Category Archives: Post Human

BAKERSFIELD, California (KABC) A woman accused of killing her three young children in a Reseda apartment has admitted to drowning them with what she said was the intention of protecting them from their father.

I drowned them. I did it as softly I dont know how to explain it, Lilliana Carrillo said Thursday in a disturbing jailhouse interview with KGET-TV. I hugged them. I kissed them. I was apologizing the whole time. I loved my kids.

Carrillo told the Bakersfield television station that she killed the children, ages 6 months, 2 and 3 years old, to protect them from their father, who she claimed was involved in human trafficking.

She said she wished her children were still alive, adding, however: I prefer them not being tortured and abused on a regular basis for the rest of their lives.

Carrillo identified the children as Joanna Maria, 3; Terry Joseph, 2; and Sierra Sequoia, 6 months.

I love you and Im sorry, was the last thing she said to her son and daughters, according to Carrillo.

Erik Denton, Carrillos ex-boyfriend and the father of the children, had petitioned the court for custody March 1, alleging that Carrillo was delusional and had taken the kids and refused to tell him where they were.

Carrillo, in turn, filed a restraining order against him and claimed Denton was an alcoholic who may have sexually abused their eldest child.

As the case wound through family courts in Tulare and Los Angeles counties, the parents traded accusations in dozens of pages of documents. Police were called, social workers were consulted, alarming text messages and Facebook posts were saved as legal exhibits.

Last week, a Los Angeles judge agreed to move the case to Tulare County, where a hearing was scheduled for Wednesday.

It would be too late.

The victims grandmother found their bodies about 9:30 a.m. Saturday in an apartment in the 8000 block of Reseda Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Carrillo was nowhere to be found.

Identified as the suspected killer, she was arrested hours later in Tulare County, nearly 200 miles north of the scene.

Expert criminal defense attorney Doug Ridley says Dentons claims in custody hearings that Carrillo suffered from post-partum depression, along with other mental health issues, is a likely strategy her defense attorney will use to prove shes mentally unfit to stand trial.

It would really surprise me if she ended up a psych ward rather than standing trail and going to prison for the rest of her life in a case like this, Ridley said. Its so horrific and we dont even know all the details yet. We have one report that says that the children were stabbed. And then we have another report that says they were drowned, and the official report is that theyre still trying to determine cause of death.

Ridley added that Carrillos jailhouse murder confession will most likely weaken any legal motion proving shes not fit to stand trial.

Shes making coherent sentences, so I believe that that video is going to be proof that she is competent, but then all of the other mental health considerations go into a defense, whether that is post-partum, whether thats battered woman syndrome, or some other mental defense, he said.

Dentons court filings tell of Carrillos post-partum depression following the birth of their middle child. She began therapy but quit. She self-medicated with marijuana, he claimed. In texts and social media posts, she said things like I wish I never had kids and threatened to kill herself.

Psychiatrist Ananya Sreepathi says given Carrillo claims that she killed her children to protect them from their father, he would evaluate her for the most extreme case of post-partum depression along with any mental health issues.

Often times in post-partum psychosis, women can have delusions about the baby or hallucinations, like hearing voices telling them to do certain things to harm the baby, he said.

Go here to see the original:
'I drowned them': Mother says she killed her 3 young children to protect them from human trafficking - East Idaho News

Employers will need to carefully consider how post-pandemic meetings are conducted to encourage collaboration and discourage a silo effect |Alistair Berg/DigitalVIsion/Getty

As vaccines begin to roll out across the province, employers and employees are wondering what the return to work will look like.

Among employees working from home, 64% say they arent sure about or wouldnt feel comfortable returning to their pre-pandemic workplace in the next three months, according to a recent PWC study.

Many of these employees also believe they have been as productive or more productive working from home than they have at their workplace: 35% said they were more productive; 40% said their productivity was the same.

So why return to the office?

Employees from various fields are split on the form work should take in a post-pandemic world. However, most employees working from home agree that some form of remote work should be included. Only 20% say employees should return full-time to the office. The remaining 80% suggest that employees should be allowed to spend at least some of their time working from home.

I think we are going to see kind of a hybrid model, said Terri Griffith, professor of innovation and entrepreneurship at Simon Fraser University (SFU). You can design for [any hybrid model]. There is no one best way; theres just a best way for what youre trying to do.

However, a hybrid model doesnt mean saying anything goes or allowing employees to decide to work where theyre most comfortable. Griffith said her main concern is that employers wont take enough care to create a system that fairly integrates everyones contributions. The PWC study highlighted that some of the biggest challenges employees had working at home were communication, connectivity and collaboration. Companies are being challenged to help ensure both remote and workplace employees have an equal opportunity to head new projects, share their ideas and move up in the company.

Forty per cent of the employees who were given upskilling opportunities during the pandemic saw a jump in productivity, while 83% of employers said that offering upskilling opportunities improved job performance, according to the PWC study.

