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Helen Nadel is about to assume the presidency of an important world-wide body: The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
And while Helen Nadel has had a distinguished career in medicine as a pediatric radiologist and nuclear medicine physician – Winnipeg will always be near and dear to her
By BERNIE BELLAN Quite often this newspaper has published articles about former Winnipeggers who have gone on to great careers once they’ve left Winnipeg. If there’s one thing our Jewish community here has been especially proficient at doing, it’s been serving as a springboard for outstanding students to launch successful careers elsewhere.
In some ways, while we may lament that so many of our “best and brightest” have sought to further their careers by leaving Manitoba, almost all those expatriates have something in common, and that’s a deep affection for their hometown – also for the bonds that they formed growing up in Winnipeg.
A few months ago I happened to be in conversation with one of our out-of-town readers: Diane Unrode-Ackley. Diane mentioned that a good friend of hers, Helen Nadel, had recently been elected to serve as the upcoming president of a rarified body: The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.
Now, I should also explain that Helen has been an online subscriber to this paper for many years but, like many other online subscribers, I really didn’t have a clue where Helen lived – or what Helen’s background was.
I told Diane that I would definitely want to interview Helen to ask her about her career and what led up to her assuming the presidency of such an important body. But, as you might expect, Helen Nadel is one very busy woman. Try as we might to find a time that would work for both of us to conduct an in-depth interview, it wasn’t until earlier this past month that we were able to speak – face to face so to speak, via Zoom.
What follows are excerpts from that interview, but first here is Helen Nadel’s bio as given on the Stanford University School of Medicine website:
“Dr. Nadel is a dual board -certified Pediatric Radiologist and Nuclear Medicine Physician in both the USA and Canada. She holds certifications from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, The American Board of Radiology (ABR) with certificate of added qualification in Pediatric Radiology and the American Board of Nuclear Medicine (ABNM). Dr. Nadel was an Associate Professor of Radiology at University of British Columbia and had been practicing as a pediatric radiologist and pediatric nuclear medicine physician at British Columbia Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia since 1983 after medical school at University of Manitoba (1977, Winnipeg, Manitoba), internship and residency at University of Toronto (1978-1982) and Pediatric Radiology fellowship (Chief Fellow) at Hospital for Sick Children (1982-1983, Toronto, Ont.) She has been working with the entire breadth of general and hybrid nuclear medicine studies in children in a fully integrated department of Pediatric Radiology and lecturing to promote this field for her entire career. Dr. Nadel currently uses PET/MRI exclusively for PET imaging at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University (LPCH) and co-directs the clinical PET/MRI program at LPCH. Dr. Nadel has been inducted as a Fellow of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (FSNMMI). Dr. Nadel is the 2022-2023 President-Elect of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.”
And here is the interview:
JP&N: ¨Nice to meet you – finally.”
Nadel: “You too.
JP&N: “We actually met seven years ago at the Jewish Schools Reunion. You’ve had a very illustrious career – and worn many hats, but tell me something about your growing up in Winnipeg.”
Nadel: “I’m a north ender – an only child. My mother came to Winnipeg in 1921 – she was born near Kiev.
“My father came after the war. He had had a military career in the Polish Army. He was captured by the Russians in 1939 and sent to the Gulag. Then when he was repatriated he walked back over the Ural mountains to then fight in the free Polish division of the Russian army.”
JP&N: “Wow!” (Ed. note: That would have been over 2,000 kilometres! At this point I’m including a later part of the interview in which Helen elaborated upon what happened to her father.)
JP&N: “Did you say he had to walk from the Gulag?”
Nadel: “Yes, he walked. It took him two years. He lived in the Ural Mountains, he lived in Uzbekistan.”
JP&N: ¨I just wrote about a book by another doctor – Meyer Kreger. It was the memoir of his mother, Rose. She was also from Poland and survived the war after being sent to Siberia, then Uzbekistan, then Kazakhstan. The stories of how some people were able to survive when others couldn’t endure are endlessly fascinating.”
