), entitled Changing Our Ways: Behavior Change and the Climate Crisis, found that nearly half the growth in absolute global emissions were cause by the world's richest 10%, with the most affluent 5% alone contributing 37%.

"In the year when the U.K. hosts COP26, and while the government continues to reward some of Britain's biggest polluters through tax credits, the commission report shows why this is precisely the wrong way to meet the U.K.'s climate targets," the report's introduction states.

The authors of the report urge United Kingdom policymakers to focus on this so-called "polluter elite" in an effort to persuade wealthy people to adopt more sustainable behavior, while providing "affordable, available low-carbon alternatives to poorer households."

The report found that the "polluter elite" must make "dramatic" lifestyle changes in order to meet the U.K.'s goal—based on the Paris climate agreement's preferential objective—of limiting global heating to 1.5°C, compared with pre-industrial levels.

In addition to highlighting previous recommendations—including reducing meat consumption, reducing food waste, and switching to electric vehicles and solar power—the report recommends that policymakers take the following steps:

Implement frequent flyer levies;

Enact bans on selling and promoting SUVs and other high polluting vehicles;

Reverse the U.K.'s recent move to cut green grants for homes and electric cars; and

Build just transitions by supporting electric public transport and community energy schemes.

"We have got to cut over-consumption and the best place to start is over-consumption among the polluting elites who contribute by far more than their share of carbon emissions," Peter Newell, a Sussex University professor and lead author of the report, told the BBC.

"These are people who fly most, drive the biggest cars most, and live in the biggest homes which they can easily afford to heat, so they tend not to worry if they're well insulated or not," said Newell. "They're also the sort of people who could really afford good insulation and solar panels if they wanted to."

Newell said that wealthy people "simply must fly less and drive less. Even if they own an electric SUV, that's still a drain on the energy system and all the emissions created making the vehicle in the first place."

"Promisingly, we have brought about positive change before, and there are at least some positive signs that there is an appetite to do what is necessary to live differently but well on the planet we call home."
—Cambridge Sustainability Commission

"Rich people who fly a lot may think they can offset their emissions by tree-planting schemes or projects to capture carbon from the air," Newell added. "But these schemes are highly contentious and they're not proven over time."

The report concludes that "we are all on a journey and the final destination is as yet unclear. There are many contradictory road maps about where we might want to get to and how, based on different theories of value and premised on diverse values."

"Promisingly, we have brought about positive change before, and there are at least some positive signs that there is an appetite to do what is necessary to live differently but well on the planet we call home," it states.

The new report follows a September 2020 Oxfam International study that revealed the wealthiest 1% of the world's population is responsible for emitting more than twice as much carbon dioxide as the poorest 50% of humanity combined.

Here's how student debt could be redefined by the nation's first debtors' union. Democracy might just get rescued in the process.

asheffey@businessinsider.com (Ayelet Sheffey) 

© Jacquelyn Martin/AP Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Astra Taylor, founder of the Debt Collective, told Insider student debt is threatening democracy.

She said that after the Civil War, debt was used to wield power over marginalized communities.

Biden is "playing with fire" not following through on his promise to cancel student debt, she said.

Debt is all-American, Astra Taylor says. And she doesn't mean that in a good way.

Taylor, who founded the Debt Collective, which calls for the cancellation of all forms of debt, namechecks Thomas Jefferson as a founding father of how we understand debt today.

In the early 1880s, he wrote in a letter that debt should be used as a tool to control Indigenous people "because we observe that when these debts get beyond what the individuals can pay, they become willing to lop them off by a cession of lands." This idea has "carried over through the 20th century," Taylor said, and she's made it her mission to end in the 21st. Our relationship with debt can be all-American in a different - and better - way, she said in an interview with Insider.

Her organization is the country's first membership-based union for debtors and allies, and she said it's a necessary step for true democracy to finally emerge in the US. She's offering her help to President Joe Biden, even drafting an executive order she wants President Joe Biden to sign to cancel student debt for all borrowers.

