Datasets:

textminr

/

mn-ds

like 0

fortruss--2019-10-07--Russia hopes that Lavrov-Pompeo meeting will boost dialogue with the U.S.

fortruss

Russia hopes that Lavrov-Pompeo meeting will boost dialogue with the U.S.

Russia hopes that Lavrov-Pompeo meeting will boost dialogue with the U.S. SAN FRANCISCO – The meeting of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, held within the framework of the United Nations General Assembly, could boost bilateral relations, said the Russian ambassador to the United States, Anatoli Antonov. “The conversation of the ministers was sincere and open, we hope that the meeting will boost our dialogue,” he said at the Russian-American forum Fort Ross Dialogue, which is held in San Francisco. The ambassador stressed that Moscow and Washington hold consultations on strategic stability and the fight against terrorism among other issues. “We successfully exchanged opinions about North Korea and Afghanistan, our military maintains contact in Syria,” the diplomat added. The meeting of Lavrov and Pompeo took place on September 27. The US secretary of state declared after the meeting that the two countries must overcome current tensions and find a constructive path towards the future. The United States and Russia must overcome their most recent tensions and find a constructive path towards the future, said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. Pompeo said at the time that he met with Lavrov to discuss bilateral issues and a variety of global challenges, including arms control. The secretary of state added that while the U.S. has areas of tension with Russia and they must find a constructive path to the future and have worked together before and can do it again. The heads of the Russian and US diplomacies reviewed the crises in Ukraine, Afghanistan and the Middle East, as well as the situation on the Korean Peninsula, according to a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry. “A wide variety of items on the common agenda were discussed. Ministers spoke about the prospects for a solution to the situation on the Korean Peninsula, about Afghanistan, Ukraine, the Middle East and North Africa, among other issues,” the statement said. Lavrov expressed in particular his hope that the new Administration of Ukraine will begin to apply the Minsk Agreements in good faith . Regarding bilateral relations, Lavrov stressed the futility of trying to pressure Moscow through sanctions.

Paul Antonopoulos

https://www.fort-russ.com/2019/10/russia-hopes-that-lavrov-pompeo-meeting-will-boost-dialogue-with-the-u-s/

Mon, 07 Oct 2019 13:30:25 +0000

politics

international relations

inquisitr--2019-10-01--After Meeting With Donald Trump Ukraine President Announces Concessions To Russia Setting Off Prot

inquisitr

After Meeting With Donald Trump, Ukraine President Announces Concessions To Russia, Setting Off Protests

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that he will pull troops out of a war-torn region invaded by Russia in 2014. Just six days after a meeting with Donald Trump, in which he claimed that he did not feel “pushed” by the U.S. president in a July 25 phone call to investigate Democrat Joe Biden, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he would order the pullout of troops from two towns in the war-torn eastern region of the country where Russia has been waging a bloody incursion since 2014, according to a report by The Kyiv Post. The announcement by Zelensky, who was elected Ukraine’s president in April and inaugurated in May of this year, set off protests outside the presidential office in Kyiv, with demonstrators chanting “Zelensky out!” More than 13,000 people have died in the fighting that has devastated Ukraine’s Donbass region for the past five years, with 11 of the country’s soldiers killed there in September of this year alone, and 40 more wounded. Zelensky also announced that Ukraine was now ready to sign on to the “Steinmeier Formula,” a plan to hold elections in the war-torn, Russian-occupied region proposed by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in 2015. Under the plan, the region would become self-governing after the elections. But according to Moscow-based journalist Neha Poonia reporting via Twitter, Ukraine had previously demanded a full ceasefire and pullout of all Russian troops before agreeing to the elections plan. The new Ukraine president now appears willing to go ahead with the “Steinmeier Formula” without those preconditions, even though Ukrainian officials fear that free and fair elections there are impossible as long as Russian troops continue to occupy the region, according to Poonia’s report. Even before the July 25 call with Trump, Zelensky and Ukrainian officials were aware that they had to “play ball” with the Trump administration in order to secure essential military aid from the United States in its war against the Russian forces in Donbass, according to an explosive whistleblower report that was made public last week, as The Inquisitr reported. The whistleblower report and a partial transcript of the July 25 Trump-Zelensky call also made public last week have now led to impeachment proceedings against Trump in the House of Representatives, over the various laws Trump appears to have broken by pressuring Zelensky in the call, as The Inquisitr reported. During his meeting with Zelensky at the United Nations General Assembly last week, Trump urged the new Ukraine president to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to reach a settlement in the long war, telling Zelensky that Putin wants to “do something.” But according to a New York Times report, Putin wants United States sanctions against Russia lifted, and Trump’s push for a settlement in Ukraine will serve as a step toward that goal. “Trump has quietly been urging a deal to reduce tensions between Ukraine and Russia that would pave the way for a removal of Western sanctions on Moscow, long a goal of Mr. Putin’s,” The New York Times wrote.

Jonathan Vankin

https://www.inquisitr.com/5667944/after-meeting-donald-trump-ukraine-president-concessions-russia/

2019-10-01 22:45:59+00:00

politics

international relations

nationalinterest--2019-12-07--What Does Russia Expect from the Putin-Zelensky Meeting?

nationalinterest

What Does Russia Expect from the Putin-Zelensky Meeting?

At first glance, the upcoming Putin-Zelensky summit appears to have all the necessary ingredients for a potential breakthrough meeting. But can the Putin-Zelensky summit live up to these high expectations? Russian president Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky will come face to face for the first time during the Normandy Format peace talks in Paris on Monday. At first glance, the upcoming Putin-Zelensky summit appears to have all the necessary ingredients for a potential breakthrough meeting. The last gathering of the Normandy Format—four-way meetings between Russia, Ukraine, Germany, and France aimed at ending the war in eastern Ukraine—took place in 2016. Much has changed since then. Over the past several months, Moscow and Kyiv have held a historic prisoner swap and brokered a troop withdrawal deal between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists. But can the Putin-Zelensky summit live up to these high expectations? The National Interest spoke with several prominent Russian foreign policy analysts to better understand Moscow’s goals and expectations for the latest round of the Normandy Format peace talks. Zelensky won a landslide victory in Ukraine’s presidential election back in April on a pledge to fight corruption and restart dialogue with Russia to end the war in eastern Ukraine. The comedian-turned-politician demonstrated his strong popular backing again in July, which is when his Servant of the People party captured a majority of seats in the country’s parliamentary elections. With this mandate from the Ukrainian public, Zelensky has been able to take the first steps in easing tensions with Moscow. In September, Russia and Ukraine exchanged dozens of prisoners. Then on October 1, the two countries and Moscow-backed separatist groups signed a peace roadmap that called for all sides to withdraw their troops from the front line to pave the way for elections conducted under Ukrainian law in the separatist-controlled territories. But Zelensky’s overtures toward Moscow have not been popular with everyone. Following the announcement of Zelensky’s deal with Russia and the separatists, thousands of demonstrators rallied across Ukraine to accuse their president of “capitulating” to the Kremlin. Soldiers from ultra-nationalist Azov Battalion went so far as to initially refuse to obey Zelensky’s orders for withdrawal. A recent poll from the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that Zelensky’s approval rating dropped by 21 percent over the past two months, from 73 percent in September to 52 percent by the end of November. The pollsters noted that Zelensky’s handling of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, along with some unpopular reforms, was part of the reason why the president’s support fell so rapidly. This backlash has convinced many in Moscow that while Zelensky may have good intentions, he lacks the political leverage to pursue a detente with Russia. “Although Zelensky won more than 70 percent of the vote, he still has yet to consolidate his power and the aggressive nationalist minority is able to dictate its conditions to the current government,” said Andranik Migranyan, an informal advisor to the Russian presidential administration and a professor at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Even Putin appears to have some misgivings about his Ukrainian counterpart’s political vulnerability. During an investment forum in Moscow on November 20, the Russian leader explained that while he does not doubt Zelensky’s sincerity, he questions whether the comedian-turned-president can actually follow through on his promise to bring peace to eastern Ukraine. “What is my relationship with Zelensky? There isn't one. I have never seen him. I don’t know him. We spoke over the phone. I think he is a nice man, an honest one. I think that he really wishes to change the situation for the better, especially in Donbass,” the Russian president said. "Whether he will be able to do it, I don't know yet," Putin added. But while many in Moscow sympathize with Zelensky’s political predicament, there is little appetite for Russia to help relieve the Ukrainian president’s domestic pressure by offering him major concessions. On the contrary, some of the experts interviewed by The National Interest argued that Putin should adopt a tough negotiating stance with Zelensky. “My opinion is that Russia should not give Zelensky any serious concessions or make any major steps to meet him halfway because there's no guarantee that he won't be a lame-duck by the end of next year,” said Alexei Chesnakov, Director of the Russian Center for Current Politics. Chesnakov also explained that in Moscow there is growing doubt about whether Zelensky has a clear game-plan for addressing the most contentious issues in the conflict. “For the two sides to even trust each other, it is important to understand whether Ukraine can implement the political points of the Minsk agreements—law on a special status for the Donbass, ratifying that law into the constitution, amnesty, etc.,” he said. “As of now, Ukraine does not have any idea on how to resolve these questions that would be acceptable to Russia,” Chesnakov added. Even more alarming for Moscow are recent signals from Kyiv that the Zelensky administration could walk away from the Minsk agreements. On October 10, Zelensky declared that Ukraine would pull out of the agreements as early as next year if the country’s parliament fails to adopt a law on a special status for the separatist-held territories. A month later, the head of Zelensky’s Servant of the People party in parliament stated that the purpose of meeting with Putin was for Ukraine “to get away from the Minsk agreements,” which he said were “enslaving” the country. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko announced that Ukraine might withdraw the agreements if it leaves the Normandy Summit dissatisfied. Such an outcome would be unacceptable for Russia, explained Dmitry Suslov, an expert on U.S.-Russian relations at the National Research University Higher School of Economics. “It is important for Russia to keep the Minsk agreements intact because otherwise it raises the question: For what did we endure all these years of American and European sanctions for,” he said. The Minsk agreements refer to two deals signed by Russia, Ukraine, eastern Ukrainian separatists in September 2014 and February 2015 in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. The agreements attempted to provide a roadmap to ending the war in eastern Ukraine and reintegrating the separatist republics into Ukraine by mandating demilitarization of the conflict zone, amnesty for combatants, and constitutional reform that would provide the separatist regions with greater autonomy within Ukraine. More than five years after the second Minsk agreement, however, both Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of not honoring their commitments. If Moscow is so pessimistic about the upcoming talks in Paris, then why did it agree to take part in them? The Russian experts interviewed by the National Interest stated that Putin is less interested in winning over Zelensky, than in gaining the support of French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “I think that Putin is hoping that Macron and Merkel will explain to Zelensky why he has to implement the Minsk agreements, which many in Kyiv don’t like,” Migranyan said. “The outcome of the Normandy talks will greatly depend on what Macron and Merkel will do,” Suslov agreed. “If they support Putin, then Zelensky will have no choice but to acquiesce. But if they side with Zelensky, I don’t exclude the possibility of renewed fighting in eastern Ukraine,” he said. Dimitri Alexander Simes is a contributor to the National Interest.

Dimitri Alexander Simes

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/what-does-russia-expect-putin-zelensky-meeting-102842

Sat, 07 Dec 2019 20:45 EST

politics

international relations

osce--2019-11-07--OSCE supports bilateral meeting between Kazakhstan and Russia on rational use of Zhaiyk River water

osce

OSCE supports bilateral meeting between Kazakhstan and Russia on rational use of Zhaiyk River water resources

An OSCE-supported technical meeting on rational use and protection of water resources of the Zhaiyk (Ural) River, including assessment of climate change on water resources, took place on 7 November 2019 in Oral, Western Kazakhstan. The event was co-organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Nur-Sultan and the International Water Assessment Centre. Some twenty representatives from the Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources, Western Kazakhstan regional administration, civil society, as well as water management officials from Kazakhstan and Russia discussed individual action plans developed for each country. They also examined joint activities on the rational use of the Zhayik River’s water resources. OSCE-supported experts from Kazakhstan and Russia presented findings on measures both countries should carry out independently on their territories to mitigate the effects of climate change and identified joint areas of co-operation to ensure sustainable use of the Zhaiyk River. The reports will be submitted to the governmental Kazakhstan-Russia Commission on the Joint Use and Protection of Transboundary Water Resources of the Zhayik River for review and adoption. The event is part of the OSCE Programme Office’s continuous efforts to contribute to the transboundary dialogue on water and raise awareness among the state institutions on the sustainable management of water resources.

TGrigoryan

https://www.osce.org/programme-office-in-nur-sultan/438287

Thu, 07 Nov 2019 13:38:01 +0000

politics

international relations

palmerreport--2019-02-25--The Russians appear to be crashing Donald Trumps meeting with Kim Jong Un

palmerreport

The Russians appear to be crashing Donald Trump’s meeting with Kim Jong Un

“President” Donald Trump is on his way to Vietnam, finally going there to serve his nation, decades after questionable doctor’s notes excusing him from serving in the war there. At least he is going there this week, ostensibly in the service of our nation – but perhaps not. We might never truly learn about what Trump and Kim Jong-un discuss. In advance of the visit by Trump and what clearly must be a coincidence, the plane of Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov, Foreign Minister of Russia, reportedly has landed in Vietnam ahead of Trump’s arrival. Trump has been touting that if North Korea will give up nuclear weapons, it will be dominant on the world economic stage, tweeting: This is doubtful on many levels, including unlike South Korea or Japan or any other country producing electronics and that is an economic powerhouse, North Korea has nothing in terms of infrastructure or technology, other than its nuclear capabilities. Trump also is talking about his bromance with Kim, noting that “we fell in love.” While being on good relationship terms with North Korea is important, we fear that Trump has fallen for good old-fashioned propaganda from a leader who knows how to play the game. This meeting between Kim and Trump will be their second. In recent months, North Korea has not only failed to provide any accounting of its inventory, it also has failed to stop its nuclear weapons or ballistic missile programs. Intelligence officials reportedly are worried that Trump, in order to get the appearance of a “win,” will give away much, and have expressed concerns that Kim has no intention to denuclearize. Given the way Donald Trump does international relationships, with one-on-one meetings and no surviving minutes, we might not ever know what is agreed to in Vietnam or what he has given to Kim for little to nothing in return. Last meeting, he agreed to end some military testing. Those from the media and others must also watch to determine why Lavrov just happens to have landed twenty-four hours ahead of Trump.

Daniel Cotter

https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/russians-kim-jong-un-trump-crash/16239/

2019-02-25 23:04:41+00:00

politics

international relations

rferl--2019-05-21--UN Security Council Rejects Russian Request For Ukraine Meeting

rferl

UN Security Council Rejects Russian Request For Ukraine Meeting

The UN Security Council has rejected a Russian request to hold a meeting on a new language law in Ukraine. Russia managed to garner only four votes -- from China, South Africa, Equatorial Guinea, and the Dominican Republic -- out of the nine it needed from the 15-member council. The United States and five other countries -- France, Germany, Britain, Belgium, and Poland -- voted against and four other countries -- Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Kuwait and Peru -- abstained. The May 20 vote was held on the same day that Ukraine's new president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, was sworn in. Jonathan Cohen, the acting U.S. ambassador, called Moscow's request "a clear attempt by Russia to distract from the peaceful, democratic transfer of power happening today in Ukraine." France's ambassador to the UN, Francois Delattre, told the council ahead of the vote that the Russian move was "not intended to have a constructive discussion" but to "put the new president of Ukraine in the worst light." Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, passed the law in April. Under the new legislation, Ukrainian-language TV and radio programming is increased and all citizens have the obligation to speak Ukrainian, which becomes compulsory for civil servants, doctors, teachers, and lawyers, under the threat of fines. Russian, which is also widely spoken in the country, is permitted in personal communications. Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said that the Russian language was being "pushed out" of Ukraine and accused the council of "censorship." He said that the vote to refuse the meeting was "a blatant demonstration of double standards" by members who approved other meetings. Ukrainian Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko said it was "not a coincidence" that Russia had asked for the council to meet on the day of Zelenskiy's inauguration. Zelenskiy said after his inauguration that his main goal was to bring peace to eastern Ukraine. Russia seized control of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and fomented unrest in eastern Ukraine, where the conflict between government forces and Moscow-backed separatists has killed some 13,000 people and continues despite a cease-fire and peace deal known as the Minsk accords. Moscow's attempt "to send a very powerful message to the new leader from the Security Council" ended up instead being a message for Russia, Yelchenko said.

https://www.rferl.org/a/29953773.html

2019-05-21 01:40:20+00:00

politics

international relations

rferl--2019-12-05--Belarus's Lukashenka Touts Equal Partnership With Russia Ahead Of Meeting With Putin

rferl

Belarus's Lukashenka Touts Equal Partnership With Russia Ahead Of Meeting With Putin

Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has reaffirmed his country's commitment to a strategic partnership with Russia, though there are no talks currently on establishing a joint parliament. Speaking in an address to parliament on December 5, the Belarusian leader, often described as "the last dictator in Europe," looked to allay fears among ordinary citizens that the country was moving toward a rebuilding of the former Soviet Union. Lukashenka's speech comes as he is scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 7-8 to discuss further integration within the Russia-Belarus Union State, a grouping that has existed mainly on paper since it was established in the 1990s. "No one will ever sign documents that could cause us harm," said Lukashenka, who has ruled Belarus for a quarter of a century. "We have never planned to join another state, including Russia, which is our fraternal nation," he added. In recent months, Putin and Lukashenka have held several rounds of talks on the integration, with the latter stressing that the partnership should be equal. But many ordinary Belarusians have expressed concerns that further integration with Moscow will mean a dangerous erosion of sovereignty. In a traditional, annual live interview with selected television channels on December 5, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev hailed the "very high" level of integration between the two countries. "We have a union state. This is a big asset. Indeed, we often have disputes, and we utter some insults, especially in emotional outbursts. This does happen. But, objectively, the level of integration between our countries is very high," said Medvedev, who is due to hold talks with Belarusian Prime Minister Syarhey Rumas on December 5. He also told journalists in Moscow that "there is no need" for the Belarusians to give up their sovereignty if they don't want to, but he pointed out that "any integration is a partial reduction of sovereignty." Belarus is already a member of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Collective Security Treaty Organization, regional groupings that observers say Moscow uses to bolster its influence in the former Soviet Union and to counter the European Union and NATO. Wariness about Moscow's intentions toward its neighbors has risen in the wake of Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and its military, political, and economic support for militants in parts of eastern Ukraine, leading to an armed conflict in which more than 13,000 people have been killed. "The work on the program of deeper integration in the union state, the package of road maps, and the agreements pertaining to issues sensitive for both countries is at the final stage," Lukashenka said. "The goal is to preserve our national values, which formed the basis of the political course of the country: people, fair treatment, and the sovereignty of Belarus," the 65-year-old added.

https://www.rferl.org/a/belarus-lukashenka-touts-equal-partnership-with-russia-ahead-of-meeting-with-putin/30308944.html

Thu, 05 Dec 2019 10:00:27 +0000

politics

international relations

sottnet--2019-02-13--What are Russia and Turkey preparing for Syria Upcoming Sochi meeting will see disagreements

sottnet

What are Russia and Turkey preparing for Syria? Upcoming Sochi meeting will see disagreements

The 14th of February meeting in Sochi between the three Presidents (Russia, Turkey and Iran) is not expected to find solutions agreeable to all parties about the two main problem areas left in Syria: northeast Syria (Manbij to Qamishli/al-Hasaka), currently occupied by US forces, and Idlib city and its rural areas occupied by jihadist groups friendly to Turkey.There are fundamentally different points of view. At the top of the agenda, the gathering is expected to have further discussions on a possible US withdrawal in the coming weeks - the month of April seems plausible - as announced by officials in Washington.Therefore, any step that help to reach this objective smoothly should be taken. Nevertheless, the main differences are triggered by the Russian desire and intention to conclude a "temporary deal" with Turkey over North-east Syria's status after the US withdrawal. These differences are related to the price Syria should pay to see US forces out of the country.Sources among decision makers in Damascus said "Russia is trying to find an excuse for Turkey to move into north-east Syria, within a 'buffer zone' of 12,000 sq km out of the 42,000 sq km that represent the zone east of the Euphrates under US occupation,".On January the 23rd,. A Syrian source reports, "The Russian President is trying to open the road for Turkey to regain a direct relationship with Syria on a higher level.".Russia has never abandoned the idea of Syrian unity and considers it important for the entire geographic area to return under the control of the central government. Nevertheless,if this is what Washington wants.On the other hand, the Syrian and the Iranian Presidents disagree with Putin's strategy becauseover the agricultural and natural energy wealth and resources in Northeast Syria under the pretext of fighting their sworn enemies, the Kurdish militants."Riyadh was aiming to return to Damascus and reopen its embassy very soon when the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo put pressure on the Arabs to stop the process and prevent the return of Syria to the Arab League, throwing obstacles in the way of their end run towards Damascus. Nevertheless,. Therefore, the US, Russia, Turkey and Qatar seem to agree on a Turkish presence in the Syrian "buffer zone" running from Manbij to Ayn al-Arab, Tal Abyad, al-Hasaka and Qamishli".The destiny of the Kurds and their families unwilling to live under Turkish occupation is clearly no longer an interest of the USA.The "revised Adana agreement" promoted by Moscow and Ankara will affect Syrian demography at the expense of the Kurds, who believed the US would provide them with an independent state, and never imagined a sudden US departure.Turkish ambitions in Syria are not limited to northeast Syria. Ankara is unwilling to depart from Idlib and is demanding that local groups sort out their differences, mainly between the al-Qaeda group of "Hurras al-Deen" and the jihadist group of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham.Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is no longer related to the al-Qaeda group led by Ayman al-Zawaheri; its leader Abu Mohamad al-Joulani likes his independence.In fact, Joulani doesn't need to follow ISIS or al-Qaeda and nothing prevents him from being an independent Syrian jihadist with slightly different objectives and priorities. He has foreign fighters from all over the world under his command and is based in the Levant which every jihadist believes is the "promised land" for establishing an "Islamic Emirates". Indeed, Joulani is the leader of "a jihadist group on the creed of Sunnah and Jama'a with the aim of imposing the Islamic Sharia through jihad and Da'wa," as he describes the objective of his group in his communiqué.. It compromises temporarily on alliances and practices until the group becomes strong enough to let go of some pragmatic policies that help it survive, gather strength and recruit.Turkey is the most powerful Islamic country present in Idlib, strong enough to hold back Russia and the forces of Damascus from attacking his stronghold. Turkey is happy to deal with a" as long as it serves both parties' purposes (Turkey and HTS).However, Ankara wouldn't mind delivering the skin of the Syrian al-Qaeda "Hurras el-Deen" for Russia to bomb and while Joulani to wears the skin of a jihadist obedient as a sheep. Joulani can help Turkey to resolve its awkward situation, if he shows pragmatism - Turkey has been embarrassed by its lack of commitment to the agreement signed with Russia in September last year, when it committed to end the al-Qaeda presence in Idlib and its surroundings. A metamorphosed Joulani is very convenient to both Ankara and Moscow.The situation in the Levant is still complicated and unsolved due to prevailing scepticism about impending full US withdrawal from the country, and the lack of trust among partners. Russia seems to be tolerating the Turkish presence temporarily. Iran, a close Turkish partner, would like to see the Syrian forces in control of the entire territory but also gives priority to seeing the "great Satan" leave permanently. Damascus and Tehran share the same fear of seeing Turkish troops hanging on in Syria for a very long time. These differences may prevent a successful Sochi meeting, where the destiny of Idlib and northeast Syria are still unknown and not agreed upon between allies until now.No perfect solution can be expected, since trust is clearly lacking - mainly over the future Turkish role and presence in Syria. Independently of this, the Kurds remain, regardless, the biggest losers.

https://www.sott.net/article/407164-What-are-Russia-and-Turkey-preparing-for-Syria-Upcoming-Sochi-meeting-will-see-disagreements

2019-02-13 20:01:41+00:00

politics

international relations

windowoneurasiablog--2019-12-04--Religious Conflict in North Ossetia-Alania Threatens to Undermine Moscow’s Policies in North Caucasu

windowoneurasiablog

Religious Conflict in North Ossetia-Alania Threatens to Undermine Moscow’s Policies in North Caucasus

Staunton, December 1 – A conflict between the Russian Orthodox Church and the traditional faith of the North Ossetians has broken out with renewed vigor as the republic prepares to mark the 1100th anniversary of the founding of the Alania state, a state so important to Ossetian thought that in 1993, nationalists insisted Alania be named to the republic. Alania, a medieval kingdom in the North Caucasus roughly coterminous with Circassia and North Ossetia that had its capital in Magas, which is now in Ingushetia, was not Christian but followed a traditional animist faith. Support for that faith remains high, but talking about it undermines the borders in the region and Moscow’s efforts to rope in South Ossetia. (The best explication of this complicated and still sensitive history is provided by Victor Shnirelman in his 2007 article, “The Politics of a Name: Between Consolidation and Separation in the Northern Caucasus,” Acta Slavica Iaponica . It is available online at The archbishop’s comments were then attacked by several commentators, and then 300 believers from the region published an open letter to Patriarch Kirill in which they said that they no longer recognized” the archbishop as their spiritual leader because of his attacks on the Ossetian nation. Roman Lunkin, a specialist on religious affairs at the Moscow Institute for Europe, says that this is hardly the first time that such a conflict has broken out, but that it is serious both for the republic and for Moscow. In North Ossetia-Alania, many followers of the traditional faith remain angry that the Orthodox have taken over their religious sites without acknowledgement. “The presence of Orthodox icons in holy places and groves is something the pagans consider a sacrilege,” the religious specialist says. And support for their position is far greater than for traditional religions in Mari El or Sakha, although pagans in those republics have received more attention in the recent past. The civil authorities in North Ossetia-Alania have not been able to smooth this over, Lunkin adds; but they must make an effort because the clash between the Orthodox and the followers of the traditional faith creates serious problems for “the nationality policy of the center in the regions.” Not only does it threaten to exacerbate tensions concerning borders in the North Caucasus by elevating the idea that North Ossetia-Alania has justified claims to far more territory than is now within its borders, but it also complicates Moscow’s task in dealing with South Ossetia, the republic that broke away from Georgia with Russian help in 2008.

paul goble (noreply@blogger.com)

http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2019/12/religious-conflict-in-north-ossetia.html

2019-12-04T03:32:00.001-08:00

religion and belief

religious conflict

newyorker--2019-04-22--A Scholar of Extremism on How Religious Conflict Shapes Sri Lanka

newyorker

A Scholar of Extremism on How Religious Conflict Shapes Sri Lanka

On Easter Sunday, terrorists slaughtered nearly three hundred people in Sri Lanka, in coördinated attacks at three churches and three luxury hotels. The government has said that the attacks were the work of suicide bombers from a single extremist group, and that thirteen people are being held in police custody. On April 11th, the country’s deputy inspector general had issued a letter to government officials saying that National Thowheed Jama’ath, a radical Islamist group based in South India, was planning a terrorist attack, but the Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has said that he did not receive the warning. Since the attack, the government has shut down Facebook and other social-media platforms, which recently were used to incite anti-Muslim violence in the country. Sri Lanka has experienced intermittent violence since the end of a brutal civil war, which lasted from 1983 to 2009. In it, the government, dominated by Sinhalese Buddhists, who make up a large majority in Sri Lanka, defeated the insurgent Tamil Tigers, a militant group that emerged from the Tamil minority, which is overwhelmingly Hindu and makes up about fifteen per cent of the country. Muslim and Christian minorities, both of which make up about eight-to-ten per cent of the population, have also historically faced discrimination. To discuss Sunday’s atrocities and the political situation in Sri Lanka, I spoke by phone with Amarnath Amarasingam, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue who studies extremism in Sri Lanka and the region. During our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we discussed social media’s role in exacerbating ethnic conflict, concerns about Islamic extremist groups gaining a foothold in Sri Lanka, and the Buddhist majority’s “majority within the minority” complex. What, historically, has been the relationship between the Buddhist majority and the Christian minority? The interesting thing about the Christian community is that they span ethnic lines. There are Sinhalese Catholics, there are Tamil Catholics, so largely they have been left outside of the conflict. They have never been seen as objects of suspicion the way that the Tamil side or Muslims were, as wanting to take over the country. With Tamils you had the war and the liberation conflict, and then with Muslims you had Sharia law and what was happening in other parts of the world with the rise of jihadist movements. There were reasons for that kind of suspicion, but the Christian community was never seen along those lines—as a suspect community that was going to lead to the division of the country, and things like that. And the relations between Christians and Muslims? As far as I know, there was no real conflict between the Muslims and the Christians. Particularly in the east, they lived quite happily. The Tamil communities, the Christian communities, the Muslim community—it is a very diverse area. And I would say the same thing about Colombo [Sri Lanka’s capital]. There was no real conflict like that. It is partly the targeting of the Christian population that makes me think it is not just a local-born and -bred Muslim organization that planned and carried out this operation. The targeting of churches, Christian communities, during Easter has a very international-jihadist component to it, even though it hasn’t really been proved and none of these organizations have claimed it yet. I am watching ISIS channels like a hawk, and they haven’t said anything. They are still talking about Afghanistan and what is happening in Syria. Why do ethnic and religious relations in Sri Lanka remain so toxic, a decade after the war? I think part of it has to do with the nature of Sinhalese nationalism, which continues to be debated as a topic both within conservative Sinhalese communities and more hard-line Sinhala Buddhist nationalist groups that are operative within the country. Ever since independence from the British [in 1948], the makeup of Sri Lanka as a sort of mono-ethnic state has been debated within its borders. From early on, in 1956, you had what was called the Sinhala Only Act, which stipulated that Sinhala was the only language in the country, and on and on to the different kinds of constitutions, which not only made the Sinhalese language the only language but also argued that Buddhism was the only official religion in the country. More hard-line communities have often made an argument that has often been called this majority-within-the-minority complex. This idea is that they may be the majority in the country but they are actually the minority in the broader region. If you take into account [the Indian state of] Tamil Nadu, and things like that, with seventy million Tamils just across the border, there has often been this insecurity among more hard-line members of the Sinhalese community. The idea is that this is their country, and Buddha himself had kind of granted them this country, and it would be taken away from them by minorities—and that includes the Tamil community and the Muslim community. There is an ongoing insecurity among some in the majority that there are minorities among them that don’t have an allegiance to the country and have wanted to see it divided into different zones of self-determination, and that continues to play out, even now. We don’t know who did this, so I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but to what degree has Islamic extremism become an issue since 2009? And to what degree was it an issue before 2009? That’s the key question. Over the past several decades, from at least the time of the conflict, or the early nineteen-nineties, members of the Muslim community have been victims of various ethno-religious conflicts. The Tamil community, particularly the Tamil Tigers during the war, heavily victimized the Muslim community. And, after the war, you had Sinhalese Buddhist groups urging the burning of Muslim businesses, and urging attacks on mosques, and things like that. We have actually seen a campaign to destroy ancient mosques. Over time, they have always been victims of either Sinhalese Buddhist authoritarianism or the Tamil community. We have rarely seen much pushback from the Muslim community. But, from the early nineties, there have always been rumors that some elements of the Muslim community are radicalizing, and governments from the Gulf states, like Saudi Arabia, are sending in money to the country, and things like that. The rumors always circulated in the community, but no one could really prove anything. But you could feel over time that there were some elements that were becoming more conservative. Not necessarily radical, but more conservative. But we have never seen attacks of this scale in the post-colonial period. Right, and we should also say that Gulf money leading to radicalization seems to happen in places beyond where Muslims are victimized. Exactly. For sure. I think it is particularly interesting because of the debate that was happening in the community in Sri Lanka, particularly in the east, where people were starting to get worried that foreign money was being sent to stir things up. It is not so much that the money is unique, but the conversation in the community is unique, and there were a lot of rumors and conspiracies that went along with that. Whether that actually went anywhere or did anything is almost impossible to tell. And not to mention that these rumors were used by both the Tamil and Sinhalese communities to start to create fear of the Muslims and see them as mobilizing against the state, and wanting to implement Sharia law in the country, and all these kinds of things. All of that was starting to happen in the nineteen-nineties and really picked up postwar. You had episodes of violence, in 2013 and 2018, where Muslim businesses were burned. You had a strong economic component to this, as well, where a lot of the Buddhist hard-liners would say things like, “Don’t go to Muslim businesses, because Muslim-owned clothing stories are sterilizing women’s panties to keep the Sinhalese population down.” Crazy things like that were circulating on social media, and then you would see Muslim businesses being burned in Colombo. Sri Lanka, in the decade since the conflict, has had some ups and downs, and there was a bit of a constitutional crisis last year. What do you fear or expect with any governmental response going forward? There is another important component in this, which is that we are going into an election, in December. The Rajapaksa family, which was in power during the last days of the conflict, is trying to get back into power. If past years are any indication, we might see some flare-up in terms of anti-Muslim attacks, depending on how the government plays it. For now, I think they are playing it pretty smart. They have come out and said they had warnings about it. They have shut down social media, because of all the weird conspiracy theories that were popping up. And, unlike in the past, they have not partaken in communal division. For now, they have handled it quite well, but as the election season heats up we will see more using of minorities as a ploy to stir up their base. And I also think the Rajapaksa family will again use this as an argument against the Prime Minister, to say, “This guy is weak on terrorism. This guy is not supporting the country. And now we have seen the largest attack since the civil war on his watch.” It could get ugly quite fast. There were a lot of headlines about social media exacerbating ethnic tensions in Sri Lanka last year. Have you seen social-media networks crack down? I think, in the Sri Lanka context, it is mostly Facebook and WhatsApp that are quite prevalent, and Facebook quite famously was used as a mobilizing point in last year’s anti-Muslim violence. We saw a lot of conspiracies, a lot of misinformation, disinformation, and that resulted in real-life violence. Facebook has stepped up to the plate a bit and recognized what happened in Sri Lanka, what happened in Myanmar, and they have come out and said they are going to do something about it. I know they have been in contact with several N.G.O.s on the ground to monitor the situation and make sure it doesn’t happen again. But we will have to see. Facebook has been open about what is happening, but whether there are actual steps is another story. A previous version of this post misstated the denomination of one church that had been attacked.

Isaac Chotiner

https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/a-scholar-of-extremism-on-how-religious-conflict-and-terrorism-shapes-sri-lanka

2019-04-22 13:37:00+00:00

religion and belief

religious conflict

theepochtimes--2019-11-05--Religious Freedom Is a Fundamental Right That Needs Protection Amid Growing Conflict: Becket Attorne

theepochtimes

Religious Freedom Is a Fundamental Right That Needs Protection Amid Growing Conflict: Becket Attorney

Mother Loraine Marie Maguire, of the Little Sisters of the Poor, speaks to the media after arguments at the US Supreme Court in Washington on March 23, 2016. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images) Religious Freedom Is a Fundamental Right That Needs Protection Amid Growing Conflict: Becket Attorney Last month, Attorney General William Barr warned that religious values that have been a bedrock for many American families are coming under increasing attack in the last 50 years. From facing opposition for displaying religious symbols in public spaces to experiencing harassment for refusing to provide a service that would violate their conscience, some people of faith in the United States say they are facing increased hostility for exercising or expressing their religious rights. The questions of why this fundamental right enshrined in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is coming under increasing attack and why we should protect it are emerging as important discussion topics in the public consciousness. Luke Goodrich, an attorney at The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, tries to address these questions in his newly released book “Free to Believe: The Battle Over Religious Liberty in America.” He told The Epoch Times that it is important to protect religious freedom as it is a fundamental right that is rooted in who we are as human beings. One of the reasons Goodrich believes religious freedom should be protected is because it is intrinsically good. He says it affords people the opportunity to find a transcendent truth if they wish to seek it. “Every human being is born with a thirst for truth, goodness, and beauty,” he said. “Every human being is born with reason, a mind that allows us to choose between competing goods. Every human being is born with an interior voice that urges us to choose good and reject evil, that you know, just another name for our conscience.” Goodrich, who was part of the legal team in a multitude of religious rights cases including the landmark Supreme Court case Burwell v Hobby Lobby, argues that if the government attempts to coerce people on matters of transcendent truth, it goes against people’s nature, violating their human rights. Moreover, religious freedom is a bulwark of protection for all of our other rights, Goodrich said. He argued that the core premise of religious freedom is that there’s something within each person that the government cannot touch or take away, adding that it is something higher than the government that the government must respect. “[The] core principles that underlie religious freedom also underlie all rather rights—freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom from unlawful search and seizure, [and] freedom from cruel and unusual punishment,” he said. Goodrich said that by giving the government the power to interfere with religious freedom and violate inherent principles in every human being, it is the same as giving power to the government to “trample all other rights.” Another point in his defense of religious freedom is that it is beneficial to society. He said by allowing religion to flourish, morality improves, hence allowing people of diverse backgrounds to live together in peace. “It allows religion to flourish, which helps produce moral virtue, which is necessary for self-betterment,” he argued. “It benefits society by protecting dissent and diversity. And it benefits society by reducing social conflict, finding a way for people of diverse abilities to live together in peace.” In his speech at the Notre Dame last month, Barr raised concerns about how a number of social issues are linked to a “growing ascendancy of secularism” in society. He argued that forces of secularism are using society’s institutions like mass media and popular culture to stifle opposing views, promoting greater reliance on government intervention for social problems, and using our legal and judicial institutions to eliminate traditional moral norms. Goodrich agrees that religion is facing a threat in the United States but said his view as to why it is the case differs from Barr’s. He argued that the growing religious freedom conflicts boil down to several changing cultural shifts, particularly in the areas of life, sexual autonomy, and the belief in absolute truth. He said that the longheld religious understanding of these crucial issues is increasingly pitted against the values of modern society, leading to friction between the two sides. He argued that our modern culture has made a distinction between what he calls “good” religion and “bad” religion. “Good” religion is something modern society has deemed as “good” and acceptable. It is something that is practiced in private, that is it stays in the church or the home and subscribes to modern people’s understanding of tolerance—that is it doesn’t make absolute truth claims or tell other people they are wrong, Goodrich argued. “It accepts people for who they are and who they want to be,” he said. “That kind of religion is perfectly acceptable in modern culture, and it’s not facing the same kind of religious freedom conflicts.” On the other hand, “bad” religion is not bad in the proper sense of the word, rather it is something modern society deems as non-acceptable because it is practiced in the public, makes claims on absolute truths, makes moral judgments, especially on questions of life and sexuality, and condemns what it views as sin, he argued. These values are often labeled as discrimination when they conflict with modern values. “And that particular type of religion is increasingly viewed as a threat to modern culture,” he said. “There are lawsuits and state and local governments that are seeking to punish it and minimize it.” Goodrich said this is why the First Amendment is so important, as it makes no distinction when protecting people’s right to exercise their religion, but he added that this right is not without limitations. “The limits come from the government’s duty to protect other rights and if religious freedom is violating other fundamental life rights, like the right to life, right to property, that is where restrictions on religious freedom are justified,” he said. Meanwhile, Goodrich added that a contributing factor to the increase of attacks on religious freedom is that religion is playing a less important role in the daily lives of Americans. According to a recent Pew Research, the number of Americans who identify as Christians fell 12 percentage points over the past decade, while the number of people who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular” is at 26 percent, up 9 percentage points from 2009. “Fewer people describe religion as important in their lives,” Goodrich said. “And thus fewer people feel like they need religious freedom, and fewer people are willing to take out their necks to protect it. And that’s causing increasing pressure on religious freedom.” Similarly, Nathan A. Berkeley, the communications director of the Religious Freedom Institute (RFI) in Washington, said in an email to The Epoch Times that they believe the decline in religious devotion is one of the contributing factors in the rise of hostility encountered by people of faith. The RFI is an organization that is committed to achieving broad acceptance of religious liberty as a fundamental human right, the cornerstone of a successful society, and a source of national and international security. Berkeley said the decline of religious devotion and the push for secularism affect perceptions of what religion is and how it’s “free exercise” contributes to the well-being of American democracy and the common good. He said fighting for religious freedom in such an environment presents challenges, especially in the area of education. “Across America’s high school and college campuses, religious freedom is often misunderstood, ignored, or thought to be irrelevant,” Berkeley said. “Confronted with rampant secularism and the rise of hot-button social issues, especially since the 1980s, America’s youth have turned inward in their search for truth.” Berkeley said as a result young people are focusing more on individual autonomy, something he said actually undermines the very social good that young people claim to support. “This framework of belief also advances a view of religious freedom as an abrogation of individual autonomy and basic human rights,” he added. Meanwhile, Goodrich said that although culture has shifted in significant ways and the legal system is beginning to reflect more modern values, his hope is that the government would be able to adopt compromise solutions that would let individuals on both sides of the argument live according to their deeply held values. “My hope would be that and the arguments that we’re making in court are that the government doesn’t have to pick one side of the cultural disagreement about sexuality or life or religion and crush everyone who disagrees,” he said.