Nadel: “You know Francie Winograd, don’t you? My father was in the same DP camp as Francie’s mother (Gertrude) after the war. It was near Munich.
“When my father came to Winnipeg, he met the Grosh family – and they had a sister-in-law who was in her thirties and not married. She was introduced to my father and as they say, the rest is history.” (I had to tell Helen that Gerry Posner uses that line in every story he writes.)
“They were married in 1949 and I was born in ’52.”
“I went to Peretz School in Winnipeg and then to Jefferson and Garden City Collegiate. I graduated and did undergrad and med school in Winnipeg. After that‚ I went to a Toronto to do my specialty training in radiology. I’m a radiologist‚ and I have two specialties – actually. three specialties. I’m a radiologist‚ but I sub specialize in pediatric radiology, and I also have a secondary qualification in nuclear medicine, both of which are diagnostic tools.
“One uses what you would think of as conventional X rays and now, ultrasound. MRI is general radiology. Nuclear medicine uses a small amount of radioactive material to also look at how the body works, how it functions. The new thing about nuclear medicine – it’s not so new really, is we can also use it for therapy. So, if you’ve heard of people having thyroid disease, sometimes we give them radioactivity to treat thyroid cancer.
“And now, the big thing‚ of course‚ is we can treat prostate cancer in men; we can treat other cancers as well. But the new kid on the block is treating prostate cancer with radioactive material. We’ve had very good success. But I’m a pediatric person‚ so that’s not actually my purview at the moment.
“But part of the reason I think Diane wanted you to talk to me is I’m about to become the President of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.”
JP&N: ¨You haven’t assumed the throne yet, have you?”
Nadel: “My presidential year starts in June of this year. But I’ve been in the leadership (of the Society) for three years. I was elected in June 2021.”
JP&N: ¨You’re going to become head of a worldwide organization – right, or is it just American?”
Nadel: “It’s a worldwide organization, based in the US‚ but it is global. We are the largest organization (in the field of nuclear medicine). We have a membership that includes physicians‚ technologists‚ scientists and industry. And it has about 14,000 (members). There are some other organizations (in the field). There are regional – sort of country-based organizations. There are continental-based organizations – like the European Association of Nuclear Medicine – but we’re much bigger.”
JP&N: “You said your specialty is pediatric radiology. Is that right?”
Helen: “Yes‚ ¨I’m a pediatric radiologist.”
JP&N: “So, up to what age would you be treating patients?”
Nadel: Well‚ that’s a good question – usually to age 18. However‚ here at Stanford‚ we have a lot of children that have had diseases as infants‚ and we keep seeing them as they become adults. We still see them. So, it’s a movable barrier. But usually pediatrics is to 18.”
JP&N: ¨I assume you know Ted Lyons.”
Nadel: “I do. Ted was instrumental in bringing ultrasound to Winnipeg and to Canada and as such he came to teach us in our radiology training program at the University of Toronto.”
(At that moment Helen’s phone rang and she had to take a short call. When Helen resumed our Zoom call I noticed a male figure had wandered into the background.)
JP&N: “Who’s that wandering into the background now? Is that your husband?”
Nadel: “Yes, that’s my husband.”
JP&N: “What’s your husband’s name?”
Nadel: “Tevy Goodman. ‘Tevy, say hi to Bernie Bellan‚ the editor of the Jewish Post.’ ”
JP&N: “Are you in Palo Alto? Is that where I’m reaching you now?”
Nadel: “We’re in Palo Alto. We’re in the heart of Silicon Valley. I came to Stanford five years ago. I was recruited here. Actually‚ I was sort of retiring from my job. I had been 35 years at Children’s Hospital – at British Columbia Children’s Hospital in Vancouver – as a pediatric radiologist and the head of their pediatric nuclear medicine department, and I was going to sort of retire – slow down, at least.