Even if he can cancel all student debt by simply signing a piece of paper, Taylor said it wouldn't be enough - all debt in the country has to be erased so borrowers are no longer controlled by money they will never be able to pay off

.

© Astra Taylor Founder of the Debt Collective, Astra Taylor. Astra Taylor

"I think it's really important to understand that relationships of credit and debt are always political," Taylor said. "It's a power relationship masquerading as a relationship of equality," adding that it's time for Americans to move beyond that dynamic.

Many Americans who hold student debt fear they will never be able to pay it off before dying, as Insider previously reported, and given that multiple left-leaning studies have shown that debt cancellation would stimulate the economy by freeing up money for borrowers to spend elsewhere, Taylor said there's no reason why Biden should not act on the opportunity.


The roots of debt and democracy

As Taylor explained in an opinion piece for The New York Times last week, the Reconstruction era that followed the Civil War had another name among formerly enslaved people: the Jubilee. But although slavery was abolished, debt quickly took its place in the form of "sharecropping," which served as a tool to control marginalized communities and allow white landlords "generations of exploitable labor."

This kind of coercion through debt mutated but never went away, Taylor said, citing predatory lending and redlining, or the practice of housing discrimination based on race which the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) found evidence of this year. Lawmakers like Sen. Elizabeth Warren argue that student-loan servicers are currently taking advantage of borrowers in a similar way.

Taylor said the economic recovery Biden touts does not reflect the disproportionate debt burden on minority communities. For example, upon graduation, Black student debt borrowers typically owe 50% more than white borrowers. Four years later, Black borrowers owe 100% more, according to 36 civil rights organizations.

The Debt Collective's work to ensure debtor's remain politically independent will help eliminate the disproportionate burden of debt, and, as Taylor put it, "revive the Jubilee." Taylor's ideas are intersecting more and more with the mainstream. For example, this week Bloomberg's Odd Lots podcast interviewed "independent renegade economist" Steve Keen, who called for a "modern Jubilee."
Biden is 'playing with fire' on debt cancellation

During his campaign, Biden promised to immediately cancel $10,000 in student debt for all borrowers, but he has not yet fulfilled that promise and has not commented on if, or when, he will follow through. Taylor told Insider that there are "tremendous risks" accompanied with not delivering on debt cancellation.Here's how student debt could be redefined by the nation's first debtors' union. Democracy might just get rescued in the process.

Biden is 'playing with fire' on debt cancellation

During his campaign, Biden promised to immediately cancel $10,000 in student debt for all borrowers, but he has not yet fulfilled that promise and has not commented on if, or when, he will follow through. Taylor told Insider that there are "tremendous risks" accompanied with not delivering on debt cancellation.

"They're playing with fire," Taylor said. "To break this promise they fully have the ability legally to do is just so dangerous."

Taylor argues that instead of investing in debt collection, Biden should invest in free education. Plus, she says, eliminating debt would allow people to invest in other things, like housing.

The Education Department has so far cancelled some debt for certain groups of people, but Americans continue to hold $1.7 billion in student debt.

Biden promised he would cancel student debt, Taylor said. "Why would you risk all of the disappointment and bad faith that will result from not meeting the moment?"

SEE

Debt: The First 5000 Years

by David Graeber

Debt: The First 5000 Years : David Graeber : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Publication date 2011

Topics Anthropology, Capitalism, Anarchism, Anarchy, History, Economics, Sociology, Debt, Money

Language English

Debt: The First 5,000 Years is a book by anthropologist David Graeber, published in 2011. It explores the historical relationship of debt with social institutions such as barter, marriage, friendship, slavery, law, religion, war and government; in short, much of the fabric of human life in society. It draws on the history and anthropology of a number of civilizations, large and small, from the first known records of debt from Sumer, in 3500 BC until the present.

 

UK warned it is unprepared for climate chaos

By Roger Harrabin
BBC environment analyst
Our Planet Now

Expect more of this: extreme weather will put infrastructure under pressure

The UK is woefully unprepared to deal with changes occurring to the climate, government advisers say.

