Remote Tierra del Fuego kelp forests surveyed for the first time in 45 years

Kelp, seen in waters near Blanco islet, an island that is part of Tierra del Fuego on the southernmost tip of South America. Photo by Shane Anderson/NOAA/Wikimedia

March 12 (UPI) -- For the first time since 1973, scientists have surveyed the health of remote kelp forests of Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost tip of South America. Researchers found the ecosystem largely unchanged from 45 years ago, with similar abundances of kelp, sea urchins and sea stars.

A study published this week in the journal PLOS One shows the ecosystem remains healthy, but researchers warn this may not always be the case. Kelp forests host tremendous marine biodiversity. Just as healthy forests on land are vital to diversity of animals, healthy kelp forests are essential to a wide array of marine species. Kelp forests can even protect shell-forming organisms from dangerous spikes in acidity.

In some parts of the world, rising water temperatures are transforming their makeup. But remote kelp forests are less well understood. To find out how some of the world's most remote kelp forests off the coast of South America are doing, scientists utilized both the observations of scuba divers and a catalogue of Landsat satellite images.

The observations of scuba divers suggest the kelp forests of Tierra del Fuego host similar levels of biodiversity to what they hosted 45 years ago. The analysis of Landsat satellite images showed the area's kelp forest cover has grown and declined in a four-year cycle that reflects changes in sea surface temperature and El Niño-Southern Oscillation rainfall patterns.

When scientists conducted a survey of fish populations among the kelp forests, they found the abundance of different species varied greatly in different locations. Distribution patterns showed the variability was largely dictated by exposure to ocean waves.

While the latest research, published this week in the journal PLOS One, is good news, scientists suggest it's unlikely Tierra del Fuego's kelp forests will be spared from the effects of climate change indefinitely.

To mitigate the impacts of rising water temperatures on kelp forest ecosystems, scientists recommend policy makers spearhead more aggressive conservation efforts. For example, the expansion of the newly designated Yaganes Marine National Park to include coastal waters along the southern tip of South America could help protect the kelp forests of Tierra del Fuego.

"The kelp forest of the extreme tip of South America are some of the most pristine on earth and have not changed substantially since the early 1970s, when they were first surveyed," Alan Friedlander, researcher with National Geographic Society's Pristine Seas project, said in a news release. "Re-examination of this remote region is incredibly valuable in this age of climate change and gives us a better understanding of how these ecosystems function in the absence of direct human impacts."

Scotland's Isle of Sky hosted rich dinosaur diversity during middle Jurassic


Scientists found several three-toed footprints in the ancient Scottish mudflats, most likely made by early carnivorous theropod dinosaurs. Photo by Paige E. dePolo, et. al/PLOS One

March 12 (UPI) -- Paleontologists have discovered a pair of fossil sites featuring dozens of dinosaur footprints preserved in what were once coastal mudflats. The fossils suggest Scotland's Isle of Skye was home to a rich diversity of dinosaurs during the Middle Jurassic Period, between 174.1 and 163.5 million years ago.

Dinosaur remains from the Middle Jurassic Period are rare, but the new Scottish fossils sites -- described this week in the journal PLOS One -- suggests many dinosaur groups were rapidly diversifying during this period.

The 50 dinosaur tracks found at the two sites included footprints made by Deltapodus, the first to be found on the Isle of Skye. Researchers also found tracks they estimate were made by a stegosaurian, a plate-backed dinosaur.

Several three-toed footprints suggest early carnivorous theropods walked across the ancient mudflats. Some of the prints appear to have been made by large-bodied herbivorous ornithopod dinosaurs -- the oldest of their kind.

"These new tracksites help us get a better sense of the variety of dinosaurs that lived near the coast of Skye during the Middle Jurassic than what we can glean from the island's body fossil record," lead study author Paige dePolo, scientist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, said in a news release. "In particular, Deltapodus tracks give good evidence that stegosaurs lived on Skye at this time."

Analysis of ancient dinosaur footprints can help paleontologists provide context for body fossils. Scientists hope their discoveries will inspire other paleontologist to revisit known fossil sites, as the latest footprint collections were found near popular fossil-hunting destinations.