For some companies this may mean choosing a one-model-fits-all solution in which everyone works remotely or everyone returns to the workplace. However, Griffith said, its possible, though not always easy, to create a system that equally values both type of workers.

Its going to take a strong company commitment to make a hybrid work well. Its not impossible; its just you have to design for that. If all you say is, Employees, you get to pick, thats not going to work because it means youre not going to pay for the best collaboration capabilities; youre not going to incentivize people to work within those collaborative tools.

Griffith is also concerned that medium-sized companies may not be as well equipped to handle a hybrid model as major players or even smaller, more nimble companies are. Large organizations like SFU can devote resources and an entire team to developing a system and maintaining a good hybrid working environment. Smaller companies can easily check in with employees and ensure they are involved. Medium-sized companies, however, may not be able to work it out through conversation or to devote a team to the task.

But there are other approaches.

Griffith said there are a number of strategies employers can implement to help make a hybrid model work. One policy is to ensure all meeting attendees use the same medium for meetings, either all in person or all by video chat or conference line. Griffith said having multiple people using different collaboration methods can create a silo effect, with groups excluding each other from their conversations.

Another important strategy companies should consider, she said, is to develop a process for assigning projects, opportunities and promotions so that theyre not giving preferential treatment to employees seen regularly in the office and unintentionally excluding at-home workers.

Read the original here:
What will work be like after the COVID-19 pandemic? - Business in Vancouver

COMMUNIQUE

Adopted by the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU) at its 990th meetingon 13 April 2021 on the theme: Consideration of the Report of the PSC Field Mission to South Sudan, conducted from 24 to 26 March 2021.

The Peace and Security Council,

Taking note of the opening remarks made by the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Djibouti to the AU and Chairperson of the PSC for April 2021, H.E. Ambassador Mohammed Idriss Farah, as well as by the AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security; also taking note of the presentation of the Report of the PSC Field Mission to South Sudan presented by H.E. Ambassador Jean Njeri Kamau, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kenya to the AU and PSC Chairperson for March 2021;

Mindful of the AU Commitment as a guarantor of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS;

Reaffirming the AU solidarity with the people and the Government of South Sudan in their aspirations to restore peace, stability and development in their country, and also reaffirming the commitment of the AU to respect the sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of South Sudan;

Recalling its decisions and pronouncements on the situation in South Sudan, particularly Communique [PSC/PR/COMM. (CMXLV)] adopted at its 945th meeting held on 15 September 2020; and

Acting under Article 7 of its Protocol, the Peace and Security Council:

1. Welcomes the steady progress in the implementation of the R-ARCSS, in particularly difficult circumstances and, in this regard, commends all parties to the R-ARCSS for their patriotism and commitment to give peace a chance and encourages them to persevere;

2. Commends, in particular, H.E. President Salva Kiir Mayardit, First Vice-President Dr. Riek Machar for placing the supreme interests of the country and its people above all else, for demonstrating the required leadership, for forming the R-TGoNU, as well as for peacefully resolving their differences, including in relation to the governorship of the Upper Nile State and encourages them to continue to build on the established momentum in implementing all outstanding provisions of the R-ARCSS, particularly, reconstituting the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA);

3. Welcomes the ongoing talks with the held out movements, underscore the primacy of dialogue as to only viable approach to peace, and urges them immediately embrace the current peace process without further delays and warn them that any peace spoilers will face justice;

4. Notes with deep concern the dire humanitarian situation in South Sudan and commends the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and all humanitarian agencies working in South Sudan for their continued support to the population in need and appeals to all Member States that are in a position to do so, to also provide humanitarian assistance to the people of South Sudan; underscores the importance of harmonization and coordination of efforts among all actors providing support to South Sudan, in order to avoid duplication of efforts and wastage of resources;

5. Expresses condolences to the families of the deceased, who include humanitarian aid workers, who lost their lives in supporting peace and the people of South Sudan and appeals to the Government of South Sudan to continue to take necessary measures to ensure the protection, safety and security of humanitarian aid agencies;

6. Urges the R-TGoNU to take all possible steps to mobilize the necessary financial resources, from its own national reserves, for the implementation of the R-ARCSS, especially Chapter II relating to transitional security arrangements including, the long overdue graduation and deployment of the Necessary Unified Forces (NUFs), as well as the disarmament, demobilization and re-integration (DDR) programme; in this regard, requests the AU Commission, to work closely with the Government of South Sudan to provide the required support;

7. Encourages the R-TGoNU to expedite the implementation of Chapter V of the R-ARCSS, in particular, the establishment of the Hybrid Court of South Sudan (HCSS), the Commission for Truth, Reconciliation, and Healing (CTRH) and the Compensation and Reparation Authority (CRA), with a view to ending impunity, promoting justice for the victims of human rights violations and abuses, as well as to laying the ground for durable peace and reconciliation in South Sudan; in this regard, reiterates its request to the AU Commission to continue providing support on the implementation of Chapter V of the R-ARCSS;

