MONTY PYTHON MEETS TUCKER CARLSON
Russian State TV Is So Ridiculous Right Now It Looks Like a Farce

Julia Davis
Sun, February 20, 2022

Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images

Anyone watching nothing but Russian state television would never know President Putin has massed his troops on the border of Ukraine, that Kremlin-controlled separatists shelled a kindergarten full of children and Russian forces are in position for an offensive against its beleaguered neighbor. On Kremlin-funded networks, the vision of events is presented not only upside down, but backwards. Panicked pundits blame the United States and Ukraine for the escalation, claim that Russia doesn’t want the war and theatrically ponder: “Why won’t somebody stop Biden?”

Chairman of the International Committee of Russia’s State Duma, Leonid Slutsky alleged that the president of the United States is painting “an absolutely inverted picture of the situation around Ukraine” and accused Joe Biden of misrepresenting “the alleged readiness of the Russian Federation to invade Ukraine.” Slutsky added that “the American president, talking about the “villain-Russia,” the very Russia that today accepts and saves the civilian population of the LPR and DPR, seems like a real character from [Lewis Carroll’s topsy-turvy children’s book] Through the Looking-Glass.”

And yet, it is Russia who has turned white into black, and black into white. If there were not so many lives hanging in the balance, you would describe current Russian state TV as a darkly comic farce.


Mysterious ‘Z’ Painted on Russian Tanks Closing in on Ukraine Border

Events on the ground are unfolding just as the American president had warned, based on the information provided by U.S. intelligence agencies. U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE Michael Carpenter said that according to U.S. assessments, Russia has placed somewhere between 169,000 and 190,000 troops near Ukraine’s borders—up from 100,000 at the end of January.

Having massed its troops and armaments on the Ukrainian border, Russia stands ready to invade Ukraine. On Friday, Kremlin-controlled heads of the self-proclaimed “republics” in Eastern Ukraine (LPR and DPR) started unprovoked evacuations of civilians to Russia, followed by suspicious explosions in the region. Russia’s state media immediately—and baselessly—blamed the Ukrainian military. State TV channel Rossiya-24 reported: “Let’s address the emergency event that took place several minutes ago.” The correspondent present on the scene said, “Everyone is trying to figure out what happened here.” The headline read: “The Ukrainian army struck the gas pipeline in Luhansk.”

What makes this all the more bizarre is that the U.S. had publicly predicted these very tactics.

Just as the U.S. administration had warned, Russian authorities now appear to be readying themselves for the re-invasion of Ukraine under false pretexts. One of the main pretexts aggressively promoted by the Kremlin and Russia’s state media is the unfounded allegation of “genocide” of Russian speakers by the Ukrainian military. Back in December of 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed: “What is happening in Donbas right how we know and see very well, it’s very reminiscent of genocide.” By February, the state media and Russian officials went full bore with their accusations of “genocide” in Ukraine.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Russian officials circulated a document at the UN Security Council meeting on Thursday, accusing the Ukrainian government of the “genocide of the Russian-speaking population of Donbas.”

Speaking before that UN Security Council meeting, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that according to the information obtained by the U.S. intelligence agencies, Russia was planning to use a false flag attack in Eastern Ukraine, followed by baseless accusations of “genocide” in the region. Blinken pointed out: "Russia may describe this event as ethnic cleansing or a genocide, making a mockery of a concept that we in this chamber do not take lightly, nor do I take lightly, based on my family history."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's dismissal of Moscow's assertion of “genocide” in the eastern Ukraine’s region of Donbas enraged Russian officials. On Saturday, Russian Foreign Ministry scolded Scholz and Germany as a whole: “It is not for German leaders to laugh at the issues of genocide. This is unacceptable, given the historical experience of Germany in matters of massacres against people and the spread of misanthropic ideology.” Russian state TV went even further, with the host of 60 Minutes Olga Skabeeva cynically asserting: “Germans have different ideas about genocide. They’ll have to start burning people in ovens, and maybe then they’ll concede: ‘Yes, it’s genocide.’”

Russia’s state media is spreading claims of Ukraine allegedly shelling the regions of Donbas and on Saturday alleged that the Ukrainians shelled Russia’s Rostov Region, located near the border with Ukraine. The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Valery Zaluzhny, denied all of Russia’s accusations, stating in part: “It should be noted that the artillery units of the Joint Forces are located in areas of withdrawal at a distance of more than 21 km from the line of contact, which exceeds the maximum firing range of multiple rocket launchers "Hail" and 122-mm guns in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine."