"These new tracksites give us a much clearer picture of the dinosaurs that lived in Scotland 170 million years ago," said study co-author Stephen Brusatte, researcher at Edinburgh. "We knew there were giant long-necked sauropods and jeep-sized carnivores, but we can now add plate-backed stegosaurs to that roster, and maybe even primitive cousins of the duck-billed dinosaurs too. These discoveries are making Skye one of the best places in the world for understanding dinosaur evolution in the Middle Jurassic."

Study of shear zones yields data on earthquakes deep below surface


Scientists of Britain's University of Plymouth and Norway's University of Oslo published results of their study, in Norway's Lofoten Islands, of earthquakes deep in the earth this week. Photo by Heidi Monstang/University of Plymouth

March 13 (UPI) -- A new study led by Britain's University of Plymouth offers insight on the mechanisms behind earthquakes 25 or more miles below the surface.

Little is known about deep earthquakes, largely because their effects are generally hidden underground, but the study suggests that ruptures may be encouraged by the interaction of different shear zones moving slowly and aseismically, indicating movement without accompanying seismic shock. The interaction loads the adjacent blocks of stiff rocks in the deep crust until they can no longer sustain the rising stress, and a rupture prompts an earthquake. The study suggests that slow but repeating cycles of deformation on the shear zones bring accumulated stress, punctuated by episodic earthquakes.

The study, underwritten by Britain's Natural Environment Research Council, was led by scientists from the University of Plymouth and Norway's University of Oslo in Norway's Lofoten Islands, and published this week in the scholarly journal Nature Communications. They spent several months in the region, analyzing exposed rock pristine pseudotachylytes -- solidified melt produced during seismic slips and regarded as "fossil earthquakes" -- which decorate fault sets linking shear zones.

"The Lofoten Islands provide an almost unique location in which to examine the impact of earthquakes in the lower crust," said Dr. Lucy Campbell of the University of Plymouth. "By looking at sections of exposed rock less than 15 meters [49.2 feet] wide, we were able to see examples of slow-forming rock deformation working to trigger earthquakes generated up to 30 kilometers [18.6 miles] beneath the surface."

Ancient cave carving depicts six-legged mantis-man


Scientists found an ancient half-mantid figure at an Iranian rock art site. Photo by Pensoft Publishers

March 16 (UPI) -- Researchers have discovered a unique petroglyph, depicting what appears to be a six-legged mantis-man, at the Teymareh rock art site in Iran.

Invertebrates are rarely found in rock carvings, so the archaeologists on the project recruited entomologists to help them determine what kinds of creatures might have inspired the motif. Researchers looked at several six-legged species that prehistoric artists might have come across in central Iran.

The motif measures just 5.5 inches in length, and though it was discovered in 2017, its small size and unusual shape made it difficult to identify. In addition to boasting six legs, the creature features large eyes and enlarged pincher-like forearms.

The entomologists on the study identified an extension on the creature's head that matches local praying mantis species belonging to the genus Empusa.

Scientists estimate the rock art is between 4,000 and 40,000 years old.

"The petroglyph proves that praying mantids have been astounding and inspiring humans since prehistoric times," researchers wrote in the Journal of Orthoptera.

The figure isn't a perfect representation of a Empusa mantis, as the middle limbs feature loops as a hands. Researchers linked the carving with a common petroglyph motif known as "Squatter Man," which has been found at rock art sites around the world. The motif features a person flanked by circles.

Some researchers suggest the circles represent the atmospheric plasma discharges created by auroras.

The discovery of the latest petroglyph reinforces the theory, based on previous discoveries of half-mantid, half-human figures, that the mantis was a symbol for the supernatural.

"An example includes several prehistoric pictographs in southern Africa representing 'mantis people' with half-mantid bodies," researchers wrote in their paper. "These, and the Iranian mantid petroglyph, bear witness that in prehistory, almost as today, praying mantids were animals of mysticism and appreciation."

Tokyo 1940: The Games that became the 'Missing Olympics'

AFP / Mladen ANTONOVIf the Olympics are postponed, it would be the second time for Tokyo after its military aggression in Asia forced the annulment of what became known as the "Missing Olympics" in 1940

Fears are growing that this year's Olympics may be postponed or axed because of the coronavirus pandemic but Japan has been here before -- the cancelled summer Games of 1940 were also due to be hosted in Tokyo.

Japan's military aggression in Asia forced the annulment of what became known as the "Missing Olympics" after the Games were switched to Helsinki before finally being scrapped because of World War II.

