Don’t Let The Law Suck Out Your Soul – Above the Law

January 10, 2020 medical

(Image via Getty)

If youre a lawyer, I bet theres been more than a time or two youve elicited eye rolls from nonlegal friends and family by dropping legal Latin into everyday conversation. We use it enough at work, its going to eventually slip into our social lives, right?

But how many of us can also recall a time where, without realizing quite what we were doing, we managed to turn a polite chat with a friend or spouse into a full-blown cross-examination and closing argument? How many of us have used the Socratic method to ruthlessly disassemble an acquaintances ill-considered opinion? How many of us have, without even trying, escalated a minor dispute into a world-shattering contest of wills?

Being a lawyer changes who you are in many ways - for better and worse. When you do something 40-plus hours a week for a number of years, youre going to probably keep doing it outside those 40-plus hours. As Carl Jung said, We are what we do. But because the practice of law is so inherently adversarial, it begs another adage, He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster.

The Jerk Store Called

Most attorneys spend their days engaged in one form of conflict or another. Transactional attorneys have to negotiate constantly, both with the other sides of deals and even within their clients own corporate structures, jockeying for resources or priority. Litigators literally dispute things for a living, all day every day, on paper and in front of judges and juries. We lawyers spend thousands of hours a year in advocate mode, pushing and prodding others to try to achieve our clients goals.

We build up tough shells and learn not to take arguments personally, because even when opposing counsel is accusing you of fraud, malpractice, and bad fashion sense, lawyers know its just business. We have to be able to take it as well as we plan to dish it out.

In short, the practice of law teaches us to be jerks. It conditions us to spend our days dealing with others in a sharp, rough-and-tumble, arms-length manner. By the time most of us had finished our fifth years as attorneys, we had over 10,000 hours of practice at being professional pains in the rear. If you believe Malcolm Gladwell, that was the point where we functionally mastered the art of being insufferable and argumentative. For those of us at the 20,000, 30,000, or 40,000 hour mark, it can be increasingly difficult to keep those instincts compartmentalized to the work day.

The problem is that, to a certain degree, being a jerk can be good for business. Ive had countless potential clients tell me over the years that they want to hire a bulldog, a ruthlessly aggressive attorney whos not afraid to step on toes if it gets them a good result. Attorneys who are willing to go scorched-earth in the name of pleasing their clients seem to earn a huge degree of loyalty from their clients (at least until the client gets the bill for all the unnecessary fights their attorney picked). And in fairness, its hard to be an effective lawyer without being willing to strategically take stances and actions that you know will anger your opponents. We cant control how others react, so why not do whats most effective for our side and not worry about feelings across the aisle?

Maybe this state of affairs is an expected byproduct of an adversarial legal system. Maybe its just how the legal culture has evolved in the competitive early twenty-first century landscape. But no matter how you slice it, the norms of the legal world are not normal, pro-social human behavior. The way lawyers interact with one another is not generally healthy for people that want to have warm social interactions. And its hard to spend your days arguing with and cajoling others without those instincts spilling over into other areas of life; areas where strident advocacy and sharp elbows are far less welcome.

Taking Off Your Advocate Hat

Im not nave enough to think the practice of law will change with an appeal to be nicer to one another. The world is trending ever more away from professional camaraderie and toward arms-length, one-off dealing. And sadly, being a jerk to opposing counsel is an effective enough client-management strategy that there will always be incentives pushing some in the profession in that direction.

What I do think we can focus on, though, is openly acknowledging that our work lives and social lives need to be subject to different rules and expectations. Being an effective lawyer may mean taking tough stances in the office, but we need to train ourselves and the oncoming generations that even if you have to sharpen your elbows at the office, you better soften them when you get home. Telling the attorney on the other side of a negotiation to take the deal or pound sand may be poor form; telling your spouse or family to do the same is interpersonal malpractice.

The Warren Buffett Approach

The practice of law doesnt have to suck our souls out. It can and should make its practitioners better people, just like it did for us back in law school. The legal mindset is a tool, one that can be used for good or for ill. We can choose to use it well. Its just that sometimes that means not using it at all. Keeping our lawyerly habits at the office for the sake of our loved ones should be part of our basic professional training.

One can measure success in dollars or trial victories, but perhaps we should consider the Warren Buffett approach to assessing success: How many people do you want to have love you, and how many of those actually love you? If youre still in the market for a new years resolution, youd be hard-pressed to find a better goal to work toward.

James Goodnow

James Goodnow is an attorney,commentator, and Above the Law columnist. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and is the managing partner of NLJ 250 firm Fennemore Craig. He is the co-author of Motivating Millennials, which hit number one on Amazon in the business management new release category. As a practitioner, he and his colleagues created a tech-based plaintiffs practice and business model. You can connect with James on Twitter (@JamesGoodnow) or by emailing him at James@JamesGoodnow.com.

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Don't Let The Law Suck Out Your Soul - Above the Law

Human Behavior

Scientists Velcroed 3-D Glasses to Cuttlefish to Study Their Depth Perception – Smithsonian

January 10, 2020 medical

One of the worlds strangest 3-D cinemas is tucked away in a research laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Its underwater interior lacks seats and aisles, and its screen measures only a few inches high. The patrons are European cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis): stout-bodied, color-changing relatives of squids and octopuses that deploy a pair of long, limber tentacles to snare their prey.

The film is in 3-D, though the rabbit-sized mollusks dont take kindly to the blue and red glasses, says Trevor Wardill, a visual ecologist at the University of Minnesota. To get the spectacles to stick, Wardill and his students superglue a patch of Velcro onto the skin between the cuttlefishs eyes, then affix the glasses on top. On first wear, most of the study subjects reach up with one of their many arms and snatch the lenses right back off.

But thanks to an abundance of grass shrimp treats, the cuttlefish eventually learn to tolerate their new accessories and watch the researchers feature films. With this unusual setup, Wardill and his colleagues have shown that cuttlefish perceive depth much like humans do: by comparing and combining the slightly offset images of the world that each of our eyes perceive, as reported today in Science Advances.

This visual trick, called stereopsis or stereo vision, requires complex coordination between the eyes and the brain, and it was once thought to be unique to vertebrates. Two years ago, another team led by Vivek Nityananda and Jenny Read of Newcastle University in the United Kingdom found stereo vision in the praying mantisthe first invertebrate to don 3-D glasses for the sake of science. Now, the cuttlefish brings the number of spineless creatures known to possess the trait up to two.

We tend to take for granted some of the visual abilities that we humans have, says Alex Nahm Kingston, a visual ecologist at the University of South Carolina who wasnt involved in the study. [Stereo vision] is what allows us to reach out and grab something off the kitchen counter or catch a ball. But this makes a great case for looking across lots of different groups and seeing how animals interact with their environment in the most successful ways.

Though a far cry from a human, big-brained cuttlefish are good candidates for stereo vision. Unlike their octopus and squid cousins, they swivel both their camera-like eyes forward when they hunt, seemingly calculating the distance between themselves and their grass shrimp prey. The petite, lithe and translucent crustaceans arent easy to snag, and misjudging the coordinates of a catch can leave a cuttlefish empty-tentacled. To successfully stalk shrimp, they need to judge depth as well as possible, says study author Rachael Feord, a visual ecologist at the University of Cambridge.

Taking inspiration from similar experiments with praying mantises, Wardill and his team searched for stereovision in 11 cuttlefish by situating them in a 3-D cephalopod cinema, similar to old-school 3-D theaters for people. Glasses, outfitted with two filters of different colors, showed each of their eyes a separate image of a tasty shrimp on the screen. If the mollusks were using stereo vision, the colored images would combine in their minds to create the illusion of depth, allowing them to calculate the ideal distance from which to attack their apparently three-dimensional prey.

Trained to treat the faux food as real, the bespectacled creatures struck out again and again. Depending on how close together the colored shrimp were, and the order they appeared in, the cuttlefish would either back up from the image or sidle up closeso much so that theyd often bash their tentacles against the screen itself.

Then the researchers switched things up. Instead of showing their subjects two colored images, they projected just one, effectively blinding one eye. Stripped of stereo vision, the cuttlefish took longer to position themselves in front of the screen. (The cephalopods werent completely flummoxed, though. Like human eyes, cuttlefish eyes, whether solo or in pairs, collect a bevy of visual cues to assess their surroundings.)

Taken together, these experiments make for a really compelling demonstration of cephalopod stereopsis, says Read, who wasnt involved in the study. I cant think of any other explanation.

But not all is equal in the eyes of cuttlefish and human. The team also presented the cephalopods with another set of shrimp projections, this time superimposed on backgrounds of colored patterns of dots, some bright, some dark. In humans, when one eye sees a pattern of bright and dark dots, and the other eye sees the inverse of the patternwhere the bright and dark dots are reversedour brains have difficulty reconciling the differences, compromising depth perception. Remarkably, both praying mantises and cuttlefish are unfazed by these inverted background patterns. Rather than trying to come to grips with the conflicting intel, their brains just ignore it, and stereo vision proceeds unimpeded. (Unlike mantises, however, cuttlefish cant see in 3-D when presented with a pair of images that look nothing alike.)

Of course, real grass shrimp (or any prey, for that matter) dont spend much time scuttling across backdrops of neon dots. But Feord thinks the less stringent types of stereo vision present in the praying mantis and cuttlefish could constitute a powerful advantage. By filtering out some of the clutter in their surroundings, these invertebrates can focus on whats important: their prey. Humans form a very complex image that gets refreshed over and over in the brain, she says. The cuttlefish and praying mantis just pick out the elements they need without getting bogged down in the details.

The researchers also found that cuttlefish, which can rotate their eyes independently of each other, dont always focus both peepers on the same point, and the reason is still a mystery. The positions of their eyes can be as much as 10 degrees apart, Wardill says. For us, that would be disastrous. Wed have trouble walking around.

