tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60970195156427249922024-03-29T05:55:40.089-07:00LIVING BEYOND THE WORLD'S IMAGINATIONUnfolding Future Events.Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.comBlogger27709125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097019515642724992.post-85818317794975238052024-03-29T05:49:00.000-07:002024-03-29T05:49:32.482-07:00Venezuela’s electoral dispute triggers regional crisis<p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><span style="color: red; font-family: PT serif, Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"><b><i>Andrea Lobo</i></b></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) controlled by President Nicolas Maduro blocked on Monday the registration of Corina Yoris as presidential candidate for the US-backed opposition in the elections programmed for July 28. </p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/f7199a3e-8d18-4106-959c-6d97867a4470?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">Nicolas Maduro and Jorge Rodriguez, president of the National Assembly and chief negotiator , announce the recent agreements with the US-backed opposition and the Biden administration, October 20 <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[Photo: @NicolasMaduro]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Yoris, an 80-year-old philosophy professor, was appointed at the last minute as the namesake representative for Maria Corina Machado, who was selected as candidate by the opposition Unitary Platform but remains disqualified by the courts. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">On Tuesday, the CNE handed down an extension and allowed the coalition to register the former ambassador Edmundo González Urrutia as candidate. The Unitary Platform accepted this as a provisional decision “until we succeed in registering our unitary candidature.” Machado said she will continue campaigning for Yoris to be placed on the ticket, given a rule that the candidate can be changed up to 10 days before the vote, that is, July 18. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Machado and her party Vente Venezuela represent the most radical and fascistic wing of the coalition. She has been one of the staunchest promoters of US-backed coup operations against Maduro, including socially devastating sanctions, appeals for a military coup, and even calls for a foreign military intervention. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Along with figures like Giorgia Meloni, Javier Milei, and Eduardo Bolsonaro, she is a signatory of the “Madrid Forum” charter launched by the fascistic Spanish party VOX, and Machado advocates privatizing the state oil company PDVSA and other enterprises. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The fact that such a figure is organizing increasingly large rallies, including in deeply impoverished areas, and that polls show she would defeat Maduro does not reflect mass support for her right-wing politics, but rather popular willingness to accept anybody with a chance of defeating Maduro and changing the current unbearable social and economic conditions. The election of fascistic Javier Milei against Peronism represented similar trends in Argentina. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The actions of the Maduro government lack all progressive content, however. It has been using the CNE merely as an instrument in the negotiations with US imperialism. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">To divide the Unitary Platform, the CNE approved the candidacy of Manuel Rosales, governor of Zulia, and Enrique Márquez, a former electoral chief. It also approved the candidates for the traditional ruling parties before Hugo Chávez, the Social Democratic Action (AD) and Social Christian COPEI parties. Several other candidates of parties aligned with the Socialist United Party (PSUV) of Maduro were allowed to run. But as matters stand, it is widely expected that Maduro will win his third election. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The last-minute decision to let the Unitary Platform register a candidate serves to buy time. The Biden administration has declared that, unless the Unitary Platform is allowed to present its chosen candidate, it will allow the US license to let Venezuela sell oil and gas expire on April 18. This would mean a reimposition of the full sanctions regime. For his part, Maduro hopes for a renewal before the time runs out for Yoris to be on the ticket or, for that matter, Machado.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The Maduro administration has also repressed any opposition from the left, with the CNE blocking the candidacy of Manuel Isidro Molina for the Communist Party and the Popular Alternative Movement (MPA) electoral coalition it leads. The Stalinist PCV leadership broke with Maduro in 2020, at a time when the government’s rapprochement with Washington and the AD, COPEI and other opposition parties, was imperiling its own position and privileges within the government. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">At the same time, the government’s shameful appeals to Washington and its special economic zones, massive corporate tax benefits, privatizations, attacks on wage levels and social cuts, all while its partners in the Boli-bourgeoisie continue to get wealthy through corrupt contracts, have made it all but impossible to provide a “left” cover to the PSUV.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">While the brutal economic sanctions imposed under US imperialism are chiefly responsible for the massive impoverishment of Venezuelan workers, Maduro’s chief service to imperialism has been to impose a “shock therapy” that Argentine Milei could only dream of while suppressing the class struggle with the aid of the PCV and pseudo-left apologists. </p><aside data-content-name="33% of article" data-content-piece="/en/articles/2024/03/29/umtk-m29.html" data-track-content="true" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px;"></aside><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">After a limited “recovery” in 2022, the poverty rate estimated by the Andrés Bello Catholic University has again “stagnated.” Last year, 82.8 percent of households were poor or could not afford the basic basket of goods and services, while more than half face extreme poverty, meaning they can’t afford staple foods. Since 2014, moreover, over 7 million Venezuelans have left the country.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Now the PSUV is seeking to remain in power for the Boli-bourgeoisie to reap the rewards from the super-exploitation of Venezuelan workers.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The Joe Biden administration has had a somewhat muted response to the electoral crisis, hoping to solidify access to Venezuelan oil to offset the effects of its war on Russia in Ukraine, and a potential broader war in the Middle East, as well as other geo-strategic considerations. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The clandestine visit, by former British prime minister Boris Johnson to Venezuela to persuade Maduro not to deepen its relations with Russia, was undoubtedly carried out with approval from the British and US governments. UK-based Shell and British Petroleum, moreover, are negotiating the development of gas fields with Caracas. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><span style="font-weight: bolder;">Milei gives refuge to Venezuelan far-right</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Acting at the behest of US imperialism, the governments of Uruguay, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay and Peru issued a statement to protest the decision to block the Platform chosen candidates. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The governments of Presidents Lula da Silva of Brazil and Gustavo Petro of Colombia, usually friendly toward Maduro, joined in to demand Caracas to allow the candidacy of Corina Yoris. In response, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said Colombia was acting “by the need to please the wishes of the US Department of State.” </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Significantly, in December, Lula <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/12/29/mvhm-d29.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;">worked closely</a> with Washington to confront Maduro’s threats to invade and take disputed territories of Guyana, a former British colony located between Venezuela and Brazil. Then, the fascistic President Javier Milei allowed six associates of Machado facing arrest warrants to take refuge in the Argentine embassy in Caracas on Tuesday.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Last week, the Venezuelan intelligence agency SEBIN arrested the chairwoman and vice-chair of Machado’s party Vente Venezuela and issued arrest warrants against seven of her associates, including several who had been mentioned as possible replacements for Machado. This follows the arrest of six regional campaign managers for the opposition and dozens of others, including military personnel. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Government prosecutors claim that these figures have been involved in various plots to de-stabilize the government, carry out a coup, and assassinate the president. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Maduro said that two armed individuals who allegedly confessed belonging to Vente Venezuela, which he described as a “far-right fascist party,” were arrested on Monday a few feet away from where he was speaking on a stage in Caracas. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The Argentine presidency has denounced the cutting of the water supply and electricity from its embassy in Caracas and warned against “any deliberate action that endangers the safety of Argentine diplomatic personnel and Venezuelan citizens under their protection.” </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The Milei government then announced that it was sending two gendarmes (military police) to the embassy and ambassador’s residence in Caracas. Also, during an interview with CNN on Tuesday, Milei said that Venezuela had been reduced to “carnage,” while Israel had not committed any “excess” in Gaza.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">He then went on a rampage against regional presidents. Regarding Colombian President Petro, Milei said “not much can be expected from someone who was a murderer, a terrorist, a communist,” referring to his past in the M-19 guerrillas during the 1980s. Finally, the Argentine president said about his Mexican counterpart, “That an ignoramus like López Obrador speaks ill of me is an honor to me.” </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">These actions follow the visit by CIA director William Burns to Buenos Aires on March 20, confirming that the Argentine regime is becoming a hub for anti-democratic conspiracies at the behest of US imperialism, just like in the 1970s.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">After the interview, Petro withdrew his ambassador in Buenos Aires and expelled all Argentine diplomats from Colombia. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The near rupture of diplomatic relations between the second and third largest countries in South America, however, cannot be explained by mere verbal insults.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The diplomatic flare-up in Latin America can only be understood as a birthing pain in the eruption of a world war. It reflects the maneuvers of factions of the ruling class between and within countries in response to the breakup of the post-WWII order and the drive by the US-NATO axis to recolonize and redivide the world, which currently takes the form of economic and military conflict with Russia, Iran and China. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Like all forms of bourgeois third-world regionalism—Pan-Arabism, Pan-Africanism, etc.—the pretensions of “Bolivarianism” to achieve Latin American unity on a capitalist basis as a counterweight to imperialism have reached their final dead-end. