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Monthly Archives: September 2022
Evusheld long-acting antibody combination approved in the EU for the treatment of COVID-19 | Antibodies | News Channels – PipelineReview.com
Posted: September 20, 2022 at 7:57 am
DetailsCategory: AntibodiesPublished on Tuesday, 20 September 2022 09:35Hits: 522
Evusheld significantly reduced risk of severe COVID-19 or death in TACKLE Phase III treatment trial
LONDON, UK I September 20, 2022 I AstraZeneca's Evusheld (tixagevimab and cilgavimab, formerly AZD7442), a long-acting antibody combination, has been approved in the European Union (EU) for the treatment of adults and adolescents (aged 12years and older weighing at least 40kg) with COVID19 who do not require supplemental oxygen and who are at increased risk of progressing to severe COVID19.
The approval by the European Commission was based on results from the TACKLE Phase III COVID-19 treatment trial which showed one intramuscular (IM) dose of Evusheld provided clinically and statistically significant protection against progression to severe COVID-19 or death from any cause compared to placebo. Evusheld treatment earlier in the disease course led to more favourable outcomes. TACKLE was conducted in non-hospitalised adults with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 who were symptomatic for seven days or less. 90% of trial participants were at high risk of progression to severe COVID-19 due to co-morbidities or age. Evusheld was generally well tolerated in the trial.1
Michel Goldman, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in Healthcare, Universit Libre de Bruxelles, and former Executive Director of the European Innovative Medicines Initiative, said: Many people, including those who are immunocompromised, older adults and those with underlying health conditions, are at high risk of severe disease, hospitalisation and death if they become infected. Evusheld, delivered in a convenient intramuscular formulation, is now a much-needed new COVID-19 treatment option for these vulnerable populations.
Iskra Reic, Executive Vice President, Vaccines and Immune Therapies, AstraZeneca, said: COVID-19 remains an ongoing health concern for millions of Europeans and around the world, especially for those who may not be well-protected against the virus from vaccination. With this approval, Evusheld is now the only long-acting antibody combination available for both prevention and treatment of COVID-19 in Europe, allowing us to protect even more people from this devastating disease.
The recommended dose of Evusheld for treatment in Europe is 300mg of tixagevimab and 300mg of cilgavimab, administered as two separate, sequential IM injections.
Evusheld has been shown to retain in vitro neutralisation of Omicron BA.5, which is currently the dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant in Europe.2 Real-world evidence generated to date has demonstrated significantly lower rates of symptomatic COVID-19 and/or hospitalisation/death for immunocompromised patients receiving Evusheld compared to control arms. This includes real-world evidence collected while Omicron BA.5, BA.4, BA.2, BA.1 and BA.1.1 were circulating.3-6
Evusheld was granted marketing authorisation in the EU for pre-exposure prophylaxis (prevention) of COVID-19 in a broad population of adults and adolescents earlier this year and is already available in a majority of countries in Europe.
Notes
TACKLETACKLE is a Phase III, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-centre trial assessing the safety and efficacy of a single 600mg IM dose ofEvusheld(300mg each of cilgavimab and tixagevimab)compared to placebo for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19. The trial was conducted in 95 sites in the US, Latin America, Europe and Japan. 903 participants were randomised (1:1) to receive eitherEvusheld(n = 452) or saline placebo (n = 451), administered in two separate, sequential IM injections.
Participants were adults 18 years-old and over who had mild-to-moderate COVID-19 and were symptomatic for seven days or less. Participants had a documented laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, as determined by a molecular test (antigen or nucleic acid) from any respiratory tract specimen (e.g. oropharyngeal, nasopharyngeal, or nasal swab or saliva) collected no more than three days prior to day 1. Participants were not vaccinated against COVID-19 at the time of screening.
Detailed results from TACKLE, published inThe Lancet Respiratory Medicine, showedEvusheld significantly reduced the relative risk of progressing to severe COVID-19 or death (from any cause) by 50% (95% confidence interval [CI] 15, 71; p=0.010) through day 29 compared to placebo in non-hospitalised patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 who were symptomatic for seven days or less, the trials primary endpoint. In pre-specified analyses of participants who received treatment within three days of symptom onset, Evusheld reduced the risk of developing severe COVID-19 or death (from any cause) by 88% compared to placebo (95% CI 9, 98), and the risk reduction was 67% (95% CI 31, 84) compared with placebo when participants received Evusheld within five days of symptom onset.1
Evusheld was generally well tolerated in the trial. Adverse events (AEs) occurred more frequently in the placebo group (163/451; 36%) than the Evusheld group (132/452; 29%). The most common AE was COVID-19 pneumonia, occurring in 49 participants (11%) in the placebo group and 26 participants (6%) in the Evusheld group. Serious AEs occurred in 54 participants (12%) in the placebo group and 33 participants (7%) in the Evusheld group. There were six COVID-19-reported deaths in the placebo group and three in the Evusheld group.1
EvusheldEvusheld, formerly known as AZD7442, is a combination of two long-acting antibodies - tixagevimab (AZD8895) and cilgavimab (AZD1061) - derived from B-cells donated by convalescent patients after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Discovered by Vanderbilt University Medical Center andlicensed to AstraZeneca in June 2020, the human monoclonal antibodies bind to distinct sites on the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein7and were optimised by AstraZeneca with half-life extension and reduction of Fc effector function and complement C1q binding.8The half-life extension more than triples the durability of its action compared to conventional antibodies;9-11data from the PROVENT Phase III trial show protection lasting six months.12The reduced Fc effector function aims to minimise the risk of antibody-dependent enhancement of disease - a phenomenon in which virus-specific antibodies promote, rather than inhibit, infection and/or disease.13
Evusheld is authorised for use for pre-exposure prophylaxis (prevention) of COVID-19 in the US (emergency use), EU, Japan and many other countries. Evusheld is approved for treatment of those with risk factors for severe SARS-CoV-2 infection in Japan. Regulatory submissions are progressing for both prevention and treatment indications around the world.
Evusheldis being developed with support from the US government, including federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services; Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority in partnership with the Department of Defense; Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense, under Contract No. W911QY-21-9-0001.
