Paul Gosar has a long history of posting unhinged far-right memes on Twitter
Jerod Macdonald-Evoy, Arizona Mirror
November 09, 2021

Gage Skidmore.

This story contains descriptions of videos and images of a racially charged nature, as do some of the links.

Paul Gosar has stoked national outrage for a Tweet depicting himself as an anime character killing and attacking prominent political figures, the latest in a string of posts from the Republican congressman that draw on far-right and racist memes and imagery.

On Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for the House Ethics Committee and law enforcement to investigate “this horrific video."

The tweet in question is a parody of the opening sequence of the popular anime series “Attack on Titan," based on the Japanese manga series of the same name.

The series has become widely popular with western audiences and has also garnered attention from the alt-right community, which has latched onto it. Recent themes in the manga have drawn parallels with real world antisemitism and far-right politics in Japan.

The video, which Gosar posted on his official congressional Twitter account, has been viewed over 3.4 million times. Twitter has deemed that the Tweet has violated the company's guidelines for hateful conduct. The social media company initially left it up due to “public interest," but it was no longer visible as of Tuesday afternoon. It is unclear if Twitter removed the post or if Gosar deleted it.

The video depicts Gosar as one of the main characters of the show — his face is digitally pasted over the actual character's face — killing and attacking enemies whose faces have been replaced with those of Democratic politicians.

In one shot, Gosar can be seen killing an enemy that has U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's face superimposed on it. Later, he is about to attack an enemy with President Joe Biden's face on it.

In a quote tweet on his personal account, Gosar thanked his “team" and said their creativity is “off the charts." However, the meme appears to be a rip-off of a similar 2016 meme that cast former President Donald Trump as the hero.

An account claiming to be the creator of the video shared an unfinished video in which Gosar is seen as a character from another anime called “Death Note" in which the main character has the power to kill people by writing their names in a journal. Gosar is seen killing Biden, Osacio-Cortez and Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Mississippi Democrat who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee. Gosar's congressional Twitter account follows the supposed “team" member account.

That same account has posted homophobic remarks, mocked LGBTQ people and said that they want to “end all immigration."

Gosar's office did not respond to a request for comment about the account claiming credit for the video. After an Arizona Mirror reporter followed the account, its owner blocked the reporter and made the account private.

The anime video that sparked outrage this week isn't the first video tweet by the congressman that co-opted far-right meme culture.
White supremacists and Groypers

Just last month, Gosar tweeted out and deleted a meme which has roots in neo-Nazi and white nationalist meme culture.

The since-deleted tweet, which was saved by the Internet Archive, begins with a cartoon image of a man looking dismayed as a number of headlines are displayed while the song “Little Dark Age" by MGMT plays.

Before the song crescendos, a buff cartoon with Gosar's head superimposed on it appears in a doorway before the cartoon character, and a montage of Gosar is played before another photoshopped image of the congressman's head on a muscular man is shown while a spinning “America First" logo is shown around his head.

The meme follows a format that is popular among online neo-Nazis and white nationalists who take the same song and superimpose it with images from Nazi Germany, as well as other imagery, the Arizona Mirror found.

Gosar's office didn't respond to requests for comment about the origins of the video or if it was created by the same “team" that created the anime video and other meme related content the congressman has shared.

Before Gosar deleted the tweet, some white nationalists and white supremacists on Twitter discussed its similarity to popular alt-right memes. One, for example, said the only difference between Gosar's tweet and “w**nat" content was the lack of an image called a “spinsun."

The term “w**nats" is used by the alt-right to describe people within the white nationalist movement that generally advocate for violence, antisemitism and accelerationism.

The “spinsuns" and “spinny wheel" that other Twitter users complained about referred to an image known as a sonnenrad, also known as the sunwheel or Black Sun. The Nazi party adopted the sonnenrad and it has become used by a number of modern Neo-Nazi groups as well as in violent attacks. The man who killed 51 and injured 40 more in New Zealand had a sonnenrad on his manifesto.

The most popular version of the sonnenrad used by white nationalists and white supremacists is two concentric circles with crooked rays that come out from the center circle and to the outer circle. Some sonnenrads have a swastika in the center or another norse rune.

The meme that Gosar tweeted did have a spinning “America First" logo around the congressman's head.

Gosar has also posted other memes related to “America First," a slogan popular among the Groyper movement and white nationalist Nicholas Fuentes.