Tokyo officials originally touted a bid for the 1940 Games as a way to show the city had recovered from the devastating 1923 earthquake, according to author David Goldblatt in his history of the Olympics entitled "The Games".

In much the same way, Japan has framed the 2020 Olympics as the "Recovery Games" -- a chance to show the country is back on its feet after the catastrophic 2011 triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown.

Tokyo's 1940 bid was spearheaded by Jigoro Kano, the founder of modern judo and first Japanese member of the International Olympic Committee, who stressed the importance of bringing the Games to Asia for the first time.

THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES/AFP/File / HOJapan engaged in a fierce lobbying campaign to win the 1940 Olympics including with Italy's fascist dictator Benito Mussolini (L) to step aside in their favour

"I carry a grave resolve. The Olympics should naturally come to Japan. If they don't, the reason for this must be something unjust," said Kano in his plea to the IOC.

The Japanese had a special reason for wanting to celebrate 1940, as it coincided with the 2,600th year since the enthronement of the nation's legendary first emperor, Jimmu.

Tokyo launched an official bid in 1932 and found themselves up against Rome and Helsinki.

Japan engaged in a fierce lobbying campaign that included pleading with Italy's fascist dictator Benito Mussolini to step aside in their favour.

"In the you-scratch-my-back kind of deal that has become the norm in international sports politics, Mussolini announced with unusual candour, 'We will waive our claim for 1940 in favour of Japan if Japan will support Italy's effort to get the XIIIth Olympiad for Rome in 1944," wrote Goldblatt.

With just Tokyo and Helsinki left standing, the IOC plumped for the Japanese capital by 37 votes to 26.

- 'Cultural diplomacy' -

Before the bid had been tabled, Japan in 1931 invaded the Chinese province of Manchuria and two years later withdrew from the League of Nations -- the precursor to the United Nations -- after the body refused to sanction the occupation.

The Olympic bid was therefore also an attempt to shore up international diplomacy, according to Asato Ikeda, assistant professor at Fordham University, New York, who has written about the 1940 Games.

AFP / Kazuhiro NOGISeiko Hashimoto, minister for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, speaks during a press conference in Tokyo

Japan's bid was "part of its international cultural diplomacy in order to ameliorate the relationship with the Western democratic nations, especially Britain and the United States," Ikeda wrote in an essay in the Asia-Pacific Journal.

As preparations for the Games gathered pace, a schedule was drawn up and posters were printed. The Opening Ceremony was set for September 21, 1940.

There were some hiccups though, including questions about whether the Emperor could declare the Games open, as the Japanese then held him to be semi-divine and therefore unable to be seen and heard by ordinary citizens.

- 'No other course' -

As diplomatic pressure grew on Japan from outside, there was increasing clamour inside the country for cash to be diverted for military purposes.

Japanese diplomats at the time voiced concern in cables back to Tokyo that powers such as Britain and the United States could boycott the Games over Japan's war-like activity.

AFP/File / -August 1945 - Japanese soldiers surrender to the Russian army in the Chinese province of Manchuria which Japan invaded in 1931

Yet, in words familiar to those following the story of the 2020 Games, Tokyo insisted the show would go on.

Barker cites a cable from Tokyo City Hall to the IOC which said: "The citizens of Tokyo are doing their utmost to make the 1940 Games a success."

But the Japanese Olympic Committee eventually bowed to the inevitable and forfeited in July 1938, saying what they euphemistically called "the trouble with China" had made staging the Games impossible.

"The organising committee and the people of Japan were deeply disappointed in having to give up the Games, but, in the circumstances, no other course was open," the "Olympic News" bulletin published in Tokyo wrote at the time.

"With the worsening international relations and increasing military activities in the Asian continent, the cancellation might not have been that surprising," Ikeda told AFP.

The Winter Games, due to be held in the northern Japanese city of Sapporo, were also scrapped and the war put paid to the proposed rescheduling in the Finnish capital.

The next time the Olympic torch was lit was for London in 1948, four years after the city had originally been due to host. But Japan, as a defeated power, was excluded and Helsinki staged the next summer Games in 1952.

Tokyo finally became the first Asian city to host the Olympic Games in 1964.

FDA inches closer to CBD rules for dietary supplements


The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is moving forward toward evaluating CBD for use in dietary supplements, the agency said. Photo by CBD-Infos-com/Pixabay

DENVER, March 17 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration moved closer this month toward evaluating CBD for human foods, topicals and pet products, but consumers and regulators still have unanswered questions about its safety.

