Selecting best microalgae for biodiesel production

An investigation of nine types of microalgae for use as an energy source in commercial biodiesel production based on laboratory-scale data

AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS

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IMAGE: SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM FOR THE PROCESS TO OBTAIN OVERALL SCORE FOR EVALUATING MICROALGAL SPECIES FOR BIODIESEL PRODUCTION view more 

CREDIT: LUCAS MARTÍN

WASHINGTON, December 1, 2020 -- Microalgae are a promising source of energy to replace fossil fuels, as they have several advantages over conventional crops used for commercial biodiesel. Microalgae have a shorter lifecycle and they can be developed in environments unfit for agriculture, so they are not competing with food crops for resources.

In the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, by AIP Publishing, researchers developed a methodology to analyze the properties of different species to select the best microalgae for use as an energy source by taking into account biological, economic, and environmental aspects.

Despite the advantages of microalgae and the improvements in culture procedures, relatively few species have been studied as biodiesel feedstock. Different properties have been evaluated for the purpose of selecting suitable microalgal species for biodiesel, including growth rate and lipid content, lipid productivity, fatty acid composition, and biodiesel quality. Standard methods for determining these properties, however, are often hampered by the volume of material required for analysis and the need for specific equipment, resulting in high costs.

"Our work makes it possible to perform an analysis of the microalgae based on laboratory-scale data, without the need to go through a pilot-scale experiment," said author Lucas Martín.

The researchers created an overall score that standardized criteria for potential large-scale cultures, covering biomass and oil production requirements, triacylglyceride content and biodiesel quality. They examined nine types of microalgae and found the native benthic diatoms H. coffeaeformis, Navicula cincta, and N. gregaria appeared to be the most promising species for biodiesel production.

"This tool provides a useful criterion for selecting suitable microalgal species for commercial biodiesel production," said Martín. "The most surprising thing was the low score obtained by species that are widely studied for the production of biodiesel such as Chlorella vulgaris."

The researchers also uncovered promising new areas for further research. They found many diatom species have favorable characteristics for sustainable biofuel production and are robustly resistant to extreme environmental conditions. This species, however, has not yet generated a significant degree of scientific interest in the bioenergy field but should be at the forefront of bioprospecting efforts for biodiesel production.

"We think this procedure could be applied to any other bioproducts that are being produced for microalgae, in addition to biodiesel," said Martín.

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The article, "A practical tool for selecting microalgal species for biodiesel production," is authored by L.A. Martín, C.A. Popovich, M.C. Damiani, and P.I. Leonardi. The article will appear in Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy on Dec. 1, 2020 (DOI: 10.1063/5.0010668). After that date, it can be accessed at https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/5.0010668.

ABOUT THE JOURNAL

Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy is an interdisciplinary journal that publishes across all areas of renewable and sustainable energy relevant to the physical science and engineering communities. Topics covered include solar, wind, biofuels and more, as well as renewable energy integration, energy meteorology and climatology, and renewable resourcing and forecasting. See https://aip.scitation.org/journal/rse.

Google unlawfully fired worker organizers, NLRB alleges

Google violated labor laws when it fired two vocal employees in 2019, according to a complaint filed by the National Labor Relations Board on .Wednesday

  

Google's offices stand in downtown Manhattan on October 20, 2020 in New York City. Accusing the company of using anticompetitive tactics to illegally monopolize the online search and search advertising markets, the Justice Department and 11 states Tuesday filed an antitrust case against Google. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The employees, Laurence Berland and Kathryn Spiers, were among several that were terminated after organizing in late 2019 but were the only two the federal agency identified as being unlawfully fired, according to a copy of the consolidated complaint filed by the NLRB office in San Francisco.


The complaint alleges that Google wrongfully applied workplace policies, such as restricting how calendars could be used, to target employees engaged in organizing activities. It also alleges that employees were unlawfully surveilled while organizing; that workers were interrogated about organizing activities; and that the company placed employees like Berland and Spiers on administrative leave and terminated them in order to discourage other workers from organizing.

Berland had accessed the calendars of several employees as part of organizing efforts against Google's decision to hire a consulting firm known for its anti-union work, according to the complaint and a press release by the employees and their counsel. Spiers had created a pop-up notification to make colleagues aware of their right to organize on the company's community guidelines page and its anti-union website, the complaint and press release state.