Anticipating false accusations from the Kremlin, Ukrainian authorities allowed access to a number of local and international journalists. NBC’s Richard Engel noted: “The separatists are claiming Ukrainians are attacking and besieging them. I’ve walked up and down those trenches for the last several months. Saw no signs of ongoing or impending Ukrainian offensive. None.” Meanwhile, streams of state media news reports claim that Ukraine is aggressively shelling Donbas, alleging “the most intensive bombardments by the Ukrainian military in recent months.”

In a bizarro world of Russia’s state media, America—which has been painstakingly attempting to prevent an escalation—is the true aggressor. Appearing on 60 Minutes on Friday, lawmaker Oleg Morozov lamented: “I’m hoping there are people next to Biden, next to Scholz, next to the British PM, who will look at the scenarios and say, ‘If the big war with Russia’s participation were to start, it will cost Europe dearly. Think about that!’ That is my last hope, that the fear of this unpredictable situation will stop these hotheads.”

Igor Korotchenko, a member of the Russian Defense Ministry’s Public Council and editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine, exclaimed: “The United States want this war. Their main goal is to take over Europe’s energy market. Biden could care less about the victims and their suffering, about Europe’s losses. He is realizing the plans of the American establishment.” Summarizing the grotesque new theme in the Kremlin’s war on truth, Korotchenko theatrically pleaded with European leaders: “Stop Zelensky! Stop Biden!”

Inflation pinch: Moroccans protest soaring fuel, other costs







A woman takes photos with her mobile phone while people gather to protest against price hikes and commemorate the anniversary of the 2011 Arab Spring protests, in Rabat, Morocco, Sunday, Feb 20, 2022. 

(AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

TARIK EL-BARAKAH
Sun, February 20, 2022

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Thousands of Moroccans staged nationwide protests Sunday to complain about the soaring prices of fuel and other essential commodities.

The North African kingdom is the latest of several countries to see public anger erupt over high global energy prices, which are driving decades-high inflation numbers around the world.

The Moroccan demonstrations coincide with the 11th anniversary of the wave of protests known as the Feb. 20 movement, inspired by the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprisings that took place around the region in 2011.

In the capital of Rabat, a protest took place outside the parliament building. Holding placards, protesters chanted slogans against the government for its failure to keep spiraling prices under control, leading more people to fall into poverty.

Police were deployed in force around the protest site.

Smaller demonstrations broke out in other cities where protesters demanded that government immediately intervene to improve the people’s purchasing power.

The minister delegate in charge of the budget, Fouzi Lekjaa, noted that the government has adopted multiple measures to alleviate the strain on Moroccan households, but acknowledged they remain “insufficient.”

The government blamed the spike in prices of basic goods on a combination of the global post-pandemic economic recovery and the increase in prices of grains and oil products on international markets.

The country is also reeling from the consequences of its worst drought in decades.

The national average rainfall for this rainy season so far is just 7.5 centimeters (3 inches), which is 64% lower than a normal year, according to a statement by the royal palace. It said 10 billion dirhams ($1 billion) have been allocated to mitigate the drought's impact on the agricultural sector and the economy as a whole.

The sting of high energy prices and resulting inflation is being felt around the world, piling financial stress on governments, businesses and households. Countries are scrambling to address expensive utility bills and rising prices for food as farmers and supermarkets pass along their costs to customers, many of whom are facing a cost-of-living crisis.

The Nigerian artwork challenging British history in St Paul's

Mon, February 21, 2022
In this article
Victor Ehikhamenor
Nigerian visual artist, writer, and photographer

Artist standing in front of the creation

A leading Nigerian artist tells writer Molara Wood why his new installation at London's St Paul's Cathedral is important, as the world-famous building re-evaluates its memorials to historical figures including the admiral who led the campaign that resulted in the looting of the Kingdom of Benin.

Short presentational grey line

Spotlights pick out the rhinestones in Victor Ehikhamenor's giant rosary-bead tapestry so that it sparkles, brightening up part of the crypt in the 17th Century cathedral.

This image of the oba, or king, of Benin dominates the space, through which thousands of visitors pass every week, and draws the eye.


Next to it - barely readable and tarnished through time - is a much smaller brass memorial plaque in honour of Admiral Sir Harry Holdsworth Rawson, who led a punitive expedition in 1897 to the West African kingdom of Benin.

He oversaw the British soldiers and sailors who destroyed a centuries-old civilisation, looting and burning down the oba's palace in what is now Benin City in the Nigerian state of Edo.