Janita Kan

https://www.theepochtimes.com/religious-freedom-is-a-fundamental-right-that-needs-protection-amid-growing-conflict-becket-attorney_3134033.html

Tue, 05 Nov 2019 23:00:13 +0000

religion and belief

religious conflict

foreignpolicy--2019-04-05--How to Defeat Political and Religious Extremism

foreignpolicy

How to Defeat Political and Religious Extremism

How to Defeat Political and Religious Extremism Ever since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. administrations have tried to both root out terrorist groups that pervert Islam and simultaneously reach out to the Muslim world. Behind much of that outreach effort was Farah Pandith, a State Department official who served under several presidents, including George H.W. Bush and Barack Obama. Pandith is a Muslim American who immigrated to the United States as a child from Kashmir, India. She is also the author of a new book, How We Win: How Cutting-Edge Entrepreneurs, Political Visionaries, Enlightened Business Leaders, and Social Media Mavens Can Defeat the Extremist Threat. Pandith is our guest on First Person this week.

Dan Ephron

https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/04/05/farah-pandith-countering-violent-extremism-cve-how-we-win/

2019-04-05 22:06:03+00:00

religion and belief

religious conflict

theindependent--2019-05-15--Sri Lankaaposs shaky apospeaceapos is now 10 years old but conflict rages on as the elites pl

theindependent

Sri Lanka's shaky 'peace' is now 10 years old, but conflict rages on as the elites play a dangerous game

When the 58th and 59th divisions of the Sri Lankan Army walked towards each other and met in the middle of the Puthumathalan beach on 15 May 2009, it was a piece of meticulously planned symbolism. "We have liberated the whole country from terrorism,” Mahinda Rajapakse, former president of Sri Lanka announced a few days later. As he addressed the parliament in the Tamil language, he said the war was not waged against the Tamil people. He said back then: “We must find a homegrown solution to this conflict. That solution should be acceptable to all the communities. We have to find a solution based on the philosophy of Buddhism.” We’re still waiting for that 10 years on from the end of the vicious civil war between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). About 200,000 people were killed over the 26 years, a period which also saw the second highest number of disappearances in the world. There is still a backlog of between 60,000 and 100,000 alleged disappearances dating back to the late 1980s. There is much we don’t have space to touch on here, but the picture is evident: Sri Lanka’s history is rooted in violence and blood. After the end of the war, the international community raised war crimes allegations against the Sri Lankan government. The UN secretary general appointed a panel of experts to investigate the claims, and the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) held numerous sessions, most infamously on 26/27 May 2009, when it passed a resolution which congratulated and praised the Sri Lankan government – despite the war crimes allegations. Sri Lanka masterfully orchestrated an alliance of powerful states to support its war against the Tamil Tigers. They were successful. Ever since Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948 a clique of opportunist Sinhala elite politicians has ruled the country. Over the years, this elite has sourced its power from the alienation, marginalisation and disenfranchisement of minority communities. The device for this was Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism, which has manipulated the majority population and created the need for enemy to maintain its power. Now, Sri Lanka is a security state infused by Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism. The UN’s efforts from 2009 onwards have brought little improvement. Different special sessions, visits of the UN secretary general and the high commissioners for human rights and subsequent reports by human rights experts have had little impact. After years of refusal to cooperate with the international human rights machinery under president Rajapakse, the current president Maithripala Sirisena decided to engage more openly after his election in 2015. However, human rights can be a valuable token for third world leaders to bolster their international legitimacy and attract trade and investment. In Sri Lanka, little has been enacted to pave the way for transitional justice (aside from the painfully slow creation of an office of missing persons) or to achieve a culture of accountability. Instead, it is a culture of impunity that defines Sri Lanka’s history. Meanwhile, of course, accountability for war crimes committed during the conflict and the fates of thousands of missing Sri Lankans go unaddressed. Add to that other key issues. Support for women-led households is stagnating in a patriarchal society, federalism is word largely banned from the public debate and the militarisation of public space remains in place. In September last year, Michelle Bachelet, the new UN High Commissioner for Human Rights noted the start of consultations for the office of missing persons and noted that “more progress in advancing accountability and truth-seeking could have great weight in the long-term stability and prosperity of the nation.” She also said that “recurrent incidents of racist and inter-communal violence are disturbing.” Her fears found its most violent manifestation on Easter Sunday. Those horrific bombings were a painful reminder that violence is the constant shadow of Sri Lanka. Much about the attacks remains unanswered, but clearly there were admitted failings in the sharing of intelligence. In my view, it is hard to separate that from the constitutional crisis in 2018, when Sirisena removed Ranil Wickremesinghe from office. Moreover, the inter-religious riots in 2014 and 2018 between the Buddhist community and the Muslim community have created a hostile environment for terrorism to grow. Now those tensions have defiantly returned. It seems that the ideology of Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism needs the maintenance of an enemy to thrive. Newly enacted emergency regulations, including a ban on head coverings, are products of ideological hegemony and ostracises an already marginalised segment of a minority community. Just as the Sinhala Only Act once did to the Tamils. This island in the Indian Ocean, praised for its hospitality, generosity and beauty, is a place of violence. Sri Lanka might be post-war, but not post-conflict. The minority communities are not involved in common state crafting. Ten years on, the trials and tribulations of the common woman and man are not addressed. The current narrative and culture only serve the powerful few, while it wins its lifeblood from a fatal ideology. Mark Twain said once: “History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” Looking at the current developments, history is rhyming again. Dr Thamil Venthan Ananthavinayagan is a lecturer for international law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law at Griffith College Dublin.

Thamil Ananthavinayagan

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/sri-lanka-attacks-10-year-anniversary-war-bombing-muslim-mosque-a8914976.html

2019-05-15 10:47:00+00:00

religion and belief

religious conflict

globalresearch--2019-01-08--Crisis in Ukraine Religious Schism and War

globalresearch

Crisis in Ukraine: Religious Schism and War

The signing of the Tomos or note of Autocephaly for the newly created Orthodox Church of Ukraine is not a church but a political act which may have catastrophic consequences for Ukraine. So said the head of the Russian Federation Council’s international affairs committee, Konstantin Kosachev, on Saturday January 6, the day the document was issued. One of the worst crises in the history of Christianity was the split between the Church centred in Rome and the Church centred in Constantinople, between the west and east regions of the old Roman Empire, that took place in the year 1054. Today, the NATO military alliance and its vassals in the Kiev regime in Ukraine have forced a further split within the Eastern or Orthodox Church by setting up a separate Orthodox church in Ukraine that rejects the age old authority of the Moscow Patriarchate with authority over the churches in Ukraine and purports to set up a separate Orthodox Church in Kiev. This is not just a side issue in the Christian world or world politics. It is a key element of the NATO plan to use all forms of warfare in all realms of life to further their ambition of crushing the power of Russia. It is designed to engender hostility among the Slavic peoples, to reduce Russia’s prestige and Moscow’s reputation as the third Rome, to further divide the Ukrainian people against themselves and harden the artificial division between the Ukrainian and Russian peoples. But to understand the new division we have to review some history. The split or schism within the Christian church had many complex causes which neither I, nor the reader, have the patience to enter into. Some of the causes were theological, some cultural, others political. To avoid boring you I will provide only what is essential from the past to understand the present. For centuries the emperors in control of the eastern Roman Empire based in Constantinople, favoured Rome’s supremacy in Church matters because they wanted to safeguard the universality of the Empire and their claims to Italy. The separation of the churches in the two parts of the Empire evolved gradually over the centuries and reflected the long rivalry between Latins and Greeks, between Rome and Constantinople. But the Roman popes steadily expanded their control across Europe along with their spiritual and temporal power that the authorities in the second city of the Empire resented and feared. The eastern Romans, who considered their emperor as an equal of the apostles, and who believed that matters of church doctrine could be resolved only through the Holy Ghost speaking through the Ecumenical Council, were shocked by the pope in Rome, who to them was just first among equals among all the church patriarchs, yet claimed he could formulate dogma and had spiritual and temporal supremacy over all the other churches and patriarchs; for in the early Church and for a long period, spiritual authority was deemed to be held equally between the patriarchs of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, and Aleppo. The major split took place in 1054 when the Normans attacked some cities in southern Italy, defeated the army sent to stop them, and detained the Roman pope who was furious that the emperor in Constantinople had not come to his rescue. The patriarch and the Emperor in Constantinople tried to smooth things over but tempers and insults flared and the papal legates visiting Constantinople for the purpose of resolving the dispute only inflamed matters and ended their mission by excommunicating the eastern patriarch who in turn anathematised them. This sequence of events resulted in the lasting separation of the eastern and western churches. The split need never have occurred. More goodwill, less bigotry, cooler tempers could have resolved all the issues but, as is the case now, ill will prevailed. Though the split of 1054 was not complete, for there were attempts in the 13th and 15th centuries to cement the two churches back together and an another attempt in 1965 at the Ecumenical Council, the injury could not be healed, has long festered and now has begun to bleed once again, but this time within the eastern church itself and within the context of a threatened general war. When the Turks took Constantinople in 1453 they permitted the Orthodox Christians to remain and it was Mehmet the Conqueror, acting as a Roman emperor, who designated a new Patriarch for the city. Today the Istanbul patriarch claims authority over the scattered Greek Orthodox churches in Western Europe, the Americas and Australia and the eastern orthodox churches in Russia, the Balkans, Greece, Asia and Africa, though he has very few adherents in modern Istanbul. As Christianity spread further east, first Kiev then Moscow became the important centres of the Orthodox Church and set up their own patriarchates or divisions of the Church. But, partly as a result of the Mongol invasions and other complicated events Moscow assumed a more authoritative and primary role resulting in the Patriarchate in Constantinople assigning the Moscow patriarchate with authority over the eastern churches, including Ukraine, in 1686. This has been the situation more or less up to the present. But on October 15, 2018 the Russian Orthodox Church announced that it would break off all relations with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew, the claimed leader of Eastern Orthodoxy, after he agreed on October 11, 2018, to the April request of Kiev leader Poroshenko, and his minions in the church in Kiev, to grant autocephaly, or self-governance, to what they are calling the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, not to be confused with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church that does not recognize this action, the sole objective of which is to attempt to divide Ukrainians from the historical influence of the Russian Orthodox Church and Russia. Poroshenko who, along with NATO, backed this action, stated that this step “finally dispelled the imperial illusions and chauvinistic fantasies of Moscow.” Ukraine currently has three Orthodox denominations, the largest of which is the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. That branch remained subordinate to Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union and contains more than 12,000 parishes. This is a third of all parishes under the Russian Orthodox Church, and Ukraine contains some of the most symbolic ones, such as the monastery Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and its catacombs. The other two denominations are the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate, with 4,800 parishes, and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, with 1,000 parishes, which adds to the confusion when trying to grasp what is going on here. But Russia has long been unhappy with Constantinople’s first-among-equals status and has sought to challenge and erode its role since the Moscow patriarchate sees itself as the dominant bastion of Eastern Orthodoxy. The Russian Orthodox Church alone has more than 150 million followers, half of the world wide adherents and the two patriarchates also differ on some points of doctrine, with Constantinople seeking closer alignment with the Pope in Rome, while the number of Christians in Istanbul can no longer support the claim of that city’s Christian leader to be head of the eastern church. After Patriarch Bartholomew’s decision, which he probably had no authority to make, Patriarch Filaret in Kiev stated that he would call a council of the leaders of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to choose a leader for this newly created church of Ukraine. The move marked the beginning of the establishment of an independent church in Ukraine, outside the control of Moscow and its patriarch, Kirill. It is also a self-serving decision because it serves to weaken the Russian Orthodox Church and strengthen the almost irrelevant Church in Constantinople that has long been under the sway of the NATO powers and serves their interests. It also is designed to destroy the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and force people to join this new church. This has wider dimensions since Russian allies, Serbia and Belarus, already have backed the Moscow Patriarchate and condemned the granting of autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The split in the church may have other and more violent consequences arising from disputes over holy sites as several of Ukraine’s most holy sites and churches will be claimed by both the Russian and established Ukrainian churches and this upstart church. The Kiev Patriarchate has already laid claim to the famous 11th century Kiev Monastery of the Caves and the Holy Dormition Monastery in Pochayiv. Both sites are now controlled by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate and could face protests and vandalism. Vadym Novinskyi, an opposition bloc member of parliament, predicted a “civil war and clashes over property “in every village and every town.” There have already been reports of problems over the Christmas period. It was reported in Tass that, On December 26th Patriarch Kiril of Moscow and All Russia stated, Already priests in Ukraine face persecution arising out of this development. Over the past few weeks, Ukraine’s Security Service, the SBU, has conducted searches in the Ovruch diocese in Ukraine’s Zhitomir Region. This resulted in 20 clerics of the UOC’s Rovno and Sarny dioceses being summoned for questioning. Searches were also conducted in the apartment of Metropolitan Paul, Abbot of Kiev Pechersk Lavra. According to the SBU, these police actions were part of a criminal case on inciting inter-confessional strife opened against him, but no doubt are meant to harass and intimidate. Some already face criminal charges. The tensions being stoked within the Church and the broader society by Poroshenko and the NATO intelligence services will no doubt be used as fuel for the fire as Kiev ratchets up its military actions against the peoples of east Ukraine in the Donbass republics and can lead not only to arrests and detentions of religious leaders and their supporters but also assassinations of those opposing their maneuvers, for on top of all the other problems faced by Ukrainians has been placed the bloody thorn of religious persecution, a Christmas gift from NATO. Note to readers: please click the share buttons above. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc. Christopher Black is an international criminal lawyer based in Toronto. He is known for a number of high-profile war crimes cases and recently published his novel “Beneath the Clouds. He writes essays on international law, politics and world events, especially for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook” where this article was originally published. He is a frequent contributor to Global Research.

Christopher Black

https://www.globalresearch.ca/crisis-in-ukraine-religious-schism-and-war/5664957

2019-01-08 14:17:56+00:00

religion and belief

religious conflict

nationalreview--2019-06-19--Two Painful Truths of Americas Religious Culture War

nationalreview

Two Painful Truths of America’s Religious Culture War

Secular government is breaking its promise of liberty, and the American church is breaking its promise of virtue. The fundamental, founding structure of our American nation is relatively simple. While the federal government should seek the common good, its first responsibility is to secure the liberty of its citizens. Conversely, while citizens should seek to influence their nation through government, their first responsibility is to exercise their liberty toward virtuous ends. This is the essence of the ordered liberty envisioned by the Founders. Government protects our “unalienable rights,” yet at the same time our Constitution is made for a “moral and religious people” and is “wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” Failure on either end — failure of the government to protect liberty or failure of the people to be virtuous — breaks the compact and places unacceptable strains on our nation and culture. As Christian communities face increasing governmental hostility and struggle with declining church attendance, it’s time for both sides of our nation’s religious culture war to confront their role in disrupting these core principles of the American founding. Here are two painful truths: Secular government is breaking its promise of liberty, and the American church is breaking its promise of virtue. First, the mainly progressive effort to restrict the free exercise of religion is plainly illiberal and contrary to the constitutional order. If there is one single legal strand that ties together the myriad threats to religious liberty and free speech in the United States — efforts to coerce Catholic hospitals and adoption agencies into violating their convictions, to toss Christian student groups off campuses, to force Christian institutions to facilitate access to abortifacients, to compel the speech of Christian creative professionals, or to place in doubt the accreditation and tax exemptions of Christian educational institutions — it’s that they depend for their success on inverting the proper constitutional order. Progressive government passes sweeping and intrusive statutes and regulations and then treats the free-exercise and free-speech claims of religious individuals and institutions as a form of special pleading. Yet this gets the legal hierarchy upside down. The Constitution — including the First Amendment, of course — is the supreme law of the land, and statutes and regulations are making claims against it. Thus, the default proposition is that free speech, free exercise, and voluntary association enjoy protection, with that protection to fall away only in the face of compelling governmental interests, enacted through the least restrictive means. Efforts to chip away at this default structure aim to disrupt the primacy of liberty and the legal primacy of the Constitution. So, when people of faith decry attacks on religious freedom, they’re not merely an interest group seeking accommodation; they’re citizens seeking to maintain the core principles of the American founding. This brings us to the second truth. Even while religious conservatives are right to fight for their liberties, we need to understand that no government or cultural institution is more responsible for the decline of the church than the church itself. All too many Christians look at falling Sunday-morning attendance and increasing faithlessness and lash out — at Hollywood, at academia, or at (to take a recent example) “drag-queen story hour.” Instead, we should be more focused on lashing in — at hypocrisy, at adultery, at abuse, and all the sins besetting our nation’s congregations. Drag-queen story hours could populate our libraries from coast to coast and they would do far less damage to American Christianity than the continued proliferation of the Catholic/Protestant abuse crisis. Not one Christian parent has to take his or her child to see a drag queen at the library, but all too many Christian parents have had to explain the moral collapse of pastors and church leaders to their kids. All too many Christian wives have had to deal with the devastation of a husband addicted to porn, and all too many Christian spouses have had to pick up the pieces after infidelity and divorce. Even worse, we often do the opposite of the thing that Paul commanded — we are oh so understanding of our own failings while oh so intolerant of the world’s sins. First Corinthians 5, verses 9 through 12 are among the least-observed and most-defied verses in the Bible: I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people — not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler — not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? He wrote those words from within a depraved Roman culture — a world that was replete with temptations of the flesh. While he did not ignore the world’s sin, his disciplinary focus was inward, even as his evangelistic focus was outward. Wise members of the church are beginning to recognize this truth. Earlier this year, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission — no slouch in the defense of Christian freedom — decided to change the focus of its annual conference to examine the crisis of sex abuse in the church. My wife has publicly discussed her own experience of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of a youth pastor, and that dreadful event had more adverse impact on her faith than any secular academic class ever could. If we want the church to thrive, we should protect liberty, and that means progressive governments should be held accountable under law for their illiberal attacks on free exercise. But absent our own faithfulness, every legal or political victory will be for naught. We’ll continue to bleed members, lose our witness, and close our doors. Our true challenge lies not with the drag queens without but rather with the adulterers and abusers within.

David French

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/06/two-painful-truths-of-americas-religious-culture-war/

2019-06-19 18:33:32+00:00

religion and belief

religious conflict

veteranstoday--2019-04-02--War Producing Mixture of Religion and Government

veteranstoday

War Producing Mixture of Religion and Government

When we think of the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights, which states in part that the government shall “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” which Thomas Jefferson described as “a wall of separation between church and state” in his letter to the Danbury Baptists, we usually limit it to the US government respecting an establishment of religion on US soil. In today’s world, the US government is, and has been since 1948, respecting the establishment of religion, and using American tax dollars to pay for it, in the Middle East. It took the form of financial loans to the religious Jewish state of Israel under Harry Truman in 1948. Ever since then the vast majority of US politicians from both major political parties have realized that promoting Israel with American lives, limbs and BILLIONS of US tax-dollars from Americans, is money in the bank for them. Currently US politicians take from American tax payers and give to Israel $10.5 million EVERY DAY. To understand how this is possible, and to get an accurate understanding of how the US “democracy” really works, watch this important video. The video is an abridged version of the undercover documentary The Lobby, which documents how the Israel lobby buys US politicians for the benefit of Israel. Starting at 6:54 and going through 12:34 in the video, we get a lesson on the mechanics of buying “public servants” who are in reality nothing more than political whores/pimps who sell themselves and their constituents to the highest bidder. (What this short segment of the documentary shows should make everyone who sees it realize what a total waste of time, and what a scam, voting is.) In this case the highest bidder is the Israel lobby, and in particular the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). The American Representative Ilhan Omar, who was attacked by politicians from both parties for telling the truth about AIPAC and the Israel lobby buying US politicians with her statement “It’s all about the Benjamins baby”, is completely exonerated by this undercover documentary. In the video at 10:10 – 21 we get an ominous message from David Ochs, a lobbyist for the Israel lobby. Ochs tells the undercover journalist James Anthony Kleinfeld, “We don’t ask a goddamn thing about the fucking Palestinians. You know why? Because it’s a tiny issue, that’s why. It’s a small insignificant issue. The big issue is Iran. We want everything focused on Iran.” US politicians are acting of this Israel lobby primary objective against Iran. Donald Trump’s recent official recognition of the illegally occupied Syrian Golan Heights as being part of Israel was done with Iran in mind. Ochs, AIPAC and all of the Israel lobby work to accomplish what the Jewish state of Israel wants. Regarding Iran, Israel wants the same thing it wanted, and got, from US politicians for Iraq: regime change through the use/misuse of the US military. US politicians from both parties were happy to oblige regarding Iraq. As a former adviser to George W. Bush and the executive director of the 9/11 commission, Philip Zelikow said, “Why would Iraq attack America or use nuclear weapons against us? I’ll tell you what I think the real threat (is) and actually has been since 1990 – it’s the threat against Israel. And this is the threat that dare not speak its name, because the Europeans don’t care deeply about that threat, I will tell you frankly. And the American government doesn’t want to lean too hard on it rhetorically, because it is not a popular sell.” Neither would a US war against Iran be a popular sell with most Americans. A survey done in July shows that Americans oppose going to war against Iran by a margin of two-to-one. Unfortunately the war-pigs are very skilled at promoting war against the will of the people. A powerful example of this is how the Jewish Zionists maneuvered the US into WWI. This was all part of the Balfour Declaration which saved England from defeat by bringing the US into the war on England’s side, while promising to give land in Palestine to the Jews. The largest segment of the US population that would be in favor of a US war against Iran are millions of Christians who believe the Bible is the word of God and who take seriously what the ancient Hebrew and Jewish authors of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament wrote in it. They wrote that God gave all of the land that is currently the Palestinian West Bank and Palestinian East Jerusalem to the Jews for the Jewish state of Israel to have for eternity. In Genesis 13:14-15 God allegedly said to Abram, “Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.” According to an article written by Christian clergyman Pat Robertson, the land God gave to Abram that was to become the Jewish state of Israel stretches from parts of modern day Egypt to parts of Syrian, Jordan and Iraq. Believing the Bible requires sincere Bible believers to support Israel in all of its undertakings. Christian clergyman John Hagee, the founder of Christians United For Israel (CUFI), has a list of seven reasons why Christians need to support the Jewish state of Israel. To undercut the damaging religious nonsense regarding Bible-based Jewish superiority, to put an end to the lie that God gave a gift of real estate to the Jews for the Jewish state of Israel and promised that Israel will rule the world (Deuteronomy 28:1), we must rely on our gift from The Supreme Intelligence/God of our innate reason. None of the man-made “revealed” religions can withstand the test of our innate God-given reason. The American Founder and Deist Thomas Paine wrote in The Age of Reason, The Complete Edition that we need a revolution in religion based on our innate God-given reason and Deism. Once Deism reaches enough people, this will remove us from being pawns of the Jewish Zionist warmongers and their Gentile dupes.

Bob Johnson

https://www.veteranstoday.com/2019/04/02/war-producing-mixture-of-religion-and-government/

2019-04-02 21:05:30+00:00

religion and belief

religious conflict

abcnews--2019-12-29--First responders say two people have been killed in a shooting at a church near Fort Worth, Texas, a

abcnews

First responders say two people have been killed in a shooting at a church near Fort Worth, Texas, and a third is hurt

First responders say two people have been killed in a shooting at a church near Fort Worth, Texas, and a third is hurt First responders say two people have been killed in a shooting at a church near Fort Worth, Texas, and a third is hurt

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/responders-people-killed-shooting-church-fort-worth-texas-67969808

Sun, 29 Dec 2019 13:50:46 -0500

religion and belief

religious conflict

bbc--2019-01-27--Jolo church attack Many killed in Philippines

bbc

Jolo church attack: Many killed in Philippines

Two bombs at a Roman Catholic cathedral in southern Philippines have killed 20 people and injured dozens more, local officials say. The first blast happened as Sunday Mass was being celebrated at the church on Jolo island, where Islamist militants are active. As soldiers responded, a second device was detonated in the car park. The attack comes days after a majority-Muslim area in the region voted for greater autonomy in a referendum. No group has so far said it was behind the attack. Jolo has long been a base for militants including those of the Abu Sayyaf group. The local officials say the first blast happened at 08:45 local time (00:45 GMT) inside the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which has been hit by bombs in the past. The second explosion was shortly afterwards on the doorstep of the church. Local police initially put the death toll at 27 but later lowered it to 20, saying there was double counting in earlier official reports. Most of the victims are civilians. Images posted on social media showed the main road leading to the church sealed off by soldiers in armoured personnel carriers. Some of the wounded were evacuated by air to the nearby city of Zamboanga. Calling the attack a "dastardly act", Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana urged the local population to work with the authorities to "deny terrorism any victory". "We will use the full force of the law to bring to justice the perpetrators behind this incident." In last week's referendum, voters approved the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in majority-Muslim areas of southern Philippines. But voters in Sulu province, where Jolo is located, rejected it. The referendum was the result of a peace deal between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The authorities have previously expressed hopes that the vote could be a political solution to try to end decades of fighting between Islamist separatists and the Philippine army in the predominantly Catholic country. More than 120,000 people have died in the violence.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-47018747

2019-01-27 10:19:31+00:00

religion and belief

religious conflict

jerusalempost--2019-11-21--Pope Francis meeting Thai king, Buddhist patriarch in visit

jerusalempost

Pope Francis meeting Thai king, Buddhist patriarch in visit

By subscribing I accept the terms of use

By REUTERS

https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Pope-Francis-meeting-Thai-king-Buddhist-patriarch-in-visit-608535

Thu, 21 Nov 2019 03:36:07 GMT

religion and belief

religious event

unian--2019-08-05--Zelensky to meet with Erdogan Ecumenical Patriarch amid visit to Turkey on Aug 7-8

unian

Zelensky to meet with Erdogan, Ecumenical Patriarch amid visit to Turkey on Aug 7-8

The president will also meet with representatives of the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar communities. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I amid an official visit to the Republic of Turkey on August 7-8. Read alsoZelensky, Trump to meet at UN General Assembly in late September – media "Negotiations between the head of state and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are planned as part of a visit to Ankara," according to the president's press service. The president will also meet with members of the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar communities. In addition, Zelensky is scheduled to meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in Istanbul, it said.

https://www.unian.info/politics/10640664-zelensky-to-meet-with-erdogan-ecumenical-patriarch-amid-visit-to-turkey-on-aug-7-8.html

2019-08-05 09:47:00+00:00

religion and belief

religious event

aljazeera--2019-11-19--'Bonds of friendship': Pope Francis heads to Thailand and Japan

aljazeera

'Bonds of friendship': Pope Francis heads to Thailand and Japan

Nagasaki, Japan - Japan may have few Catholics, but the pacifist message of Pope Francis resonates keenly in the only country in the world to have suffered a nuclear attack. As he prepares to make his first journey to the country this week, expectations are high the pontiff will make strong anti-war statements in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where the United States dropped atomic bombs in the closing days of World War II. "When John Paul II came the first thing he said in his message was: 'War is the work of man'," said Daichi Miyahara, newly ordained as a priest this year at Nagasaki’s Urakami Cathedral, referring to the late pope’s 1981 visit. ''I expect that (Pope Francis) will give us the message that people should not fight but engage with each other," Miyahara added on a recent Sunday, standing outside the hilltop church, which was destroyed in the 1945 blast and later rebuilt, to greet parishioners after a mass. Francis has been vocal about sympathy for victims of war and appears to have a special feeling for Japan. In late 2017, he issued a small card with a photo of a boy carrying his dead brother to a crematorium in the aftermath of the Nagasaki bomb. Inscribed on the card were the words: "The fruit of war." Pope Francis is due to arrive in Thailand on November 20 before heading to Japan on November 23. In video messages to the people of the two majority-Buddhist countries posted to the Vatican website ahead of the trip, the pope lauded peace and stressed the need to eliminate nuclear weapons. He lauded Thailand for its dedication to "harmony and peaceful coexistence" and said he wants to "strengthen the bonds of friendship that we share with many Buddhist brothers and sisters". To the Japanese, he said: "Together with you, I pray that the destructive power of nuclear weapons will never be unleashed again in human history. The use of nuclear weapons is immoral." Among several events in Nagasaki, the pontiff is scheduled to make an address in a park that marks the epicentre of the explosion, while in Hiroshima he is expected to conduct an event themed on peace. Catholicism has existed in Japan for more than 450 years and nowhere is that history more strongly felt than in Nagasaki, where the religion initially flourished to the point of the city being called "Little Rome" before being suppressed and finally re-emerging. And while the total number of Christians from all denominations appear to account for no more than two percent of the population, Japanese seem to broadly welcome the moral authority the pope brings to calls for peace and the elimination of nuclear weapons. "The pope`s coming here gives encouragement to Nagasaki’s atomic bomb victims," said Masayuki Yamasaki, a non-Christian in his 70s who will sing in a choral performance during the visit and vividly recalls seeing John Paul II in the city on a snowy day in February 38 years ago. One of those victims is 88-year-old Inosuke Hayasaki, who survived the bombing as a 14-year-old. "The coming of the pope makes me feel truly what a peaceful country Japan has become," the spry Hayasaki said in Nagasaki’s Peace Park, where he discusses his experiences as a bomb survivor with visitors. The spiritual leader of the world’s estimated 1.3 billion Roman Catholics becomes only the second pontiff to visit the two Asian nations. John Paul Il also visited Thailand in 1984. Francis is no stranger to the region, having already travelled to countries including the Philippines and South Korea, both with significant Catholic populations. European missionaries brought the religion to both Thailand and Japan in the 16th century, but it has faced serious cultural and political challenges recruiting followers. The Christian population in Thailand is estimated at less than one percent. The faith, however, has also managed to play an outsize role in spurring modernisation, education and social welfare in the countries. "Most Thais are not Christian due to the incorporation of Buddhism into `Thai-ness`, the Thai national identity - so that being Thai means being Buddhist," Giuseppe Bolotta, an assistant professor of anthropology and an expert on the country at the Centre for Catholic Studies at Durham University in England, said in an email. That and the status of the monarchy, Bolotta said, has led to the "Thai-ification" of the church in the form of compromises such as prayers in praise of the king, which have helped ensure cordial relations with the country’s Buddhist elite. As a result, he thinks it unlikely that Francis can easily wade into controversial issues such as Buddhist-Muslim tensions in Thailand’s southern region or highlight the work of Catholic and Christian humanitarian efforts in the country. "Nevertheless, the pope’s proverbial allergy to protocols, and his recurrent `improvisations` during public performances can result in unexpected surprises," Bolotta said. In Japan, the faith was initially well-received with even some feudal warlords converting. In his seminal 1951 book, British scholar CR Boxer dubbed those early years "The Christian Century in Japan" but suspicions the foreign creed was a vanguard for Spanish conquest ultimately led authorities to try and root it out. The most infamous crackdown was the crucifixion in 1597 of 20 Japanese and six foreign missionaries - known as the 26 Martyrs - on a hill in Nagasaki where Francis is expected to pay homage. Official efforts were of such ferocity that the religion was largely thought to have been eradicated. But after Japan ended more than two centuries of isolation, French Catholic missionaries in Nagasaki in 1865 were astonished when local people claiming to be believers approached them and they discovered that the faith had been kept alive in secret for more than 200 years. That history was highlighted in 2018 when a series of "Hidden Christian" sites in the Nagasaki region on the southern island of Kyushu were inscribed on the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization The late Shusaku Endo, a Catholic and author of the historical novel Silence - made into the 2016 Martin Scorsese film of the same name - famously characterised Japan as a "swamp," or a forbidding place for a new foreign faith to flourish. Charlie Pomuceno, an Augustinian priest from the Philippines who has been in Japan for nearly nine years, acknowledges it is difficult for the church to win converts. "You have to break the barrier,'' Pomuceno said in the office of his church in a quiet Nagasaki neighbourhood. But he adds that Catholics in Japan are exceptional in their devotion. ''The faith of the Japanese is very impressive," he said. "They really put this into practice.'' And he finds some solace in that the broader population, in his eyes, evinces Christian values even if they are not Christian in name. "Despite that they are not Catholic by heart, but they are practising the Catholic way," he said. `For example, they are honest, they’re very honest." Despite the paucity of Catholics and other Christians - protestant denominations began proselytising in the second half of the 19th century - adherents have played a prominent role in Japan’s modern history. It has had around half a dozen Christian prime ministers and Christian figures in the arts and education have been notable. Ikuko Suyama, a Buddhist who runs a small museum honouring St Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish priest who was active in Nagasaki and later died while imprisoned at Auschwitz, says the days of religious persecution in Nagasaki are, thankfully, a thing of the past. "Nowadays all kinds of barriers have been removed and everyone is tolerant," Suyama said. "Not just in religion but in all things everyone has come together. That’s so important and must continue forever."

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/11/friendship-pope-francis-heads-thailand-japan-191118065606626.html

Tue, 19 Nov 2019 00:24:02 GMT

religion and belief

religious event

bbc--2019-02-03--Pope Francis to embark on historic visit to UAE

bbc

Pope Francis to embark on historic visit to UAE

Pope Francis will arrive in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) later on Sunday, becoming the first pontiff to visit the Arabian peninsula. The Pope has been invited by Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan to take part in an interfaith conference. He will hold a Mass on Tuesday that is expected to draw 120,000 people. As he left, the Pope highlighted the plight of Yemen's people whose cry for help "rises up to God". "The population is exhausted by the lengthy conflict and a great many children are suffering from hunger, but cannot access food depots," the Pope said. Pope Francis has condemned the conflict, in which the UAE is involved as part of a Saudi-led coalition. Last year, the pontiff appealed to the international community "to avoid a worsening of the already tragic humanitarian situation" in Yemen. The UAE is also home to nearly a million Roman Catholics, most of them from the Philippines or India. In a video message on Thursday, the Pope said: "I am happy for this occasion the Lord has given me to write, on your dear land, a new page in the history of relations between religions. "Faith in God unites and does not divide, it draws us closer despite differences, it distances us from hostilities and aversion." He paid tribute to the UAE as "a land that is trying to be a model of coexistence, of human brotherhood, and a meeting place among diverse civilisations and cultures". While in Abu Dhabi, the Pope will also meet Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Cairo's al-Azhar mosque, which is the highest seat of learning for Sunni Muslims. BBC Arabic's Murad Batal Shishani, who is in Abu Dhabi, says the Vatican hopes that the Pope's visit might loosen restrictions on the building of churches in the region, particularly in neighbouring Saudi Arabia where non-Muslim places of worship are forbidden. Vatican officials say they need a stronger Church presence in the UAE to minister to the Catholic community there. "We are really stretched. We need more churches. We need more priests," one official was quoted by Reuters as saying.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-47106204

2019-02-03 12:58:32+00:00

religion and belief

religious event

bbc--2019-03-31--Pope Francis visits Morocco

bbc

Pope Francis visits Morocco

Pope Francis has visited Morocco on his latest trip to a predominantly Muslim state. He met migrants and Muslim leaders, and held a Mass for the country's small Roman Catholic community. The Pope celebrated Mass in a sports centre in the Moroccan capital Rabat on Sunday. Speaking in Rabat's cathedral, the pontiff warned Catholics against trying to convert people to their own belief, saying this "always leads to an impasse". "Please, no proselytising," he told the audience. On Saturday the Pope met migrants when he visited a centre run by the Catholic humanitarian organisation Caritas. "The issue of migration will never be resolved by raising barriers," he had said in a speech earlier. On Saturday, the Pope was welcomed to Morocco by King Mohammed VI.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-47767224

2019-03-31 15:06:10+00:00

religion and belief

religious event

bbc--2019-05-05--Pope Francis begins visit to Orthodox Bulgaria and North Macedonia

bbc

Pope Francis begins visit to Orthodox Bulgaria and North Macedonia

Pope Francis has begun a three-day visit to Bulgaria and North Macedonia aimed partly at improving relations with the Orthodox Church. The Pope met Orthodox leaders in Bulgaria on Sunday, but they had already rejected taking part in joint services or prayers with him. The Vatican has long been pushing for unity between the two branches of Christianity, which split in 1054. The two Balkan countries have tiny Catholic communities. The pontiff's arrival in Bulgaria on Sunday marked the first visit by a pope to the country in 17 years. The trip to North Macedonia will be the first by a pope and comes just months after the country ended a decades-long dispute with Greece by changing its name, and as it votes for a new president. Central to the Balkan trip is the Vatican's desire to heal the 1,000-year-old schism that has divided Christianity. The Pope met Orthodox Patriarch Neofit and visited an Orthodox cathedral in the capital, Sofia, on Sunday. But the Bulgarian Orthodox Church rejected the idea of joining prayers or services with him. In a statement last month, it explained its position, saying that the invitation for the Pope's visit was made by state authorities. In what is being viewed as an effort not to upset other Orthodox churches, the Pope is not expected to meet privately with North Macedonian Orthodox Primate Stephen in his upcoming visit. The Macedonian Orthodox Church declared its independence, or autocephaly, in 1967 but has not been recognised by other Orthodox churches. Aside from moves to heal the rift with the Orthodox Church, the pontiff will meet the Balkan countries' minority Catholic communities. Sister Elka Staneva, a nun in Rakovski, Bulgaria's largest predominantly Roman Catholic town, described the excitement there ahead of the visit. "It is a great joy, a great spiritual experience, a feast of faith for the whole community here in Rakovski as well as for the whole country," she told Reuters. There are an estimated 58,000 Catholics in Bulgaria and 15,000 in North Macedonia. Speaking at the presidential palace in Sofia on Sunday, Pope Francis addressed the issue of low birth rates and high levels of emigration in Bulgaria. "Bulgaria, like so many other countries of Europe, must deal with what can only be called a new winter: the demographic winter that has descended like an ice curtain on a large part of Europe, the consequence of a diminished confidence in the future," he said. The Pope called on Bulgaria to "strive to create conditions that lead young people to invest their youthful energies and plan their future, as individuals and families, knowing that in their homeland they can have the possibility of leading a dignified life." He also urged government officials "not to close your eyes, your hearts or your hands" to migrants. Bulgaria is the European Union's poorest member state, and has seen some two million people leave the country since the fall of communism in search of new opportunities and better living standards.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-48167804

2019-05-05 11:21:48+00:00

religion and belief

religious event

france24--2019-09-05--Pope Francis visits Mozambique seeks to strengthen peace accord

france24

Pope Francis visits Mozambique, seeks to strengthen peace accord

Gianluigi Guercia, AFP | Pope Francis waves at the crowd next to Mozambican President Felipe Nyusi (R) upon his arrival at the Maputo International Airport on September 4, 2019. After a jubilant arrival in Mozambique at the start a three-nation African tour, Pope Francis on Thursday will meet with political and civil leaders to encourage them to consolidate a fragile peace accord. The pope's three-day visit to Mozambique comes a month after the government signed a historic peace treaty with the former rebel group Renamo, which is now the main opposition party. Mozambique's 16-year civil war devastated the former Portuguese colony, killing around one million people, and Renamo had never completely disarmed. Francis, the first pope to visit Mozambique since John Paul II in 1988, was whisked away in his popemobile after arriving on Wednesday as crowds waved and danced in welcome. He starts Thursday with a private meeting with President Filipe Nyusi, who wants to run for a second term in an election scheduled for October 15. The two men had already met one year ago at the Vatican. As well as discussing the peace agreement, Francis is expected to address the devastation caused by two back-to-back cyclones earlier this year in the poor southeast African country. He will not travel to Beira, the second city of the country swept away in March by Cyclone Idai, which left 600 dead and hundreds of thousands homeless. Even six months on, many people are without shelter and food. "Even if I can not go beyond the capital, my heart is with you and embraces you all, with a special place for those who live in difficulty," he said to the victims of the cyclone, before his trip. On Friday, the pope will address a mass at the giant Zimpeto stadium in the seaside capital Maputo. The pope may also address the issue of extremism in northern Mozambique where jihadist attacks have claimed more than 300 lives over two years. Francis could also speak about climate change, a key topic for the pontiff who has organised in a global meeting of bishops in Rome dedicated to the Amazon, which has been hit by devastating fires. According to the World Bank, Mozambique, with its more than 2,000 km of coastline along the Indian Ocean, is among the ten most threatened countries in the world due to the consequences of climate change. The pope will later visit the large Indian Ocean island of Madagascar and its much smaller neighbour Mauritius -- both situated off the eastern coast of Africa. Mozambique and Madagascar are among the world's poorest countries and Francis' choice to visit has been seen as act of solidarity from a cleric who was often in shantytowns of Argentina and is now called the "pope of the poor".

