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Removing dams from the Klamath River is a step toward justice for Native Americans in Northern California

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, July 12, 2023

The Klamath River runs over 250 miles (400 kilometers) from southern Oregon to the Pacific Ocean in Northern California.

Key Points:

The Klamath River runs over 250 miles (400 kilometers) from southern Oregon to the Pacific Ocean in Northern California.
Closer to its mouth at Requa, the trees rising above the river are often blanketed in fog.
The Klamath is central to the worldviews, history and identity of several Native nations.
From headwaters in Klamath, Modoc and Yahooskin-Paiute lands, it flows through Shasta, Karuk, Hupa and Yurok homelands.

People, fish and infrastructure

Resident fishes of the upper Klamath are highly endemic, meaning that they do not occur anywhere else in the world.
Many fishes, particularly Chinook salmon, steelhead and coho salmon, annually migrated to or near the headwaters of the Klamath River to spawn.
Dam building ushered in a new phase of attempted removal for tribes whose lives and cultures were centered along the rivers.

Declining fisheries

Permitting processes in the heyday of Western dam construction did not consider impacts on Indigenous nations or fisheries.
Construction of Copco 1 blocked all fish migration to the Klamath’s upper reaches starting in 1912.
Subsequently, Copco 2, J.C. Boyle and Iron Gate dams further shortened fish migrations, cutting off access to approximately 400 miles (650 kilometers) of productive spawning and rearing habitat.
The Coho salmon, shortnose sucker, Lost River sucker, bull trout and euchalon all are federally listed as threatened or endangered.

Impacts on tribal nations

Development in the Klamath Basin has pitted agricultural interests against tribal nations and fish, particularly during dry years.
Losing salmon along the Klamath is traumatic for Native nations, which see the fish as a cultural and spiritual keystone.
For them, working to remove the dams and protect the salmon is a commitment and a responsibility.
These salmon are a direct tie to my ancestors – the physical representation of their love for me.
According to the Winters doctrine, established in a 1908 Supreme Court ruling, tribal water rights extend back to the dates when reservations were created.

Welcoming salmon home

Fish population responses will probably vary, particularly during the first several years after removal.
However, salmon and trout have evolved to migrate upstream and access important headwater spawning and rearing habitats.
In Yurok restoration engineer Brook Thompson’s words, “We’re all focused on finding solutions to bringing our salmon back home and creating a healthy life for them.

Cursive handwriting is back in Ontario schools. Its success depends on at least 5 things

Retrieved on:

Tuesday, July 11, 2023

It is a re-emphasis on direct instruction in foundational skills.

Key Points:

It is a re-emphasis on direct instruction in foundational skills.
Handwriting is a learned skill and it must be taught through direct, explicit, programmatic, developmentally progressive, consistent and sustained instruction — it will not simply be “caught” incidentally.

How one writes connected to what one can say

He finds that a legible, fluent/fast script contributes significantly to the quality of text generated.
Research suggests this can impede their academic success as the demands for written literacy accelerate over time, beginning in Grade 4.

Research in neuro and cognitive sciences

The resurgence of handwriting comes with evolving research in the neuro and cognitive sciences that underscore its importance in its connection to learning to read and as a cognitive tool.
Researchers Daniel J. Plebanek and Karin H. James, experts in psychology and brain sciences, use functional magnetic resonance imaging to study brain activity.

Teaching handwriting has been marginalized

Teaching handwriting has long been marginalized in school curriculum, often trivialized as just an outdated skill.
Handwriting became crowded out by keyboarding and digital literacies associated with “21st century” learning goals and the shift to teaching “whole-language pedagogy” that emphasized context and meaning making, often at the expense of the underlying skills required to do so.
It’s no surprise, then, that in a study from the United States, few teachers report feeling prepared to teach handwriting.
This could involve a variety of printing and handwriting activities that are meaningful and purposeful for students.
While cursive has been undervalued and misunderstood for many years, there is a compelling case for cursive handwriting on the curriculum.

The Colorado website designer's win is one of dozens of federal cases where religious beliefs and LGBTQ+ rights have clashed – and the pattern might not be what you think

Retrieved on:

Monday, July 3, 2023

In 2018, it was a Colorado baker refusing to bake a cake for a gay wedding.

Key Points:

In 2018, it was a Colorado baker refusing to bake a cake for a gay wedding.
As sociologists of religion and sexuality, we have analyzed every federal court case between 1990 to 2020 that involves religious beliefs and LGBTQ+ people’s rights – a total of 62 cases.
The latest Supreme Court rulings make it seem as if cases that deal with plaintiffs’ faith are usually successful in federal courts.
Most of the time they lose, and cases related to LGBTQ rights are no exception.