Their looted treasures - thousands of metal sculptures and ivory carvings made between the 15th and 19th Centuries and collectively known as the Benin Bronzes - are now at the centre of a debate about the return of artefacts taken during the colonial era.

But as his plaque recalls, Rawson was revered at the time for his exploits right across the British Empire.

Sculptures looted by British soldiers from the Kingdom of Benin in 1897 have ended up across the world

Through memorials to hundreds of historical British figures, St Paul's presents a version of the past. But in an ongoing art project the cathedral authorities are attempting to bring new perspectives.

Ehikhamenor's 12ft-tall work (3.7m), Still Standing, was specially commissioned as part of the 50 Monuments in 50 Voices project to tell different stories.

"There is something very powerful about seeing an oba standing there next to the panel memorialising the Benin campaign," the cathedral's chancellor, Dr Paula Gooder, told the BBC.

The work is also a reminder of "the enduring legacies and losses of colonial war", the exhibit's co-curator Prof Dan Hicks said.

St Paul's has decided not to get rid of any of its monuments, recognising that "people had different values" in the past, and instead wants to "engage in a conversation with history," Dr Gooder explained.

"To the British people [Rawson] was a hero, to the family he was a hero, but it could also be that to some other people he was a war criminal"", Source: Victor Ehikhamenor, Source description: Artist, Image: Victor Ehikhamenor

Ehikhamenor is in no doubt as to his role in that conversation.

"To the British people [Rawson] was a hero, to the family he was a hero, but it could also be that to some other people he was a war criminal," the artist said.

He feels that in the whole debate about reparations and the push for the looted artefacts to be returned home to Nigeria, Rawson's "painful" role in the whole affair has been forgotten.

"Sometimes we have to remind people that [atrocities] happened."

Ehikhamenor is from the same Edo culture and artistic tradition as the bronzes, and his piece is inspired by Oba Ovonramwen, the Benin monarch who was exiled by the British in 1897.

The installation depicts a larger-than-life figure of the oba standing in full regalia, and with the instruments of his power.

"This is me reawakening Oba Ovonramwen and every other person that was violated during that oppressive attack on the Benin Kingdom," said the artist.

Five-thousand beads

Still Standing is a reference to the fact that for Ehikhamenor "the kingdom is still standing, the culture is still standing, we as a people are still standing".

The work was created late last year in Ehikhamenor's studio in Lagos, Nigeria, and involved three months of continuous work by the artist and a team of four assistants.

Rosary beads and a replica Benin Bronze can be seen in this detail from Still Standing

"I call them The Kingmakers," Ehikhamenor said of the team.

They were young women who played mainly Yoruba gospel music while they worked on the piece, stitching all the elements together, as the image of the oba gradually materialised on the monumental cloth-work.

"There's no way people are going to see it and not feel the joy and feel something that they cannot understand," said the artist.

To create the work, 5,000 rosary beads, traditionally used to aid Catholic devotion, were stitched onto lace, along with rhinestones and bronze statuettes.

Prominent among the miniatures hanging on the work is a replica of the 16th Century mask of Queen Idia, the most famous of the Benin Bronzes.

The mask is coated in chalk, another strong feature of the entire work, harking back to the artist's childhood memory of his grandfather's invocations with ritual chalk at the sighting of the new moon.

"Chalk is very important to Benin Kingdom," Ehikhamenor declared.
'History is a moving train'

He started using the rosary in his studio practice in 2017, to raise questions around what is a religious item and what is art, what is held sacred and what is stigmatised as demonic.

"Our art has been demonised for so long. So, now, my thing is: if you see a work that is made from the rosary, are you going to say it's demonic?

"The Edo artist has always dwelled on duality; this world, the other one; past and present."

Ehikhamenor is one of the leading voices in the clamour for the repatriation of looted art, but he shies away from the activist label, insisting that: "When you're asking for your father's patrimony, you're not an activist; you're just asking for what belongs to you."

Still Standing was created in this vein.

On display in a building this is at the heart of the British establishment, it is not a lecture, nor is it forcing any particular stance on people.

But the radiance of the piece commands attention, challenging the viewer to take another look at a historical episode, and consider the continuing impact of the destruction of the ancient Benin Kingdom.

For Ehikhamenor, the past should always be up for review.

"History is constantly changing. In as much as people like to think that history is fixed, history is a constantly moving train."

Short presentational grey line

Molara Wood is a writer and journalist based in Lagos.