The FDA is looking at safe daily doses, the different forms of CBD products and any health threats that the substance might present. These include potential liver toxicity and male reproductive problems, as well as side effects such as drowsiness, the agency said in a report submitted to appropriations committees in the U.S. House and Senate.

"We have made progress, but there are still areas where timely attention is needed," the agency said.

The FDA said it will produce a followup document for Congress within 180 days with the results of a sampling study of the current CBD marketplace "to determine the extent to which products are mislabeled or adulterated."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and others, have urged the FDA to approve CBD for dietary uses. The appropriations committees had requested a CBD overview report within 60 days in late December 2019.

"We are concerned that some people wrongly think that the myriad CBD products on the market have been evaluated by the FDA and determined to be safe, or that using CBD 'can't hurt,'" Dr. Stephen Hahn, the FDA's new commissioner, said in a statement.

The FDA's approval process for a new dietary ingredient can take three years or more. The popularity of CBD and internet commerce has raced ahead of the FDA's ability to prove its safety.

"We know one thing from the American people -- they're using CBD products," Hahn said in February. "We're not going to be able to say you can't use these products. It's a fool's game to try to even approach that."

Federal laws that forbid research on cannabis-derived products have delayed for years scientists who want to know more about how CBD works. The FDA is trying to catch up by issuing a call for private research on the effects of CBD products.

"Where it becomes a public health issue is when tons of people are self-dosing who-knows-how-much and who-knows-what quality," said Edgar Asebey, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.,-based FDA regulatory life-sciences lawyer.

Even though CBD food-safety research might take several years, the FDA is very likely to issue stopgap guidance documents soon, attorney Asebey predicted.

The FDA might also look to other countries' health agencies for guidance, he said.

The United Kingdom's Food Standards Agency proposed a safe daily dose of 70 milligrams in January. The agency set up a regulatory path to reintroduce CBD over the next year, including removing some non-compliant products from the market by 2021.

"If you're selling CBD all over the country, there are minimal standards you'll need to follow for dietary supplements or foods. It's a special industry, but it's not that special," Asebey said. "There are federal guidelines for what you ask people to eat."

CBD, or cannabidiol, is marketed in a confusing number of products including kombucha, gummies, chocolate, hand cream, tinctures, oils, cosmetics and pet foods. But it still hasn't been fully approved by the FDA, even though several states have passed laws allowing the substance to be used products for people and pets.

Until hard-and-fast FDA rules are issued, consumers could remain confused about the bewildering number of non-regulated products available, those in the industry said.

Sticking with long-standing dietary supplement brands certified as food-safe under Good Manufacturing Practices guidelines, is a good bet, said Alan Lewis, director of special projects at Natural Grocers of Lakewood, Colo.

"You should not be buying CBD products at a gas station, not at a convenience store and not on Amazon," Lewis said. "Those bottles could contain anything -- or nothing."

FDA clarity will allow many more natural herbal supplement companies to produce CBD or hemp-based products, giving consumers more choices, said Michael McGuffin, president of the Silver Spring, Md.,-based American Herbal Products Association.

"We want FDA to regulate CBD and hemp products as dietary supplements with all the rules that apply," McGuffin said. "I know it's difficult to get there quickly, but the regulatory framework is significantly robust to regulate these products. "

Poll: Record share of Americans think military spending 'about right'

CUT MILITARY SPENDING FUND MEDICARE FOR ALL

President Donald Trump speaks with Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson and chief test pilot Alan Norman in front of an F-35 fighter jet during the Made in America Product Showcase at the White House on July 23, 2018. File Photo by Alex Wong/UPI | License Photo 

March 16 (UPI) -- About half of Americans believe present U.S. military spending is "about right" where it should be, a dramatic change from just four years ago and the highest share since Gallup began asking the question a half-century ago.

The Gallup survey said 50 percent of adults in the United States agree with military spending levels under the Trump administration. Thirty-one percent said spending is too much and 17 percent said there's too little military funding.

The previous high, 48 percent, was recorded after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The greatest change in the survey was shown by Republicans. In 2016, 23 percent of GOP respondents said military spending was "about right" and 66 percent said it was too little. Last year, 49 percent of Republicans agreed with the spending levels and Monday's poll saw that figure rise to 72 percent.