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Moreover, while some like Maduro cover their underlying class interests in “pro-worker” demagogy, all factions are competing for a larger piece of the pie from the exploitation of the working class, while their pseudo-left apologists sweep the floor for the crumbs.</p>Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097019515642724992.post-35565863617007339902024-03-29T05:42:00.000-07:002024-03-29T05:42:52.611-07:00California fast food restaurants conduct mass layoffs in retaliation against state minimum wage increase<div><span style="color: red; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><i>Dan Conway</i></b></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/6d05f4ed-ea91-4615-aef3-84171c5cf3fb?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /><span id="alttext-container"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><img align="left" height="16" id="alttext-image" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px;" width="16" /><span id="alttext"></span></span></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">A Pizza Hut restaurant is seen in Los Angeles. <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[AP Photo/Associated Press/Reed Saxon]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Multiple California fast food restaurants have begun mass layoffs and other cost-cutting measures in advance of the April 1 enactment of a new state minimum wage law. Wages would increase for fast food workers from the current poverty-level $16 per hour to an only slightly less onerous $20 per hour.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In December, two large Pizza Hut franchise operators announced that they would be laying off all in-house delivery drivers in favor of paid delivery services, such as Doordash and Uber Eats. Excalibur Pizza, which owns the Round Table Pizza chain, also announced that it would eliminate 73 driver positions by mid-April as well.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Approximately 1,100 Pizza Hut delivery drivers are set to lose their jobs across the state. This is despite the fact that Yum Brands, owner of Pizza Hut, had gross profits of $5.302 billion for 2023, a 4.02 percent increase over the previous year.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Other chains, including Mexican-themed chicken restaurant El Pollo Loco and hamburger restaurant Jack in the Box, announced that they would begin utilizing robotics to automate some operations, including salsa making and fry stations. Hiring freezes have also been announced in nearly every other fast food chain.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">McDonald’s and Chipotle Mexican Grill also announced in November they would be increasing prices to offset the minimum wage increase. The McDonald’s announcement follows nationwide price increases of 10 percent in 2023 at the fast food behemoth. Since 2019, prices at fast food restaurants overall have increased an average of 30 percent.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The new law, California Assembly Bill 1228, establishes the new minimum wage for all those restaurants classified as “limited service,” meaning that limited or no table service, i.e., wait staff, is offered and that all food and beverage items are purchased before being consumed. Furthermore, only those chains with more than 60 locations nationwide are subject to the new provisions.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The new legislation also creates a nine-member “Fast Food Council” with the authority to annually increase wages by the lower of the Consumer Price Index or 3.5 percent, guaranteeing that under current inflationary trends workers continue to receive cuts in real pay each year.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">More than 500,000 California workers are employed in the fast food industry, while more than 70 percent of Californians consume fast food at least once per week, largely due to time and budgetary constraints faced by broad sections of the working class.</p><aside data-content-name="33% of article" data-content-piece="/en/articles/2024/03/29/amit-m29.html" data-track-content="true" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px;"></aside><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">With fast food workers working between 16 and 34 hours each week, a $4 an hour minimum wage increase will result in these workers seeing increases in weekly pay between $64 to $136 per worker before taxes.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Many of these workers live in extreme poverty and often rely heavily on private and public support programs to survive. A $20 per hour wage will still leave most fast food workers highly impoverished.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Ironically, it will disqualify many of these workers from state assistance, such as the CalFresh food assistance program, which has an abysmally low income threshold of $18,954 for a one-person household and $25,636 for a two-person household.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">This is considered a major drain to the state’s finances with the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office recently announcing a projected budget deficit of $58 billion. Major spending cuts to social programs such as education and food assistance are either being considered or already being implemented.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The minimum wage bill’s passage was supported by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which also last month announced the creation of a new California Fast Food Workers Union.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Joseph Bryant, international executive president of SEIU, proclaimed while announcing the union last month, “The idea of it [the union] is to really build the voices by bringing hundreds and eventually thousands of workers together to be able to make demands, to be able to ensure they are getting treated with the respect and dignity they deserve.” Workers are to pay $20 a month for membership in the new union.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Unlike traditional unions, the Fast Food Workers Union has no collective bargaining rights with the restaurant employers. Instead, the SEIU has promised that the workers will be “represented” by the Fast Food Labor Council, whose 11 members consist of representatives from both the union and the fast food industry and all of whom will be appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom and the state legislature.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The council is an advisory body only, and its recommendations for restaurant standards will be sent to state labor agencies for consideration. It does not have the ability to impose new benefits for employees, such as additional paid time off or fair scheduling policies. Once the council’s recommendations are sent to the agencies, they can either ignore or revise the recommendations however they see fit.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Proponents of the new council, including the trade unions and the pseudo-left, cynically argue that the councils increase the negotiating power of workers through the use of so-called sector bargaining wherein conditions for entire industries are set rather than local agreements made in piecemeal fashion. California SEIU President David Huerta hailed the new fast food council as putting “power in the hands of workers to improve conditions across the entire industry.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In reality, this is a corporatist body, drawing together the union bureaucracy, major corporations and the government to jointly suppress wages. It is strikingly similar to the infamous wage board set up by the Nixon administration in the early 1970s, with the exception that that body aimed to limit wage increases to 5 percent a year, not 3.5 percent.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The trade unions were eventually forced to quit the wage board following massive opposition in the working class, and the ultra-conservative AFL-CIO President George Meany denounced it as the “first step towards fascism” in the United States.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">However, by the 1980s, the trade unions began adopting corporatism as their official policy as they moved sharply to the right and began working with the employers to limit wages and enforce mass layoffs.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">It is a striking sign of how far to the right the so-called “left” factions of the Democratic Party are that the Fast Food Council has been promoted by fake progressive Democrats, such as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">“It is likely we’ll see a continued push for more sectoral labor standards,” said UC Berkeley Labor Center Co-chairperson Ken Jacobs in reference to the new Fast Food Council. Jacobs noted that traditional collective bargaining is likely to become less prevalent statewide in favor of “the user of labor standards boards in certain industries, where the structure of the industry makes traditional collective bargaining more difficult.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In fact, the new Fast Food Council is simply a reintroduction of California’s Industrial Welfare Commission. Dormant for more than 20 years, the commission was an industry-led group working in collusion with union representatives and Sacramento politicians to set wages and work standards.</p></div>Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097019515642724992.post-8180796821738797642024-03-28T12:23:00.000-07:002024-03-28T12:23:57.688-07:00New Zealand sinks into recession amid escalating assault on jobs, social conditions<p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><span style="color: red; font-family: PT serif, Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"><b><i>John Braddock</i></b></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">A blunt headline reading “Austerity bites” was emblazoned across the front page of the <em>Post</em> newspaper in New Zealand’s capital city, Wellington, on March 22. Referencing an aggressive tactic used in rugby union scrums, the subhead declared: “Rolling maul of public service job cuts begins.”</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/432f99ce-1324-4315-b471-4ea5e2a75fce?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon with Finance Minister Nicola Willis <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[Photo: Facebook/Nicola Willis MP]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">A day earlier Statistics NZ revealed that the country slid into recession in the December 2023 quarter. The economy contracted 0.3 percent in the three months ended September, followed by another 0.1 percent in December. The inflation figure was 4.7 percent.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The economy has shrunk in four of the past five quarters, driven by the Reserve Bank’s policy to ramp up unemployment as a battering ram against any wages push by workers who face soaring living costs. The official unemployment rate rose 0.6 percentage points during 2023, from 3.4 to 4.0 percent, and is projected to exceed 5 percent this year.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The <em>Post</em> article appeared at the end of a week dominated by announcements from the far-right National Party-ACT-NZ First coalition government of mass sackings, cuts to public services and attacks on working conditions.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Impending public service job cuts “could be in the thousands” according to the<em> Post. </em>In just one day, two key ministries—the Ministry of Health and Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI)—announced a total of 550 losses. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) opened a second round of “voluntary” redundancies covering expanded work areas.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Finance Minister Nicola Willis has ordered savings of 6.5 or 7.5 percent across the public sector, requiring departmental heads to determine how to execute the brutal measures. The Health Ministry is looking at a 25 percent reduction of staff, around 180 jobs, while MPI is proposing a 9 percent cut of 384 jobs.