"We strongly support the rights our employees have in the workplace, and open discussion and respectful debate have always been part of Google's culture," Google said in a statement. "We're proud of that culture and are committed to defending it against attempts by individuals to deliberately undermine it -- including by violating security policies and internal systems"

The statement adds: "We'll continue to provide information to the NLRB and the administrative judge about our decision to terminate or discipline employees who abused their privileged access to internal systems, such as our security tools or colleagues' calendars."

The NLRB complaint highlights the escalating tensions inside Google, which was long considered one of the best companies to work for.

In recent years, Google employees have protested over issues ranging from its handling of sexual harassment allegations, climate action, and the pursuit of military contracts.

Google must formally respond to the complaint by December 16, with a hearing scheduled for April 12, 2021.

The legal action comes roughly one year after the federal agency confirmed that it had launched an investigation into Google's labor practices shortly after four employees fired the day before Thanksgiving filed a complaint with the NLRB.

The workers, including Berland, alleged they were terminated as retaliation for workplace organizing; Google said it fired the workers for allegedly violating its data-security policies.

"This is a significant finding at a time when we're seeing the power of a handful of tech billionaires consolidate control over our lives and our society," said Berland in a statement in the press release. "Workers have the right to speak out about and organize, as the NLRB is affirming, but we also know that we should not, and cannot, cleave off ethical concerns about the role management wants to play in that society."

Spiers was fired shortly after the so-called Thanksgiving Four. In a statement at the time, a company spokesperson said, "We dismissed an employee who abused privileged access to modify an internal security tool."

"Colleagues and strangers believe I abused my role because of lies told by Google management while they were retaliating against me. The NLRB can order Google to reinstate me, but it cannot reverse the harm done to my credibility," said Spiers in a statement from the press release.

The company previously settled a case with the agency in September 2019 over a claim that it had fired an employee for expressing conservative views. While it did not admit to wrongdoing, Google agreed to post a list of employees' rights and protections under the National Labor Relations Act for staffers.

The counsel for the terminated Google employees in the ongoing NLRB case, Laurie Burgess, said the NLRB did not issue complaints for wrongful termination of other employees, including those organizing against the company's business with US Customs and Border Protection.

"We intend to vigorously appeal the dismissed charges to the NLRB to ensure that the right to engage in this type of protected activity is not encroached upon," said Burgess in a statement.

Thousands petition Google for more answers on departed researcher

More than 2,000 Google employees and industry supporters are petitioning Google for answers on its firing of renown researcher Timnit Gebru.

Gebru, who claims she was terminated for conditional disagreements regarding one of her research papers, has been vocally critical of the company's treatment of research, diversity and inclusion efforts, and treatment of black employees.

Employees promptly took to Twitter, saying her managers' explanations didn't line up with their experiences.

© Provided by CNBC AI Research Scientist Timnit Gebru.

Employees from Google and other organizations are asking Google for answers about how it handled the departure of renown researcher Timnit Gebru in an online petition that had more than 2,000 signatures as of Friday afternoon.

Gebru, a well-known artificial intelligence researcher, technical co-lead of Google's "Ethical AI" team and vocal critic of tech companies' treatment of Black workers, tweeted Wednesday night that her corporate account had been abruptly shut off after she discussed potentially resigning over a disagreement about a research paper that scrutinized bias in artificial intelligence, which the company asked her to retract.

The company's AI chief, Jeff Dean, who had sung her praises publicly over the last several months, later told employees that he pulled the research paper because Gebru didn't follow protocol for the paper and that it "ignored too much relevant research." He fast-tracked her resignation because of an email she sent to an employee resource group, "Women and Allies," that criticized the company's leadership approach to research, as well as its diversity and inclusion efforts.

Employees promptly took to Twitter, saying Dean's explanations didn't line up with their experiences with research at Google and other organizations.

In the online petition titled "Standing with Dr. Timnit Gebru," which has signatures of more than 1,078 Google employees and 1,413 academic, industry, and civil society personnel, demands clarification on what led to Gebru's termination and research paper handling.