Under the terms of the licensing agreement with Vanderbilt, AstraZeneca will pay single-digit royalties on future net sales.
AstraZenecaAstraZeneca (LSE/STO/Nasdaq: AZN) is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialisation of prescription medicines in Oncology, Rare Diseases, and BioPharmaceuticals, including Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism, and Respiratory & Immunology. Based in Cambridge, UK, AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries and its innovative medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide. Please visitastrazeneca.comand follow the Company on Twitter@AstraZeneca.
References
1. Montgomery H, et al. Efficacy and Safety of Intramuscular Administration of AZD7442 (Tixagevimab/Cilgavimab) for Early Outpatient Treatment of COVID-19: The TACKLE Phase 3 Randomised Controlled Trial.Lancet Respir Med. Published online June 7, 2022. doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(22)00180-1
2. US Food and Drug Administration. Fact Sheet for Healthcare Providers: Emergency Use Authorization for Evusheld(Tixagevimab Co-Packaged with Cilgavimab). Available at: https://www.fda.gov/media/154701/download [Last accessed: September 2022]
3. Jurdi A, et al. Tixagevimab/Cilgavimab Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Is Associated with Lower Breakthrough Infection Risk in Vaccinated Solid Organ Transplant Recipients during the Omicron Wave. American Journal of Transplantation. Published online June 21, 2022. doi:10.1111/AJT.17128
4. Kertes J, et al. Association between AZD7442 (Tixagevimab-Cilgavimab) Administration and SARS-CoV-2 Infection, Hospitalization and Mortality. Clinical Infectious Diseases. Published online July 29, 2022. doi:10.1093/CID/CIAC625
5. Young-Xu Y, et al. Tixagevimab/Cilgavimab for Prevention of COVID-19 during the Omicron Surge: Retrospective Analysis of National VA Electronic Data. medRxiv. Published online May 29, 2022:2022.05.28.22275716. doi:10.1101/2022.05.28.22275716
6. AstraZeneca Data on File.
7. Dong J, et al. Genetic and Structural Basis for SARS-CoV-2 Variant Neutralization by a Two-Antibody Cocktail. Nat Microbiol. 2021;6(10):1233-1244
8. Loo YM, et al. AZD7442 Demonstrates Prophylactic and Therapeutic Efficacy in Non-Human Primates and Extended Half-Life in Humans.Sci Transl Med. 2022;14(635):eabl8124
9. Robbie GJ, et al. A Novel Investigational Fc-Modified Humanized Monoclonal Antibody, Motavizumab-YTE, Has an Extended Half-Life in Healthy Adults. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 2013;57(12):6147-6153
10. Griffin MP, et al. Safety, Tolerability, and Pharmacokinetics of MEDI8897, the Respiratory Syncytial Virus Prefusion F-Targeting Monoclonal Antibody with an Extended Half-Life, in Healthy Adults. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2017;61(3)
11. Domachowske JB, et al. Safety, Tolerability and Pharmacokinetics of MEDI8897, an Extended Half-Life Single-Dose Respiratory Syncytial Virus Prefusion F-Targeting Monoclonal Antibody Administered as a Single Dose to Healthy Preterm Infants. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2018;37(9):886-892
12. Levin MJ, et al. Intramuscular AZD7442 (TixagevimabCilgavimab) for Prevention of Covid-19. N Engl J Med. 2022;386(23):2188-2200
13. van Erp, EA et al. Fc-Mediated Antibody Effector Functions During Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection and Disease. Front Immunol. 2019;10(MAR)
SOURCE: AstraZeneca
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Action Hampshire get behind Sustainable Future Fund to reduce waste in business – Hampshire Chronicle
Posted: at 7:57 am
A HAMPSHIRE wide charity is encouragingbusinesses to make an envirnomental difference bykeeping goods in use for longer.
Action Hampshire has partnered up with the Recycled Assets Company (TRACOuk) to support the companys new sustainable future fund (SFF).
The fund is designed to support independent businesses who can limit waste within business by contributing to a circular economy, which involves reusing, recycling and repairing products to keep using for as long as possible.
The Portsmouth-based environmental service chose Action Hampshire as their partner to help manage and support the fund. TRACOuk will be donating 25 per cent of its annual profit to the sustainability fund.
The funding is aimed at artisans such as furniture makers and local craftspeople who can re-use and repurpose furnishings and products and contribute to the carbon reducing economy. SSF carries the strapline of saving the earth- one piece of furniture at a time, encouraging businesses to find new homes for unwanted furniture, office equipment and other goods.
READ MORE:Increase in real living wage employers in Winchester matching the cost-of-living
Nikki Prentice-Jones, head of enterprise and head of the school for social entrepreneurs at Action Hampshire, said: Action Hampshire is delighted to be working in partnership with TRACOuk, a Portsmouth-based furniture and equipment clearance and storage company, to help reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.Jason Bentley, managing director of TRACOuk is a fellow of the School for Social Entrepreneurs, Hampshire which Action Hampshire has been running for the past 12 years.
The Sustainable Future Fund has been setup to support the circular economy movement. Keeping goods in use for longer or product life extension is one of 5 circular business models and is a vital element in preventing precious raw material from being needlessly extracted and plundered.
The Hampshire charity, which aims to support local communities, is now calling out to businesses to join the sustainable cause. Nikki continued: Applications are invited which help to solve the serious problem of waste that is partly killing the planet. It means we want any solution to be realistic and sustainable so we can start to fight back and make a difference to climate change. We believe the best way to do that is wrap your solution into a business which generates surplus resource. The greater the surplus, the greater the impact on people and planet.
We are keen to hear from enterprises who feel they meet the funding criteria. Likewise, we are also keen to hear from businesses who would like to donate to the fund to make an even bigger difference to the amount of funding available to make an even greater impact on solving the issue of waste.
The new business venture seeks to fulfil four outcomes:
Since the SSF began, grants have been awarded to a nursery school in Portsmouth to develop a community garden, upcycling waste makeup into unique, zero-waste watercolour paints in Portsmouth and an EcoSwap in Bognor Regis.
Click through the gallery at the top of the page to see what projects the fund has supported.