#BOYCOTTCOP27

US, Egypt launch group to prepare for COP27 climate summit

Egypt USU.S. climate envoy John Kerry, second from left, chairs his delegations during a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry at the foreign ministry headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Feb. 21, 2022. 

(AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

BY SAMY MAGDY
Mon, February 21, 2022

CAIRO (AP) — The United States and Egypt on Monday launched a joint working group to prepare for the next climate change summit in November, the American envoy for climate issues said.

Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry said the group is focused on the United Nations' COP27 conference in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. He said the country has already begun its preparations for the meeting.

Kerry said other world tensions, including the ongoing Ukraine crisis, “will not change the reality of what is happening every day with respect to our climate," and called the issue an “international threat for all of us.”

“There are no politics in this. There is no ideology in this. This is not anything to do with some of the issues” of concern for the U.S. administration, Kerry said at a news briefing in Cairo with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry. Neither official took questions from reporters.

Kerry, who also met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, was referring to conflicts in the Middle East and likely Egypt’s human rights record, which has drawn criticism from the U.S. and other western governments.

Shukry said they discussed priorities and goals of the Egyptian-chaired COP27, including making funds available to developing counties to implement the Paris 2015 agreement on climate change.

The former U.S. senator and secretary of state, who landed in the Egyptian capital on Sunday, is expected to speak at the American University in Cairo on the future of international climate action in the leadup to COP27, the State Department said.

Kerry said that the U.S. was also working with Egypt on its own transition to a clean energy future.

In June, Kerry announced an increase in U.S. funding to help Egypt convert to solar energy and move away from fossil fuels, a major source of energy in the country of over 100 million people.

In recent years, the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi has taken steps to convert to renewables, seizing the advantage of the country’s optimal solar and wind conditions for energy harvesting.

But the government has faced criticism from environmental activists for razing green spaces and cutting down tens of thousands of trees for infrastructure projects, especially in Cairo where a gigantic cloud of air pollution often hovers.

Sharm El Sheikh

City in Egypt

Sharm el-Sheikh is an Egyptian city on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, on the coastal strip along the Red Sea. Its population is approximately 73,000 as of 2015. Sharm El Sheikh is the administrative hub of Egypt's South Sinai Governorate, which includes the smaller coastal towns of Dahab and Nuweiba as well as the mountainous interior, St. Catherine and Mount Sinai. The city and holiday resort is a significant centre for tourism in Egypt, while also attracting many international conferences and diplomatic meetings.

Wikipedia

UN court to open hearings in Rohingya genocide case

 Rohingya refugees gather near a fence during a government organized media tour, to a no-man's land between Myanmar and Bangladesh, near Taungpyolatyar village, Maung Daw, northern Rakhine State, Myanmar, June 29, 2018. An international case accusing Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya ethnic minority returns to the United Nations' highest court Monday, Feb. 21, 2022, amid questions over whether the country's military rulers should even be allowed to represent the Southeast Asian nation. 

(AP Photo/Min Kyi Thein, File)

MIKE CORDER
Mon, February 21, 2022

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Myanmar's shadow civilian administration called on the United Nations' top court Monday not to allow the country's military rulers to represent the Southeast Asian nation at hearings into a case accusing the country of genocide against the Rohingya ethnic minority.

Four days of hearings into the Myanmar military's deadly 2017 crackdown on the Rohingya are scheduled to open Monday afternoon at the International Court of Justice amid a dispute over who should represent the country in court.

Representatives of Myanmar are scheduled to address judges to outline why they believe the case that was filed by the African nation of Gambia, representing a group of Muslim nations, should be dropped.

But members of Myanmar's National Unity Government, urged the court not to accept representatives of the military rulers.

"We do not believe that the International Court of Justice will want to allow the military to appear before them as if they speak for the Republic of the Union of Myanmar," said the unity government's foreign minister, Zin Mar Aung. "It would be a most profound injustice to the Rohingya if the military were to be both their abusers and have any voice in the court.”

The shadow administration said it has contacted the court to withdraw Myanmar's preliminary objections to the case, but it remains to be seen whether the court will recognize the unity administration.

The shadow administration is made up of a diverse group of representatives including elected lawmakers who were prevented from taking their seats by the military takeover. It says it is the country's only legitimate government but no foreign government has recognized the unity group.

The dispute at the world court in The Hague reflects a broader struggle in the international community over whom to accept as Myanmar’s legitimate rulers in the aftermath of the coup.