The organized petition shows Google's vocal workforce speaking out again about the company's handling of ethics and treatment of Black employees amid the company's dismal progress in diversity and inclusion efforts. Employees, have requested clarity, specificity and transparency when it comes to diversity efforts after the company made bold commitments in 2020. It also comes on the heels of a National Labor Board complaint filed this week, alleging the company retaliated against employees voicing their concerns about work conditions.

"Instead of being embraced by Google as an exceptionally talented and prolific contributor, Dr. Gebru has faced defensiveness, racism, gaslighting, research censorship, and now a retaliatory firing," the petition states.

The petition calls for Jeff Dean, Google Senior Fellow and Senior Vice-President of Research and Megan Kacholia, Vice-President of Engineering for the Google Brain organization, to explain to the public and to Google's Ethical AI team to explain the process by which Gebru's paper was "unilaterally rejected by leadership." It also asks for the company to provide clear guidelines on "how research will be reviewed and how research integrity will be respected."

"We call on Google Research to strengthen its commitment to research integrity and to unequivocally commit to supporting research that honors the commitments made in Google's AI Principles," the petition states. "Until December 2, Dr. Gebru was one of very few Black women Research Scientists at the company, which boasts a dismal 1.6% Black employees overall."

Signatures include other renowned researchers from universities including Stanford, Harvard, and MIT as well as leaders from other tech companies including product Inclusion specialists, scientists and researchers from Netflix, Apple, Amazon and Microsoft.

"This is absolutely infuriating," tweeted President & Director-Counsel of NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Sherrilyn Ifill. "I am a huge fan and supporter of the work and uncompromising voice of @timnitGebru. I have learned so much from her about AI bias. What a disaster."

Google declined to comment on the petition and Gebru's departure, but pointed to a statement from Dean that touches on the company's review process for academic papers.

"Our aim is to rival peer-reviewed journals in terms of the rigor and thoughtfulness in how we review research before publication," Dean's statement read in part. "We're actively working on improving our paper review processes, because we know that too many checks and balances can become cumbersome. We will always prioritize ensuring our research is responsible and high-quality, but we're working to make the process as streamlined as we can so it's more of a pleasure doing research here."

VIDEO Thousands petition Google for more answers on departed researcher (msn.com)

Renowned AI researcher says Google abruptly fired her, spurring industrywide criticism of the company


Timnit Gebru, an artificial intelligence researcher at Google, said on Thursday that she has been abruptly fired by Jeff Dean, Google's head of AI.

Gebru, who was the technical co-lead of the Ethical AI Team at Google, shared on Twitter what she claims is a dismissal email.

Gebru said she had made a number of requests and threatened to leave if they weren't met but didn't expect immediate termination.

© Provided by CNBC AI Research Scientist Timnit Gebru.

Timnit Gebru, a well-known artificial intelligence researcher at Google, tweeted on Wednesday that the company abruptly fired her, drawing widespread statements of support from other Google employees and tech workers throughout the industry.

Gebru, who was the technical co-lead of the Ethical AI Team at Google and worked on algorithmic bias and data mining, is a well-known advocate for diversity in technology and is the co-founder of a community of black researchers called Black in AI. She has been a vocal critic of tech companies' treatment of Black workers and had tweeted veiled criticism about her employer earlier that day.

Gebru claims she received a dismissal email written by someone named Megan who reports to AI head Jeff Dean. She said the email stated leadership fast-tracked her departure because of an email she sent to women and "Allies" within Google Brain, Google's deep learning artificial intelligence research team, earlier in the week.

Gebru said her main corporate account had been cut off while she was on vacation. "I hadn't resigned — I had asked for simple conditions first and said I would respond when I'm back from vacation," tweeted Gebru.

Google declined to comment.

The email Gebru sent to colleagues, according to a report by Casey Newton, stated that superiors suddenly asked her to retract a research paper while presenting almost no information about what was wrong with it or chances to defend herself. In her email, she suggests this incident is part of a larger pattern at Google of paying lip service to diversity without making actual changes, adding "There is no way more documents or more conversations will achieve anything."

The email that she claims she received from Google, which CNBC has yet to confirm, apparently reads:

"Thanks for making your conditions clear. We cannot agree to #1 and #2 as you are requesting." (Gebru has not publicly detailed what those conditions were.) We respect your decision to leave Google as a result, and we are accepting your resignation. However, we believe the end of your employment should happen faster than your email reflects because certain aspects of the email you sent last night to non-management employees in the brain group reflect behavior that is inconsistent with the expectations of a Google manager."