SEE ALSO:Hampshire hosts hailed as fewer Homes for Ukraine scheme agreements come to an end than national figures suggest
The next round of applications for the SSF will open in early 2023, awarding grants up to 5000 from a 20,000 total. To be eligible, companies must meet a series of criteria such as being Hampshire or West Sussex based, a turnover of less than 300,000 a year, has a business bank account and company website and is an ethical and sustainable business.
For more information on applying contact Kevin Sawers atKevin.Sawers@actionhampshire.org, or call 01962 857358.
For more go to recycledassets.co.uk/sff/.
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Living the dream – Farm Progress
Posted: at 7:57 am
Joshua Stamper can cite the date and location when he felt in his heart that one day, he was going to own a farm in northern Minnesota with his wife, Alison.
July 3, 2006, is the exact day I fell in love with Lake Superior, he recalls. He and Alison, avid outdoor enthusiasts, were visiting the Boundary Waters a first for Joshua. He was so moved by the greater North Shore experience that the couple started planning to one day own land up north and to operate a small livestock farm. Just over a decade later, they bought their dream farm and moved there with their sons, Jasper and Griffin.
We [looked at a map and] drew a square around the area where we wanted to buy a farm, Alison adds. We are in that square today.
Joshua had a serendipitous encounter about six years ago with a northern Minnesota farm owner, whom he met while mountain bike riding in Utah. They kept in contact. More than a year ago, the Stampers posted on social media about looking at property south of Duluth. The farmer saw that and contacted Joshua, asking if they wanted to buy his farm.
In November 2021, the Stampers bought YKer Acres, a pasture-based livestock farm established by former owners Matt and Sara Weik. YKer (pronounced Why-ker) Acres has been well-known as a producer of high-quality heritage pork and beef among restaurant owners and other customers in Duluth and the Twin Cities.
We are excited to continue to provide the best pork and beef from animals that spend their lives walking on the soil of the earth as God intended, Joshua says.
Visitors to the rolling 160-acre farm west of Wrenshall, see firsthand those back-to-basics livestock husbandry practices. The Stampers raise around 400 pigs a year, a mix of three pork heritage breeds English Large Black, Tamworth, and Hampshires with some Mangalitsa influence. Each breed is known for special characteristics. The sows farrow well in colder weather, thanks to a hairy coat from the Mangalitsa influence. The Large Black is extremely docile and has an average litter of 11 piglets. And the Tamworth genetics bring forward commendable depth of side. The Hampshires are stockier and faster-growing, with litters averaging seven piglets.
Sows farrow twice a year, in late spring and in the fall, in large pens inside a three-sided barn. They stay there for two weeks and then are moved outside with their piglets and rotated as cohort among paddocks, roughly 3 acres and smaller in size. The pigs need that sunshine, fresh air and room to root, Stamper says. They are fed a balanced ration and a steady stream of cull produce from local organic farms and food banks. Piglets are weaned in about 30 days.
In winter, larger pigs head for the barn, and smaller pigs reside outside in poly domes. Deep bedding in all housing becomes a low-grade compost pile, heating up and keeping pigs warm.
Its fun to see them inside the poly domes, where it can get 65 degrees [F] in winter, Joshua says. The pigs are eating a balanced ration, eating more and getting fatter. They are our tundra seals.
Their version of animal husbandry follows traditional practices outlined in quality assurance programs with the daily added protocol of animal observation they call cozy patrol. Joshua coined the term to describe a lesson learned from a college animal science professor who talked about observing dis-ease an animal not at ease. That stuck with him.
After meeting their basic needs with water, food and environment, we cruise the farm twice a day, looking at our animals, he says. Otherwise, we let them do them. Full-time herdsman Sam Hatch and part-time farmhand Matt Rengo help provide the animal care required on the farm.
The Stampers also raise 60 head of heritage Dexter cattle on a 120-acre pasture. Most cattle are sold as shares, but they also sell primal cuts and ground beef to butchers and restaurants.
Two separate businesses operate under the YKer name. The Stampers own and operate the farm. Brian Merkel, a butcher, buys the farms meat and sells it through the YKer Meat Co. Merkel has a strong background in whole-animal butchery, and drying and curing meat. Also at the meat company is Hans Bjorkland, a classically trained chef, who creates soups and other prepared products based on lesser-used parts of the animal. All meat sold at YKer is clean-label no preservatives are used.
Product is marketed year-round through roughly 40 wholesale accounts up the North Shore and in the Twin Cities. The Stampers rely on Frank Lundeen to handle sales and distribution. YKer also sells curated subscription boxes of pork and beef, as well as custom shares to customers through its website.
Its a staggering amount of work that is only possible with the team we have, Joshua says. Every week during warm weather and every other week during the winter, the farm crew is shipping livestock to slaughter. Still, they are looking ahead; and if they grow the business, they may add a mill to manufacture their own livestock feed.
Maybe we could partner with a farmer for non-GMO corn and soybeans, Joshua adds.
A major factor in buying the farm was for their family, Alison says. Both wanted their children to have the experience of growing up on the farm. A city gal from Tennessee, Alison prefers an active outdoor lifestyle and has hiked the Appalachian Trail. Joshua, a North Carolina native, grew up on a small livestock farm and commercial apiary and earned his bachelors degree in agriculture and his masters degree in agronomy. He has worked for a large seed company and with the University of Minnesota Extension as an irrigation specialist. Currently, he is the pesticide and fertilizer division manager with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.
Our products are definitely a specialty that you want to slow down and savor, Joshua says. I believe you can taste the difference with an animal that is not stressed and is allowed to meet physical maturity. Thats the basics of cozy patrol food, water, shelter and you want to see them moving. If they are not moving and expressing natural behaviors, they are not going to be the big, fine things that our customers know and love. We want our animals to live their best life.
For more information on the farm and its products, visit ykeracres.com.