8. Underscores the importance of timeous preparations for the organization of credible, transparent and democratic elections at the end of the current transition and, in this regard, requests the AU Commission, including through the AU Centre for Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development, to urgently dispatch a technical needs assessment team to comprehensively identify priority areas that require sustained support, as well as to work closely with the R-TGoNU on, among other issues, the drafting of the new constitution for the country and providing the required capacity building support to the national election management body and other relevant institutions, with a view to facilitating a successful completion of the transition process;

9. Emphasizes the important role of women and youth in the South Sudan peace processes, including in efforts aimed at promoting post-conflict reconstruction and development, as well as in peacebuilding, national reconciliation, transitional justice, and in this respect, encourages the South Sudan authorities to abide by the 35% quota stipulated in the R-ARCSS, with a view to guaranteeing and promoting more meaningful participation by women in the transition process;

10. Welcomes the appointment a High-Level peace committee to find durable solutions to intercommunal violence, and, in this context, encourages the committee to expeditiously discharge its mandate in a holistic and comprehensive manner, with a view to promoting lasting peace and stability in the affected parts of the country;

11. Urges the signatories of the Rome Declaration to recommit to the Sant Egidio process, including adherence to the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement of December 2017 and the Rome Declaration, as well as to the January 2020 Resolution;

12. Reiterates its appeal for AU Member States and the larger international community to continue to provide all necessary support towards the full implementation of the R-ARCSS and urges the concerned members of the international community who have imposed sanctions and other forms of punitive measures against South Sudan to immediately and unconditionally lift them, in order to facilitate the implementation of the R-ARCSS and create conducive conditions for socio-economic recovery and development of the country, and in this respect, commends all Member States that have extended financial and material support to the Government of South Sudan, including Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa and appeals to the other Member States to also make contributions in favor of South Sudan, in the spirit of promoting pan-African solidarity;

13. Commends IGAD for its continued efforts in South Sudan, particularly its oversight role in the implementation of the R-ARCSS and encourages it to continue to work in collaboration with the AU and other international partners, including through its Special Envoy, in supporting the peace process in South Sudan; also commends the efforts of the AU High Level Ad Hoc Committee on South Sudan, as well as those of the RJMEC in supporting the implementation of the R-ARCSS;

14. Expresses gratitude to the South Sudanese authorities for finding time to interact with the PSC Delegation during the field mission, as well as to all interlocutors, namely, the African Diplomatic Community, IGAD, R-JMEC, CITSAMVM, UNMISS, the Troika, the representatives of Civil Society Organizations, as well as to UNMISS for providing support for the PSC Delegation;

15. Expresses particular gratitude to the AU Liaison Office in Juba for facilitating the successful conduct of the field mission and commend the efforts of the Liaison Office in effectively promoting the visibility of the AU on the ground; notes with concern, the institutional capacity constraints facing the Office and, in this regard, requests the Chairperson of the Commission to urgently take necessary measures to ensure that the Office is availed with all necessary human, material and financial resources, in order to enable it to more effectively discharge its mandate; and

16. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

Go here to see the original:
Communiqu of the 990th PSC meeting on the theme: Consideration of the Report of the PSC Field Mission to South Sudan, conducted from 24 to 26 March...

Michipicoten First Nation is a vibrant Ojibway First Nation community located on the white sands (north east shores) of Lake Superior. The registered population is approximately 1,230 with 70 members living on reserve. With a strong sense of community and cultural identity, Michipicoten First Nation strives to maintain harmony and balance with Mother Earth, neighbouring First Nations, and surrounding communities.Michipicoten First Nation is seeking a results-oriented and strategically focused HR Manager with exceptional interpersonal skills to assist in creating a client focused and employee-oriented, inclusive organization that emphasizes empowerment, professionalism, and productivity. Reporting to the Executive Officer, the Manager, Human Resources and Administrative Operations will lead the development of human resource policy and programs and manage the administrative operations. The successful candidate will also provide leadership and guidance to the other managers and supervisors across the organization to ensure all employees have clarity on their roles and their unique contributions to organizational goals. The successful candidate must live within commuting distance to Michipicoten First Nation, or be willing to relocate to the area.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

Management Act as an advisor to managers, supervisors, and staff regarding policies and procedures Oversee the administrative team to ensure assigned goals are achieved, tasks are distributed effectively, deliverables are documented, and necessary completion timelines are achieved. Conduct personal development and performance management planning for the Administrative team Maintain HR records and human resources management systems

Recruitment & Onboarding Assist with determining staffing requirements Oversee the recruitment process: prepare job descriptions, post notices and advertisements, collect and screen applications, prepare interview questions, administer pre-employment testing, establish interview team, and schedule interviews Coordinate employee onboarding: Draft employment agreements, arrange for completion and signing of employment policies/forms and new hire forms, and work with Manager/Supervisor to create initial training plan