"As a result, we are accepting your resignation immediately, effective today. We will send your final paycheck to your address in Workday. When you return from your vacation, PeopleOps will reach out to you to coordinate the return of Google devices and assets."

Born and raised in Ethiopia, Gebru studied electrical engineering at Stanford before joining Apple, where she worked on the first iPad, and subsequently Microsoft. Gebru is well known for her work on the race and gender bias of facial recognition systems. In 2018, Gebru and MIT computer scientist Joy Buolamwini co-authored a milestone research paper showing IBM and Microsoft's facial recognition systems were significantly worse when it came to identifying darker-skinned individuals. Google AI head Jeff Dean has praised her publicly on social media.

Several Google employees past and present — as well as tech workers industrywide — took to Twitter to express support for Gebru and point out the irony of terminating an ethics leader in such fashion.

"I thought this was a joke because it seemed ridiculous that anyone would fire @timnitGebru given her expertise, her skills, her influence," wrote former Reddit CEO Ellen Pao on Twitter. "This is one of the many times when I think there is just no hope for the tech industry."

Kate Devlin, an AI researcher at King's College London, said on Twitter: "This is awful. @timnitGebru is one of the best voices in AI Ethics. It's a painful irony that what her employer, Google, is doing to her is shady as hell."

Gebru tweeted that she is now looking for an employment lawyer.

The latest controversy comes on the heels of a complaint filed by the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday that accuses Google of spying on employees, blocking employees from sharing work grievances and retaliation.

Trump Wins Court Ruling Allowing Money to Be Shifted for Wall

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump can redirect $3.6 billion in U.S. military funds to build a wall along the Mexican border because Texas groups that challenged the decision have no legal right to complain, a federal appeals court said.

© Bloomberg 

A section of the U.S. and Mexico border wall stands in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, U.S., on Monday, Oct. 21, 2019.

The ruling late Friday from the appeals court in New Orleans overturns a decision by a judge in El Paso, Texas, who said Trump broke the law by declaring a national emergency to redirect military money to the wall project after Congress specifically refused to pay for it.

A three-judge panel, in a split decision, ruled that El Paso County and a group of border-community activists didn’t prove they’ve been sufficiently harmed by Trump’s wall to challenge the funding shift.

The local community may have lost tourism and economic activity because of Trump’s rhetoric alleging the area is dangerous and crime-ridden because of an “invasion” of undocumented immigrants but that harm can’t be tied directly to the Pentagon’s funding shift, the majority ruled.

“A direct link, such as the loss of a specific tax revenue, is necessary to demonstrate standing,” wrote the majority, both of whom appointed by President George W. Bush. “Holding otherwise might spark a wave of unwarranted litigation against the federal government.”

Opponents of the wall, including a bipartisan group of constitutional scholars and former government officials, claim Trump’s funding shift is an abuse of executive power that usurps Congress’s authority to control federal spending. Lawmakers refused to give Trump more than $1.37 billion of the $5.7 billion he sought for the border wall, leading to a standoff that shut down the government for 35 days in early 2019.

U.S. District Judge James Dennis, appointed by President Bill Clinton, dissented, writing that the region’s economic loss of military spending earmarked for nearby Fort Bliss -- the second-largest domestic U.S. Army base -- and damage to El Paso’s reputation as a safe place for tourists and investors provided sufficient grounds for local officials to sue.

Dennis also chided his colleagues for letting Trump make an end run around Congress’s “power of the purse” and for setting the bar too high in defining conditions under which communities wronged by federal actions can legally sue.

The majority acknowledged it reached the opposite decision than did the San Francisco appellate court, which blocked the Pentagon from shifting a different pot of military funds to border wall construction. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the administration’s appeal in that related case, and the Texas border wall opponents are expected to also appeal to the high court.

The case is El Paso County, Texas, et al v Donald Trump et al, 19-51144, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (New Orleans).

HEY, HEY,USA; MYOB
Trump signs anti-doping act into law

COLD WAR REDUX

(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law on Friday a bill that lets U.S. justice officials pursue criminal penalties against those involved in doping conspiracies at international events involving American athletes, sponsors or broadcasters.