“But there was a new hospital at Stanford – a new children’s hospital. I have a lot of friends in the community all over and one of them here convinced me that I should at least look at this job. And you know what it was? It was an opportunity that not many people would get. And, so, instead of retiring‚ I decided to come here – and I’m moving – going ‘uphill’ to go ‘downhill’.”
JP&N: Are most of your duties teaching or clinical? How does it break down?”
Nadel: “I am a clinical physician. I’m in charge of a new division – brand new at this hospital‚ which is called Pediatric Nuclear Medicine. I am also a full service pediatric radiologist. And so I have two hats – two big hats.
“We have some unique equipment here that not many places in the world have – and I’m kind of a leader. I don’t want to blow my own horn‚ but I’m a leader in a field called PET/MRI (Positron Emission Tomography/Magnetic Resonance Imaging).
“Winnipeg has a PET/CT scanner. There are two in Vancouver. There are two down the street from here, where I live. So‚ you know‚ it’s just a different world, it’s a different focus‚ a different way of doing things. I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve been able to use these exceptional tools for over 20 years now in my practice, both in Canada and the US. And pediatric lags behind adults in this area – just because we’re smaller. You know, there are fewer kids, but 25% of the world population is pediatric. It will increase as the Boomers get older and die off . Some Third World countries have mostly young people, so it will take a while to build up another Boomer type age group once we’re out of the picture. And disease will get younger in the medical field.”
JP&N: ¨ There are all sorts of scary news reports about cancer, saying it’s increasing – depending on who you talk to. Yesterday‚ I think I saw in Time Magazine, that 50% of people will have cancer in their lifetimes. Someone else told me‚ 70% – but she’s really into conspiracy theories. Can you give a more specific figure or is it hard to do that?”
Nadel: “I don’t have an answer to that. But there are some reports that suggest that the ages at which some people are getting certain diseases are getting younger. There was a big report this week on colon cancer – saying people are getting it younger. It’s being picked up at younger ages. I think that’s in part due to the fact that we have better techniques to pick these diseases up. We are taking more interest in preventative health‚ and that’s okay.
“One of the things that attracted me to Stanford was the physician who recruited me. His name was Sam Gambhir. He was an absolute giant in the field. Unfortunately, he died two years ago of cancer – a very horrible story. You could look him up. He was brilliant. But he basically was on track and his lab -which is still here‚ was on track to promote precision health and preventative health. And precision medicine includes wearable technology, you know.
“One of the last things he wrote about – a great article‚ was about the ‘smart toilet’ And it exists, basically. Your toilet can determine if you have disease by your feces. But nobody knows that’s the case. There’s so much going on in the world. I mean‚ this is beyond me‚ but I’m just saying that there’s a lot of stuff going on.
“So, the statistics are enabling us to pick up more diseases‚ and we’re picking it up earlier. We’re finding ways to treat it. But, have we moved the dial? I’m not sure yet. We don’t know yet. We don’t have enough information yet to determine if we’ve moved the dial in the right direction. I think we will, but I think it’s going to take a little longer to actually prove that.
JP&N: “Okay‚ I want to talk about your new position, but I also want to put a little bit of a ‘haimish’ touch to this. You said you left Winnipeg – when?. Were you in your twenties?”
Nadel: I left Winnipeg after I graduated from med school. I was 24.”
JP&N: “And you went to Toronto for postgraduate?”
Nadel: “Basically, you have to do a year of postgraduate training to get a medical license. I actually did what was called in those days a rotating internship. So I did twelve months of a bunch of everything – all different parts of medicine. I actually thought I would become a family physician and come back to Winnipeg. Then I met my husband. We actually met in Winnipeg. He’s from Vancouver‚ but we met in Winnipeg‚ and he followed me to Toronto. He didn’t want to come back to Winnipeg – put it that way.”
JP&N: “Sounds familiar.”