Then again, cephalopod brains arent exactly organized like ours (or like praying mantises, for that matter), says study author Paloma Gonzalez-Bellido, also of the University of Minnesota, in a statement. While the human brain does most of its visual processing in a region called the occipital lobe, cephalopod neurology appears to be a bit more disorganized. Their brains, which are home to dozens of different lobes with overlapping functions, are pretty much black boxes, Wardill says.

Perhaps the most extraordinary finding is that the brains of dramatically different animals developed 3-D perception independently. Hundreds of millions of years have passed since humans, cuttlefish and praying mantises shared a common ancestor, and they all ended up eyeing the same visual strategy. The recurrence of this evolutionary trait underscores the importance of depth perception, says Judit Pungor, a cephalopod vision expert at the University of Oregon who wasnt involved in the study.

And even more animals with this unusual ability are likely out there. Wardill and Gonzalez-Bellidos previous work hints that predatory robber flies might use stereo vision, too. For years, people thought that you could only do stereopsis if you had a very big [and complex] brain, because thats how it is in humans, Feord says. But the behavior clearly isnt as rare as once thought.

Comparing the specifics of stereo vision in these creatures and others might someday help crack the molecular code that makes depth perception possible. I think people should put more 3-D glasses on more animals, says Nityananda, who helped pioneer the act in the praying mantis. If thats my lasting contribution to science, thatll be good.

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Scientists Velcroed 3-D Glasses to Cuttlefish to Study Their Depth Perception - Smithsonian

Human Behavior

Human Extinction Now Imminent and Inevitable? A Report on the State of Planet Earth – The Nigerian Voice

January 10, 2020 medical

There is a significant body of evidence that human extinction is now imminent; that is, it will occur within the next few years and possibly this year: 2020. There is also a significant body of evidence that human extinction is now inevitable; that is, it cannot be prevented no matter what we do.

There are at least four distinct paths to imminent (that is, within five years) human extinction: nuclear war (possibly started regionally), biodiversity collapse (already well advanced and teetering on the brink), the deployment of 5G (commenced recently) and the climate catastrophe. Needless to say, each of these four paths might unfold in a variety of ways.

In addition, it should be noted, there are other possible paths to extinction in the near term, particularly when considered in conjunction with the four threats just mentioned. These include the cascading impacts triggered by destruction of the Amazon rainforest (which is now imminent) particularly given its critical role in the global hydrological cycle, the rapidly spreading radioactive contamination of Earth, and geoengineering for military purposes (which has been going on for decades and continues).

Far worse, however, is the path to extinction that looms before us when we consider the impact of all seven of these paths in combination with the vast range of other threats noted below.

These interrelated threats have generated a shocking series of points of no return (tipping points) that we have already crossed, the mutually reinforcing set of negative feedback loops that we have already triggered (and which we will continue to trigger) which cannot be reversed in the short-term, as well as the ongoing synergistic impact of the various extinction drivers (such as ongoing extinctions because dependent species have lost their resource species) we have set in motion and which cannot be halted irrespective of any remedial action we might take. Hence, taking into account all of the above factors, the prospects of averting human extinction are now remote, at best.

Why has this happened?Because long-standing dysfunctional human behavior, which we have not even begun to recognize as the fundamental driver of this extinction crisis, let alone address, has now trapped us between a rock and a hard place.

On the one hand, we are trapped by our grotesquely dysfunctional parenting and education models that mass produce individuals who are terrified, self-hating and powerless (leaving them submissively obedient while unable to seek out and consider the evidence for themselves and take powerful action in response) and who, as a result of being terrorized during childhood, are now addicted to chronic over-consumption to suppress their awareness of their deep (and unconscious) emotional pain. See Love Denied: The Psychology of Materialism, Violence and War and Do We Want School or Education? with more detailed evidence in Why Violence? and Fearless Psychology and Fearful Psychology: Principles and Practice.

On the other hand, also as an outcome of our dysfunctional parenting and education models (as well as the political and economic systems these generate), we keep reproducing and remain trapped by the global elite, and its compliant international organizations (such as the United Nations), national governments and corporations, including its corporate media. This global elite is utterly insane (and, hence, devoid of such qualities as conscience, empathy, compassion and love) and intent on exploiting our desire to suppress awareness of our emotional pain by over-consuming in order to feed their insatiable desire for profit, power and privilege no matter the cost to humanity and Earths biosphere. See The Global Elite is Insane Revisited.

Hence, this article does two things.First, in the hope of generating greater consideration of these two issues imminence and inevitability of human extinction I have presented in straightforward language and point form, a reasonable summary of the nature and extent of our predicament (which clearly indicates that we are on track for human extinction between now January 2020 and 2025), as well as citing the relevant scientific and/or other evidence that explains each problem in more detail.

And second, the article outlines a powerful series of actions and strategies that individuals as well as community groups, neighborhoods and action groups can take as part of a global effort to fight to avert human extinction even if, as mentioned above, it is now inevitable. See, for example, Extinction Foretold, Extinction Ignored in which the McPherson Paradox, which explains one key reason why we are doomed to extinction, is explained.

The obvious question, which you might well ask me, is this: If the overwhelming evidence that human extinction is now imminent and inevitable is incontrovertible, why are you suggesting that we fight to avert human extinction? And my answer is simply this: Because, as I have done for several decades, I am committed to trying to do this one key thing that feels worth doing. Moreover, I am also hopeful that a miracle or two might just occur if we humans commit ourselves fully to the effort. I am only too well aware that anything less than a full effort, as outlined below, will certainly fail. And we will virtually certainly fail anyway. But I would rather try, than give up. And you?

So, in noting the points below, each of which identifies one key way (or a set of related key ways) in which the Earth and its inhabitants were subjected to greater violence in 2019, it is painful to reflect that, as forecast this time last year and based on a clear understanding of the primary driver of human behavior fear that is generating this multifaceted crisis, 2019 was another year of vital opportunities lost when so much is at stake.

Because, in essence, whether psychologically, socially, politically, militarily, economically, financially, ecologically or in other ways, in 2019 humanity took more giant strides backwards while passing up endless opportunities to make a positive difference in our world.

Moreover, to highlight the dramatic nature of our failure, by the end of 2019, a substantial number of countries and regions of the world notably including the Amazon basin, Australia, several countries in Central Africa, many European countries, Indonesia, Siberia and North America had each experienced (and/or were still experiencing) a huge series of wildfires (or fires that were deliberately lit), many of them out of wildfire season and breaking records for their unprecedented destructive impact, demonstrating that the Earth is literally burning up. For just an overview, see NASAs Fire Information for Resource Management System.

But this very visible symptom of our crisis masks a vast quantity of evidence, in many domains, that is virtually unknown but far more damaging.

One acknowledgment of this crisis in Earths biosphere was the fact that the Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists remains poised at just two minutes to midnight, the closest it has ever been to doomsday (and equal to 1953 when the Soviet Union first exploded a thermonuclear weapon matching the US capacity and raising the spectre of nuclear war). See It is now two minutes to midnight.

This status reflects the perilous state of our world, particularly given the renewed threat of nuclear war and the ongoing climate catastrophe. It didnt even mention the massive and unrelenting assault on the biosphere (apart from the climate) and the rapidly accelerating biodiversity crisis nor, of course, the ongoing monumental atrocities against fellow human beings.

So let me identify, very briefly, some of the more crucial backward steps humanity took during 2019 and, far too easily, unfortunately, forecast what will happen in 2020.

Some Key Lowlights of 20191. The global elite, using key elite fora such as the Group of 30, the Trilateral Commission, the Bilderberg Group and the World Economic Forum, and despite much rhetoric to the contrary, continued to plan, generate and exacerbate the many ongoing wars, deepening exploitation within the global economy, climate and environmental destruction, and the killing and exploitation of fellow human beings in a multitude of contexts, in pursuit of greater elite profit, power and privilege. See, for example, Who Is Really in Control of US Foreign Policy?, Giants: The Global Power Elite and The Global Elite is Insane Revisited.

2. International organizations (such as the United Nations, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund) and national governments and corporations used military forces, legal systems, police forces and prison systems see The Rule of Law: Unjust and Violent around the world to serve the global elite by defending its interests against the bulk of the human population, including those individuals and organizations courageous enough to challenge elite profit, power and privilege who are being killed in record numbers. (See more in point 35 below.)

3. $US1.8 trillion was officially spent worldwide on military weapons to kill fellow human beings and other lifeforms, and to destroy the biosphere. This is the highest official (because the figures are taken from open sources) annual military expenditure ever recorded and the second consecutive year in which an increase occurred. Apart from military spending, weapons transfers worldwide remained high and both the USA and Russia were on a path of strategic nuclear renewal. See SIPRI Yearbook 2019: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security; Summary.

However, as noted last year, so out-of-control is this spending that the United States government has now spent $US21trillion on its military in the past 20 years for which it cannot even account! Thats right, $US1trillion each year above the official US national budget for killing is lost. See Army General Fund Adjustments Not Adequately Documented or Supported, Has Our Government Spent $21 Trillion Of Our Money Without Telling Us? and The Pentagon Cant Account for $21 Trillion (Thats Not a Typo).

There has been no progress reported in accounting for this lost expenditure during the past year.

4. Under the direction of the global elite (as explained above), the United States government and its NATO allies continued their perpetual war across the planet wreaking devastation on many countries and regions, particularly in the Middle East and Africa. See, for example, Towards a World War III Scenario: The Dangers of Nuclear War, Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield and Understanding NATO, Ending War.