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Teck and Agnico Eagle Announce Agreement on the San Nicols Copper-Zinc Project located in Zacatecas, Mexico – PR Newswire
Posted: at 7:57 am
VANCOUVER, BCandTORONTO, Sept. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (TSX: AEM) (NYSE: AEM) ("Agnico Eagle") and Teck Resources Limited (TSX: TECK.A) (TSX: TECK.B) (NYSE: TECK) ("Teck") announced today that Agnico Eagle has agreed to subscribe for a 50% interest in Minas de San Nicols, S.A.P.I. de C.V. ("MSN"), a wholly-owned Teck subsidiary which owns the San Nicols copper-zinc development project located in Zacatecas, Mexico (the "Transaction"). As a result of the Transaction, Teck and Agnico Eagle will become 50/50 joint venture partners at San Nicols.
"San Nicols is a high-quality project, located in a leading mining jurisdiction, with high grades, extremely competitive capital intensity, and first quartile costs," said Don Lindsay, President and CEO of Teck. "The opportunity to add the operating and development experience of Agnico Eagle should generate substantial benefits for the project including for all stakeholders throughout the project life cycle."
"This is a unique opportunity to create a long-term partnership between two high quality mining companies working together to de-risk and optimize a world class VMS deposit in a premier mining jurisdiction," added Ammar Al-Joundi, President and CEO of Agnico Eagle. "Agnico Eagle's project development, permitting and construction experience in Mexico, combined with Teck's base metals expertise, operating excellence and marketing leadership, are complementary skillsets and will contribute to the timely and successful development and operation of San Nicols."
Transaction Highlights
San Nicols Project Highlights
San Nicols Study Status
A detailed plan to complete a feasibility study, permitting, and community engagement has been developed, with initial work underway since January 2022. Further, an environmental and social baseline survey, including in-depth archaeological surveys and clearances, was carried out by Teck from 2018 to 2021. Well-developed community engagement and investment programs have resulted in strong support for development from stakeholders near the project and more broadly in Zacatecas.
The feasibility study is expected to be completed early in 2024 with project sanction thereafter subject to receipt of permits.
About the Transaction
Agnico Eagle will subscribe for US$580 million in MSN shares, through a wholly-owned Mexican subsidiary of Agnico Eagle, giving Agnico Eagle a 50% interest in MSN. The subscription proceeds received from Agnico Eagle will be used by MSN to fund the first US$580million of post-closing costs with subsequent funding to be contributed according to each partner's ownership percentage. Agnico Eagle's contributions will be made as study and development costs are incurred there is no up-front payment from Agnico Eagle. The US$580million share subscription implies a notional US$290million acquisition cost to Agnico Eagle for 50% of the San Nicols project plus the contribution by Agnico Eagle of 50% of the first US$580million of project costs for its own account.
Funding requirements beyond this initial subscription amount will be funded by Teck and Agnico Eagle in proportion to their shareholdings in MSN. The shareholders' agreement will include provisions typical in a transaction of this nature, as well as remedies for material breach that include accelerated dilution and forced sale of a defaulting shareholder's ownership interest. For governance purposes, Agnico Eagle will be deemed a 50% shareholder of MSN from closing, regardless of the number of shares that have been issued to Agnico Eagle.
Closing of the Transaction is subject to customary conditions precedent, including receipt of necessary regulatory approvals, and is expected to occur in the first half of 2023.
Additional Information on the San Nicols Project
For further details on the San Nicols project, please refer to the Supplemental Information slides in the Investors section of Teck's website (https://www.teck.com/investors/events-&-presentations/presentations-webcasts/supplemental-information-for-investors).
About Teck
As one of Canada's leading mining companies, Teck is committed to responsible mining and mineral development with major business units focused on copper, zinc, and steelmaking coal, as well as investments in energy assets. Copper, zinc, and high-quality steelmaking coal are required for the transition to a low-carbon world. Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, Teck's shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols TECK.A and TECK.B and the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TECK. Learn more about Teck atwww.teck.comor follow@TeckResources.
About Agnico Eagle
Agnico Eagle is a senior Canadian gold mining company, producing precious metals from operations in Canada, Australia, Finland, and Mexico. It has a pipeline of high-quality exploration and development projects in these countries as well as in the United States and Colombia. Agnico Eagle is a partner of choice within the mining industry, recognized globally for its leading environmental, social and governance practices. The Company was founded in 1957 and has consistently created value for its shareholders, declaring a cash dividend every year since 1983.
Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and forward-looking information as defined in the Securities Act (Ontario). Forward-looking statements and information can be identified by statements that certain actions, events or results "could", "may", "might", "should", "will" or "would" be taken, occur or achieved. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements regarding the expectation that the Transaction will close and the timing of closing; the expectation that the San Nicols project will be developed into production; the expected timing of first production; the estimated mine life; the expectation that there is meaningful mine life extension and regional exploration potential; the expected ownership interests of Teck and Agnico Eagle in the joint venture at any time; the expected production over the first five years of operation; all San Nicols project economics included in this news release, including head grades, average C1 operating costs, development capital cost estimate, payback period and IRR; the expectations as to results of the feasibility study, including development capital cost estimate, payback period and IRR; the statement that the project has been de-risked; and timing of project sanction decision.
Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Teck, Agnico Eagle or the joint venture to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause actual results to vary include, but are not limited to, changes in general economic conditions or commodity prices, unanticipated permitting, development or construction issues including delays in receiving permits or other regulatory approvals, or withdrawal or suspension of permits, unanticipated geotechnical conditions or other factors affecting construction plans and budgets including supplier, transportation, logistics or labour issues, adverse weather or natural disaster, community unrest, access issues, failure of plant and equipment, disruption of financial markets, the accuracy of our mineral estimates (including with respect to size, grade and recoverability) and the geological, operations and price assumptions on which these are based, other circumstances interfering with the closing of the Transaction, including an inability to satisfy the conditions to closing, including receipt of any regulatory approvals and failure by Teck or Agnico Eagle to fund as required by the agreements. Economic projections for the San Nicols project are presented on a 100% basis and, except as otherwise noted, assume US$3.50/lbcopper, US$1.15/lbzinc, US$1,550/oz gold, and US$20/oz silver.
Teck and Agnico Eagle caution you that the foregoing list of important factors and assumptions is not exhaustive. Other events or circumstances could cause actual results to differ materially from those estimated or implied by these forward-looking statements. Certain of these risks are described in more detail in the Annual Information Form of Teck and/or Agnico Eagle and in their respective subsequent quarterly report filings with Canadian securities administrators and the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Neither Teck nor Agnico Eagle assumes the obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements after the date of this news release or to revise them to reflect the occurrence of future unanticipated events, except as maybe required under applicable securities laws.