A report by the independent Climate Change Committee predicts warming will hit the UK harder than first thought.

It warns of more severe heatwaves, especially in big cities, and more intense rainfall, with an increased flood risk across most of the UK.

It says homes, infrastructure and services must be made resilient to floods, heat and humid nights.
The authors of the report on adaptation, or "climate-proofing", warn that global warming can cause damage running into tens of billions of pounds over short periods - and they say they're frustrated at the lack of government action.

Climate change 'driving UK's extreme weather'

Extreme weather causes major global losses in 2020

The committee, also known as the CCC, says the UK is even worse prepared than it was five years ago, at the time of its last report on the risks of climate change.

The CCC is an independent group of experts set up to provide the government with advice on the climate crisis

.


The chairwoman of the CCC's sub-committee on adaptation, Baroness Brown, said ministers appeared to be deterred from taking action by the upfront costs of protecting infrastructure. This is because the benefits sometimes are not seen for several years.

"They think they can put adaptation off until tomorrow," she said. "But now's the time for urgent action."

Responding to the report's findings, a government spokesman said many of the issues raised were being addressed in policy.

Here's what the CCC says the government must do to better prepare for the impacts of climate change:

Buildings


There's a need to insulate buildings to save emissions, but overheating has emerged as a deadly risk - especially in flats. The government must force landlords to improve cooling by, say, installing sunshades. Ministers must ensure all new homes are built for a hotter climate.

Shutters can help shade the interiors of homes during periods of intense heat

Nature


The state of UK nature has been declining for some time, with habitat loss one of the factors driving the loss of plant and animal species. Climate change will make the situation worse. Beech trees won't be able to tolerate conditions in southern England by 2050.


Three-quarters of upland species are likely to struggle by the end of century, the report says. Meanwhile, peat bogs currently help reduce the effects of climate change by absorbing carbon from the atmosphere. But if the world continues to warm at the current rate, peatlands could dry out, and begin releasing their stored carbon into the air.

The government must re-wet 100% of upland peat moors urgently, the report says.

Climate change threatens the supply chains for essential medicines

Supply chains

Climate change will place pressure on our increasingly connected world and the effects can take us by surprise. For example, around 10 years ago, flooding in Thailand caused a global shortage of computer hard drives.

Rising temperatures will put supply chains at risk for food, medicines, goods and services. The report says businesses must be told to make information available to the public on threats to their supply chains.

The electrical grid

As the UK makes the transition to a low-carbon economy, we'll need more electricity for heating, lighting, and for our vehicles. So power cuts due to extreme weather will hurt the country more.

In one recent example, a lightning strike caused power cuts across England and stranded people on trains in August 2019.

A lightning strike in 2019 led to chaos on train networks

The committee says a heating climate will bring some opportunities for the UK - such as the ability to grow different crops, a longer growing season that will benefit farmers and fewer winter deaths from cold - but it says these are massively outweighed by the risks.

The committee's chief executive, Chris Stark, said CCC members were so frustrated with the lack of progress on climate-proofing the UK that they deliberately made this report "spiky".

He said: "It's really troubling how little attention the government has paid to this." He told BBC News: "The extent of planning for many of the risks is really shocking. We are not thinking clearly about what lies ahead."

While the world could warm by an average of 4C by 2100, the report say the UK government's plans are inadequate to cope even with a 2C temperature rise.

Ministers must factor climate change more into policy-making, the committee says.


The report notes that, over the last five years, more than 500,000 homes have been built to inadequate standards. These will now need to be adapted at considerable expense to cope with more severe heatwaves.


The report foresees a potential "cascade" of problems from extreme weather, in which different risks combine.


These might include heatwaves and floods leading to IT failures and problems with sewage, water, power and transport.



Climate-proofing: What you can do


Kathryn Brown, head of adaptation at the CCC, has planted creepers to shade her walls. She recommends that home owners - especially in south-east England - should also fit window shutters to keep the sun off the glass.