Performance Management Provide leadership and coaching to managers and employees on key workplace matters such as performance management, difficult conversations, employee relations, and employee development Update employment policies ensuring compliance with relevant legislation and draft new policies as required Ensure that employees comply with company policies, procedures, and ethical standards Oversee performance evaluation process and provide managers/supervisors with evaluation schedules Ensure that employees adhere to all health and safety regulations Handle employee complaints and incidents, including conflict resolution, accidents, health and safety concerns, work refusals, and investigations Research and recommend incentive programs to improve employee recognition

Attendance Management Administer employee benefit & pension plans Manage employee protected leaves: obtain medical and other documentation to support absence, maintain regular contact with employee, address accommodation requests, and work with Managers/Supervisors to prepare return to work plans

Training & Development Develop and assign training programs that are based on regulatory requirements and best practices Work with Managers/Supervisors to identify training programs and assist with funding applications

Health & Safety Oversee activities of the Health & Safety Committee Ensure health & safety compliance and training

WORK CONDITIONS Working in a busy office environment with frequent interruptions Interaction with employees, management, and external organizations

JOB REQUIREMENTS One (1) or more of the following post-secondary credentials: degree, diploma or certificate in management, human resources, or business administration. Other equivalent combinations of directly related education and directly related experience may also be considered. CHRP or CHRL Designation (asset) Ten (10)+ years of experience in combined human resources and administration. Minimum five (5) years supervisory or managerial experience Good knowledge of labour, human rights, pay equity, and occupational health and safety legislation and regulations High level of proficiency with MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) Knowledge of First Nations, First Nation organizations, their mandates, and structures Ability to develop clear and fair policies that conform to existing legislative framework Excellent analytical and decision-making abilities Excellent written and communication skills with a clear sense of diplomacy Strong organizational skills having managed multiple employees and teams Drivers license and access to vehicle The successful candidate will be required to produce a satisfactory criminal record check.

TERM Full-time, Permanent

WAGESMFN offers a comprehensive employee benefit package and competitive salary based upon experience and qualifications. This position is a salaried position and may require after hours or extended hours based on activity.

TO APPLYInterested persons may submit their cover letter & resume as one document by email to Lisa Belanger hr@michipicoten.com no later than May 14, 2021. Please include the job title in the email subject line.

Michipicoten First Nation may, at its discretion, waive any or all of the aforementioned requirements if a suitable candidate accepts to follow a training plan determined by Michipicoten First Nation as a condition of employment.

Michipicoten First Nation is dedicated to promoting equity and diversity and serving the interests of their citizens. The successful candidate will be primarily engaged in serving the interests of Michipicoten citizens and Michipicoten will give preference to citizens and Indigenous candidates who possess the necessary qualifications.

View post:
Manager, HR and Administrative Operations - Sault Ste. Marie News - SooToday

A baby in Iraq has made history: He is the first person to be documented as being born with threepenises.Also known as triphallia, the Kurdish baby from Duhok is the first human to have been documented as such, according to Dr. Shakir Saleem Jamali in a study on the find in the academic periodical the International Journal of Surgery Case Reports.

Having more than one penis isn't new. Someone with two penises is known to have a condition called diphallia. As the study noted, it occurs in around one in every 5-6 million live births. However, the three-month-old boy has three. Despite this, only one could be called the "true penis," since the others do not possess urethrae and cannot function normally.

The two supernumerary penises were surgically removed, with no adverse effects reported.

Diphallia was first formally reported in 1609, and cases continue to arise.

cnxps.cmd.push(function () { cnxps({ playerId: '36af7c51-0caf-4741-9824-2c941fc6c17b' }).render('4c4d856e0e6f4e3d808bbc1715e132f6'); });

View original post here:
Baby in Iraq first ever human documented with three penises - The Jerusalem Post

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetzs vote against a human trafficking bill back in 2017 is popping up on social media following a New York Times report that federal authorities are investigating whether Gaetz violated human trafficking laws.

The New York Times reported based on unnamed sources that the Justice Department is investigating whether Gaetz, a Florida Republican, had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl and paid for her to travel with him. The newspaper reported that the investigation started during the final months of the Trump administration and is part of a broader investigation into a Gaetz ally, Joel Greenberg, a former tax collector in Seminole County who was indicted on charges including sex trafficking. Gaetz has not been charged.

Gaetz said on Twitter and told the New York Times, Axios and Fox News that the allegations are false and are part of an effort to extort $25 million from him and his family.

A Facebook post used the popular "how it started, how its going" meme to juxtapose the Justice Department investigation with Gaetzs past vote on a bill in Congress.

How it started: "Matt Gaetz defends lone no vote on anti-human trafficking bill."

How its going: "The DOJ is reportedly investigating whether Rep. Matt Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and violated sex-trafficking laws," taken from a Business Insider headline.

The Facebook post was flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

In this case, its accurate to say that Gaetz was the only member to vote against such a measure in 2017. The Facebook post could be interpreted to suggest that his 2017 vote led to or is somehow tied to the Justice Department investigation, but that isnt proven, and its not the focus of our fact-check.