Three types of claims

We focused our analysis on three types: those based on the free exercise clause of the First Amendment; those about free speech, as in 303 Creative, that are also based on the First Amendment; and religion claims citing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination.
We found that in only 21 of the 62 cases did a federal court side side with the religious litigant.
In cases related to employment, housing, incarceration, education or physical and mental health care, on the other hand, federal courts were unlikely to side with religion-based claims.
Over time, fewer cases dealt with plaintiffs’ opposition to LGBTQ+ identity and more on LGBTQ+ relationships, specifically same-sex marriage.

Not always the ‘usual story’

The majority of cases brought over the past 30 years – 50 of the 62 in our sample – were indeed brought by people who say their religious beliefs oppose LGBT identities or relationships.
Still, there are examples of plaintiffs who use religion-based claims to advance LGBTQ+ rights.
Shahar, who had held a Jewish wedding ceremony at her synagogue, argued that the attorney general had violated her right to freely exercise her religion, among other rights.
Other litigants have integrated their religious beliefs or identity into federal court arguments, seeking to protect LGBTQ+ people and their rights.

The road ahead

Today, hours after the court’s decision was announced, it is too early to predict the consequences of the ruling.
It’s worth noting, however, that the Supreme Court declined to consider Smith’s claims that Colorado’s law violated the free exercise clause of the First Amendment.
Yet they were not willing to consider whether the law impeded her ability to freely practice her faith.

The Murray-Darling Basin shows why the 'social cost of water' concept won't work

Retrieved on:

Sunday, July 2, 2023

Fights over water can be expected to intensify as the world warms, evaporation increases and rainfall becomes less predictable.

Key Points:

Fights over water can be expected to intensify as the world warms, evaporation increases and rainfall becomes less predictable.
Earlier this year, for the first time in almost half a century, the United Nations held a conference squarely focused on water.
In particular, we challenge the concept of a global “social cost of water”.

What is a global social cost of water?

The social cost of carbon is an estimate, in dollars, of the economic damages that would result from emitting one additional tonne of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
The social cost of water concept proposes valuing all types of water, including water vapour in the atmosphere that later falls as rain.
It’s unclear how a global social cost of water would work in practice.

Australia has the most sophisticated water markets in the world, in the Murray-Darling Basin. But even here there are considerable differences in how markets work. Water values and costs are also very different.

Read more:
What is the ‘social cost of carbon’? 2 energy experts explain

Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin: a case in point

At the other extreme, there’s the cost of too much water causing floods, property damage and loss of life, or salinity harming viticulture in the Riverland.
Read more:
Water buybacks are back on the table in the Murray-Darling Basin.

What should instead happen next?

This is a big task.
Misdirection down blind alleys is a distraction that the world cannot afford.

Dung beetles: expedition unearths new species on Mozambique's Mount Mabu

Retrieved on:

Thursday, June 29, 2023

These include several species of plants, a new species of bat, a new species of forest viper and two species of chameleons, as well as several new species of butterflies.

Key Points:

These include several species of plants, a new species of bat, a new species of forest viper and two species of chameleons, as well as several new species of butterflies.
In a recent paper we set out our findings from the first dung beetle survey on Mount Mabu.
Dung beetles must be protected from extinction
Our research results increase the number of currently valid dung beetle species recorded from Mozambique to 326.
Several dung beetle species collected in our expedition seem to be endemic (restricted to a certain location) to the region of Mabu.

Press release - 70 years of the European Parliament celebrated at the Royal Palace

Retrieved on:

Thursday, June 29, 2023

European Economic Community, They, European Parliament, List, Euratom, ECSC, European, Member of the European Parliament, Parliament, Council of the European Union, Council, Communication, European Coal and Steel Community, Majesty

70 years of the European Parliament celebrated at the Royal Palace

Key Points:

70 years of the European Parliament celebrated at the Royal Palace
EP President Metsola and lead MEPs will meet with Their Majesties the King and Queen of the Belgians on Wednesday to mark the 70th anniversary of the European Parliament.
Parliament political groups’ leaders, Bureau members and committees’ chairs will also be among the guests.
Background
10 September 2022 marked the 70th anniversary of the first meeting of the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).
In 1958, following the creation of the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community, the Common Assembly of the ECSC was enlarged and renamed the ''European Parliamentary Assembly''.

Marshall Islands, a nation at the heart of global shipping, fights for climate justice

Retrieved on:

Monday, June 26, 2023

On board were Alson Kelen, founder of Waan Aelõñ in Majel (WAM, Canoes of the Marshall Islands), and a group of youngsters taking part in a climate justice workshop.

Key Points:

On board were Alson Kelen, founder of Waan Aelõñ in Majel (WAM, Canoes of the Marshall Islands), and a group of youngsters taking part in a climate justice workshop.
Sailing ships, some finished and some under construction, surround an A-frame building right between the government-owned Marshall Islands Resort and the Ministry of Education on Majuro Atoll.
As home to the world’s third-largest ship registry, the Marshall Islands is a key player in global shipping, while rising sea levels threaten its low-lying islands.