The CCC's Kathryn Brown has planted creepers to shade her walls

She also recommends people plant trees to help shade buildings, and avoid paving over gardens because the slabs can absorb heat.

She insists the government must help ensure that people in flats are protected from heatwaves, by improving ventilation and shading. Developers could improve shading by building in architectural features that shield homes from the sun's rays.

Kathryn Brown says people can do more to prepare for floods by signing up to free flood warnings, and looking at options for flood protection, such as door guards.

The document is based on a huge review of the scientific literature by 450 experts from 130 organisations.

One of the lead authors was Prof Dame Julia Slingo, former chief scientist at the UK Met Office in Exeter. She told BBC News: "Things are worse than we have anticipated."

Downpours that dump 20mm of water in an hour will become twice as frequent as previously projected. Winter extreme rainfall could be up to 40% more intense.

Surface water flooding will become a serious hazard as drains overflow during these rainstorms.

Co-author Prof Richard Betts, head of climate impacts research at the Met Office, told BBC News: "The main thing is that the risks of climate change to the UK are even higher than we appreciated five years ago."

Unless global emissions are drastically cut, he says, the UK could experience temperatures highs of 40C every 3.5 years.

A government spokesman said action to adapt to climate change was "integrated" across different government departments.

He added: "The UK was the first major world economy to set a target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Our plan to further reduce emissions in 2035 by at least 78% compared to 1990 levels is the highest reduction target by a major economy to date.

"We welcome this report and will consider its recommendations closely as we continue to demonstrate global leadership on climate change ahead of COP26 (the climate summit to be held in Glasgow) in November."

The extreme heatwave baked sea creatures in their shells in Western Canada

By David Williams, CNN 

© Courtesy Christopher Harley Christopher Harley estimates that a billion mussels, clams and other animals may have died from the heat.

The devastating heat wave that ravaged British Columbia last week is being blamed for a massive die-off of mussels, clams and other marine animals that live on the beaches of Western Canada.

Christopher Harley, a professor in the zoology department at The University of British Columbia, found countless dead mussels popped open and rotting in their shells on Sunday at Kitsilano Beach, which is a few blocks away from his Vancouver home.

Harley studies the effects of climate change on the ecology of rocky shores where clams, mussels and sea stars live, so he wanted to see how the intertidal invertebrates were faring in the record heat wave that hit the area on June 26-28.

"I could smell that beach before I got to it, because there was already a lot of dead animals from the previous day, which was not the hottest of three," he said. "I started having a look around just on my local beach and thought, 'Oh, this, this can't be good.'"

The next day, Harley and one of his students went to Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver, which he has been visiting for more than 12 years.

"It was a catastrophe over there," he said. "There's a really extensive mussel bed that coats the shore and most of those animals had died."

Unprecedented heat

Mussels attach themselves to rocks and other surfaces and are used to being exposed to the air and sunlight during low tide, Harley said, but they generally can't survive temperatures over 100 degrees for very long.

Temperatures in downtown Vancouver were 98.6 degrees on June 26, 99.5 on the 27th and 101.5 on the 28th.

It was even hotter on the beach.

Harley and his student used a FLIR thermal imaging camera that found surface temperatures topping 125 degrees.

At this time of the year, low tide hits at the hottest part of the day in the area, so the animals can't make it until the tide comes back in, he said.

Climate scientists called the heat wave in British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest in the United States "unprecedented" and warned that climate change would make these events more frequent and intense.

"We saw heat records over the weekend only to be broken again the next day," Kristina Dahl, a senior climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told CNN, "particularly for a part of the country where this type of heat does not happen very often."

An analysis by more than two dozen scientists at World Weather Attribution found that the heat wave "would have been virtually impossible without the influence of human-caused climate change."

It was also incredibly dangerous.

Lytton, British Columbia, broke Canada's all-time record on June 30 when the temperature topped 121 degrees. The town was all but destroyed in a deadly wildfire.