As a result, whether in the US-sponsored and supplied Saudi Arabian war against Yemen which the UNHCR characterizes as the worst humanitarian disaster in the world see The Cost of Feeding Yemen as War Rages On the result of the US use of depleted uranium on top of its other extraordinary military destruction of Iraq over the past 29 years see Depleted Uranium and Radioactive Contamination in Iraq: An Overview or the complete dismemberment of Libya as a result of NATOs bombing of that country and the subsequent assassination of its leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 see Endless War and Chaos in Libya the United States and its NATO allies have continued their efforts to destroy entire countries (also including Afghanistan, among others), at staggering cost to their populations and environments, not because these countries posed a threat to security anywhere but in order to maintain geopolitical control and to facilitate the theft of their resources (mainly oil) at great profit to the global elite. See, for example, Hillary Emails Reveal NATO Killed Gaddafi to Stop Libyan Creation of Gold-Backed Currency.

Moreover, of course, the perpetually-profitable perpetual war, by definition, has no end. But it still isnt quite acceptable to say, too publicly and loudly, that The global elite has again used the United States military and its NATO allies to destroy Iraq/Afghanistan/Syria/ (or, as is now the case, to attack Iran) to make a profit so what can be passed off as an excuse must be manufactured and promulgated by the compliant corporate media. And, with a gullibly terrified human population disinclined to question authority, this isnt a problem. The same unconvincing formula invariably works each time. For a fuller and insightful explanation of this point, see Edward Curtins article The war hoax redux.

Of course, Iran has long been in the crosshairs of the global elite because of its prodigious (and thus hugely profitable) oil reserves as well as the clear inclination of its leaders (both before and after the US-installed Shah) to make decisions in the interests of Iranians, including foreign policy decisions such as those related to defense and the role of nuclear weapons. Thus, the global elite ensured that the US Congress, via removal by the Senate of a provision explicitly not authorizing the Pentagon to wage war against Iran or assassinate its officials see America Escalates its Democratic Oil War in the Near East in the recently passed National Defense Authorization Act, effectively encouraged President Trumps recent assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, Irans head of the foreign arm the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), Irans elite military force and the key figure in the fight against terrorism in the Middle East, in clear contempt of international law. See Trumps assassination of Soleimani: Five things to know, With Suleimani Assassination, Trump Is Doing the Bidding of Washingtons Most Vile Cabal, Why US assassinated General Qassem Soleimani and US killing of Irans Qassem Soleimani an act of war.

This assassination, of course, raises a heightened possibility of war essentially, from the elite perspective, to achieve regime change and capture control of Irans oil in one or more guises possibly involving, as explained by Professor Michel Chossudovsky, the use of tactical nuclear weapons, acts of political destabilization, confiscation of financial assets, extensive economic sanctions, electromagnetic and climatic warfare, environmental modification techniques, cyberwarfare as well as chemical and biological warfare. See A Major Conventional War Against Iran Is an Impossibility. Crisis within the US Command Structure and America, An Empire on its Last Leg: To be Kicked Out from the Middle East?

Hence, much will depend on the Iranian response to the insanity of those attacking it, which will unfold as this article is being published. For further thoughtful analyses of this crisis, see War With Iran, Iran vs. US The Murder of General Qassem Suleimani and On the Brink of War?

5. Not content with the devastating impact of the military violence it is inflicting already, during 2019 the global elite continued to plan how to cause more destruction in future. Key initiatives included ongoing work to employ advances in autonomous systems and artificial intelligence technologies that will undermine nuclear deterrence and increase the likelihood of nuclear escalation see A Stable Nuclear Future? The Impact of Autonomous Systems and Artificial Intelligence and the decision in the United States to create a Space Force, a sixth branch of the US military forces, just two manifestations of this. See The Very Bad Space Force Deal and US Making Outer Space the Next Battle Zone Karl Grossman.

In its turn, the Russian government has developed and just deployed a hypersonic weapon that travels at Mach 27 and which makes the US missile defense installations in Europe obsolete. See Avangard changes everything: What Russias hypersonic warhead deployment means for the global arms race.

But other initiatives receiving renewed attention hypervelocity guns, particle beams and laser weapons onboard orbiting battle platforms with onboard nuclear reactors or super plutonium systems providing the power for the weapons also enhance the threat that Modern society would go dark in the words of Apollo astronaut Edgar Mitchell. Why? Because any war in space would be the one and only. By destroying satellites in space massive amounts of space debris would be created that would cause a cascading effect and even the billion-dollar International Space Station would likely be broken into tiny bits. So much space junk would be created... that wed never be able to get a rocket off the planet again because of the minefield of debris orbiting the Earth at 15,000 mph. See Trump Signs Measure Enabling Establishment of a U.S. Space Force.

Of course, technological advances in weaponry reflect retrograde steps in policy with the US Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) which includes 20 B-2 stealth bombers, 76 B-52 bombers and 450 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles together capable of delivering thousands of nuclear warheads along with the U.S. Navys submarine-launched Trident ballistic missiles, are now capable of extinguishing essentially all life on Earth within a matter of hours. See The Air Forces Global Strike Command Is Preparing For A Delivery Of New Nuclear Weapons.

6. Following the US withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty in 2002 and after withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the Iran nuclear deal) and the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty (which limited the deployment of intermediate range nuclear weapons) in 2018, the US government further and unilaterally signaled its intention to dismantle the little that remained of attempts during the Cold War and since that time to contain the threat of nuclear war by further acting in violation of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 see Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies and US Weaponizing Space in Bid to Launch Arms Race as explained in the point above, and demonstrating its disinterest in extending New START: the sole remaining restraint on U.S.-Russian nuclear arsenals that caps deployed offensive strategic nuclear weapons to no more than 1,550 each. See Russia says its already too late to replace new START treaty and Global Zero Urges Trump to Accept Putins Offer on Nuclear Treaty.

If you are in any doubt regarding the devastating consequences of nuclear war, you will find Professor Steven Starrs thoughts see Nuclear Darkness, Global Climate Change and Nuclear Famine: The Deadly Consequences of Nuclear War illuminating. In addition, the description by Lynn Eden in City on Fire (based on her book Whole World on Fire: Organizations, Knowledge, and Nuclear Weapons Devastation) is compelling.

7. Another substantial proportion of global private financial wealth conservatively estimated by the Tax Justice Network in 2010 to already total between $US21 and $US32 trillion has been invested virtually tax-free through the worlds still-expanding black hole of more than 80 offshore tax havens (such as the City of London Corporation, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Nauru, St. Kitts, Antigua, Tortola, Switzerland, the Channel Islands, Monaco, Cyprus, Gibraltar and Liechtenstein). This is just financial wealth. Additionally, a large share of the real estate, yachts, racehorses, gold bricks and many other assets that count as non-financial wealth are also owned via offshore structures that make it impossible to identify their owners. See Tax Justice Network.

Tax havens are locations around the world where wealthy individuals, criminals and terrorists, as well as governments and government agencies (such as the CIA), banks, corporations, hedge funds, international organizations (such as the Vatican) and crime syndicates (such as the Mafia), can stash their money so that they can avoid laws, regulation and oversight and, very often, evade tax. See Elite Banking at Your Expense: How Secretive Tax Havens are Used to Steal Your Money.

Controlled by the global elite, Wall Street and other major banks manage this monstrous diversion of wealth under Government protection. Their business is fraud and grand theft. Tax haven locations offer more than tax avoidance. Almost anything goes on. It includes bribery, illegal gambling, money laundering, human and sex trafficking, arms dealing, toxic waste dumping, conflict diamonds and endangered species trafficking, bootlegged software, and endless other lawless practices. See Trillions Stashed in Offshore Tax Havens.

8. The worlds major corporations continued to inflict enormous ongoing violence (in a myriad of ways) in their pursuit of endless profit at the expense of living beings (human and otherwise) and Earths biosphere by producing and marketing a wide range of life-destroying products ranging from nuclear weapons and nuclear power to fossil fuels, junk food, pharmaceutical drugs (including health-destroying and sometimes life-destroying vaccinations: see, for example, Vaxxed-Unvaxxed The Science), synthetic poisons and genetically mutilated organisms (GMOs).

These corporations include the following: weapons manufacturers, major banks and their industry groups like the International Monetary Conference, asset management firms, investment companies, financial services companies, fossil fuel (coal, oil and gas) corporations, technology corporations, media corporations, major marketing and public relations corporations, agrochemical (pesticides, seeds, fertilizers) giants, pharmaceutical corporations (with their handmaidens in the medical and psychiatric industries: see Defeating the Violence in Our Food and Medicine and Defeating the Violence of Psychiatry), biotechnology (genetic mutilation) corporations, mining corporations, nuclear power corporations, food multinationals and water corporations. You can see a list of the major corporations in this article: The Global Elite is Insane Revisited.

9. More than two billion people continued to live under occupation, dictatorship or threat of genocidal assault often with the global elite sponsoring an oppressive national government or simply a local elite that exercises power irrespective of the government in office. See, for example, 500 Years is Long Enough! Human Depravity in the Congo.

10. 36,500,000 human beings (mainly in Africa, Asia and Central/South America) were starved to death in 2019.

Are we serious about ending these totally unnecessary deaths? Not even remotely, as thoughtfully explained by Professor George Kent in his article Are We Serious About Ending Hunger?

As Professor Kent notes: currently, around the world, around 800 million people suffer from hunger and that global efforts to end hunger have not been serious: There has been no substantial commitment of resources, no management group to control the process, no realistic timeline, and no means for mid-course corrections on the way to the goal. There [have been] no contracts with agencies that would work toward achievement of the goal. hoping for the end of hunger wont work. Hope is not a strategy. Moreover, The UN system offers little more than vague aspirations.

11. 18,250,000 children were killed by adults in wars, by starving them to death, by denying them clean drinking water, and in a large variety of other ways.