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Wellington, with a metropolitan population of 422,000 and an economy depending largely on its public sector workforce, will be hard hit. A spokesperson for recruitment agency Robert Walters said it was already seeing skilled workers looking to move to Auckland and Australia.</p><aside data-content-name="33% of article" data-content-piece="/en/articles/2024/03/28/iidd-m28.html" data-track-content="true" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px;"></aside><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Underscoring the government’s vindictive attitude towards the entire working class, the far-right ACT Party leader and cabinet minister David Seymour posted on Twitter/X in response to the MPI job losses: “Good.” Willis airily dismissed widespread anger over the cuts, saying: “I am sure there will be other job opportunities.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Public services are being scrapped or deferred to fund the government’s tax cuts to benefit the wealthy. Some of the most vulnerable layers of the working class are in the firing line.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Last week the disabled community found out via a Facebook post that funding was being reduced for a wide range of support payments, including for equipment such as wheelchairs, communication devices and housing and motor vehicle modifications. School lunch programs are facing cuts of up to 50 percent; and free bus fares for 5–12 year-olds and half fares for 13–24 year-olds will be scrapped, increasing the financial burden on already struggling families.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Large scale cuts to infrastructure and essential services are being foreshadowed as a wedge for privatisations. Education Minister Erica Stanford announced that 20 school building projects have been paused and another 350, ranging from design to pre-construction, could be scaled down or scrapped. She indicated that private-public partnerships could be used to build new schools.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">A similar situation faces the ageing Cook Strait inter-island ferries whose scheduled replacement has now been cancelled. Half a billion dollars is also being cut from public science funding.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The sweeping austerity program is designed to underpin a massive transfer of wealth to the rich. The central promise of National’s campaign in last year’s election was for $NZ9 billion in income tax cuts over four years, heavily favouring top income earners.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">According to <em>Newsroom</em>, after increased costs from a $2.9 billion tax cut for landlords, the government faces a $1.5 billion fiscal gap. In unprecedented criticism of the government of which he is part, NZ First leader and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters signaled last week that there is in fact a “fiscal hole” of $5.6 billion in National’s budget figures and he could not see how Willis was going to fix it.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The tax cuts will be paid for with even deeper spending cuts, reallocation of revenues, or borrowing. The last option raises the spectre of a crisis similar to that triggered by former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss, who proposed to cover unfunded tax cuts with large-scale borrowing, triggering financial chaos and her rapid political demise in 2022.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on March 20 warned that New Zealand’s tax cuts would be inflationary, called on the government to keep spending low and opposed more borrowing. The IMF repeated previous calls for a comprehensive capital gains tax and a land tax, which the government has rejected.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Sections of the ruling elite fear an upsurge of class struggles. The social crisis—for which the last Labour government was equally responsible—is pushing workers to the left and fueling hostility towards all the major political parties. The political establishment’s support for US imperialism against Russia and China, and the US-backed genocide in Gaza, is also radicalising workers and young people.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The corporatist trade unions are doing everything they can to block any struggle by workers against the far-right government. Apart from a handful of pleading press releases, not one union has announced any plans to fight the onslaught. The Public Service Association simply called MPI cuts a “reckless gamble” and complained that promises to generally restrict cuts to “backroom staff” were not being kept.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The National-led government was scrabbled together after October’s election, which was characterised by mass disaffection. Labour’s share of the vote collapsed amid widespread anger in the working class over its austerity program. After just over 100 days in office, the coalition is already in an escalating crisis. Willis, who had boasted last September, “I’d quit as finance minister if my tax cut plan fails,” is facing demands for exactly that.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Business commentator Fran O’Sullivan wrote in the <em>Weekend Herald</em> on March 23 that former National Party Prime Minister John Key had met with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and urged him to pull back. Key warned Luxon against “risking plunging the country into so much discontent their program has to be abandoned and they don’t get re-elected.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Right-wing commentator for the <em>New Zealand Herald</em>, Matthew Hooton, derided National’s “ludicrous” tax plan, saying it was “largely written by lobbyists, doesn’t add up and would cause higher inflation and higher interest rates than even Labour, despite the full benefits going to only 0.18 percent of households.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The Labour opposition is now embroiled in its own crisis over tax policy. In a desperate attempt to recover ground from the party’s drubbing at the election, leader and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins last week hypocritically called for a public debate on a new “progressive” tax system. In fact, after six years in government during which Labor did nothing to change the “unfair” tax system, Hipkins entered last year’s election declaring wealth taxes were off the table.</p>Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097019515642724992.post-72243232309637353552024-03-28T12:16:00.000-07:002024-03-28T12:16:41.806-07:00UPS outlines plans to close at least 200 facilities<p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><span style="color: red; font-family: PT serif, Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"><b><i>Jacob Crosse</i></b></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In an investors presentation held Tuesday in Louisville, Kentucky, top executives of United Parcel Service (UPS) announced plans to shutter 200 facilities in the United States and lay off thousands of workers, as part of their plans for the “Network of the Future.”<br /><br />While previous layoffs have already been reported extensively by the WSWS, this is the first time that UPS has issued its comprehensive nationwide plan to slash jobs. UPS executives estimated that the company would save $3 billion by the end of 2028 by consolidating facilities and implementing automation at the remaining hubs.<br /><br />Earlier this year, UPS announced it would be laying off <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/02/01/twye-f01.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;">12,000 salaried employees</a>. This was quickly followed by mass layoffs of pre-loaders at facilities across the United States, including in <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/03/26/upsl-m26.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;">New York</a> and <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/03/25/sbzp-m25.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;">California</a>. The ongoing jobs bloodbath at UPS is part of a wave of layoffs at the company and in virtually every industry across the globe.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The cuts are being enabled through the collaboration of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which rammed through a sellout contract last summer by deliberately concealing that these cuts were coming. Tuesday’s presentation underscores the urgent need for workers to take matters into their own hands, organize a rebellion against both management and the sellout artists in the union bureaucracy.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">It also fully confirms the warnings made at the start of the year by the UPS Workers Rank-and-File Committee that “New technologies are being rolled out that can eliminate almost all of the work inside the warehouses. The jobs of nearly 200,000 part-timers at UPS are at risk.” That statement called for a “counter-campaign” by workers to defeat the attack on jobs.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In their slides presented to investors Tuesday, UPS executives outlined 63 sites in the US that would be targeted for automation by the end of 2028. These include hubs in Albany and Syracuse, New York; Mesquite, Texas; as well as Hartford, Chelmsford and Providence, Massachusetts.</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/fb52ea14-d085-4aec-9cb4-642bd524c0b9?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">A map showing where UPS plans to initiate "major automation projects" by the end of 2028. <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[Photo: UPS]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Some of the facilities that will be consolidated—that is, closed—include the Windsor, Ashland, Leominster and Nashua Hub in Massachusetts. In Albany, New York, the NY Capital Village Center will be closed, as will the Chalk Hill Center in Texas.</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/dde0db78-de38-4a40-951a-efcd12c4098b?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">A map of the state of Massachusetts showing where UPS plans to shutter certain facilities, and transform others into automated hubs. <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[Photo: UPS]</span></figcaption></figure><aside data-content-name="33% of article" data-content-piece="/en/articles/2024/03/28/wfxk-m28.html" data-track-content="true" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px;"></aside><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In his slide presentation, Nando Cesarone, president of US domestic operations at UPS, emphasized that the “Network of the Future” would bring “new automation and technology tools to materially improve productivity.”<br /><br />This “highly productive network” will operate with “less dependency on labor,” a slide in Cesarone’s presentation explained. Another of his slides, titled “Actions We Are Taking Right Now” to increase “operating margin,” listed “Building and Sort Closures” as the top item.<em><br /><br /></em>Cesarone confirmed that UPS would be closing “40 sorts this year, up from 30 in 2023,” but he stressed that “every single work area is being scrutinized for automation opportunities, not just our sortation hubs,” per <em>Freightwaves.</em></p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/f82a9f02-96be-43a3-ad56-09fbe184e4ae?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">Automation and Consolidation projects in Texas. <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[Photo: UPS]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In his presentation, Bala Subramanian, chief digital and technology officer for UPS, highlighted the “strategic bets” the company was taking to boost profits. “Artificial Intelligence and Gen AI” and “Robotics and Automation” were the top items listed.<br /><br />The last major presentation made clear how these cost savings would be squandered on the company’s wealthy investors. Chief Financial Officer Brian Newman outlined the “Capital Allocation Policy/Priorities” for the company; two of the four listed were a “stable and growing dividend” for shareholders and to use “excess cash” to “repurchase shares.”