There were 719 deaths reported to the province's coroners between June 25 and July 1 -- three times as many as would normally occur during that time period, according to a statement from Lisa Lapointe, British Columbia's chief coroner. Hundreds of people died in the US and many had to be hospitalized because of the heat.


A billion animals may have died

Harley said the heat may have killed as many as a billion mussels and other sea creatures in the Salish Sea, which includes the Strait of Georgia, the Puget Sound, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, but he said that was a very preliminary estimate.

He said that 50 to 100 mussels could live in a spot the size of the palm of your hand and that several thousand could fit in an area the size of a kitchen stovetop.

"There's 4,000-some miles of shoreline in the Salish Sea, so when you start to scale up from what we're seeing locally to what we're expecting, based on what we know where mussels live, you get to some very big numbers very quickly," he said. "Then you start adding in all the other species, some of which are even more abundant."

He said he's worried that these sorts of events seem to be happening more often.

Brian Helmuth, a marine biology professor at Northeastern University, said that mussel beds, like coral reefs, serve as an early warning system for the health of the oceans.

"When we see mussel beds disappearing, they're the main structuring species, so they're almost like the trees in the forest that are providing a habitat for other species, so it's really obvious when a mussel bed disappears," he said. "When we start seeing die-offs of other smaller animals, because they're moving around, because they're not so dense, It's not quite as obvious."

He said the death of a mussel bed can cause "a cascading effect" on other species.

Both scientists said they were concerned that these heat waves were becoming more common and they weren't sure whether the mussel beds would be able to recover.

"What worries me is that if you start getting heat waves like this, every 10 years instead of every 1,000 years or every five years, then it's -- myou're getting hit too hard, too rapidly to actually ever recover," Harley said. "And then the ecosystem is going to just look very, very different."

© Courtesy Christopher Harley Dead mussels cover the beach at Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver.

NDP MPs Call For An Independent Investigation Into Residential School Abuses


(ANNews) – Two NDP MPs are demanding that Canada investigate the allegations of “crimes against humanity” in residential schools.

Mumilaaq Qaqqaq and Charlie Angus have told the Justice Minister of Canada, David Lametti, to launch an investigation into the system in order to bring justice to the perpetrators.

“Enough is enough. Indigenous people need truth and justice,” Qaqqaq said in a press conference. “We need a full and independent investigation that has the power to shine a light on every facet of this national crime and has the power to bring perpetrators to justice.”

“Minister Lametti, don’t you dare tell me you can’t do this. You have the authority. You just refuse to use it and that needs to end today,” she said.

The call for justice comes after the multiple discoveries of unmarked graves at Residential school sites across the country.

It began with the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation when they discovered 215 bodies at a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C. This was followed by the Cowessess First Nation discovery of 751unmarked graves near the former Marieval Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan.

The most recent unmarked gravesite discovery happened last week when ʔaq̓am — one of four bands in the Ktunaxa Nation in B.C. — used radar at St. Eugenes Mission School to find 182 bodies.

From the late 1800s to 1996, Canada forcefully took 150,000 Indigenous children from their home and put them in Residential School Institutions — which were run by the church — where many were believed to be abused by staff and even murdered.

In 2005, 17 private investigation firms were contracted by the Federal Government to investigate the claims of abuse in the system. In 2016, the firms located 5,315 alleged abusers — both former employees and students.

Unfortunately, no criminal charges were laid, and only optional Independent Assessment Process (IAP) hearings were offered. The hearings did not involve the courts at all, but despite this 4,450 out of the 5,315 declined to participate.

“(Abusers) caused possible generations of trauma,” Qaqqaq said. “Child sexual abuse in Nunavut is rampant.”

“There is a reason for that.”

The two New Democrat MPs called on the Justice Minister for the appointment of a special prosecutor to lead the investigation.

“We cannot trust the Justice Department to do this without an independent special prosecutor and international observers,” Qaqqaq said.

The potential prosecutor should be completely funded and possess the power to compel testimonies and documents.