12. 8,000,000 children were trafficked into sexual slavery; executed in sacrificial killings after being kidnapped; bred to be sold as a cash crop for sexual violation, to produce child pornography (kiddie porn) and snuff movies (in which children are killed during the filming); ritually tortured and murdered as well as raped by dogs trained for the purpose. See Humanitys Dirty Little Secret: Starving, Enslaving, Raping, Torturing and Killing our Children.

13. Hundreds of thousands of individuals were kidnapped or tricked into slavery, which now denies 46,000,000 human beings (more than at any time in human history) the right to live the life of their choice, condemning many individuals especially women and children to lives of sexual slavery, forced labor or as child soldiers. Needless to say, the global elite continues to expand this highly profitable business while its compliant governments do no more than mouth an occasional objection to the practice while doing nothing effective to actually end it, as was patently evident following disclosures about high-profile public figures during the year. See The Global Slavery Index. For one recent account of the life of a modern slave, see My Familys Slave. And for an account of the involvement of public figures in sex slavery, see Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein: what you need to know and the other articles listed at the end of this one.

14. Well over 100,000 people (particularly Falun Gong practitioners) in China, where an extensive state-controlled program is conducted, were subjected to forced organ removal for the trade in human organs. See Bloody Harvest and The Slaughter.

15. 15,768,000 people were displaced by war, persecution or famine. There are now 70,800,000 people, more that half of whom are children and approximately 10,000,000 of whom are stateless, who have been forcibly displaced worldwide and remain precariously unsettled, usually in adverse circumstances. One person in the world is forcibly displaced every two seconds. See Figures at a Glance.

16. Millions of people were made homeless in their own country as a result of war, persecution, natural disasters (many of which, including hurricanes/cyclones and wildfires, were actually generated by dysfunctional human behavior rather than nature), internal conflict, poverty or as a result of elite-driven national economic policies. The last time a global survey was attempted by the United Nations back in 2005 an estimated 100 million people were homeless worldwide. In addition, as many as 1.6 billion people lack adequate housing (living in slums, for example). See Global Homelessness Statistics.

17. Highlighting the unheralded biodiversity crisis on Earth, as a result of habitat destruction and degradation as well as a multitude of other threats, 73,000 species of life (plants, birds, animals, fish, amphibians, insects, reptiles and microbes) on Earth were driven to extinction with the worldwide loss of many of these species and certainly including insects, birds, animals and fish now at catastrophic levels. Tragically, many additional species are now trapped in a feedback loop which will inevitably precipitate their extinction as well because of the way in which co-extinctions, localized extinctions and extinction cascades work once initiated and as has already occurred in almost all ecosystem contexts. See the (so far) five-part series Our Vanishing World. Have you seen a flock of birds of any size recently? A butterfly?

18. Separately from global species extinctions, Earth continued to experience a huge episode of population declines and extirpations, which will have negative cascading consequences on ecosystem functioning and services vital to sustaining civilization. We describe this as a biological annihilation to highlight the current magnitude of Earths ongoing sixth major extinction event. Moreover, local population extinctions are orders of magnitude more frequent than species extinctions. Population extinctions, however, are a prelude to species extinctions, so Earths sixth mass extinction episode has proceeded further than most assume. See Biological annihilation via the ongoing sixth mass extinction signaled by vertebrate population losses and declines and Our Vanishing World: Wildlife.

19. Wildlife trafficking, worth up to $20 billion in 2019, is pushing many endangered species to the brink of extinction. Illegal wildlife products include jewelry, traditional medicine, clothing, furniture, and souvenirs, as well as some exotic pets, most of which are sold to unaware/unconcerned consumers in the West although China is heavily implicated too. See, for example, Stop Wildlife Trafficking.

20. 16,000,000 acres of pristine rainforest were cut or burnt down for purposes such as the following: acquiring timbers used in construction, clearing land to establish cattle farms so that many people can eat cheap hamburgers, clearing land to establish palm oil plantations so that many people can eat processed (including junk) foods based on this oil, clearing land to establish palm oil and soybean plantations so that some people can delude themselves that they are using a green biofuel in their car (when, in fact, these fuels generate a far greater carbon footprint than fossil fuels), mining (much of it illegal) for a variety of minerals (such as gold, silver, copper, coltan, cassiterite and diamonds), and logging to produce woodchips so that some people can buy cheap paper, including cheap toilet paper. One outcome of this destruction is that 40,000 tropical tree species are now threatened with extinction. See Our Vanishing World: Rainforests, Measuring the Daily Destruction of the Worlds Rainforests, Estimating the global conservation status of more than 15,000 Amazonian tree species and Half of Amazon Tree Species Face Extinction.

Another outcome is that the precious Amazon is teetering on the edge of functional destruction and, with it, so are we. How long do we have? The tipping point is here, it is now. Professor Thomas E. Lovejoy and his fellow researcher Carlos Nobre elaborate this point: Bluntly put, the Amazon not only cannot withstand further deforestation but also now requires rebuilding as the underpinning base of the hydrological cycle if the Amazon is to continue to serve as a flywheel of continental climate for the planet and an essential part of the global carbon cycle. See Amazon Tipping Point: Last Chance for Action.

21. Vast quantities of soil were washed away as we destroyed the rainforests, and enormous quantities of both inorganic constituents (such as heavy metals like cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, nickel and zinc) and organic pollutants (particularly synthetic chemicals in the form of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides) were dumped into the soil as well, thus reducing its nutrients and killing the microbes and earthworms within it. We also contaminated enormous quantities of soil with radioactive waste. See Soil-net, Glyphosate effects on soil rhizosphere-associated bacterial communities and Disposing of Nuclear Waste is a Challenge for Humanity.

To briefly elaborate the evidence in relation to earthworms: Given recent reports of critical declines of microbes, plants, insects and other invertebrates, birds and other vertebrates, the situation pertaining to neglected earthworms was evaluated in an extensive investigation recently undertaken by Robert J. Blakemore. His research demonstrated an 83.3 percent decline in earthworms in agrichemical farms that is, those that use pesticides, herbicides and synthetic fertilizers compared with farms utilizing organic methods. Why? Because it is impossible to replace or artificially engineer the myriad beneficial processes and services freely provided by earthworms which includes extensive burrows in pastures enriched with soil organic matter that allow ingress of air & water and provide living space for other soil organisms. Moreover, given that ecological services overall have been given a median value of US$135 trillion per year, which is almost double the global economic GDP of around $75 trillion see Changes in the global value of ecosystem services and Valuing nature and the hidden costs of biodiversity loss Blakemore reaches an obvious conclusion: Persistence with failing chemical agriculture makes neither ecological nor economic sense. See Critical Decline of Earthworms from Organic Origins under Intensive, Humic SOM-Depleting Agriculture.

Given that this multifaceted destruction of the soil fundamentally threatens the global grain supply, when the ability to grow, store and distribute grains at scale is a defining element of civilization, as Professor Guy McPherson eloquently explains it: A significant decline in grain harvest will surely drive this version of civilization to the abyss and beyond. See Seven Distinct Paths to Loss of Habitat for Humans.

22. Despite an extensive and ongoing coverup by the Japanese government and nuclear corporations, as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), vast amounts of radioactive waste were dumped into the biosphere from the TEPCO nuclear power plant at Fukushima in Japan including by discharge into the Pacific Ocean killing an incalculable number of fish and other marine organisms and indefinitely contaminating expanding areas of that ocean. See Fukushima: A Nuclear War without a War: The Unspoken Crisis of Worldwide Nuclear Radiation, 2019 Annual Report Fukushima 8th Anniversary, Eight years after triple nuclear meltdown, Fukushima No. 1s water woes show no signs of ebbing and Fukushimas Three Nuclear Meltdowns Are Under Control Thats a Lie.

But the challenges to be overcome in safely handling and, ultimately, safely storing the radiation hazards (such as the three melted nuclear reactors and the spent fuel rods) and the radioactive waste from the Fukushima disaster are monumental, as touched on in this article outlining the 40-year plan that the Japanese government hopes will delude us into believing will deal with the many components of this perpetual radioactive nightmare. See Japan revises Fukushima cleanup plan, delays key steps.

In addition, one critical legacy of the US militarys 67 secretive and lethal nuclear weapons tests on the Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1958 is the eternally radioactive garbage left behind and now leaking into the Pacific Ocean. See The Pentagons Disastrous Radioactive Waste Dump in the Drowning Marshall Islands is Leaking into the Pacific Ocean.

Is other nuclear waste safely stored? Of course not! See, for example, NRC admits San Onofre Holtec nuclear waste canisters are all damaged, USAs Hanford nuclear site could suffer the same fate as Russias Mayak or worse and, for a more comprehensive report, The World Nuclear Waste Report 2019: Focus Europe.

Of course, the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe in 1986 continues to inflict extensive damage on the biosphere which you can learn more about from the research by Professor Kate Brown, author of Manual for Survival: A Chernobyl Guide to the Future Chernobyl Radiation Cover-Ups & Deadly Truth, UN and Western countries covered up the facts on the huge health toll of Chernobyl radiation and Unreported Deaths, Child Cancer & Radioactive Meat: The Untold Story of Chernobyl as well as the investigatory work of Alison Katz of Independent WHO: Chernobyl Health Cover-Up, Lies by UN/WHO Exposed.

23. Human use of fossil fuels to power aircraft, shipping and vehicles as well as for industrial production and to generate electricity (among other purposes) released 10 billion metric tons (10 gigatons) of carbon dioxide into Earths biosphere, a 0.6% increase over 2018, with Chinas monstrous CO2 emissions for 2019 totaling 2.6% greater than the previous year. See Global Carbon Budget 2019.