NEWS WIRES

https://www.france24.com/en/20190905-pope-francis-visits-mozambique-seeks-strengthen-peace-accord

2019-09-05 02:55:23+00:00

religion and belief

religious event

npr--2019-11-24--Pope Francis, In Visit To Hiroshima, Says Possession Of Nuclear Weapons Is 'Immoral'

npr

Pope Francis, In Visit To Hiroshima, Says Possession Of Nuclear Weapons Is 'Immoral'

Pope Francis, In Visit To Hiroshima, Says Possession Of Nuclear Weapons Is 'Immoral' On the first full day of his tour of Japan, Pope Francis visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki and delivered a clear message: possessing or deploying atomic weapons is immoral. "Peace and international stability are incompatible with attempts to build upon the fear of mutual destruction, or the threat of total annihilation," Francis said in an address in Nagasaki. He spoke at the site where the United States exploded an atomic bomb in 1945, killing 74,000 people by the end of that year. The nuclear arms race wastes resources that could instead improve people's lives and protect the environment, the pontiff said. "In a world where millions of children and families live in inhumane conditions, the money that is squandered and the fortunes made through the manufacture, upgrading, maintenance and sale of ever more destructive weapons are an affront crying out to heaven," he said. Pope Francis then traveled to Hiroshima, where the U.S. dropped the world's first atomic bomb on August 6, 1945, killing 140,000 people. There, in the darkness, the pope held a meeting for peace. The remembrances were a somber beginning to the first papal visit to Japan in nearly four decades. The pontiff also performed a mass on Sunday before some 35,000 people at a baseball stadium in Nagasaki. Pope John Paul II also visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki on his 1981 trip to Japan. In Hiroshima, the pope met with survivors of the bombings, including Yoshiko Kajimoto, who was a 14-year-old factory worker when the bomb exploded, causing the building she was in to collapse on top of her. "No one in this world can imagine such a scene of hell," she said, describing her evacuation route, according to The Associated Press. "There were more and more people coming by. Their bodies were so burned and totally red. Their faces swollen to double size, their lips hanging loose, with both hands held out with burnt skin hanging from them. They no longer looked human." Kajimoto's health has suffered greatly in the years since the bombing. She had most of her stomach removed in 1999 due to cancer, and she n0w has leukemia. Francis appeared moved by her story, and he reiterated the stance he made on the subject two years ago. "The use of atomic energy for purposes of war is immoral," he said Sunday. "As is the possession of atomic weapons." His 2017 declaration was a departure from the papacy's previous position, which held that nuclear deterrence was acceptable if it was in the service of eventual disarmament. The pontiff specifically lamented the degradation of international arms control treaties. In August, the U.S. pulled out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia, saying Moscow had violated the terms of the agreement. Amid his prayers, Francis also gave a word of warning: "We will be judged for this."

Laurel Wamsley

https://www.npr.org/2019/11/24/782450610/pope-francis-in-visit-to-hiroshima-says-possession-of-nuclear-weapons-is-immoral?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news

Sun, 24 Nov 2019 16:55:31 -0500

religion and belief

religious event

rawstory--2019-11-11--Thai convent weaves ‘beautiful’ robes for Pope Francis visit

rawstory

Thai convent weaves ‘beautiful’ robes for Pope Francis visit

Sewing machines whir in a Bangkok convent as workers feverishly finish silk robes in brilliant golds and reds, made especially for Pope Francis and his entourage visiting Thailand this month. The whirlwind November 20-23 trip will see the head of the Catholic Church meet top officials, host masses and visit the Catholic faithful in the Buddhist-majority country. Seamstresses at the Praharuthai Convent in Bangkok are working hard ahead of the trip to ensure Pope Francis and his bishops, deacons and priests are decked out in the country’s finest threads. “I feel happy and very proud that our convent has been selected to do this most honourable job,” said Sister Sukanya, who oversees the tailoring. She and her team of about a dozen seamstresses have been working long days for two months on the more than 200 robes, many stacked neatly in the convent next to round handmade hats. The two most important pieces — two matching robes for the pontiff — are ready to go, displayed proudly side-by-side on a pair of mannequins. Embroidered with an intricate “kanok” pattern — a ubiquitous Thai motif seen on clothing, furniture and artwork — the custom-made gold and yellow design will be worn by the pope at his first mass on November 21. The following day he’s set to sport a nearly identical robe in red and gold colors. Thailand is renowned for its silk and the convent was selected for the job because it has been making custom-made religious garments for generations. For the sisters at Praharuthai Convent, the job is an honor of a lifetime — and a chance to show off traditional tailoring. “Our Thai style is a beautiful creation,” Sister Saengpradab told AFP, as seamstresses hunched under a Jesus statue nearby, measuring, cutting and sewing reams of silk. It has been nearly four decades since a pontiff visited Thailand, and the trip will mark the 350th anniversary of the first official mission to the country. The Pope is set to meet Thailand’s king and prime minister, hold two masses — and reunite with his second cousin, who runs a Catholic girls’ school there. Today the country’s 388,000-strong Christian community makes up an estimated one percent of the population, the majority residing in the north. After Thailand, Francis will travel to Japan until November 26, where he will visit Tokyo, Nagasaki, and Hiroshima. Since Francis’ election six years ago, he has made two trips to Asia, visiting the Philippines and Sri Lanka in 2014, followed by Myanmar and Bangladesh in 2017.

Agence France-Presse

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/11/thai-convent-weaves-beautiful-robes-for-pope-francis-visit/

Mon, 11 Nov 2019 11:10:19 +0000

religion and belief

religious event

rawstory--2019-11-21--Pope Francis begins Asia tour with visit to Buddhist temple

rawstory

Pope Francis begins Asia tour with visit to Buddhist temple

Pope Francis will visit one of Thailand’s famed gilded temples Thursday to meet the supreme Buddhist patriarch, on the first full day of his Asian tour aimed at promoting religious harmony. The 82-year-old pontiff is on his first visit to Buddhist majority Thailand, where he will spend four days before setting off to Japan. His packed schedule a day after touching down in Bangkok includes a meeting with the king and the prime minister before leading an evening mass expected to draw tens of thousands of people from across Thailand, where just over 0.5 percent of the population is Catholic. He also has an appointment with the Buddhist Supreme Patriarch at the glittering gold Ratchabophit temple in Thailand’s historic old quarter, built 150 years ago by Thailand’s former king mixing traditional and gothic styles. It is a highly symbolic visit for the head of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics, who carries a message of peace, religious tolerance and nuclear disarmament on his sweep through Asia. “Pope Francis always respects other religions, always treats his counterparts with respect… that’s why he would like to pay respect to the leader” of the Buddhist faith in Thailand, said Chainarong Monthienvichienchai, who helped with some of the visit planning. Before arriving, Francis praised the Southeast Asian country as a “multi-ethnic nation”, and hoped his trip would strengthen the Catholic community’s bonds of friendship with “many Buddhist brothers and sisters”. Earlier Thursday the Pope was met by Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Cha-O-Cha at government house for a red carpet welcome with dozens of top officials. He was accompanied by his cousin Sister Ana Rosa, who has lived in Thailand for decades and will be accompanying the pontiff as a translator. In a speech to civil society, officials and diplomats, he said the visit with the patriarch was “a sign of the importance and urgency of promoting friendship and interreligious dialogue”. The Pope’s trip to Thailand is the first papal trip to the country since pope John Paul II visited in 1984. It coincides with the 350th anniversary of the first Catholic missionaries who established the “Mission de Siam” in the late 17th century. Pope Francis arrived Wednesday in the Thai capital where he was greeted by cheering worshippers who lined the streets hoping for a glimpse of the Catholic leader in his motorcade. He heads to Japan on Saturday, where he will visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two cities devastated when the US dropped atomic bombs at the end of World War II in 1945. The pope, who years ago had hoped to be a missionary in Japan, has made strong calls for the ban of the “immoral” use of nuclear weapons. Since Francis’ election six years ago, he has made two trips to Asia, visiting the Philippines and Sri Lanka in 2014, followed by Myanmar and Bangladesh in 2017.

Agence France-Presse

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/11/pope-francis-begins-asia-tour-with-visit-to-buddhist-temple/

Thu, 21 Nov 2019 04:58:46 +0000

religion and belief

religious event

eveningstandard--2019-03-23--Christchurch terror attack Worshippers return to Al Noor Mosque as it reopens for the first time si

eveningstandard

Christchurch terror attack: Worshippers return to Al Noor Mosque as it reopens for the first time since shooting

Worshippers have returned to Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch for the first time since dozens of people were killed in a deadly terror attack. Hundreds of people visited the mosque to lay flowers and tributes, or pray, after police removed a cordon. It is the first time people have been allowed back into the mosque to visit since 50 people were gunned down while at Friday prayers. Crews had replaced windows that worshippers smashed in a desperate attempt to escape when the attack during Friday prayers. Bullet holes were plastered over and painted. Shagat Khan, the president of the Muslim Association of Canterbury, said they had not planned to open the mosque so soon but when they saw the crowds gathering after the police cordon was removed, they decided to allow people to enter in managed groups "so the mosque will be alive again". "Those who lost their families are of course quite emotional," he said. "And those who were present here during the incident, of course the memories come back. The flashbacks." A total of 50 people were killed at two mosques in Christchurch on March 15, in the country's worst terrorist attack. Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, has been charged with murder and is scheduled to make his next court appearance on April 5. Abdullahi Ibrahim Diriye, the uncle of the youngest victim of the shooting, three-year-old Mucaad Ibrahim, visited the mosque with the boy's father. Mr Diriye said: "Always he was a happy boy, and he liked every person he met, not only Muslims.” Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan, who travelled to New Zealand to pay his respects, hugged a man at the entrance of the mosque and told him to "be patient". He said: “He was crying deeply from his heart for a loved one he had lost. "And I was saying, this is God's will, be patient. Because only through patience can you endure."

Olivia Tobin

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/christchurch-terror-attack-worshippers-return-to-al-noor-mosque-as-it-reopens-for-the-first-time-a4099196.html

2019-03-23 10:46:00+00:00

religion and belief

religious facilities

pravadareport--2019-03-19--Massacres of Muslim Worshipers in Christchurch Tragic Insanity at Place of Worship

pravadareport

Massacres of Muslim Worshipers in Christchurch: Tragic Insanity at Place of Worship

"And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory." (Howard Zinn, late American historian and distinguished scholar of peace, justice and humanity). Killing of the innocent people undoubtedly is a crime against humanity. The global political consciousness is obsessed with terms like "terrorism", "Islamophobia" and "extremism", not knowing its reality and how and why it is happening across the globe. The 21st century global humanity is conscientious how some political propagandists besiege the people with false flags and imagery to incite hatred, violence and human destruction in societies having systematic liberal democracies. Often leaders make or break the abstract imagery of the merchants of catastrophic evils with racial overtones as if color and ethnicity are supreme than the equality of human norms.  The NZ suspect killer Brenton Tarrant was greeted at the AlNoor Mosque entrance - "Brother Assalamo-Alaikum" Brother welcome in Peace, but he gunned down the very person who welcomed him at the mosque. BrentonTarrant played a live portrayal of his insanity on social media for more than 30 minutes to entertain millions of sickening minds with cruel revenge and savagery on the innocent 50 Muslim worshippers at Christchurch two mosques. The men of God had no idea what was in-waiting for the ultimate insanity to be performed. There are 50 or so critically injured under treatment. It represented hatred and inhumanity in its worst form and action. Not surprisingly, his 'manifesto' corresponds to the prevalent policies and practices of the Far Right White Supremists in the Western societies as it does to the stance of President Trump. The attacker believed that Muslim refugees were there to take over the European culture and civilization. Islamophobia is not an abstract phenomenon but a highly organized socio-political pursuit in many Western cultures aimed at dehumanizing the Muslim population with fear and hatred across the board. Thomas Paine (The Rights of Man) said it wisely: "man is not the enemy of man but through the medium of false system of government....the wisdom of nation should apply itself to reform the system." We, the People and We the Humanity As informed rational global citizens, out of this unexcitable shadow of darkness we look for the unity of human consciousness in situations of abnormal crisis and bloodshed. An ideal specimen of humanity and compassion was extended by the New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern who took immediate action to protect the beleaguered Muslim community with sympathy, understanding and protective measures. It was convergence of all humanity on shared moral and religious sentiments that we are One Humanity before God and that benevolence and freedom of worship unites us in bonds common across the universal landscape. Contrary to the attacker's imagination and plan, the people of New Zealand, Australia, UK, Canada, USA, Turkey, Pakistan, Russia and Scandinavian countries and other parts of human civilizations poured in condolences and resolve that the mosque's killings were act of terrorism and unjustifiable and unwarranted in the civilized world. The global reaction appeared rational in a spirit of universal compassion and understanding. What motivated the attacker to target Muslim worshippers at the two mosques in Christchurch?  The answer lies with a thorough police investigation currently in progress but the agenda and the manifesto of the attacker ( sent to the NZ PM) leaves no room for speculation except the reality of the Islamophobia pretext. The world we live-in, all human action are interconnected to the socio-economic and political environment that we encompass. Our thoughts, faculties and values are the possession and means by which we compose our outlook, behavior and priorities. If the attacker was inspired by the overwhelming Western pursuit of "Islamophobia" and wanted to secure some hallmarks by acts of sadistic brutality against the innocents, he was wrong and foolish, it demonstrated a global will and resilient to be united against the perpetuated evil and insanity. Instead, it revived a moral and intellectual capacity and passion to stand against the evil mongering, white supremacy and religious intolerance. Agreeably, the notion of evil does have an idea of force and power across the 21st century world that we live-in. We have seen it happening in America under the Trump Presidency and in Eastern Europe during the recent Middle Eastern refugee and migration crises. Are We Seeing a Moral and Intellectual Decadent Human Culture? Recall that during the Two World Wars in Europe, millions and millions innocent civilians had perished in aerial bombings, political tyranny and forcible displacements. History is living not dead.  We the 21st century conscientious and informed citizens must realize to eliminate insanity, tyranny of destruction, ethnic conflicts and religious bigotry.  Moses, Jesus and Mohammad preached the unity of mankind, respect and tolerance in adversity. None of the Messengers of God taught evil, intolerance and disrespect against the believers. If we are witnessing it in the 21st century liberal democracies and immature leadership, it cannot flattened the moral, intellectual and political landscape as " No Man's land" of the white-supremacists be it in America, NZ or elsewhere. Violence, killings and maltreatment of the citizens cannot be transformed into virtue of democracy or clash of fanaticism disguised in any political ideals of the individuals, political agendas or so called leaders. There is nothing good in evil for the mankind and it does not correspond to the Nature of things within the Universe that we co-exist except thoughts, shapes and forms of individual human behavior. If it was an overwhelming ethnic and religious hatred against the believers at the two mosques. Sanctity of human life and its sole purpose must be preserved. Brenton Tarrant should have known that Islam teaches respects, compassion and honor for the faithful in Judaism and Christianity and others. It reminds Muslims that you are all equal before God - the followers of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Mohammad and it is One Religion - One Ummah (Nation) to whom God enlightened with the Divine revelations, be it the Torah, the Bible or Al-Qur'an. You are One nation in the sight of your Creator.  The focal message of Islam (Al-Qur'an, Chapter 2:136) highlights the essence of natural bonds: "Say ye, We believe in God, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob; And the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to all Prophets from their Lord: We make no difference, Between one and another of them: And we bow to God (in Islam)." Towards Rebuilding Historic Flaws of Moral and Intellectual Gaps? There are political tensions between the Western Powers and Muslim countries after the 9/11 tragedies.  The theory of "the Clash of Civilizations" has its own mythological impact. But for centuries, the Islamic world was victim of the European colonization. Its identity, culture and values were destroyed by the European imperialism and its borders were the outcome of planned Europeans polices of "divide and rule" across the larger part of the Islamic world. Muslims were subjugated to prolonged tyranny of domination and destruction. Those who convientenly blame Muslims and Islam for "extremism" and "terrorism" should rethink and read the living history for truth, honesty and justice. Western doctrines that led to colonization and terrorization of the Muslim people and their culture is unparallel in modern history. Yet, you will find across the 21st century Islamic people are open to communication, realist and compassionate to respect others and mend the bitter past for a better future and peaceful co-existence. We need to be people of reason and balanced between the obvious competing tendencies of political hegemony of any ethnicity and equality of all human beings as One before the Almighty God - a common belief and value amongst the Jews, Christians and Muslims of the Abrahamic Faith. We are living in a dangerous era of political change and exploitation and cynicism about politicians is endemic. It is a wake-up call to all believers to show their inner soul and strength that all believers stand together in unity and in peace to defeat the White Supremacy and its defined official policies and practices to purge the Far-Right White Supremacy's agenda. Rationality needs objective reasons. Reflecting on the power of righteousness supplemented by demonstration of compassion and understanding that masses of the New Zealand, the Churches and Synegogs in NZ and Australia and public gatherings in other parts of the globe showed character of magnanimous forbearance and understanding rejecting the fallacy of Islamophobia and treacherous ambuscade of the attacker that Muslims were problematic in any rational context of contemporary affairs. We, the people, thinkers and scholars as the forbears of the message of human unity, wisdom and benevolence must reciprocate and build a universal capacity to usher message of peace, compassion and unity for the good of all everywhere in all mosques, churches and synegogs.  All intellectuals, politicians, societal thinkers and planners know the encompassing reality and imperatives of rational actions for human unity, societal harmony and peace: "if you think rationally, surely, you will find the solution."   Ferocity of killings, horrors of ethnic supremacy and religious-political animosity have no place in contemporary global affairs and are abject of degeneration and human blood should not be shed upon precarious motto of the white supremacy anywhere or by anybody. Late Professor Howard Zinn outlined the futuristic imagination of humanity in the following words: "To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places-and there are so many-where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction." Dr. Mahboob A. Khawaja specializes in global security, peace and conflict resolution and international affairs with keen interests in Islamic-Western comparative cultures and civilizations, and author of several publications including the latest: Global Peace, Security and Conflict Resolution: Approaches to Understand the Current Issues and Future-Making. Lambert Academic Publishing, Germany, October 2017.

http://www.pravdareport.com/opinion/142308-chirstchurch/

2019-03-19 10:03:00+00:00

religion and belief

religious facilities

theblaze--2019-12-30--Bethel Church holds funeral for worship leader's daughter, Olive Heiligenthal

theblaze

Bethel Church holds funeral for worship leader's daughter, Olive Heiligenthal

On Friday, Bethel Church in Redding, California, held a funeral for the 2-year-old daughter of worship leader Kalley Heiligenthal. The child, Olive, passed away on Dec.14. The family asked the church and the public to pray for God to resurrect their daughter three days after her death. What are the details? Bethel worship leader Jenn Johnson delivered the news of the funeral on Instagram. "Yesterday," she wrote, "our community buried little Olive Heiligenthal. The past two weeks I've been at a loss for words. Four of the past five years, Brian and I have contented for life with someone on our team or family during the holidays. One lived, three died." Johnson wrote that she wasn't "angry" with God, but "at the great loss for our family at the holidays." Kalley shared her grief in an Instagram post. She wrote, "Olive, we miss you, love you so much and we'll see you soon. We know now more than ever that King Jesus is good and His every word is worth believing and following at any cost. That's the song we'll sing until we're with you again and we finally sing it together. We cannot wait." "It's a new day, and we're awake for it. This is a victory story," she concluded. A GoFundMe campaign page has been set up to benefit the Heiligenthal family. The crowdfunding page has received more than $72,000 in donations.

Sarah Taylor

https://www.theblaze.com/news/bethel-church-holds-funeral-for-worship-leaders-daughter-olive-heiligenthal

Mon, 30 Dec 2019 18:46:07 +0000

religion and belief

religious facilities

therightscoop--2019-06-25--Cincinnati Church holds drag queen reading time during Sunday worship service

therightscoop

Cincinnati Church holds ‘drag queen reading time’ during Sunday worship service

A Presbyterian church in Cincinnati yesterday celebrated Pride Month by holding a drag queen reading time during the actual Sunday worship service. I honestly can’t imagine something so appalling, but that’s exactly what they did and they had children come up front for the reading. CBN NEWS – The building caretaker of a Presbyterian church in Cincinnati, Ohio dressed up in drag to read a book in scheduled children’s time during the Sunday, June 16 worship service. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports Dan Davidson dressed up as “Sparke Leigh” complete with a purple dress, makeup, high heels, and “a glitter beard” and stood at the Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church door greeting members and visitors. Following the song “God Welcomes All” by the church choir, Davidson walked up on stage and ready the book Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag to the audience. The story was intended for children, some of whom sat at Davidson’s feet during the reading. “Harvey dreamed that everyone — even gay people — would have equality,” Davidson read. “He dreamed that one day, people would be able to live and love as they pleased.” Davidson has performed as a drag queen in Seattle, Washington, before he moved to Ohio last month, according to the newspaper. At another point during the service, a man stood up and told the audience the story of his “coming out.” Mount Auburn Presbyterian, a member church of the PCUSA, is celebrating pride month throughout June, The Enquirer reported. Gay pride flags cover the halls and rainbow candles are on the church’s stage. God’s heart must be breaking. This Presbyterian church reminds me of the passage from Romans 1 where it says “for although they knew God they did not honor him as God” and “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images” created by their hands. To have such a disgusting display in the name of God just repulses me to no end. For a church to dishonor God in this way…well let’s just say I’m surprised the church didn’t just come down on top of them. I wish I could say that this would never happen in my beloved Catholic church, and perhaps it wouldn’t to this horrific degree. But I regret that I have heard a few Catholics call into the Patrick Madrid Show this month complaining about parishes that hold “Pride” masses.

The Right Scoop

https://therightscoop.com/cincinnati-church-holds-sunday-drag-queen-reading-time-during-the-worship-service/

2019-06-25 01:34:17+00:00

religion and belief

religious facilities

vox--2019-03-20--Christchurch helped turn my mosque from a place of worship into a place of fear

vox

Christchurch helped turn my mosque from a place of worship into a place of fear

While you’re still horrified by the mosque shooting, I’m going to share something very personal. Because that feeling you have right now, where even a small, kindhearted country like New Zealand isn’t safe, won’t last. That fear is how many Muslims feel every time we set foot in a mosque. Islamophobia isn’t as isolated as many want to believe. Violence against religious minorities happens everywhere — just look at the shootings at the Oak Creek, Wisconsin, Sikh temple and the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh — and it’s getting worse. And while Jews and Muslims combined only account for 3 percent of the American population, 79 percent of all religiously motivated hate crimes are perpetrated against Jews and Muslims. It’s happening not just in rural areas, but in big cities where people assume diversity means everyone is safe. It’s not safe — and I’ve actually had as many terrifying experiences in a large city as I have in the rural South. I used to attend a mosque in a big city in California. It was a beautiful place where I felt completely at peace. Outside this place of worship, I experienced hate: I was spat on, shoved out of line at a grocery store, called a “towelhead,” and was even run off the road. But when I was in the mosque, I was safe. I took my young niece every week — she couldn’t wait to wear her hijab for Friday services, community, and a meal many of us would share together. Then the hate started to seep in. It started small at first. There were hateful words muttered as people passed me on my way to the mosque. I brushed it off. Then one day, someone duct-taped firecrackers to several cars in our parking lot while we all prayed. Luckily, the cars didn’t explode, but it changed everything for me. Our safe space was now surrounded by security guards who kept watch while we prayed. I stopped wearing hijab and started parking really far from the mosque. I walked alone down the winding streets, only stopping to cover my head just before I entered because I was so scared. I couldn’t listen to the imam without watching the door and wondering if today was going to be the day that someone would attack us while we prayed. I later moved to rural Texas, and soon after, the shootings and the fires started. Mosques were burned to the ground, and the hatred became too much to ignore. The latest administration brought with it racists emboldened by President Trump. Even professionals who once kept their views to themselves feel free to spread their hate, including teachers. One day, our middle child came home distraught. The world cultures teacher had told the class that all Muslims were terrorists, no exceptions. The teacher got a slap on the wrist, though she freely admitted to her words. I was heartbroken. We moved our daughter to a different school. But my heart still skips a beat when she comes out of the building and quickly takes off and hides her scarf because I don’t allow her to wear hijab outside of the mosque. I wonder: If she wore it at recess, would that make her a target? The answers devastate me to my core. It took me a while to build up the nerve to attend jumah prayer, where Muslims gather on Fridays to perform the midday prayer, after we moved to Texas. The mosque here is beautiful, and the people are friendly. But every time I set foot inside, my anxiety skyrockets and I feel like I’m going to die. It feels like nowhere is safe. We are targets, especially women who cover their heads. With every tragedy, including the Christchurch attacks, I find myself withdrawing more. I find myself hesitating before I step across the threshold, my hands trembling as I take a deep breath to calm myself before I enter the mosque. As with any religion, worshipping together brings so much peace. But it feels more and more like a place of fear and violence. We can’t fool ourselves into thinking this is just some deranged loner in his parents’ basement. When Islamophobia is normalized, this could be anyone. And while there has been a definite surge in hate over the past three years, George W. Bush’s post-9/11 administration is also guilty of anti-Muslim abuses. From the no-fly list to sanctioning the torture of Muslim prisoners at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, that past administration stoked the fires of hate, and the current administration is fanning the flames. Throw in the negative portrayal of Muslims in pop culture and it’s no wonder we Muslims don’t feel safe in our mosques. There are several studies that find a significant rise in hate crimes against religious minorities. Mosques and synagogues have taken to hiring security in an effort to prevent attacks like the Christchurch shooting. Armed guards should have no place outside a house of worship. Everyone deserves a place to worship in peace. That we have allowed dangerous groups to turn them into spaces of fear is cruel and not who we are as Americans. Vianna Goodwin is the pen name of a freelance writer and mother of four living in rural Texas. A Muslim and an activist against discrimination of all kinds, she uses her voice to champion the rights of all marginalized people. First Person is Vox’s home for compelling, provocative narrative essays. Do you have a story to share? Read our submission guidelines, and pitch us at firstperson@vox.com.

Vianna Goodwin

https://www.vox.com/first-person/2019/3/20/18273312/new-zealand-mosque-shooting-christchurch

2019-03-20 18:00:00+00:00

religion and belief

religious facilities

bbcuk--2019-05-30--Leicester mosque crash Worshipper injured in hit-and-run

bbcuk

Leicester mosque crash: Worshipper injured in hit-and-run

A man has been seriously injured in a hit-and-run crash after leaving prayers at a mosque. The man, in his 40s, had left Masjid At-Taqwa mosque in Leicester when he was struck in Humberstone Road at about 01:00 BST on Thursday. The mosque said he had been hit by a car after leaving Taraweeh - prayers made during the month of Ramadan. Leicestershire Police said the man was in a stable condition and a teenage boy had sustained minor injuries. Officers currently believe the vehicle "did not deliberately drive at the pedestrians". A bid to track down the car, which failed to stop at the scene, is ongoing, the force added. In a statement on Facebook, the mosque said: "Last night after Taraweeh, [prayers] one of the brothers who prayed with us was the victim of a hit and run just outside the masjid [mosque]. "He is fighting for his life, and we implore any one reading this post to ask Allah the Lord of The Worlds to grant him a full and speedy recovery, and to grant his family plentiful patience to get through this very difficult time." Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-48455999

2019-05-30 06:41:31+00:00

religion and belief

religious facilities

bbcuk--2019-06-03--Southall mosque Hammer attack man detained by worshippers

bbcuk

Southall mosque: 'Hammer attack' man detained by worshippers

A man was detained by worshippers at a west London mosque after he reportedly tried to attack people with a hammer. Officers were called to the Darussalam Cultural Centre in Hayes Road, Southall, shortly after 04:30 BST. The 38-year-old was arrested on suspicion of attempted grievous bodily harm. There were no reported injuries. It was thought the man had been involved in a dispute with people who he believed were at the mosque the previous day, the Met Police said.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-48494922

2019-06-03 06:42:40+00:00

religion and belief

religious facilities

theindependent--2019-03-21--Birmingham mosque attacks Counter-terror police called in to investigate incidents at Muslim places

theindependent

Birmingham mosque attacks: Counter-terror police called in to investigate incidents at Muslim places of worship across city

Counter-terrorism police have been called in to investigate a series of attacks on mosques across Birmingham. Four mosques in the city had windows smashed with a sledgehammer during the early hours of Thursday morning, West Midlands Police said. Damage to a mosque in Birchfield Road was first reported to officers at around 2.30am, before a further attack in Slade Road, Erdington, took place at 3.15am. Police patrols around areas with mosques were then set up, during which damage was also discovered in Witton Road, Aston, and Broadway, Perry Barr. Officers said the incidents were being treated as linked and although they appeared to be targeting the Muslim community, no exact motive had been determined. The investigation comes at a time of heightened concern for the safety of Muslims in Western countries, following a terror attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, where 50 people died after a gunman opened fire at two mosques last Friday. Counter terror police in the UK have stepped up monitoring activity at places of worship and other areas deemed at risk following the shootings. Javid Iqbal, a spokesman for Witton Islamic Centre, one of the places of worship targeted, said the incidents were worrying given the New Zealand attack. “We’ve had a white intruder strike in the middle of the night. He has arrived with a sledgehammer and smashed one window. “The force of the swing has actually meant he had lost his grip and the sledgehammer ended up in the middle of the mosque.” Mr Iqbal claimed the attacker returned half an hour later with another hammer, which he used to cause more damage. “Whatever the case, it is just a minority of idiots that do not reflect the values of this city or this community, he said. “Following the New Zealand terror attacks, we have seen people in that country from all faiths come together in solidarity. “Many non-Muslims, whether they be Christians, Hindus, Jews or whatever religion have pulled together to support one another.” Neighbourhood officers from are expected to be deployed to work closely with mosques across the West Midlands on Thursday. West Midlands Police forensics experts are working to identify evidence at the scenes of the four attacks, while CCTV is also being examined. “Since the tragic events in Christchurch, officers and staff from West Midlands Police have been working closely with our faith partners across the region to offer reassurance and support at mosques, churches and places of prayer,” the force’s chief constable, Dave Thompson, said. “At the moment we don’t know the motive for last night’s attacks. What I can say is that the force and the Counter Terrorism Unit are working side-by-side to find whoever is responsible. “At difficult times like this, it is incredibly important that everyone unites against those who seek to create discord, uncertainty and fear in our communities.” We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. At The Independent, no one tells us what to write. That’s why, in an era of political lies and Brexit bias, more readers are turning to an independent source. Subscribe from just 15p a day for extra exclusives, events and ebooks – all with no ads.

Tom Barnes

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/birmingham-mosque-attacks-terror-police-west-midlands-islamophobia-a8833036.html

2019-03-21 10:04:00+00:00

religion and belief

religious facilities

theindependent--2019-05-03--Grand Camlica Mosque Erdogan inaugurates aposTurkeyaposs largestapos place of worship

theindependent

Grand Camlica Mosque: Erdogan inaugurates 'Turkey's largest' place of worship

Turkish president Recept Tayyip Erdogan has officially inaugurated the country’s largest ever mosque, an elaborate Ottoman-style house of worship atop a storied Istanbul hill overlooking the Bosphorus Strait. The Great Camlica Mosque is the most prominent of numerous Ottoman-style houses of worship built across Turkey under the 17-year rule of President Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP). Its enormous dome and four 107-metre high minarets are visible across much of the city of 16 million people. During a speech attended by several international leaders and other luminaries, Mr Erdogan described the structure as a monument befitting contemporary Turkey. “The mosque has many symbols that belong to our history, civilisation, and beliefs,” he said. He also spoke out against a recent spate of attacks targeting religious institutions across the world, including attacks on mosques in New Zealand and churches in Sri Lanka. “Those who attack mosques and those who target churches have the same dark mentality,” he said. “Massacring the innocent and bombing houses of worship is not jihad. It is terror, atrocity and murder.” Camlica was built at an estimated cost of $100m (£76m) over the last six years. Resting atop a storied Istanbul hill, it accommodates up to 63,000 worshippers. It includes an educational complex, museum, gallery, and a conference centre. It has been criticised for its remote location, at the top of winding road hillside away from any of the city’s neighbourhoods. "Whose idea was it to build a 60,000-person mosque on the top of Camlica Hill?” Temel Karamollaoglu, leader of a small Islamist opposition party, quipped last month. “If they fill it even once, I'll kiss their hands.” Turkey under Mr Erdogan has modestly expanded the number of mosques, building Ottoman-style houses of worship throughout the country and even abroad. His supporters say the country lacks sufficient numbers of mosques. But critics point out that polls have shown Turks are becoming increasingly irreligious. The 3,400 or so mosques throughout Istanbul rarely fill up, except for Friday prayers. The mosques, often using public funds, also are built by powerful and well-connected developers that are close to the AKP. Turkey recently inaugurated a new airport, dubbed the world’s largest, and plans to build a new canal that cuts through far western Istanbul to connect the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara. Developers have also been trying to access publicly owned land to build luxury shopping malls and high rises in deals criticised as giveaways to political allies. But Camlica was reportedly funded by donations.

Borzou Daragahi

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/grand-camlica-mosque-turkey-istanbul-erdogan-religion-a8899081.html

2019-05-03 23:06:23+00:00

religion and belief

religious facilities

thesun--2019-06-03--Hammer-wielding man 38 arrested after trying to attack worshippers at Ealing mosque

thesun

Hammer-wielding man, 38, arrested after trying to attack worshippers at Ealing mosque

A HAMMER-wielding man has been arrested after trying to attack worshippers at a London mosque in the early hours of this morning. The suspected attacker was stopped and detained by brave worshippers at Darussalam Cultural Centre in Ealing, West London, at around 4.30am this morning. Police were called to the scene, where the 38-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted GBH. The suspect is now in custody at a west London police station. There are no reports of any injuries and the attack is not being treated as terror-related. Cops say the man may have been involved in a dispute with people who he believed had attended the mosque the previous day. A Metropolitan Police spokesperson wrote on Twitter: "Officers are on the scene following reports of an incident at a mosque in Ealing. Police were called at 04:33hrs on Monday, 3 June to a mosque in Hayes Road, Southall, following reports of a man armed with a hammer. Officers attended. "A 38-year-old man is reported to have attempted to attack people. He was detained by worshippers prior to police arrival. He has subsequently been arrested on suspicion of attempted GBH and is in custody at a west London police station. "No reports of any injuries. The incident is not being treated as terror-related. It is believed the man may have been involved in a dispute with people who he believed to have been attendees from the mosque the previous day. Officers remain at the scene. Enquiries continue."

jennifer awford

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9208330/ealing-mosque-attack-london-hammer-arrest/

2019-06-03 04:51:30+00:00

religion and belief

religious facilities

russiainsider--2019-02-25--Russias Future Looks Bright Mental Mathematics Is Very Popular Among Russian Pupils

russiainsider

Russia's Future Looks Bright! Mental Mathematics Is Very Popular Among Russian Pupils

Mental arithmetic: half a thousand absolutely fantastic children with an amazing ability to calculate in their head in an instant met in Moscow. They solve the most difficult problems in no time. They can do it faster than a computer. - 78 plus 9 minus 61 plus 23 plus 5 equals? - How do you calculate so quickly? What seems impossible is not a miracle at all. It's mental arithmetic. It's when people easily deal with multi-digit numbers in mind: add, subtract, divide, and multiply. - And how do you do it? - Well. For example, 46 plus 89 and ten times like this. It's an invisible intellectual battle of big minds, for which, it seems, nothing is impossible. They solved almost 200 problems in 8 minutes. Every child here is a composer who writes their amazing symphony - a mathematical one because instead of notes, there are numbers. And the main "musical instrument" is an imaginary abacus. It was invented in ancient China where mental arithmetic originated. Not every adult can do what's simple for those children. They solve the most complicated puzzles as quickly as possible.

https://russia-insider.com/en/russias-future-looks-bright-mental-mathematics-very-popular-among-russian-pupils/ri26331

2019-02-25 15:02:30+00:00

science and technology

mathematics

thedailymirror--2019-03-14--Pi Day 2019 What is pi and why is it so important to mathematics

thedailymirror

Pi Day 2019: What is pi and why is it so important to mathematics?

Today is Pi Day 2019, when we celebrate the 'most important number in maths.' Pi Day is celebrated on March 14 every year, due to the fact that this is depicted as 3.14 (the first three digits of Pi) in the American calendar. In a rather strange coincidence, March 14 is also the anniversary of Albert Einstein's birth, as well as the Stephen Hawking's death. The number is used in maths to represent the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. While this is roughly 3.14, Pi is actually irrational, meaning there's not a finite number of numbers when written as a decimal. Pi was first devised by Ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes (287-212 BC). However, it wasn't widely used until 1737, when it was adopted by Swiss mathematician, Leonhard Euler. Those of you who did GCSE maths may remember some of these handy equations: Where ‘r’ is the radius (distance from the centre to the edge of the circle). Where ‘d’ is the diameter (distance from one edge of the circle to the other). You may have heard about Pi Approximation Day, which falls on July 22. The fraction 22/7 is a common approximation of Pi. Writing in the New Yorker , mathematician Steven Strogatz said: "The digits of pi never end and never show a pattern. They go on forever, seemingly at random - except that they can't possibly be random, because they embody the order inherent in a perfect circle. "Pi touches infinity in other ways. For example, there are astonishing formulas in which an endless procession of smaller and smaller numbers adds up to pi. "One of the earliest such infinite series to be discovered says that pi equals four times the sum 1 - 1/3 + 1/5 - 1/7 + 1/9- 1/11 and so on." Pi has been calculated to over three trillion digits beyond its decimal point.