The Rodchenkov Act, named after the whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov who helped expose Russia’s state-sponsored doping, empowers prosecutors to seek fines of up to $1 million and jail terms of up to 10 years, as well restitution to victims.

“(The law gives) the Department of Justice a powerful and unique set of tools to eradicate doping fraud and related criminal activities from international competitions,” said Rodchenkov’s lawyer Jim Walden, according to Inside the Games.

It was now up to the justice department to develop a robust program, cooperating with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and international law enforcement, to bring the guilty to justice and create zero tolerance for doping in sports, he added.

“Dopings should be on clear notice: This is a new sheriff in town, so cheat at your own peril.”

The bill, passed unopposed by the U.S. Senate last month, was opposed by the International Olympic Committee, who have questioned why American professional and college athletes are exempt.

The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said there was no need to include U.S. professional and college sports in the legislation as existing law allows their prosecution.


The World Anti-Doping Agency has also expressed concerns over the bill, saying it will destabilize the global anti-doping effort by extending U.S. jurisdiction beyond its own borders.

“No nation has ever before asserted criminal jurisdiction over doping offences that occurred outside its national borders - and for good reason,” the agency said last month when the bill passed the Senate.

“WADA remains concerned that by unilaterally exerting U.S. criminal jurisdiction over all global doping activity, the Act will likely undermine clean sport by jeopardizing critical partnerships and cooperation between nations.”


Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Ange

Divers discover Nazi WW2 enigma machine in Baltic Sea

BERLIN (Reuters) - German divers searching the Baltic Sea for discarded fishing nets have stumbled upon a rare Enigma cipher machine used by the Nazi military during World War Two which they believe was thrown overboard from a scuttled submarine.

© Reuters/Alessia Pierdomenico FILE PHOTO: 

Actor dressed as German soldier shows use of Enigma machine in Bletchley Park Museum

Thinking they had discovered a typewriter entangled in a net on the seabed of Gelting Bay, underwater archaeologist Florian Huber quickly realised the historical significance of the find.

"I've made many exciting and strange discoveries in the past 20 years. But I never dreamt that we would one day find one of the legendary Enigma machines," said Huber.

The Nazi military used the machines to send and receive secret messages during World War Two but British cryptographers cracked the code, helping the Allies gain an advantage in the naval struggle to control the Atlantic.

At Bletchley Park codebreaking centre, a British team led by Alan Turing is credited with unravelling the code, shortening the war and saving many thousands of lives.

Shortly before Germany's surrender in May 1945, the crews of about 50 submarines, or U-Boots, followed an order to scuttle their ships in Gelting Bay, near the Danish border, to avoid handing them to the Allies. Destroying encryption devices was part of the order.

"We suspect our Enigma went overboard in the course of this event," said Huber, of the Kiel-based company Submaris which leads underwater research missions.

Overall, Germans sank more than 200 of their submarines in the North and Baltic Seas at the end of the war.

The Enigma device, which looks like a typewriter, consisted of a keyboard and wheels which scrambled messages. Although several hundred thousand machines were produced, only a few hundred are known to exist. They sell at auction for tens of thousands of euros.

The find, made by divers working on behalf of WWF aiming to find abandoned fishing nets that endanger marine life, will be given to the archaeology museum in Schleswig.

(Reporting by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

'Amazon's days of impunity are over': 

400 international lawmakers including Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib slam Jeff Bezos on wages, climate action, and taxes

© Provided by Business Insider

 Rep. Ilhan Omar is among the international lawmakers on the list. Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images

Over four hundred lawmakers from 34 countries have signed an open letter to Jeff Bezos saying that Amazon's "days of impunity are over."

The letter follows organized Black Friday protests against Amazon from employees, trade unionists, and activist groups under the banner "Make Amazon Pay."

Included in the list of signatories are US Democratic Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib.

The letter accuses Amazon of underpaying and intimidating its workers, contributing to climate change, and paying unfairly low taxes.

Over four hundred international lawmakers declared war on Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in an open letter published Thursday.

"Mr. Bezos, We, elected representatives, legislators, and public officials from around the world, hereby put you on notice that Amazon's days of impunity are over," the lawmakers wrote.