Gaetz really was the only vote against an anti-human trafficking bill that Trump signed into law. The reason he offered at the time was not on the bills substance, but in favor of limiting government.

The Combating Human Trafficking in Commercial Vehicles Act passed the Senate by unanimous consent in September 2017. When the House passed the bill in December 2017, Gaetz was the only no vote. President Donald Trump signed the bill into law in January 2018.

The bill directed the Transportation Department to designate an official to coordinate human trafficking prevention efforts and called for establishing an advisory committee on human trafficking. The committee submitted a 128-page report in July 2019 that included recommendations to combat human trafficking.

Following coverage of his vote in his home newspaper, the Northwest Florida Daily News, Gaetz went on Facebook live to explain his opposition. Gaetz called the bill "mission creep" and an "expansion of the federal government" beyond what is in the Constitution.

Gaetz said when a proposed bill creates a new government entity or board, his office scrutinizes the legislation.

"Unless there is an overwhelming, compelling reason that our existing agencies in the federal government can't handle that problem, I vote no because voters in Northwest Florida did not send me to Washington to go and create more federal government," Gaetz said. "If anything, we should be abolishing a lot of the agencies at the federal level like the Department of Education, like the EPA and sending that power back to our state governments."

However, Gaetz said it is important to combat human trafficking and said when he was in the state Legislaure he worked to make it easier for prosecutors to bring cases against human traffickers. We contacted Gaetzs congressional office to ask them to point to a bill he appeared to reference but did not receive a reply by our deadline.

Our ruling

A Facebook post said Gaetz was the lone vote in the House against an anti-human trafficking bill.

In 2017, Gaetz was the lone vote against a bill that directed federal officials to take steps to combat human trafficking, including the creation of an advisory committee. Gaetz said that combating human trafficking was important, but he was against creating a new federal entity to do so.

We rate this statement True.

RELATED: U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., on the Truth-O-Meter

RELATED: Graph showing rising human trafficking arrests under Trump draws on bogus data

Read the original post:
Yes, Matt Gaetz was the only no vote on 2017 human trafficking bill - PolitiFact

A recent COVID post elicited the comment that we were just a "ray of sunshine." Following in this tradition, this post concerns a recent report, in PLOS Biology, that the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (which causes COVID-19) evinced the development of a "highly efficient human pathogen" (to quote Billie Eilish, "Duh!").

The paper, entitled "Natural selection in the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in bats created a generalist virus and highly capable human pathogen," was reported by an international team* of researchers. It was known prior to this work that SARS-CoV-2 and the virus that caused the SARS outbreak in 2002-2003 (which these authors term "SARS-CoV-1" to avoid confusion) arose in bats, and that SARS-CoV-2 is particularly infective in humans, inter alia, for having a furin protease cleavage site (Arg-X-X-Arg/ Arg-X-Arg/Lys-Arg) in its Spike protein, which facilitates protease-related binding to human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) because furin is expressed in human lung tissue. The interesting conclusions drawn by these authors is that mutational adaptations that facilitate human infection by the virus occurred prior to the jump from bats to humans, which accounts (at least in part) for the rapid dissemination/infectivity in the pandemic because the virus did not require long-term incubation to achieve the species switch typical of other zoonotic viruses. Specifically, the authors report:

[U]nlike most other RNA viruses which acquire adaptations after switching to a new host species for efficient replication and spreading as successfully as exhibited by SARS-CoV-2, the Sarbecoviruses [a closely related bat viral species]which already transmit frequently among bat speciescan exploit the generalist properties of their ACE2 binding ability, facilitating successful infection of non-bat species, including humans.

The paper reports these researchers' comparison between signs of positive selection during the pandemic with historic selection in related bat viruses. They assessed 133,741 SARS-CoV-2 virus samples collected in the first 11 months of the pandemic with 69 samples of related (Sarbecovirus) virus genomes for the frequencies of nonsynonymous (dN) mutations (which result in amino acid sequence differences that can be subject to selective pressures) with synonymous (dS) mutations (which change at the nucleic acid but not amino acid sequence). Nonsynonymous mutations were expected to arise (i.e., be detected) more slowly in the viral population, because while both synonymous and nonsynonymous changes arise "randomly" there is no basis for selection of synonymous ones. As expected, dN mutations arose at 4% the rate of dS when comparing SARS-CoV-2 with related bat Sarbecovirus RaTG13. The authors further report that "[t]he vast majority of 20,687 observed mutations occur at very low frequency, with 79% of mutations observed in 10 or fewer of the 133,741 SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences analysed." They conclude from these data that "SARS-CoV-2 is evolving relatively slowly with no dramatic increases in selective pressures occurring over the sampling period [from] December 2019 to October 2020."

Perhaps surprisingly, the D614G mutation, putatively associated with higher rates of infection (see "The D614G mutation in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein reduces S1 shedding and increases infectivity"), was detected in samples collected early in the pandemic, whereas other mutated sites occurred later, suggesting that the D614G variant has a higher capacity for positive selection in unvaccinated/uninfected populations because it has had a longer time to spread through the virus populations. In addition, these researchers found that most of the other mutations were only transiently present in the viral population.