SOURCE Agnico Eagle Mines Limited
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Most actively traded companies on the Toronto Stock Exchange – Winnipeg Free Press
Posted: at 7:57 am
TORONTO Some of the most active companies traded Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:
Toronto Stock Exchange (19,385.88, down 174.28 points.)
Baytex Energy Corp. (TSX:BTE). Energy. Unchanged at $6.56 on 26.8 million shares.
New Gold Inc. (TSX:NGD). Mining. Up four cents, or 3.54 per cent, to $1.17 on 25.3 million shares.
GoGold Resources Inc. (TSX:GGD). Mining. Up 24 cents, or 16.90 per cent, to $1.66 on 20.9 million shares.
Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU). Energy. Down 44 cents, or 1.07 per cent, to $40.79 on 18.8 million shares.
Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX:CVE). Energy. Down 34 cents, or 1.36 per cent, to $24.58 on 18.6 million shares.
Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX:RCI.B). Telecommunications. Up 97 cents, or 1.75 per cent, to $56.47 on 18.1 million shares.
Companies in the news:
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (TSX:AEM). Up $1.01, or 1.86 per cent, to $55.33. Teck Resources Ltd. (TSX:TECK.B). Down 26 cents, or 0.61 per cent, to $42.57. Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. has signed a deal with Teck Resources Ltd. to take a 50 per cent stake in a copper-zinc project in Mexico for US$580 million. Under the agreement, Agnico Eagle will become a joint venture partner with Teck in Minas de San Nicols, S.A.P.I. de C.V., which owns the San Nicols development project in Zacatecas, Mexico. Teck chief executive Don Lindsay says the opportunity to add the operating and development experience of Agnico Eagle should generate substantial benefits for the project. The companies estimate development capital costs for the project could be in the range of US$1 billion to US$1.1 billion, based on current estimates. First production expected in 2026, with an estimated mine life of 15 years and a potential for mine life extension. It is expected to produce 63,000 tonnes per year of copper and 147,000 tonnes per year of zinc in concentrate over its first five years of production.
Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. (TSX:TRQ). Down 94 cents, or 2.29 per cent, to $40.08. Pentwater Capital Management LP says it has increased its stake in Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. to 13.77 per cent. The investment manager says it believes Rio Tintos deal to take Turquoise Hill private undervalues the company and does not support the plan. Turquoise Hill announced a deal earlier this month that would see Rio Tinto, which already owns a 51 per cent stake in the company, acquire the rest of the miner for $43 per share in cash. The Turquoise Hill board has unanimously recommended that the companys minority shareholders vote in favour of the deal. However, the agreement requires approval by a two-thirds majority vote by Turquoise Hill shareholders, including Rio Tinto, and the approval of a simple majority of the votes cast by the companys minority shareholders. Turquoise Hill owns a 66 per cent stake in the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in Mongolia. Erdenes Oyu Tolgoi LLC, a Mongolian state-owned entity, holds the remaining 34 per cent interest.
Trevali Mining Corp. (TSX:TV). TSX has suspended trading of the stock. Trevali Mining Corp. says its president and chief executive, as well as its chief operating officer, have both resigned. The Vancouver-based miner says Ricus Grimbeek, who has served as CEO since 2019, will step away from the company. It says chief operating officer Derek du Preez will also depart effective Oct. 14. Trevali also says the Supreme Court of British Columbia has approved the companys application for a sales and investment solicitation process for its wholly owned Caribou Mine in New Brunswick, as well as its 90 per cent interest in the Rosh Pinah Mine in Namibia. Trevali filed for creditor protection under the CCAA (Companies Creditor Protection Act) in August. As a result, the Toronto Stock Exchange has suspended trading of Trevalis shares. The companys common shares will be delisted at the close of the market on Oct. 3. Earlier this week, Trevali confirmed that two of its executives have been convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Burkina Faso in the wake of a flooding disaster at the companys Perkoa Mine that killed eight workers.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept.16, 2022
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Giants Urged to Give Extension to 24-Year-Old Defender – Heavy.com
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GettyJulian Love is making the jump to a starting role this season.
The New York Giants have plenty to be excited about with their 2-0 record and its largely due to their defensive performances. After two weeks of the 2022 season, the Giants have given up just 36 points, which is tied for 11th in the league.
New York has missed injured starting edge defenders Kayvon Thibodeaux and Azeez Ojulari for the first two games. Starting cornerback Aaron Robinson was out Week 2 due to undergoing an appendectomy and defensive tackle Leonard Williams left in the third quarter and didnt return Sunday with a knee injury.
Don Wink Martindales defense forced Baker Mayfield to complete 14 of 29 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown. While Christian McCaffrey did run for 102 yards, 49 of it came on one carry.
All in all, the Giants defense did their job in covering Carolinas wideouts and getting pressure on Mayfield.
With that being said, theres one under-the-radar player on the Giants defense that is finally getting his recognition.
2019 fourth-round Giants safety Julian Love was given the starting role entering the 2022 season. Before Week 1, he appeared in 48 career games (16 starts) and posted an interception in each of the past three seasons.
The Notre Dame product had a team-high eight tackles in Week 2 and even recorded a sack on Mayfield, which forced a punt with three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The Panthers never received the ball back.
On Sunday, Love played all 58 defensive snaps and 19 more on special teams.
After seeing Loves Week 2 performance, Giants insider tweeted, I think its safe to say that everybody wants Julian Love to receive a second contract in blue #Giants.
Love was named a team captain before the season, despite not being a full-time starter in the past. Its evident that teammates respect the fourth-year pro, since he received enough player votes from both the defensive side of the ball and from special teams.
Im not going to lie; it means an awful lot to me, Love said in August, via Sports Illustrated. Ive never been a captain in my entire life, and to do it for the Giants of all places at the highest level, its hard not to get emotional about it.
Of course, theres still time for New York to decide on Loves future. Hell be a free agent after the 2023 season.
But the Giants would love to have Love opposite starting safety Xavier McKinney for the foreseeable future.