Nadel: “We thought we would end up in Toronto. And, after 14 years of postgraduate education – which included all my radiology training…I also did specialty training; after a year of internship; after four years of radiology residency and a one year pediatric radiology fellowship – I didn’t have a job! I needed a job. And I got offered to do much like what I’m doing here: start up a new program at a brand new hospital in Vancouver – British Columbia Children’s Hospital. I was 30 years old.
¨And my husband being from Vancouver‚ that seemed like a reasonable thing to do for what we thought would be five years. We ended up having two daughters in those first five years – and we never left.”
JP&N: “Can I ask: What did your husband do?”
Nadel: “My husband is a retired professional engineer – a civil engineer and, in an interesting twist‚ he helped build some of the nuclear generating stations in Ontario. He worked in construction development and then in power group development. He worked for Ontario Hydro for all the years that we were in Ontario. And then he basically retired.”
“He took care of me and the kids and it just worked out that way. Coming back to Vancouver turned out to be a good thing and a bad thing when we came back. We came for my job because I did not have another job, and it looked like he would get a similar job in civil engineering, but that had dried up in the 80s (when nuclear plants stopped being built).
“And, our first child was premature But, you know what? The decision to have one parent at home was the right decision. And so it was him. I was young; he was a great father. He is a great father. So he was a forerunner then. And he was not Mr. Mom. He was everything. He is everything still. I couldn’t have done anything I did – and still do if I didn’t have that kind of support.”
JP&N: “So, as far as your Winnipeg roots go‚ I know that you’re friends with Diane Unrode-Ackley. Do you still have many friends from that time?”
Nadel: “Well Diane is like a sister me. I really had a close circle of three. Mindy (Unrode, Diane’s younger sister, who sadly died in 1986) was my best friend. We met when we were seven or eight years old. We were friends forever. She moved to Toronto as well after she got divorced.
“My second close friend was Cheryl Schwartz, who’s now (Dr.) Cheryl Minuk – also in Toronto.
JP&N: “She’s a subscriber, too. I talk to her occasionally.”
Nadel: And my other close friend was (Madame Justice) Robyn (Moglove) Diamond (who also passed away – in 2018). The four of us (Helen, Mindy, Cheryl, and Robyn) were best friends.
JP&N: “What street did you grow up on?”
Nadel: “I grew up on Scotia Street‚ between Smithfield and McAdam. My cousins are the Grosh family. I should mention that my family were also long time shul goers at Rosh Pina.”
JP&N: I just heard from Joel (Grosh). His mother (Tesse) just passed and we had her obituary in the paper. This is really a little Jewish geography we’re doing.”
Nadel: “Totally. So, Tesse’s husband, Abe, and I were first cousins. Our mothers were sisters‚ but I’m almost the same age as Joel; he’s one year older than me. So, even though I’m one generation older than him we grew up together. We grew up in a compound almost. Joel’s family lived next door to us until they built their really nice house on Smithfield. His grandparents lived next door to him – half a block away
“What happened is two brothers – named Grosh, married two sisters my aunts – whose name was Chmelnitsky – and they lived across the street from each other. In a real twist of fate, someone else you know, Osher (Archie) Kraut, is also my cousin.
“They’re cousins on my father’s side – which is how my father came to Winnipeg after the war. Archie’s parents actually brought him to Winnipeg. He was only planning to pass through Winnipeg on his way to Israel. He’d been in a DP camp for four years. He had had typhus; he wasn’t that well. And then he came to Winnipeg. He wasn’t even 40.”
JP&N: “By the way, we’re only a year apart in age. Well, let’s turn to the position you’re about to assume. What will be your actual title?”
Nadel: “I’ll be President of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. When you’re first elected‚ you are vice-president elect‚ then you become president elect‚ then you become president, and then you become past president. What happens is you’re part of the leadership, basically. So, as president elect you travel together with the president. You deal with all of the sort of day to day problems that such an organization might have. We deal with the US federal government, for the most part. We deal with international governments related to the supply of radiopharmaceuticals that we use in our medical careers. And we also have international organizations. We deal with the International Atomic Energy Agency, which I’ve been involved with for 20 years as well, on a consultancy basis.