<br /><br />Executives did not place an exact figure the number of layoffs. But in an interview with Bloomberg Television following the presentation, UPS CEO Carol Tomé confirmed the company planned to boost profits by raising prices, including a 5.9 percent general rate increase this year, and automation.</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/4c4f0f99-4251-4909-8d67-6c5244eb2aa3?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">UPS CEO Carol Tomé on Bloomberg, March 26, 2024. <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[Photo: Bloomberg]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Asked by her Bloomberg host to elaborate on the “layoffs coming,” and “what more should investors expect?” Tomé replied, “We have got to right-size our business, so we did make some decisions to do just that under our operating model of fit to serve. Moving past though, is the very exciting opportunity that we have to drive out costs through automation.<br /><br />“Did you know we have over 1,000 buildings in the United States? And many of these buildings were built 50, 60 years ago. ... As we looked at the buildings we said, ‘My gosh, we have an opportunity, actually, to consolidate buildings ... that aren’t automated into brand new, automated buildings and drive productivity.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">By end of the “initial phase,” Tomé said UPS would have “400 buildings that are fully automated.”<br /><br />“And with this automation,” she added, “we are going to drive out costs. We will drive out $3 billion in costs between now and 2028,” with “half of that” being “realized by 2026.<br /><br />“And with end-to-end automation ... we don’t need as many people to move the packages inside the buildings that we have today,” she said.<br /><br />In an interview with CNBC the same day, Tomé explained that the company’s plans for mass layoffs was fully realizable due to “the cost nature of our new Teamster contract.”<br /><br />“We are very pleased with that contract,” Tomé said. “The compounded annual average growth rate of wages and benefits is 3.3 percent over a five-year period, but it is front-end loaded.</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/51d97373-2f47-4fd3-b893-cdc7788500d1?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">A slide highlighting the role of the Teamsters bureaucracy in providing “Labor Certainty” so that UPS can implement its cost-cutting automation plans. <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[Photo: UPS]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">“So ... in year one we want to grow our volume and our revenue and our operating profit dollars,” she continued. “And then in years two and three we want to grow volume, revenue and operating profit margin.<br /><br />“Why will margins expand past year one? Because we are going to anniversary the first year of the Teamster contract in August, and the cost growth rate drops <em>dramatically</em> after that.”<br /><br />Describing the “Network of the Future” as “one of the most exciting initiatives” in the last 100 years of the company, Tomé lamented that while the UPS delivery network was highly “integrated,” it was “old.”<br /><br />The company is “going to collapse some buildings that we don’t need any longer into larger, more automated buildings,” she said. “We will invest to make this happen, we will invest about $9 billion over five years, but in that five-year time frame, we will enjoy $3 billion of savings, of which 50 percent will be recognized within the first three years.”<br /><br />The Teamsters bureaucracy, which has said next to nothing about the layoffs this year, continued its guilty silence after Tuesday’s conference. Neither Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, nor the Teamsters social media accounts have released a statement yet on the pending destruction of thousands of jobs, or what plans the Teamsters have to fight against the layoffs.<br /><br />The silence of the union bureaucrats is not a mistake. They knew automation and the cuts it would entail were coming, yet they did nothing to fight to defend workers’ jobs. Instead, they blocked UPS workers from striking together with actors and writers, who were already on strike and eager for reinforcements, and instead sold the rotten contract as “historic.”<br /><br />However, news of Tuesday’s presentations spread like wildfire among UPS workers. “It’s getting crazy here. They cut our hours again,” a UPS worker from Philadelphia told the WSWS. “They laid off a pregnant woman today. She is having twins and has two kids at home. It’s horrible.”<br /><br />José, an over 20-year UPS worker in Southern California, told the WSWS, “Hours are being cut. I know management wants to automate small sort in my hub.”<br /><br />Joseph, a feeder driver out of Chicago, said he was “worried” about his co-workers “inside the buildings.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">“Two hundred facilities in the next four years, wow! How many jobs will be cut? Remember, Carol Tomé clearly said this new contract bites in the beginning but ridiculously smooths out in UPS’s favor in the later years.”</p>Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097019515642724992.post-39242300936491915892024-03-28T12:03:00.000-07:002024-03-28T12:03:27.635-07:00Sudan’s “forgotten war” leads to epic suffering and regional instability<p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><span style="color: red; font-family: PT serif, Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"><b><i>Jean Shaoul</i></b></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Last week, United Nations (UN) relief agencies warned the Security Council that Sudan is suffering one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises in recent history, after nearly a year of gruesome fighting between rival factions of the Sudanese armed forces for control of the country.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Sudan faces a famine of biblical proportions because of the war, displacement, the breakdown of the economy and the almost total absence of international aid. Many building in the capital Khartoum have been destroyed. The government, virtually bankrupt, barely functions.</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/4939e4e0-21ad-4adc-8d2e-b7d0ca1ec205?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">Sudanese refugees displaced by the conflict in Sudan gather to receive food staples from aid agencies at the Metche Camp in eastern Chad, March 5, 2024 <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[AP Photo/Jsarh Ngarndey Ulrish]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Fighting broke out in April 2023 between the army, headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, leader of the Sovereign Council and de facto ruler of the country, and his deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, who heads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The RSF, based in the western Darfur region, has taken control of the west of the country and most of the capital Khartoum, although it is struggling to hold onto these gains. Al-Burhan, despite backing from Egypt’s military regime, South Sudan and Saudi Arabia has yet to win a major battle. He has retreated to the east and Port Sudan, on the Red Sea.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Both factions, composed of rival sub-ethnic groups with competing interests, have the support of various local militias, leading to fighting often along ethnic lines, as well as support from outside forces. They are mobilising for a long war in the east of the country.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, there have been 13,900 reported fatalities across Sudan, while the Health Ministry has reported 27,700 people injured between 15 April 2023 and 26 January 2024.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The UN highlighted “mass graves, gang rapes, shockingly indiscriminate attacks in densely populated areas” and the displacement of 8.1 million of Sudan’s 45 million population, including at least 1.76 million that have fled to neighbouring countries also wracked by poverty and instability.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">According to the UN, “at least 25 million people are struggling with soaring rates of hunger and malnutrition” and 3.8 million children under the age of five are malnourished. Aid agencies say that children in refugee camps in Darfur are dying of hunger every two hours. Martin Griffiths, head of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), warned that “almost five million people could slip into catastrophic food insecurity in some parts of the country in the coming months.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Cholera has broken out. At least 292 people have been killed by the disease and there were over 10,700 suspected cases as of 17 February 2024.</p><aside data-content-name="33% of article" data-content-piece="/en/articles/2024/03/28/jskz-m28.html" data-track-content="true" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px;"></aside><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Compounding the crisis is the disruption to farming by the fighting. The <em>Middle East Eye</em> cited the Sudanese organisation Fikra for Studies and Development as reporting, “Only 37 percent Sudan’s agricultural land has been cultivated in comparison to previous years. Also, Sudan’s national wheat production has reduced by 70 percent.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">With international attention focused on the US/NATO led war against Russia in Ukraine and Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, Sudan’s war and its wider implications have been all but ignored. The UN relief agencies have called for $2.7 billion of assistance for this year, but they have received pledges for just $135 million. Last year, just 43 percent of the target was raised. The miserable funds testify to the prevailing view among the imperialist powers that Sudan’s impoverished people are surplus to requirements.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The two army leaders fighting to control Sudan rose to prominence during the war in Darfur, in which 300,000 people were killed and 2.5 million displaced in fighting from 2003 to 2008. Al-Burhan headed the army, while Dagalo led the notorious Janjaweed militias responsible for some of the worst atrocities of the conflict. Dagalo has since become enormously rich based off Darfur’s gold. Both men were implicated in war crimes and crimes against humanity.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Fighting between these two corrupt figures erupted in no small part due to longstanding efforts by US imperialism and other regional powers to exert control over Sudan and its resources—gold, minerals, oil and agricultural land—and cut off Khartoum’s relationships with China, Russia and Iran that all have growing economic interests in the region.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The country saw its first military coup within three years of independence from Britain in 1956, aimed at suppressing the working class and tenanted farmers whose struggles had rapidly politicised as key export prices fell, threatening the economy with collapse.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Since then, the country has been riven by recessionary wars, violence and intrigues, spread across its unstable neighbours. These conflicts testify to the multiple, competing interests in the conflict-ridden Sahel region and the Horn of Africa, strategically located on the Red Sea through which 20 percent of global container shipping passes.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The expansion, spurred on by the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and Gulf investors, of commercial, export-oriented agriculture, has been characterised by violent expropriation, rampant exploitation, deep inefficiencies, and ecological destruction which in turn spurs more land grabs. This has torn apart traditional ways of life, created severe food insecurity in one of Africa’s most fertile regions and fueled tensions between communities.