It hasnt been easy for the 2019 third-round pick edge rusher Oshane Ximines, but the hard work looks like its paying off.
He had one of the teams two sacks in Week 2 and recorded a pass breakup. The outside linebacker also batted a pass down during the season-opening win vs the Titans. His 80.5 overall grade from Pro Football is also the highest on the Giants defense for the first two games.
Ximines rookie campaign had decent results with 4.5 sacks and one pass breakup. But his second season was lost due to season-ending shoulder surgery. He only played 10 games in 2021 and didnt post a sack while breaking up three passes. It didnt look encouraging when the Giants drafted Thibodeaux in the 2022 draft and added Jihad Ward in free agency.
But Ximines has stepped up to the plate with the injuries to Thibodeaux and Ojulari.
Ive said this from the beginning. Again, I dont know where he was last year. I just know where he is this year, Coach Daboll said about Ximines after the game, via Giants.com. His minds on right. Hes been a big part of our football team. Hes got energy. I think he has talent. I think Winks getting talent out of him. Hes a confident player.
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Russias MiG-31 Fighter That Fired Hypersonic Missiles On Ukraine Conducted Drills In The Stratosphere – EurAsian Times
Posted: at 7:57 am
Russias cutting-edge war machine, the MiG-31, capable of firing deadly hypersonic missiles, demonstrated its firing capabilities in the upper reaches of the atmosphere.
Russian Su-35 Fighter Demolished Ukrainian Air Defense Radar By Firing Anti-Radiation Missile, Moscow Says
Officials in the Russian Navys Baltic Fleet recently announced that Russian MiG-31 fighter jets practiced missile attacks during maneuvers in the stratosphere on September 13, Russian media Pravda reported. The Baltic fleet is headquartered at Kaliningrad.
The pilots of MiG-31 aircraft practiced flight maneuvers in the stratosphere, trained their skills to escape attacks from mock enemy aircraft and relocate to operational airfields of the region, said the statement from the Baltic Fleet.
In February, EurAsian Times reported that Russia had reportedly stationed a MiG-31K Foxhound fighter jet armed with a Kinzhal hypersonic land-attack missile in Kaliningrad along the Baltic Coast. The deployment was made days before the Russian troops launched their so-called special military operations.
Later, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced on August 18 the deployment of three MiG-31 fighters armed with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles to Chkalovsk airfield in the Kaliningrad Region as part of additional strategic deterrence measures.
According to reports, the three aircraft were moved to the Kaliningrad area for the exercises, where they simulated strikes on mock-up enemy command centers as part of training flights. The flights of the MiG-31 aircraft took place under the cover of Su-27 fighters.
It is pertinent to note that the Baltic region in Eastern Europe has seen hyper-vigilance from Moscow and the West in the aftermath of the invasion. When the Russian invasion began, the US sent its fighter jets to the Baltic for NATOs air policing missions.
MiG-31s are not frequently stationed at Russias Kaliningrad location. Some of the 50 aircraft stationed at the facility are older Su-27 and Su-24 fighters, with some newer Su-30SM and Su-35S jets on the way. According to reports, Iskander missiles are also housed in the enclave.
Besides the MiG-31 fighter jet, Russian reports indicated that the crews of the Eleron and Orlan-10 unmanned aerial vehicles of the Baltic Fleet practiced the tactics to overcome the air defense zone of a mock enemy at the Kaliningrad enclave.
While the MiG-31 drills are significant as they come during a surprising counter-offensive by Ukraine, it is not the first time this mighty warplane conducted exercises in the stratosphere. The MiG-31 had practiced in the stratosphere as early as 2017.
Further, in August 2019, the crews of upgraded MiG-31BM fighter jets held their first-ever dogfight in the stratosphere at an altitude of over 20 kilometers, as previously reported by TASS.
The two-seat MiG-31, known as the Foxhound under its NATO designation, is Russias primary fighter-interceptor aircraft. It has two D-30F6 engines, which help the aircraft have a base range of 1900 miles and a top speed of Mach 3 at high altitudes.
The MiG-31 is equipped with the SBI-16 Zaslon fixed phased array antenna radar, one of the most advanced in the world, to support its long-range and high-altitude air defense duty. The MiG-31 can engage air targets with various long and short-range missile combinations in addition to its Gsh-6-23 23mm gun.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced its plans to fund a MiG-31 Foxhound interceptor modernization and life extension program in July 2020. The MiG-31 can fly at high speeds and low altitudes, thanks to its sleek and aerodynamic body. The aircraft is built to track several targets at high altitudes simultaneously.
Despite Russias claims that it is developing the MiG-41 to replace the MiG-31, there is little evidence that the plane will be operational soon. Therefore, Russia has decided to develop several updated MiG-31 variants that will enable the Foxhound to continue service for many years. The MiG-31BM is the most notable of these.
The MiG-31BM is one of the MiG-31s most potent variants. It is a multipurpose, fast, long-range fighter with the power to destroy air and ground targets.
The MiG-31BM includes upgraded avionics, hands-on-throttle-and-stick (HOTAS) controls, liquid-crystal color multifunction displays (MFDs), a robust onboard computer system, digital data linkages, and phased array radar. It has the capability of intercepting 24 targets at once.
The MiG-31BM was initially intended to carry Kinzhal hypersonic missile, but MiG-31K was later selected as the carrier, according to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. MiG-31Ks were used to strike targets early in Russias 2022 invasion of Ukraine with Kinzhals. Only 10 to 20 MiG-31Ks have beenupgradedto fire Kinzhals.
These Russian interceptor fighters have also intercepted NATO spy planes and fighter jets and will potentially continue to be deployed for a long time. In January,China-based Sohu publication had referred to the Russian MiG-31 interceptor fighter as a mysterious killer.
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Posted: at 7:56 am
Press release content from Globe Newswire. The AP news staff was not involved in its creation.
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Washington, D.C., Sept. 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The New Civil Liberties Alliance, the Attorney General of Missouri, and the Attorney General of Louisiana, have filed a lawsuit that blows the lid off a sprawling federal censorship regime that will shock the conscience of Americans. The joint statement on discovery disputes in the lawsuit, State of Missouri ex rel. Schmitt, et al. v. Joseph R. Biden, Jr., et al., reveals scores of federal officials across at least eleven federal agencies have secretly communicated with social-media platforms to censor and suppress private speech federal officials disfavor. This unlawful enterprise has been wildly successful.