As one measure of their contempt for the utterly inadequate goals of the Paris climate agreement, and with government approval, over 400 of the 746 companies on the Global Coal Exit List are still planning to expand their coal operations. If built, these projects in 60 countries would add over 579 GW to the global coal plant fleet, an increase of almost 29%. See Companies Driving the Worlds Coal Expansion Revealed: NGOs Release New Global Coal Exit List for Finance Industry and Proposed Coal Plants by Country.

24. 72 billion land animals (mainly chickens, ducks, pigs, rabbits, geese, turkeys, sheep, goats and beef cattle) were killed for food. In addition, between 37 and 120 billion fish were killed on commercial farms with another 2.7 trillion fish caught and killed in the wild. See How Many Animals Are Killed for Food Every Day?

Apart from that, more than 100 million animals were killed for laboratory purposes in the United States alone and there were other animal deaths in shelters, zoos and in blood sports. See How Many Animals Are Killed Each Year?

In addition, according to Humane Society International, about 100 million animals (particularly mink, foxes, raccoon dogs and rabbits) were bred and slaughtered in fur farms geared to supplying the fashion industry. In addition to farming, millions of wild animals were trapped and killed for fur, as were hundreds of thousands of seals. See How Many Animals are Killed Each Year?

25. Farming of animals for human consumption released 7.1 gigatons of CO2-equivalent into Earths atmosphere; this represented 14.5 percent of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. About 44% of livestock emissions were in the form of methane (which was 44% of anthropogenic CH4 emissions), 29% as Nitrous Oxide (which was 53% of anthropogenic N2O emissions) and 27% as Carbon Dioxide (which was 5% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions). See GHG Emissions by Livestock.

26. Human use of fossil fuels and farming of animals released more than 3.2 million metric tons of (CO2 equivalent) nitrous oxide (N2O) into Earths atmosphere. See Nitrous oxide emissions.

27. Despite largely successful efforts by the elite-controlled IPCC to delude people into believing that the global mean temperature has increased by only 1.0 degree celsius, in fact, since the pre-industrial era (prior to 1750) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have already caused the global temperature to rise by about 1.73 degrees celsius. See How much warmer is it now?

Among a lengthy list of adverse outcomes, this has caused the melting of Arctic permafrost and undersea methane ice clathrates resulting in an incalculable quantity of methane being uncontrollably released into the atmosphere, including during 2019, with the quantity being released getting ever closer to exploding. See Anomalies of methane in the atmosphere over the East Siberian shelf: Is there any sign of methane leakage from shallow shelf hydrates?, 7,000 underground gas bubbles poised to explode in Arctic, Release of Arctic Methane May Be Apocalyptic, Study Warns and Understanding the Permafrost-Hydrate System and Associated Methane Releases in the East Siberian Arctic Shelf.

In fact, the methane threat is already so extreme that the forecast El Nio event for 2020 could be the catalyst to trigger huge methane releases from the Arctic Ocean precipitating human extinction this year. See Very early warning signal for El Nio in 2020 with a 4 in 5 likelihood and Extinction in 2020?

28. Glaciers and mountain ice fields whether located in Greenland or other regions of the far north, the Himalaya, at the Equator, in southern latitudes or Antarctica are all melting at unprecedented and accelerating rates, losing billions of tonnes of ice in 2019. For a discussion of the details and the implications of this, see Our Vanishing World: Glaciers.

29. The ongoing destruction of Earths oceans continued unabated and accelerated in key areas.

An incalculable amount of agricultural poisons, fossil fuels and other wastes was discharged into the ocean, adversely impacting life at all ocean depths see Staggering level of toxic chemicals found in creatures at the bottom of the sea, scientists say and generating ocean dead zones: regions that have too little oxygen to support marine organisms. See Our Planet Is Exploding With Marine Dead Zones.

In addition, however, another problem that has been getting insufficient attention is the result of the expanding impacts of the rapidly increasing levels of ocean acidification, ocean warming, ocean carbon flows and ocean plastics. Taken in isolation each of these changes clearly has negative consequences for the ocean. All these shifts taken together, however, result in a rapid and serious decline in ocean health and this, in turn, adversely impacts all species dependent on the ocean including fish, mammals and seabirds. Moreover, on top of these problems is the issue of oxygen availability given that oxygen in the air or water is of paramount importance to most living organisms. As the recently released report Ocean deoxygenation: Everyones problem. Causes, impacts, consequences and solutions describes in some detail, oxygen levels are currently declining across the ocean, not just in dead zones.

And to elaborate the plastics problem briefly: at least 8 million metric tons of plastic, of which 236,000 tons were microplastics, was discharged into the ocean. So severe is the problem that there are now five massive patches of plastic in the oceans around the world covering large swaths of the ocean; the plastic patch between California and Hawaii is the size of the state of Texas. See Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean and Plastics in the Ocean.

30. Earths fresh water and ground water was further depleted and contaminated.

The depletion is a primary outcome of the ongoing deforestation of the planet and is manifesting in several ways including as localized droughts, which are becoming increasingly common as a number of cities and regions around the world can attest. According to the World Resources Institute, half of the surface water in some countries mainly in Central Asia and the Middle East was depleted between 1984 and 2015, with agriculture using an average of 70% of the water. 36 countries are extremely water-stressed and water is now a major factor in conflict in at least 45 countries. See 7 Graphics Explain the State of the Worlds Water.

Separately from depletion, fresh water was contaminated by bacteria, viruses and household chemicals from faulty septic systems; hazardous wastes from abandoned and uncontrolled hazardous waste sites (of which there are over 20,000 in the USA alone); leaks from landfill items such as car battery acid, paint and household cleaners; the pesticides, herbicides and other poisons used on farms and home gardens; radioactive waste from nuclear tests (some of it stored in glaciers that are now melting); and the chemical contamination caused by hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in search of shale gas, for which about 750 chemicals and components, some extremely toxic and carcinogenic like lead and benzene, have been used. See Groundwater contamination, Groundwater drunk by BILLIONS of people may be contaminated by radioactive material spread across the world by nuclear testing in the 1950s and Fracking chemicals.

31. The longstanding covert military use of geoengineering spraying tens of millions of tons of highly toxic metals (including aluminium, barium and strontium) and toxic coal fly ash nanoparticulates (containing arsenic, chromium, thallium, chlorine, bromine, fluorine, iodine, mercury and radioactive elements) into the atmosphere from jet aircraft to weaponize the atmosphere and weather in order to enhance elite control of human populations, continued unchecked. Geoengineering is systematically destroying Earths ozone layer which blocks the deadly portion of solar radiation, UV-C and most UV-B, from reaching Earths surface as well as adversely altering Earths weather patterns and polluting its air, water and soil at incredible cost to the health and well-being of living organisms and the biosphere. See Geoengineering Watch, including Engineered Climate Cataclysm: Hurricane Harvey.

For a discussion of the military implications of geoengineering, see The Ultimate Weapon of Mass Destruction: Owning the Weather for Military Use.

And for discussions of the research, and implications of it, by Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt and Dr. Stephenie Seneff (Senior Research Scientist at MIT), which considers damage to the biosphere and human health caused by the geoengineering release of a synthesized compound of nanonized aluminium and the poison glyphosate that creates a supertoxin that is generating a crisis of neurological diseases, see World-Renowned Doctor Addresses Climate Engineering Dangers, Dr Stephenie Seneff, Autism Explained: Synergistic Poisoning from Aluminum and Glyphosate and Extinction is Stalking Humanity: The Threats to Human Survival Accumulate.

32. The incredibly destructive 5G technology, which a vast number of scientists (currently totaling more than 188,000 individuals and organizations from 203 nations and territories: see International Appeal to Stop 5G on Earth and in Space) are warning will have catastrophic consequences for life on Earth, is now being rapidly introduced without informed public consultation and despite ongoing protests around the world.

The following articles and videos will give you a solid understanding of key issues from the viewpoint of human and planetary well-being. See 5G Satellites: A Threat to all Life, 5G Danger: 13 Reasons 5G Wireless Technology Will Be a Catastrophe for Humanity, 5G Technology is Coming Linked to Cancer, Heart Disease, Diabetes, Alzheimers, and Death, 20,000 Satellites for 5G to be Launched Sending Focused Beams of Intense Microwave Radiation Over Entire Earth, Will 5G Cell Phone Technology Lead To Dramatic Population Reduction As Large Numbers Of Men Become Sterile?, The 5G Revolution: Millions of Human Guinea Pigs in Big Telecoms Global Experiment and 5G Apocalypse The Extinction Event.

33. As one outcome of our dysfunctional parenting model and political systems, fascism continued to rise around the world. See The Psychology of Fascism.

34. Despite the belief that we have the right to privacy, privacy (in any sense of the word) was ongoingly eroded in 2019 and is now effectively non-existent, particularly thanks to Alphabet (owner of Google). Taken together, Uber, Amazon, Facebook, eBay, Tinder, Apple, Lyft, Foursquare, Airbnb, Spotify, Instagram, Twitter, Angry Birds... have turned our computers and phones into bugs that are plugged in to a vast corporate-owned surveillance network. Where we go, what we do, what we talk about, who we talk to, and who we see everything is recorded and, at some point, leveraged for value. Moreover, given Googles integrated relationship with the US government, the US military, the CIA, and major US weapons manufacturers, there isnt really anything you can do that isnt known by those who want to know it. In essence, Google is a powerful global corporation with its own political agenda and a mission to maximise profits for shareholders and it partly achieves this by expanding the surveillance programs of the national security state at the direction of the global elite. But Google isnt alone and it isnt just happening in the USA. See Everybodys Watching You: The Intercepts 2019 Technology Coverage, Googles Earth: How the Tech Giant Is Helping the State Spy on Us, the articles by John W. Whitehead on Surveillance and the documentary The Modern Surveillance State.