Groypers are white nationalists and far-right activists who often troll conservatives who they feel are not extreme enough. Though loosely organized and members of many different groups, groypers are almost all followers of Fuentes.

One of the main goals of groypers is to push conservatives in a white nationalist direction, and one way they attempt to do this is to present their views in a mainstream appearance or within mainstream organizations.

Gosar spoke at an event held by Fuentes but later attempted to distance himself by saying he denounced “white racism" and said he attended the event to reach a younger voting base, according to the Washington Post.

In March, on his personal account, Gosar tweeted out a meme depicting a man soliciting a prostitute telling the man that $50 will get him whatever he wants to which the man replies “tell everyone America First is inevitable."

The phrase “America First" was used as far back as 1896 by President William McKinley, but it became prominent in isolationist and xenophobic circles in the 1920s when the Ku Kluk Klan adopted the phrase “America First" in the 1920s. It was later promoted by American Nazi sympathizers. And David Duke, the former Grand Wizard of the KKK, would go on to use the term when describing his foreign policy platform as a U.S. Senate candidate.

“America First" has now become the rallying cry for white nationalists, like Fuentes, a young podcast host and the leader of the white nationalist group that Gosar spoke to earlier this year.

Arizona Mirror is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arizona Mirror maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jim Small for questions: info@azmirror.com. Follow Arizona Mirror on Facebook and Twitter.

Sorry, Josh Hawley, the left doesn't hate masculinity — women just don't want to make you a sandwich

Amanda Marcotte, Salon
November 08, 2021

Josh Hawley. (Photo: Screen capture)

Because right-wingers are nothing if not unoriginal, Josh Hawley, the Republican senator from Missouri, is centering his likely doomed 2024 presidential bid on the played "feminists are man-haters" schtick. It's a bit that was long in the tooth even when Hawley, 41, was running off potential prom dates by sneering at their Lilith Fair tickets. In the era of #MeToo and the Texas abortion bounty hunter law, this "men are the real victims" nonsense is particularly laughable. Still, Hawley is digging in. And, to illustrate why he's going to get trounced in the GOP primary by Donald Trump, he's doing so by attacking two very popular American pastimes: porn and video games.

On "Axios on HBO" Sunday night, Hawley defended a speech he made at a gathering of conservatives last week, in which he insisted that liberals are trying to create "a world beyond men" because liberals hate "traditional masculine virtues" like "courage and independence and assertiveness." In response, the supposedly braver, more independent, and more assertive gender, according to Hawley, is "withdrawing into the enclave of idleness and pornography and video games." True men of courage, it's well-known, react to even the slightest criticism by pouting in their mancaves like toddlers throwing a tantrum.

When pressed on this by Axios' Mike Allen, Hawley doubled down, insisting that liberals are saying "your masculinity is inherently problematic." But tellingly, he was extremely vague on examples of either liberals saying this or even what he means by "masculinity." Instead, he just said, "A man is a father. A man is a husband. A man is someone who takes responsibility."

So the charge is what, that liberals are against men being fathers, husbands, and people who take responsibility? Note that it was just last month that it was liberals defending Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg after he took paternity leave to care for his two prematurely born newborn babies. It was conservatives like Tucker Carlson and supposed masculinity icons like Joe Rogan who were bashing Buttigieg for having the courage and independence of mind to shrug off their childish bullying to do what was right for his family. Indeed, looking at that whole incident, what is clear is that whatever conservatives are defending about masculinity is something, but it sure doesn't have anything to do with taking responsibility or being devoted to family.

As is usual with these reactionary defenses of "masculinity," what Hawley is trying to say is left deliberately ambiguous. As Paul Waldman of the Washington Post recently pointed out, for instance, "assertiveness" can mean all sorts of things, as, "Harvey Weinstein was certainly an assertive man, but so is Sen. Bernie Sanders."

It's also worth noting that these "masculine" qualities are hardly exclusive to men. It's doubtful that even Hawley is a troll enough to deny that women should also want to be courageous, independent, and assertive. Indeed, it's hard to think up a supposedly "masculine" virtue that isn't also a quality non-men aspire to have. Strong? Honorable? Competent? All also virtues in women and non-binary folks.