In December, President Donald Trump signed a $738 billion defense bill for fiscal 2020, $21 billion more than Congress approved for 2019.

Forty-two percent of independents said military spending is about right and 36 percent of Democrats agreed, Monday's poll showed. Most Democratic respondents, 51 percent, said the present spending level is too much.

Gallup polled more than 1,000 U.S. adults for the survey, which has a margin of error of 4 points.

Neil Young to play at Bernie Sanders digital rally

CANADIAN ROCKER ENDORSES BERNIE

March 16, 2020 By Agence France-Presse


Rocker Neil Young will get onstage for presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders on Monday, at a rally that will be streamed, with the United States mostly shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic and large gatherings banned.

The campaign announced ahead of Tuesday’s presidential primaries that Young, a newly minted American citizen, and his spouse Daryl Hannah will stump for Sanders at a digital rally also featuring Jim James, frontman of the rock band My Morning Jacket, and the retro-soul group the Free Nationals.

Sanders, 78, will again face off against Joe Biden, 77, as four large states pick their favorite for the Democratic nomination, in a contest overshadowed by an outbreak that has prevented both candidates from campaigning before large crowds.

Sanders, who has relied on rallies to whip up support among his base, has seen his campaigning severely curtailed but the crisis has also given him a platform to tout his plan for a government-run universal health care system.

The Vermont senator’s core support also skews much younger than Biden’s, helping his chances that voters will tune in online for the rally.

Biden is comfortably ahead in the race to challenge President Donald Trump in November’s general election, backed by almost all of his former rivals who made it to the latter stages of the primary contest.

But Sanders has scooped endorsements from across the entertainment industry — including rappers Cardi B and Chuck D along with alt acts Bon Iver, Vampire Weekend and The Strokes

“The Free Nationals are stoked to be performing at Monday’s digital rally for Senator Sanders’ bid for president,’ said Kelsey Gonzalez of the group in a Sanders campaign statement.

“His progressive positions on universal health care, immigration and education make him the clear choice for us in the primaries.”

Long outspoken on politics, Young, 74, officially endorsed Sanders on his website earlier this month, saying “every point he makes is what I believe in.”

“I believe Bernie Sanders. I think Bernie Sanders is the real deal.”

© 2020 AFP

Public health experts: Single-payer systems coping with coronavirus more effectively than for-profit model

March 16, 2020 By Jake Johnson, Common Dreams


“Having a healthcare system that’s a public strategic asset rather than a business run for profit allows for a degree of coordination and optimal use of resources.”

As the coronavirus pandemic places extraordinary strain on national healthcare systems around the world, public health experts are making the case that countries with universal single-payer systems have thus far responded more efficiently and effectively to the outbreak than nations like the United States, whose fragmented for-profit apparatus has struggled to cope with the growing crisis.

“There is no need for people to worry about the tests or vaccine or cost of care if people become ill.”
—Helen Buckingham, Nuffield Trust

“It is too soon to see definite outcomes among competing healthcare systems. But even in this early phase, public health experts say the single-payer, state-run systems are proving themselves relatively robust,” the Washington Post reported Sunday. “Unlike the United States, where a top health official told Congress the rollout of testing was ‘failing‘ and where Congress is only now moving through a bill that includes free testing, the single-payer countries have been especially nimble at making free, or low-cost, virus screening widely available for patients with coughs and fevers.”

While the Trump administration only recently took steps to massively expand COVID-19 testing—sparking concerns that the outbreak in the U.S. is far more severe than official numbers suggest—countries with forms of single-payer healthcare like South Korea and Denmark have for weeks been offering “drive-through” testing and other innovative mechanisms, allowing them to quickly test hundreds of thousands of their citizens and respond accordingly.

“Unhampered government intervention into the healthcare sector is an advantage when the virus is spreading fast across the country,” said Choi Jae-wook, a professor of preventive medicine at Korea University in Seoul.

South Korea has done more than just “flatten the curve” of new Covid-19 infections. It bought the curve down through:
– Aggressive testing (20,000 tests daily, “drive through” testing)/isolation
– School holiday extended
– Government advice to stay inside
– large events cancelled pic.twitter.com/MGzuX9Oc6w
— Tom Hancock (@hancocktom) March 13, 2020

Jorgen Kurtzhals, the head of the University of Copenhagen medical school, told the Post that the strength of Denmark’s single-payer system is that it has “a lot of really highly educated and well-trained staff, and given some quite un-detailed instructions, they can actually develop plans for an extremely rapid response.”