“How did I get to where I am in this organization? Well‚ as a pediatric radiologist and nuclear medicine physician‚ I was always interested in promoting the interests of children. They’re different than adults. There’s a saying that children are not small adults, and that’s true. And so, in some things, kids do get left behind. They don’t get some of the drugs. They don’t get some of the treatments that are available, some of the diagnostic things that you could do, some things you don’t want to do, etc.
“But it’s important to promote pediatrics. I’ve been a strong proponent of educating people about my field, my particular area of interest. I met people along the way who were interested in how I do things. I was interested in the organization that I belong to. I’m promoting the fact that there are new techniques that we can utilize. I’ve just been vocal. I teach, I give a lot of lectures, I’m not shy. Well‚ I guess you could say I’m an ‘introverted extrovert.’
“I got known in my field as a speaker, somebody who was interesting. I worked as a solo practitioner in my area – in Vancouver, even here (at Stanford). It’s usually never more than one person that does pediatric nuclear medicine in any hospital department.
“I suppose the reason I got to where I got was I volunteered to get involved in different parts of the organization, but I wasn’t aspiring to do this (become president of the nuclear medicine association). But again, much like coming to Stanford, somebody asked if I would consider doing it. My reaction was, given that I was new at Stanford and that I’m trying to grow a brand new program, (the administrators at Stanford) would say, ‘Are you crazy? We’re not giving you that time.’
“But, instead, they were delighted. But when you say you’re willing to put your name forward for election, you actually have to run an election. I ran an election. I sent out 10,000 emails.”
JP&N: “Were there other candidates running?”
Nadel: “There was another candidate that ran, but I won the election in June 2021. I’m going to be the seventy-first president of this organization. I’ll also be the fifth woman, the fifth pediatric person, and the third Canadian.”
JP&N: “Are you an American citizen now, too (in addition to being a Canadian citizen?”
Nadel: “No, no, I am a Canadian citizen. I do have a green card. My husband and I both have green cards, but we’ll always be Canadian.”
JP&N: “Okay, Helen, this has been terrific. It was very nice meeting you – finally. This was a long time in coming. It was hard to pin you down, but I’m glad we did this.
Nadel: “Okay, I hate talking about myself, but thanks for this. It was great.”
Following our interview I asked Helen to provide some information about her two daughters. Here’s what she wrote:
“My husband and I have two daughters. Frani is a cantor, having graduated from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in NYC as a cantor in the Conservative movement. She is currently completing a fellowship in Vancouver to be a chaplain. She has Master Degrees in Sacred Music and Jewish Education and also teaches in the Jewish education system in Vancouver.
“Daniella has a Masters Degree in Early Childhood Special Education from Hunter College in NYC. She is currently teaching kindergarten in a charter school in Brooklyn, also completing a second Masters degree in Speech Therapy.”
Mahler the Jew: A futuristic fantasy (Part II)
David Topper
Features
Winnipegger behind restoration of historic Jewish cemetery in Portugal
By MYRON LOVE The Butterfly Effect is roughly the idea that, metaphorically, great trees grow from small seeds or, to be more specific, the theory that tornadoes in North America may be triggered by a butterfly in Africa – or a seagull in the Atlantic – flapping its wings multiple times.
This story is an example of the Butterfly Effect in human terms. Roughly 40 years ago, a Winnipegger by the name of Bonnie Neil – she was known as Bonnie Griffith back then – happened to be visiting Portugal – in her role as program director of the old Hargrave YMHA’s Stay Young seniors group – and came across an abandoned Jewish cemetery in the south of the country. She mentioned the sorry state of the cemetery to a member of the small Jewish community in Lisbon. Now, that cemetery is a Jewish heritage site.