What’s at stake?

Shipping emissions add up to around 1 billion tonnes a year.
In 2018, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the United Nations agency that regulates shipping, set its first sector-wide climate target: to halve shipping emissions between 2008 and 2050.
This “initial strategy” doesn’t align with the Paris Agreement goal of keeping global warming below 1.5℃.
Read more:
Shipping emissions must fall by a third by 2030 and reach zero before 2050 – new research

How can the energy transition be made equitable?

Pacific states are also calling for an equitable energy transition.
In 2021, the Marshall Islands proposed a global levy on shipping emissions – at least US$100 per tonne of CO₂-equivalent – to speed up the transition.
Shipping costs will go up as the energy transition unfolds.
For small island developing states like the Marshall Islands, not getting help with these costs could prove disastrous.

‘We are not drowning. We are fighting’

It will raise enormous revenues, leading to questions of how to administer and spend these funds.
The World Bank is positioning itself to administer the US$3.7 trillion that may be levied over the decades to 2050.
The shipping industry, they whisper in the corridors of the International Maritime Organization, can’t be expected to solve all the world’s problems.
The most ambitious “equitable transition” now on the table will barely fix centuries of colonial exploitation and unfair trade.

FTC Files Amicus Brief in CFPB Action Opposing Efforts to Weaken Equal Credit Opportunity Act

Retrieved on:

Thursday, June 22, 2023

CFPB, Equal Credit Opportunity Act, ECOA, Commission, List, Blog, Black, Federal Trade Commission, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, FTC, Curia Julia, News, Regulation, Social media

The Federal Trade Commission filed a friend-of-the-court (amicus) brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit challenging a district court ruling that invalidated a key anti-discrimination rule in the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA).

Key Points:

The Federal Trade Commission filed a friend-of-the-court (amicus) brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit challenging a district court ruling that invalidated a key anti-discrimination rule in the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA).
The CFPB alleged that the defendants took steps to discourage Black consumers from applying for loans, violating Regulation B’s anti-discouragement rule.
The brief notes that the FTC receives thousands of complaints from consumers each year related to discriminatory lending practices.
Follow the FTC on social media, read consumer alerts and the business blog, and sign up to get the latest FTC news and alerts.

FTC Files Amicus Brief in CFPB Action Opposing Efforts to Weaken Equal Credit Opportunity Act

Retrieved on:

Thursday, June 22, 2023

The Federal Trade Commission filed a friend-of-the-court (amicus) brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit challenging a district court ruling that invalidated a key anti-discrimination rule in the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA).

Key Points:

The Federal Trade Commission filed a friend-of-the-court (amicus) brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit challenging a district court ruling that invalidated a key anti-discrimination rule in the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA).
The CFPB alleged that the defendants took steps to discourage Black consumers from applying for loans, violating Regulation B’s anti-discouragement rule.
The brief notes that the FTC receives thousands of complaints from consumers each year related to discriminatory lending practices.
Follow the FTC on social media, read consumer alerts and the business blog, and sign up to get the latest FTC news and alerts.

Hearing voices? You’re not alone

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, June 21, 2023

It is estimated that 13.2% of the adult general population are subject to it, yet this experience still carries much stigma.

Key Points:

It is estimated that 13.2% of the adult general population are subject to it, yet this experience still carries much stigma.
For several decades now, the international Hearing Voices Movement (HVM) has been campaigning to improve the way this condition is perceived.

Changing textbooks

Our entire culture teaches us that the ego must remain master of its own house.
In psychiatry, hearing voices in the absence of external inputs is equated with hallucination, a clear expression of psychosis.
But even psychiatric textbooks are changing.

Less lonely together

Since the 1980s, a growing number of people have confessed to “hearing voices”.
All have managed to tap into a range of resources to deal with their experiences, without necessarily turning to psychiatry.

Inclusive change

Its members prefer to consider that voices are real, carry meaning and links to trauma – even if opinions differ as to their explanations.
It’s all part of the trend toward health care patient and provider empowerment, which has been recommended by the World Health Organisation.

The groups’ effectiveness

A questionnaire designed jointly with English voice hearers has been adapted into French.
The study compared the effects of VHGs with those of ordinary therapeutic groups.
As the study took place during the Covid-19 pandemic, the groups ran slowly and only 20 of the 50 in France completed the study.

Different methods, similar results

In parallel, a 14-person control group underwent metacognitive training, a method aimed at helping people with psychosis become more aware of thinking patterns contributing to their symptoms.
VHGs hold the advantage of attracting people who do not have a psychiatric diagnosis or who do not fully accept it.
Ultimately, VHGs’ value lies not so much in their ability to replace existing treatments as to complement them.

In the minds of carers

Surveying 79 staff from French mental health institutions, the second study confirmed the medical and caring personnel largely views them positively.
The more professionals familiarise ourselves with these structures, the more they stand to free themselves from such stereotypes.