Sam Webb

https://www.mirror.co.uk/tech/pi-day-2019-why-important-10023552

2019-03-14 00:01:00+00:00

science and technology

mathematics

theirishtimes--2019-11-07--The vastness of mathematics: No one knows it all

theirishtimes

The vastness of mathematics: No one knows it all

No one person can have mastery of the entirety of mathematics. The subject has become so vast that the best that can be achieved is a general understanding and appreciation of the main branches together with expertise in one or two areas. In the sciences, old theories fade away as they are replaced by new ones. The older theories are then of interest mainly to historians of science. Mathematics is different: a theorem once proved remains valid forever. Occasionally, unifications are found, connecting disparate topics and embracing many old theorems in one more general result. But, overall, the body of mathematics expands inexorably. An idea of the vast scope of mathematics can be gained by leafing through The Princeton Companion to Mathematics, an extensive overview of pure mathematics published about 10 years ago. The Companion has articles on the origin of mathematics, its historical development and the main branches of the subject. There are 100 essays on key mathematical concepts such as The Axiom of Choice, Cardinal Numbers, Dynamical Systems, Hamiltonians, Manifolds, Modular Forms, Wavelets and, ending like Finnegans Wake where it begins, with The Zermelo-Fraenkel Axioms. The Companion also includes brief biographical sketches of 100 leading mathematicians. Although history is not neglected, the focus of the book is modern mathematics. In its over one thousand pages, it makes clear the utter impossibility for any single person to master the full range of mathematics. Even the titles of some branches are daunting. The authors include some 130 of the world’s best mathematicians and, although selective rather than comprehensive, the book gives a good indication of the topics that are occupying the minds of leading research mathematicians today. This award-winning book also conveys the beauty and depth of modern mathematics. The final section includes an article, “Advice to a young mathematician”. The Companion confines itself to what is commonly called “pure mathematics”. It is concerned with the subject itself and does not discuss the many applications of mathematics in any depth. This omission was deliberate, as the scope of mathematics is already so broad that it requires a large compendium to give even an outline of the major branches and central topics. However, the applications are of great interest, so a “companion-to-the-companion” was published in 2015. The Princeton Companion to Applied Mathematics, also 1,000 pages in length, describes what applied mathematics is about and reviews some of the main themes of current research. Once again, an exhaustive treatment is impossible, but a general coverage, conveying the excitement and importance of the subject, is achieved. The Companion to Applied Mathematics has short articles covering a wide variety of interesting uses of mathematics. A sample from the contents indicates the scope. There are 40 articles on techniques that enable solution of numerous practical problems: differential equations, perturbation theory, linear programming, pattern formation control theory and signal processing are examples. And application areas are surprisingly diverse, including aircraft noise, social networks, microchip design, medical imaging, airport baggage screening and many more interesting topics. The tension in mathematics between expansion and unification is ongoing. A topic of great current interest is the Langlands Program, a series of major, potentially far-reaching, conjectures about intimate connections between geometry and number theory. Perhaps this will lead to another grand unification, but only time will tell. Peter Lynch is emeritus professor at UCD School of Mathematics & Statistics – He blogs at thatsmaths.com

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/the-vastness-of-mathematics-no-one-knows-it-all-1.4068312

Thu, 7 Nov 2019 01:00:00 +0000

science and technology

mathematics

tass--2019-04-29--Global science gurus plot mathematical models to study early stages of planetary evolution

tass

Global science gurus plot mathematical models to study early stages of planetary evolution

It turns out that planetary masses less than 7-10 Earth masses are characterized by atmospheric gas losses. An international group of researchers studying a planet revolving around a young star in the constellation of Scorpius has created a mathematical upper atmosphere model for various planetary hypothetical masses. Examining this planet makes it possible to study planetary evolution at early stages, Siberian Federal University’s (SFU) press service told TASS on Monday. “In the spectral type M K2-33 star’s planetary system, the transit photometry method led to discovery of a very large planet, whose radius equals 5 radiuses of Earth. The system is extremely young (younger than 20 million years) which provides the researchers with an extraordinary opportunity to study the earliest phases of planetary evolution at a stage when planets are affected by the extremely intensive rays of a young star,” the press service stressed. The scientists managed to calculate the lowest estimated mass of the planet, which is 10 Earth masses. “This study featured numerical models of the planetary upper atmosphere for various hypothetical planetary masses, which varied from 2 to 40 Earth masses and different planetary temperatures from 850 to 1,300 Kelvins dependent on the internal heating  created by gravitational contraction,” the press service quotes Nikolay Yerkayev, an SFU applied mathematics department professor as saying. The researchers found out that planetary masses less than 7-10 Earth masses experience fast losses of atmospheric gas, leaking out into space because the temperature is too high and the fact that the planet’s mass is insufficient to retain atmosphere. For larger masses, the intensity of these atmospheric leaks depends on the absorption of the high-energy rays produced by the star. “By cross-referencing the time it takes for the atmosphere to fully leak into space and the age of the system, we came up with the lowest estimation for the planet’s mass, which is around 10 Earth masses,” Yerkayev said. Apart from the SFU scientists, experts from the Graz Space Research Institute (Austria), the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (Germany), Vienna University (Austria) and Institute of Computational Modeling SB RAS (Russia) also took part in the research. The results of which were published in the Astronomy and Astrophysics scientific journal. In other media

http://tass.com/science/1056389

2019-04-29 13:48:07+00:00

science and technology

mathematics

thetelegraph--2019-02-06--Science world abuzz over bees maths skills

thetelegraph

Science world abuzz over bees' maths skills

Bees understand mathematics and can navigate a series of puzzles using basic mental arithmetic, experiments have shown. In a study which has stunned the scientific world, 14 honeybees developed a conceptual grasp of addition and subtraction, then proved they could put it to practical use. The finding that such small-brained creatures can handle numerical cognition is significant because it suggests the ability may be shared far more widely among non-human animals than previously thought. It also promises to enable the development of smarter artificial intelligence systems based on insights into the bees’ reasoning processes, researchers said.

Henry Bodkin

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2019/02/06/one-two-bee-honeybees-grasp-maths-can-do-basic-mental-arithmetic/

2019-02-06 19:00:00+00:00

science and technology

mathematics

vdare--2019-10-25--Steven D. Levitt: "Modern High School Math Should be About Data Science — Not Algebra 2"

vdare

Steven D. Levitt: "Modern High School Math Should be About Data Science — Not Algebra 2"

Here’s a good oped in the L.A. Times from Steven “Freakonomics” Levitt and a co-author: That sounds like it very much depends upon your definition of “data.” So if, say, a copy of every phone call is now being saved in the federal government’s Intelligence Community Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative Data Center (a.k.a., Utah Data Center), which was finished last May at a cost of $1.5 billion, then it’s data, whereas before phone calls weren’t data because they weren’t being saved except in the memories of the participants? This is a rather epistemological debate, but my guess is that the amount of data created increases about as fast as the global population, while the amount of data saved is growing rapidly. My dad used calculus at his first airplane engineering job after graduating from Pasadena City College, but he didn’t use it in his subsequent 40 year career at Lockheed. He remembered it fine 38 years after last studying it, helping me with my calculus homework in 1975. On the other hand, some guys at Lockheed used calculus, such as Denys Overholser, one of the Lockheed employees who used Soviet mathematician Petr Ufimtsev's highly theoretical work to design the Stealth Fighter, which helped terrify the Soviets into making Gorbachev their leader. But at my dad’s less lofty level, engineers didn’t use calculus. … We surveyed 900 “Freakonomics” podcast listeners — a pretty nerdy group, we must admit — and discovered that less than 12% used any algebra, trigonometry or calculus in their daily lives. Only 2% use integrals or derivatives, the foundational building blocks of calculus. In contrast, a whopping 66% work with basic analytical software like Microsoft Excel on a daily basis. When was the last time you divided a polynomial? If you were asked to do so today, would you remember how? For the most part, students are no longer taught to write cursive, how to use a slide rule, or any number of things that were once useful in everyday life. Let’s put working out polynomial division using pencil and paper on the same ash heap as sock darning and shorthand. Well, maybe. On the other hand, it’s really important to find the small percentage of people, such as Denys Overholser and his math wizard Bill Schroeder, who can do this kind of math well. Our current system of obsessing over continuous math probably does a pretty good job of finding those who can do continuous math well. Discrete math is, in my view, easier. I needed my dad’s help with calculus homework, but I was good at statistics. What we propose is as obvious as it is radical: to put data and its analysis at the center of high school mathematics. Every high school student should graduate with an understanding of data, spreadsheets, and the difference between correlation and causality. Moreover, teaching students to make data-based arguments will endow them with many of the same critical-thinking skills they are learning today through algebraic proofs, but also give them more practical skills for navigating our newly data-rich world. I’ve got some critical-thinking skills, as Dr. Levitt discovered in 1999 (here’s our debate in Slate over his theory that legalizing abortion cut crime; interestingly, Slate has since stripped our names from their debate and only attributes it to “By Authors”: but anyway, here is Levitt’s opening, my opening, his response, my response). Personally, I haven’t noticed that society really wants to encourage critical thinking. But I do it anyway. It’s fun. Data-based math courses allow students to grapple with real-life problems. They might analyze issues about the environment, space travel or nutrition. Students can examine the threat of wildfires or the ways social media is tracking their data, learning how to apply math to real-world issues. For this revolution to be carried out across the country, decision makers will need to hear from parents and other interested parties who recognize that our children deserve math instruction that is relevant to their lives. I quite agree, but I recall reading an article in the L.A. Times around 1981 arguing for the same thing, so I don’t expect rapid change.

steveslr@aol.com (Steve Sailer)

https://vdare.com/posts/steven-d-levitt-modern-high-school-math-should-be-about-data-science-not-algebra-2

Fri, 25 Oct 2019 12:13:12 -0400

science and technology

mathematics

bbc--2019-03-19--Bubble maths researcher wins top award

bbc

Bubble maths researcher wins top award

One of the highest prizes for mathematics has been awarded to Prof Karen Uhlenbeck of the University of Texas in Austin, US. Prof Uhlenbeck received the Abel Prize for her work on "minimal surfaces" such as soap bubbles. She is the first woman to win the £530,000 award since it was established in 2002. The award has been made by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in Oslo. The chair of the award committee, Hans Munthe-Kaas, said that her work had "dramatically changed the mathematical landscape". "Her theories have revolutionised our understanding of minimal surfaces, such as more general minimisation problems in higher dimensions," he said. An everyday example of a "minimal surface" is a soap bubble with a fixed volume. They are interesting from a mathematical point of view in that they pull the soap film into the shape of the least surface - a perfect sphere. Representing and manipulating soap bubbles mathematically enables researchers to model the behaviour of physical phenomena, such as electrical fields. Prof Uhlenbeck's maths has given theoretical physicists the tools with which to tackle some of their greatest puzzles, such as the behaviour of sub-atomic particles and the unification of electromagnetism and nuclear forces. As well as her ground breaking work, Prof Uhlenbeck has been a role model in her field, according to Prof Jim Al-Khalili, a physicist at Surrey University and broadcaster. "Young mathematicians not only know of her work, but they also know how hard she has worked to try and promote maths and encourage young women to get into the field," he told BBC News. Prof Uhlenbeck wanted to be a scientist when she was a young girl, but she became drawn to mathematics when she had started her degree at the University of Michigan.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-47613929

2019-03-19 11:16:51+00:00

science and technology

mathematics

fortune--2019-03-20--For First Time Ever a Woman Wins the Abel the Nobel Prize for Mathematics

fortune

For First Time Ever, a Woman Wins the Abel, the ‘Nobel Prize’ for Mathematics

Dr. Karen Uhlenbeck won the 2019 Abel Prize Tuesday—becoming the first woman to ever receive the prestigious award, which is often referred to as the Nobel Prize of mathematics. Seen by colleagues as a “maverick mathematician”, Dr. Uhlenbeck is an American professor emerita at the University of Texas at Austin and advocate for gender equality in mathematics and sciences. “Karen Uhlenbeck is a founder of modern geometric analysis,” Abel Committee chair Hans Munthe-Kaas said, according to NPR. “Her perspective has pervaded the field and led to some of the most dramatic advances in mathematics over the last 40 years.” “She did things nobody thought about doing,” Princeton mathematician Sun-Yung Alice Chang, also a part of the five-person committee, told the New York Times. “And after she did, she laid the foundations of a branch of mathematics.” “I find that I am bored with anything I understand,” Uhlenbeck, 76, once said according to NPR. Currently a visiting associate at the Institute for Advanced Study, Uhlenbeck found out she’d won after church Sunday morning after seeing Chan’s text asking her to accept a call from Norway. The $700,000 prize is awarded by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and will be presented by King Harald V in Oslo on May 21. The Abel Prize, first given in 2003, won’t be Uhlenbeck’s first accolade. She was given a MacArthur Fellowship in 1983 and became the second woman to give one the International Congress of Mathematicians highlighted plenary talks in 1990. (Of which there are 10 to 20 annually, virtually all of which used to go to men.) “I am aware of the fact that I am a role model for young women in mathematics,” Dr. Uhlenbeck said in Princeton’s press release. “It’s hard to be a role model, however, because what you really need to do is show students how imperfect people can be and still succeed.”

Laura Stampler

http://fortune.com/2019/03/20/karen-uhlenbeck-first-woman-won-abel-prize-2019/

2019-03-20 20:44:47+00:00

science and technology

mathematics

npr--2019-03-19--US Mathematician Becomes First Woman To Win Abel Prize Maths Nobel

npr

U.S. Mathematician Becomes First Woman To Win Abel Prize, 'Math's Nobel'

U.S. Mathematician Becomes First Woman To Win Abel Prize, 'Math's Nobel' "I find that I am bored with anything I understand," Karen Uhlenbeck once said - and that sense of curiosity is part of why she won the prestigious Abel Prize, from the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. Uhlenbeck, an influential mathematician who was for decades a professor at the University of Texas at Austin and who has sought to encourage women to study mathematics, has become the first woman to win the Abel Prize — often called the Nobel Prize of math. Uhlenbeck's complex and wide-ranging work includes analyzing the "minimal surfaces" of soap bubbles and finding ways to unite geometry and physics through new mathematical approaches. She's widely respected for her work on esoteric topics, such as partial differential equations and the calculus of variations. "Uhlenbeck's research has led to revolutionary advances at the intersection of mathematics and physics," said Paul Goldbart, a professor of physics who is also the dean of UT's college of natural sciences. In a statement about Uhlenbeck winning the Abel Prize, he added, "Her pioneering insights have applications across a range of fascinating subjects, from string theory, which may help explain the nature of reality, to the geometry of space-time." The Norwegian academy said it recognized Uhlenbeck "for her pioneering achievements in geometric partial differential equations, gauge theory and integrable systems, and for the fundamental impact of her work on analysis, geometry and mathematical physics." The Abel Prize includes an award of 6 million Norwegian kroner (around $700,000). Uhlenbeck will formally receive the prize from Norway's King Harald V, in a ceremony in Oslo on May 21. "Karen Uhlenbeck is a founder of modern geometric analysis," said Hans Munthe-Kaas, chair of the academy's Abel Committee. "Her perspective has pervaded the field and led to some of the most dramatic advances in mathematics over the last 40 years." As that statement implies, Uhlenbeck has been a star in theoretical mathematics for decades. She won a MacArthur Fellowship in 1983, after publishing a sequence of influential papers on harmonic mapping and gauge theory — some of which she wrote alone and some in which she collaborated with mathematicians such as Richard Schoen and Jonathan Sacks. In 1986, Uhlenbeck became the first female mathematician to be elected to the National Academy of Sciences. She was awarded a National Medal of Science in 2000. And the American Mathematical Society awarded her the Steele Prize in 2007, for decades of contributions to research. As it recognized Uhlenbeck's work in advancing the understanding of theoretical mathematics, the Norwegian committee also noted her professional impact and her standing as a role model. "As a child, she loved reading and dreamed of becoming a scientist," the committee said. "Today, Uhlenbeck is Visiting Senior Research Scholar at Princeton University as well as Visiting Associate at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS). She is one of the founders of the Park City Mathematics Institute (PCMI) at IAS, which aims to train young researchers and promote mutual understanding of the interests and challenges in mathematics." Within IAS, Uhlenbeck co-founded the Women and Mathematics program in 1993, seeking to encourage women's interest in the field. "I am aware of the fact that I am a role model for young women in mathematics," Uhlenbeck said, according to a release from Princeton University, where she has also worked. "It's hard to be a role model, however, because what you really need to do is show students how imperfect people can be and still succeed. ... I may be a wonderful mathematician and famous because of it, but I'm also very human." When she accepted the Steele Prize in 2007, Uhlenbeck said it was her work in education, not her mathematical theorems, that gave her the most pride. She also said that changing a culture that doesn't encourage girls and women to pursue careers in mathematics "is a momentous task in comparison" to her other accomplishments. "I remain quite disappointed at the numbers of women doing mathematics and in leadership positions," she said. "This is, to my mind, primarily due to the culture of the mathematical community as well as harsh societal pressures from outside." Uhlenbeck worked at the University of Texas at Austin for more than 25 years. She attended the University of Michigan and received her Ph.D. at Brandeis University in 1968. Uhlenbeck has said the variety of fields she studied — and her knack for applying ideas from one area to explore concepts in another — stemmed from "an addiction to intellectual excitement." Here's how she described her work in 1997: "Mathematicians look at imaginary spaces constructed by scientists examining other problems. I started out my mathematics career by working on Palais' modern formulation of a very useful classical theory, the calculus of variations. I decided Einstein's general relativity was too hard, but managed to learn a lot about geometry of space-time. I did some very technical work in partial differential equations, made an unsuccessful pass at shock waves, worked in scale invariant variational problems, made a poor stab at three manifold topology, learned gauge field theory and then some about applications to four manifolds, and have recently been working on equations with algebraic infinite symmetries. I find that I am bored with anything I understand." That's from Uhlenbeck's contribution to the book Journeys of Women in Science and Engineering: No Universal Constant, as quoted in the release from Princeton, where Uhlenbeck is currently a visiting scholar.

Bill Chappell

https://www.npr.org/2019/03/19/704841252/u-s-mathematician-becomes-first-woman-to-win-abel-prize-math-s-nobel?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news

2019-03-19 19:21:47+00:00

science and technology

mathematics

spiegel--2019-03-19--Hohe Auszeichnung in Mathematik Abelpreis geht erstmals an eine Frau

spiegel

Hohe Auszeichnung in Mathematik: Abelpreis geht erstmals an eine Frau

Die norwegische Akademie der Wissenschaften hat die amerikanische Mathematikerin Karen Keskulla Uhlenbeck, 76, mit dem Abelpreis ausgezeichnet. Es ist das erste Mal, dass eine Frau geehrt wurde. Der Abelpreis ist mit umgerechnet 620.000 Euro dotiert und gilt als eine der bedeutendsten wissenschaftlichen Auszeichnungen auf dem Gebiet der Mathematik. Vergleichbar ist er am ehesten mit dem Nobelpreis, der in den Kategorien Physik, Chemie, Medizin und Bemühungen um den Frieden verliehen wird. Die ebenfalls sehr renommierte Fields-Medaille wird nur alle vier Jahre an Mathematiker verliehen, die im Jahr vor der Auszeichnung jünger als 40 Jahre alt waren. Als erste Frau hatte diese 2014 die inzwischen verstorbene Iranerin Maryam Mirzakhani erhalten. Die Akademie ehrt Uhlenbeck für ihre bahnbrechende Arbeit in den Bereichen geometrische partielle Differentialgleichungen, Messtheorie und integrierbare Systeme. Uhlenbecks Arbeit in der geometrischen Analysis und der Eichtheorie habe die mathematische Landschaft grundlegend verändert, sagte der Vorsitzende des Abel-Ausschusses, Hans Munthe-Kaas. "Ihre Theorien haben unser Verständnis von minimalen Oberflächen wie die einer Seifenblase revolutioniert." Als weibliche Mathematikerin sei Uhlenbeck außerdem ein Vorbild. Sie sei eine starke Vorkämpferin für die Gleichstellung der Geschlechter in der Forschung und in der Mathematik. 2018 ging der Abelpreis an den kanadischen Mathematiker Robert Langlands. Er hatte im Alter von nur 30 Jahren eine neuartige Mathematik begründet, indem er enge Verbindungen zwischen zwei mathematischen Gebieten postulierte, die man damals kaum für möglich gehalten hatte (mehr dazu lesen Sie hier). Anmerkung der Redaktion: In einer früheren Textfassung hieß es, Keskulla Uhlenbeck arbeite im Bereich der Maßtheorie. Richtig ist der Bereich der Eichtheorie. Wir haben den Fehler korrigiert.

http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/mensch/karen-keskulla-uhlenbeck-abelpreis-geht-erstmals-an-eine-frau-a-1258621.html#ref=rss

2019-03-19 13:05:00+00:00

science and technology

mathematics

theguardianuk--2019-10-08--Nobel prize in physics awarded to cosmology and exoplanet researchers

theguardianuk

Nobel prize in physics awarded to cosmology and exoplanet researchers

Three scientists have been awarded the 2019 Nobel prize in physics for groundbreaking discoveries about the evolution of the Universe and the Earth’s place within it. The Canadian scientist James Peebles has been awarded half of the 9m Swedish kronor (£740,000) prize for his theoretical discoveries about the evolution of the universe. A Swiss duo of astronomers, Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz, will share the other half of the prize for their discovery of the first planet beyond our solar system. James Peebles was rewarded for laying a foundation for modern cosmology, including his realisation that the faint microwave radiation that filled the cosmos just 400,000 years after the Big Bang contains crucial clues to what the universe looked like at this primitive stage and how it has evolved over the subsequent 13bn years. Mayor and Queloz have been recognised for their joint discovery in 1995 of the first exoplanet 50 light years away in the constellation of Pegasus. The planet, 51 Pegasi b, is a gaseous ball about 150 times more massive than the Earth and with a scorching surface temperature of 1000C. The discovery heralded a new era of astronomy, with astronomers having since found more than 4,000 exoplanets, with an incredible range of sizes, forms and orbits. Learning about these strange and varied world’s beyond our solar system has transformed our understanding of how planets formed and given new focus to the question of whether there could be alien life is out there somewhere. Peebles is also credited with developing the theoretical tools that allowed scientists to perform a cosmic inventory of what the universe is made from, showing that ordinary matter makes up just 5% of its known contents, with the rest being dark matter and dark energy. “We still must admit that the dark matter and dark energy are mysterious,” Peebles told the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Tuesday. “There are still many open questions...What in the world is this dark matter?” Looking back over his career spanning half a century, Peebles, who is Albert Einstein professor emeritus of science at Princeton University, said that he never set out with a grand plan. “I could think of one or two things to do in cosmology. I just did them and kept going,” he said. “The prizes and awards, they are charming, much appreciated, but that’s not part of your plans. You should enter science because you are fascinated by it.” Prof Goran Hansson, secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences that chooses the laureates, said the three had made “contributions to our understanding of the evolution of the universe, and Earth’s place in the cosmos.” Prof Sir Martin Rees, the astronomer Royal, described Peebles as the world’s “most influential and respected leader of empirical cosmology with a sustained record of achievement spanning half a century”. “The study of exoplanets is perhaps the most vibrant field of astronomy. We now know that most stars are orbited by retinues of planets; there may be a billion planets in our galaxy resembling the Earth (similar in size and at a distance from their parent star where liquid water can exist),” Rees added. “This takes us a step towards the fascinating question of detecting evidence for life on the nearest of these exoplanets.” On Monday, Americans William Kaelin and Gregg Semenza and Britain’s Peter Ratcliffe won the Nobel prize for physiology or medicine for discovering details of how the body’s cells sense and react to low oxygen levels, providing a foothold for developing new treatments for anaemia, cancer and other diseases. The Nobel prize for chemistry will be announced on Wednesday, two literature prizes will be awarded on Thursday, and the peace prize comes on Friday. This year will see two literature prizes handed out because the one last year was suspended after a scandal rocked the Swedish Academy.

Hannah Devlin Science correspondent

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/oct/08/nobel-prize-in-physics-awarded-for-research-on-cosmology-and-exoplanets-2019

Tue, 08 Oct 2019 10:33:11 GMT

science and technology

natural science

theguardianuk--2019-08-31--Fears for Britains standing in world of science as students shun chemistry degrees

theguardianuk

Fears for Britain’s standing in world of science as students shun chemistry degrees

Numbers of UK students applying to study chemistry at university have plunged by more than 20% over the past three years, new figures show. The fall has alarmed business leaders, who say homegrown talent is needed to run Britain’s chemistry industry, which is worth more than £50bn a year to the UK economy. As a result, an open letter – signed by companies such as drugs maker AstraZeneca and chemicals group BASF – has been sent to the government, calling for urgent action to encourage school leavers and students to follow careers in chemistry. “This is a matter of significant concern for a number of sectors deemed crucial to the country’s economy,” the letter states. “From finding solutions to climate change and decarbonising transport to finding new drugs or even creating novel materials, chemistry is too important to let slide. “What is urgently needed is a clear strategy and action plan to articulate the diversity and excitement of a career in chemistry as well as the wider science community to our young people.” According to the Royal Society of Chemistry, figures show the number of UK students applying to study the subject dropped by 21% between 2015 and 2018, despite an increase in students sitting A-level chemistry. “It is concerning that some A-level students may not understand the opportunities chemistry can offer them, at a point where they’re making crucial career decisions,” said Danièle Gibney, the society’s education policy manager. “The UK’s problem appears to be our inability to provide enough careers advice to help them make informed choices about their further education and career aspirations.” Gibney added that chemistry was key to tackling the world’s most pressing problems, from pollution to antibiotic resistance. “In an era where young people aspire to influence the world, chemistry offers the opportunity to do so in a meaningful and important way.”

Robin McKie

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/aug/31/students-shun-chemistry-degrees-university-applications-fall

2019-08-31 17:00:53+00:00

science and technology

natural science

eveningstandard--2019-01-30--Astrophysics professor Jo Dunkley on the complexities of the universe and her mission to to get wome

eveningstandard

Astrophysics professor Jo Dunkley on the complexities of the universe and her mission to to get women into science

The short answer to my question “is physics sexist?” is yes, says Jo Dunkley, with a good-natured laugh. Dunkley, who at 39 must be one of the youngest and brainiest female astrophysics professors on the planet, is talking about cosmology, our place in the universe and the unconscious bias that women still face in Stem subjects [science, technology, engineering and mathematics], to promote her new book, Our Universe: An Astronomer’s Guide. As Professor of Physics and Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University, Dunkley researches the history of the universe, how space is changing, what stars are made of and the nature of dark matter. Her book is an attempt to simplify this enormously complex subject and, written in a style not unlike Carlo Rovelli’s bestselling Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, there are no equations, no maths and relatively little jargon. Borrowing language from Nasa educators, she also, for example, likens planets to flecks of flour or peppercorns and places them in basketball courts and so on, to help readers grasp the sheer scale and numbers involved. She admits that not even cosmologists can easily comprehend concepts such as the universe being nearly 14 billion years old or stars being 100,000 light years away. Elsewhere she describes ants walking on stretchy elastic bands and asks us to imagine falling into a black hole feet first, with the gravity inside it stretching us out “like spaghetti”, which does make it easier to understand but only up to a point. She also raises bigger questions in the book such as what happened before the Big Bang, whether space has always existed, how much it weighs, and whether space is finite or infinite. We still don’t know. Describing black holes as “truly mysterious beasts”, she says that at their centre “even our laws of physics break down”. The most recent observations from distant galactic superclusters suggest Einstein’s theory of gravity might need what she calls a bit of tuning. “There are these enormous, unsolved problems which suggest that we might have some really big paradigm shift coming soon. Many of us are asking whether we’re already seeing a hint of a problem in our model of the universe and whether we need some new physics.” While she has won a string of awards and prizes for her work, including an OBE, unlike Stephen Hawking (who attended her seminars in Cambridge and was “awesome”), she has no interest in flying to the Moon or anywhere else since she’s claustrophobic: “So the idea of being shut up in an enclosed space horrifies me.” And while commercial near-space travel is more or less upon us, going through a wormhole into another galaxy like Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway did in Interstellar remains improbable. “One of the things I want people to appreciate is just how unlikely it is that we’ll get far beyond our solar system — it’s just too big.” Astronomy has moved away from space travel towards the field of big telescopes. Dunkley thinks most of us are unaware of this. It’s true; we all know about the Large Hadron Collider but few people will have heard of the Square Kilometre Array, a huge multi-radio-telescope project in South Africa and Australia that is due for completion by 2030, or the Extremely Large Telescope — being built in the Atacama desert in northern Chile. Manned by huge teams, these humungous wonders will enable cosmologists like Dunkley to see further in to space than ever before. They’re a far cry from just over a century ago when Henrietta Swan Leavitt worked as an astronomer at Harvard, where she studied photographic plates of stars and, despite not being allowed to operate telescopes because she was a woman, discovered a new way to measure the distance to faraway galaxies, now known as Leavitt’s Law. Leavitt is one of Dunkley’s heroines, and as much as her book addresses the big questions, it is also a manifesto to encourage more girls and women to go into science. “Men and women’s brains are more similar than people think and women are just as able and interested in doing sciences. One of the most compelling statistics is that a girl is almost three times more likely to study physics A-level if she’s at an all-girls school, which means that if you put the same people in different environments they will make different choices. “At an all-girls school, all subjects get an equal footing, but in a co-ed environment girls receive messages — from boys and teachers — that this [science] is not a thing girls do. It’s unconscious bias. I do it. You do it. We all do it. If we could take away the biases I don’t know how many women would be doing physics, but it would certainly be more than it is now.” Not surprisingly, she vigorously rebuts the ideas of theoretical physicist Professor Alessandro Strumia, who asserted at a seminar at CERN’s first workshop on “High Energy Theory and Gender” last September, that “physics [was] invented and built by men, it’s not by invitation”. Dunkley says: “Frankly he was talking nonsense and pulled out the stats to suit his arguments.” Strumia was subsequently suspended. In any case, for Dunkley, being a “good” scientist requires many skills. “Yes I need to be able to solve equations and write computer code to analyse data. But I also need to be able to run a team, mentor students, manage big projects and write proposals to bring in funding. In other words, I need to be pretty good at multi-tasking. And you might say, ‘Are these women’s attributes?’ Maybe, maybe not. But by having in our heads a fixed idea of what a good physicist is, we’re missing out.” While her own experience at work “has almost entirely not been sexist”, she almost gave up physics at university because “louder boys asked all the questions and made me feel I wasn’t as clever as I thought”. As it happens, Dunkley went to an all-girls school — North London Collegiate, before studying science at Cambridge. Her father left school at 15 and her mother trained as a primary school teacher, but stayed at home to look after Dunkley and her sister. “So I haven’t come from a family of scientists or people who’ve done significant higher education. My parents wanted to give us the opportunities they hadn’t had.” She is married to a historian, Faramerz Dabhoiwala, who also teaches at Princeton, and has two teenage stepdaughters and two daughters of her own, aged one and five. “I do worry about them with all the biases out there. At home we show them examples of how to be a strong and successful woman and to see a partnership of two people with equal jobs. We change the words in children’s books to make the stories less sexist, like princesses being rescued by knights on horses or the father going out to work while the mum stays at home. We call it out. Ultimately, I feel we can best arm them against these things by me just being me and my husband being him.” Our Universe: An Astronomer’s Guide (Pelican Books) is published tomorrow, £20

KATIE LAW

https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/books/jo-dunkley-professor-our-universe-an-astronomers-guide-a4052746.html

2019-01-30 09:53:00+00:00

science and technology

natural science

freedombunker--2019-06-02--Louis Pasteur The Father of Microbiology Who Pioneered Vaccine Science

freedombunker

Louis Pasteur: "The Father of Microbiology" Who Pioneered Vaccine Science

Today’s Hero of Progress is Louis Pasteur, a 19th century French scientist, who is commonly dubbed the “father of microbiology.” Pasteur is renowned for developing the germ theory of disease, creating the process of pasteurization (which prevents the spoiling of many food products), and for changing the way that scientists create vaccines. Louis Pasteur was born to a poor Catholic family in Jura, France, on December 27, 1827. In 1839, Pasteur enrolled at the Royal College of Besançon, the same city in which he had attended secondary school. Within a year, Pasteur had earned his Bachelor of Letters. In 1842, he graduated with a degree in science. A year later, he started studying at the École Normale Supérieure, a graduate school in Paris. In 1848, Pasteur was appointed professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg. Pasteur's first successful test was completed on April 20, 1862, and the process he developed came to be known as pasteurization. In Strasbourg, Pasteur met his wife Marie. The pair married in 1849 and had five children. However, only two of those children survived to adulthood, while the rest died of typhoid. It is said that the death of his three children motivated Pasteur to study infections and vaccinations. In 1856, when he was the dean of the faculty of sciences at the University of Lille, Pasteur started to study fermentation to help a local wine manufacturer overcome the problem of alcohol souring. Before Pasteur, people believed in a doctrine of “spontaneous generation,” which held that life spontaneously appeared from non-living matter. That faulty reasoning was used to explain why food spoiled and how infections developed. To disprove the theory of spontaneous generation, Pasteur “exposed freshly boiled broth to air in vessels that contained a filter to stop all particles passing through to the growth medium, and even with no filter at all, with air being admitted via a long tortuous tube that would not pass dust particles. Nothing grew in the broths: therefore the living organisms that grew in such broths came from outside, as spores on dust, rather than being generated within the broth.” Furthermore, Pasteur found that heating of beverages to a temperature ranging from 140F to 212F (60°C-100°C) killed the bacteria in those liquids. His first successful test was completed on April 20, 1862, and the process he developed came to be known as pasteurization. Pasteur patented his discovery in 1865. The work of Pasteur fundamentally changed the world we live in. The proof he provided for the existence of the germ theory of disease revolutionized the way we think about human health. Pasteur then turned his attention to the development of vaccines. He and his colleagues injected chickens with cultured cholera microbes. After many experiments, the team discovered that if the birds were injected with live cholera microbes after they had already been injected with a weaker strain of cholera, the chickens would remain healthy. Pasteur thus became the first scientist to use artificially weakened viruses as vaccines. Pasteur then went on to develop a vaccine for anthrax in 1881. In 1885, Pasteur successfully developed a rabies vaccine. In 1888, Pasteur had received enough donations to open the Pasteur Institute – a private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. He remained director of his institute until he died on September 28, 1895. Pasteur became the Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor in 1878. He received dozens of honorary awards and today there are some 30 institutes, and several hospitals, schools and streets named after him. When he died, Pasteur was given a state funeral in the Cathedral of Notre Dame and his body was interred in a vault beneath his institute, where it still lays today. The work of Louis Pasteur fundamentally changed the world we live in. The proof he provided for the existence of the germ theory of disease revolutionized the way we think about human health. Pasteurization enabled us to preserve beverages and canned foods far longer than was previously thought possible. And, finally, Pasteur revolutionized the development of vaccines. Much of modern science rests on Pasteur’s work. Without him, it is likely that hundreds of millions, if not billions, of people would not be alive today. For that reason, Louis Pasteur is our 19th Hero of Progress. This Human Progress article was republished with permission.

Sean McBride

http://freedombunker.com/2019/06/02/louis-pasteur-the-father-of-microbiology-who-pioneered-vaccine-science/

2019-06-02 13:00:17+00:00

science and technology

natural science

bbc--2019-10-08--Planets and Big Bang win Nobel physics prize

bbc

Planets and Big Bang win Nobel physics prize

Three scientists have been awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics for "ground-breaking" discoveries about the Universe. James Peebles, Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz were announced as this year's winners at a ceremony in Stockholm. Peebles was honoured for work on the evolution of the Universe, while Mayor and Queloz won for their discovery of a planet around a Sun-like star. The winners will share the prize money of nine million kronor (£738,000). Reacting to the news, Prof Queloz told BBC News: "It's unbelievable," adding: "Since the discovery 25 years ago, everyone kept telling me: 'It's a Nobel Prize discovery'. And I say: 'Oh yeah, yeah, maybe, whatever.'" But in the intervening years, he more-or-less "forgot" about the discovery: "I don't even think about it," he said. "So frankly, yes, it came as a surprise to me. I understand the impact of the discovery, but there's such great physics being done in the world, I thought, it's not for us, we will never have it. "I'm a bit shocked right now, I'm still trying to digest what it means." Ulf Danielsson, a member of the Nobel Committee, commented: "Both these prizes... tell us something essential, something existential about our place in the Universe." "The first one, tracing the history back to an unknown origin, is so fascinating. The other one tries to answer these questions about: 'are we alone - is there life anywhere else in the Universe?'" Winnipeg, Canada-born James Peebles was honoured for his contributions to the understanding of the evolution of the Universe and Earth's place in the cosmos. With others, he predicted the existence of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation, the so-called afterglow of the Big Bang. By studying the CMB, scientists have been able to determine the age, shape and contents of the Universe. "Cosmic background radiation was discovered in 1965, and turned out to be a goldmine for our understanding of how the Universe developed from its early childhood to the present day," said Mats Larsson, chair of the Nobel physics prize committee. "Were it not for the theoretical discoveries of James Peebles, the wonderful high-precision measurements of this radiation over the last 20 years would have told us almost nothing." The 84-year-old cosmologist, who is now based at Princeton University in New Jersey, US, also made major contributions to the theory of dark matter and dark energy, the mysterious components which together make up some 95% of the Universe. In addition, he helped develop the theoretical framework of structure formation - which describes how galaxies and other large structures emerged from earlier density fluctuations in the Universe. Asked what he considered his most important contribution, Prof Peebles said he was "hard-pressed to say", adding that his work had been collaborative. "It's a life's work," he told the news conference at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz were awarded the prize for finding 51 Pegasi b, a gas giant orbiting a star 50 light-years away. It was the first exoplanet to be discovered orbiting a star like our own. They used the pioneering radial velocity technique. This detects distant worlds indirectly, by measuring how a parent star "wobbles" when it is tugged on by the gravity of an orbiting planet. The astronomers were working at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, when the discovery was made. Mayor, 77, is still there as a professor emeritus; Queloz, 53, now holds positions at Geneva and at the University of Cambridge, UK. Michael Moloney, chief executive officer of the American Institute of Physics, said: "[The laureates'] groundbreaking work on discovering the fundamental nature of the Universe and new worlds in distant solar systems has opened up whole new areas of research in cosmology and exoplanet science. "The discovery of a planet orbiting a star outside our own system has changed our perceptions of our place in the Universe - a Universe that still holds many mysteries to solve." Previous winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics 2018 - Donna Strickland, Arthur Ashkin and Gerard Mourou were awarded the prize for their discoveries in the field of laser physics. 2017 - Rainer Weiss, Kip Thorne and Barry Barish earned the award for the detection of gravitational waves. 2016 - David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz shared the award for their work on rare phases of matter. 2015 - Takaaki Kajita and Arthur McDonald were awarded the prize the discovery that neutrinos switch between different "flavours". 2014 - Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura won the physics Nobel for developing the first blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs). 2013 - Francois Englert and Peter Higgs shared the spoils for formulating the theory of the Higgs boson particle. 2012 - Serge Haroche and David J Wineland were awarded the prize for their work with light and matter.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49960497

Tue, 08 Oct 2019 09:55:09 GMT

science and technology

natural science

france24--2019-10-08--Swiss scientists Mayor and Queloz, Canadian-American Peebles win 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics

france24

Swiss scientists Mayor and Queloz, Canadian-American Peebles win 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics

Jonathan Nackstrand, AFP | Members of the Nobel Committee for Physics as 2019 winners Peebles, Mayor and Queloz are announced at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm on October 8, 2019. Three scientists won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday for their work in understanding how the universe has evolved, and the Earth’s place in it. The prize was given to James Peebles “for theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology,” and the other half jointly to Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz “for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star,” said Prof. Goran Hansson, secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences that chooses the laureates. An exoplanet is a planet outside the solar system. Hansson credited the three for their “contributions to our understanding of the evolution of the universe, and Earth’s place in the cosmos.” The prize comes with a 9-million kronor ($918,000) cash award to be shared a gold medal and a diploma. The laureates receive them at an elegant ceremony in Stockholm on Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of prize founder Alfred Nobel in 1896, together with five other Nobel winners. The sixth one, the peace prize, is handed out in Oslo, Norway on the same day. This was the 113th Nobel Prize in Physics awarded since 1901, of which 47 awards have been given to a single laureate. Only three women have been awarded it so far: Marie Curie in 1903, Maria Goeppert-Mayer in 1963 and Donna Strickland in 2018, according to the Nobel website. On Monday, Americans William G. Kaelin Jr. and Gregg L. Semenza and Britain’s Peter J. Ratcliffe won the Nobel prize for Physiology or Medicine, for discovering details of how the body’s cells sense and react to low oxygen levels, providing a foothold for developing new treatments for anemia, cancer and other diseases. Nobel, a Swedish industrialist and the inventor of dynamite, decided the physics, chemistry, medicine and literature prizes should be awarded in Stockholm, and the peace prize in Oslo. The Nobel Prize for Chemistry will be announced Wednesday, two Literature Prizes will be awarded on Thursday, and the Peace Prize comes Friday. This year will see two literature Prizes handed out because the one last year was suspended after a scandal rocked the Swedish Academy.