In comparisons with other bat viruses, "diversifying" selection, associated with the ability of the virus to "jump" species, was found in the earliest branches of virus evolution from the bat virus. These researchers further report that there was "no evidence of selection in the terminal branch leading to SARS-CoV-2[, c]onsistent with the nonhuman progenitor of SARS-CoV-2 requiring little or no novel adaptation to successfully infect humans" (although they also caution that "no model can detect all signatures of historic genomic adaptation, and mutations which may enable SARS-CoV-2 to infect humans could have arisen by genetic drift in the reservoir host before human exposure").

Also found was evidence of a related bat virus, RmYN02, that has a sequence in comparison with SARS-CoV-2 that indicates recombination with prototype of SARS-CoV-2 as early as 1976, evidence of how long this virus was "brewing" in bat populations over time and consistent with "direct" bat-to-human transmission; indeed, the researchers found no evidence that related viruses are found in pangolins.

Further (and having the character of improvident destiny or the propensity for God to play dice contrary to Einstein's preferences), the sequence comparisons with bat viruses are consistent not with sequence changes related to a change in host species (from bat to human) but more consistent with a history of sequence changes related to the bat host(s) (such as immune avoidance or tissue preferences) having arisen that "preselected" the virus for effective human infection. As these authors write: "[t]hese results suggest that the majority of adaptive changes which generated SARS-CoV-2 took place prior to its emergence in the human population."

Exceptions are the mutations related to UK (B.1.1.7) or South African (B.1.351) mutations, which seem associated with "host immunity due to previous exposure and/or chronic infections of probably immunocompromised individuals," i.e., mutations more in line with conventional stories of how zoonotic viruses show sequence changes related to adaptation to a new host.

There has been evidence supporting these conclusions (outside the depth of the genetic analyses presented here; see "Sequence Comparisons Illustrate Susceptibility to Coronavirus Infection") regarding the biology of the observed ease of transmission to other hosts due to evolution of a "generalist" virus that arose in bats. In this regard, the authors state "[t]he apparent 'success' of these bat viruses to transmit to multiple other mammals and spread with few to no significant genomic changes further supports the hypothesis that the SARS-CoV-2 progenitor is from a viral lineage with a relatively generalist nature." This is consistent with a mechanism wherein this "generalist" virus arose in bat populations over the past ~100 years as a function of host switching or tissue tropism within bat species, perhaps due to resistance in bats (see "How Bats Are Different").

Finally, and consistent with these ideas, the authors present a histogram of the various related coronavirus species showing the genetic distance between SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 and illustrating that the genetic changes characterizing the increased human infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 arose late in the evolution of this species.

The authors conclude with a cautionary note:

An overarching point stemming from these observations is the lack of sampling and knowledge of the diversity in this viral subgenus. In particular, the closest known bat viruses to SARS-CoV-2 are relatively divergent in time[], and the apparent generalist nature of these viruses suggests that there are species of wild mammals, yet to be sampled, infected with nCoV-like viruses. Serological studies of communities in China that come into contact with bats indicate that incidental and dead-end spillover of SARS-like viruses into humans do occur[]. Due to the high diversity and generalist nature of these Sarbecoviruses, a future spillover, potentially coupled with a recombination event with SARS-CoV-2, is possible, and such a "SARS-CoV-3" emergence could be sufficiently divergent to evade either natural or vaccine-acquired immunity, as demonstrated for SARS-CoV-1 versus SARS-CoV-2. We must therefore dramatically ramp up surveillance for Sarbecovirusesat the humananimal interface and monitor carefully for future SARS-CoV emergence in the human population.

* MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, Glasgow, United Kingdom; Temple University, Institute for Genomics and Evolutionary Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

Here is the original post:
Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 from Bat to Human Pathogen - JD Supra

In June, Mr. Trump signed an executive order authorizing sanctions on any personnel at the International Criminal Court who were investigating allied personnel without that allys consent. In 2019, the Trump administration revoked Ms. Bensoudas travel visa for the United States.

Mr. Trumps moves were criticized by numerous governments, scholars and human rights groups. Ms. Bensouda herself said the Trump administrations decision to impose penalties normally reserved for narcotics traffickers and notorious terrorists on human rights lawyers would reduce the United States standing on the global stage and diminish the potency of its economic sanctions.

A coalition of more than eighty nongovernmental organizations, activists and human rights experts signed a letter in February telling the Biden administration that there was an immediate need to reverse Mr. Trumps sanctions on Ms. Bensouda and Mr. Mochochoko, which froze any assets they may have had in the United States.

In October, the Open Society Justice Initiative, an advocacy organization focused on human rights, joined four law professors in suing the U.S. government in federal court in New York over Mr. Trumps executive order, arguing it violated their free speech rights under the First Amendment.