No, Hawley is being vague because what is being defended here is not virtuous behavior at all, but sexism and male dominance. The left doesn't have ire for men who exhibit good or pro-social behaviors. The behavior Hawley whines is called "toxic masculinity" is cis straight men who act entitled and abusive, in ways that range from being merely gross (like mansplaining) to being downright criminal (such as Donald Trump's boast about how he "grabs 'em by the pussy.") You're not really seeing a lot of feminists bash, say, Barack Obama for being a good husband and father. You do, however, see a lot of criticism of, to pull a recent example, Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports for allegations that, as one woman texted a friend, "I was being raped he video taped me and spit in my mouth and choked me so hard I couldn't breathe."

Hawley's little word games cover up for the truly gross behavior that he and his audience are feeling defensive about. Men who long for when it was easier to get away with sexual harassment and abuse can project that behavior into the term "assertive." But if confronted on this, Hawley will just pretend he's talking about men speaking up for good causes, which, again, no one objects to. "Independence" sounds great, until you realize that a lot of crappy men are hearing a defense of men like Aaron Rodgers and Joe Rogan, who think being "independent" means believing you know better than doctors how immunity works. And by "courage," it's hardly likely Hawley's intended audience is imagining the true courage of a young drag queen performing for the first time or the men at NBC News who turned on Matt Lauer for his alleged sexual assaults. It's men who want to believe they're warrior princes of the highest order because they brave women's eyerolls with their "take my wife, please" jokes.

That it's sexism Hawley is defending is evident in this porn-and-video-games talk. That's just a tired sexist trope, that men's presence in women's lives needs to be purchased with women's submission, and if women demand equality, men will reject them entirely. This threat of male abandonment has been leveraged to keep women down for, well, ever. In recent decades, however, it's lost some teeth. Women are no longer barred from having checking accounts and jobs, and so aren't in danger of being destitute for the sin of being too uppity. The premise that a man's value is so self-evident that a woman should subjugate herself to keep a man happy, which was treated as gospel in the 50s era America the right is so nostalgic for, has also lost a lot of its shine. Straight women are increasingly asking men to demonstrate real worth, by being a partner instead of entitled and domineering. Hawley is speaking to an audience terrified of having to actually step up and be something more than a paycheck with a pulse to women.

The grim truth is a lot of men — and unfortunately, their female enablers — believe female submission is men's birthright and are quite angry about changing gender norms. It's why Donald Trump didn't lose any votes on the right for bragging about sexual assault. It's why there's so much whining about "cancel culture" from so many straight men who are criticized for acting like jerks or bigots. It's why groups like the Proud Boys wallow in "tradwife" fantasies, wishing for the days when women didn't have rights so had to put up their crap.

The audience Hawley is trying to reach isn't courageous or assertive or independent at all. They are whiny babies who are throwing a childish tantrum because women told them to make their own damn sandwiches. Those men are plentiful enough to be a voting bloc, as Trump has shown. Still, it's doubtful Hawley will break through to them with his dismissal of porn and video games. The voters he's seeking want more of that "grab 'em by the pussy" talk when imagining the rebirth of male dominance, not all this needlenecked whining about "responsibility."

New QAnon-style conspiracy theory links Astroworld tragedy with supposed mind control experiments

Brad Reed
November 09, 2021

Travis Scott performed at the Astroworld Festival in Houston on November 5th. © Jamaal Ellis/ AP

A video that's spreading across Facebook is falsely claiming that the tragedy at Astroworld over the weekend was part of an experiment in which the crowds at the show were mind-controlled using "graphene oxide" purportedly found in COVID-19 vaccines.

The Houston Chronicle on Tuesday published a fact check of this claim in which it explained that this conspiracy theory simply has no basis in reality.

First of all, contra the video, there's no evidence that graphene oxide turns people in "zombies." Additionally, none of the COVID-19 vaccines contain graphene oxide.

"We previously fact-checked a claim that falsely said graphene oxide — a material made by the oxidation of graphite — was used in Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine," the paper writes. "A company spokesperson told us that the material is used in some vaccines, but none by Pfizer. None of the listed ingredients is another name for graphene oxide, and the material doesn't appear in ingredient lists for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines. "

QAnon conspiracy theorists have also been claiming this that the Astroworld disaster was part of a "Satanic ritual" in which rapper Travis Scott was harvesting people's souls in a purported sacrifice to the devil.