NEWS WIRES

https://www.france24.com/en/20191008-europe-nobel-prize-physics-swiss-mayor-queloz-canadian-american-peebles-win-2019

Tue, 08 Oct 2019 10:32:01 GMT

science and technology

natural science

sottnet--2019-03-17--Nobel prize physicist attempting to merge physics and the paranormal

sottnet

Nobel prize physicist attempting to merge physics and the paranormal

In 1962, Brian D. Josephson, a 22-year-old graduate student at England's Cambridge University, born on January 4, 1940, in Cardiff, Wales, predicted that electrical current would flow, or tunnel, between two superconducting materials - things that at low temperatures lack electrical resistance, even when they are separated by a non-superconductor, or insulator.In quantum physics, matter can be described as both waves and particles. Emerging from this is the phenomenon of tunnelling, which sees particles pass through barriers that according to classic physics should be impassable.Josephson's tunnelling theory was later confirmed, and in 1973 he was one of three scientists who shared the Nobel Prize in physics. (The others were Leo Esaki and Ivar Giaever)This tunnelling phenomenon is today known as the "Josephson effect", an important piece of evidence in the ongoing development of superconductivity.He went on to make several other discoveries, including those leading to the development of the "Josephson junction switch", which allows extreme high-speed switching on the molecular level. The junctions are the key components in superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs), widely used to make extremely sensitive measurements of magnetic fields.As an example of Josephson's unique character, in a January 2013 article in the Cambridge University publication CavMag, commemorating the 50th anniversary of his tunnelling discovery, colleague John Waldran recalled: "In 1973 Brian was awarded his Nobel Prize, and of course we asked him what he was planning to do with the money. He thought for a little while and said he planned to upgrade his bicycle."He became director of the Mind-Matter Unification Project of the Theory of Condensed Matter Group at the Cavendish Laboratory, within Cambridge University. Josephson's homepage describes it as "a project concerned primarily with the attempt to understand, from the viewpoint of the theoretical physicist, what may loosely be characterised as intelligent processes in nature, associated with brain function or with some other natural process".He told an interviewer from the Physics World journal in 2002 that, "physicists have an emotional response when they hear anything connected with parapsychology.He'd started to think about how the brain works and found this more fascinating than anything in physics at the time. He became interested in Eastern mysticism and parapsychology."I began to sense that conventional science is inadequate for situations where the mind is involved, and the task of clarification became a major concern of mine," he said.Josephson's vocal support for many fringe theories - such as cold fusion and the idea that water possesses memory - has seen him shunned by many other scientists. In 2010 organisers withdrew an invitation for him to attend a conference on the de Broglie-Bohm theory, an approach to quantum physics. However, it was soon reinstated after several other attendees complained.He continues to be very active, and defiant. On his university homepage he describes his work as "concerned primarily with the attempt to understand, from the viewpoint of the theoretical physicist, what may loosely be characterised as intelligent processes in nature, associated with brain function or with some other natural process."

https://www.sott.net/article/409315-Nobel-prize-physicist-attempting-to-merge-physics-and-the-paranormal

2019-03-17 21:02:17+00:00

science and technology

natural science

sputnik--2019-10-08--Peebles, Mayor and Queloz Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics for Cosmology Work and Exoplanet Discovery

sputnik

Peebles, Mayor and Queloz Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics for Cosmology Work and Exoplanet Discovery

Canadian-American physicist James Peebles has been awarded the Nobel Prize in physics “for theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology”, while Swiss astrophysicist Michel Mayor and his colleague, astronomer Didier Queloz jointly share the prize “for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star.” BREAKING NEWS: The 2019 #NobelPrize in Physics has been awarded with one half to James Peebles “for theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology” and the other half jointly to Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz “for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star.” pic.twitter.com/BwwMTwtRFv — The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 8, 2019 The scientists will share a $918,000 cash award, a gold medal and a diploma they are set to receive at a ceremony in Stockholm on 10 December.

https://sputniknews.com/science/201910081076986852-peebles-mayor-and-queloz-awarded-nobel-prize-in-physics-for-cosmology-work-and-exoplanet-discovery/

Tue, 08 Oct 2019 13:01:11 +0300

science and technology

natural science

tass--2019-10-08--Nobel Prize in Physics 2019 awarded for contribution to study of the universe

tass

Nobel Prize in Physics 2019 awarded for contribution to study of the universe

STOCKHOLM, October 8. /TASS/. The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to Canadian scientist James Peebles "for theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology" and Swiss researchers Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz "for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star", the Nobel Committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences informed on Tuesday. "This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics rewards new understanding of the universe’s structure and history, and the first discovery of a planet orbiting a solar-type star outside our solar system," the press release informs. "This year’s Laureates have transformed our ideas about the cosmos."

https://tass.com/science/1081990

Tue, 08 Oct 2019 13:54:44 +0300

science and technology

natural science

theweekuk--2019-10-08--Trio win Nobel physics prize for work to understand cosmos

theweekuk

Trio win Nobel physics prize for work to understand cosmos

To keep reading The Week’s concise, refreshing and balanced take on the world, please register your details below. We will use the details you have shared to manage your registration.You agree to the processing, storage, sharing and use of this information for the purpose of managing your registration as described in our Privacy Policy. We will use the details you have shared to manage your newsletter subscription.You agree to the processing, storage, sharing and use of this information for the purpose of managing your subscription as described in our Privacy Policy. We will use the information you have shared for carefully considered and specific purposes, where we believe we have a legitimate case to do so, for example to send you communications about similar products and services we offer.You can find out more about our legitimate interest activity in our privacy policy. ‘We’ includes The Week and other Dennis Publishing (UK) Ltd brands as detailed here

Tim Edwards

https://www.theweek.co.uk/103695/trio-win-physics-nobel-prize-for-work-to-understand-cosmos

Tue, 08 Oct 2019 15:53:28 +0000

science and technology

natural science

cnn--2019-11-12--New York Times: EPA plans to limit scientific research used in writing public health regulations

cnn

New York Times: EPA plans to limit scientific research used in writing public health regulations

A draft of the EPA's proposal obtained by the Times would require scientists to disclose their raw data, including confidential medical records, in order for the agency to consider a study's conclusions. The move would complicate the enactment of new clean air and water regulations, which are largely rooted in academic studies that rely on confidentiality agreements because of personal health disclosures. to a separate EPA memo viewed by the Times. The draft proposal obtained by the Times expands on a previous version championed by then-Administrator Scott Pruitt, who lost his job last year amid a lengthy list of ethics controversies. But unlike the earlier draft, the new plan would apply retroactively, halting the further use of studies already cited by the EPA that don't comply with the new proposal, accordingto a separate EPA memo viewed by the Times. While publishing data is common in many branches of science, health-related scientists are subject to patient privacy restrictions and may not publish the raw data. The EPA said in a statement to CNN on Monday that the agency "is committed to science transparency and is working to finalize the supplemental in 2020." "Under The Trump Administration, EPA is focused on providing certainty to the American public on the science being used in developing rules and regulations," the agency said. In another statement late Monday, the EPA told CNN that The New York Times' reporting "has numerous errors" but did not specify what is inaccurate. The Times story, the agency said, "is based on a leaked preliminary draft version of the Supplemental, not the actual text submitted to the [Office of Management and Budget]." The statement said the EPA would issue a final rule in 2020 that would "take into account the comments received in response to both the 2018 proposed rule and this supplemental [federal register notice] as well as those submitted by the Science Advisory Board." that the original draft of the proposal would require agency employees "to put on blinders and only see the science that they want them to see." that the original draft of the proposal would require agency employees "to put on blinders and only see the science that they want them to see." The Union of Concerned Scientists said last year that the original draft of the proposal would require agency employees "to put on blinders and only see the science that they want them to see." found that the EPA had "exceeded" its goals in cutting back environmental regulations during the first two years of the Trump administration. found that the EPA had "exceeded" its goals in cutting back environmental regulations during the first two years of the Trump administration. An internal watchdog report released in September found that the EPA had "exceeded" its goals in cutting back environmental regulations during the first two years of the Trump administration. In the past two years, the watchdog report said, the EPA has changed which waters are protected under the Clean Water Act , rolled back an Obama-era plan that would have reduced carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants and proposed a rule that would allow fewer restrictions on hazardous air pollutants, among other changes. The EPA cut 26 regulations, saving the agency more than $96 million, and created four new regulations -- far more than the 2-to-1 ratio the White House had requested, according to the report.

http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_allpolitics/~3/3ZP_J3NPF8o/index.html

Tue, 12 Nov 2019 04:50:52 GMT

science and technology

scientific research

humansarefree--2019-02-03--Most Scientific Research of Western Medicine Untrustable Fraudulent Say Insiders and Experts

humansarefree

Most Scientific Research of Western Medicine Untrustable & Fraudulent, Say Insiders and Experts

Fraudulent scientific research is rife throughout the world due to the power of monetary influence wielded by Big Pharma, the giant cartel of multinational pharmaceutical corporations started over 100 years ago by the Rockefellers . This fraudulent scientific research is now so widespread and pervasive it is become an open secret. Everyone Knows How the “Game” Works Don’t Fall for Appeals to “Scientific” or “Clinical” Research when Fraudulent Scientific Research is So Rife

Alexander Light (noreply@blogger.com)

http://humansarefree.com/2019/02/most-scientific-research-of-western.html

2019-02-03 05:00:00+00:00

science and technology

scientific research

collectiveevolution--2019-01-04--Renowned Scientist Explains How The Earth Is Not A Perfect Sphere But Its Not Flat Either

collectiveevolution

Renowned Scientist Explains How The Earth Is Not A Perfect Sphere – But It’s Not Flat Either

What a time to be alive, isn’t it? Over the past few years, the birth of social media gave way to an explosion of information. Sure, some of it may be fake, but a lot of this ‘fake news’ narrative was created by the government and corporations in order to attack several alternative media websites. The ‘fake news’ problem cannot be solved by more censorship, it can only be solved through more information. Readers today need to start examining sources instead of just reading headlines. That being said, anything that goes against the narrative of the global elite, no matter how credible, is always demonized and ridiculed by mainstream media. One topic that’s grabbed the attention of ‘conspiracy theorists’ is the idea that the Earth may be flat. Personally, I find this extremely hard to believe, given the fact that multiple whistleblowers have risked their lives to let the world know about what’s really happening in space. Our black budget world is extremely technologically advanced, and I encourage all ‘flat Earthers’ to look into the black budget when doing their research. By suggesting the Earth is flat, one is saying that every single space agency from every single nation and all military pilots and astronauts are involved in some sort of cover-up. Those in support of the flat Earth theory believe that we’ve put no technology into space, that we’ve never received any pictures from space, and that all videos and photos from space agencies are fake. This is a significant issue within the flat Earth community. Instead of a proper rebuttal with factual evidence, many simply reply with, “It’s all fake.” If you actually look at some of the points being made by the flat Earth community, there are some interesting arguments, and it’s been an ongoing debate for thousands of years. At the same time, there are some points that seem to be rather ghastly. For example, flat Earthers have argued that if you fly a helicopter 100 feet in the air, you should not land on the same spot because the globe is spinning. Believing that the Earth is flat implies that those who have claimed to voyage around the world are simply lying. Then again, many of us still look to ancient wisdom for truths. If we look at different civilizations throughout history, including various indigenous cultures, they were said to have believed that the Earth was flat with a round dome around it … But did they really believe this? (We will cover that later on in the article.) This interpretation is interesting because they seem to have depicted other celestial bodies and their movements quite accurately. And the ancients had many novel ideas about the shape of the Earth, in addition to it just being flat. The Babylonians thought the Earth was hollow to provide space for their underworld. The Egyptians thought the Earth was a square with mountains at the edge to support the vault of the sky. I’m not going to go into the points made by the flat Earth community; instead, I’d like to present the perspective of Isaac Asimov, a writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. He was known for his works of science fiction and popular science. He was a legendary researcher within these fields, and had a large thirst for knowledge and information in all areas. I came across an article written by him titled “The Relativity of Wrong,” published in The Skeptical Inquirer in fall of 1989. It was inspired by a handwritten letter he had received from an English literature major who, Asimov says, “felt he needed to teach me science.” What Asimov writes next shows you just how humble and ‘awake’ he was. Asimov then brings up the flat Earth theory in response to the letter, stating that, “When people thought the Earth was flat, they were wrong. When people thought the Earth was spherical, they were wrong. But if you think that thinking the Earth is spherical is just as wrong as thinking the Earth is flat, then your view is wronger than both of them put together.” I was very intrigued by that statement as well as the next where he emphasizes that people think “right” and “wrong” are absolute, and that everything that isn’t perfectly and completely right is totally and equally wrong. In the early days, most people thought the Earth was flat. It wasn’t because they were stupid, Asimov explains, or because they wanted to believe in silly things. They were simply interpreting the world around them with the knowledge they had. He mentions that today, we are taught that the flat Earth theory is entirely wrong, but he emphasizes how it actually isn’t. How interesting is that? I did not know that the curvature of the Earth is nearly 0 per mile. That explains a lot, including why we cannot perceive Earth as a round figure from the ground nor from a plane. To see that kind of curvature, you would have to be higher than any commercial air-liner is capable of going. Given the size of the Earth, you would have to be very high up in our atmosphere to see any curvature. In ancient Greece, there were flat Earth supporters, but it became an unsatisfactory theory at approximately 350 B.C.. Aristotle shared his belief that the Earth is not flat by noticing certain stars disappearing beyond the Southern Hemisphere when travelling north, and beyond the Northern Hemisphere when travelling south. He also used the Earth’s shadow on the moon during a lunar eclipse as a reference, given the fact that it’s always shaped in the arc of a circle. Furthermore, ships disappearing beyond the horizon hull in any direction they travel. All three observations could not be reasonably explained if the Earth’s surface is flat, but could be explained by assuming the Earth is a sphere. It’s also interesting to note that many philosophers, like Socrates, a pupil of Aristotle, opposed the aristocracy and the religion they were ushering in. As a result, they formed secret societies to study and gain knowledge and information. Those who were caught were vilified by the aristocracy, which is why Socrates was put do death, for questioning the authority, their view of the world and for “corrupting the youth.” A century later, a Greek philosopher used the sun as an example to argue the spherical perception, pointing to the fact that the sun casts a shadow of different lengths at different latitudes. Asimov states that “all the shadows would be the same length if the Earth’s surface were flat. Eratosthenes calculated the size of the Earthly sphere from the difference in shadow length, and his calculations turned out to be 25,000 in circumference — exactly what it is today. How astonishing is that? It turns out, the Earth is not a sphere because it does not have the mathematical properties of a sphere. Several diameters differ in length. If it were a sphere, the Earth would require the following: No, it is not a sphere; not in the strict mathematical sense. A sphere has certain mathematical properties – for instance, all diameters (that is, all straight lines that pass from one point on its surface, through the center, to another point on its surface) have the same length. It definitely looks like one to the naked eye, as do all of the other planets. I’m going to post the rest of Asimov’s article below. What’s really interesting is that he notes the Earth is flattened in some areas. What gave people the notion the earth wasn’t a true sphere? To begin with, the sun and the moon have outlines that are perfect circles within the limits of measurement in the early days of the telescope. This is consistent with the supposition that the sun and the moon are perfectly spherical in shape. However, when Jupiter and Saturn were observed by the first telescopic observers, it became quickly apparent that the outlines of those planets were not circles, but distinct ellipses. That meant that Jupiter and Saturn were not true spheres. Isaac Newton, toward the end of the seventeenth century, showed that a massive body would form a sphere under the pull of gravitational forces (exactly as Aristotle had argued), but only if it were not rotating. If it were rotating, a centrifugal effect would be set up that would lift the body’s substance against gravity, and this effect would be greater the closer to the equator you progressed. The effect would also be greater the more rapidly a spherical object rotated, and Jupiter and Saturn rotated very rapidly indeed. The earth rotated much more slowly than Jupiter or Saturn so the effect should be smaller, but it should still be there. Actual measurements of the curvature of the earth were carried out in the eighteenth century and Newton was proved correct. The earth has an equatorial bulge, in other words. It is flattened at the poles. It is an “oblate spheroid” rather than a sphere. This means that the various diameters of the earth differ in length. The longest diameters are any of those that stretch from one point on the equator to an opposite point on the equator. This “equatorial diameter” is 12,755 kilometers (7,927 miles). The shortest diameter is from the North Pole to the South Pole and this “polar diameter” is 12,711 kilometers (7,900 miles). The difference between the longest and shortest diameters is 44 kilometers (27 miles), and that means that the “oblateness” of the earth (its departure from true sphericity) is 44/12755, or 0.0034. This amounts to l/3 of 1 percent. To put it another way, on a flat surface, curvature is 0 per mile everywhere. On the earth’s spherical surface, curvature is 0.000126 per mile everywhere (or 8 inches per mile). On the earth’s oblate spheroidal surface, the curvature varies from 7.973 inches to the mile to 8.027 inches to the mile. The correction in going from spherical to oblate spheroidal is much smaller than going from flat to spherical. Therefore, although the notion of the earth as a sphere is wrong, strictly speaking, it is not as wrong as the notion of the earth as flat. Even the oblate-spheroidal notion of the earth is wrong, strictly speaking. In 1958, when the satellite Vanguard I was put into orbit about the earth, it was able to measure the local gravitational pull of the earth–and therefore its shape–with unprecedented precision. It turned out that the equatorial bulge south of the equator was slightly bulgier than the bulge north of the equator, and that the South Pole sea level was slightly nearer the center of the earth than the North Pole sea level was. There seemed no other way of describing this than by saying the earth was pear-shaped, and at once many people decided that the earth was nothing like a sphere but was shaped like a Bartlett pear dangling in space. Actually, the pear-like deviation from oblate-spheroid perfect was a matter of yards rather than miles, and the adjustment of curvature was in the millionths of an inch per mile. In short, my English Lit friend, living in a mental world of absolute rights and wrongs, may be imagining that because all theories are wrong, the earth may be thought spherical now, but cubical next century, and a hollow icosahedron the next, and a doughnut shape the one after. What actually happens is that once scientists get hold of a good concept they gradually refine and extend it with greater and greater subtlety as their instruments of measurement improve. Theories are not so much wrong as incomplete. This can be pointed out in many cases other than just the shape of the earth. Even when a new theory seems to represent a revolution, it usually arises out of small refinements. If something more than a small refinement were needed, then the old theory would never have endured. Copernicus switched from an earth-centered planetary system to a sun-centered one. In doing so, he switched from something that was obvious to something that was apparently ridiculous. However, it was a matter of finding better ways of calculating the motion of the planets in the sky, and eventually the geocentric theory was just left behind. It was precisely because the old theory gave results that were fairly good by the measurement standards of the time that kept it in being so long. Again, it is because the geological formations of the earth change so slowly and the living things upon it evolve so slowly that it seemed reasonable at first to suppose that there was no change and that the earth and life always existed as they do today. If that were so, it would make no difference whether the earth and life were billions of years old or thousands. Thousands were easier to grasp. But when careful observation showed that the earth and life were changing at a rate that was very tiny but not zero, then it became clear that the earth and life had to be very old. Modern geology came into being, and so did the notion of biological evolution. If the rate of change were more rapid, geology and evolution would have reached their modern state in ancient times. It is only because the difference between the rate of change in a static universe and the rate of change in an evolutionary one is that between zero and very nearly zero that the creationists can continue propagating their folly. Since the refinements in theory grow smaller and smaller, even quite ancient theories must have been sufficiently right to allow advances to be made; advances that were not wiped out by subsequent refinements. The Greeks introduced the notion of latitude and longitude, for instance, and made reasonable maps of the Mediterranean basin even without taking sphericity into account, and we still use latitude and longitude today. The Sumerians were probably the first to establish the principle that planetary movements in the sky exhibit regularity and can be predicted, and they proceeded to work out ways of doing so even though they assumed the earth to be the center of the universe. Their measurements have been enormously refined but the principle remains. Naturally, the theories we now have might be considered wrong in the simplistic sense of my English Lit correspondent, but in a much truer and subtler sense, they need only be considered incomplete. A lot of flat Earth supporters point to the fact that many ancient cultures believed the Earth was flat, and they’re correct. But not all cultures agreed on this, and those who believed it was flat may have been speaking about the spiritual realms. Take the Maya, for example, they had a flat depiction of the Earth with a circular dome around it. Perhaps looking at it from another dimension, one would see it as flat? A study published in the Journal of Social Archaeology makes my point more clear. This is a huge problem with the modern interpretation of ancient depictions of the Earth. If we look at the Anishinaabe, who make up multiple indigenous groups in Canada, their creation legends tell a story of Earth on a turtle’s back who is floating in a sea of water. This interpretation has been taken by flat Earthers and used as such. You will find multiple pictures around the internet like the one below, but they are not a true representation, and they don’t come from any credible sources. What does the creation legend really say? And how is it really depicted? Well, the legends clearly suggest that the Earth is a ball. You can read their entire creation story here. The ball is being carried on the turtles back. This story is known as the creation of Turtle Island (Earth), and below is a real depiction of the creation myths. See source. As you can see, Earth is enclosed within the back as a ball, along with the cosmos kept inside another outer shell. This is our physical domain. It’s interesting to note that the Anishinaabe have models of creation that’ve been depicted elsewhere. As you can see below, this could easily be interpreted as a flat Earth model, despite the fact that the story of creation clearly states a round ball. This is why I believe these are spiritual realms. The model below is also seen throughout many cultures, and has been interpreted as a flat Earth model. Again, as we can see from above, that’s not true. The picture below is also from the same indigenous group.  Now, look at the next picture. Here is another depiction from the Mohawk, another indigenous group found in Canada. As you can see, spheres are used still in the realm of the flat surface with the dome around it. Again, this is a common depiction by flat Earthers, who believe the Earth is flat with a dome around it that encompasses the sun, moon and stars. This is why I believe this model is a depiction of the spiritual realms, not our physical realm. The dome is perhaps covering all of physical reality as we know it, not the Earth. This type of model is also similar to other artworks depicting some sort of dome around the Earth. Below is a painting by Hieronymus Bosch, a Dutch/Netherlandish draughtsman and painter from Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. It was a picture presented to the Pope by Leonardo DiCaprio, stating that when he was younger he did not know what it meant, but does now. I found that interesting and still don’t know what that means. (source) Is this also a metaphorical painting, like the depictions above, taken as physically literal? The list of examples go on, but those who use indigenous examples portraying that the earth is flat should look deeper into the subject, especially if they believe most of the proof for round Earth today is completely fake. We can see this with the indigenous examples above as well. A lot of flat Earth lore gets into religion, especially Christianity. It is said that as Christianity became more popular, all of the ancient teachings were taken and stored by the church, which are now allegedly in the Vatican. It’s crucial that we do not confuse scientific texts with religious texts, especially when it comes to trying to further understand this planet. It’s important to note that many flat Earth supporters believe the Earth is at the center of the universe. Those who challenged this view were killed and condemned by the church, like Galileo Galilei. When it comes to this topic, the truth is that you cannot prove the Earth is flat. Though many flat Earth supporters refuse to accept it, there is substantial evidence in support of the Earth being round including photos, the technology we’ve sent into space, and the points listed above. Please note that I have not presented many of the points in support of the flat Earth theory, this is simply a discussion and a presentation of other works and beliefs that support a spherical model. I do believe we’ve travelled amongst the stars for several reasons, and given all of the information I’ve reviewed on quantum mechanics, the flat Earth theory does not seem plausible. Furthermore, we can see out into space with the technology we’ve developed, and we can see the other planets with a telescope, which are all round. At the end of the day, there are so many more important issues surrounding the planet than arguing over what the shape of the Earth is. We need to clean up our planet, introduce clean energy technology, and provide everyone with their basic needs. And although we have made some progress, we still have a lot to do and a lot to fix. If anything, the flat Earth theory seems like a distraction from what matters most. At the end of the day, if you really want to know. Travel to the end of flat Earth and see for yourself, or simply take a telescope and view the ice wall that supposedly surrounds it, as well as every other major city in the world. You should be able to see it. I believe it’s also important to mention Pic Gaspard, a 443 Km landscape photograph and a world record of Earth. Given the curvature per mile, that pic also posits a round Earth, in my opinion.

Arjun Walia

https://www.collective-evolution.com/2019/01/04/renowned-scientist-explains-how-the-earth-is-not-a-sphere-but-its-not-flat-either/

2019-01-04 14:00:59+00:00

science and technology

scientific research

collectiveevolution--2019-01-23--Scientist Explains How Cows Milk Leeches Calcium From Your Bones Makes Them Weaker

collectiveevolution

Scientist Explains How Cow’s Milk Leeches Calcium From Your Bones & Makes Them Weaker

It’s remarkable to analyze why many of us believe that milk, which is designed to help calves develop, is also suitable for human beings. We are the only species on the planet that consumes the milk of another animal. Furthermore, we are the only species on the planet who continues to drink milk after weaning. Even for cows, this would be a no-no. There are multiple studies showing that drinking milk for a cow leads to an increased mortality rate and actually makes bones more prone to fracturing, not less. One example would be this giant study from researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden. But not only are we starting to become aware that our milk-drinking habit is one of the main sources of multiple health ailments and chronic disease; let’s not forget about the fact that 80 percent of Amazon rainforest destruction is the result of grazing animals for meat and dairy. It’s one of the main sources of environmental degradation and pollution. And when we support the dairy industry we also support animal torture, suffering and heartache. Cows are forcefully impregnated so they can lactate, and when their babies are born they are ripped from their mothers and head straight for the slaughter house. Animal agriculture represents one of the biggest genocides on the planet today, and it shows how much we’ve lost our connection to all that is. But back to consumer health concerns. If we look at all other animals who don’t consume the milk of another animal or after weaning, it is because they do not have the enzymes to break down the sugar found in milk. We are no different, and this explains why in some ethnic populations around the world, lactose intolerance is present in 90 percent of the population. A staggering 70 percent of the world’s population has some degree of lactose intolerance. That being said, some people might have evolved and developed a cows milk just fine, which is why this information may not apply to everybody but overall, it definitely appears we are doing something unnatural. This is explainable by science. Humans actually never had this enzyme, and to digest the sugar in milk, a cow’s milk at that, we had to develop the LTC gene, which was acquired by mutation. This is the lactase gene, which allows us to process lactose as adults. Clearly, we are not doing what is natural and in accordance with our bodies. I first came across this information from Katherine S. Pollard, a PhD at the University of California, San Francisco, in this lecture. One of the most important points people are becoming aware of  is the fact that animal protein may in fact be harmful for human consumption, and that plant protein is a much better option. I go more in-depth on this in my article Plant-Based Protein VS. Protein From Meat: Which One Is Better For Your Body? One thing animal protein does is trigger metabolic acidosis. This happens when the body produces too much acid and becomes very acidic, which can be caused by multiple things, including the absorption of casein found in animal protein. Casein makes up almost 90 percent of the protein in a cow’s milk. When the body experiences this type of acidosis, it actually forces the body to compensate by leaching calcium from the bones to help neutralize the increased acidity. Over time, all of this can have severe and detrimental effects on bone health, and studies have shown this. Science tells us that nations with high instances of hip fracture and osteoporosis also have a very high calcium intake. Given this correlation, and the fact that animal protein causes metabolic acidosis, sucking the calcium out of the bones — in direct contrast to what the dairy industry would have us believe — it’s easy to see that we have been misled. Studies have also shown that animal protein can “turn on cancer.” This mainly comes from the work of Dr. Colin Campbell, an American biochemist who specializes in the effect of nutrition on long term health. He is the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University. Scholars like Campbell are vital to the world, because they are among the few who actually examine and study nutrition and health, something that our modern day medical industry completely ignores. How ironic is it that medical doctors don’t learn anything about nutrition? How does that make any sense? It’s because modern day medicine puts profits before health. The China Study has become known as one of the most comprehensive studies of nutrition ever conducted. It has huge implications for diet, weight loss and longer-term health. It implicates animal protein in various ways that most people aren’t ready to accept. Below is a clip from the Forks Over Knives documentary. The big takeaway here is to realize that we have been misled by the food industry in various realms. Products that have been pushed as healthy, like milk for example, are clearly not healthy and responsible for multiple diseases. Mass marketing and food propaganda, together with the pharmaceutical industry, completely control what we believe to be real when it comes to our health. They even falsify science, to counter claims by actual impartial science which strongly opposes what is put out by these industries. It’s not easy to let go of what we’ve been programmed to believe for so long, but the bottom line is when it comes to food and nutrition, critical thinking and independent research is far more valuable that relying on our medical associations and textbooks for information. Don’t be afraid to think for yourself, do your own research and listen to your body through experience. Things That Happen When You Stop Eating Meat Internal Medicine Physician Shares What Happens To Your Body When You Stop Eating Meat Plant-Based Protein VS. Protein From Meat: Which One Is Better For Your Body? Disturbing Aerial Photos Show What Killing Billions of Animals For Meat Is Doing To The Environment

Arjun Walia

https://www.collective-evolution.com/2019/01/23/scientist-explains-how-cows-milk-leeches-calcium-from-your-bones-makes-them-weaker/

2019-01-23 20:13:33+00:00

science and technology

scientific research

collectiveevolution--2019-04-25--Multiple Scientists Explain How A Diet High In Protein Is NOT Good For Us Even After Working Out

collectiveevolution

Multiple Scientists Explain How A Diet High In Protein Is NOT Good For Us – Even After Working Out

A question that’s become more prominent within mainstream scientific circles is whether or not the mind can affect matter. The connection between human consciousness or factors associated with human consciousness such as intention, thoughts, feelings and emotions, and the physical realm is fascinating. This is precisely why nearly all of the founding fathers of quantum physics were so preoccupied with learning more about consciousness and “non-material” science in general. For instance, the theoretical physicist who originated quantum theory, Max Planck regarded “consciousness as fundamental” and matter as a “derivative from consciousness.” Eugene Wigner, another famous theoretical physicist and mathematician, also emphasized how “it was not possible to formulate the laws of quantum mechanics in a fully consistent way without reference to consciousness.” A paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Physics Essays by Dean Radin, PhD explains how this experiment has been used multiple times to explore the role of consciousness in shaping the nature of physical reality. The paper showed that meditators were able to collapse quantum systems at a distance through intention alone. “Observations not only disturb what has to be measured, they produce it… We compel [the electron] to assume a definite position… We ourselves produce the results of the measurement.” There are literally countless studies within the realms of parapsychology and quantum physics that make it quite clear that human thought, intention, and overall human consciousness has some sort of relationship with our physical material world. That is not what’s in question, what’s in question is the nature of that relationship and how strong this effect is. There is still so much to discover. Beyond peer-reviewed published studies, there are also some very reputable sources showing that mind influencing matter goes well beyond the quantum scale, but we’ll get to that a little later. Now, a fairly recent study published in SAG Journals  entitled Transcriptional Changes In Cancer Cells Induced By Exposure To A Healing Method has examined the effect that healing intention can have on cancer cells in vitro. The goal of the study was to assess if stored or recorded energy has an impact on breast cancer cells by using energy-charged cotton and electromagnetic recording of healers practicing the method. When it comes to healing, the study points out: This type of healing has been practiced in various cultures throughout human history, especially in Buddhism. Ancient texts in this area are full of stories of people with exceptional abilities, but what’s even more exciting is that we actually have real-world examples today that can’t really be debunked. For example,  when talking about modern-day research, one of the pioneers in this area was a biologist by the name of Bernard Grad of McGill University. In controlled experiments, he discovered that certain people could actually influence the germination of plant seeds, make plants grow at a faster rate, and influence the curing of seeds that had been shocked by saline solution. Furthermore, he was able to measure the ability of healers to reduce goiter and stimulate wound healing in mice. (source) (source)(source) What’s interesting about that particular study is that it wasn’t the only one. A study published in the American Journal of Chinese Medicine, as seen in the US National Library of Medicine, demonstrated that a woman with special abilities was able to accelerate the germination of seeds for the purposes of developing a more robust seed stock.  Her name was Chulin Sun, and she entered into a deep trance-like state, which sprouted dry seeds in 20 minutes, compared to the normal 3 to 4 days. You can read more about her and access that study here. The cancer study mentioned above goes on to provide more examples: Scientists used energy-charged cotton to store healing intention from several self-proclaimed “healers,” and they discovered that, of the cells that were exposed to an electromagnetic recording, 37 genes of the 167 tested showed a statistically significant change compared to the control, and 68 genes showed statistically significant fold changes. When it was all said and done, the study clearly indicated that there is at least some biological response that has been stimulated by the healer as well as the recording of the healing energy. No matter how small, the effect was there in this study and it has huge implications. The key takeaway points and conclusions that can be drawn from the study are as follows: 2. Healing intention can be captured and released, thereby potentially allowing the phenomenon to be more widely disseminated. 3.  Hands-on delivery of the healing intention is stronger than the recording used in this study, suggesting the possibility that the recording did not fully capture the healing potential. In 1987, researchers at the Institute of Space-Medico Engineering, as mentioned in the CIA document earlier in the article, publicized a fraction of their work in the form of a film showcasing their work and what they had accomplished. The film showed a medicine pill moving through an irreversibly sealed glass vial, which occurred in three frames of a 400 frame per second film. (source) Another release (about Zhang) from the CIA (Research Into Paranormal Ability To Break Through Spatial Barriers) states: The CIA document linked above provides more examples. According to Eric Davis, Ph.D, FBIS, from a declassified US Air Force document obtained via the Federation of American Scientists, Shuhuang reported that ‘gifted children’ were responsible for the teleportation of small, physical objects from one place to another. (source) These are just a few examples of mind/matter interaction that go beyond the lab that never really seem to be acknowledged in mainstream publications. Below is a clip from an interview we recently conducted with Dr. Natalie Leigh Trent, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School and Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, where she investigates the mind-body practices of yoga and mindfulness for health and wellbeing. She obtained her Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto in 2006 and her Doctorate in neuroscience from Queen’s University in 2012. In this part of the interview, we discuss the ancient healing art of Reiki, a healing modality that has been practiced and taught around the world for thousands of years. As Dr. Trent shares in the interview, it’s a relatively new field of science and medicine that’s continually growing, with approximately 80 studies that’ve been published so far. The popularity of this particular practice is exemplified by the fact that, as of 2000, there were more ‘distant healers’ in the United Kingdom than therapists practicing any other form of complementary or alternative medicine, and the same goes for the United States. (Barnes PM, Powell-Griner E, McFann K, Nahin RL. Complementary and alternative medicine use among adults: United States, 2002. Adv Data. 2004. May 27;(343):1–19. [PubMed]) You can watch the full interview HERE on CETV, a platform we created to help combat the censorship we are and have been experiencing. Our revenue streams have been taken away and thus this is what we came up with to help us continue to keep doing what we do. Thank you for your support! “The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena, it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence.” ― Nikola Tesla A great quote that I’ve used multiple times as to why this type of science is still greeted with a frown: The implications of these findings, that our consciousness can and does have an effect on our physical material world, are huge. This is proof that we live in a very spiritual world that has yet to be properly acknowledged. We still have a long way to go.

Arjun Walia

https://www.collective-evolution.com/2019/04/25/multiple-scientists-explain-how-a-diet-high-in-protein-is-not-good-for-us-even-after-working-out/

2019-04-25 13:43:07+00:00

science and technology

scientific research

collectiveevolution--2019-06-04--Glyphosate Autism Scientist Explains The Indisputable Link Foods That Reverse Autism Symptoms

collectiveevolution

Glyphosate & Autism: Scientist Explains The Indisputable Link & Foods That Reverse Autism Symptoms

The list of concerns is quite large when it comes to the Gardasil HPV vaccine. Perhaps even more concerning is the censorship media outlets and even scientists are experiencing for simply asking questions and having a discussion. When that happens you know we’re straying far from science and that something is up. Despite big media’s efforts, who receive large amounts of funding from corporations and governments, to censor and shape the vaccine safety dialogue, information is still coming out. What gives big media away even more is their constant attack on those questioning vaccine safety, labelling them as “anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists” and ridiculing them instead of actually addressing the concerns they have and countering them with information. Why wouldn’t they just do that? No doubt, the “brainwashers” will also categorize a company called CORVELVA as “anti-vaccine,” despite the fact that it’s made up of numerous reputable scientists and has been in operation since 1993. Its mission is to encourage the free choice of vaccinations as well as preaching the importance of sharing scientific research related to the effectiveness of vaccinations and the possible adverse reactions to certain vaccines. They are a very influential group based out of Italy, so much so that they made a lot of noise after the highly regarded National Order of Biologists in Italy made a  €10,000 donation to the group, as explained in an article published in Nature, International Journal of Science titled “Italian scientists protest funding for vaccine-safety investigation.” The Nature article points out that “Some scientists in Italy are up in arms over a donation from the organization that oversees the nation’s professional biology qualification to an advocacy group that opposes the country’s policy of mandatory childhood vaccination.” This part is confusing: Why would any group or any scientist oppose more safety studies regarding vaccinations? Wouldn’t professionals on both sides of the coin be in support of as much vaccine safety testing as possible? My last article on the vaccine safety awareness group was on their testing of the Infanrix Hexa vaccine. It’s a six-in-one vaccine that’s manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) that’s supposed to contain the following antigens: tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis toxoids; inactivated poliomyelitis viral strains 1-2-3; and hepatitis B surface antigen. CORVELVA discovered that none of these antigens were actually in the vaccine, which means it had zero antibodies to the intended antigens to be created. This was a huge shock, and in addition they found much more, including 65 contaminants that shouldn’t be in there. You can read more about that story here. The ridicule vaccine safety studies are subjected to reminds me of Dr. Christopher Exley, the world’s leading authority on aluminum toxicology who was recently denied funding from scientific authorities to study aluminum in vaccines. His GoFundMe page was also shut down. A number of studies in the past few years have emphasized how injected aluminum doesn’t exit the body and travels to distant organs and the brain. This sparked Exley to open up the brains of multiple autistic people where he found some of the highest brain aluminum content ever measured, so he wanted to do some more research. You can read more about that and access those studies here. When it comes to the Gardasil vaccine, it contains heavy amounts of aluminum compared to other vaccines on the market. The Gardasil 9 vaccine was the most recent one examined by CORVELVA. What they discovered was quite disturbing: From what we could see the problems were, under the metagenomic profile, the presence of adventitious genetic material presents such as bacteria, human and mouse DNA, adventitious viruses like phages and retroviruses and yeasts. What most impressed us was the presence of L1 fragments of the genome of papillomavirus. These fragments should not be present in the vaccine because the papillomavirus is carcinogenic and their presence together with the aluminum adjuvant is believed to be the cause of some of the serious adverse reactions in the injured. The same chemical analysis, even if shocking due to the number of potential non-residual contaminants found, had left a huge question mark. The analysis with the technology used in the laboratories we identified, gave us 338 signals of which only 22% are known. What has seemed to many unbelievable, that is the list of the probably identified compounds, in reality, to us, it created enormous interest the remaining 78% not known. A study of this unknown 78% started a further study and, after repeated analysis carried out in two different laboratories and with two different instruments, we can now tell you that a signal we found, compared to three databases consulted, leads us to determine that in some lots of Gardasil 9, especially in lot R009338, there is a contamination corresponding to an amazing drug called APDB. Currently, it has been impossible to determine with absolute certainty that the signal is just the APDB amphetamine because of the current regulations our laboratories could not buy the certified analytical standard as it was a drug and could not be acquired by subjects not provided with the appropriate authorization, however, the correspondence of the fragmentation spectra in several databases with this molecule gives us a very high degree of probability. (source) The group filed a complaint with the Carabineer Command for Health Protection in Italy to verify their results, the report was filed in August of 2018 at the Public Prosecutor of the Republic of Rome, and you can access it HERE. Doctor Explains How The HPV Vaccine Is Linked To A Rise In Cervical Cancer Rates Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Explains Dangers of the HPV Vaccine & How It Could Give You Cancer A Strong Association Has Been Found Between The HPV Vaccine & Infertility Sacrificial Virgins” – A Must-See Film About Young Girls Being Severely Damaged By HPV Gardasil Vaccines Colton Berrett Dies After Being Unable To Cope With His Gardasil HPV Vaccine Injuries On a recent episode of CETV, we discussed the mainstream media and the way they fear monger and blame the unvaccinated without addressing important facts. We talked about the history of measles outbreaks in highly vaccinated populations, provided multiple clips from scientists and doctors sharing information related to the above, and cited examples of fraud, specifically with regards to the MMR vaccination and the CDC. Below you can watch part of our discussion, but to see the whole thing you have to become a member on CETV. We created this platform because we were demonetized on Youtube and our reach on Facebook was dramatically reduced simply for sharing information like what you’ve read in this article. We had to create it in order to keep doing what we do, and we are barely hanging on, but we will continue to do our work regardless of our financial situation. We thank you for your support if you are already a supporter! A number of safety concerns exist when it comes to vaccines, yet the mainstream continues to ignore them and ridicule those who question vaccine safety. The medical establishment continues to claim that vaccines are completely safe when they cannot provide any evidence themselves. Why are vaccine safety studies being shut down, like the aluminum example mentioned in this article? What is going on here? It’s OK to question vaccines, do your own research, and think for yourself. It’s our right and obligation to defend our freedom of choice. The demand for Collective Evolution's content is bigger than ever, except ad agencies and social media keep cutting our revenues. This is making it hard for us to continue. In order to stay truly independent, we need your help. We are not going to put up paywalls on this website, as we want to get our info out far and wide. For as little as $3 a month, you can help keep CE alive!