James A. Goldston, the groups executive director, said on Friday that Mr. Trumps order effectively prevented us and other rights defenders and scholars from collaborating with the court, and conducting advocacy on its behalf concerning cases of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

The order was a betrayal of Americas historic commitment to international justice, he added.

Mr. Blinkens announcement on Friday appeared intended to preclude possible embarrassment on Monday, when the U.S. government was scheduled to provide its response to the lawsuit. Rather than defending an order that has drawn scathing reactions around the world, the government can now argue the issue has become moot, lawyers said. A separate lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union would also likely become moot.

Philippe Sands, a law professor at University College London and an international lawyer with cases at The Hague, was among those who welcomed Mr. Bidens decision.

Visit link:
Reversing Trump, Biden Repeals Sanctions on Human Rights Prosecutor - The New York Times

In a nearly 22-minute long Facebook video, a man who identifies himself as Dr. Vernon Coleman has a lot to say about the COVID-19 vaccines.

The video post is titled, "Covid-19 [emailprotected] Are Weapons of Mass Destruction - and Could Wipe out the Human Race." (The misspelling of "vaccines" is intentional it helps posters avoid Facebooks moderation of anti-vaccine misinformation.)

"We all know that the evil elite the Agenda 21 and Great Reset promoters have all along intended to kill between 90 and 95% of the worlds population," Coleman says in the video. "Sadly I fear its already too late to save many of those whove had the vaccine. Millions are doomed, and I fear that many will die when they next come in contact with the coronavirus."

Coleman also goes on to reiterate that he believes the vaccines "could kill more people than COVID-19," and that it "now seems likely that the vaccines may be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of millions who havent been vaccinated."

The post was flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

This is not the first time PolitiFact has debunked Colemans conspiracy theories about the coronavirus vaccines.

The largely self-published British writer has denied the existence of HIV/AIDS and in 2019 authored a book aimed at discrediting trust in vaccines.

A qualified and practicing general practitioner in the 1970s, Coleman is no longer licensed to practice medicine. The UKs Advertising Standards Authority has also repeatedly taken issue with how Colemans work is advertised and promoted.

The videos claim about the COVID-19 vaccines is rooted in what have come to be referred to as the "Great Reset" and "Agenda 21" conspiracy theories.

Essentially, the "Great Reset" theory is that a group of "global elites want to use the coronavirus as a tool to reorganize global societies and economies to their benefit at the expense of ordinary people, with the ultimate goal of a global totalitarian regime."

Revived during the COVID-19 pandemic, the "Agenda 21" conspiracy theory dates back to a UN document from the early 90s and similarly holds that "a secret plot to impose a totalitarian world government" is in motion.

There is no evidence to support these widely debunked theories, which have also been linked with the QAnon conspiracy theory.

There is also no definitive evidence that deaths have been caused by COVID-19 vaccines. Various fact-checking outlets have reported that there is no clear evidence the coronavirus vaccinations have killed or will kill anyone let alone kill millions.

Even deaths that occur after someone has received a COVID-19 vaccine are not necessarily caused by the vaccine itself. Experts who work with the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System, a national database that monitors vaccine safety by recording health issues that occur after vaccinations, say that isolated experiences even deaths do not establish causation.

Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, told PolitiFact that reports of deaths following COVID-19 vaccinations "can never answer the question of whether a vaccine causes a particular outcome." Only a study with a control group can establish causation, he said.

The COVID-19 vaccines approved in the U.S. have been proven to be safe and effective in tens of thousands of people who participated in clinical trials.

Our ruling

A video circulating on Facebook claims COVID-19 vaccines are "weapons of mass destruction" that "could wipe out the human race."

The claim is linked to widely-debunked conspiracy theories about a group of so-called global elites "secret plot" to create a totalitarian world government and purge a large portion of the planets population. There is no evidence to support the claim that the COVID-19 vaccines are "weapons of mass destruction" that will cause widespread deaths.

The videos claim is inaccurate and ridiculous. We rate it Pants on Fire!

Read more:
No, the COVID-19 vaccines are not weapons of mass destruction - PolitiFact

A post-pandemic world is arguably near. Experts anticipate a return to normal, or the next iteration of normal, in 2022. Many people correlate the end of mask-wearing with the end of the pandemic, or see herd immunity as the marker for safety. Whatever goalposts people reference for pandemics end, there is an agreement among public health officials and infectious disease specialists that 2022 will be much different than 2020, with the current year a time of adjustment and some restrictions eased.

For many people, the possibility of meeting up with friends and family, visiting public spaces, and even being amongst crowds is an exciting possibility. For others, these social environments may trigger anxiety. Whether an individual has a history with anxiety, or is experiencing novel twinges of uncomfortable apprehension confronting public life, the transition to a more robust public life will present a flurry of new emotions to navigate.