“We don’t have to worry too much about whether this response or that response demands specific payments here and there,” said Kurtzhals said. “We are aware that there will be huge expenditure within the system. But we’re not too concerned about it because we have a direct line of communication from the national government to the regional government to the hospital directors.”

None of which is to say that countries with forms of single-payer healthcare or nationalized systems are flawlessly handling the COVID-19 pandemic, which has infected at least 173,000 people and killed more than 6,000 worldwide.

“We don’t have to worry too much about whether this response or that response demands specific payments here and there.”
—Jorgen Kurtzhals, University of Copenhagen

Britain’s National Health Service (NHS), following years of austerity imposed by Conservative governments, is facing staff and supply shortages as hospitals are being overwhelmed with patients. Canada, like the U.K., is struggling with a shortage of ventilators.

But Helen Buckingham, director of strategy and operations at the London-based Nuffield Trust think tank, told the Post that the NHS is in a relatively good position to cope with COVID-19 because it has “a very clear emergency planning structure.”

Additionally, Buckingham noted, “there is no need for people to worry about the tests or vaccine or cost of care if people become ill.”

David Fisman, an epidemiologist at the University of Toronto, said that in a “time of crisis” like the coronavirus pandemic, “having a healthcare system that’s a public strategic asset rather than a business run for profit allows for a degree of coordination and optimal use of resources.”

During the Democratic presidential primary debate Sunday night in Washington, D.C., former Vice President Joe Biden cited Italy’s struggles to contain COVID-19 as evidence that the Medicare for All system advocated by rival candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) would not be effective in a pandemic. Italy has been the hardest-hit country outside China with nearly 25,000 cases of the novel coronavirus.

“With all due respect for Medicare for All, you have a single-payer system in Italy,” said Biden. “It doesn’t work there.”

Critics were quick to take issue with Biden’s talking point. “[Single-payer] isn’t the reason Italy is having problems,” tweeted HuffPost healthcare reporter Jonathan Cohn. “Italy’s problem is health system capacity. Independent of health system design.”

This is the dumbest point. No, single payer does not solve the problem of pandemics. But it definitely solves the problem of thousands and thousands of people going bankrupt because there’s a pandemic. It solves the problem of people not seeking out care for fear of bankruptcy. https://t.co/L2Cx2VJGZj
— Jill Filipovic (@JillFilipovic) March 16, 2020

Dr. David Himmelstein, co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program and distinguished professor of public health at the City University of New York at Hunter College, said in a statement Sunday night that the “fragmented system” in the United States “leaves public health separate and disconnected from medical care, and provides no mechanism to appropriately balance funding priorities.”

“As a result, public health accounts for less than 3 percent of overall health expenditures, a percentage that has been falling for decades, and is about half the proportion in Canada or the U.K.,” said Himmselstein. “One result is that state and local health departments that are the front lines in dealing with epidemics have lost 50,000 position since 2008 due to budget cuts.”

On the debate stage Sunday evening, Sanders made the case for transitioning the U.S. to a single-payer program, arguing that the coronavirus “exposes the incredible weakness and dysfunctionality of our current healthcare system.”

“How in God’s name does it happen,” said Sanders, “that we end up with 87 million people who are uninsured or underinsured and there are people who are watching this program tonight who are saying, ‘I’m not feeling well. Should I go to the doctor? But I can’t afford to go to the doctor. What happens if I am sick?'”

“So the word has got to go out, and I certainly would do this as president: You don’t worry,” Sanders added. “People of America, do not worry about the cost of prescription drugs. Do not worry about the cost of the healthcare that you’re going to get, because we are a nation—a civilized democratic society. Everybody, rich and poor, middle class, will get the care they need. The drug companies will not rip us off.”

How the coronavirus has exposed the religious right’s racism



By Samel L. Perry, Andrew L. Whitehead and Joseph O. Baker
on March 13, 2020


On March 10, President Trump retweeted a post from conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, who referred to the coronavirus (COVID-19) as the “China Virus.“ Kirk also exclaimed in his tweet, “Now, more than ever, we need the wall…the US stands a chance if we can get control of our borders.” Trump retweeted this and added the comment, “Going up fast. We need the wall more than ever!”