A social worker by training, she was hired by the Y in 1975 to work with teens. After a short time, she switched her focus to developing programming for older Jewish adults. “I founded the Stay Young Club,” recalls Neil (who isn’t Jewish). “When I started at the Y, there were no programs for older adults. I first proposed to Les Marks (who was then the Y’s executive director) the idea of programming for older adults and he gave me carte blanche to create programming.”
With funding from the Jewish Foundation and the Federal Government’s New Horizons program, Neil set to work. She began with a weekly gym and swim program, then added a weekly lunch, a Yiddish group, a choir and a light exercise group. Within a couple of years, the Stay Young Club was offering activities for older adults every week day.
The ambitious Neil then began going further afield. She began organizing short trips for Stay Young members, starting with Calgary and Edmonton, subsequently to Florida and Palm Springs. Looking even further afield, she took her charges to Israel three times –with assistance the first time from the well known Noach Witman (who operated Witman Travel in addition to hosting the Jewish Radio Hour). Subsequent Israeli trips were organized through Beth Shore at Flair Travel.
Les was always asking me where we were going to go next,” she remembers. “I had come across a little book listing places of Jewish interest. I noticed that Portugal wasn’t listed. We had been flying with CP Air -which flew to Portugal. I decided to go to Portugal to see for myself what might be of interest to Jewish travellers.
“As I knew nothing about the country, I asked a Jewish woman I met what there was in Portugal that might be of interest to Jewish travellers? She suggested I visit the southern city of Faro where there was a Jewish cemetery.”
Now some background: It is common knowledge (I think) that all Jews (except those who were willing to convert to Christianity) were expelled from Portugal in 1496 – four years after Jews were expelled from Spain. I hadn’t given much thought to what Jewish life in Portugal was like following the expulsion. According to information that Neil gave me, Portugal began allowing some Jews back into the country in the early 1800s. During World War II, the country became a haven for Jews fleeing Nazi persecution. Thousands of Jewish refugees found safety in Portugal. After the war, most left for other destinations. The Jewish population currently is about 900 – with two-thirds living in Lisbon, the capital.
(Ed. note: Portugal has become a prime destination for Israelis seeking to obtain citizenship in a different country, although without actually leaving Israel. According to the Times of Israel, over 60,000 Israelis have been granted Portugese citizenship, although only 569 had actually moved there as of September 2023. According to the TOI article, ‘The surge of Israeli applicants began after Portugal passed its “law of return” in 2015, allowing the descendants of Portuguese Sephardic Jews who were affected by the 16th-century Inquisition to apply for nationality. The Portuguese government has announced plans to end this policy in December 2023, saying its purpose of reparation will be ‘fulfilled.’ “
It sounds quite similar to the vast number of Lebanese who hold Canadian citizenship – between 40-75,000. It seems that Portugal and Canada offer attractive alternative destinations for Israelis on the one hand, and Lebanese on the other. If either group thought their lives were truly in peril, then they would have a safe place to where they could run, but in the meantime both Israelis and Lebanese seem content to stay where they are.)
In the 15th century, Faro had been a centre of Hebrew printing. The Jewish community began to be reconstituted in the 19th century. The cemetery was opened in 1820. In the 1860s, Jews from Morocco settled in the community – with some Russian and Polish Jews coming before World War I.
So Neil traveled to Portugal on an exploratory visit and asked her guide to show her the cemetery. She was horrified by what she saw.
“The last Jewish resident of Faro had died a year before,” she recalls. “When I arrived, the gates were locked. I could see that there was garbage and weeds everywhere. I also learned that the city was planning to tear down the cemetery to expand a sports field nearby. I let it be known that I was planning to bring a group of Jewish tourists and I got a promise that the cemetery would be cleaned up.”
During a stopover in Lisbon, she mentioned the cemetery’s deplorable condition. Then she went home. As it happened, the tour was cancelled due to a lack of registrants.