Liberty University files restraining order against 'whistleblower' suing for wrongful firing

By Michael Gryboski, Christian Post Reporter | Tuesday, November 09, 2021

The Freedom Tower at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia,

 is the home of Liberty's School of Divinity. | Courtesy of Liberty University

Liberty University is asking a federal court to stop a former employee from disclosing confidential information and documents amid a legal battle over claims that the evangelical Christian school wrongfully fired him for speaking out about how it handled sexual assault allegations.

Scott Lamb, formerly the school’s senior vice president of communications, sued the Lynchburg-based university and claimed that he was dismissed because he expressed concern over how Liberty officials handled sexual assault claims.

Liberty filed a request for a temporary restraining order last Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia against Lamb, arguing that he is still bound to his confidentiality agreement with the university.

The motion also asks for Lamb to, among other things, deliver “all documents or other information, including all privileged, confidential, and/or trade secret information” to Liberty and to disclose all the people to whom he has sent such sensitive documents or information.

In a memorandum of law filed in support of the motion, a copy of which was emailed to The Christian Post on Monday, Liberty argued that “Lamb promised not to disclose any confidential information without Liberty approval and to return all confidential Liberty information upon his departure” when he signed a confidentiality agreement in 2018.

“Although many of these materials were likely protected trade secrets, privileged communications or attorney work product protected information, Lamb has admitted that he disclosed them to the media, general public and commercial enemies of Liberty without privilege or prior permission as contractually required,” the memorandum reads.

“Perhaps most shockingly, Lamb has demonstrated no regard for the attorney-client privilege, freely discussing privileged advice regarding litigation strategy and other matters on national media.”

Liberty filed a counterclaim to Lamb’s lawsuit, denying certain statements made in his filing last month. Liberty contends that Lamb was fired "for insubordination, expense mismanagement, and overall poor performance."

In a statement emailed to CP, the university said that while it “made every possible effort to avoid taking this action,” it believes that “Lamb simply continues to make egregious, false claims and to violate the law.

“We simply had to act to protect the institution’s mission. We will let the lawsuit speak for itself. It speaks clearly and factually. We have absolutely no doubt that in court our claims will be irrefutable,” Liberty maintained

Lamb directed CP to a statement he posted to Twitter on Monday in which he explained that he tried to change Liberty from within regarding alleged abuses. He claimed that Liberty is “lying about the reason for my termination.”

“Because Liberty University has neither the law nor the facts on its side, its strategy is to pound on the one who sought to reform from within — the whistleblower,” tweeted Lamb.

“As I allege in my lawsuit, I spoke about abuses at Liberty during my entire duration of employment. I spoke out loudly, often, and with little regard for hanging to my job, because I spoke as one who will give an account to God.”

In his statement, Lamb said that he gave over 20 hours of testimony when the Baker Tilly firm interviewed him during an independent investigation in 2021.

“Before my first minute of testimony, I was given a 2-page letter of ‘whistleblower protection,’ signed by interim president Jerry Prevo, instructing me to speak honestly, forthrightly, thoroughly, and without any regard to the reputation of the school, its leadership, or its board. “And Prevo promised that there would be no retaliation for my honest testimony,” he wrote.

“I indicted the former president, the Board of Trustees for negligence and Jerry Prevo as the chairman of the trustees during the entire presidency of Jerry Falwell Jr. Baker Tilly presented their report to Jerry Prevo and the Board of Trustees on September 29. Seven days later, Jerry Prevo fired me.”

Lamb further added that he has “enough documentary evidence” to prove his claims in court and would be happy to give testimony under penalty of perjury to federal agencies or U.S. Congress.

Lamb added that while Liberty “can hire every lawyer and PR firm in the land to attempt to silence me,” this “will not stop the truth from breaking out of Liberty’s conspiracy of silence.”

“God help me if I do anything else but speak up for the true heroes of this story — those who were silenced previously but now are shouting from the rooftops,” he concluded.

Last month, ProPublica published an investigative piece titled, “‘The Liberty Way’: How Liberty University Discourages and Dismisses Students’ Reports of Sexual Assaults.”

ProPublica interviewed former Liberty students who detailed experiences in which the university allegedly mishandled sexual assault allegations and claimed the school even threatened accusers.

The article mentioned how Lamb was allegedly fired for expressing concerns over how the university was handling the allegations of sexual misconduct.

“Concerns about sexual assault would go up the chain and then die,” Lamb told ProPublica, adding that he believed Liberty engaged in a “conspiracy of silence” regarding allegations.