At first blush, this exchange might seem like the garden-variety white nationalist xenophobia characteristic of Trump or many of his influential supporters. Fox News’ Tucker Carlson and GOP House Representative Kevin McCarthy, in fact, have both insisted on continuing to call the disease the “Chinese Coronavirus.” But Trump’s retweet, and where it originates, helps shed light not only on the Right’s brazen xenophobia, but on the link between America’s supposed religious heritage and fears of ethnic pollution.

Charlie Kirk is co-founder of Liberty University’s Falkirk Center for Faith and Liberty. The Falkirk Center is described by Liberty’s newspaper as a “modern think tank set to renew and defend God-given freedoms and Christian principles throughout American politics and culture.”

That an ambassador of Christian nationalism like Kirk would hold xenophobic attitudes should be no surprise. In Taking America Back for God, we show that such views are fundamental to the Christian nationalist framework. One of the most consistent findings in research on Christian nationalism over the past decade is that Americans who more strongly subscribe to this ideology are more likely to be staunchly anti-immigrant―especially if those immigrants are non-white and/or non-Christian.

But Kirk’s repeated “China Virus” tweets, and Trump’s powerful retweet, both connecting the spread of disease with the need to keep immigrants out, are a clear reminder that white Christian nationalism has always connected non-white immigrants with social and biological contamination. Immigration is framed as an issue of purity or contamination; a righteous body politic or pathological disease.

Chinese immigrants have long been the target of such attacks. The Immigration Act of 1882 included the Chinese Exclusion Act, which all but banned immigrants from anywhere in Asia, who were perceived to be plagued with “the social and political diseases of the Old World.” Asians in particular, and to a lesser extent Eastern Europeans, were deemed less worthy than immigrants from parts of Europe populated by those more likely to be “White” and “Protestant,” which have often been historically been understood to mean the same thing.

Trump’s 2016 Presidential campaign, which was successful due in no small part to his appeals to white Christian nationalism, drew on similar “contamination” rhetoric to shore up support for the Mexican border wall. He insisted that not only are Mexicans supposedly bringing violent crime and drugs into the country, but they are responsible for “tremendous infectious disease…pouring across the border.”

Survey data from a nationally representative sample of Americans collected within the past year allows us to see the explicit connection between White Christian nationalism and Americans’ perceptions that immigrants are disease-ridden. The 2019 Chapman University Survey of American Fears asked respondents to indicate how much they agreed with five statements, including: “The federal government should declare the US a Christian nation,” and “The federal government should advocate Christian values.” Responses ranged from zero (“strongly disagree”) to three (“strongly agree”). We added the responses together to make a Christian nationalism index, with values ranging from 0 to 15. The survey also asked Americans about their agreement with a range of statements about perceived xenophobic threats, including: “Immigrants bring diseases into the United States.”

To the left we see the percentage of Americans who agree that immigrants bring diseases across scores on the Christian nationalism index. The trend is striking. Not only are those who affirm Christian nationalism more likely to believe immigrants transport disease into the U.S., at the highest levels of Christian nationalism, nearly all (98%) believe this to be true.

But is this perhaps just a function of political conservatism, or age, or being a fundamentalist Christian, all of which are associated with both Christian nationalism and xenophobic fears?

Not at all. When we account for various factors such as age, political party and ideology, religious practice and belief,

education, gender, and so on, we see the same pattern. In fact, as the figure to the right shows, this trend shows up across political party. While numbers aren’t quite as pronounced for Democrats and Independents as Republicans, clearly, as adherence to Christian nationalist ideology increases, the likelihood that someone associates immigration with disease increases greatly.

What all this shows is that xenophobic responses to the coronavirus by Christian nationalists like Charlie Kirk, or their champions like Donald Trump, are entirely predictable. It has been this way for centuries. For those who believe the nation rightly belongs to “people like us” (read: White, native-born, Christians), anyone who falls into the category of “them” is polluting―both culturally and biologically. 

THE FACT THAT WASPS ARE ALSO THE KKK IS PROVEN BY THEIR CLASSIC HATRED OF ALL THINGS PAPIST, AKA CATHOLIC WITH AS MUCH

DISDAIN, CONSPIRACY THEORIES AND BIGOTRY AS THEY HAVE

 TOWARDS BLACK BAPTISTS!

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