Arjun Walia

https://www.collective-evolution.com/2019/06/04/glyphosate-autism-scientist-explains-the-indisputable-link-foods-that-reverse-autism-symptoms/

2019-06-04 04:00:15+00:00

science and technology

scientific research

collectiveevolution--2019-11-01--Anthropologists & Scientists Explain How Ancient Humans Were Predominantly Vegan

collectiveevolution

Anthropologists & Scientists Explain How Ancient Humans Were Predominantly Vegan

There are many experts in the fields of anthropology, biology and all other sciences who have been creating awareness about the fact that ancient humans were not big meat eaters as they’ve been portrayed to be by mainstream education. This begs the question, where did this idea come from? Sure, sharp stone tools and canines like the ones found on a Gorilla, who by the way is vegan, may have led to assumptions that have perpetuated for many years, but in my opinion the answer is quite clear: big food marketing. Big food companies, like big pharmaceutical companies, have tremendous amounts of power, especially over our federal health regulatory agencies. As a result, we’ve literally been brainwashed into thinking our current recommended food guides are actually healthy and backed by science and history. Perhaps we’ve been misled, and new information and methods of testing are helping to shatter these assumptions that have been ingrained into human consciousness for a long time. Recent advances in technology and science have discovered that microscopic fossils of plant foods are abundant at various sites of ancient humans, indicating a vegan diet. Furthermore, dental, bone, DNA, and ancient human fecal analysis have shown considerable evidence that many of these people ate mostly plants. One of these experts is Dr. Christina Warinner (seen in the picture above), who earned her Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2010 and received her postdoctoral training at the University of Zurich (2010-2012) and the University of Oklahoma (2012-2014). She became a Presidential Research Professor and Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Oklahoma in 2014, and is currently a Leader in Microbiome Sciences at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. Her work has led to some very interesting findings and conclusions: She goes deeper in her presentation at the 2016 International Conference on Nutrition in Medicine. She brings up various points, going into her research analysis of ancient gut micro-biomes and more. She also brings up the fact that our digestive systems are clearly constructed to digest plants and fibres that require a longer processing time, not meat. They are much longer than those of meat-eating animals, and the fact that no adaptations exist within our digestive system to consume animal flesh is a crucial point. There are many facts that Dr. Warinner points to in her research, like how humans cannot produce their own vitamin C, which is one of many factors indicating just how reliant we are on plant foods for certain vitamins. There is nothing essential within meat that cannot be found within plant foods. Some may point towards vitamin B12, but B12 isn’t made by animals. B12 is made by bacteria that all animals consume. It’s found in the soil and in water. It’s the same as protein, as all protein originates from plant sources, which is how the animals that people eat actually acquire their protein in the first place. Before industrial farming, humans and animals got their B12 from the traces of dirt found on plant foods or by drinking water from freshwater lakes, rivers, and streams. As a result of pesticides polluting our waterways, forcing us to chlorinate our water among other things, the B12 bacteria originally in water has been killed off for the most part. Even farm animals are required to take B12 supplements. Both meat eaters and vegetarians/vegans are commonly found to be low in B12–it has nothing to do with eating meat. Another common argument is that we need to eat meat for essential amino acids. This is simply false, as there are multiple plant sources where we can get all of our required amino acids. Gradual increases in brain sizes of early humans have also been attributed to meat, but research is showing that “because there is not a very strong match between meat consumption and gradual increases in brain size, scientists have looked to other options. And given that plant foods are such an important part of modern humans that hunt and gather foods, the money is on plant foods and shift in the kinds of plant foods as being the major driving factor in increasing brain size.” – Nathaniel J. Dominy Just looking and studying human anatomy, again, it seems we are built to eat plants, and “substantial evidence shows that the ancestral lineage that led to humans had a plant-based diet.” (source) The bottom line is that most ancient humans, and human-like creatures, were predominately vegan. Some ate meat, but many didn’t. For example, Neanderthals in Spain ate no meat at all, according to a study published by Nature. That being said, even if some did eat meat, there were none that had a diet that was predominate in meat. One group of researchers published a study in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology which stated: An article by Rob Dunn written for Scientific American titled “Human Ancestors Were Nearly All Vegetarians” goes into greater detail about this issue, from an evolutionary perspective, bringing up multiple points about how our guts evolved to stick to a vegetarian diet. A great article I like to point people towards comes from University of Utah geochemist Thure Cerling, who spearheaded a set of fairly recent new studies that show how early humans and their ancestors and relatives made a surprising dietary switch some 3.5 million years ago, changing from an ape-like diet of mostly leaves and fruits and shrubs to a grass-based diet of grasses and sedges. He gives a great timeline and overview, which you can read here. I’m just trying to hammer home the fact that it’s been strongly established in scientific literature that ancient human-like ‘ancestors’ predominately ate plant-based diets. SEE our articles and take on the theory of evolution. Another Reason We Are Not Designed To Eat Meat: The Health Consequences of Doing So Take milk, for example. The majority of people on the planet are lactose intolerant for a reason. In some parts of the world, lactose intolerance is as high as 90 to 100 percent of the population. (source) Humans are the only species to drink milk after weaning and the only species to drink the milk of another animal. Have we been fooled by big food marketing? Why are global food guides changing to a more plant-based foundation? It’s because things are changing. A recent study conducted by researchers in California and France found that meat protein is associated with a very sharp increased risk of heart disease, while protein from nuts and seeds is actually beneficial for the human heart. The study is titled “Patterns of plant and animal protein intake are strongly associated with cardiovascular mortality: The Adventist Health Study-2 cohort.” It was a joint project between researchers from Loma Linda University School of Public Health in California and AgroParisTech and the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique in Paris, France. It was published in the International Journal of Epidemiology. The researchers found that people who ate large amounts of meat protein, which is a daily norm for many people, represented a portion of the human population that would experience a 60 percent increase in cardiovascular disease (CVD), while people who consumed large amounts of protein from nuts and seeds actually experienced a 40 percent reduction in CVD. 81,000 participants were analyzed for this study. The authors emphasized that they, as well as their colleagues, have long suspected that the protein from nuts and seeds protects against heart and vascular disease, while protein from meat, especially red meats, increases your risk. They were right. While underconsumption of protein is harmful to the body, overconsumption comes with risks as well. In the United States, the average omnivore gets more than 1.5 times the optimal amount of protein, and most of that protein is from animal sources. This is bad news because excess protein is often stored as fat. This stored animal protein contributes to weight gain, heart disease, diabetes, inflammation, and cancer. But again, this is only from animal protein. A 2015 study published in Cell Metabolism is one of multiple studies that points out: Increases in 1GF1, which also goes way down during fasting, is correlated with a number of diseases. Again, protein increases it, but, as the study above states, “these associations were either abolished or attenuated if the source of proteins was plant-based.” Multiple studies have shown the difference between animal protein and plant protein. Another great example comes from Colin Campbell, a Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University, whose experiments on laboratory rats showed cancer cell growth can be turned on or off by simply varying the amount of animal protein included in their diet. This was an enormous discovery, with implications to the diets of millions of people. His results, from what’s known as the “China Study,” have proven to be replicable. This trend is gaining more scientific inquiry as popularity grows. At least 542,000 people in Britain now follow a vegan diet – up from 150,000 in 2006 – and another 521,000 vegetarians hope to reduce their consumption of animal products. It is evident that veganism has become one of the fastest growing lifestyle choices. (Source #2) A more recent study conducted by researchers at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital followed more than 130,000 people for 36 years, monitoring illnesses, lifestyles, diets and mortality rates. They found that substituting between 15g and 19g of animal protein, the equivalent of a single sausage, for legumes, pulses, nuts and other planet protein, significantly decreased the risk of early death. In America alone, approximately 40% of the population is pre-diabetic. This translates to millions of people. Multiple studies have shown that red and processed meats (also recently linked to cancer by the WHO), as well as animal protein in general, increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. In omnivore populations, the risk of diabetes is doubled compared with vegans. Another study found that eating meat once a week or more over a 17-year period increased the risk of diabetes by a startling 74%. A follow up study was conducted and found that increasing red meat intake by more than just half a serving per day was closely associated with an almost 50% increased risk of contracting diabetes over four years. Eating meat specifically increases your chances of having elevated levels of inflammation in your body, which can lead to a number of short-term and long-term health consequences. Chronic inflammation has been linked to atherosclerosis, heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, and autoimmune diseases, among other problems. Plant-based diets, on the other hand, are naturally anti-inflammatory. This is because they offer lower inflammatory triggers (versus the saturated fat, endotoxins, and other toxins released from bacteria found in animal foods). Multiple studies have shown that those who switch to a plant-based diet can dramatically lower their level of C-reactive protein (CRP), an indicator of inflammation in the body. Another big risk factor for heart problems is high blood cholesterol. Saturated fat, primarily found in meat, cheese, poultry, and various other animal products, dramatically influences our blood cholesterol levels. Yet when people switch to plant-based diets, their blood cholesterol drops significantly, as several studies have shown. Studies have confirmed that plant foods help shape a healthy intestinal microbiome. This is just another reason (out of many) why scientists and health professionals are becoming big advocates for plant-based diets. The fibre found in plant foods helps promote the good bacteria that’s needed in our guts. Dairy, eggs, and meat, on the other hand, help foster the growth of disease-causing bacteria. “Landmark studies have shown that when omnivores eat choline or carnitine (found in meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, and dairy), gut bacteria make a substance that is converted by our liver to a toxic product called TMAO. TMAO leads to worsening cholesterol plaques in our blood vessels and escalates the risk of heart attack and stroke. Interestingly, people eating plant-based diets make little or no TMAO after a meat-containing meal, because they have a totally different gut microbiome. It takes only a few days for our gut bacterial patterns to change – the benefits of a plant-based diet start quickly!” The information presented in this article is only a fraction of the knowledge out there. It’s quite clear that the majority of people who roamed the Earth before us ate a lot of plants, and for some reason that’s been left out of history. It’s also quite clear that the dominating consensus with regards to overall human health is that a plant-based diet is best, especially for combating multiple diseases, while animal-based diets do the exact opposite, not to mention destroy our planet. Furthermore, many animals are suffering, it’s an industry that’s completely devoid of compassion and empathy, factors that need to return to Earth. At the end of the day this is just information ,and in some cases, when it comes to diet, many people can have a strong reaction, especially if the information goes against what they’ve believed for many years. It’s best to keep an open mind.

Arjun Walia

https://www.collective-evolution.com/2019/11/01/anthropologists-scientists-explain-how-ancient-humans-were-predominately-vegan/

Fri, 01 Nov 2019 14:32:23 +0000

science and technology

scientific research

sputnik--2019-01-27--Earths Oldest Known Rock Found on Moon - Scientists Explain How It Got There

sputnik

Earth’s Oldest Known Rock Found on Moon - Scientists Explain How It Got There

The rock is presumed to be the oldest known rock, formed around the same time our planet was formed, according to an analysis in Earth and Planetary Science Letters. Until this discovery, the oldest known rocks were around 2 billion years old. This rock was formed between 4 and 4.1 billion years ago, about 12.4 miles beneath the Earth’s crust, yet the most curious thing about it that it was found far beyond our planet’s surface – on the Moon. The rock was among the samples discovered by the Apollo 14 crew. The Apollo missions brought back a whole bunch of rock samples, and scientists have been methodically analyzing them ever since. This particular rock was at the end of the list, yet it appeared to be the most interesting. NASA’s Center for Lunar Science and Exploration (CLSE) have identified this small specimen as terrestrial due to it containing a number of various minerals like quartz and feldspar, which are common on Earth but rare on the Moon. It was possible to determine how deep beneath the earth the rock had been with the use of molecular analysis. There is a possibility that this rock could have formed on the Moon, but it is very low. The rock, unlike other Moon rock samples, is made of an extremely high amount of earth minerals and an extremely low amount of minerals commonly found on our planet’s natural satellite. Moreover, it would have to have been formed in the Moon’s core and then somehow appear on the surface. Before the discovery, there were only guesses as to what the early Earth’s rocks looked like, but now scientists have something to work with. And there is a good chance that this is not the only part of our Earth on the moon’s surface. David Kring, CLSE principal investigator and a senior author of the recently published journal article, said that the next step is to look for similar mineral signatures in lunar samples to find more relics from the younger Earth. “It is an extraordinary find that helps paint a better picture of early Earth and the bombardment that modified our planet during the dawn of life,” Kring said in a statement, cited by Vice.

https://sputniknews.com/science/201901271071853864-earth-oldest-rock-moon/

2019-01-27 00:46:00+00:00

science and technology

scientific research

sputnik--2019-08-10--How to Predict Volcanic Eruptions Italian Scientist Explains

sputnik

How to Predict Volcanic Eruptions? Italian Scientist Explains

Sputnik spoke to Mauro Di Vito, a volcanologist and researcher at the “Vesuvius Observatory” (“Osservatorio vesuviano”) section of the INGV (the world’s oldest volcano observatory), to find out how the discovery will help those living in highest-risk volcanic areas. Sputnik: What is the new study about? Mauro Di Vito: The objective of the study was to create a model that will consider all the changes to a caldera that influence the position of eruptive vents. In large volcanoes, such as the Campi Flegrei caldera, eruptions don’t always occur in the central mouth, but can occur along the sides of the caldera or in areas other than the previous ones. The model that we’ve created takes into account the changes in the volcano’s structure over time, as well as previous eruptions. The important thing is to understand how this affects the position of new eruptive vents. Sputnik: Why is it so difficult to predict an eruption? Mauro Di Vito: The model we are talking about doesn’t predict volcanic eruptions, but determines the position of eruptive vents. There are other systems to study the moment when the eruption takes place. Our model serves to predict where a future eruption can occur in a volcano. Let’s take the example of the Phlegraean Fields (Campi Flegrei) – there are so many eruptions there; the magma could rise in different parts of the volcano. If the volcano were uninhabited, there would be no danger. But part of it is in Naples, with some areas located on the volcano. Sputnik: Your study was initially based on the Phlegraean Fields situation. What is the current situation in this dangerous volcanic area? Has any evacuation plan been developed? Mauro Di Vito: An emergency plan has been developed and in October there will be a civil defence drill that will include an evacuation from the municipality of Pozzuoli, which is located in the centre of the volcano. It means that the scientific community is able to react to a possible eruption and warn people about it. The authorities should be able to implement all measures to reduce the risk to the population. Even though it will be an emergency training exercise, it will help understand where the main problems are and what elements of the plan should be modified. After all, we are talking about 350,000 inhabitants. Sputnik: What are the next steps in your study? Mauro Di Vito: We want to create hazard maps for all volcanoes, where we’ll mark the opening of eruptive vents. Let’s take Etna – understanding where the eruption will occur means better prediction of the course of the lava flow or better understanding where an explosive eruption will originate. We want to obtain the most reliable hazard maps possible with all the parameters taken into consideration. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Mauro Di Vito and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Sputnik.

https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201908101076515755-how-to-predict-volcanic-eruptions-italian-scientist-explains/

2019-08-10 06:01:00+00:00

science and technology

scientific research

sputnik--2019-11-18--Scientists Reveal Link Between Dark Matter and Antimatter That Could Explain Existence of Universe

sputnik

Scientists Reveal Link Between Dark Matter and Antimatter That Could Explain Existence of Universe

An experiment led by the Fundamental Symmetries Laboratory at Japanese research institution Riken has explored whether dark matter, itself a mystery in cosmology, could be the cause of the dominance of matter over antimatter. Dark matter is a form of mass and energy that doesn’t interact with light while existing almost everywhere in our universe, making it undetectable in astronomical observations. Hypothetically, if dark matter interacts differently with matter and antimatter, it could produce the imbalance between the two, creating the right conditions for matter to exist without being annihilated by antimatter – this is the theory deduced by collaborators from the international BASE project (Baryon Antibaryon Symmetry Experiment). The scientists designed an experiment to detect interactions between antimatter and a hypothetical axion particle, which is one of many proposed candidates for what dark matter is made of, publishing their findings on Wednesday in Nature. Using a specially designed device, researchers trapped a single antiproton (the antiparticle of the photon, the particle form of light) and kept it isolated to avoid annihilation through interacting with a photon. They measured a property of the antiproton which should be constant, postulating that observed fluctuations could be the result of dark matter axions. Axions were originally proposed to explain a different asymmetry problem in particle physics, and later also suggested as a potential candidate for dark matter. Although the expected axion effect on the antiproton was not observed, Christian Smorra, lead author of the study and researcher at Riken Fundamental Symmetries Laboratory, said the experiment nonetheless made progress in determining what dark matter-antimatter interactions might look like. Despite the doubts that axions are the best candidate for dark matter, they could potentially explain other mysteries in physics, like antimatter/matter asymmetry, and have a large part to play in which theory of dark matter scientists choose to explore. If axions were to interact differently with matter and antimatter, Morrissey said, it would violate an important law of physics called CPT symmetry (charge, parity, and time reversal symmetry). An alternative theory is “Asymmetric Dark Matter," Morrissey said, which preserves CPT symmetry and also explains the dominance of matter over antimatter as a consequence of dark matter interactions. But instead of the same dark matter having different effects on matter and antimatter, it proposes two types of dark matter: dark matter and anti-dark matter. The theory also predicts an excess of dark matter over anti-dark matter in the universe. However, according to Morrissey, the Riken experiment is still world-leading irrespective of whether it reveals anything about axion-antimatter interactions.

https://sputniknews.com/science/201911181077335005-scientists-reveal-link-between-dark-matter-antimatter/

Mon, 18 Nov 2019 06:52:40 +0300

science and technology

scientific research

adobochronicles--2019-02-27--Pope Francis On Feminism Babae Ako Movement

adobochronicles

Pope Francis On Feminism, ‘Babae Ako’ Movement

THE VATICAN (The Adobo Chronicls, Rome Bureau) – Pope Francis was quoted today as saying that feminism is “machismo with a skirt.” The Pontiff’s comment didn’t sit well with Mae Paner, a.k.a. Juana Change who was among the poster girls in the “Babae Ako” movement launched last year. The Babae Ako movement (  I’m a Woman movement; stylized as #BabaeAko) is a women’s rights movement in the Philippines. It was launched on May 20, 2018 as a social media campaign when twelve women of various political persuasions got together to launch a public campaign calling out what they perceived as anti-women remarks made by President Duterte. The social media campaign eventually took the form of live protests later held under the movement. The founders of the movement were included among the “25 Most Influential People on the Internet in 2018” list by Time Magazine. When informed about Paner’s displeasure and shown photos of the Philippine movement, Pope Francis, through an interpreter, said that based on the photos he’s seen, the “Babae Ako” movement should be renamed “Mukhang Lalake Kami” movement.

Pol Pinoy

https://adobochronicles.com/2019/02/26/pope-francis-on-feminism-babae-ako-movement/

2019-02-27 02:24:06+00:00

religion and belief

religious leader

bbc--2019-01-06--Pope Francis urges end to migrant boat deadlock

bbc

Pope Francis urges end to migrant boat deadlock

Pope Francis has appealed to European leaders to show "concrete solidarity" and allow 49 migrants aboard two ships in the Mediterranean to land. Issuing a "heartfelt appeal" in a public address in the Vatican, the Pope said the migrants needed "a safe port". Both Italy and Malta have refused to allow the two ships to land. Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said it could set a "precedent", while Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio called on Malta to "do its part". "I make a heartfelt appeal to European leaders to show concrete solidarity for these people," the Pope told about 60,000 people in the Vatican's St Peter's Square in an Epiphany feast day address. The Dutch-registered vessel Sea-Watch 3, operated by a German humanitarian group, picked up 32 of the migrants off Libya on 22 December while Sea-Eye - a second ship run by a different German charity - rescued another 17 people on 29 December. Malta has allowed the two ships to enter its waters for supplies and to shelter from bad weather, but refused to let them dock. "This is an issue that might set a precedent and we should be vigilant about it," Prime Minster Muscat said before the Pope's appeal, accusing critics of acting as "the Christmas saint" while refusing to take in the migrants themselves. Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Di Maio meanwhile said Italy had been taking in migrants for years and the time had come for Malta to take in some ships. The country's new populist government has cracked down on immigration, passing a decree to make it easier to deport migrants and strip them of Italian citizenship in September. Italy has refused private humanitarian ships to dock in the past, including the Doctors Without Borders vessel Aquarius. The country's Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, of the right-wing League party, has demanded more help from other EU countries to tackle the issue. Charities and UN agencies have called on European leaders to take in the vessels as they wait in the Mediterranean. The UN's refugee agency has tweeted that it is concerned for the safety of those who try dangerous sea crossings when there are "limited" legal routes for them to take.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-46777844

2019-01-06 23:56:11+00:00

religion and belief

religious leader

bbc--2019-02-03--Pope Francis arrives on historic visit to UAE

bbc

Pope Francis arrives on historic visit to UAE

Pope Francis has arrived in the United Arab Emirates for the first ever visit by a pontiff to the Arabian peninsula. He landed in Abu Dhabi where he was greeted by Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan. The Pope will take part in an interfaith conference and on Tuesday hold Mass in which 120,000 people are expected to attend. Before leaving he expressed concern about the war in Yemen, in which the UAE is engaged. "The population [in Yemen] is exhausted by the lengthy conflict and a great many children are suffering from hunger, but cannot access food depots," the Pope said. "The cry of these children and their parents rises up to God," he said. It is not clear whether the Pope plans to raise the issue in public or in private while visiting the UAE. The UAE is involved in Yemen as part of a Saudi-led coalition. The UAE is home to nearly a million Roman Catholics, most of them from the Philippines or India. Some have been queuing for passes for Tuesday's Mass. One told AFP news agency the Pope's visit "opens doors for conversations about tolerance that the whole world needs to hear". In a video message on Thursday, the Pope said: "Faith in God unites and does not divide, it draws us closer despite differences, it distances us from hostilities and aversion." He paid tribute to the UAE as "a land that is trying to be a model of coexistence, of human brotherhood, and a meeting place among diverse civilisations and cultures". While in Abu Dhabi, the Pope will also hold a meeting with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Cairo's al-Azhar mosque, which is the highest seat of learning for Sunni Muslims. BBC Arabic's Murad Batal Shishani, who is in Abu Dhabi, says the Vatican hopes that the Pope's visit might loosen restrictions on the building of churches in the region, particularly in neighbouring Saudi Arabia where non-Muslim places of worship are forbidden. Vatican officials say they need a stronger Church presence in the UAE to minister to the Catholic community there. "We are really stretched. We need more churches. We need more priests," one official was quoted by Reuters as saying.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-47106204

2019-02-03 20:05:40+00:00

religion and belief

religious leader

bbc--2019-03-31--Pope Francis visits Morocco

bbc

Pope Francis visits Morocco

Pope Francis has visited Morocco on his latest trip to a predominantly Muslim state. He met migrants and Muslim leaders, and held a Mass for the country's small Roman Catholic community. The Pope celebrated Mass in a sports centre in the Moroccan capital Rabat on Sunday. Speaking in Rabat's cathedral, the pontiff warned Catholics against trying to convert people to their own belief, saying this "always leads to an impasse". "Please, no proselytising," he told the audience. On Saturday the Pope met migrants when he visited a centre run by the Catholic humanitarian organisation Caritas. "The issue of migration will never be resolved by raising barriers," he had said in a speech earlier. On Saturday, the Pope was welcomed to Morocco by King Mohammed VI.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-47767224

2019-03-31 15:06:10+00:00

religion and belief

religious leader

bbc--2019-05-05--Pope Francis begins visit to Orthodox Bulgaria and North Macedonia

bbc

Pope Francis begins visit to Orthodox Bulgaria and North Macedonia

Pope Francis has begun a three-day visit to Bulgaria and North Macedonia aimed partly at improving relations with the Orthodox Church. The Pope met Orthodox leaders in Bulgaria on Sunday, but they had already rejected taking part in joint services or prayers with him. The Vatican has long been pushing for unity between the two branches of Christianity, which split in 1054. The two Balkan countries have tiny Catholic communities. The pontiff's arrival in Bulgaria on Sunday marked the first visit by a pope to the country in 17 years. The trip to North Macedonia will be the first by a pope and comes just months after the country ended a decades-long dispute with Greece by changing its name, and as it votes for a new president. Central to the Balkan trip is the Vatican's desire to heal the 1,000-year-old schism that has divided Christianity. The Pope met Orthodox Patriarch Neofit and visited an Orthodox cathedral in the capital, Sofia, on Sunday. But the Bulgarian Orthodox Church rejected the idea of joining prayers or services with him. In a statement last month, it explained its position, saying that the invitation for the Pope's visit was made by state authorities. In what is being viewed as an effort not to upset other Orthodox churches, the Pope is not expected to meet privately with North Macedonian Orthodox Primate Stephen in his upcoming visit. The Macedonian Orthodox Church declared its independence, or autocephaly, in 1967 but has not been recognised by other Orthodox churches. Aside from moves to heal the rift with the Orthodox Church, the pontiff will meet the Balkan countries' minority Catholic communities. Sister Elka Staneva, a nun in Rakovski, Bulgaria's largest predominantly Roman Catholic town, described the excitement there ahead of the visit. "It is a great joy, a great spiritual experience, a feast of faith for the whole community here in Rakovski as well as for the whole country," she told Reuters. There are an estimated 58,000 Catholics in Bulgaria and 15,000 in North Macedonia. Speaking at the presidential palace in Sofia on Sunday, Pope Francis addressed the issue of low birth rates and high levels of emigration in Bulgaria. "Bulgaria, like so many other countries of Europe, must deal with what can only be called a new winter: the demographic winter that has descended like an ice curtain on a large part of Europe, the consequence of a diminished confidence in the future," he said. The Pope called on Bulgaria to "strive to create conditions that lead young people to invest their youthful energies and plan their future, as individuals and families, knowing that in their homeland they can have the possibility of leading a dignified life." He also urged government officials "not to close your eyes, your hearts or your hands" to migrants. Bulgaria is the European Union's poorest member state, and has seen some two million people leave the country since the fall of communism in search of new opportunities and better living standards.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-48167804

2019-05-05 11:21:48+00:00

religion and belief

religious leader

fortruss--2019-01-31--Patriarch Kirill affirms political neutrality of the Russian Orthodox Church

fortruss

Patriarch Kirill affirms political neutrality of the Russian Orthodox Church

MOSCOW – The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) will not support any political forces, said Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia on Thursday, January 31, at a meeting with journalists dedicated to the tenth anniversary of his ascension to the patriarchal throne. “We should not expect any political program or support of any political forces, pro-government or opposition, from us,” Kirill said, adding that the ROC will not turn into a political force that serves the interests of only a part of society, reports TASS . The patriarch added that he did not support the multi-party political system. In his opinion, the party division contributes to the division of society into parts with different political orientations. The church seeks to reach agreement and consensus on the most important public issues and openly speaks of its position, Kirill concluded. On January 25, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia called the practice of abortion sinful in cases where deviations in the development of the fetus are revealed. He added that the presence of abortions in the compulsory health insurance system encourages the killing of unborn children, and the church opposes this, as it considers each embryo as a person.

Joaquin Flores

https://www.fort-russ.com/2019/01/patriarch-kirill-affirms-political-neutrality-of-the-russian-orthodox-church/

2019-01-31 08:48:08+00:00

religion and belief

religious leader

sottnet--2019-02-14--Church and state equal partners for the first time in history - Russian Patriarch Kirill

sottnet

Church and state equal partners 'for the first time in history' - Russian Patriarch Kirill

On February 1, 2009, Patriarch Kirill officially became Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus and Primate of the Orthodox Church.The Russian Orthodox Church builds equal dialogue and shares common goals with the Russian state, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia stated on Thursday during a ceremony held at the State Kremlin Palace and timed to the tenth anniversary of his enthronement.the patriarch said."And I would even dare say that for the first time in Russia's history, such a relationship has established itself between the Church and the state. Because even in the times of the Russian Empire, the church did not have an equal partner in the face of the government.," he added.According to the Russian patriarch, today's dialogue between the church and the stateThe patriarch thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was present at the ceremony, as well as the Russian government and Russian officials for the successful establishment of dialogue between the church and the state, "held in a friendly and open environment."On February 1, 2009, Patriarch Kirill officially became Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus and Primate of the Orthodox Church. Celebrations in honor of the tenth anniversary of this date will be held in Moscow. Representatives of local Orthodox churches are expected to attend the celebrations, along with members of the Roman Catholic Church, Protestant denominations and Muslim organizations.

https://www.sott.net/article/407197-Church-and-state-equal-partners-for-the-first-time-in-history-Russian-Patriarch-Kirill

2019-02-14 10:58:08+00:00

religion and belief

religious leader

tass--2019-01-06--Patriarch Kirill calls for kindness on Orthodox Christmas

tass

Patriarch Kirill calls for kindness on Orthodox Christmas

### Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia © Sergey Bobylev/TASS MOSCOW, January 7. /TASS/. Christmas is a good reason for giving love, care and attention to surrounding people, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia reiterated in his televised address on the coming of one of the main Orthodox Christian holidays. "There must be someone beside you who needs your support. Christmas is a great opportunity to show one's best human qualities and bestow joy and love on people. Even small deeds can make this world kinder and brighter. Anyone can do it, as God is with us," he said. The patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church reiterated that society was always built on the principles of division and called for the fight against these sinful aspects. "Human society was always built on the principles of division: the lucky and the unlucky, the happy and the unhappy, the smart and the narrow-minded, the rich and the poor. This list can be long. We, Christians, understand that the imperfection of the world is the consequence of the sin, so it is necessary to fight against not just the external reason for this illness, but with its internal aspects all the more," the patriarch of Moscow and All Russia noted. He highlighted that to Jesus Christ each person is equally valuable, irrespective of his income and social position. "By his birth Christ shows that material conditions are not important to God. He descends to birth in a stable, lying beside animals. He equally accepts simple gifts from poor shepherds and royal gifts from wise men from the east," the patriarch said. "Let Christmas inspire you to kind deeds, and let the born Savior’s blessing and help be with you in your life. May God keep you safe," patriarch Kirill said. In other media

http://tass.com/society/1039061

2019-01-06 21:34:12+00:00

religion and belief

religious leader

tass--2019-02-03--Religion is often used to manipulate public conscience says Patriarch Kirill

tass

Religion is often used to manipulate public conscience, says Patriarch Kirill

# An error occurred. Sorry, the page you are looking for is currently unavailable. Please try again later. If you are the system administrator of this resource then you should check the [error log](http://nginx.org/r/error_log) for details. _Faithfully yours, nginx._

http://tass.com/society/1043049

2019-02-03 15:34:46+00:00

religion and belief

religious leader

tass--2019-07-28--Patriarch Kirill leads Holy Cross Procession marking Christianization of Kievan Rus

tass

Patriarch Kirill leads Holy Cross Procession marking Christianization of Kievan Rus

Moscow, July 28./TASS/. Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill led the Holy Cross Procession to the Monument to Vladimir the Great on Moscow’s central Borovitskaya Square after a prayer service at the Kremlin’s Assumption Cathedral earlier on Sunday. Prince Vladimir [b. circa 960, d. 1015], the ruler of Novogorod from 970 through 988 and of Kiev from 988 through 1015, who brought the Orthodox Christian faith from Constantinople to Kiev, was canonized as an equal to the Apostles. Tradition based on olden Russian chronicles suggest the baptism took place in 988. The Orthodox communities around the world mark Day of Christianization of Rus on July 28.

https://tass.com/society/1070740

2019-07-28 11:36:57+00:00

religion and belief

religious leader

bonginoreport--2019-12-22--2016 Flashback: Economists Predicted Trump Presidency Would Tank the Markets

bonginoreport

2016 Flashback: Economists Predicted Trump Presidency Would Tank the Markets

NEW YORK — Wall Street is set up for a major crash if Donald Trump shocks the world on Election Day and wins the White House. New research out on Friday suggests that financial markets strongly prefer a Hillary Clinton presidency and could react with panicked selling should Trump defy the polls and deliver a shocking upset on Nov. 8. “Wall Street clearly prefers a Clinton win certainly from the prospective of equity prices,” said Dartmouth College’s Eric Zitzewitz, one of the authors of the new study along with the University of Michigan’s Justin Wolfers. “You saw Clinton win the first debate and her odds jumped and stocks moved right along with it. Should Trump somehow manage to win you could see major Brexit-style selling.” Stock prices around the world tanked over the summer when British voters surprised pundits and voted in favor of pulling the country out of the European Union. Trump himself now talks about his own upset prospects as “another Brexit.” The report also shows where investors around the world are making big money on the 2016 campaign. Traders betting on the Mexican peso to take a beating under a President Trump, who has promised a trade crackdown, have lost big following debates in which Clinton did well. After hitting new lows against the dollar during Trump’s rise to the GOP nomination, the peso has spiked higher following the debates and after the release of the audiotape showing Trump making disparaging remarks about women. The Trump effect also shows up for traders betting on market volatility. Futures contracts for the VIX index, which tracks market volatility, fell sharply during the first debate, suggesting investors expect much less volatility under a Clinton White House than a Trump White House. Oil prices rose during the first debate and gold fell. Gold tends to be a safe haven when investors are worried about possible economic and financial instability. And oil tends to go up when investors expect stronger economic growth and more demand for energy. Traders and money managers betting on a Clinton win could wind up in trouble if the outcome goes the other way. Michael Obuchowski of Merlin Asset Management has watched every move in the campaign closely— including all the WikiLeaks email dumps on Clinton — and made two calls based on it: that Clinton will win and that she won’t go as far left as some investors initially feared. “I always assumed Trump would eventually collapse so that meant staying in equities and going away from certain high-dividend stocks assuming Clinton is going to win and try and tax those dividends at a higher rate,” he said. “And I watched all the WikiLeaks and they are positive from an investment perspective especially for bank stocks because it looks like her moves left were more in response to Bernie Sanders rather than her actual beliefs.” The new report suggests that the stock market is worth 11 percent more under a Clinton presidency than a Trump presidency. This is a highly unusual circumstance because markets historically prefer Republican policies on taxes, regulation and trade to those of Democrats. And while Trump has pledged to rip up free trade deals and slap tariffs on imports, he has also pledged massive tax cuts on individuals and businesses, policies that Wall Street investors usually embrace. Current market action is the direct reverse of what happened in 2012 when President Barack Obama was running for reelection against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. When Romney clearly beat Obama in the first debate, markets rallied. The study looked at presidential races dating back to 1880 and found that markets typically preferred the GOP nominee. The difference has been narrowing over the years. Until 2016. Investors now clearly back a Clinton presidency and by a large margin. The Trump effect is also global. Britain’s FTSE 100 traced U.S. stock prices higher following the first debate. Currencies in Canada, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand — all major U.S. trading partners — tend to rise when it appears Clinton is doing well and headed to victory. “All told, these movements suggest that financial markets expect a generally healthier domestic and international economy under a President Clinton than under a President Trump,” Wolfers and Zitzewitz write in their new paper. But there is also evidence that Wall Street investors playing the 2016 election for profit have largely already made their money. U.S. equity prices showed little movement after the third debate, which scientific polls also suggest Clinton won handily. The Mexican peso spiked again in the moments after the debate ended. But it sagged lower on Thursday suggesting that the dollar-peso trade is no longer a big play for Wall Street. Online betting markets are now pricing in an over 80 percent chance that Clinton wins. Betting site PaddyPower is so certain that Clinton will win that it is already paying out $1.1 million to investors who bought contracts betting on the Democratic nominee. “At this point, even though the odds are so high that it’s all but certain Clinton wins, it’s best to hedge right now,” said Christopher Vecchio, currency analyst at DailyFX. “Maybe look at some short options or look at dollar-Mexican peso longs to hedge off the risk.” This also suggests that a shock Trump victory next month could crush stock prices, perhaps by as much as 10 percent, and send the peso and other currencies sharply lower while ushering in a period of intense market volatility as investors try and discern how Trump would govern and whether he would make good on his pledge to start trade wars with Mexico and China and deport 11 million current undocumented immigrants. “You would see incredible pressure on stock prices if Trump wins and everyone flooding into rare metals like gold and into bonds” in the U.S., Germany and the United Kingdom, said Erik Jones, professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Jones said the depth of markets for so-called “safe haven” assets could be severely tested should Trump win. “The gold markets are just not deep enough to hold this much scare,” he said. Overall, the authors of the new paper envision a massive global market shock should Trump win. “Given the magnitude of the price movements, we estimate that market participants believe that a Trump victory would reduce the value of the S&P 500, the UK, and Asian stock markets by 10-15%,” they write and “would reduce the oil price by $4, would lead to a 25% decline in the Mexican Peso, and would significantly increase expected future stock market volatility.” There remains one bright spot for Wall Street should Trump shock the world. In the immediate aftermath, investors could bet on high volatility in stocks and a sharp rise in gold and other safe havens. And then they could bet on a recovery as occurred in the weeks following the Brexit vote. “You could bet on an initial adverse reaction and a bounce back after the initial shock,” said Gregory Daco of Oxford Economics. “But that would require you to take the risk that he does actually tone down some of his positions.”

Matt Palumbo

https://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/donald-trump-wall-street-effect-markets-230164

Sun, 22 Dec 2019 19:45:53 +0000

science and technology

social sciences

cnsnews--2019-06-19--Economist Who Predicted 2008 Economic Crisis Warns of 2020 Recession Risk

cnsnews

Economist Who Predicted 2008 Economic Crisis Warns of 2020 Recession Risk

Economist Nouriel Roubini, who foresaw the 2008 world economic crisis, is now warning about the growing risk of a 2020 recession. In 2018, he had identified 10 potential downside risks with his colleague Brunello Rosa, risks that they believe could trigger a U.S. and global recession in 2020. Roubini, co-founder of the economic forecasting team Rosa & Roubini Associates in London,  was a senior economist for International Affairs in the White House's Council of Economic Advisers during the Clinton administration. He currently is a professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business and CEO of Roubini Macro Associates. On Sept. 7, 2006, Roubini warned about the potential economic crisis of 2008 while speaking to an audience of economists at the International Monetary Fund. His forecast proved correct, as the 2007-2008 financial crisis severely hurt the U.S. and world economy. In 2018, Roubini and Rosa said there were 10 factors that could trigger a global recession in 2020. Many of the factors involve the United States. In a recent commentary based on those factors, Roubini wrote, “Trade wars with China and other countries, along with restrictions on migration, foreign direct investment, and technology transfers, could have profound implications for global supply chains, raising the threat of stagflation (slowing growth alongside rising inflation).” Prohibiting Chinese firms from using U.S. components could trigger a process of de-globalization, he said.  “With the current tension already denting business, consumer, and investor confidence and slowing global growth, further escalation would trip the world into a recession,” said Roubini. China’s reaction to President Trump’s tariff restrictions could also hurt some multi-national companies in China, such as America’s Apple. “Both Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping know that it is in their countries’ interest to avoid a global crisis, so they have an incentive to find a compromise in the next few months,” said Roubini. “Yet both sides are still ratcheting up nationalist rhetoric and pursuing tit-for-tat measures.” “Trump and Xi each seem to think that his country’s long-term economic and national security may depend on his not blinking in the face of a new cold war,” said the economist. “And if they each genuinely believe the other will blink first, the risk of a ruinous clash is high indeed.” The other factors Roubini mentioned, in addition to the trade war, is China’s heavy debt and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest-rate policy. In Europe and Japan, central banks are already in negative-rate territory, said Roubini, and it seems clear that they cannot go much further down without triggering economic problems. In September 2018, Roubini wrote, “Trump was already attacking the Fed when the growth rate was recently 4%. Just think about how he will behave in the 2020 election year, when growth likely will have fallen below 1% and job losses emerge. The temptation for Trump to ‘wag the dog’ by manufacturing a foreign-policy crisis will be high, especially if the Democrats retake the House of Representatives this year,” which they did. “Since Trump has already started a trade war with China and wouldn’t dare attack nuclear-armed North Korea, his last best target would be Iran,” wrote Roubini.  “By provoking a military confrontation with that country, he would trigger a stagflationary geopolitical shock not unlike the oil-price spikes of 1973, 1979, and 1990. Needless to say, that would make the oncoming global recession even more severe.”