Southeast Asian foreign ministers held their annual retreat last week without their counterpart from Myanmar, who was blackballed from participating but allowed to attend online as an observer.

The military launched what it called a clearance campaign in Rakhine state in 2017 after an attack by a Rohingya insurgent group. More than 700,000 Rohingya fled into neighboring Bangladesh and security forces were accused of mass rapes, killings and torching thousands of homes.

In 2019, lawyers representing Gambia at the ICJ outlined their allegations of genocide by showing judges maps, satellite images and graphic photos of the military campaign. That led the court to order Myanmar to do all it can to prevent genocide against the Rohingya. The interim ruling was intended to protect the minority while the case is decided in The Hague, a process likely to take years.

Former pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi represented Myanmar at the 2019 hearings, but she now is imprisoned after being convicted on what supporters call trumped-up charges.

Last year's military takeover in Myanmar sparked widespread peaceful protests and civil disobedience that security forces suppressed with lethal force. About 1,500 civilians have been killed, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Akila Radhakrishnan, president of the Global Justice Center, said this week’s International Court of Justice hearings “are laying the groundwork for accountability in Myanmar — not only for the Rohingya, but for all others who have suffered at the hands of the military.”

The International Court of Justice rules on state responsibility for breaches of international law. It is not linked to the International Criminal Court, also based in The Hague, which holds individuals accountable for atrocities. Prosecutors at the ICC are investigating crimes committed against the Rohingya who were forced to flee to Bangladesh but have not yet filed any indictments.

Garment Workers Face a 45 Percent Wage Gap, New Report Finds


Kaley Roshitsh
Mon, February 21, 2022


Living wages aren’t happening broadly in fashion.

On average, garment workers face a 45 percent wage gap, meaning the further away from zero, the larger the gap between decent living and minimum wage. This is the case for more than half a dozen countries, including Pakistan, India and Vietnam, according to a new report from The Industry We Want, a recently launched multi-stakeholder coalition and industry dashboard meant to bring light to wage gaps and purchasing practices in fashion and footwear.

The dashboard features relevant and timely data on the living wage gap, purchasing practices and GHG emissions over the past year.

For the report, researchers gathered data on wage gaps and purchasing practices from responses of more than 500 suppliers in the garment and footwear industry in the Better Buying Institute’s Partnership Index. Additional estimates include figures from the Global Living Wage Foundation, Wage Indicator Foundation, the Asia Floor Wage Alliance and the Clean Clothes Campaign, among others. Of those responses, 57 percent of behaviors were considered those of a “true partner,” or one doing the most to advance fair business, 28 percent were of a “collaborator” or closely aligned partner and 17 percent of behaviors were of a “detractor,” or those mitigating progress.

Better Buying Institute’s Partnership Index, referenced by TIWW in its dashboard, gave buyers an annual score of just 39 out of a maximum of 100.

“The Industry We Want has been established to measure, track and accelerate progress but also to act as a convener so we’re here to support the work that we think is going to make an impact on these indicators,” said Olivia Windham Stewart, a business and human rights consultant who contributed to the dashboard. “So for each of these focus areas, we are working with all of the stakeholders who are relevant and expert in that area to define the strategies and work out how we need to move forward.”

“Some would argue it would require buyers to commit to the key principles of purchasing practices, so they commit to fair payment terms and various other things. Better Buying [Institute] has the Five Principles [Visibility, Stability, Time, Financials and Shared Responsibility]. That would be the soft-branded approach,” said Windham Stewart. “I would argue for either commitments to much stronger contract terms but really I’d get behind policy change. So there are two pieces of regulation, one in the E.U. and one in the U.K., that I think are very important. One is the Unfair Trading Practices directive in the E.U. It currently only exists in food and agriculture but the Fair Trade Advocacy Office is looking to extend it to garments. That limits payment terms to 30 days to perishable goods and 60 days for non-perishable goods. And the other is the Garment Trade Adjudicator,” which is a relatively new push.

Last year, the garment sector was responsible for 1.025 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent or about 2 percent of annual global GHG emissions, according to estimates by the World Resources Institute and the Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) in the “Roadmap to Net Zero: Delivering Science-Based Targets in the Apparel Sector” report.

TIWW debuted the dashboard alongside the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development forum on due diligence in a webinar titled, “Launching Drivers for Change.”

Striving to release “regular, updated data sets to hold the industry accountable to the targets set and for impacts created,” TIWW announced its commitment to partner with Aii to update GHG data on an annual basis until 2025.