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Apart from a few brief periods, Sudan has been subject to military rule or military-backed dictatorships that ruthlessly quashed all dissent on behalf of the country’s tiny elite.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Al-Burhan first came to prominence in April 2019, when, following months of mass protests across the country and with the support of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, he led the pre-emptive military coup that overthrew President Omar al-Bashir and his Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated military dictatorship.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The protests were fueled by Sudan’s economic collapse, precipitated by the US-brokered secession of oil-rich South Sudan in 2011, poor harvests and floods that led to soaring food and fuel prices, widespread poverty, political instability, conflicts and the displacement of some 3 million people.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The aim of the military was to prevent the overthrow of the entire state apparatus and the expropriation of their own substantial financial and corporate institutions that control much of the Sudanese economy. Al-Burhan opened negotiations with leaders of the protests, the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC), an umbrella group of 22 bourgeois and petty bourgeois groups, including the professional trade unions and the Sudanese Communist Party, over the formation of a joint military-civilian government to provide a cover for the military, while carrying out the economic measures needed to remove US sanctions and access international loans.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Just weeks afterwards, soldiers and paramilitaries massacred more than 1,000 unarmed protesters, chasing them through Khartoum, tying concrete blocks to their feet and throwing them into the Nile. In October 2021, Abdalla Hamdok’s transitional “technocratic” government, made up of “leftists” and serving as a front for the Sovereign Council headed by al-Burhan, threatened the military’s privileged commercial and political interests. Al-Burhan sacked it, resuming military rule alongside Islamists and other reliable allies of the al-Bashir regime.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Eighteen months later, war broke out between al-Burhan and Dagalo following mounting tensions over the planned integration of the RSF, and other former rebel militias involved in insurgencies in various parts of the country, into the Sudanese army.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Al-Burhan’s faction has supported the US/NATO war against Russia in Ukraine and was backed by Egypt until Cairo was forced to back off by its paymaster, the UAE, which has become increasingly entrenched in the region.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">According to the <em>New York Times</em>, the UAE is covertly shipping weapons to the RSF, as well as to Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar who controls the Tobruk government in eastern Libya. Abu Dhabi has also supported neighbouring and landlocked Ethiopia’s controversial agreement with the internationally unrecognised breakaway Somaliland for access to the port of Berbera, developed by UAE’s DP World.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Somalia, along with its allies Qatar and Turkey, views this as an attack on its territorial integrity and has recalled its ambassador from Addis Ababa.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Dagalo has courted support from Somaliland and Ethiopia, as well as Chad, all increasingly dependent on UAE investment, threatening more regional instability. Further afield, his control over the export of Sudanese gold has fostered close connections with Russia, which buys via the UAE, enabling the Putin government to bypass NATO sanctions.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Moscow, whose Wagner mercenaries operate in Sudan, eastern Libya and neighbouring Central African Republic, is trying to establish a base at Port Sudan. There have been rumours and unverified reports of Ukrainian forces active in the country, targeting Russian operatives.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">With the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, North Africa and the Red Sea basin becoming key battlegrounds for competing interests, an infuriated Biden administration has been unable to broker any agreement either among its own regional allies or between Sudan’s rival gangsters, with its special envoys to the country each quitting after a few months in post.</p>Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097019515642724992.post-49443160826267575482024-03-27T12:03:00.000-07:002024-03-27T12:03:48.178-07:00Google Creative Fellowship 2024<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-application-deadline" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Application Deadline:<span class="ez-toc-section-end" style="box-sizing: inherit; box-sizing: inherit;"></span></span></h2><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The deadline for the Google Creative Fellowship 2024 program is<span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">April 5th, 2024</span>.</span></p><h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-benefits-google-creative-fellowship-2024" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Benefits Google Creative Fellowship 2024:<span class="ez-toc-section-end" style="box-sizing: inherit;"></span></span></h2><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Successful candidates will</span></p><ul style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em 3em; padding: 0px;"><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Get paid. The salary is dependent on the location of the applicant and will be made known during the interview process. </span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Get to work for six months in a paid contractor role where candidates will be employed as freelancers via one of Google’s staffing partners.</span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The Creative Fellowship is a Google program for emerging creative talent that offers ongoing mentorship, helpful networking opportunities, and hands-on experience across Google’s various in-house creative teams.</span></li></ul><h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-eligibility-criteria" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span class="ez-toc-section" id="Eligibility_Criteria" style="box-sizing: inherit;"></span>Eligibility Criteria:<span class="ez-toc-section-end" style="box-sizing: inherit;"></span></span></h2><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Interested applicants for the Google Creative Fellowship 2024 must meet the following requirements:</span></p><ul style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em 3em; padding: 0px;"><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Must be an emerging creative thinker (0 – 5 years of creative experience) who has a clear point of view and passion for making things and telling stories.</span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Must be an individual excited to bring their unique voice and craft to Google’s creative teams.</span></li></ul><div><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Also, interested candidates must ensure that:</span></p><ul style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em 3em; padding: 0px;"><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">As of June 2024, they have work authorization in the United States. They do not require a visa or sponsorship to work.</span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">As of June 2024, they are of legal age to work in the United States.</span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">They can speak and write English fluently.</span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">They will be living in the city in which you are applying for a role. (Locations are listed in the individual role descriptions.)</span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">They can commit to a full-time position on the Creative Fellowship for six months (mid-June 2024 – mid-December 2024).</span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">They understand that you will be employed as a freelancer via Google’s staffing partners.</span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">They have read the FAQs and understand what’s required for the application process.</span></li></ul><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">Note: </span>Each creative team at Google is looking for something different, so they encourage creatives to apply with work that best captures their craft.</span></p><h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-application-process" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span class="ez-toc-section" id="Application_Process" style="box-sizing: inherit;"></span>Application Process<span class="ez-toc-section-end" style="box-sizing: inherit;"></span></span></h2><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">To apply for the Google Creative Fellowship 2024</span></p><ul style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em 3em; padding: 0px;"><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #222222;">Visit the </span><a href="https://creativefellowship.google/" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease-in-out 0s, background-color 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">official website</span></a></span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Read through the page and fill out the application form for the designated role</span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Before submission, confirm you have reviewed the following requirements to ensure you can fully commit to the program.</span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #222222;">Also, if you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, send an email to </span><a href="mailto:creative-fellowship@google.com" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease-in-out 0s, background-color 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">creative-fellowship@google.com</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> for help. </span></span></li></ul><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #222222;">For more information, visit the</span><a href="https://creativefellowship.google/" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease-in-out 0s, background-color 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;"> <span style="color: #0b5394;">official website</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">.</span></span></p></div>Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097019515642724992.post-69564545068362644832024-03-27T11:45:00.000-07:002024-03-27T11:45:31.442-07:00“Unprecedented” growth of US debt could bring market shock<p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><span style="color: red; font-family: PT serif, Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"><b><i>Nick Beams</i></b></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The US could be on course for a crisis in its bond market, replicating that which hit the UK in September 2022 when financial markets went into turmoil after the short-lived Liz Truss Tory government proposed major tax cuts funded by an increase in government debt.</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/da19363f-9a9e-42e6-be7d-5fb6c563f0ae?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[AP Photo/Craig Ruttle]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The UK crisis, which required intervention by the Bank of England, had its own peculiarities bound up with the operations of pension funds. But it may well have been a foretaste for a much bigger crisis that could engulf the US financial system.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">This scenario was outlined by Phillip Swagel, the director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), in an interview with the <em>Financial Times</em> (FT) yesterday. He said growing US government debt was on an “unprecedented” trajectory risking the kind of crisis which led to the collapse of the Truss government.