She says that she never gave Portugal another thought.
In 1985 she left the Y for government employment. “While I loved working at the Y,” she says, “I was a single mother by then with two children – and the government was offering a salary that was twice what the Y was paying.”
Recently, Neil learned what happened to the cemetery. It seems that shortly after she alerted the Jewish community in Lisbon, a community member by the name of Ike Bitton founded the Faro Cemetery Restoration Fund. The result of the fundraising effort resulted not only in the cemetery’s restoration, but also the opening a small Jewish museum containing a display of furniture from Faro’s synagogues.
Neil left government in 1992 to go into private practice in the social work field. She notes that she did some programming with seniors at the Simkin Centre. She retired in 2014. She still supports some Jewish institutions such as the Winnipeg Jewish Theatre.
Features
Famous Gambling Scandals and Controversies: Allyspin Casino Opinion
The gambling industry is full of scandals and controversies. There are various cases of fraud and manipulation schemes. That is why it is very important to pay attention to reliable gambling sites like Allyspin online casino, which follows the rules of responsible and safe gambling for its fans. Research shows that more than one trillion dollars are bet worldwide every year. That is why it is very important to be able to distinguish safe and reliable sites from fraudulent ones.
Casino Fraud and Money Laundering
Honest and secure gambling websites like Allyspin casino are careful not to fall victim to scammers. However, many sites are often targets for money laundering and fraud. Due to the large volume of transactions and cash flow, it is difficult to track all the directions of the flow of funds.
Among the largest scandals, the Crown Resorts in Australia stands out. An investigation showed that the casino was used to launder millions. Macau casino networks have also been involved in high-profile scandals. Thus, the region has faced close attention due to allegations of organized crime and laundering billions of dollars through betting. In addition, there are many money laundering cases in Las Vegas casinos.
There are many different methods of money laundering in online casinos. For example, fraudsters use chip dumping, cashing out winnings. Also, structuring is used by entering small amounts that are difficult to track over time.
Gambling Industry Reforms after Scandals
Sites like Allyspin casino do everything possible to prevent such scandals. Thus, the latest security measures and solutions are actively implemented:
Advanced fraud detection based on artificial intelligence. With the help of modern algorithms, monitoring of suspicious behavior when placing bets is simplified.
Strict identity verification protocols. Users need to confirm their identity before being able to withdraw funds.
Secure data using blockchain. Modern online casinos use cryptocurrency payments and blockchain in order to reduce the risks of unauthorized access to transactions.
Responsible gaming programs are also actively implemented. Online casinos offer the option of self-exclusion, as well as provide full support to players. All this allows you to minimize possible risks in the process of gambling and ensure the transparency of payment transactions.
The Future of Casino Security and Fraud Prevention
Large sites like Allyspin casino continue to expand, introducing enhanced security and fraud prevention tools. In the near future, such unique features will be available:
Fraud detection systems based on artificial intelligence and machine learning. Automation of processes helps to detect any fraudulent facts much faster compared to traditional methods.
Blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency payments help not only simplify payments for users, but also reduce the risks of unauthorized transactions.
Biometric and multi-factor authentication. Thus, users undergo unambiguous identification, which reduces the risk of account use by fraudsters.
Cybersecurity plays an important role in online casino gambling. Modern sites implement the latest mechanisms to combat fraud, ensure fair gaming process and fully protect honest players.
Features
Canada Is Failing Its Students on Holocaust Education — Here’s What Must Change
By EMILY (surname withheld by request) We received the following article from a third-year Health Sciences student at Western University, who wrote that as “a Jewish student, I have seen firsthand how Holocaust education in Canada is falling short and how that failure is contributing to fear, misinformation, and rising antisemitism on campuses like mine.”