The letter accuses Amazon of underpaying and intimidating its workers, contributing to climate change, and paying unfairly low taxes.

This follows co-ordinated protests on Black Friday, November 27, against the e-commerce giant. Under the slogan "Make Amazon Pay" employees, trade unionists, and activist groups protested the tech giant, demanding that it pay workers higher wages, put an end to employee and union surveillance, and commit to more meaningful sustainability efforts.

The 400 signatories include lawmakers from 35 countries. US Democratic Representatives Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Ro Khanna, and Jamaal Bowman added their names to the list.

"Today, we pledge to stand with this movement in every congress, parliament, and statehouse where we work," the lawmakers wrote.

In response to the open letter, an Amazon spokesperson said: "While as a large company we welcome scrutiny from policymakers, the matters raised in this letter stem from a series of misleading assertions by misinformed or self-interested groups who appear to be using Amazon's profile to further their individual causes."

"Amazon has a strong track record of supporting our employees, our customers, and our communities, including providing safe working conditions, competitive wages and great benefits, leading on climate change with the Climate Pledge commitment to be net zero carbon by 2040, and paying billions of dollars in taxes globally. We look forward to continued dialogue with interested parties on these topics," they added.

In the open letter, lawmakers accused the e-commerce giant of circumventing its responsibilities.

"The world knows that Amazon can afford to pay its workers, its environmental cost and its taxes. And yet - time and again - you have dodged and dismissed your debts to workers, societies, and the planet," they said.

"While your personal wealth has risen by around US $13 million per hour in 2020, [Amazon] workers enter dangerous working conditions, enjoy little or no increase in their pay, and face retaliation for their efforts to defend themselves and organize their colleagues," they wrote.

Jeff Bezos' personal net worth has risen by $72 billion since the beginning of this year, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index at time of reporting. By Business Insider's calculations, that puts his average wealth increase per hour since the beginning of 2020 at $9 million.

Read more: Here's the internal map of the 95 most powerful executives under cloud boss Andy Jassy

Amazon raised its frontline workers' pay by $2 per hour as hazard pay in March, which it then cancelled at the end of May. Last week, the company announced it would grant holiday bonuses of $300 to full-time and $150 to part-time workers - although the company confirmed to Business Insider the bonuses will be taxed.

The letter also accused Amazon of failing to address its contribution to climate change.

Amazon's announced its climate pledge in 2019 to commit to net zero-carbon emissions across its business by 2040 and Jeff Bezos has set up a private $10 billion "Earth Fund." But both internal and external activist groups have challenged Amazon, saying if it's serious about climate change it needs to bring forward its net-zero deadline to 2030 and sever its contracts with the fossil fuels industry.

Finally, the lawmakers accused Amazon of paying low tax rates. In 2019 Amazon paid $162 million in federal corporation tax (1.2% of the pre-tax income it reported that year) after two years of paying none at all, due to various deductions and tax credits.

In Europe the question of Amazon's taxes, like those of other US tech giants, has become hotly debated as they are able to base themselves in nations with favorable tax schemes. It was served last month with a notice from France's Finance Ministry instructing it to pay a new 3% digital services tax on revenue generated in the country.

"Amazon pays all the taxes required in every country where we operate," an Amazon spokesman told The Guardian in April. "Corporate tax is based on profits, not revenues, and our profits have remained low given our heavy investments and the fact that retail is a highly competitive, low-margin business," they added.
You can read the lawmakers' full letter here:

Mr. Bezos,

We, elected representatives, legislators, and public officials from around the world, hereby put you on notice that Amazon's days of impunity are over.

Last Friday, 27 November, workers, activists, and citizens around the world joined forces to demand justice from Amazon. Today, we pledge to stand with this movement in every congress, parliament, and statehouse where we work. In short, we write to you now with a single commitment: to Make Amazon Pay.

The world knows that Amazon can afford to pay its workers, its environmental cost and its taxes. And yet - time and again - you have dodged and dismissed your debts to workers, societies, and the planet. Your great wealth is based on the skills of your workers and the care they receive from their friends, family and communities.

These are the very people who risked their health and that of their loved ones to supply goods to consumers and make you enormous profits. But while your personal wealth has risen by around US $13 million per hour in 2020, these workers enter dangerous working conditions, enjoy little or no increase in their pay, and face retaliation for their efforts to defend themselves and organize their colleagues. We pledge again, alongside your workers, to Make Amazon Pay.