In July, 12 unnamed women filed a class-action suit against Liberty, claiming the school violated Title IX federal discrimination law by failing to process allegations properly.

“Liberty University has intentionally created a campus environment where sexual assaults and rapes are foreseeably more likely to occur than they would in the absence of Liberty’s policies,” stated the lawsuit.

The suit claimed “The Liberty Way,” the school’s honor code, was used to silence accusers by not clarifying if a woman who reports being sexually assaulted will be punished for violating the code if she admits to breaking other aspects of the code, such as the ban on drinking, when reporting an alleged assault.

Liberty President Jerry Prevo issued a statement declaring that “The Liberty Way should never be misused to cover up wrongdoing.”

“It is also the case that as a Christian university we will remain unwavering in our commitment to cultivating a culture in our Liberty community that honors God’s Word and embraces God’s principles for life,” stated Prevo.

“While ‘The Liberty Way’ must never be used to discourage victims from reporting wrongdoing, we also believe that we do not have to choose between embracing our code of conduct as a Christian university and in complying with our legal Title IX obligations.”

At least 10 missing in Turkey building collapse

Issued on: 09/11/2021 - 

There were conflicting reports about how many people were trapped under the debris Handout IHH humanitarian aid group/AFP

Istanbul (AFP) – A two-storey building packed with shoppers and diners collapsed in eastern Turkey on Tuesday, burying at least 10 people under heavy debris.

The incident occurred on a busy street in the eastern plains city of Malatya during evening rush hour, as residents packed shops on their way home from work.

Witnesses and media reports said the building crumbled during planned repairs that resulted in damage to one of the supporting columns.

"I heard a crack first and then the building collapsed. A cloud of dust emerged. It was like judgement day," witness Turhan Cobanoglu told HaberTurk television.

Turkey's AFAD emergencies service said 13 people had been rushed to hospital as rescuers searched for signs of life under piles of debris spilling across one of Malatya's main thoroughfares.

Officials issued contradictory reports about how many people were believed to be inside the various restaurants and shops when the building crumbled at 4:50 pm.

Local mayor Osman Guder told HaberTurk television that between 20 and 25 were believed to still be trapped inside.

Malatya's main opposition CHP party chairman Enver Kiraz put the number trapped at up to 30.

"On the first floor, there was a chicken restaurant, a dried nuts seller and bakery. And on the second floor there was a coffee house," Kiraz told AFP by telephone.

"It is a very busy street. As far as I know, some of the people were injured while passing by the building."

But HaberTurk later reported that only 10 people remained unaccounted for.

Media reports said two of those rescued had suffered serious injuries.

Television images showed rescuers using construction diggers to remove large blocks of debris and trying to listen for signs of any survivors as the evening set in.

Turkey has been rocked by a series of disasters -- including a wave of wildfires and two flash floods -- that claimed some 100 lives this year.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came under fierce political pressure when it emerged in August that Turkey no longer had functioning fire fighting planes.

The deadly flash floods wiped out houses in mountain valleys and sparked questions over why officials were approving construction licences for regions prone to violent weather events.

Erdogan's communications director Fahrettin Altun said the state and regional authorities had fully mobilised in the search and rescue mission.

"Our prayers and hearts are with our Malatya brothers and sisters," Altun tweeted.

© 2021 AFP

WTF

WATCH: Starbucks CEO begs workers not to unionize by comparing the company to Holocaust prisoners

Sarah K. Burris
November 09, 2021


Starbucks employees are inches from forming a union to advocate for safer working conditions, better wages and benefits. The movement might be leading CEO Howard Schultz to desperation.

In a video address, Schultz compared Starbucks to Holocaust prisoners in his effort to stop the unionization. He described the experiences of prisoners in rail cars headed to their torture and death in Nazi concentration camps, Vice News reported.

Schultz explained that in those rail cars only a few were given blankets and had to share them with others. He told the workers that the Starbucks workers should share the company's blanket instead of demanding their own individual benefits. One of the many problems with Schultz's argument is that the workers are still the Holocaust prisoners in that analogy.

"Not everyone but most people shared their blanket with five other people," Schultz, who noted that he is Jewish before sharing the story, said. "So much of that story is threaded into what we've tried to do at Starbucks is share our blanket."

Howard Schultz's net worth is $5 billion.