The Industry We Want said, on average, workers in the garment and footwear sector are receiving just over half of the money they need to reach a decent standard of living. - Credit: Courtesy TIWW

Click here to read the full article.

China warns consumers not to use Abbott formula products



Mon, February 21, 2022, 

BEIJING (Reuters) -China Customs has warned consumers from buying and eating infant and baby products of Abbott Laboratories, according to said in a post issued on Sunday on its website.

The General Administration of Customs said in a post issued on Sunday on its website that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Feb. 18 had suggested consumers not buy or eat certain baby formula products made by Abbott.

China Customs said the products have not entered China through general trade, but added that those consumers who purchased them via cross-border e-commerce should stop using them.

Abbott said on Feb 17 it was recalling powdered baby formulas, including Similac, made at a Michigan facility.

Excluding Similac HMFortifi, products that Abbott China sells in mainland China were not affected by the issue, state-backed news outlet The Paper reported on Monday citing a company response.

(Reporting by Sophie Yu, Brenda Goh; additional reporting by Roxanne Liu; editing by Jason Neely)

Hooked on History: Goshen Township coal mine was cursed with bad luck


Jon Baker, The Times-Reporter
Mon, February 21, 2022

The New Castle Mine was one the earliest coal mines in Tuscarawas County.

The mines at New Castle were among the earliest and most profitable of the coal mines which once dotted Tuscarawas County and provided employment to hundreds.

The mines, located along what is now state Route 416 between New Philadelphia and Goshen, opened shortly after the Ohio & Erie Canal was completed through Tuscarawas County. The mines were next to the canal.

Coal was first discovered in the county in 1755 near Bolivar because a vein was seen on fire.

One of the earliest references to the mines at New Castle can be found in the journals of Prince Maximilian of Wied, a German nobleman who toured North America between 1832 and 1834.

In his journal, he wrote, "A few hours later, we reached the coal mines near New Castle, where a lock is located. Here, too, mine cars were run (on top of) scaffolding and unloaded at the end. The coal falls down (in a) heap right at the bank (where it is) loaded on boats at once and transported farther.

"New Castle is a new place, not listed in the Ohio Gazetteer for 1833. Rubus odoratus (flowering raspberry) grows in the picturesque rocks nearby and in front of the lock."

There was a strong market in Cleveland for New Castle coal, which had a reputation as being "strong" coal, well suited for the generation of steam. But it had too much sulfur to be used in the manufacturing of iron.

The principal mine at New Castle was owned by Judge Jacob Blickensderfer of Dover. The Geological Survey of the State of Ohio, published in 1836, said the mine "is worked with more judgment and vigor than any in the county. The coal is well known in market, and if I am correctly informed, is considered superior to that of many localities."

The mines operated successfully for many years, shipping coal to Cleveland by canal boat. It maintained its place of prominence as long as the canal was the only way to transport coal out of Tuscarawas County. With the coming of the railroads, New Castle declined in prominence, eclipsed by the new mines opened in Pike Run City (now Barnhill).

In the late 1890s, the New Castle Coal Co., based in New Philadelphia, made an attempt to open a mine there.

According to the 1898 Ohio Bureau of Mines report, it was a drift mine, an underground mine in which the entry or access is above water level and generally on the slope of a hill, driven horizontally into the ore seam. The mine employed 22 miners and four day hands.

But as local newspapers noted, the mine was cursed by bad luck.

On March 17, 1901, Frank Stowe, a plumber from New Philadelphia, was called to the mine to repair the gasoline engine used to pump water out of the mine.

The pump was a considerable distance inside the mine. Stowe was accompanied by John S. Kollar, a co-owner of the mine, Arthur Hill and Sam Carlisle, a 16-year-old boy, according to the Uhrichsville-Dennison News-Democrat newspaper.

After Stowe repaired the engine, he told the others, "I am getting sick." They started to leave, but Stowe became dazed and fell to the ground. Kollar turned to shut off the engine and collapsed. Soon after, Hill was also overcome.

Carlisle, who was in advance of the others, ran to the mouth of the mine to get help. Two miners, James and Robert Carlisle, risked their lives to bring the three men out.

Doctors soon arrived on the scene to provide medical assistance. They were able to revive Kollar and Hill.

"But with Stowe the vital spark had fled, and though they persisted in their efforts, ever after hope had fled, no signs of returning animation rewarded their efforts," the paper said.

Stowe, "one of the most genial and best liked men in New Philadelphia," was a member of the New Philadelphia Fire Department and the Knights of Pythias.