We are creatures of habit, explains Thea Gallagher, a psychiatry professor at the Perelman School of Medicine. It may be anxiety-provoking to do things we havent in a long time. As the outpatient clinic director of the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety, Gallagher and her teams work pre-pandemic involved exposure therapy for individuals working through social anxiety and phobias. Applying this kind of cognitive behavior therapy in treatment for anxiety disorders, exposure therapy helps individuals face fears instead of avoiding them, in turn changing how one thinks about fears cognitively, and the likelihood of experiencing a negative outcome. This practice affects the anxiety a person will feel when they think about a situation, or are in it.

On March 11, 2020, life engaging in the commons ground to a halt. While the awareness of COVID was not new, the national lockdown drove many people still engaging regularly in public life to a stop. Gallagher and her team had to come up with creative ways to tweak exposure therapy for a new, mostly online worldfor many, exposure therapy turned to being active participants in Zoom meetings.

The more homebound people became, and more isolated, routines and public interactions went dormant. Like a muscle, social tolerance and adaptability goes soft from lack of use. For people with no history of social anxiety or phobias, this can lead to a new, unfamiliar sensation of discomfort and unease. One positive aspect of the pandemic is that people are more open and public about anxiety and phobias. There is less stigma about talking about it and even seeking help, Gallagher says. Indeed, throughout 2020 the interest in psychiatric telehealth grew so much, providers struggled to keep up with the demand.

There is less stigma about needing help, because more people are coming out saying they are struggling, says Gallagher. People are accepting, owning, and wanting therapy. In addition to being creatures of habit who are out of habit, the pandemic has added a lot of new mental material on our plates. Many families are juggling work and homeschooling, while others are navigating unemployment. And a lot of people are sick, or have a loved one who is sick. Still others have lost friends and family to COVID. These are unprecedented times with new stresses, and compound stresses.

Now, with vaccines trickling to populations, and some states even lifting restrictive COVID measures (regardless of whether the impact on public health will be negative), the United States is entering a new phase in the pandemic, and routines will gradually shift once again.

I do think for people who struggled with clinical or subclinical social anxiety and never got help, it is going to be even more difficult to go back, Gallagher predicts. For people who struggled before and got used to a new routine, be prepared for it to be difficult and challenging, but dont avoid it. A core tenet of work we do with exposure therapy is the more you do it, the easier it becomes over time.

One advantage Gallagher points out is that the United States will not enter a post-pandemic world overnight. This isnt a yearlong snow day, and once the roads are cleared life as we know it resumes. A return to life lived more in the public realm will be gradual, and our reactions will exist on a spectrum. We need to normalize the fact that things will be awkward getting back to life, and normalize some level of anxiety and apprehension.

Gallagher warns against hiding behind the pandemic. For people who had to push themselves to be in social settings before the pandemic, it will be that much more difficult. People will need to monitor how extreme their reaction to public life is, or whether anticipatory anxiety is growing to the point of putting off social interactions. If it starts to feel so anxiety producing you cant do it, or you avoid social settings entirely because you feel you cant process it, that is hiding behind the pandemic.

The fears and uncertainty that humanity has lived with and navigated are not unfounded. SARS-CoV-2 is a very real, deadly threat. Individuals who have been colloquially called germaphobes in reality exist on an OCD spectrum. The environment is riddled with germs, and before the COVID-19 pandemic, people lived with varying levels of germ awareness and avoidance practices. People know to wash their hands before eating, not to touch their face with dirty hands, etc. For people with OCD, the fear of germs exceeds the level of threat. With an airborne global contagion, an elevated threat response to germs becomes normalized. And with good reasonCOVID kills.

Gallagher explains this is a normal response. Vaccine doesnt measure infection rates. It will take time to reach herd immunity, and something like this can happen again. Her advice: Follow CDC guidelines, but dont go above and beyond. We will live with a level of uncertainty for the rest of our liveswe already do. We take risks every day, getting in cars, crossing the street. We will have to look to leaders and follow CDC guidelines, but dont go above and beyond what they recommend or caution against.

The heightened fear and awareness of humanitys own mortality that COVID has brought is not unlike a new parents heightened emotions and fears postpartum. For many parents of newborns, and those who previously had a healthy relationship with their own mortality, risk, and fears, having a new baby heightens the sense of risk and the magnitude of mortality. New parents see how vulnerable babies are and how little it takes for something to happen to them. It can make living in the world a more scary than usual. Heightened fear of COVID is similar to being a new parent and having unprecedented fears, Gallagher says. People have lost loved ones who shouldnt have died if not for COVID.

We need to build our uncertainty muscle, she adds. We have to learn to tolerate it and live with it. Fear comes to us, and grows bigger. Do I want to spend my life worrying, or try to control what I can? How that translates to life post-COVID means to take precautions, but live a life without being hampered by fear.

The last year has turned a large portion of the population into shut-ins. People are avoiding public interactions to stay safe. But avoiding public life and all the things that make us feel human, excited, and engaged with our humanity is not there. There are no outlets to get ones mind off a growing sense of anxiety. Anticipating a life lived more in the public can be a way to engage with the world in a way that keeps us human.

More here:
Anxiety in a post-COVID world | Penn Today - Penn Today