Despite curriculum requirements, Holocaust education in Canada is alarmingly inadequate. A recent survey found that nearly one in five young Canadians believe the Holocaust has been exaggerated. This highlights a dangerous gap in historical understanding, leaving students vulnerable to misinformation, denial, and rising antisemitism. If Canada is serious about combating hate, it must take Holocaust education far more seriously.
When asked whether Holocaust education in Canada is lacking, Professor Hernan Tessler-Mabe, historian and coordinator of Jewish Studies at Huron University, did not hesitate: “You are 100 percent correct.”
While most provinces claim to include Holocaust education in their curricula, the programming and implementation of curriculum tends to be inconsistent and inadequate. A student’s understanding of one of history’s greatest atrocities depends heavily on where they go to school, which teacher they have, and whether their school offers substantive instruction. The result is misinformation, denial, and rising antisemitism.
Avoiding Holocaust education allows dangerous myths and conspiracy theories to spread unchecked. Without an understanding of the Holocaust and the centuries of antisemitism that preceded it, students are ill-equipped to identify modern antisemitism in the world around them. This antisemitism manifests into everyday conversation, online spaces, and political discourse.
To address this crisis, Canada must act with urgency in three key areas. These include consulting experts, confronting difficult material, and properly training educators.
First, schools and provincial governments must consult those who specialize in Holocaust history and education. “It is the most important thing,” Dr. Tesler-Mabé, Associate Professor and Coordinator of Jewish Studies at Huron University says. He points out, “You cannot just throw it into a general history class and assume it will be taught well. You need people who understand both the history and how to teach it.”
Second, we must accept that the subject is deeply disturbing and cannot be made comfortable. Dr. Tesler-Mabé iterates, “We have to accept that parts of this will be traumatic or triggering.” “Obviously it depends on grade level, but if students do not feel disturbed by it, they will not understand it. That discomfort is part of the learning.”
Third, teachers must be prepared. Many educators may feel unequipped to teach this material and either gloss over it or skip it altogether. Training programs and partnerships are essential. In Ottawa, the Centre for Holocaust Education and Scholarship (CHES) works to connect schools with survivor testimonies and support resources, but broader reach and investment are needed.
Dr. Tesler-Mabé explains, “We have to teach the teachers, especially now that we are losing survivors. That raises a whole new concern. How do you teach something this heavy, this complex, without first hand testimony? Educators need the tools, the background, and the sensitivity to do it well.”
Some may argue that Canada already does enough in this area. After all, Holocaust education is present in some curricula, and many students visit Holocaust museums or hear from survivors. But occasional exposure is not enough. The widespread prevalence of Holocaust denial and the proliferation of antisemitic conspiracy theories underscore significant shortcomings in current systems designed to combat such misinformation. A 2022 report by UNESCO and the United Nations, in collaboration with the World Jewish Congress, found that 16.2% of Holocaust-related content on major social media platforms either denied or distorted fundamental facts about the Holocaust. A standardized, rigorous, and mandatory approach is the only way forward.
Holocaust education is not just about history, it is about safeguarding the future and combating antisemitism in modern manifestations. When students understand how propaganda, scapegoating, and dehumanization led to one of history’s darkest chapters, they are better equipped to recognize and reject hatred in all its forms. Without a solid foundation in Holocaust education, antisemitism continues to fester, not just in online spaces, but within universities, workplaces, and public discourse. We are already seeing the consequences of unchecked Holocaust denial and rising antisemitism, from bias in professional spaces to hostility on university campuses. As a Jewish student at Western University, I have seen fear take hold among my peers. Friends who once wore Stars of David or spoke openly about their heritage now hesitate to do so. I have also begun to question whether it is safe to express my identity. With the last generation of Holocaust survivors passing, the responsibility to preserve their stories and the lessons they teach rests with all of us. If we do not confront this crisis at its root, we risk allowing history to repeat itself in new and dangerous ways.
Canada is failing its students. In doing so, it is failing the promise of Never Again. The question is not whether we should strengthen Holocaust education, but why we have not already.