Under the First Amendment, the federal government may not police private speech nor pick winners and losers in the marketplace of ideas. But that is precisely what the government has doneand is still doingon a massive scale not previously divulged. Multiple agencies communications demonstrate that the federal government has exerted tremendous pressure on social media companiespressure to which companies have repeatedly bowed.
Discovery has unveiled an army of federal censorship bureaucrats, including officials arrayed at the White House, HHS, DHS, CISA, the CDC, NIAID, the Office of the Surgeon General, the Census Bureau, the FDA, the FBI, the State Department, the Treasury Department, and the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Communications show these federal officials are fully aware that the pressure they exert is an effective and necessary way to induce social-media platforms to increase censorship. The head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency even griped about the need to overcome social-media companies hesitation to work with the government.
These actions have precipitated an unprecedented rise in censorship and suppression of free speechincluding core political speechon social-media platforms. Many viewpoints and speakers have been unlawfully and unconstitutionally silenced or suppressed in the modern public square. This unlawful government interference violates the fundamental right of free speech for all Americans, whether or not they are on social media. More discovery is needed to uncover the full extent of this regimei.e., the identities of other White House and agency officials involved and the nature and content of their communications with social-media companies.
The government has been uncooperative and has resisted complying with the discovery order every step of the wayespecially with regard to Anthony Faucis communications. Defendants claim, for example, that White House communications are privileged, even though such privilege does not apply to external communications. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana should overrule the government defendants objections and order them to supply this highly relevant, responsive, and probative information immediately.
NCLA released the following statements:
If there was ever any doubt the federal government was behind censorship of Americans who dared to dissent from official Covid messaging, that doubt has been erased. The shocking extent of the governments involvement in silencing Americans, through coercing social-media companies, has now been revealed. These bureaucrats continue to resist efforts to expose the degree of their unconstitutional actions every step of the way. Jenin Younes, Litigation Counsel, NCLA
The incredible extent of government interference with the speech rights of Americans must be seen to be believed. Yet, even with all that this case has revealed, the government defendants are still resisting their obligation to disclose the names of all the public servants who were involved in this unlawful scheme. John J. Vecchione, Senior Litigation Counsel, NCLA
For more information visit the case page here.
ABOUT NCLA
NCLA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group founded by prominent legal scholar Philip Hamburger to protect constitutional freedoms from violations by the Administrative State. NCLAs public-interest litigation and other pro bono advocacy strive to tame the unlawful power of state and federal agencies and to foster a new civil liberties movement that will help restore Americans fundamental rights.
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Judy Pino New Civil Liberties Alliance 202-869-5218 judy.pino@ncla.legal
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‘Near-Perfect Detection:’ World Economic Forum Pushes AI Censorship of …
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The World Economic Forum (WEF), notorious for its great reset agenda, featuring the now-infamous slogan you will own nothing and be happy, has published an article pushing for artificial intelligence-powered censorship to contain the problem of online abuse.
The article, published on the WEFs website, bundles together the real problems faced by online content moderators, such as detecting and removing child sexual abuse material (CSAM), with establishment preoccupations like containing misinformation and white supremacy increasingly flexible labels that tech elites use to censor the enemies of progressivism.
Joe Biden arrives on stage to address the assembly on the second day of the World Economic Forum, on January 18, 2017 in Davos. (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)
Via the WEF:
Since the introduction of the internet, wars have been fought, recessions have come and gone and new viruses have wreaked havoc. While the internet played a vital role in how these events were perceived, other changes like the radicalization of extreme opinions, the spread of misinformation and the wide reach of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) have been enabled by it.
The article goes on to recommend the increased adoption of a technique already used by Silicon Valley leftists using feedback from content moderators (who are typically either leftist or following leftist guidelines from social media companies) to train AI censorship models.
To overcome the barriers of traditional detection methodologies, we propose a new framework: rather than relying on AI to detect at scale and humans to review edge cases, an intelligence-based approach is crucial.
By bringing human-curated, multi-language, off-platform intelligence into learning sets, AI will then be able to detect nuanced, novel online abuses at scale, before they reach mainstream platforms. Supplementing this smarter automated detection with human expertise to review edge cases and identify false positives and negatives and then feeding those findings back into training sets will allow us to create AI with human intelligence baked in. This more intelligent AI gets more sophisticated with each moderation decision, eventually allowing near-perfect detection, at scale.
Leftists in tech are increasingly fixated on owning and imprinting their biases on the field of artificial intelligence. The field of machine learning fairness, which blends critical race theory with computer science, is one such example of this. A devotee of the field, former Google employee Meredith Whittaker, is now a member of Joe Bidens FTC.
Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News.He is the author of#DELETED: Big Techs Battle to Erase the Trump Movement and Steal The Election.
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The Catholic Church has been banning books for centuries. Here’s what it can teach us about censorship today. – America Magazine
Posted: at 7:55 am
Last fall, the cartoonist Maia Kobabe had the unsettling experience of waking up to find emails waiting from The Washington Post, The Associated Press and elsewhere. Gender Queer, a coming-of-age memoir Kobabe had published years before, had suddenly become the subject of a firestorm at a school board meeting in Fairfax County, Va. A week later, Kobabe laterwrote in The Washington Post, I found out that Gender Queer had also been banned in a school district in Florida, and within a month, it had been challenged at schools in Rhode Island, New Jersey, Ohio, Washington and Texas.
Kobabe, who identifies as nonbinary and uses the pronouns e/eir/em, was stunned. Why are they mad about the book? Because I said nonbinary and trans people exist? Kobabe wondered. The book has been out for two and a half years. Why now?
In 2021, Gender Queer would prove to be the most banned, challenged and restricted book in the United States,according to the American Library Association. 2021 was a particularly bad year for censorship. The A.L.A.s Office of Intellectual Freedom tracked 729 challenges to public library, school and university material last year involving 1,597 books. Thats five times as many challenges as the year before, and almost six times as many books. It is by far the most challenges the A.L.A. has recorded over the last 20 years.