Ilona Schumicky

https://www.cnsnews.com/blog/ilona-schumicky/economist-who-predicted-2008-economic-crisis-warns-2020-recession-risk

2019-06-19 20:26:50+00:00

science and technology

social sciences

politicalwire--2019-08-20--Majority of Economists Predict Recession Before 2021

politicalwire

Majority of Economists Predict Recession Before 2021

Washington Post: “The outlook reflects growing skepticism among economists and investors that the U.S. economy will be able to withstand a protracted trade war with China without serious harm amid a weakening global outlook.” “The survey of 226 economists was conducted from July 14 to Aug. 1, before Trump announced the latest round of tariffs against China and before the last bout of market volatility. The report reinforced the pessimism seen earlier this year, illustrating that for many economists the question is not so much whether the U.S. economy will enter a recession but when.”

Taegan Goddard

https://politicalwire.com/2019/08/20/majority-of-economists-see-recession-before-2021/

2019-08-20 14:51:38+00:00

science and technology

social sciences

thedenverpost--2019-02-02--Analyst predicts US economic growth but at a slower pace in 2019 and 20

thedenverpost

Analyst predicts U.S. economic growth, but at a slower pace in 2019 and ’20

The U.S. stock market just finished its best January since 1987, employers added 304,000 jobs despite the prolonged government shutdown and the Federal Reserve plans to take a breather on interest rate hikes. None of that points to an economy about to roll over. But the country still faces several “showdowns” likely to slow down growth this year and next, predicted KC Matthews, chief investment officer with UMB Bank during a presentation Wednesday to Colorado clients. “Economic showdowns can negatively impact growth, stock prices and inflation,” said Matthews, who picked a Western theme for his forecast this year. The key showdowns include trade tensions, a tight labor market, and the political standoff in Washington, D.C. And further out, one huge desperado, escalating federal debt, will represent the toughest challenge the country has ever faced. The U.S. and China are trying to hammer out a trade deal, the one the U.S. argues is needed to eliminate unfair practices and give its exporters a chance to compete. The key will be to achieve that without tanking the world’s second-largest economy. The tight labor market represents another showdown. Shortages are so severe that they are impeding the ability of companies to expand. And rising wages, while good for consumers, could cause a trigger happy Federal Reserve to overreact and send interest rates too high, the most common cause of a recession. “It really looks like we are out of workers,” said Eric Kelley, UMB’s director of research. U.S. population growth has crawled to its slowest rate since 1937, young adults are having fewer children, and the population is graying. At the same time, the country is taking a much harder stance on immigration, reducing the number of outside workers available to fill openings. Matthews predicts GDP growth will move from around 3 percent in 2018 to between 2 percent to 2.4 percent this year and then down to 1.8 percent to 2.3 percent in 2020. As the pair were making their presentation, they predicted the Federal Reserve would not raise rates and announce a breather in tightening monetary policy, which it did, effectively putting its gun back in the holster. Kelley predicted the Fed would only hand out one more rate hike, this summer, and be done. “For the first time ever, they may do it right,” Kelley said of the Fed’s attempt to arrest an economic expansion without shooting it dead.

Aldo Svaldi

https://www.denverpost.com/2019/02/02/analyst-predicts-economic-growth-slower-pace/

2019-02-02 13:00:55+00:00

science and technology

social sciences

slate--2019-10-01--How to Think Like a Linguist

slate

How to Think Like a Linguist

What do linguists think about when they think about language? For starters, individual alphabets are relatively arbitrary. Let’s talk about “sounds” and “units of meaning.”

John H. McWhorter

https://slate.com/podcasts/lexicon-valley/2019/10/linguist-toolkit-ipa-phonemes-morphemes?via=rss

2019-10-01 14:40:05+00:00

science and technology

social sciences

sottnet--2019-01-14--Linguist explains Macrons hidden message to Yellow Vests

sottnet

Linguist explains Macron's hidden message to Yellow Vests

A stylistic and linguistic analysis of French President Emmanuel Macron's speeches conducted by linguist and author Helios Jaime indicates that the president is trying to calm the yellow vests down without offering any specific promises in response to their demands for reform.Speaking to Sputnik France , linguist and author Helios Jaime expressed doubt that French President Emmanuel Macron will pursue any changes in his domestic policies in the wake of the yellow vests protests Jaime carried out a stylistic and linguistic analysis of Macron's three speeches concerning the yellow vests protests: the one he delivered on 1 December 2018 in Argentina, his 10 December speech, as well as his response to the petition on fuel prices published on 20 December 2018 on Change.org.Before examining each of Macron's statements in detail, the linguist remarked that although the expression "yellow vests" had already entered the lexicon of the French, neither of these two words was used by the president in the aforementioned speeches.Citing Macron's Argentina address , the author drew attention to its ending: "I will always respect those who disagree and I will alwaysany dissent but I will never accept violence".The linguist highlighted that the president used verbs in the future tense, while the adverb "always" prolongs the perception evoked by Macron's words.Jaime also placed emphasis on the word "to hear" that was chosen by the president in contrast to the verb "to listen".In the first part of his speech , Emmanuel Macron "focused on the suppression of violence that, according to him, benefits opportunists and politicians, without specifying who these opportunists are, without naming specific parties and political leaders", the linguist noted.The president also "explained the fall in living standards by the policy pursued during the last 40 years", stressing that he wanted to change this "through reforms which were conducted during the 18 months of his presidency", the author noted.Jaime stressed.Additionally, the linguist pointed out that Macron "addressed [French] citizens almost individually, using the personal pronoun 'you' instead of the noun 'people'".Finally, the linguist highlighted several vague points in the French president's response to the Yellow Vests' petition on fuel prices.For instance, Macron noted that there would be no increase in electricity and gas prices during the winter. "Does this mean that they will rise at the end of winter?" Jaime asked. "Mr Macron did not specify anything."Then, he admitted that 'after 18 months of action, the ongoing reforms have not brought any tangible results'. But the fact that they are not perceptible enough does not imply that these reforms are erroneous. This could imply that his government would continue to adhere to the basic principles of the policy that caused the protests," the author presumed.Jaime concluded that Macron's "main message is the intention to suppress violence without specifying the means or naming the perpetrators". The French President "accepted the popular anger, which led to some concessions to yellow vests and an invitation to dialogue", the author continued.the linguist highlighted.

https://www.sott.net/article/404874-Linguist-explains-Macrons-hidden-message-to-Yellow-Vests

2019-01-14 11:58:30+00:00

science and technology

social sciences

sputnik--2019-01-12--Three Speeches Linguist Explains Macrons Hidden Message to Yellow Vests

sputnik

Three Speeches: Linguist Explains Macron's Hidden Message to Yellow Vests

Speaking to Sputnik France, linguist and author Helios Jaime expressed doubt that French President Emmanuel Macron will pursue any changes in his domestic policies in the wake of the yellow vests protests. Jaime carried out a stylistic and linguistic analysis of Macron's three speeches concerning the yellow vests protests: the one he delivered on 1 December 2018 in Argentina, his 10 December speech, as well as his response to the petition on fuel prices published on 20 December 2018 on Change.org. Before examining each of Macron's statements  in detail, the linguist remarked that although the expression "yellow vests" had already entered the lexicon of the French, neither of these two words was used by the president in the aforementioned speeches. The linguist highlighted that the president used verbs in the future tense, while the adverb "always" prolongs the perception evoked by Macron's words. Jaime also placed emphasis on the word "to hear" that was chosen by the president in contrast to the verb "to listen". "You can hear a noise without paying much attention to it, but 'listening' means being attentive to what one says", the author underscored. "Is this semantic difference one of the reasons why Mr. Macron did not mention 'yellow vests' [in his speeches]?" In the first part of his speech, Emmanuel Macron "focused on the suppression of violence that, according to him, benefits opportunists and politicians, without specifying who these opportunists are, without naming specific parties and political leaders", the linguist noted. "However, he did not mention the fact that the yellow vests protests were prompted by these reforms," Jaime stressed. Additionally, the linguist pointed out that Macron "addressed [French] citizens almost individually, using the personal pronoun 'you' instead of the noun 'people'". "Since he did not mention either the people or the nation, the pronoun 'you' could be referred only to those who voted for him, excluding in this case those who did not," the author opined. For instance, Macron noted that there would be no increase in electricity and gas prices during the winter. "Does this mean that they will rise at the end of winter?" Jaime asked. "Mr Macron did not specify anything." Jaime concluded that Macron's "main message is the intention to suppress violence without specifying the means or naming the perpetrators". The French President "accepted the popular anger, which led to some concessions to yellow vests and an invitation to dialogue", the author continued. However, "the analysis of the linguistic and semantic means used in these three speeches indicates that the president is trying to convince the yellow vests of his government's good intentions without offering specifically even the slightest revision of the basic principles of his policy," the linguist highlighted. The views and opinions expressed by the speaker do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.

https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201901121071407950-france-macron-yellow-vests/

2019-01-12 06:06:00+00:00

science and technology

social sciences

theguardianuk--2019-06-17--Language wars the 19 greatest linguistic spats of all time

theguardianuk

Language wars: the 19 greatest linguistic spats of all time

What is it about language that gets people so hot under the collar? That drives them to spend hours arguing with strangers on the internet, to go around correcting misspelt signs in the dead of night, or even to threaten acts of violence? The languages we speak are central to our sense of self, so it is not surprising that their finer points can become a battleground. Passionate feelings about what’s right and wrong extend from the use of “disinterested” to what gay people are allowed to call themselves. Here are some of the most memorable rows, spats and controversies. A so-called “grammar vigilante” has been correcting shop fronts in Bristol, England, for more than a decade. His pet peeve is the confusion of plain old plurals with possessives, which in English are usually marked by an apostrophe followed by an S. Confronted with a sign advertising “Amy’s Nail’s”, he will obliterate the second apostrophe with a sticker. Addressing the potentially illegal nature of his mission in a BBC report, he said: “It’s more of a crime that the apostrophe is wrong in the first place”. Linguist Rob Drummond disagrees: “Fetishising the apostrophe as if its rules are set in stone,” he writes, “and then fostering an environment in which it is acceptable to take pleasure in uncovering other people’s linguistic insecurities is not OK.” Use this word at your own risk. If what you want to say is “lacking in interest” then brace yourself, because there’s an army of people who will point out that it should be “uninterested”, and that “disinterested” must mean “impartial”. They are sticklers for what they regard as the correct meaning, and have taken up columnist William Safire’s command to “rear up and rage, rage against the dying of an enlightening distinction”. The problem is that if a word is more frequently used to mean one thing than another, then that’s effectively what it means: you can’t fight a linguistic consensus. The news for pedants gets worse, however. The OED tells us that the use of “disinterested” to mean not interested or unconcerned has been around since at least the 17th century, used by no less a stylist than the poet John Donne. “It is an insult to a generation of sailors ... a ship is like a mother.” An incensed Admiral Lord West was speaking earlier this year about the Scottish Maritime Museum’s decision to stop using “she” to describe ships and boats on its information signs. The move, made after the female pronouns were scratched out by persons unknown, provoked a furious debate, with feminists arguing that the tradition was anachronistic and “perpetuat[ed] the patriarchal view” while naval enthusiasts claimed it was “political correctness gone mad”. Unlike English, many languages force speakers to assign a gender to inanimate objects, and there is evidence that it influences the way they think about them. For example, “bridge” is feminine in German and masculine in Spanish. When asked by researchers to pick words they associated with it, German speakers chose adjectives like “beautiful”, “elegant”, “pretty” and “slender” and the Spanish speakers chose “big”, “strong”, “sturdy” and “towering”. The fact that we used to make fun of George W Bush for his malapropisms seems quaint these days. But it was worrying to many of us at the time that the man in charge of the world’s most powerful nuclear arsenal didn’t seem to be able to pronounce it right. He said “nucular” and it was one more black mark against his intelligence. But this syllable-flip is in fact a fairly common linguistic process called metathesis. All English speakers live with the results of historic metatheses that caught on: horse used to be “hros” and bird used to be “brid”. Now we have far greater opportunities for ridicule in Donald Trump, whose multisyllabic manglings have become world famous: “covfefe” anyone? But acting as a linguistic irritant appears to be a family trait. Journalist Eve Peyser has kept tabs on words the president’s daughter Ivanka seemed to misuse in public pronouncements, and they included relative (“my husband keeps incredibly long hours, so I try to keep mine on a relative basis”), otherwise (“Cuddling my little nephew Luke, the best part of an otherwise incredible day!”) and “indeniably” (“Indeniably it’s very expensive to raise children”). Let’s just hope none of the Trump family gets to rewrite the US constitution, because it’s there that linguistic quirks get really serious. Its precise wording, even punctuation, has been endlessly scrutinised, sometimes with life-and-death consequences. The second amendment states that: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” The comma after the word “arms” has been used to argue that the framers of the constitution believed the right of an individual to own a gun was more important than collective self-defence. That interpretation ultimately resulted in the striking down of some Washington DC gun controls, which had been among the strictest in the nation. The word used to refer to gay people has been controversial in several languages, not least English, where people railed against the co-option of the term until quite recently. In 1990 an anonymous journalist wrote a piece for Newsweek headlined “Please return the word ‘gay’”. “It is of the least possible concern to me what homosexuals do with one another in the privacy of their homes ... But I want the word ‘gay’ back. ‘Gay’ used to be an extremely useful word. It showed up frequently in poetry and prose – Shakespeare used it 12 times.” Fast forward 30-odd years and a similar row is playing out in China, where the word tongzhi, whose literal meaning is “comrade” increasingly only has one interpretation. That didn’t stop the Contemporary Chinese Dictionary from prudishly refusing to list its common connotation, with one compiler telling the BBC they “did not want to draw attention to its more colloquial meaning”. In 1996 the school board of Oakland, California, decided to recognise the dialect of many of its African American pupils, which it called “Ebonics”, as a language. It would henceforth be used to “facilitate their acquisition and mastery of English-language skills”. The move became a major flashpoint in the US culture wars after being attacked by commentators across the country. Then Clinton aide Rahm Emanuel labelled it “a big mistake” and black leaders weighed in, too, with Jesse Jackson writing “in Oakland some madness has erupted over making slang talk a second language”. But the Linguistic Society of America took a different view. It said: “Characterisations of Ebonics as ‘slang’, ‘mutant’, ‘lazy,’ ‘defective’, ‘ungrammatical’, or ‘broken English’ are incorrect and demeaning” and argued that evidence from other countries suggested its use in the classroom would help students. The storm of criticism stifled sensible discussion of the issue for years. “Ever since,” according to the Economist, “any recognition that there is such a thing as Ebonics sets people foaming at the mouth.” You may have been told that it’s bad to split your infinitives in English – that you should never put anything between “to” and the verb – meaning a sentence like: “She wanted to fully support him” would be wrong. This was certainly a tenet of prescriptive works (like Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style) and classroom instruction for much of the 20th century. But the Chicago Manual of Style dropped its objection in 1983, and there are relatively few pedants now prepared to die on a hill to keep the infinitive joined in matrimony. The origins of the “rule” are shrouded in mystery, with perhaps its earliest appearance in an 1803 grammar guide. But in reality, English speakers have been splitting their infinitives for hundreds of years. For an edict that’s never been properly observed, it has loomed surprisingly large in the grammatical consciousness. The self-appointed guardians of French, a once dominant language assailed by the rise and rise of English, can be especially touchy about changes to the conventions that govern speech. Particularly, it seems, when you add gender to the mix. In 2014 a row over whether masculine titles should be changed when the bearer is a woman erupted in the French National Assembly. Conservative representative Julien Aubert insisted on referring to socialist Sandrine Mazetier as Madame le president, using the masculine article and noun ending. Mazetier responded that he must call her Madame la presidente, and when he refused, she fined him €1,378 (£1,230). In the late 2000s, the problem of obscure government language was getting so bad that the House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee wrote a report on it. They referred back to comments by Tessa Jowell who, as culture secretary, said: “I have what I call a ‘bollocks list’, where I just sit in meetings and I write down some of the absurd language we use.” The report notes: “The unlovely language of this unreal world floats along on a linguistic sea of roll-outs, step changes, public domains, fit for purposes, stakeholder engagements, across the pieces, win-wins, level playing fields and going forwards.” In what must be a rare rebuke of Latin from a Conservative leadership hopeful , Michael Gove lamented that: “Since becoming a member of parliament I’ve been learning a new language … No one ever uses a simple Anglo-Saxon word, or a concrete example, where a Latinate construction or a next-to-meaningless abstraction can be found.” An interesting sub-genre of language controversy is the tiny translation error that has gigantic geopolitical ramifications. In 1956 Soviet leader Nikita Khruschev told western ambassadors at an event in Moscow My vas pokhoronim!, using a Russian idiom that means roughly “we will outlast you” – in other words, that communism would prevail in the long run. Against the background of a nuclear arms race, the English translation, “we will bury you”, took on an altogether more sinister meaning, particularly when it was splashed across the front pages of western newspapers. Five years later the Cuban missile crisis brought the Soviet Union and the United States to the brink of nuclear war. Richard Nixon was foxed by elaborate Japanese politeness in 1969. Prime minister Eisaku Satō visited the White House amid a trade row over textile imports. Nixon’s job was to get him to agree to restrict them. According to the New York Times, “Mr Sato replied as he looked ceilingward, Zensho shimasu. Literally, the phrase means: ‘I will do my best,’ and that’s how the interpreter translated it. What it really means to most Japanese is: ‘No way.’” When the Japanese government did precisely nothing, Nixon was furious, branding Sato a liar. There’s often a dark side to disputes over language: they are often the medium through which inter-ethnic conflicts are brutally expressed. Linguists Marko Dragojevic and colleagues recount the story of a cafe in an area of Bosnia and Herzegovina controlled by Croatians during the 1992-95 war. “On its menu, the cafe offered its customers coffee at three different prices, depending on which pronunciation customers used to order the item. Kava, indexing a Croatian, and by extension, Catholic identity, was sold for the modest price of 1 Deutsche Mark. Kafa, indexing a Serbian and Orthodox Christian identity, was not available for sale. Finally, kahva, indexing a Bosnian Muslim identity, cost the customer a ‘bullet in the forehead’.” In 1840, the British government and more than 500 local chiefs signed a bilingual agreement that made New Zealand a colony. English missionaries had translated the draft of the Treaty of Waitangi into Maori but the two versions had important differences. The New Zealand Ministry of Culture explains that “in Maori it gave Queen Victoria governance [kawanatanga] over the land, while in English it gave her sovereignty over the land, which is a stronger term”. The English text also assured the Maori that they would have “undisturbed possession” of all their “properties”, whereas the Maori translation merely gave them tino rangatiratanga (full authority) over taonga (treasures) – a more nebulous term. If you’re a ruler with absolute power there’s nothing to stop you issuing any manner of linguistic decrees. Turkish leader Atatürk, for example, masterminded the abolition of the Arabic script and the adoption of a Latin-based alphabet in 1928. In 2002, in another country where a Turkic language is spoken, a more eccentric set of reforms failed to meet with universal approval. Turkmen president-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov decided to rename the months and days of the week according to some of his favourite things: April changed from Aprel to Gurbansoltan, which happened to be Niyazov’s mum’s name. January was no longer Ýanwar, but Türkmenbaşy, which means “leader of the Turkmen” and was one of Niyazov’s self-bestowed titles. A Turkmen source told the BBC: “It seems like he lives on another planet,” and the changes never gained popular legitimacy. They were reversed in 2008, two years after his death. Belgium is a country divided between Walloons who speak French, and Flemings who speak Flemish, a variety of Dutch (Walloon and Fleming are the demonyms for people from Wallonia and Flanders). The linguistic conflict simmers in places like Linkebeek, whose population is 85% Walloon, despite being in Flanders. In 2010, the Guardian reported that the man who had been elected mayor on 66% of the local vote was barred from taking office because he sent out election literature in French to French speakers, and not in Dutch as the law stipulated. Conflict over language and identity was at the heart of Belgium’s failure to form a government for 589 days in 2010–11, setting a record for a democracy. Linguists use the word “agreement” to describe the way the form of a word can change depending on its relationship with other words in a sentence. For example, if a man is named, then at second mention a pronoun can be used instead, but it has to “agree” in gender and number – so it would be “he” not “she”. But can it also be “they”? “They” is traditionally regarded as being plural: it refers to more than one person. As a result, sentences like: “If someone wants me, tell them I’ll be in the kitchen” are frowned upon. But, as so often with grammatical bugbears regarded as dastardly innovations, this kind of usage has been around a long time – since at least 1375, according to the OED. And now, of course, “they” is increasingly being used to refer to those who do not identify with gender-specific pronouns. A key pedantic bastion fell in 2017, when the Chicago Manual of Style changed its advice to read “a person’s stated preference for a specific pronoun should be respected”. How can a word come to mean its opposite? That’s against nature, surely. Except when you consider “cleave” or “sanction”, so-called auto-antonyms (you can cleave something apart or together; you can sanction a behaviour, then sanction someone for doing it). But enough of them. Literally seems to be a word on a journey from one meaning – “In a literal, exact, or actual sense; not figuratively, allegorically” – to its polar opposite – “the strongest possible version of a figurative or allegorical sense”. Once more, this is a journey that began far earlier than you might think. The OED records the following sentence, from 1825: “Lady Kirkclaugh ... literally worn to a shadow, died of a broken heart”. William Makepeace Thackeray wrote “I literally blazed with wit” in 1847. That hasn’t stopped repeated shock not only at the usage itself, but at dictionaries’ radical decisions to include it. “Merriam-Webster caves in: ‘literally’ now means ‘figuratively’” declared one blog in 2011. “Merriam-Webster says the word can now mean its exact opposite” reported Salon in 2013. The pedant community is convulsed like this every few years despite the fact that, according to Merriam- Webster’s own lexicographers, the definition has been sitting there for all to see since 1909. Don’t Believe a Word: The Surprising Truth About Language will be published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in August

David Shariatmadari

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jun/17/language-wars-18-greatest-linguistic-spats

2019-06-17 15:12:32+00:00

science and technology

social sciences

theguardianuk--2019-12-04--Why are British people such nervous linguists? Shame | Adrian Chiles

theguardianuk

Why are British people such nervous linguists? Shame | Adrian Chiles

‘No other subject,” says my language teacher, “is the cause of so much shame. You might struggle with other subjects, but you’ll probably never berate yourself like you do about your shortcomings in language learning.” That’s a good point or, as they say in Welsh, mae e’n gwneud pwynt da. I’m learning Welsh because I thought it was about time I did so, having spent so much time there on holiday all my life. It struck me that I wasn’t much different to the kind of expats in Spain I might sniff at for not knowing any Spanish beyond dos cervezas por favor. I felt a kind of shame about this. There we go; it’s that word shame again. And there’s that feeling of self-loathing you get when you know that, at some point, you knew the German word for exhaust pipe but suddenly can’t remember it. I don’t recall this ever happening in maths – “I used to know what eight times seven was, but now it’s gone” – or geography – “I’m so idiotically stupid; I used to know exactly how an oxbow lake was formed, but I’ve forgotten.” I expect many Guardian readers made a resolution earlier this year to learn a new language or “brush up” their school French. And now, as they are preparing to make the same resolution, they will be feeling a little, yes, ashamed. What is this self-flagellation all about? My Croatian teacher thinks it is a peculiarly British thing. She says you never hear French, German or Spanish speakers berating themselves about how poor their English is. Nor Croats actually – never have I heard one of my mum’s countryfolk seek forgiveness for grammatical errors, or the word they can’t quite recall. They just crack on, and quite right, too. Perhaps it’s some expression of guilt about our linguistic imperialism. How many times have we been told how hopeless at languages we are as a nation? It’s true, but the message might have sunk in so far that it’s holding us back from rectifying the situation. Being brought up bilingually didn’t seem to help me with other languages at school. With French, I always felt as if I had missed a key lesson early on and never quite caught up. All of a sudden, the teacher was talking about something mysteriously called the “perfect” tense. Eh? Seriously, I couldn’t see what was so special about it. Then came the imperfect tense, which looked no worse than any other tense, as far I could see. As for pluperfect, well, enough was enough. I gave up French and took up German. To my dismay and bewilderment, I was soon presented with something more confusing than even the French had thought up, bizarre things called cases – nominative, accusative etc. I duly failed my O-level. Now, realising (with shame, naturally) that my Croatian is the standard of a small child’s, I am having Croatian lessons. To my horror, there are seven cases. And now I am hearing all the mistakes I am making, I am too ashamed (sorry to labour the point, but it’s so true) to speak. All fluency has gone. So, all told, I have failed at French, German, Croatian and, while it’s great to be learning a language from scratch with a great teacher, I am sure I will soon be failing at Welsh too. The shame of it. PS. German for exhaust pipe is auspuff, to my mind easily the most delightful word in any language.

Adrian Chiles

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/04/why-are-british-people-such-nervous-linguists-shame

Wed, 04 Dec 2019 17:30:06 GMT

science and technology

social sciences

windowoneurasiablog--2019-07-07--A Majority of Russians Want Change But Many Fear Instability Moscow Institute of Sociology Study Sa

windowoneurasiablog

A Majority of Russians Want Change But Many Fear Instability, Moscow Institute of Sociology Study Says

Staunton, July 5 – “A relative majority of Russians” believe that the country’s economic and political arrangements need to be changed, Vladimir Petukhov of the Moscow Institute of Sociology says, especially those in the most active social groups. But at the same time, “no small number” worry that any change could threaten the country’s stability. But in the fall of 2017, the share of those who supported change reached 51 percent, with higher figures among younger age groups. “Supporters of reform formed a majority in the megalopolises, oblast centers and – unexpectedly – among rural residents,” while backers of stability retained their majority in district centers and settlements of an urban type. This desire for change, Petukhov says, “has arise from the prolonged crisis: now the status quo and stability are associated in the minds of many with economic problems and a decline in the standard of living.” And it has intensified as people have concluded that Russia isn’t going to get out of the current situation anytime soon. In reporting these findings in Rossiiskaya gazeta, commentator Valery Vyzhutovich spoke with Academician Mikhail Gorshkov who oversaw Petukhov’s work. According to the academician, “the authorities have a broader understanding of change” that does the population. The powers that be “connect it both with domestic life and with international relations.” Ordinary Russians in contrast “want a transition to a new quality of life but this does not especially concern the transformation of political institutions.” Their interest in change therefore is not necessarily a threat to those institutions but simply an indication that they want a better life. According to Gorshkoov, the authorities need to make use of this set of attitudes, but unfortunately, none of them except the president is ready to do so at present. Instead, most of them avoid interacting with the population, “even though now society is ready for dialogue” and would respond positively to it. Vyzhutovich points out that the Institute’s findings are consistent with those of the Public Opinion Foundation and VTsIOM. And he notes in particular the finding of the latter that “in the opinion of the Russian majority, democracy is “needed but ‘a very special kind corresponding to the national traditions and specific features’ of the country.” “Almost 45 percent of those queried [by VTsIOM] are certain that Western democracy will bring Russia chaos and destruction.” Such attitudes have been intensified by the conclusion of nearly two-thirds of all Russians that relations between Russia and the West will always be distrustful. Only 24 percent think they could ever be friendly. Vyzhutovich sums up: “The absence of any demand for civic freedoms is explained besides everything else by paternalistic attitudes. These attitudes as before remain very strong. Therefore, demands of a significant part of society are directed to the authorities” rather than directed against them. “In this sense,” the commentator says, “the demand for change which citizens understand in their own way does not in their understanding go beyond the limits of the economy and social spheres.”

paul goble (noreply@blogger.com)

http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2019/07/a-majority-of-russians-want-change-but.html

2019-07-07 11:34:00.001000+00:00

science and technology

social sciences

aljazeera--2019-10-31--WHO, DRC eye tighter rules for Ebola care over immunity concerns

aljazeera

WHO, DRC eye tighter rules for Ebola care over immunity concerns

The World Health Organization (WHO) and Congolese authorities are proposing changes to how some Ebola patients are cared for, new guidelines show, after a patient's death challenged the accepted medical theory that survivors are immune to reinfection. There are many unanswered questions surrounding the circumstances of the woman's death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has not previously been reported. • On the front line of the Ebola epidemic But it has raised concerns because the woman, whose name has not been released for confidentiality reasons, was thought to have had immunity after surviving infection, but fell ill again with Ebola and died. "That was a big red flag event for all of us," said Janet Diaz, who leads WHO's clinical management team for the epidemic in the DRC. DRC's Ebola outbreak has infected over 3,000 people and killed more than 2,000 since August last year. It is the second-worst outbreak after one in West Africa between 2013 and 2016 that killed more than 11,000 people. The woman was working as a caregiver in the high-risk "red zone" of a treatment centre in Beni, eastern DRC, according to health officials familiar with her case. She was one of dozens of people assigned to care for Ebola patients because it was assumed they would not get sick as Ebola survivors, although some researchers have considered reinfection to be at least a theoretical possibility. Their presumed immunity allowed for closer contact with sufferers, many of them children. Alima, the medical charity that co-ran the Beni centre where she worked, said she tested positive for Ebola and died in July before she could be readmitted for treatment. But it is not yet known whether the woman received a false positive result the first time she was tested, experienced a relapse or was reinfected, health officials say. Medical experts say it could be years before Ebola survivors' immunity is fully understood. Yet the recent case is sufficiently worrying for health authorities to rethink how care should be provided to Ebola patients across eastern DRC. The WHO and Congolese officials have drafted new guidelines, seen by Reuters News Agency, that warn that some Ebola survivors may have "incomplete immunity" and advise that additional measures should be taken to protect them from possible reinfection. The new protocols would set limits on which Ebola survivors can work in treatment centres and standardise precautions that must be taken. Survivors who had mild cases of Ebola and those who were found to have low viral loads - or lower levels of the virus circulating in their blood - while infected "need to be carefully assessed, as they may be at risk for having incomplete immunity after infection," the draft says. Diaz said the protocols were still being discussed with health organisations and could change in the drafting process. Efforts to contain the DRC outbreak have been hampered by insecurity and public mistrust, but aided by medical advances including new vaccines and therapies. Ebola survivors, known as "les vainqueurs" - French for "the victorious" - have been at the forefront of treatment, offering vital care, especially to children. Their assumed immunity has meant they could spend extended time with patients and provide much-needed human contact. The protective gear they must wear is lighter and less restrictive than that worn by other health workers. But the draft protocols being discussed by health authorities would bar some survivors from working in the contaminated red zone. These include people whose immune systems may be weaker because they are pregnant or because they have other infections such as HIV or tuberculosis, and those who had low viral loads during their Ebola infection. The woman who died was pregnant at the time, which she had not disclosed to the treatment centre, according to Nicolas Mouly, Alima's emergencies coordinator. But it is not known if that played a role in her falling sick again. Mouly said the DRC's biomedical research institute was running tests to learn more about the case. Officials with the DRC's Ebola response and the institute did not respond to phone calls and text messages seeking comment. In response to the case, health authorities have reviewed the clinical histories of all Ebola survivors working with Ebola patients, WHO's Diaz said. They have also reminded treatment centres to ensure their employees are following biosafety rules. Much remains unknown about how immunity works in Ebola survivors, including how treatments might affect a patient's susceptibility to reinfection. "I think that's the big question: What is the true immunity of an Ebola patient who survived?" Diaz said. "Everyone's working very hard right now to both care for patients and also move science along." There have been several confirmed cases of relapse with Ebola, including a Scottish nurse who was infected in Sierra Leone in 2014 and fell ill again 10 months after recovery. But the symptoms have tended to be localised in certain parts of the body and are not known to have been fatal, according to Raina MacIntyre, who heads the Biosecurity Program at the University of New South Wales' Kirby Institute. No case of reinfection has been confirmed since the disease was discovered near the Ebola River in northern Congo in 1976. Short-term immunity has largely been treated as a given. And a study of 14 survivors of the first documented Ebola outbreak in 1976 found that all were able to develop an immune reaction to at least one of three Ebola virus proteins 40 years later. Alima's Mouly said the creation of a standardised set of rules for survivors working in treatment centres was a positive step, but recommended further measures to ensure the physical and mental wellbeing of all survivors.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/drc-eye-tighter-rules-ebola-care-immunity-concerns-191031162659838.html

Thu, 31 Oct 2019 18:43:58 GMT

health

health organisations

theguardianuk--2019-05-21--NHS failure to agree child sepsis alert system risking lives

theguardianuk

NHS failure to agree child sepsis alert system 'risking lives'

Thousands of children have died or been left disabled because NHS bosses have dithered for at least a decade over introducing a checklist to spot sepsis, nurses and campaigners have claimed. NHS chiefs in England stand accused of inaction for not ordering hospitals to bring in a standard system to detect the condition, which kills between 1,000 and 4,000 children under five every year in the UK. Sepsis, also known as blood poisoning or septicaemia, is hard to detect because many of its symptoms, such as a high temperature, are also indicators of other illnesses. It can be the result of a severe infection and without rapid treatment can lead to organ failure, loss of limbs or death because the body’s immune system reverses its usual role and starts to attack organs and tissues. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is urging NHS England and NHS Improvement to reduce child deaths from sepsis by urgently implementing the first national early warning system for identifying children whose health is deteriorating so badly that their life is at risk. Children’s doctors, the UK Sepsis Trust and bereaved parents have joined the RCN’s call for the NHS to roll out the alert system for sepsis, which affects about 25,000 children a year. Dame Donna Kinnair, the RCN’s chief executive, said the speed with which sepsis can change from appearing to be a minor ailment to a life-threatening illness meant all hospitals in England needed to follow an agreed system which alerted medical staff to the condition. At the moment many hospitals have their own individual versions of the scheme while some have none. “This could save lives because you are looking for those early symptoms. What we’re saying as nurses is we believe it should be a priority,” said Kinnair. “Sepsis in a child is so sudden, you see a child go from life to death. If you see a child and an hour later they come back with sepsis that is truly devastating for any health professional. It’s really important we get a way of ensuring that we diagnose this accurately.” The RCN has been urging the NHS since 2007 to introduce a children’s version of the national early warning score (News) system, which helps health professionals see if a seriously ill adult’s health has suddenly worsened. Scotland already has such a scheme for under-18s. It involves staff assessing all of a patient’s vital signs together, including their temperature, heart rate and blood pressure, to judge how seriously unwell they are. Melissa Mead, whose 12-month-old son William died of sepsis in 2014, said it was time to end what the RCN called a “postcode lottery” in different practices between hospitals. “To have a standardised system across the country would be amazing. Ever since William died, we have been stuck in a situation where lots of different groups and people cannot decide what the standard should be, what should be measured and what it should look like,” she said. “Why can’t people at these organisations come together for the good of the public? Thousands of children have died or suffered disability while health organisations continue to drag their heels and can’t make a decision.” NHS Improvement has convened a group of experts to look into implementing a paediatric News system. Great Ormond Street children’s hospital, in London, has been testing a version which could be used across the NHS. Celia Ingham Clark, the medical director for clinical effectiveness at NHS England, said: “The NHS has made huge improvements in spotting and treating sepsis quickly with screening rates in emergency departments rising from 78% in 2015 to 91% in 2018. “The NHS is working with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health to develop a national early warning system for children which will help NHS staff to rapidly identify acutely unwell children and ensure they are looked after in the most appropriate place.”

Denis Campbell Health policy editor

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/may/22/nhs-failure-to-agree-child-sepsis-alert-system-risking-lives

2019-05-21 23:01:17+00:00

health

health organisations

theguardianuk--2019-09-08--Stop return of measles by making MMR jab compulsory say GPs

theguardianuk

Stop return of measles by making MMR jab compulsory, say GPs

The MMR jab should be compulsory for children before they are allowed to start primary school to stop the resurgence of measles and mumps, leading GPs are demanding. Schools should ask all parents to prove their four- or five-year-old has had their two recommended doses of the vaccine before they can attend, they say in a letter to ministers seen by the Guardian. They want school entry procedures toughened so that the only exceptions made to the new rule would be for children whose parents have registered a conscientious objection to the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine or those whose health means they cannot have it. The four London GPs, who include a former government adviser on health policy, have urged the health secretary, Matt Hancock, and the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, to embrace the proposed change in policy. Doing so would save lives and tackle dangerous “complacency” among parents who do not ensure that their child is fully immunised, they say. “Schools need to check that all their pupils have been vaccinated. In other countries, certificates of vaccination are required prior to school entry,” they say in the letter. “Here in the UK we could mandate that all children need to be vaccinated by a health professional, allowing for exemptions for either conscientious objection or medical contraindication.” History shows that mandatory vaccination can be necessary, they add. “There is a precedent in the UK. Vaccination against smallpox was made compulsory for all children born after 1853 and today doctors need to show evidence of vaccination or immunity from various illnesses so we do not put patients at risk,” they say. The four GPs include Sir Sam Everington, the chair of all the capital’s 32 NHS clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), which allocate health service cash in their areas. He helped advise the then health secretary Jeremy Hunt and was acting chair of the British Medical Association. He is also the clinical (medical) chair of CCGs in north-east London while his co-signatories – Dr Mohini Parmar, Dr Andrew Parson and Dr Josephine Sauvage – occupy the same senior roles in the NHS in the north-west, south-east and north central regions of the city. Their move comes as the proportion of five-year-olds in England receiving both doses has fallen in recent years to 87.2%, below the 95% the World Health Organization says is necessary to provide herd immunity and in effect eradicate measles, mumps and rubella. Public Health England figures show that cases of measles and mumps are rising sharply, a trend that doctors fear is linked to parents heeding misinformation spread by anti-vaccination campaigners. Hancock recently refused to rule out a switch to mandatory MMR for primary schoolchildren and said anti-vaxxers had “blood on their hands”. “I do think we need to consider all options. I don’t want to reach the point of compulsory vaccination, but I will rule nothing out,” he said. However, the GPs’ move triggered an immediate backlash. Medical and public health organisations voiced their unease and warned that making the switch would lead to “potential harms”. Making MMR compulsory would be hasty, premature and “a kneejerk reaction” to falling immunisation rates, they said. Vaccination could deny patients a choice, lessen trust between patients and doctors and lead parents sceptical about the jab to home school their children, they warned. Prof Helen Stokes-Lampard, the chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “As GPs we have an important relationship with our patients, built on trust and understanding, and in order to keep that we need to help people make their own decisions. Positive, informed and educated choice is always going to be more desirable long-term, and we are concerned that rushing down the route of enforcing methods of healthcare could have unintended consequences.” It would be wrong on principle to deny patients a choice over what medical interventions they had or to “impose” compulsory vaccination on them, she added. “Mandation should be the end of the road, after we’ve tried everything else. There’s no body of evidence that it works. It’s a kneejerk reaction,” said Helen Bedford, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health’s spokeswoman on immunisation.” “If it’s linked to school entry, if you are opposed to vaccination then you are just going to go for home schooling,” added Bedford, a professor of children’s health at University College London. The Royal Society for Public Health and Faculty of Public Health both opposed the plan. Hancock declined to respond to the call. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “We have a world-leading vaccination programme and uptake remains very high at around 90% for most childhood vaccines, including MMR. “We are committed to driving up uptake rates further and our new vaccination strategy will draw together concerted efforts across the health system.”