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">“The danger, of course, is what the UK faced with former prime minister Truss, where policymakers tried to take an action, and then there’s a market reaction to that action,” he told the FT.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">He said the US was “not there yet” but warned it could be, with the increase in interest rates raising the cost of payments to $1 trillion in 2026 creating conditions for bond markets to “snap back.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Swagel did not go into details of its form, but a “snap back” could result in a sell-off of government debt, leading to a rise in market interest rates [as bond prices fall interest rates rise] and liquidity problems.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The CBO has said federal government debt was $26.2 trillion at the end of last year, equivalent to 97 percent of gross domestic product. It has forecast significant increases in coming years, not lest because of rising interest rates.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Back in February it said the US budget deficit was set to rise by almost two-thirds over the next decade from $1.6 trillion to $2.6 trillion with much of the increase due to higher interest costs.</p><aside data-content-name="33% of article" data-content-piece="/en/articles/2024/03/27/frxp-m27.html" data-track-content="true" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px;"></aside><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The CBO said that interest payments would account for around three quarters of the rise in the deficits between today and 2034. The deficit as a proportion of GDP would rise from 5.6 percent in 2024 to 6.1 percent in a decade’s time, well above the average of 3.7 percent over the past 50 years.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The total government debt as a proportion of GDP would rise above 100 percent next year and would reach 116 percent by 2034. The CBO estimates that while interest costs on government debt are at present roughly equal to military spending, they could rise to one and half times larger in a decade’s time.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Swagel noted that the expected rise in debt as a proportion of GDP would take it over the levels reached in World War II, and warned that even what seemed to be small changes in government spending could have major effects.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">“We have the potential for some changes that seem modest—or maybe start off modest and then get more serious—to have outsized effects on interest rates, and therefore on the fiscal trajectory,” he said.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The rise and rise and rise of government debt had seen a rapid expansion of the US Treasury market where it is bought and sold. This market, the foundation of the US and global financial system has expanded to around $27 trillion, a 60 percent increase over the past five years. It is now six times larger than it was before the global financial crisis of 2008.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">There has been a significant shift in operations of the market. In the past banks were major participants but their activity has been cut back, partly because of regulations introduced after the financial crisis—an example of how attempts to stabilise the system in one area can create problems in another.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Hedge funds have assumed a greater role. But their activity, particularly in the so-called basis trade in which they seek to make profit on the very small difference between the price of bonds and the price of their futures using large amounts of borrowed money, is creating concerns among regulators.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The growth of US debt, coupled with the instability in the financial system, is starting to raise questions about the role of the dollar as the global currency, the maintenance of which is an existential question for US hegemony.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The credit rating agency Fitch last year removed the triple A rating from the US citing concerns over a “high and growing general government debt burden.” Moody’s has maintained the triple A rating but has changed its outlook for the US from stable to negative.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The gold market is pointing in the same direction with the price of the metal, which, unlike fiat currencies, does embody real value in and of itself, has been steadily rising for the past 16 months and has been touching record highs. One of the reasons is increased buying by central banks after the freezing of Russian central bank assets at the start of the Ukraine war raised concerns that dollar assets held by any country could not be considered sacrosanct.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Swagel touched on the international role of the dollar in his FT interview, warning that its role as the global reserve currency, enabling it to run up large deficits, would not always insulate the US from market pressures if interest payments increased.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">“We need to borrow from foreigners, because foreign capital helps keep interest rates low in the US,” he said. “But there’s two sides to it, in that cash flowing overseas [interest payments on debt] means us losing national income. On the other hand, not having the capital coming in for us to borrow—boy, that would be even worse.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In a generally upbeat recent speech on trust and confidence in central banks, Agustin Carstens, the head of the Bank for International Settlements, the umbrella organisation of central banks, pointed to how fast a situation can change.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Periods of apparent tranquility, he said, are often when the seeds of future crises are sown and when financial markets smell weakness, they can move very fast. Carstens recalled the words of the late German economist Rudiger Dornbusch: “Financial crises take much, much longer to come than you think and then they happen much faster than you would have thought.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">He did not reference the US but under conditions where the growth of government is “unprecedented” and inherently unsustainable it may well have been a veiled warning.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">No one can predict exactly how financial developments will unfold. But one thing can be said with certainty. As the experience of 2008‒2009 revealed, a crisis in the financial system will see an escalation in the assault on the working class to make it pay. And the intensity of that assault will be proportional to the size of debt mountain.</p>Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097019515642724992.post-30741911337672440892024-03-26T11:52:00.000-07:002024-03-26T11:52:11.752-07:00EU, IMF and regional powers bail out Egypt in return for services rendered to Israel’s genocidal war<p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><span style="color: red; font-family: PT serif, Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"><b><i>Jean Shaoul</i></b></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In the face of its worst economic crisis in 50-60 years and rising social tensions, Egypt has leveraged its position as Israel’s key accomplice in the Zionist regime’s genocidal war on Gaza to secure a series of bailouts from the International Monetary Fund, the European Union (EU) and Cairo’s Gulf allies.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Last weekend, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen went to Cairo, along with leaders from Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Greece and Italy, to sign a deal with the Butcher of Cairo, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Branded as an $8.1 billion “aid package,” its purpose is to help shore up the economy of the most important country in the Arab world, whose collapse would destabilise the region and precipitate mass migrant flows to Europe.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Egypt is home to around 10 million Middle East migrants, including 450,000 people who have fled the 11-month long civil war in neighbouring Sudan.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">EU funding includes $5.45 billion of concessional loans and $2 billion of investment in renewable energy, trade and “security”—meaning support for Egypt’s armed security forces—over the next three years.</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/51297e99-da5b-4220-91fb-35c0578fcaff?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">President Smt. Droupadi Murmu met President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, H. E. Mr. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi at Rashtrapati Bhavan (January 25, 2023) <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[Photo by MEAphotogallery / Flickr / <a class="black-40 hover-black-60 no-underline" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4); text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">CC BY-NC-ND 2.0</a>]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Egypt’s economy, in decline for decades, was hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic that sent tourism, a vital 15 percent of its economy, plummeting and led to the return of workers from the Gulf and the loss of their remittances, swelling the ranks of the unemployed. This was compounded by the outbreak of the US/NATO war against Russia in Ukraine pushing up the cost of agricultural imports, particularly wheat, maize and cooking oils. The two combined led to a $20 billion outflow of speculative capital—more than half of all the hot money invested in the country—seeking a higher rate of interest.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The war in Gaza led to a further decline in tourism and a catastrophic 50 percent fall in revenues from the Suez Canal as ships avoided the Red Sea route following attacks on commercial vessels linked to Israel and its US and UK backers by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. This has battered Egypt’s manufacturing, pharmaceutical and textile industries.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The war has also affected its energy market, with its re-exports of gas falling by more than 50 percent in the last quarter of 2023 compared with the same period in 2022.</p><aside data-content-name="33% of article" data-content-piece="/en/articles/2024/03/25/ouvo-m25.html" data-track-content="true" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px;"></aside><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Egypt’s economic problems have been exacerbated by el-Sisi’s vanity mega-projects, including an $8 billion widening of the Suez Canal, whose promised increased revenues failed to materialise; a $300 billion investment in new roads, ports and railways; a massive rearmament programme; and a $58 billion new administrative capital under construction since 2015—in the desert, 28 miles away from any renewed popular uprising in Cairo.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">As a result, Egypt spends $32.79 billion, more than half of its budget, on debt servicing. The beneficiaries have been the military-linked companies that dominate Egypt’s economy and the army that now controls one quarter of the budget.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Unemployment, underemployment and anger over the lack of education and healthcare services is widespread. Around 30 percent of Egypt’s 108 million population live below the poverty line while another 30 percent are teetering on its edge. Egypt, once the pre-eminent power in the Middle East that even in the late 1960s was more prosperous than South Korea and Taiwan, has the sixth lowest GDP per capita in the region and the fourth lowest literacy rate.