35. The right to free speech, accurate information and conscience-based nonviolent activism was ongoingly eroded in 2019 as efforts, by governments and corporations particularly, to control speech, information and political action accelerated. Whether this took the form of censorship, restrictions on access or violent acts directed against those whose views or actions were seen as dangerous or wrong, Global Witness, Human Rights Watch and other organizations documented an endless series of setbacks for free speech and political activity in a wide variety of countries around the world with individuals and journalists imprisoned for telling the truth, nonviolent activists assaulted and killed, critics silenced by defamation laws or disappearance, and the closure of newspapers, television stations and the internet to prevent rapid promulgation of information, among other infringements. See, for example, Free Speech, The supply chain of violence, Environmental activist murders double in 15 years and Enemies of the State? How governments and businesses silence land and environmental defenders.

36. Believing that we know better than evolution, and following the birth in 2018 of the first gene-edited babies in China see Why we are not ready for genetically designed babies and Chinas Golem Babies: There is Another Agenda in 2019, further human gene-editing was done as well as gene-editing experiments intended to explore possibilities for more complex gene-editing of humans. Why? According to the authors of one report: To extend the frontier of genome editing and enable the radical redesign of mammalian genomes (emphasis added). This experiment allowed for the simultaneous editing of >10,000 loci in human cells. See Enabling large-scale genome editing by reducing DNA nicking.

Needless to say, at least some responsible scientists are well aware of the possibly horrific consequences of this technology in the hands of those without ethics and are calling for a moratorium of at least five years on heritable human gene editing to allow time to engage in proactive, rather than reactive, discussions about the future of such technology. Of course, despite the calls for caution, some researchers are forging ahead. See NIH Director on Human Gene Editing: We Must Never Allow Our Technology to Eclipse Our Humanity.

37. Incalculable amounts of waste of every conceivable kind including antibiotic waste, military waste, nuclear waste, nanowaste and genetically engineered organisms, including gene drives (or mutagenic chain reactions) were released into Earths biosphere, with an endless series of adverse consequences for life. See Junk Planet: Is Earth the Largest Garbage Dump in the Universe?

Not content to dump our junk on Earth, an incalculable amount of junk was also dumped in Space which already contains 100 trillion items of orbiting junk. See Junk Planet: Is Earth the Largest Garbage Dump in the Universe? and Space Junk: Tracking & Removing Orbital Debris.

38. Ongoing visible, invisible and utterly invisible violence against children see Why Violence? and Fearless Psychology and Fearful Psychology: Principles and Practice ensured that more people will grow up accepting (and quite powerless to challenge) our dysfunctional and violent world, as described above.

39. The global elites corporate media, schooling and film/television industries continued to distract vast numbers of people from reality with an endless barrage of propaganda respectively labeled, depending on the context, news, education and entertainment ensuring that most people remain oblivious to our predicament, devoid of the capacities to investigate, comprehend and analyze this predicament as well as their own role in it, and to respond to this predicament powerfully. See, for example, Medias Deafening Silence on Latest from WikiLeaks about the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Fake Douma Report Blaming Syria, Do We Want School or Education? and The Most Important Free Press Stories of 2019.

40. Finally, as a direct outcome of these last two points but most tragically of all, virtually all of the individuals who self-identify as activists continued to waste their time begging the global elite (or their agents) to fix one or other of our crises starkly illustrated by those thousands of climate activists who traveled to Madrid, mostly using fossil fuels, and then complained when the outcome was, predictably, pitiful: see the powerless civil society Statement on COP25 despite the overwhelming evidence that the global elite will not take action to fix any of these crises. See Why Activists Fail. And, for more detail in two key contexts, see The Global Climate Movement is Failing: Why? and The War to End War 100 Years On: An Evaluation and Reorientation of our Resistance to War.

Moreover, even if it was inclined, the elite is now powerless to avert extinction given that, if we are to have any chance given the advanced nature of the crisis and the incredibly short timeframe, we must plan intelligently to mobilize a substantial proportion of the human population in a strategically-focused effort. Nothing else can work.

Highlights of 2019But so that the picture is clear and balanced: were there any gains made against the onslaught outlined above, particularly given we were driven inexorably closer to extinction?

Considering the elite and its agents: Zero gains were made of which I am aware. I have found no record of official efforts during the year to plan for the development and implementation of a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace although there was plenty of rhetoric in some quarters, often by those without any actual power to make a difference.

Separately from this, there have been some minor activist gains: for example, some western banks and insurance companies are no longer financially supporting the expansion of the western weapons industry and the western coal industry, some superannuation (pension) funds have divested from weapons and fossil fuels, some rainforest groups have managed to save portions of Earths rainforest heritage, and activist groups continue to work on a variety of issues sometimes making modest gains.

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Human Extinction Now Imminent and Inevitable? A Report on the State of Planet Earth - The Nigerian Voice

Embryology

How likely are you to conceive a baby after freezing your eggs? – cosmopolitan.com

January 10, 2020 medical

We live in a modern world, where (thankfully) women are no longer expected to reproduce by the age of 17 and manage a home while their husbands are out hunting. The crux of it is, women are having children later, choosing to establish careers and financial stability before starting a family.

Data from the Office of National Statistics indicates the average age women in England and Wales are becoming first-time mums these days is now 28.9 - a figure that's been steadily increasing over the years. Simultaneously, instances of egg freezing have been on the rise.

Women are born with all their eggs, meaning female fertility declines with age. By age 37, 90% of a woman's eggs are gone, which is why the likelihood of getting pregnant naturally at around the age of 40 is just 5% each month. Women are encouraged to freeze their eggs in a bid to preserve them, opening up the option of an IVF-assisted conception if they struggle to get pregnant at an older age. But how likely is it that IVF using frozen eggs will work later down the line? Not particularly, says new research.

Scientists from Newcastle Fertility Centre presented data today at the Fertility 2020 conference in Edinburgh which suggest the live birth rate using a patient's own frozen eggs is just 18%. The figures were concluded after the researchers analysed data from the UKs fertility regulator, the HFEA (the Human Fertilisation and Embryology authority), from the past 15 years.

Science Photo LibraryGetty Images

To put it another way, if you freeze your eggs and embark upon IVF later down the line, you'll have a less-than-one-in-five chance that it'll lead to a baby. As the British Fertility Society warns, "people should know that freezing eggs is far from a guarantee that you will have a baby later."

Dr Mariano Mascarenhas from Leeds Fertility, who presented the research at the conference, noted that people may see an improved chance of success if they have their eggs frozen younger.

"The chances of having a baby can improve if eggs are stored early in life," he said. "Unfortunately we couldnt account for the age at which eggs are stored or when and how they were stored because that information isnt available."

Interestingly, the fertility experts discovered a far higher success rate - 31% - when frozen donor eggs are used, as opposed to the woman's own. "Hence for young fit women with no fertility issue the success of egg freezing may ultimately be much greater," he added.

obeyleesinGetty Images

While this information shouldn't necessarily be used as a deterrent for egg freezing, it should be used as a reminder that there's no certainty biological motherhood will come from freezing your eggs. With the pressure to conform to societal demands of motherhood can come added pressure to undertake processes like egg freezing, 'just in case'. But egg freezing is expensive, and these statistics prove it's far from a guarantee.

In the UK, egg freezing costs an average of 3,350, according to the HFEA - but that's without any additional medication (which can range between 500-1,500) and then egg storage costs (which can be anywhere between 125 and 350 per year). Yup, it's a pricey business.

So if motherhood is your one true destiny - or if you simply want the peace of mind that you needn't rush to find a suitable sperm donor - then, sure. Go ahead and freeze your eggs. But just be mindful that it may not turn out as you hope.

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How likely are you to conceive a baby after freezing your eggs? - cosmopolitan.com

Embryology

UVA and the History of Race: Eugenics, the Racial Integrity Act, Health Disparities – UVA Today

January 10, 2020 medical

According to Barringer, rigid hereditary determinism predetermined the absolute limit of African Americans biological and social advancement. He argued that with emancipation came reversion of African Americans to savage status, creating a new, degenerate black generation that could not possibly survive in contact with civilized white society.

Barringer believed that under the conditions of slavery, blacks had advanced beyond their natural selection through selective breeding by slave owners. With emancipation came reversion of African Americans to their original savage nature, which put them on a path toward extinction, accelerated by an irrational procreation which further exacerbated their genetic inferiority and susceptibility to disease and criminality.4

The drastically high incidence of tuberculosis, syphilis and typhoid fever among African Americans (locally and in cities around the country) indicated nothing to Barringer about overcrowded housing or lack of clean water, sanitation or safe meats and pasteurized milk. Instead the high morbidity and mortality rates of African Americans proved the genetic unfitness of a markedly criminal race. Without white intervention, Barringer condemned blacks to a life of barbarism and death. To Barringer, the Negro Problem was more than a political problem; it was a huge public health threat to whites.

Barringers tripartite solution to the Negro Problem was political disfranchisement, transferring responsibility for African American education from black to white teachers, and training blacks to be law-abiding laborers and artisans. As he wrote, Every Negro doctor, lawyer, teacher or other leader in excess of the immediate needs of his own people is an antisocial produce, a social menace.5

Eugenics flourished under the leadership of President Edwin Alderman (1903-27) as he set out to build the research base of the University with recruitment of leading men of eugenic science into schools across Grounds: These included Harvey Jordan, Robert Bean and Lawrence Royster in the medical school; George Ferguson in education; Orlando White as director of UVAs biological station; and Ivey Lewis as chair of biology.

Together these faculty created eugenics research and education programs at UVA and throughout the state, and in doing so, trained UVA students as well as high school and college teachers in eugenic racism. They also collaborated with nationally renowned eugenics investigators, and presented their work at international eugenics meetings. Fully immersed in race science, these men contributed directly and indirectly to ethically contemptuous laws and policies designed to maintain a culture of white supremacy, and exclusionary white privilege.