Denis Campbell Health policy editor

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/sep/08/stop-measles-mmr-jab-compulsory-gps

2019-09-08 16:00:45+00:00

health

health organisations

ageofautism--2019-08-15--Challenging Murdoch influence on Australias coercive vaccination policy - the example of meningococ

ageofautism

Challenging Murdoch influence on Australia's coercive vaccination policy - the example of meningococcal B vaccination

Terry Nolan, former Chair of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), is the Group Leader of the Murdoch Children's Research Institute's Vaccine and Immunisation Research Group (VIRGo).[5]  Terry Nolan has been involved in research regarding the GSK Bexsero meningococcal B vaccine product, research which has been funded by GlaxoSmithKline/Novartis, and listing VIRGo and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute on published papers. [6] Terry Nolan has also been influential at the World Health Organisation, via his membership of SAGE - the 'Strategic Advisory Group of Experts'. In light of the ongoing aggressive media campaign by the Murdoch tabloids, demanding that the GlaxoSmithKline Bexsero meningococcal B vaccine product be added to Australia's taxpayer-funded vaccination schedule, there must be full disclosure of conflicts of interest, i.e. the Murdoch Children's Research Institute's association with the GSK Bexsero meningococcal B vaccine product. Rupert Murdoch's mother, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, was involved with the founding of this institute[1], and News Corp and Foxtel are corporate partners of the Murdoch Children's Research Institute[2], which has also received funding from vaccine manufacturers GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis and others.[3] Lachlan Murdoch's partner Sarah Murdoch is on the Board of Directors and is the Ambassador for the Murdoch Children's Research Institute.[4] Professor Wilson, there must be an urgent investigation into the Murdoch-run media/News Corp’s influence on Australia’s taxpayer-funded coercive vaccination policy, and this organisation’s conflicts of interest via its association with the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, which is involved in vaccine development. Below: see Elizabeth's email to the Chair of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee Challenging Murdoch influence on Australia's coercive vaccination policy - eg Men B vax Citizens need to be warned how vaccination policy is being manipulated. Click here to see the PDF with attachments. Terry Nolan was recently featured discussing the GSK Bexsero meningococcal B vaccine product on the ABC World Today program titled "Experts concerned Australia's vaccine program lagging behind".[7] The ABC did not disclose Terry Nolan's conflicts of interest, i.e. his involvement with GSK/Novartis funded research on the GSK Bexsero meningococcal B vaccine product. (See below my previous email to you on this subject (22 July 2019) for a transcript of the ABC World Today segment.) Professor Wilson, on 4 August 2019 the Murdoch tabloid The Sunday Telegraph ran a front page story with the headline "Prime Minister, if little Donald Peach's life means anything to you...FUND THE JAB" (See copy attached, plus other relevant articles.) Donald Peach's death is a tragedy, but this sad case must not be used to impose mass vaccination against very rare invasive meningococcal disease with multiple doses of an aluminium-adjuvanted vaccine of questionable effectiveness, as acknowledged in the PBAC's previous rejection of the GSK Bexsero meningococcal B vaccine product in its 'subsequent decision not to recommend' outcomes document, dated July 2015. (See highlighted copy attached.) Professor Wilson, The Sunday Telegraph demands that the Prime Minister "FUND THE JAB", i.e. Scott Morrison. This raises questions about the influence being wielded by the Murdochs on Australia's politicians and taxpayer-funded vaccination policy. Scott Morrison was Social Services Minister in 2015 when the No Jab, No Pay bill was raised. According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald[8], Scott Morrison had lunch with Rupert Murdoch around that time - did Mr Morrison receive instructions from Mr Murdoch in regards to the No Jab, No Pay bill, which was fast-tracked and enacted as the No Jab, No Pay law in January 2016? Can we have transparency and accountability on this matter? A Sunday Telegraph editorial published on 28 July 2019 titled "Fund vaccine for this killer" boasts "Since we began the No Jab, No Pay and No Jab, No Play campaigns, immunisation rates have surged and are now at nearly 95 per cent, the level experts say is needed to protect the whole community. This is because we pushed governments to introduce new rules stripping families with unvaccinated children of government payments and giving childcare centres the right to ban unvaccinated kids." (See copy attached.) As a result of the Murdoch tabloids' aggressive No Jab, No Play vaccination campaign, the community is being forced to be compliant to an ever-increasing number of vaccine products and revaccinations, without consultation with the community. For example, since the Federal No Jab, No Pay law was enacted in January 2016, yet another aluminium-adjuvanted diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis containing revaccination has been added to the schedule for infants around 18 months, making six doses of this vaccination combination for children now, despite the fact there are known problems with the effectiveness of the pertussis component of these vaccinations. Meningococcal A, C, W, Y vaccination has also been fast-tracked onto the national schedule since the No Jab, No Pay law was implemented. I suggest there should be an investigation into the lobbying for this vaccine product, indeed for every product and revaccination on the current coercive vaccination schedule, the entire schedule is awash with conflicts of interest that must be examined. Professor Wilson, it is wrong that parents are being coerced to have their children vaccinated and revaccinated with an ever-increasing list of very questionable vaccine products, without the right to consider the risks and benefits of each of these interventions. With the coercive No Jab, No Pay and No Play laws campaigned for by the Murdoch media, the right to 'informed consent' before each of these medical interventions has effectively been trashed. And now we see the Murdoch tabloids 'demanding' that meningococcal B vaccination for very rare invasive meningococcal disease be added to the taxpayer-funded schedule, where presumably it will be compulsory to access financial benefits and childcare. The Sunday Telegraph editorial "Fund vaccine for this killer" says "This is the last demand from our original campaign that has not been solved, and the Morrison government should know by now we are not going to give up until something is done to protect families". (See copy attached.) Was this the goal of the Murdoch media all along, i.e. to get the GSK Bexsero meningococcal B vaccine product, which is associated with the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, onto the taxpayer-funded schedule, and effectively mandated thanks to the No Jab, No Pay and No Play laws campaigned for by the Murdoch media? Was this part of a plan to develop a multi-billion dollar global market for this GSK vaccine product? Is Prime Minister Scott Morrison going to bow to the demands of the Murdoch media, and add the very questionable GSK Bexsero meningococcal B vaccine product to the taxpayer-funded coercive vaccination schedule? Is this how taxpayer-funded vaccination policy is formulated in Australia, at the behest of the Murdoch empire? The PBAC previously rejected the GSK Bexsero meningococcal B vaccine product due to "multiple uncertainties in relation to the clinical effectiveness of the vaccine against the disease when delivered in a vaccination program", among other reasons.[9] Any information provided by GlaxoSmithKline to counter these concerns must be examined very carefully by independent and objective specialists in the area. Mass vaccination against very rare invasive meningococcal disease is highly questionable given it is not a serious risk for most individuals. I suggest there should be more research into invasive meningococcal disease and why it strikes so few people, what makes them vulnerable? In light of the emerging problems with pertussis vaccination, and the unknown cumulative consequences of the ever-increasing number of aluminium-adjuvanted vaccine products and revaccinations being added to the schedule, we must be very concerned about the potential for 'unintended consequences'. Professor Wilson, it is the PBAC's primary role "to recommend new medicines for listing on the PBS...no new medicine can be listed unless the committee makes a positive recommendation". The community is relying on the independence of this "expert body appointed by the Australian Government" to objectively evaluate vaccine products for the taxpayer-funded schedule.[10]  Yet, the Murdoch tabloids appear to be seeking to circumvent this process, and are 'demanding' Rupert Murdoch's lunch partner[11], Prime Minister Scott Morrison, add the GSK Bexsero meninogoccal B vaccine product to the taxpayer-funded coercive vaccination schedule. This appears to be an abuse of power that is undermining the political process in our liberal democracy. Australia's taxpayer-funded coercive vaccination policy is in crisis, it is critically damaged by being heavily influenced by parties with conflicts of interest. We have no effective media to shine a light on this matter. Apart from the Murdoch media's dominance on this subject, other media such as Fairfax/Nine and Seven West Media have largely fallen into line behind the Murdoch tabloids. We have been most badly let down by the taxpayer-funded ABC and SBS, which have utterly failed to provide critical analysis of Australia's taxpayer-funded vaccination policy, and instead provide unquestioning free promotion for vaccine products in their news services. We must have an urgent investigation into Murdoch influence on our elected politicians and taxpayer-funded vaccination policy, and also conflicts of interest via the Murdoch Children's Research Institute. Again Professor Wilson, it is alarming that the aluminium-adjuvanted GSK Bexsero meningococcal B vaccine product of questionable effectiveness against very rare invasive meningococcal disease may be added to the national taxpayer-funded vaccination schedule, and made compulsory for children to access financial benefits and childcare. I am concerned that you and your fellow members of the PBAC will be persuaded by the Murdoch media, politicians and potentially conflicted industry-funded data to approve this vaccine product for the coercive vaccination schedule - only independent and objective medical and scientific evidence should influence your decision. I request your urgent response on this matter. Independent citizen investigating conflicts of interest in vaccination policy and the over-use of vaccine products. - Prime Minister, if little Donald Peach's life means anything to you...FUND THE JAB. The Sunday Telegraph, 4 August 2019. - Fund vaccine for this killer. The Sunday Telegraph, 28 July 2019. - Why did our child die? Pages 1 and 2. The Sunday Telegraph, 4 August 2019.  Includes the article 'Only' nine lives could be saved. - How much was this little life worth? The Sunday Telegraph, 4 August 2019. References: 1. See 'History' on the 'About' page on the Murdoch Children's Research Institute website (current as at 12 August 2019).

Age of Autism

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ageofautism/~3/-ObPFK4m6G8/challenging-murdoch-influence-on-australias-coercive-vaccination-policy-theexample-of-meningococcal-b-vaccination.html

2019-08-15 10:00:00+00:00

health

health organisations

aljazeera--2019-11-14--'Worst-ever' UK health service results pile pressure on Johnson

aljazeera

'Worst-ever' UK health service results pile pressure on Johnson

The United Kingdom's health service recorded its worst-ever performance in England in October, and 100,000 people could end up stuck on trolleys waiting for hospital beds in the depths of winter, experts said. New figures from NHS England show performance of Accident and Emergency departments, or emergency rooms, is at its worst-ever level, while the health service has also missed a series of other targets, including how long people wait to start planned treatment. • Half of citizens think UK might not exist in decade The data shows one in six patients waited longer than four hours in A&E in England during October - the worst-ever performance since the four-hour target was introduced in 2004 by the Labour government of the day. The figures do not cover Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. "Under Boris Johnson, the NHS is in crisis and we're heading for a winter of abject misery for patients," said Labour's shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth. "Our A&Es are overwhelmed, more so than ever ... The Tories spent a decade cutting over 15,000 beds. Now, they should apologise to every patient languishing on a trolley and waiting longer for treatment." The state-run NHS has provided free-at-the-point-of-use healthcare for more than 70 years, making it a highly emotive issue during elections, when voters rate it as the second most important subject after Brexit. Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman Luciana Berger said: "This is a damning indictment of the Conservatives' dismal record on the NHS." Conservatives, who have been in power in the UK since 2010 - in coalition with the Liberal Democrats until 2015 - were eager to push anti-immigration talking points on the election campaign trail on Thursday, but Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the figures showed the UK could not afford to have a Labour government run by Jeremy Corbyn. "We are giving the biggest cash boost ever to our NHS, but Corbyn's chaotic policies will put that at risk," he said in a statement. While the UK's health service remains ostensibly public-owned and free to access, services are often put out to private tender, which critics say drives up waiting times. This "stealth privatisation" was started by Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives in the 1980s, accelerated by Tony Blair's New Labour project in the 1990s, and further ramped up by subsequent Conservative administrations. Cuts to social services, the transfer of funding responsibilities for some services to local government, and a crisis in social housing have all led to increased pressure on the NHS in recent years. The data released on Thursday said 83.6 percent of patients arriving at A&E were treated or admitted in four hours - the target is 95 percent, but that has not been met since July 2015. In September, 84.8 percent of patients started treatment within 18 weeks of being assessed, against a target of 92 percent - a continued decline in performance. "These figures show the next government will immediately be faced with one of the bleakest winters in the NHS' history," said Nuffield Trust chief economist John Appleby. "Meanwhile, the number of people waiting on trolleys in corridors because no beds are available has already hit 80,000 - something we have only seen before in the very coldest part of the year. If this trend keeps going, I fear we could see 100,000 people stuck on trolleys this coming January. "As the election promises roll in, we should be under no illusion about the money, staff and time it will take to turn this situation around." An NHS spokesman said: "These figures show that while NHS staff are looking after a markedly higher number of older and sicker patients, a higher number of patients are being seen quickly than a year ago." Writing to all party leaders, Derek Alderson, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, and Liam O'Toole, chief executive of Versus Arthritis, said: "It just isn't acceptable for so many people to languish on these [waiting] lists, with deteriorating physical and mental health as they wait for treatment. "In the absence of any proven, better measure, we are calling on all parties to commit to upholding the 18-week maximum wait not just in law but in practice." The Society for Acute Medicine said acute and emergency care in the NHS was "imploding" before the expected winter crisis hits. Dr Nick Scriven, immediate past president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said hospitals were under "intense pressure" with many at full capacity, yet politicians were "avoiding the elephant in the room". Struggling under the pressure of record demand because of a growing and ageing population, as well as cutbacks to social care services, the NHS has warned it faces a shortfall in funding despite government promises of extra money. Corbyn's Labour Party, which is traditionally favoured by voters to run the NHS, has said it will outspend the Conservatives if it wins the election, though Johnson has also promised to spend big to build new hospitals. "Boris Johnson is visibly keen to keep the election campaign focused on Brexit, but the widespread flooding in Yorkshire, and now these bleak statistics on the state of the much-cherished National Health Service are opening up the political debate into a much wider examination of the Conservatives' record in power," said Al Jazeera's Paul Brennan, reporting from London. "The figures, and the prediction of a bleak winter ahead, are a gift to the opposition parties' campaigns. The NHS is a crucial battleground issue, with 77 percent of Britons wanting it to be maintained, and 90 percent supportive of the founding principles which underpin it," he added. "A party which loses the public's trust on the NHS will suffer at the ballot box on December 12."

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/11/uk-health-service-results-piles-pressure-johnson-191114163230587.html

Thu, 14 Nov 2019 19:13:56 GMT

health

health organisations

bbcuk--2019-02-12--Can video consultations combat global doctor shortages

bbcuk

Can video consultations combat global doctor shortages?

Would you be happy to see your doctor online? Growing numbers of patients seem to be attracted by the convenience. And doctors are also finding it useful as health services come under pressure from growing and ageing populations. Lydia Campbell-Hill, a 35-year-old doctor from Cornwall, England, says switching to online consultations has transformed her life. "As a 'part-time' GP [general practitioner] working three days a week, I was doing 39 hours or more," she says. "I was solo parenting, paying vast amounts on childcare, and not seeing my child much." After leaving her clinic-based job and working mainly online from her lounge or kitchen, she says: "My stress levels dropped and I can fit my hours around school, even working a couple of hours in the evening after my son has gone to bed." Doug Sweeny, from US primary care provider One Medical, says giving doctors the flexibility to work remotely greatly improves their quality of life. "The virtual team, they may have kids at home, they may be in places like Hawaii," he says. "It works brilliantly, it actually helps if you need a flexible schedule or are in an area [where] we don't have bricks and mortar." Quality of life is one thing, but telemedicine is also about hard-headed economics. "A significant portion of the patients doctors see daily are quick follow-ups of well-managed, long-term conditions, lab results, or script renewals," says Oyuka Byambasuren, a Mongolian GP researching technology and healthcare delivery, "and these can be addressed through teleconsultations." It is a point echoed by Luke Buhl-Nielsen, from Swedish telemedicine app KRY (which uses the name LIVI outside Scandinavia). "In Sweden, up to 45% of the volume that comes into general practice can be dealt with digitally," he says. And virtual visits are roughly two-thirds cheaper to provide than in-person visits, research suggests. Doctor shortages is a growing problem around the world. The US could have up to 50,000 fewer than it needs by 2030, research firm IHS Markit believes. In Asia, the doctor shortage is fuelling the rapid rise of telehealth apps such as Halodoc, Doctor Anywhere, and Ping An Good Doctor. Private equity firms and venture capitalists are piling in to the sector, investing billions, as healthcare providers respond to the app-savvy, more consumer-focused generations. Nearly two-fifths of Americans aged 22-38 now seek routine medical services virtually these days, says a digital health survey from consultancy firm Accenture. And this generation demands more convenient appointment times and a better service than that enjoyed by their elders. "People are wanting to receive healthcare with the simplicity and convenience they receive in other services in their life," says Brian Kalis, Accenture's head of digital health services. The number of virtual visits to the doctor in the US will reach 105 million by 2022, up from 23 million in 2017, says IHS Markit. Celina Schocken has gone to the doctor virtually for a year. "You go to the app and request a consult, and then it assigns you to a nurse or doctor, they open your electronic chart, and it feels like a FaceTime session," she says. Ms Schocken, a 46-year-old consultant in Washington DC who works on women's health in developing countries, says she enjoys not having to waste time in waiting rooms running the risk of catching flu from other patients. The service costs $200 (£154; €176) a year to join and online consultations are free. But in-person visits and other services are extra. "It is really clean and efficient, and I love it," she says. Telemedicine has particularly taken off in Nordic countries, and is popular with women in Turkey, where birth control is coming under attack, according to analytics firm App Annie. Employers are also cottoning on to the benefits of telemedicine as a workplace perk. In the US, retail chain Walmart is offering employees doctor's appointments for $4 if they use a telemedicine service. "Employers are very sensibly appreciating that booking a meeting room for a 15-minute Skype consult is more productive than missing maybe an entire day to attend a GP appointment," says Dr Campbell-Hill. But there are challenges integrating telemedicine into healthcare systems, like Britain's or Canada's, that are paid for primarily from taxation. In the UK, for example, National Health Service GP surgeries receive a fixed amount of money for each patient on their books. The patients with easily treatable conditions effectively subsidise those with more complex conditions who require more care and attention. So the concern is that telemedicine services could simply "cherry pick" the younger, healthier patients, leaving bricks-and-mortar surgeries with less money to treat those patients who are more expensive to treat, warns Dr Campbell-Hill. And while chatbot-based health apps, such as Babylon, are also proving useful for initial triage or assessment of simple patient conditions, there are some concerns about how accurate the artificial intelligence (AI) underlying such chatbots really is. Dr Annette Neary, a former NHS consultant now based in Galway, Ireland, says: "Chatbot algorithms frequently ask overly broad questions and often come up with bizarre diagnosis options." For example, she recently input symptoms of a man having a heart attack, and the AI came up with "panic attack" as a diagnosis. "Another one for sepsis came up with gonorrhoea," she says. So while many doctors think you can't beat a face-to-face consultation, there are plenty of benefits if that face is on a smartphone or computer screen.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47196286

2019-02-12 00:20:45+00:00

health

health organisations

bbcuk--2019-11-14--General election 2019: Is the NHS the best health service possible?

bbcuk

General election 2019: Is the NHS the best health service possible?

Political parties are generally in agreement about one thing - that the NHS needs more money. But is money all it takes? To answer this, it's helpful to look at whether the NHS is getting the best out of its existing budget - and how that compares with other countries. There's no single way of measuring the efficiency of a health service, though various bodies have tried. Bloomberg's annual healthcare efficiency index, for example, looks simply at spending on healthcare versus life expectancy. Its latest report ranked 56 wealthy countries, based on 2015 data. It put the UK 35th - down from 21st the year before, partly reflecting the slowing of growth in spending on the NHS. Hong Kong and Singapore - mixed public and private systems with elements of both government funding and insurance - came top. They were followed by Italy and Spain - with national health services - which both have higher life expectancies than the UK and spend less per person to achieve this. The UK was also beaten by France which has a system of social insurance paid for by the government, individuals and employers. Compared with 35 other OECD countries (Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development) - a group of rich nations - the UK spends an average amount on healthcare (about 9.8% of GDP) and has a slightly higher than average life expectancy for the group (81.3 years). Life expectancy is a reasonable proxy for how good a healthcare system is, but it's not a perfect one. While higher healthcare spending is linked to higher life expectancy, it's affected by other complicated social factors including diet and smoking. In the US, for example, opioid deaths and gun crime have been linked to a fall in life expectancy. It's also a fairly crude measure - living longer isn't the only thing most people would want to achieve from a health system. As a 2018 report by three health think tanks and the Institute for Fiscal Studies, entitled "How good is the NHS?", said, UK patients were more likely than average to report having had a good experience of the health system. The think tanks said this was "a valuable goal of health care in its own right". UK patients were also less likely to say they skipped a consultation or prescription medicine because of cost. And looking just at life expectancy doesn't capture how good a health system is at dealing with conditions that may require long-term care but don't cause death. The 2018 report concludes that the NHS is relatively efficient, performing well in managing long-term conditions with "an unusually low level of staffing and, in at least some categories, equipment". This suggests the NHS is doing quite well with the money it has. But equally, life expectancy measures don't capture experiences like waiting for a long time on a trolley in A&E or waiting in pain for a routine operation, which aren't fatal but are also not good experiences for patients. These have worsened as funding increases have slowed. The NHS is below average among OECD countries at treating the illnesses that are the most common direct causes of death. For example, the UK mortality rate for cancer and heart disease is higher than the average among similar countries and that's a longer-term trend. Part of the reason the UK does worse on cancer survival is that British patients present late with cancer symptoms, and get diagnosed at a later stage. That's not necessarily a funding issue. The UK has just about average waiting times for routine surgery like hip replacements, but just below average waiting times in A&E compared with other rich countries. As the growth in funding has slowed, though, the NHS has become significantly worse at seeing people within four hours in A&E and within 18 weeks for non-urgent surgery. And it has become worse at getting cancer patients into treatment quickly. This is significant for patients and their experience of the system, but it hasn't dramatically effected outcomes - although this may take some time to show up. Those worse than average trends pre-dated recent funding cutbacks, again suggesting there's something other than just money going on. Improving outcomes in the health service often requires funding plus other action - for example training and retaining more staff or launching public information campaigns. Money alone is not enough to make those things happen. US-based foundation the Commonwealth Fund published a comparison in 2017 which put the UK top out of 11 countries for healthcare performance. It looked at five areas including equity and access, as well as health outcomes and the care process. The UK came top partly because of the ranking's heavy weighting towards universal systems - since equity and access formed two out of the five criteria. When it came to health outcomes, though, the UK scored tenth out of 11 countries which detracts from the overall score. Although, arguably, the UK's relative equality of access to healthcare for both the rich and poor is a significant when it comes to assessing how well the health service is spending its money. The IFS, Health Foundation, King's Fund and Nuffield Trust say the NHS "does better than health systems in comparable countries at protecting people from heavy financial costs when they are ill" and that overall, "the NHS performs neither as well as its supporters sometimes claim nor as badly as its critics often allege."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-50406110

Thu, 14 Nov 2019 01:37:14 GMT

health

health organisations

breitbart--2019-11-04--UK: National Health Service to Deny Treatment for 'Racist or Sexist Language, Gestures, Behaviour'

breitbart

UK: National Health Service to Deny Treatment for 'Racist or Sexist Language, Gestures, Behaviour'

A National Health Service (NHS) trust has announced that it will withdraw treatment from patients it deems to be racist or sexist. The North Bristol NHS Trust announced that patients will be subject a “sports-style disciplinary yellow card and then final red card in which treatment would be withdrawn as soon as is safe” on its official website. The policy would cover not just “Threatening and offensive language” but also “Racist or sexist language, gestures or behaviour” more generally, as well as “malicious allegations” — a rather troubling caveat, given the NHS has in the past been entangled in large-scale malpractice scandals which hospitals and staff have initially denied. “We have staff from many different backgrounds, from all over the world, and we pride ourselves on our commitment to equality which is a fundamental value of the NHS,” commented Andrea Young, Chief Executive for North Bristol NHS Trust. “We’re sending a strong signal that any racism or discrimination is completely unacceptable – we want staff to challenge and report it and we want everyone to know that it will have consequences.” How low the bar for deeming behaviour discriminatory and sufficiently “offensive” to withdraw treatment is not spelled out in explicit terms. For example, in late 2017 an NHS patient who requested a female nurse to carry out a cervical smear complained when the hospital sent a person with “an obviously male appearance… close-cropped hair, a male facial appearance and voice, large number of tattoos and facial stubble” who insisted “My gender is not male. I’m a transsexual”. It is not clear whether the patient could have fallen foul of the Bristol policy had it been in place and the nurse had chosen to take offence — and nor is it clear how far the trust’s assurances that it will only withdraw treatment once clinically safe extend, and if patients could, for example, be denied diagnostic procedures or so-called routine operations such as hip replacements, for which many patients have to wait eight months or more. British state authorities have previously proved somewhat overzealous in their enforcement of political correctness, with foster parents caring for three “not indigenous White British” children having them taken away by Labour-run Rotherham Borough Council in 2012 because they were members of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), then led by Nigel Farage. Strategic Director of Children and Young People’s Services Joyce Thacker said she was concerned that UKIP was opposed to mass immigration and the “active promotion of multiculturalism”, meaning UKIP members could not meet non-British children’s “cultural and ethnic needs”. Another NHS trust for the area, the University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, has previously been criticised for ordering the removal of the British flag from security staff stab vests after someone complained that the country’s national banner was “offensive”.

Jack Montgomery

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/breitbart/~3/13Rm-kcDmTI/

Mon, 04 Nov 2019 14:22:42 +0000

health

health organisations

breitbart--2019-12-14--UK: NHS to Administer Hormone Blockers to 12-year-old Trans Child

breitbart

UK: NHS to Administer Hormone Blockers to 12-year-old Trans Child

The National Health Service (NHS) will administer hormone blockers to a 12-year-old trans child said to have been born in the “wrong body”. Ashley ‘Ash’ Lammin, whose name has been legally changed by deed poll, has claimed to be a girl born in a boy’s body since the age of three, if mother Terri is to be believed — and it seems this idea has never been discouraged. “I never thought it was a phase, Ash was just Ash. When she was three she said to me, ‘I’m a boy because you gave me a boy’s name – it’s your fault’. I remember feeling horrible, because she blamed me,” the mother told the Metro. “I’d never come across it before and I just went along with it. I just thought at the time “if he’s happy, well that’s the main thing”.” Terri Lammin, who homeschools her child, also told the newspaper she would “like to see the subject of transgender people included in some lessons, like there are about same-sex families.” The Metro article makes no reference to Ashley’s father. “The journey is long and it’s still going, but I feel like the sense of victory is there through it all,” the 12-year-old told the newspaper. “Not everyone is going to understand and people have to have their own opinions and I understand that. Some people might not like the idea of trans,” the child mused. “I hope I inspire others but I just hope that love and acceptance comes through everything.” The Metro notes that the pre-teen “eventually wants a womb transplant so she can be a mother when she is older” — a plan which seems extremely unlikely to be viable, as even if such a transplant was possible Lammin would still not be able to ovulate or have any of the other female reproductive equipment needed to conceive and then carry a child. The Metro further notes that the 12-year-old will take the hormone blockers until age 18, and then decide whether to go ahead with so-called gender reassignment surgery — adding optimistically that “If she decides not to go ahead with it, Ash will come off the blocker, and her puberty will kick in just a few years later than her peers.” This rather underestimates the likely impact of hormone treatment on an adolescent male body from the ages of 12 to 18, which is likely to have a drastic impact and possibly irreversible impact on the development of the male genitalia, height, facial structure, and even fertility.

Jack Montgomery

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/breitbart/~3/FsPEP1HaXo8/

Sat, 14 Dec 2019 13:46:36 +0000

health

health organisations

breitbart--2019-12-15--NHS 'Over-Diagnosing' Transgender Children, Psychologists Warn

breitbart

NHS 'Over-Diagnosing' Transgender Children, Psychologists Warn

Six psychologists who resigned from England’s flagship National Health Service (NHS) child transgender clinic have raised concerns over its treatment of children with the mental disorder gender dysphoria, saying that they felt pressured to ignore psychological treatment and begin hormone treatment for minors. Sky News reports that 35 psychologists have resigned in three years from the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) that deals with gender dysphoria. The service had treated 770 children a decade ago, compared to 2,590 last year. There are another 3,000 on the waiting list. Most of those treated are girls (74 per cent) who believe they are boys. Some are as young as three-years-old when their parents take them to the Tavistock. In the United Kingdom, cross-hormone therapy — where girls are given testosterone and boys are given oestrogen — is not normally given until 16 and gender reassignment surgery is illegal under the age of 18. However, children as young as ten have received puberty blockers, with Sky News reporting around half of those seen by the Tavistock Trust are on puberty blockers before they go on to cross-hormone therapy and then gender surgery. So concerned over the future of their livelihoods, of the six psychologists that would talk on the record to the broadcaster, five would not go on camera. One permitted herself to be filmed on the condition that her voice and appearance were disguised. She told Sky News that when she joined the clinic she was surprised to find that all child patients at the Tavistock were being treated medically, saying: “At the moment there’s only one pathway through the service, which is a medical pathway, not a psychological one.” She detailed one instance where she felt a child who thought they were in the wrong body was put onto drugs too quickly, and that other issues in their psychological history had not been explored. She said: “I once worked with an executive who thought that the gender dysphoria the young person was presented with was really strong, really intense. So she decided to put the young person forward for the hormone-blocking treatment after two appointments. “Looking back, it was a young person with a history of trauma and direct trauma in terms of abuse. There were other things happening to them, and this was not being explored by the clinician.” Others backed this view, with one anonymous psychologist saying: “Therapy is not an option in this service.” The whistleblower who was willing to go on camera remarked on the fact that girls are disproportionately seeking to transition. She said that in a lot of cases, the girls had experienced homophobia and had a history of abuse. “This [phenomena] is happening all across the Western world.” The psychologist, who described herself as an “enthusiastic LGBTQ-ally”, continued to tell Sky that she would not be able to have this kind of conversation with parents of a child presenting gender dysphoria. She said: “I felt that if I ever spoke to a family like this, I would immediately be called transphobic.” She also said that when she voiced her concerns, she was “often shut down by other affirmative clinicians”. “Our fears are that young people are being over-diagnosed and then over-medicalised,” another anonymous whistleblower told Sky News. “We are extremely concerned about the consequences for young people… For those of us who previously worked in the service, we fear that we have had front row seats to a medical scandal.” One 19-year-old woman, Thomasin, who ceased her transition and reverted to seeing herself as a woman, told Sky that she was driven down the path of changing gender because she was struggling to come to terms with being a lesbian. Several former Tavistock clinicians have said that they are now supporting teenagers who have changed their minds and “detransitioned”. This is not the first time that the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust has come under criticism for its handling of mentally ill children. Former governor of the trust Marcus Evans quit in February after a damning internal report revealed that clinicians were fast-tracking children into sex-change procedures due to pressure from “highly politicised” trans lobbyists. The report, written by Dr David Bell, who recently spoke at a British detransitioning conference, named pro-trans lobby groups Gendered Intelligence and Mermaids, which he said GIDS had gone “to some lengths to placate”. Mermaids, which campaigns to lower the age for sex-changes, was exposed for having inflated the suicide risk of children waiting to change gender.

Victoria Friedman

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/breitbart/~3/Zlk9NHTpe5o/

Sun, 15 Dec 2019 13:37:17 +0000

health

health organisations

buzzfeed--2019-07-26--What Happens If Obamacare Is Overturned In An Election Year Senate Republicans Say To Trust Congres

buzzfeed

What Happens If Obamacare Is Overturned In An Election Year? Senate Republicans Say To Trust Congress.

People participate in a protest on the second day of oral arguments for the Affordable Care Act in front of the Supreme Court building in Washington, DC, March 27, 2012. WASHINGTON — A lawsuit winding through the courts could overturn Obamacare and cause millions of people to lose their health insurance, but Senate Republicans say there is nothing to worry about because Congress will come to the rescue. In interviews with over a dozen Republican senators, most said they believed Congress is up to the task of passing a new health bill if the Affordable Care Act is overturned by the Supreme Court, though there exists no evidence to date that Congress is actually up to the task. Several said the ACA getting struck down would be a good thing because it would force Congress to come to an agreement. “It would be noisy and loud, but it would need to be done. Congress only seems to get things done when they have to, so this would be one of those ‘have to’ ones,” said Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford. It’s a scenario that has grown more realistic month by month. The Trump administration and 20 Republican-led states are arguing in court that the entire Affordable Care Act should be tossed out. One federal judge has already sided with them, and earlier this month they presented arguments to what appeared to be a receptive panel of judges at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. It is widely expected to be appealed to the Supreme Court either way, setting up a possible climactic decision in 2020. The fight over Obamacare went all the way to the Supreme Court in 2012, and some provisions were struck down. But in a landmark 5–4 ruling, with Chief Justice John Roberts serving as the swing vote, the court upheld the law’s individual mandate. The new lawsuit is even broader with Republican lawyers pushing for every bit of the 900-page law to be tossed out now that Congress has repealed the individual mandate, arguing that without it the rest of the law is unconstitutional without it. The GOP argument is that Obamacare disappearing would be so catastrophic — regulated markets would collapse, millions of low-income people would lose Medicaid, insurers could once again deny coverage to people with preexisting conditions — that Congress would have no choice but to set aside their differences and pass a replacement. “One thing I’ve learned in eight and a half years here is you need almost a crisis to concentrate the minds and actually accomplish something, so hopefully we’d be able to do that,” said Sen. Ron Johnson. There would be obstacles. Congress would have to reach a deal that Senate Republicans, President Trump, and House Democrats led by Nancy Pelosi could all agree on. The two parties are pushing in wildly opposite directions on health care, and this crisis could be dropped on them during the throes of a presidential election. There has been no movement since Trump took office to fix even smaller parts of the ACA. Sens. Lamar Alexander and Patty Murray spent months negotiating a bipartisan bill to stabilize Obamacare markets and lower premiums. It has yet to be brought up for a vote. “There are already some plans out there that could be dusted off and people of goodwill could conceivably come together,” said Republican Sen. Todd Young. “I know it would be challenging and— Why are you giving me that look? I’m acknowledging the challenge!” Asked whether they could imagine a split Congress managing to pass a comprehensive new health care system in an election year, Democrats mostly expressed bewilderment. “Seriously? You’ve got Republican senators who actually say that with a straight face?” said Sen. Chris Coons during an interview in a cramped Senate elevator. “They had nine years to come up with a replacement plan and haven’t. I don’t find that credible.” “Nine years!” Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin said to his Republican colleagues Mike Rounds and Rob Portman, all wedged in the elevator as well. “Oh my god, do your job, would you? Son of a bitch.” In theory, Democrats and Republicans agree on keeping two parts of Obamacare: protecting people with preexisting conditions and allowing children to stay on their parent’s health insurance plans until age 26. But this is meaningless. In reality, the two sides are fighting for polar opposite plans. Democrats want to strengthen and expand the Obamacare markets to bring in more people, which could drive down prices. Republicans want to open up off-market options, allowing healthy people to move to cheaper but skimpier plans. They oppose most Obamacare regulations, as well as the taxes and subsidies that keep the individual markets stable. Obamacare regulations raise premium costs, but they also ensure that plans cover a wide range of services and people with health problems are charged at the same rate as everyone else. GOP plans to repeal Obamacare were consistently projected to lead to millions more uninsured people and much higher premiums for people with preexisting health conditions, albeit while saving the government up to hundreds of billions of dollars. The projections sparked such a backlash that Republicans ultimately failed to deliver on their long-promised repeal of Obamacare. Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz said that Republicans would be forced to decide between a plan that is essentially Obamacare or “some fig leaf nonsense that won’t cover anybody.” Democrats consistently rejected the idea of agreeing to a plan that would cause millions more uninsured people. “The fantasy world the Republicans continue to live in on health care is a sight to behold,” said Sen. Chris Murphy. “They controlled every branch of government for two years and they couldn’t do anything on health care. Why on earth would we be able to restore the full protections in the Affordable Care Act with divided government?” A group of Republicans led by Sen. Mitt Romney have started having discussions about an Obamacare replacement plan that would involve block granting for health care funding to the states. However, these talks are in early stages and there is no timeline to produce legislation, according to someone with knowledge of the discussions. The talks have not extended to Democrats, who strongly oppose block grants. Just two Republican senators have been firmly critical of the lawsuit: Susan Collins of Maine and Senate Health Committee Chair Lamar Alexander. Another option is that even if the Supreme Court tosses out Obamacare in 2020, the Trump administration could ask the court to delay the ruling taking effect until after the presidential election. This would set up an election where the White House and both chambers of Congress are up for grabs at a time when the health insurance of potentially tens of millions of people is on the line.

Paul McLeod

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/paulmcleod/obamacare-lawsuit-2020-election

2019-07-26 02:34:31+00:00

health

healthcare policy

shareblue--2019-12-06--GOP senator claims birth control and HIV testing is not 'actual health care'

shareblue

GOP senator claims birth control and HIV testing is not 'actual health care'

GOP Sen. Martha McSally's campaign is on the attack against Planned Parenthood Arizona, the state's largest sexual health organization, saying it does not provide residents with "actual health care," the Hill reported Friday. McSally's comments came in response to Planned Parenthood's announcement that it would run ads in Arizona, Colorado, and North Carolina about the Trump administration's restrictions on health care funding that limit how doctors can interact with patients. All three of the states have closely watched Senate races in 2020. "Senator McSally is focused on providing access to actual health care for women all across Arizona, while Planned Parenthood is only focused on protecting their business model," Dylan Lefler, the Arizona Republican's campaign manager, told the Hill. Planned Parenthood Arizona serves more than 90,000 Arizona residents, according to its website, offering a wide range of real health care services, including annual well-woman exams, birth control consultation and supplies, HIV testing, emergency contraception, and pregnancy testing. Research from the Guttmacher Institute, a group focused on reproductive health, has shown that providers serving low-income patients, including Planned Parenthood, play a vital role in the public safety net, and may be the only health care available in some areas. The Trump administration unveiled new rules earlier this year stating that federal funds from the Title X program can no longer go to organizations that either perform abortions or refer patients to facilities to receive abortions. Prior to the new rules, organizations like Planned Parenthood were already barred from using federal funds to perform abortions, but the new rule gagged the ability of health care professionals to even discuss the medical procedure. After the rules went into effect, Planned Parenthood was forced to withdraw from the Title X program, the only federal program dedicated to providing family planning services, birth control, cancer screenings, STI testing, and annual exams, to low-income Americans. Most of the patients who rely on Title X services are people of color, according to Planned Parenthood. The ads aim to pressure lawmakers to overrule Trump and allow organizations like Planned Parenthood to once again participate in Title X and offer health care services to low-income people. However, the McSally campaign identified Planned Parenthood as a "hysterical liberal special interest group" invading Arizona "with false, negative ads." McSally has previously voted to bar Planned Parenthood from receiving any federal funds whatsoever. She also voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which requires health insurance companies to cover maternity and newborn care. "Republican senators are attacking access to affordable birth control and other vital reproductive health services by standing with the Trump administration's dangerous gag rule," Sam Lau, Planned Parenthood Action Fund's director of federal advocacy media, said in an email. "Congress has the power to take action, and the American people want them to stop putting politics over their health and protect access to affordable health care." Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.

Dan Desai Martin

https://americanindependent.com/martha-mcsally-planned-parenthood-arizona-senate-gop-republicans-health-care/

Fri, 06 Dec 2019 19:57:37 +0000

health

healthcare policy