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">El-Sisi maintains his rule with an iron fist far worse than that of longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak. Hundreds of political opponents have been killed in the last decade of his rule and 65,000 political detainees are incarcerated in Egypt’s jails, many without charge or trial, where they are subject to torture. Eight senior opposition leaders have recently been sentenced to death.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Independent media is censored, and international journalists have been subject to arrest, with <em>Al Jazeera</em> journalists detained for years without charges. All the Western media have withdrawn their reporters. All strikes and protests are brutally suppressed.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Amid concerns over Egypt’s “security”, the European powers have cast aside their hypocritical criticisms of his human rights abuses. They fear Israel’s planned ground offensive on Gaza’s southern city of Rafah on Egypt’s border, which could force hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to break into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">El-Sisi’s regime is up to its neck in the genocide. It has sealed off Gaza’s southern border and is closely coordinating its actions with Netanyahu’s fascist regime in the blockade of aid deliveries and construction of a temporary holding pen for the Palestinians should they break through the border crossing. Its military is waging a brutal war against the population of the Sinai Peninsula under the guise of fighting “Islamist terror,” using similar methods to Israel against the Palestinians.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The EU deal follows the decision of Egypt’s Central Bank to raise interest rates by an unprecedented 6 percentage points and to float the pound, causing the currency to fall 60 percent and the cost of imported goods to rise. The government has agreed to privatise its state-owned enterprises and reduce its spending on infrastructure projects and social welfare. These measures are part of a package of “market reforms” made in return for a $5 billion IMF loan, in addition to the $3 billion agreed in December 2022. This additional loan comes despite the IMF withholding funds last year due to concerns about government abuse and mismanagement.</p><aside data-content-name="66% of article" data-content-piece="/en/articles/2024/03/25/ouvo-m25.html" data-track-content="true" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px;"></aside><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">More money is on the way. On Monday, the IMF’s sister organisation, the World Bank, announced it will provide Egypt with more than $6 billion in financial assistance over the next three years “to help it meet its development goals.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">These loans follow Cairo’s sale last month of the development rights to the Ras el-Hekma coastal resort on the Mediterranean to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for $35 billion, touted as Egypt’s largest ever deal, with an immediate down-payment from the UAE of $10 billion. Under the agreement, UAE sovereign wealth fund ADQ will develop the resort that will include hotels, entertainment projects, financial and business districts as well as an airport south of the city.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and the Qatar Investment Authority have been in talks to develop similar deals.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">These deals with Egypt’s brutal dictator indicate the real nature of the discussions between the Biden administration in the US, Egypt and the Gulf states held under the cover of negotiations for a ceasefire and the release of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. At issue is how to prevent the collapse of the largest and most strategically important state in the Arab world as the Gaza war threatens regional stability.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Just weeks before the talks, Egypt’s sham presidential elections in December returned el-Sisi to power until 2030, with 90 percent of the vote against candidates from parties that are part of the regime. The US and leading European powers repeatedly expressed their support before the elections.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The military regime’s complicity in the genocide of the Palestinians is closely tied to its suppression of the working class in Egypt. El-Sisi’s toppling of Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 was not simply directed against the Muslim Brotherhood, but at the bloody suppression of the Egyptian working class, the most powerful in the region.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Millions of workers and young people had overthrown Mubarak in January 2011 after days of mass strikes and protests, shaking not just Egyptian capitalism but the entire region. While the el-Sisi military dictatorship has done everything in its power to drown the mass movement in blood, it is sitting on a social powder keg, as all the imperialist and regional powers are fully aware.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Thousands have protested Israel’s genocide in Gaza. In February, textile workers in Mahalla al Kubra, a historic centre of the class struggle in Egypt, went on a week-long strike for an increase in the minimum wage, forcing a concession from el-Sisi and signaling the growing opposition of the working class to his counter-revolutionary military dictatorship.</p>Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097019515642724992.post-24182348397485388702024-03-26T11:38:00.000-07:002024-03-26T11:38:21.981-07:00Latin America faces unprecedented dengue outbreak<p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><span style="color: red; font-family: PT serif, Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"><b><i>Brunna Machado</i></b></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">An outbreak of dengue fever has hit Brazil and several other Latin American countries and is expected to make 2024 the year with the highest number of cases and deaths in the region’s history. Extreme climatic phenomena, precarious socio-economic conditions and the abandonment of both preventive measures and the fight against the transmitting mosquito, Aedes aegypti, have contributed to its spreading to areas previously free of the virus, making dengue an increasingly urgent public health issue in the region and worldwide.</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/b887c286-c7a5-451f-82bb-caae311a4447?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">Patients in the Pediatrics ward at the Ceilândia Field Hospital, in the Federal District, on February 8, 2024 <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[Photo: Fabio Rodrigues-Pozzebom/Agência Brasil]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The latest report from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) on the epidemiological situation in the Americas cites dengue cases in 18 countries in the region, the most affected being Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Peru and Colombia. According to the report, the incidence of dengue increased by 249 percent compared to last year, and by 354 percent compared to the average of the last five years. This data, however, only covers the first eight epidemiological weeks, and the situation has only worsened since.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">By mid-March of this year, the number of dengue cases in Paraguay was 23 times higher than in the same period last year, rising from 6,900 cases to 160,900. In the same comparison, Argentina saw a jump from 8,300 to 102,800 cases, and Peru from 16,900 to 46,500. In these countries, 43, 69, and 53 deaths have already been recorded this year, respectively.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Brazil, the primary source of infection, has registered more than 2 million probable cases on its own, and the Ministry of Health estimates that it will exceed 4.2 million by the end of the year, almost triple last year’s figure. As of March 23, 715 deaths had already been confirmed, and another 1,078 are under investigation.</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/e39a2d8f-55fb-4f84-a12d-6d15d18165f5?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">Total number of suspected dengue cases as of the eighth Epidemiological Week in 2024 and 2023 and average of the last five years. Region of the Americas. <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[Photo: Graphic: WHO]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">On March 13, the health minister of the government of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers Party – PT), Nísia Trindade, downplayed the seriousness of the dengue epidemic in the country, writing in a social media post, “The lethality rate, at 0.3 percent of cases, is still less than half of last year (0.7 percent).” She added: “We are taking better care of the cases.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In an interview with the daily <em>Folha de São Paulo</em>, epidemiologist Wanderson de Oliveira explained that several factors influence this apparently lower lethality rate: “Mild cases that may go unreported, difficulty in accessing treatment, and the quality of the health system can lead to a false impression that the disease is less serious than it really is.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">He continued: “At the moment, the priority should be to set up a task force to investigate the deaths and understand whether the causes of these deaths were due to the characteristics of the people or the quality of the services provided. This post [Trindade’s] was very unfortunate because it is cold and gives the impression that it is about numbers. For those who have lost a loved one, the lethality rate is 100 percent.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The minister’s data for the comparison is still being analyzed. If the lethality rate for 2024 were calculated, including the deaths under investigation, the rate would be higher than in 2023.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The minister’s attempt to downplay an unprecedented outbreak of dengue fever exposes not only the government’s “coldness” about the fatalities, but also its relation to the consequences of such a high incidence in the population and the suffering caused by the disease, which has been popularly called “bone-breaking fever,” due to the most well-known symptoms: severe headaches, backaches, along with muscle pain in the legs and joints.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">When it progresses to a severe condition, dengue risks liver damage and bleeding. Another consequence that is still little known and, of course, never mentioned by government officials, are the neurological effects, which can manifest even in asymptomatic patients and appear long after infection.</p><aside data-content-name="33% of article" data-content-piece="/en/articles/2024/03/26/blwd-m26.html" data-track-content="true" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px;"></aside><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In an interview with the podcast O Assunto, neurologist and scientist Marzia Puccioni said that between one percent and 20 percent of dengue patients can develop encephalitis, myelitis, meningitis, and even Guillain-Barré syndrome, an autoimmune disorder that attacks part of the nervous system.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Given the estimate of 4.2 million cases by the end of the year, 840,000 Brazilians could develop some neurological problem caused by the dengue virus. And there is no planning on the part of the health system to care for these future patients, quite the opposite.</p><h4 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.75rem; line-height: 1.25; margin: 3rem 0px 2rem;">The abandonment of the eradication policy </h4><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The uncontrolled situation that is leading thousands of people to their deaths was not inevitable. It has been known for decades that dengue prevention and control depend on effective vector control measures.