Jordan, a professor of embryology, genetics and histology, was one of Aldermans early recruits. Joining the faculty in 1907, he served as dean of the medical school from 1939 to 1949. Believing that blacks inherited a susceptibility to contracting diseases such as syphilis and tuberculosis, Jordan called for compulsory registration of all who were ill. He argued that proposed eugenic marriage, segregation and sterilization laws, were public and racial health measures that should form part of the health code, to be administered under the State Police powers.6 The promise of eugenics as a solution to societys ills, and the power of physicians in solving such problems was best summed up when Jordan declared at the 1st International Congress of Eugenics in 1912 that the future physician must also take a more active part in helping to shape legislation in the interest of race welfare.7

Chair of Anatomy Dr. Robert Bean argued that the physical features of African Americans confirmed their inferiority when compared to whites. Furthermore, he advanced human types that represent different degrees of susceptibility of disease may be segregated and given differential treatment.8 Through medical school core courses, Jordan and Bean, combined, taught about 20% of the medical school curriculum.

Along similar lines, George Oscar Ferguson, a professor in the education school, in his use of intelligence testing among blacks, mixed-race and white children concluded, It does not seem possible to raise the scholastic attainment of the Negro to an equality with that of the white. [N]o expenditure of time or money would accomplish this end, since education cannot create mental power, but can only develop that which is innate.9

Eugenics began to shape public policy nationally as early as 1907, when Indiana passed a sterilization law. Two Virginia eugenics laws, both passed in 1924, had a profound impact in the commonwealth and throughout the country. The Virginia Sterilization Act and the Racial Integrity Act not only legalized sterilization of the mentally ill and persons of low literacy, but also cemented discrimination against marginalized and vulnerable populations, including African Americans. These laws codified Jim Crow into every aspect of community life, and in doing so, denied African Americans access to medical care, jobs and fair wages, as well as higher education and professional training. Simply put, eugenic laws created the one drop rule, where one drop of African American blood restricted a person of color to life behind the veil.10

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UVA and the History of Race: Eugenics, the Racial Integrity Act, Health Disparities - UVA Today

Embryology

Cheryl Tweedy is considering sperm donation to have more children but how does it work? – Yahoo Style

January 10, 2020 medical

Cheryl Tweedy has revealedplans to have more children by sperm donor.

The pop singer, 36, explained that she wants to provide more than one sibling for two-year-old son Bear, who she shares with ex-boyfriend Liam Payne, 26.

Speaking to The Times Magazine, the star, who is currently single, said that the thought of potential solo fertility treatment makes me very happy.

She continued: If time was on my side and I was in my twenties, yeah, I would wait and consider more options, or wait for somebody I felt was right, but

You could meet somebody and for that year it feels incredible, but there is never a guarantee because there are so many variables that can happen.

Life is a funny old game.

Cheryl, went on to confirm that she is considering having a second and possibly third child with the help of a sperm donor from out of town.

She explained: You can get it from abroad.

Do you imagine some guy from Newcastle saying, Thats my child!?

Theres a lot to choose from and a lot to think about, she added.

READ MORE: What is spurgling and why do experts have concerns about the sperm stealing practice?

More women are choosing sperm donation as a method of having a family [Photo: Getty]

Cheryl Tweedy certainly isnt alone in considering fertility treatment without a father.

Latest figures from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) showthe number of women attempting to start a family without a father increased by more than a third (35%) in two years; 1,272 women registered to have fertility treatment without a partner in 2016 up from 942 in 2014.

Likewise, there has been a rise in the use of sperm donation to start or grow a family. In 2016, 4,306 treatment cycles involved a patient using their own eggs and donor sperm, up 15% from 3,749 in 2015.

So why is sperm donation becoming more popular?

Some experts believe women are feeling more empowered to make that choice, while Dr Geetha Venkat director ofHarley Street Fertility Clinic believes the fact that many women are waiting until they are older to have children, and the changing circumstances surrounding starting a family are both contributing to the process becoming a more popular option.

Of course sperm donation is also considered by some couples where the male partner has sperm abnormalities, poor sperm production or no sperm at all.

Some men carry inherited genetic diseases and are thus seeking donated sperm so as not to transmit the disease to their children, Dr Venkat continues.

Sperm donors can change lives and make families a reality.

READ MORE: Single mum, 39, who used sperm donor, explains choice to her baby boy in moving video

According to Dr Venkat there is a shortage of sperm donors in the UK and many people have to wait to benefit from donated sperm.

Some couples are fortunate enough to have friends and family willing to donate sperm as a known donor, she explains.

However, most are not so fortunate and thus they are likely to be in the queue waiting for around one year on average for sufficient donors to volunteer to donate their sperm.

Dr Venkat says that to meet the demand, over 500 sperm donors are needed every year from all nationalities, religions, ethnicities and cultures.

UK fertility clinics are able to import sperm from overseas, but only under certain conditions, she adds.

Dr Venkat says the person/people who receive a sperm donation will be the childs legal and social parent(s) the donor will not be named on the birth certificate.

The donor has no legal, financial or social obligations to any child created from the donation either now or in 18 years time, she explains.

Donors are asked to complete an HFEA form and this details personal details about them that could be handed to the donor-conceived person when they reach age 18 or older.

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This information enables the childs parents to talk to them about their origins as they grow up and helps them build a mental picture of the donor, but they cannot meet them, she adds.

Its worth nothing that if youre having treatment at a licensed fertility clinic in the UK, the donor will have no legal rights or responsibilities to any children born with their sperm.

This is a personal choice, says Dr Venkat. But the most important thing is that donor procedures are carried out and that only healthy, safe sperm is used for your health and that of any child you have.

If you use a donor through a fertility clinic can find out:

height, weight, eye and hair colour

the year and country of birth

their ethnicity

whether they had any children at the time of donation, how many and gender

their marital status and medical history

they may choose to write a message at the time of their donation but you wont be able to find out any information that might reveal who the donor is.

READ MORE:Woman considers divorcing husband who fathered 47 children through sperm donations

IUI with donor insemination is a relatively quick and painless process [Photo: Getty]

When fertility treatment involves directly inserting sperm into a woman's womb, it is called Intrauterineinsemination (IUI).

The donor sperm is prepared in the laboratory to separate fast moving sperm from more sluggish or non-moving sperm, advises Dr Venkat.

The sperm is washed in the laboratory before insemination in order to concentrate the best sperm into a small amount of fluid.

Dr Venkat explains that using a catheter, your doctor will place the concentrated sperm directly into your uterus through your cervix, under ultrasound guidance.

The insemination procedure is relatively painless and is performed in a few minutes, although some women may experience some temporary, menstrual-like, cramping, she says.

IUI treatment can be performed in a natural cycle without fertility medicines or in a stimulated cycle with fertility drugs.

Though the treatment is available on the NHS, the waiting list can be very long in some areas and there are strict rules.

Dr Venkat advises speaking to your GP about your personal situation.

To give you an idea of costings, prices for IUI start at 1,100 per cycle with the HSFC.

Though you can go abroad for sperm donor treatment, like Cheryl Tweedy seems to hint shes considering, Dr Venkat says suggests remaining in the UK for the safest option.

The success rate with IUI treatment depends on your partner fertility status and your age.

Most couples who opt to undergo IUI have a 5 to 20%chance of becoming pregnant with each attempt, Dr Venkat says.

The chances are higher for stimulated IUI cycles in younger women using good quality sperm. However, it is not uncommon for multiple IUI cycles to be attemptedduethe poor success rate with a single cycle.

Read this article:
Cheryl Tweedy is considering sperm donation to have more children but how does it work? - Yahoo Style

Genetics

Genetics | Science | The Guardian

January 9, 2020 medical

Requiring minimal amounts of sleep is sometimes seen as a badge of honour. But for many of us, being able to actually function is a different matter altogether. So why is it that some people seem to need more or less sleep? And what are some of the ramifications if we dont get enough? Hannah Devlin speaks to two experts whose work is bringing new understanding to our sleeping behaviours

Read the original:
Genetics | Science | The Guardian

Genetics

Empirico Announces Strategic Collaboration to Harness Human Genetics for the Discovery and Development of Novel Antisense Oligonucleotide Therapeutics…

January 9, 2020 medical

Empirico Inc. announced today that it has entered into a strategic collaboration with Ionis Pharmaceuticals. During the three-year collaboration, Empirico will utilize its Precision Insights Platform, which incorporates huge biological data sets, human genetics and advanced algorithmic approaches, to identify therapeutic targets for indications and tissues that are amenable to Ionis industry-leading antisense technology. Under the terms of the agreement, Ionis can advance up to ten targets identified by Empirico and assume responsibility for all preclinical and clinical development activities. Empirico and Ionis will also work together to incorporate human genetics evidence into ongoing efforts with existing Ionis programs, including work on target validation, indication and biomarker selection, and patient stratification.

Empiricos Precision Insights Platform was purpose-built for therapeutic target discovery and incorporates one of the largest datasets of its kind in the world to interrogate the role of genes and proteins in health and disease and find opportunities for novel therapeutic interventions. By combining expert data curation, customized data models, and statistical and machine learning algorithms, the platform enables Empiricos scientists to systematically generate, interrogate, and prioritize high-confidence therapeutic hypotheses that are then validated experimentally.

"Empiricos approach to human genetics provides a much-needed opportunity to improve the success rate of drug discovery and development by leveraging experiments of nature," said Omri Gottesman, M.D., CEO of Empirico. "Antisense oligonucleotides are an ideal translational partner for human genetics-focused target discovery, allowing us to precisely mimic or interfere with the mechanisms by which functional genetic variants influence health and disease. We are excited to work with Ionis, the leader in RNA-targeted drug discovery and development, in discovering new medicines for patients in need."