A spokesperson wouldn't comment on the story, but noted he's talked about it before in a March 2016 speech to shareholders about "the American dream" Vice reported.

See the video below:


Howard Schultz compares workers to prisoners of Nazis

www.youtube.com

Sudan internet cuts complicate civil disobedience campaign against coup

Issued on: 09/11/2021 -

Sudanese pro-democracy groups on Sunday launched two days of civil disobedience and strikes in protest against last month's military coup, although participation appeared to be limited by interruptions to internet and phone connections. FRANCE 24's Karim Yahiaoui reports from Khartoum.

TEARGAS IS A CNS

Tunisian demonstrator dies after inhaling tear gas at landfill protest, hospital official says


People clashwith security forces in Tunisia’s central region of Sfax, which has seen weeks of angry demonstrations over a growing waste crisis, on November 9, 2021. 

© Houssem Zouari, AFP

Issued on: 09/11/2021 - 
Text by: NEWS WIRES

A Tunisian demonstrator died overnight after inhaling tear gas as police dispersed protests over the reopening of a landfill site, a medic and a relative said Tuesday.

The 35-year-old died in the town of Aguereb in the central region of Sfax, which has seen weeks of angry demonstrations over a growing waste crisis.

"Abderrazek Lacheheb was transferred to Aguereb hospital suffering from asphyxia," a hospital official said.

The man's cousin Houcine Lacheheb said the man had been alive when he arrived at the hospital but had died after security forces fired tear gas outside.

"It was the police who killed him," he said.

An AFP journalist in Aguereb saw security forces using tear gas to disperse stone-throwing demonstrators.

Tunisian human rights group FTDES said Aguereb had seen "a violent intervention by security forces on Monday night to force the reopening of the Qena rubbish dump".

"The massive use of tear gas caused the death of Abderrazek Lacheheb," it said.

Protests flared again on Tuesday and demonstrators set fire to a National Guard station in the town, interior ministry spokesman Yasser Mesbah said.

The prosecution said it had opened an inquiry into Lacheheb's death.

The interior ministry denied he had been suffocated by tear gas.

"The man had a health problem that was nothing to do with the protests. His hospitalisation and death were nothing to do with" the demonstrations, Mesbah said.

Videos shared on social media showed residents fleeing clouds of tear gas in front of the hospital, where angry relatives of Lacheheb were demonstrating after his death.

Public pressure had forced the closure of the Sfax region's main rubbish dump, in Aguereb, in September. City councils in the region have been refusing to collect trash, complaining that the state has not found workable alternatives.

In a meeting on Monday with Prime Minister Najla Bouden and Interior Minister Taoufik Charfeddine, President Kais Saied called for an urgent solution to the Sfax rubbish crisis.

(AFP)

CNS (chemical weapon) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia CNS is a mixture of chloroacetophenone, chloropicrin and chloroform that is used as a chemical warfare agent. CNS has the lachrymatory effects of chloroacetophenone and choking effects of chloropicrin.

Appearance: Liquid

CAS Number: None

Odor: Flypaper-like

CNS (chemical weapon) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNS_(chemical_weapon)

New emissions pledges barely affect global heating: UN

Issued on: 09/11/2021 

Earth is on course to heat some 2.7C this century despite a slew of net-zero country plans Andy Buchanan AFP

Glasgow (AFP) – A flurry of emissions pledges around the COP26 climate summit will likely do little to slow global warming, the UN said Tuesday, calling on nations to sharply accelerate their greenhouse gas cuts this decade.

Nations have presented a range of new and enhanced commitments -- including a vow by India to be carbon neutral by 2070 -- in recent weeks as the UN climate summit sets its sights on limiting temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Countries came in to the negotiations far off target, with national emissions-cutting pledges -- known as nationally determined contributions, or NDCs -- put Earth on course to warm a "catastrophic" 2.7C this century.

And a fresh assessment of their new pledges by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) found the outcome was "very similar", largely because the most ambitious emissions cuts are envisaged after 2030.

The report highlights the challenges facing climate negotiations, given the yawning gap between the emissions cuts needed this decade to keep warming to 1.5C and the continuing increases in greenhouse gases pumped into the atmosphere.

COP26 President Alok Sharma said it shows that "there has been some progress but clearly not enough".