Your company's rise to dominance has come with extraordinary costs to our environment. While you have personally acknowledged the climate emergency among the defining challenges of our era, Amazon's carbon footprint is greater than two-thirds of the world's countries.

Your plan for emissions reduction is both insufficient to stay within the environmental boundaries of our planet and difficult to trust given Amazon's record of broken promises on sustainability and financial contributions to climate change denial.

We pledge again, on behalf of our planet, to Make Amazon Pay.

Finally, you have undermined our democracies and their capacity to respond to collective challenges. Your monopolistic practices have squeezed small businesses, your web services have disrespected data rights, and you have contributed a pittance in return. For example, in 2017 and 2018, Amazon paid zero US federal corporation tax. Through your global tax dodging, you damage the public provision of health, education, housing, social security and infrastructure.

We pledge again, for our constituents, to Make Amazon Pay.

We urge you to act decisively to change your policies and priorities to do right by your workers, their communities, and our planet. We stand ready to act in our respective legislatures to support the movement that is growing around the world to Make Amazon Pay.
Read the original article on Business Insider

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Vitol pays $164 million to resolve U.S. allegations of oil bribes

 in Latin America

By Tom Hals, Gram Slattery and Julia Payne

© Reuters/Denis Balibouse FILE PHOTO: 

A sign is pictured in front of the Vitol Group trading commodities company building in Geneva

(Reuters) - Vitol Group's U.S. subsidiary agreed to pay $164 million to resolve probes by the U.S. government that the energy trader paid bribes in Brazil and other countries to boost its oil trading business, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Thursday.

Under a three-year deferred prosecution agreement, the Swiss trading firm admitted guilt and agreed to improve internal reporting and compliance functions.

Vitol, run out of London, is the world's largest independent oil trader, trading some 8 million barrels of oil a day.

"Vitol paid bribes to government officials in Brazil, Ecuador and Mexico to win lucrative business contracts and obtain competitive advantages to which they were not fairly entitled," Acting U.S. Attorney Seth DuCharme of the Eastern District of New York said in a statement.

The energy trader will pay the Department of Justice (DOJ) a criminal penalty of $135 million to resolve the probes. Brazilian authorities will receive $45 million from that amount.

Vitol will also pay back the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over $12.7 million in ill-gotten gains, plus $16 million in fines, according to the DOJ statement.

"Vitol is committed to upholding the law and does not tolerate corruption or illegal business practices. As recognised by the authorities, Vitol has cooperated extensively throughout this process," Vitol CEO Russell Hardy said in a statement.

Brazilian police have for years been investigating several major companies for the alleged use of bribes to win contracts with state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras), as part of the wide-ranging 'Car Wash' probe.

In October, police expanded the investigation at Petrobras based in part on secret recordings made by a former executive of Vitol, according to court documents.

Vitol and its co-conspirators paid over $8 million to at least four Petrobras officials between 2005 and 2014, the DOJ said. In an effort to hide the schemes, the company used "sham" consulting agreements, shell companies, and fake invoices with its co-conspirators, who in turn communicated with code names like 'Batman', 'Dolphin' and 'Tiger.'

Petrobras said in a statement that it had assisted prosecutors with dozens of investigations into alleged corruption involving employees.

ECUADOR AND MEXICO

Vitol also admitted to bribing or agreeing to pay over $2 million to officials in Ecuador and Mexico in other to secure and retain business there for oil products, according to the DOJ statement.

Prosecutors said the bribes went to employees at Mexico's state-run Pemex and Ecuadorian state oil company Petroecuador.

Petroecuador and Pemex did not respond to requests for comment.

Brazilian prosecutors announced in late 2018 that they were investigating Petrobras' oil deals with trading houses, including the world's biggest oil traders - Vitol, Trafigura and Glencore.

In early 2019, the DOJ opened its own probe into the three company's dealings in Brazil. The FBI investigated two key Vitol executives who were overseeing the region during those years, including the head of Vitol's U.S. arm, Michael "Mike" Loya, who retired earlier this year.

Loya did not immediately respond to a message sent to his LinkedIn account.