As part of this new collaboration, Ionis has made a $10 million equity investment in Empirico, with additional near-term commitments of up to $30 million based on operational and preclinical milestones. Empirico will be eligible to receive in excess of $620 million for the achievement of clinical development, regulatory and commercial milestones, and royalties on net sales. Empirico also has the option to license, develop, and commercialize an Ionis development candidate directed toward a collaboration target for which Ionis will receive milestone payments and royalties on net sales.

In connection with this new collaboration, Empirico also announced today the closing of its $17 million Series A-2 financing, led by Ionis and with participation by DCVC Bio and Neotribe Ventures. This was a follow-on round to Empiricos $12.5 million Series A financing, co-led by DCVC Bio and Neotribe Ventures and completed In November 2018.

About Empirico

Empirico is a next-generation therapeutics company founded on utilizing human genetics, data science and programmable biology to power novel target discovery and development. Empiricos Precision Insights Platform, a proprietary human genetics-focused discovery platform, leverages a world-leading dataset and advanced algorithmic approaches to identify and prioritize therapeutic targets with a higher probability of translational success. All potential therapeutic targets are subjected to rigorous experimental validation to elucidate the mechanism by which genetic variation impacts disease risk and provide insights about which therapeutic modality could be programmed to mimic or interfere with that mechanism. Empirico has active preclinical development programs across several immune, dermatological, cardiometabolic, and ophthalmic indications based on targets identified with the Precision Insights Platform. Empirico is headquartered in San Diego, Calif. with laboratories in Madison, Wis. To learn more about Empirico, visit http://www.empiricotx.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200109005091/en/

Contacts

Media Contact: Jessica Yingling Ph.D.Little Dog Communications Inc. jessica@litldog.com +1-858-344-8091

Immunology

OncoMyx Therapeutics Announces Formation of Scientific Advisory Board – Business Wire

January 9, 2020 medical

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--OncoMyx Therapeutics, a privately-held oncolytic immunotherapy company, announced today the formation of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), comprised of experts in tumor immunology, oncology drug discovery and development, and oncolytic viruses. The SAB will work closely with the OncoMyx leadership team as the company advances a therapeutic pipeline of oncolytic immunotherapies based on the myxoma virus (MYXV) platform. The companys pipeline includes both monotherapies and therapies to be used in combination with immune checkpoint blockade and other immuno-modulatory approaches, offering significant therapeutic promise to a wide range of cancer targets.

This is a group of highly-accomplished scientists and drug hunters, some whom I have known for many years, said Leslie Sharp, Ph.D., chief scientific officer (CSO) of OncoMyx. We are thrilled to welcome Tobias, Neil, Grant, Ronan, and Dominic to our SAB, and I look forward to working with the team to develop new therapeutic options for cancer patients.

The SAB will be comprised of the following members:

Tobias Bald, Ph.D. is the Head of the Oncology and Cellular Immunology Laboratory at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute. He is a leading expert in tumor immunology with a strong focus on the role of the innate immune system during tumor development, progression and cancer immunotherapy.

Neil Gibson, Ph.D. is President and CEO of PDI Therapeutics and Senior Vice President of COI Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Gibson has more than 30 years of drug development experience and has been involved in the successful discovery, development and commercialization of four approved oncology drugs (including temozolomide, sorafenib, erlotnib, and crizotinib). Dr Gibsons extensive oncology experience includes being CSO of Pfizer Oncology Research Unit, CSO of Regulus Therapeutics and CSO of OSI Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Gibson also serves on the board of TCR2, a new public company focused on T-cell therapies.

Grant McFadden, Ph.D. is founder, research advisor, and director at OncoMyx. He is one of the top global leaders in oncolytic viruses with a specialization in pox viruses, including myxoma. The McFadden lab pioneered the field of viral immune subversion (also called anti-immunology) and is credited with the discovery of a wide spectrum of virus-derived inhibitors of the immune system.

Ronan OHagan, Ph.D. is Senior Vice President of Research and Translational Sciences at Akrevia Therapeutics. Prior to Akrevia, Ronan served as Executive Director, Oncology Discovery at Merck Research Laboratories. In this role he led the oncology discovery program at Merck with a particular emphasis on approaches to enable and enhance immune-modulatory therapies in cancer. Earlier at Merck, he led target identification and validation for oncology and generated an early-discovery pipeline including both biologics and small-molecule programs. He has helped to bring multiple small-molecule and biologics programs into clinical development during his time in industry. His academic career included undergraduate and graduate work in Canada followed by post-doctoral work at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI). In Dr. Ron DePinhos laboratory at DFCI, he focused on genetically engineered mouse models of cancer and novel approaches to target discovery.

Dominic Spinella, Ph.D. has over 25 years of experience in drug research and development and the discipline of Translational Medicine. He has been an executive leader at Chugai Biopharmaceuticals USA, where he was Vice President of Exploratory Research; at Pfizer where he served as head of Translational Medicine for the Oncology division; and at Amgen where he was Executive Director of Medical Sciences and head of Biomarkers and Diagnostics. A former professor of Medicine and Immunology at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine and Howard Hughes postdoctoral fellow at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, he also served on several national and international cancer biomarker development bodies.

We are assembling a world-class team with deep expertise in developing and commercializing innovative therapeutics, said Steve Potts, Ph.D., MBA, founder and chief executive officer of OncoMyx. Our SABs collective strategic, scientific, and clinical experience, together with our existing team, will help transform OncoMyx into a high growth clinical-stage therapeutics company.

About OncoMyx Therapeutics

OncoMyx Therapeutics, a startup launched from Arizona State University (ASU), develops oncolytic immunotherapies based on the myxoma virus (MYXV) platform to orchestrate an immune response and treat cancer. Successful immuno-oncology (IO) cancer treatment generally requires combination therapy, and oncolytic viruses (OVs) have emerged as a safe and effective IO complement. The companys MYXV platform, spun out from ASU, is poised to be a best-in-class OV approach, and the top OV team has assembled around MYXV to create important new therapeutic options for cancer patients. For more information, please visit http://www.oncomyx.com.

Immunology

AbbVie Sets up Allergan Aesthetics Ahead of Finalizing its $63 Billion Acquisition – BioSpace

January 9, 2020 medical

While Allergan and AbbVie prepare to complete their $63 billion merger later this year, plans are being laid out for a new, stand-alone company called Allergan Aesthetics that will include Botox as a tent pole.

AbbVie announced the proposed company Wednesday, along with a dedicated leadership team. The new division of AbbVie will include Botox, as well as the Juvederm collection of dermal fillers, the CoolSculpting body contouring treatments and other aesthetic products. It will also have its own research and development functions to continue to build out its aesthetics programs, AbbVie said.

The new division will be headquartered in Irvine, Calif. and will be helmed by Carrie Strom, who is currently senior vice president of U.S. Medical Aesthetics at Allergan. When the merger of the two companies is completed this quarter, Strom will be named senior vice president of AbbVie and president of Global Allergan Aesthetics. She will oversee the worldwide operations of the new company and will be assisted with an experienced team of other Allergan aesthetics veterans. As a division of AbbVie, Strom will report directly to AbbVie Chief Executive Officer Richard Gonzales.

Allergans eye care and specialty businesses, which include the use of Botox as a therapeutic for migraine headaches and other indications, as well as treatments of the central nervous system, womens health and gastrointestinal diseases, will be integrated into the current AbbVie pipeline. The combined companies will have several strong franchises across immunology, hematologic oncology, medical aesthetics, neuroscience, women's health, eye care and virology.

Gonzales said they are enthusiastic about the changes coming to AbbVie due to the Allergan acquisition. At the time the deal was announced, Gonzales said it would be transformational for the company. The announcement of the new aesthetics division, as well as the leadership changes, marks an important step forward for the company.

We are fortunate to have a leadership team with a deep breadth of both industry and company experience and we are excited to welcome the new Allergan leaders to our company, Gonzales said in a statement.

The new executive leadership team of AbbVie includes:

The new leadership team will certainly be tasked with integrating a number of pipeline-boosting therapeutics that AbbVie could gain from a number of collaborative deals over the past several months. In December, AbbVie and The Scripps Research Institute entered into a research collaboration focused on oncology, immunology, neurology and fibrosis. In November, AbbVie and Dragonfly Therapeutics struck a deal to advance new treatment options for autoimmune and oncology indications. At the center of the agreement are Dragonflys novel NK cell engager-based immunotherapies. AbbVie also entered into a collaboration with Idera Pharmaceuticals targeting metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. AbbVie snapped up Seattle-based Mavupharma and its STING (STimulator of INterferon Genes) pathway-focused treatments in July. The STING pathway plays an important role in the innate immune system, which is the bodys first line of defense against various pathogens, including the development of cancerous tumors.

Medical School

Monthly Archives: January 2020

Scientists Velcroed 3-D Glasses to Cuttlefish to Study Their Depth Perception – Smithsonian

Human Extinction Now Imminent and Inevitable? A Report on the State of Planet Earth – The Nigerian Voice

How likely are you to conceive a baby after freezing your eggs? – cosmopolitan.com

UVA and the History of Race: Eugenics, the Racial Integrity Act, Health Disparities – UVA Today

Cheryl Tweedy is considering sperm donation to have more children but how does it work? – Yahoo Style

Genetics | Science | The Guardian

Empirico Announces Strategic Collaboration to Harness Human Genetics for the Discovery and Development of Novel Antisense Oligonucleotide Therapeutics…

OncoMyx Therapeutics Announces Formation of Scientific Advisory Board – Business Wire

AbbVie Sets up Allergan Aesthetics Ahead of Finalizing its $63 Billion Acquisition – BioSpace