Five years later, the company had changed its name to the North Newcastle Coal Co., and Kollar was now partners with Thomas Quinn.

In February 1906, Quinn brought suit against Kollar, seeking a dissolution of the partnership, an accounting of the business since Aug. 25, 1904, and the appointment of a receiver to close out the firm's business.

The records of the canal toll collector's office showed that 143 boat loads of coal had been shipped on the canal from the mine during the summer and fall of 1905, going to Massillon, Akron and Cleveland. However, the company books contained a record of only 113 loads.

Kollar acknowledged 122 loads, but that left 21 loads of coal unaccounted for.

"Many sales of coal from the tipple at the mine are unaccounted for, the plaintiff (Quinn) asserts and charges the partner with having appropriated the proceeds of these sales for his own use," the New Philadelphia Daily Times reported.

A judge appointed a receiver for the company.

"A train of ill luck seems to follow the working of this mine," the Daily Times reported, noting the death of Stowe and a strike there a few weeks before Quinn filed suit.

The lawsuit pretty much marked the end of coal mining in New Castle, which faded away in years to come.

Jon Baker is a reporter for The Times-Reporter and can be reached at jon.baker@timesreporter.com.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: History: Goshen Township coal mine was cursed with bad luck

Unprecedented view of supermassive black hole could change our understanding of galaxies, researchers say


Jon Kelvey
Sun, February 20, 2022

Supermassive black holes at the center of many galaxies might look more like pancakes than doughnuts, pancakes smoking as the black holes at their center burn their inner edges.

That’s how Université de la Côte d’Azur astronomer Romain Petrov described the findings of his colleagues in a new paper published Wednesday in Nature. It’s a finding that confirms, and extends, a long-held theory about active galactic nuclei, the extremely bright centers of some galaxies believed to be driven by supermassive black holes and could have implications for how we understand our own existence.

“The co-evolution between the black hole and the host galaxy — what was first, the black hole or the galaxy? — has a strong impact on the evolution of the galaxy, including the formation of stars in that galaxy,” Dr Petrov said. “A link in the chain of events that lead to the existence of people that can discuss these issues.”

Dr. Petrov and his colleagues used the Multi-AperTure mid-Infrared SpectroScopic Experiment (MATISSE) instrument and the Very Large Telescope in Chile to make new observations of the galaxy Messier 77, a barred spiral galaxy about 47 million light-years from Earth.

Messier 77 is one of the easiest to observe galaxies with an active galactic nucleus and was the basis for what is known as the Unified Model of Active Galactic Nuclei, which holds that differences in observed behavior among different nuclei are a function of our angle of view when observing them and how much the central black hole is hidden by a torus of dust and gas. This torus forms as matter spirals inward to feed the central black hole, the material whirling and compressing and releasing the tremendous amount of energy that makes active galactic nuclei “active.”

A white gass cloud is blown out from the center of active galaxy Messier 77, presumably by the supermassive black hole that lurks in its core. (Nasa)

Messier 77 is the canonical Active Galactic Nuclei, its torus hiding the central black hole from direct view, Dr Petrov said, “making it the cornerstone of the unified model of Active Galactic Nuclei that explains a large class of then mysterious phenomena with a single mechanism.”

But in 2019, a team using the GRAVITY instrument through the Very Large Telescope published results that Dr Petrov said challenged the accepted geometry of Messier 77, and thus the unified model.

GRAVITY, like MATISSE, is an infrared instrument, and the GRAVITY team concluded they could see the hot inner edge of the “doughnut,” the torus that should be hiding the black hole at the center of Messier 77.

“If you see the inner edge of the doughnut, then it cannot hide the central structure that is in the middle of that ‘doughnut,’” Dr Petrov said. “Then the unified model does not describe properly the target that was used to propose the unified model.”

But GRAVITY is a near-infrared instrument, sensitive to the K-band, infrared light of wavelengths between 2 and 2.4 microns. MATISSE sees in the L, M, and N bands, Dr. Petrov noted, wavelengths between 3 and 14 microns, which are more senstive to the type of temperature differences at questions in observations of Messier 77. The new observations conducted by Dr. Petrov and his colleagues disprove the GRAVITY collaboration’s predictions for what should be seen with MATISSE, he said, and thus preserve the unified model of Active Galactic Nuclei.