MP Angus said that the Federal Government has enough classified documents to extend the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

“(The Commission) did not have a mandate to pursue justice, to go after the perpetrators,” he said. “Canadians and Indigenous communities are calling for justice.”

The call for investigations should also be broadened to include other Federal Institutions, such Day Schools and Tuberculosis Sanatoriums, said the MPs.

However, Justice Minister Lametti stated that in order to appoint a special prosecutor, the police must first launch an investigation.

“This is an exclusive power of the police,” Lametti’s press secretary Chantalle Aubertin, said. “We will consider all options that will allow the survivors, their communities and the country to move forward on the path to healing and reconciliation.”

Jacob Cardinal, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News

Billionaire Richard Branson reaches space in his own ship

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M. (AP) — Swashbuckling entrepreneur Richard Branson hurtled into space aboard his own winged rocket ship Sunday in his boldest adventure yet, beating out fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos

.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The nearly 71-year-old Branson and five crewmates from his Virgin Galactic space-tourism company reached an altitude of about 53 miles (88 kilometers) over the New Mexico desert — enough to experience three to four minutes of weightlessness and see the curvature of the Earth — and then safely glided to a runway landing.

“The whole thing, it was just magical,” a jubilant Branson said after the trip home aboard the sleek, white space plane, named Unity.

The brief, up-and-down flight — the rocket ship's portion took only about 15 minutes, or about as long as Alan Shepard's first U.S. spaceflight in 1961 — was intended as a confidence-boosting plug for Virgin Galactic, which plans to start taking paying customers on joyrides next year.

Branson became the first person to blast off in his own spaceship, beating Bezos by nine days. He also became only the second septuagenarian to go into space. (Astronaut John Glenn flew on the shuttle at age 77 in 1998.)

With about 500 people watching, including Branson's family, a twin-fuselage aircraft with Unity attached underneath took off in the first stage of the flight. Unity then detached from the mother ship at an altitude of about 8 1/2 miles (13 kilometers) and fired its engine, reaching more than Mach 3, or three times the speed of sound, as it pierced the edge of space.

Spectators cheered, jumped into the air and embraced as the rocket plane touched down. He pumped his fists as he stepped out onto the runway and ran toward his family, bear-hugging his wife and children and scooping up his three grandchildren in his arms.

“That was an amazing accomplishment,” former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, a one-time commander of the International Space Station, said from the sidelines. “I’m just so delighted at what this open door is going to lead to now. It’s a great moment.”

Virgin Galactic conducted three previous test flights into space with crews of just two or three.

The flamboyant, London-born founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways wasn’t supposed to fly until later this summer. But he assigned himself to an earlier flight after Bezos announced plans to ride his own rocket into space from Texas on July 20, the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Branson denied he was trying to outdo Bezos.

Before climbing aboard, Branson, who has kite-surfed the English Channel and attempted to circle the world in a hot-air balloon, signed the astronaut log book and wisecracked: “The name’s Branson. Sir Richard Branson. Astronaut Double-oh one. License to thrill.”

One of Branson’s chief rivals in the space-tourism race among the world’s richest men, SpaceX’s Elon Musk, came to New Mexico to witness the flight, wishing Branson via Twitter, “Godspeed!”

Bezos likewise sent his wishes for a safe and successful flight, though he also took to Twitter to enumerate the ways in which be believes his company’s rides will be better.

Bezos’ Blue Origin company intends to send tourists past the so-called Karman line 62 miles (100 kilometers) above Earth, which is is recognized by international aviation and aerospace federations as the threshold of space.

But NASA, the Air Force, the Federal Aviation Administration and some astrophysicists consider the boundary between the atmosphere and space to begin 50 miles (80 kilometers) up.

The risks to Branson and his crew were underscored in 2007, when a rocket motor test in California’s Mojave Desert left three workers dead, and in 2014, when a Virgin Galactic rocket plane broke apart during a test flight, killing one pilot and seriously injuring the other.