"What we have always said is that we want at this COP to able to say with credibility that we are keeping 1.5 alive, and that's what we will be working at over the next few days," he said on Tuesday.
Off target

Experts have said several new pledges at COP26 could have a significant effect, including India's net-zero commitment and an international agreement to cut 30 percent of global methane emissions by 2030.

These have given rise to a number of recalculated global warming projections.

UN Climate Change said last week that countries' renewed NDCs -- updated every five years under the Paris agreement -- would see emissions climb 13.7 percent by 2030 before sharply declining thereafter.

To keep in line with 1.5C, emissions must instead fall 45 percent by then.

International Energy Agency executive director Fatih Birol said last week if all the pledges were implemented in full and if nations swiftly slashed their emissions then heating could be limited to as much as 1.8C.

But more recent calculations have come in higher.

Looking at just the national plans and announcements, UNEP said they would likely save 500 million tonnes of carbon pollution by 2030.

But it said that, taken together, all current national emissions-reduction plans would still see warming of 2.7C by 2100.

When other net-zero action -- such as carbon offsets and reforestation -- were factored in alongside decarbonisation efforts the warming estimate was 2.1C.

"We are not where we need to be and we need to step up with much more action," said UNEP executive director Inger Andersen.

"At this point, when we look at what has come in in the additional pledges frankly, it's an elephant giving birth to a mouse."
'Kick the can'

UNEP's assessment came on the same day as a similar analysis by the think tank Climate Action Tracker (CAT), which said that if countries fully implement their short-term emissions goals, global heating could be limited to 2.4C this century.

The CAT calculation is based on a 50-percent probability of hitting a given temperature, whereas UNEP's is a more conservative 66 percent.

Teresa Anderson, Climate Policy Coordinator ActionAid International, said the report was "the strongest evidence yet that too many net zero targets aren't worth the paper they're written on".

The latest report came as a who's who of US political heavyweights arrived to underscore America's recommitment to the UN climate process, after former President Donald Trump pulled the country out of the Paris Agreement.

"We come here equipped, ready to take on the challenge and meet the moment," said Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, a day after ex-President Barack Obama told the conference that he understood why young people were "frustrated" with climate inaction.

"This is all about the children. Leaving them a world where they can be healthy, most secure, and more in reach of their fulfilment," Pelosi said.

© 2021 AFP

THE REAL PURPOSE OF ABSTINENCE EDUCATION
U.S. adolescents getting less sex education now than 25 years ago, study finds
By HealthDay News


Researchers say that about half of teens receive minimum standards of sex education, a far lower number than 25 years ago. File Photo by Zurijeta/Shutterstock

Sex Ed -- it's been a staple of public education for decades, but new research shows that only half of American teens are getting instruction that meets minimum standards.

"The findings show that most adolescents are not receiving sex education that will enable them to manage their sexual lives," said study author Leslie Kantor, chair of the Department of Urban-Global Public Health at Rutgers School of Public Health in New Jersey.

Kantor and her team analyzed data from nearly 8,000 U.S. adolescents in the National Survey of Family Growth from 2011-2015 and 2015-2019. They found that in both periods, about half the youths received sex education that met national standards.

More than 75% of teens received instruction about "how to say no to sex," while only about 60% received information about birth control.

In 1995, more than 80% of teens received information about birth control.

Another concerning finding was that a significant percentage of teens do not receive any information about protecting themselves against sexually transmitted diseases before they begin having intercourse.

The researchers also found notable gender and racial disparities in adolescents' access to comprehensive sex education.

Females are more likely than males to receive instruction in waiting until marriage to have sex, while males are more likely than females to be taught about condom use.

Fewer Black and Hispanic males than white males are instructed about birth control, HIV and STI -- sexually transmitted infections -- prevention, and saying no to sex.

Queer youth are less likely than straight youth to be taught about HIV/STI prevention and where to get birth control.

The study was published this month in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

"Policymakers at every level must invest in inclusive and comprehensive sex education programs with an eye toward greater equity and inclusivity," Kantor said in a Rutgers news release.

"The United States is failing adolescents and their families by providing limited sex education to so many of its youth," Kantor added.

"Federal, state and local policymakers must work harder to ensure that sex education is provided that is age appropriate and that education is equitable and meets the needs of all youth rather than leaving some youth less equipped to lead sexually healthy lives," Kantor said.

More information

The American Academy of Pediatrics offers advice on talking to children about sex.

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