“It favors again the unified model, with an update: the dust torus is indeed hiding the central structure in [Messier 77], but it looks more like a pancake with a central hole,” Dr. Petrov said. “And we see flows of material above that ‘pancake’ — The central hot source is burning the edges of the hole in the pancake and we see the smoke,” smoke that is really dust blown from the inner edge of the torus by the intense radiation from the black hole.

The newly reinforced unified model can now be applied to the study of other active galactic nuclei, Dr. Petrov said, and will help astronomers as they attempt to unravel just how black holes and galaxies evolve together, and that that can tell us about star formation, planet formation, and the development of life itself.

In the meantime, Dr. Petrov has more questions specific to Messier 77, like what exactly does the dust at the center of this Active Galactic Nuclei consist of?

“What exactly is the dusty wind process, the ‘smoke’ above the central hole of the pancake?” he said. “This can be obtained from higher spectral resolution with MATISSE — images in much more narrow spectral Bands — and we are working on improving MATISSE to allow that. I am currently in the Paranal Observatory [in Chile] precisely for that.”

WHO DO SANCTIONS HURT
Mali's workers feel the squeeze as sanctions take hold




A view of a building under construction along the Niger river, in Bamako

Sun, February 20, 2022
By Paul Lorgerie and Tiemoko Diallo

BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mohamed Cisse used to employ hundreds of workers in Mali's capital Bamako before economic sanctions last month shut borders and cut the lifeblood of his construction business.

Cement is scarce. Its key ingredient, clinker, comes from neighbouring Senegal, from which all but essential goods are blocked. Cisse has been forced to shut three of his four building sites.


The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) meant to send a powerful message to Mali's military leaders when it imposed the sanctions after the junta delayed plans to hold elections in February following two coups.

But workers, many of whom have so far supported the junta for ousting unpopular President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in 2020, are worried about the outsized impact on ordinary citizens in one of the world's poorest countries.

Hundreds are being laid off; goods for import are stuck in mammoth traffic jams at border crossings; cotton and gold, major economic drivers, cannot reach regional buyers.

How successful the sanctions are in forcing Mali's leaders to hold elections sooner, or if they reduce support for the junta, could influence how ECOWAS seeks to punish other coup leaders in Guinea and Burkina Faso who have also snatched power over the past year.

"We had a lot of hope when we saw these well-trained, well-structured soldiers. But the situation of this embargo, I would say that it is ... 70% the fault of the government, which presented an imprecise (election) timetable," Cisse said.

The interim government set up by the junta did not respond to requests for comment. It had previously said the sanctions were "disproportionate, inhumane, illegitimate and illegal" and will have severe consequences on the population.

ECOWAS says it is imposing the sanctions because Mali's leaders said they would delay elections until December 2025, nearly four years later than they originally agreed.

TIGHTENING NOOSE

Malians are accustomed to hardship. A decade-old Islamist insurgency has taken over parts of the north and centre, killing thousands. The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a rise in the cost of fuel and other goods.

But now the economy is under severe strain. Mali has defaulted on 54 billion CFA francs ($93 million) in interest and principal payments since January, data from the West Africa monetary union's debt agency Umoa-Titres shows.

The government says it is unable to meet its obligations because the sanctions have cut it off from regional financial markets.

"Closing landlocked Mali's borders, in a country that depends entirely on its coastal neighbours for trade, is nothing short of catastrophic," said Eric Humphery-Smith, an analyst at risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft.

The authorities need tax income to pay about $120 million in yearly government wages, said Modibo Mao Makalou, an economist and former adviser to the ousted president Keita. But revenues, including from customs duties and income taxes, are under threat, he said.

Remittances from the region, key to the economy, are also being blocked as wire transfers and bank transfers fail to go through.

"I think (the government) can last 2-3 months maximum, but the noose must be loosened," Makalou said, referring to the funds left to be able to pay wages and meet other outgoings.

While the impact has yet to be shown in hard economic data, Malians are struggling.

Issiaka Mahmoud Bah, managing director of Bamako-based recruitment firm Golden Resources Management, used to receive resumes from about 25 job applicants per day. He now gets up to 100. Meanwhile, the number of employers seeking workers has plummeted, he said.

Revenues for Sonef, a transport company that buses people from Mali across West Africa, have dropped 80% in recent weeks, said company manager Mamadou Traore. Its customers, including people who transport dyed fabrics to Ivory Coast or bring in fish from Senegal, cannot travel, he said.

"We have had to close several stopovers and put dozens of agents on technical unemployment," he said.

($1 = 582.7500 CFA francs)

(Writing by Edward McAllister; Editing by Bate Felix and Alison Williams)