Ever the showman, Branson insisted on a global livestream of the Sunday morning flight and invited celebrities and former space station astronauts to the company’s Spaceport America base in New Mexico.

R&B singer Khalid performed his new single “New Normal” — a nod to the dawning of space tourism — while CBS “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert served as master of ceremonies.

Upon his return to Earth, he announced a sweepstakes drawing for two seats on a Virgin Galactic jaunt once tourist flights begin.

Virgin Galactic already has more than 600 reservations from would-be space tourists, with tickets initially costing $250,000 apiece. Blue Origin is waiting for Bezos’ flight before announcing its ticket prices.

Kerianne Flynn, who signed up in 2011 to fly with Virgin Galactic, had butterflies ahead of the launch Sunday.

“I think there’s going to be nothing like going up there and looking back down on the Earth, which is what I think I’m most excited about,” she said. She added: “Hopefully the next generations will be able to explore what’s up there."

Musk’s SpaceX, which is already launching astronauts to the space station for NASA and building moon and Mars ships, plans to take tourists on more than just brief, up-and-down trips. They will instead go into orbit around the Earth for days, with seats costing well into the millions. Its first private flight is set for September.

Musk himself has not committed to going into space anytime soon.

“It’s a whole new horizon out there, new opportunities, new destinations,” said former NASA astronaut Chris Ferguson, who commanded the last shuttle flight 10 years ago. He now works for Boeing, which is test-flying its own space capsule.

“This is really sort of like the advent of commercial air travel, only 100 years later,” Ferguson added. “There’s a lot waiting in the wings.”

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

___

Dunn reported from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Susan Montoya Bryan And Marcia Dunn, The Associated Press

 

Lebanon crisis: Pharmacies go on strike, 

fuel shortages cause power cuts

Delivering the dead and helping the living in Myanmar virus spike

Issued on: 11/07/2021 

Volunteers carry the body of a coronavirus victim to a cemetery in Hle Guu Ye Aung THU AFP

Yangon (AFP)

Volunteers in white hazmat suits unload a stretcher from a pick-up truck parked in a Yangon suburb and carry their neighbourhood's latest Covid-19 victim towards the crematorium.

There will be no traditional funeral rites, as Myanmar confronts a new and growing outbreak, with thousands of health workers on strike against a February coup.

The State Administration Council -- as the military junta calls itself -- reported more than 4,300 new cases Saturday, up from fewer than 50 per day in early May.


"Before... people were scared to see emergency teams wearing PPE," Tun Khine, one of the volunteers in Hle Guu township north of Yangon, told AFP on Saturday.

"But now, they are looking for us. The situation is upside down."

Tun Khine, a businessman who spoke under a pseudonym, was already a member of a local volunteer group before the pandemic hit.#photo1

Last year they began providing a free taxi service for those stricken with the virus, taking them to hospitals or quarantine centres.

On Saturday the group took seven bodies away, he says -- one from the hospital which was confirmed positive, and six others who were suspected to have died of the virus.

Tun Khine and his team load the bodies into a giant coffin-like box on the back of a white pick-up truck, which bumps down the road, the volunteers riding with it in the back.

The journey ends outside a crematorium, where the body is committed to the flames, with no family members present and without the ritual that is usual in the majority-Buddhist nation.

- 'Of course we are afraid' -

"Of course we are afraid" of becoming infected, says Tun Khine.

"But our bigger fear is our people being infected and risking their lives."#photo2

The team is also struggling to find places that will take the living, he says.

Many quarantine centres stopped operating in the chaos that followed the coup, where mass protests in Yangon and other cities were met with a brutal military crackdown.

Top health officials, including the head of Myanmar's vaccination programme, have been detained by the junta.

Only around 1.75 million of the country's 54 million people have been vaccinated, according to state media.#photo3

At the end of the shift, Tun Khine and his team hose each other down with disinfectant, and prepare for another day of transporting patients and bodies.

But they vow to continue.

"More people are going to die if we stop working because we are afraid," he says.

© 2021 AFP