And 2022 seems likely to be even worse. In the spring, the Florida legislaturepassed a law giving parents more power in choosing what books are present in their school districts libraries.Six other states have similar laws, and five more are considering them. Recent years have also seen an upswing in harassment ofteachers andlocal community librarians.
The Catholic Church is no stranger to the attempt to control what books people are able to read. From 1559 until 1966, we literally wrote the book on condemned texts and authors, often out of the very same instinct to protect the vulnerable that parents and community members are currently expressing. And also much like today, we didnt hesitate to persecute those who opposed our way of thinking about certain literature. But in the end our practice only revealed the reasons why censorship is a terrible strategy for addressing social and moral concerns. Groups calling for censorship today would do well to consider the churchs experiences.
Censorship was already very much in the air when Pope Paul IV issued the Vaticans first Index of Prohibited Books in 1559. The printing press, which had been invented a century earlier, had become the internet of its day, enabling ideas to spread with an alacrity and reach that was previously unimaginable. Some governments, seeing the new capacity of writers to quickly foment opposition to state policies, had begun todemand licenses of publishers and to imprison or execute printers and writers over their work.
The church, too, had been intensely affected by the printing press. As the librarian Robert Sarwakpoints out: Without the printing press, for example, the 99 Theses [sic] of Martin Luther (1517) would have to have been copied out by hand. Simply put, neither Lutheranism nor Protestant Christianity in general may have ever spread without the printing press. By the time Pope Paul IV promulgated his Index, churches in some nations had already produced their own lists of forbidden books. The Inquisition was also active in many countries, prosecuting, jailing and sometimes executing anyone it found spoke or wrote heresy.
But Pope Pauls list would not only condemn individual works; it censored the entire bodies of work of an astonishing 550 authors and dozens of publishers. Even within the church, these moves were considered draconian, so much so that they were often ignored and then officially repealed at the Council of Trent, a few years after Paul died.
Pauls impulse to go too far is not an isolated incident, either for the church or secular society. Today, we see organizations not simply challenging certain books but demanding the banning of whole classes of material,such as L.G.B.T. stories, andengaging in extreme actions to achieve their goals.
Censorship is like lighting a fire. Once started, it tends to get completely out of control. There is no such thing as burning just one book.
Looking back on the history of censorship and persecution in the church, we frequently find today that the ideas and authors being suppressed or jailed werent actually challenging Catholic doctrine. Astronomer Galileo Galilei was condemned for saying the earth revolved around the sun. French Dominican theologian Yves Congar saw his 1950 book True and False Reform in the Church banned not because it took a heretical position on the divinity of Christ or the real presence, but for simply pointing out that the church as a human institution was capable of getting in the way of Gods grace and needed reform. The ecclesiastical apparatus might overshadow the action of the Spirit and of grace in peoples lives,he wrote.
Other forms of church action have functioned similarly. The witch hunts which saw tens of thousands of women persecuted and often murdered by Catholic and Protestant authorities in medieval Europe had nothing to do with the Apostles Creed and everything to do with mens anxiety about the power and sexuality of women. The systematic efforts of the church to annihilate Indigenous cultures in missionary territories were born not of legitimate doctrinal concerns but racism.
And the same problems are to be found in the books people want banned today. Six of the 10 most censored books of 2021 were written by or have as central characters people of color. Roughly half have female protagonists. Looking to prior years, the same patterns persist: The books challenged are often written by people of color, women or members of the L.G.B.T. community, or concern issues of race, gender and sexual orientation.
Those calling for Gender Queer to be banned often cite its graphic depictions of sexuality. But in its 240 pages there is nudity on just a handful of pages and sexual activity portrayed explicitly on only one. Rather than some kind of pornographic comic book, Gender Queer is a heartfelt and often funny story. Kobabes journey may not be the norm, but the book actually captures the quest to discover oneself in the universeand how best to lovethat every young person embarks on. Rather than a book to censor, its the kind of novel that parents could use with older children to help them to talk through their own nascent sense of identity.
Some people are happy to live in the place they were born, Kobabe writes on a page with a pretty drawing of mountains, forest and a beach, while others must make a journey to reach the climate where they can flourish and grow. Between the ocean and the mountains is a wild forest. That is where I want to make my home.
Things that have gotten the church all hot and bothered at one time have often turned out later to be either no big deal or fundamental to the churchs self-understanding. So Congars book, which called for an ecumenical council, inspired Pope John XXIII to convene the Second Vatican Council. Likewise, science that the church once condemned, from cosmology to the theory of evolution, is now accepted as fact.
If the churchs history with censorship has highlighted anything, it is the need for hesitation and humility in the consideration of what constitutes heresy. The stones that the builder rejected have all too often become the cornerstone.
By banning books or arresting and executing thinkers deemed heretical, the church has sometimes succeeded in suppressing those points of viewbut only for a time, and at great cost. The fact that the church condemned Galileo did not mean that the idea that the earth revolves around the sun went away; nor did the suppression of the work of theologians like Congar or the Jesuits John Courtney Murray, Teilhard de Chardin and Karl Rahner end their influence. Indeed, at Vatican II their work became foundational to the way the church understands itself.
Today book banning is even more ineffective. People can find anything they want online, and in fact the banning of a book usually only feeds its sales. So in February, as AmericasJames T. Keane noted, the Holocaust memoir Maus: A Survivors Tale returned to best-seller lists again, 36 years after its publication, once the news got around that it was being placed on banned book lists.
Truly, banning books is like kids trying to build a dam in a big river. Their work might divert the waters course a little bit, but it cant stop it.
And in the meantime, the activity of those who would ban books often undermines their credibility. The censorship and imprisonment of notable figures like Galileo remains one of the Catholic Churchs greatest disgraces. Even today, such movescontinue to be cited as evidence that the church cannot be trusted, that when challenged it always eventually dismisses rational discourse in favor of naked aggression.
In the end, those demanding the removal of certain texts from schools or libraries may succeed for a time. But the history of the church shows that they will not be able to stop those stories from reaching people in their communities. In the end, you cant stop an idea through censorship. And usually the impulse to try comes out of fear of others, rather than love for ones own.
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