Trafigura said no charges had been brought against any Trafigura company or its current management. Glencore declined to comment.

Brazilian prosecutors charged two former Trafigura employees, including a former board member, in late 2018 over allegations of paying bribes to Petrobras employees.

(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware, Gram Slattery in Rio de Janeiro and Julia Payne in London; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Noeleen Walde

Alberta Health Is Trolling Critics On Twitter And Blocking Debate

The government's online conduct discourages free speech, while doctors have found themselves #BlockedByShandro.

JEFF MCINTOSH/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Alberta Minister of Health Tyler Shandro has blocked critics on social media, inspiring the Twitter hashtag #BlockedByShandro. HE WAS ORIGINALLY THE WILDROSE PARTY WEB MASTER

The Alberta government is engaged in an aggressive social media campaign to defend its controversial health-care reforms and suppress dissent via its army of press secretaries and issues managers. Their conduct raises concerns regarding the appropriate use of social media by the government.

Tweets by politicians and their staff are often politically motivated or present information with a partisan spin. The public presumably knows to filter information from these accounts accordingly. Even then, politicians and their staff should be mindful that they serve all Albertans, not merely those who elected them.

By contrast, the official social media accounts of government institutions should provide the public with nonpartisan information. It is therefore concerning that the Alberta Health Twitter account has taken a decidedly political turn during this government’s tenure, particularly at a time when the public looks to it for important health information.

For example, the Alberta Health account recently boasted that the province has more doctors than ever, which is a politically charged statement. Health Minister Tyler Shandro and his staff have been engaged in protracted debates with citizens about the number of doctors leaving the province due to the toxic work environment created by the government. Alberta Health’s tweet supports the minister’s views and stakes out a position on this political controversy.  

The Twitter accounts of both Alberta Health and Shandro referenced the same physician registration statistics but failed to acknowledge significant limits on this data. The number of registered doctors does not correspond to the number who are actively practicing. Because doctors register for an entire year, we will not know how many have left until the renewal period passes. Even then, some doctors who move will opt to remain licensed in Alberta.

Data on the number of doctors currently billing the government is similarly inconclusive. Because doctors are required to give patients 90 days’ notice before closing their practices, those who are leaving will still submit claims during this notice period. While it is expected that official government Twitter accounts will portray the policies of the government of the day in a favourable light, it is quite another matter for them to present data in a misleading manner as they have done with this issue.

Another component of the government’s social media strategy is to block critics on Twitter. For example, Shandro has blocked many doctors who have criticized what they see as his heavy-handed approach to health reform (see #BlockedByShandro). Given the government’s extensive use of Twitter to make announcements about the health-care system and COVID-19, it is essential that citizens have access to this information, particularly the health professionals who are directly affected.

Elected officials must have thick skins and accept that criticism, however unsavoury, is integral to democratic debate.

The minister’s extensive Twitter blocking also undermines democratic values such as transparency and accountability by hindering citizens’ access to information. This issue has been the subject of lawsuits in Canada and the U.S.

For example, citizens who were blocked by the mayor of Ottawa alleged that his conduct violated their Charter-protected right to freedom of expression. They argued that access to information is essential to meaningful expression on public matters and that the mayor’s Twitter account is a place for citizens to engage in public policy debates. The mayor ultimately agreed to mute rather than block the litigants, which would enable them to see his tweets without him seeing theirs. In similar cases, U.S. courts have found President Trump’s Twitter blocking unconstitutional. Elected officials must have thick skins and accept that criticism, however unsavoury, is integral to democratic debate.

Instead of engaging with citizens strictly on the substance of their critiques, the government’s press secretaries and issues managers frequently deploy ad hominem attacks (also see here, here and here). They also employ dubious tactics such as posting pictures of private citizens (perhaps to make them targets of harassment by government supporters?) and tagging their employers in tweets. Communications staff ought to interact civilly with the citizens who pay their salaries and limit their discourse to substantive matters. The freedom to criticize government is essential to a democratic society and should not be discouraged through intimidation by government employees.

If used properly, social media can enhance democracy by facilitating access to information and providing a platform for citizens to engage with elected officials. Unfortunately, the Alberta government is using social media in a manner that harms democracy by discouraging free speech, misleading citizens and limiting access to information.