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The primary vector in the Americas is Aedes aegypti, a mosquito that lives in and near homes and breeds in any artificial or natural container holding standing water. The combination of high temperatures and rainfall favors an increase in the Aedes aegypti population. On this basis, representatives of the ruling class – including the WHO itself – have attributed the unprecedented rise in the disease to the El Niño phenomenon and global warming.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">But none of this happened overnight. The climatic phenomena and the precarious conditions in which most of the region’s population lives favor the proliferation of the mosquito. They are as well known and predictable as they are ignored by the capitalist class. The truth is that the ruling class—similar to what we saw with the COVID-19 virus—abandoned any attempt to eradicate the dengue virus years ago.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Brazil itself once provided a historic example of eradication, a fundamental and long-standing principle used by medical science to combat countless infectious diseases.</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/a9446432-058a-45f9-bb3b-e91b996caf5b?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">Zoonosis team doing fieldwork to combat dengue outbreaks in neighborhoods of Osasco, in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, on 15/03/2024. <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[Photo: Paulo Pinto/Agência Brasil]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">A campaign at the beginning of the 20th century against yellow fever, which is also transmitted by Aedes aegypti, allowed successive Brazilian governments to control the proliferation of the mosquito through massive action by sanitary agents. In 1954, when the vector eradication program was resumed, the Report of the National Yellow Fever Service referred to this work as “the most useful and revolutionary of the techniques ever introduced in anti-Aedes aegypti campaigns (...).”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">By 1955, the mosquito had been eradicated in the country. This policy was accompanied by an effort by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) to eliminate it from other American countries, but the campaign did not come to an end. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The reintroduction of Aedes egypti in Brazil and other countries in the region—this time bringing dengue and other arboviruses—coincided with the rise of US-backed military dictatorships in South America, which unleashed a massive attack on working class living standards and the region’s public health services.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Today, according to the WHO, the Region of the Americas accounts for 80 percent of dengue cases and has seen an increase in cases over the last four decades, rising from 1.5 million in the 1980s to 16.2 million in the 2010-2019 decade. The year 2023 broke the record with 4,565,911 cases, including 7,653 (0.17 percent) severe cases and 2,340 deaths (case fatality rate of 0.051 percent). In 2024, the scenario is already looking much more deadly.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Brazil, which a few decades ago could eradicate the vector, today registers cases of the disease in all of its 27 federal units, making its territory of eight million square kilometers the most extensive breeding ground for Aedes aegypti on the planet.</p><h4 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.75rem; line-height: 1.25; margin: 3rem 0px 2rem;">The capitalist system as an obstacle to universal healthcare</h4><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Some significant advances have been made in the last decade to combat dengue, such as the Wolbachia method, which consists of introducing mosquitoes carrying the Wolbachia bacteria into the environment, and the recently created QDenga vaccine. However, both are still in their initial application phase and have little production capacity. In addition, they are only effective in the long term, working in conjunction with the vector control actions that have been carried out for more than 70 years in Brazil.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">However, after all this time, instead of increasing such action, what we have seen is a reduction over the last few years. Last year, President Lula sanctioned a spending ceiling that allowed for a reduction of almost 20 billion reais ($4 billion) in health funding.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">According to the daily <em>Metrópoles</em>, the Federal District, the federal unit with the highest incidence today, has failed to invest R$241 million in the prevention of arboviruses over the last 10 years, losing 36.7 percent of the workforce responsible for combating mosquito outbreaks. A Federal Court of Auditors survey, published by TV Globo’s <em>Profissão Repórter</em> show, revealed that the proportion of health agents is only one for every 2,000 inhabitants. The Ministry of Health recommends six agents for every 2,000 inhabitants.</p>Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097019515642724992.post-36460628290500639892024-03-26T11:28:00.000-07:002024-03-26T11:28:57.686-07:00Top Boeing executives announce early retirements as questions over whistleblower "suicide" remain unanswered<p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><span style="color: red; font-family: PT serif, Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"><b><i>Jacob Crosse</i></b></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">On Monday, the Boeing corporation announced that several top executives in the company, including the current CEO and the head of the commercial planes division, would be retiring early as a major crisis at the airline manufacturer and military contractor continues to mount.</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/a6438c3b-0360-4384-8683-60341ae91ae5?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">National Transportation Safety Board investigator examines section of missing panel on a Boeing 737-9 MAX in Portland, Ore that blew off the jetliner in midflight. <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[AP Photo/National Transportation Safety Board]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Among those retiring will be Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun, who will remain in the position until the end of the year. It appears Calhoun’s departure was not planned. The <em>New York Times</em> reported that in 2021 the Boeing board raised the retirement age for its CEO to 70 from 65, which would have allowed Calhoun, 66, to remain in the position until April 2028.<br /><br />Stan Deal, the president of the commercial planes division, also announced his early retirement. Boeing has confirmed that Stephanie Pope, previously the president and chief executive officer of Boeing Global Services, would be replacing Deal.<br /><br />Finally, Larry Kellner, the chair of the board of directors, announced he would not stand for reelection at the annual shareholder meeting set for this May.<br /><br />In Kellner’s stead, Boeing announced that Steve Mollenkopf, the former CEO of Qualcomm, will be appointed the new chair at the next shareholder meeting. Mollenkopf, per Boeing, “will lead the board’s process in selecting Boeing’s next CEO.”<br /><br />In addition to Boeing, Mollenkopf still holds a high level position with Qualcomm, is a board member of the US-China Business Council, and has previously held top positions with the Global Semiconductor Alliance and the Semiconductor Industry Association.<br /><br />The forced retirement of high-level Boeing executives comes after the deadly Boeing Max 737 crashes in 2018 and 2019, which killed 346 people, and several major incidents this year that have left millions of people, including the heads of airlines, wary of ever riding, or purchasing, a Boeing aircraft again.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">This includes the Alaska Airlines <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/02/09/omle-f09.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;">panel blowout</a> in January, the Chile-based <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/03/13/tqga-m13.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;">LATAM Airlines</a> nosedive earlier this month, and the suspicious death of whistleblower <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/03/18/pqwz-m18.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;">John Barnett</a> on March 9.</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/35a4ec6b-d16c-4626-83af-cec3c172007e?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">In this March 11, 2019, file photo, Boeing 737 Max wreckage is piled at the crash scene of Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 near Bishoftu, Ethiopia. <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The death of Barnett, an over 30-year employee of the company, in a purported suicide, has particularly sinister implications. Barnett was in the middle of giving damning testimony in a civil lawsuit alleging Boeing forced him to retire early for refusing to compromise on safety and quality, when he was found dead in hotel parking lot in South Carolina.<br /><br />In his lawsuit and testimony, Barnett alleged that “upper management” at Boeing “harassed, denigrated, humiliated, and treated” him “with scorn and contempt” for refusing to compromise his integrity. Barnett asserted that upper management not only wanted him to operate in a “gray area,” and not follow Boeing procedures, but to also ignore federal criminal statutes.<br /><br />The Boeing executives who announced their retirement on Monday, and their replacements, all held “upper management” positions within the company during the years Barnett alleged rampant criminality on the part of Boeing.<br /><br />In a letter to employees Monday, outgoing CEO Calhoun admitted that the “Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident was a watershed moment for Boeing.” A preliminary investigation by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found that the four bolts that were supposed to keep the panel locked in mid-flight, were not installed, leading to the blowout and emergency landing on January 5.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Just three days before Calhoun announced his abrupt retirement, the <em>New York Times</em> reported that the FBI had sent letters to passengers on Flight 1282 making them aware that they may have been “a possible victim of a crime.” The <em>Times</em> said the letters were sent from the Seattle FBI office. The letters indicated that while the incident remains under investigation, “for several reasons, we cannot tell you about its progress at this time.”<br /><br />Boeing has confirmed to the NTSB that the bolts on the Alaska Airline were removed at their facility in Renton, Washington, after being transported there for final assembly last August. However, the airline has not been able to provide any documentation to the NTSB as to who removed the bolts, or why they were not reinstalled.<br /><br />On Monday,<em> Fortune </em>reported that outgoing CEO Calhoun will retire with a “$24 million payday” but could collect “about $45.5 million” if Pope, (Deal’s replacement) “can boost the stock price nearly 37 percent.”<br /><br />Ben Silverman of Verity, a firm that researches and analyzes insider stock sales, told <em>Fortune</em> that Calhoun could collect $4.8 million as early as February 2027, followed by $14.4 million spread out over the next 10 years. <em>Fortune</em> estimated that Calhoun collected $22.4 million in 2023, “including $8.5 million in options, $9.5 million in stock and $3.4 million in an annual cash bonus.”<br /><br />When Calhoun was elected as president and CEO of Boeing in December 2019, the board included language that would boost Calhoun’s salary by millions of dollars if he could get the 737 MAX plane in the air, and production lines churning again.<br /><br />While Calhoun is leaving with a golden parachute, <em>Fortune</em> noted his millions were a “far cry” from that showered on previous CEO Dennis Muilenburg who, despite being fired, still collected $80 million. Calhoun replaced Muilenburg following the 2018 and 2019 crashes.<br /><br />No Boeing executives were ever charged in the deaths of the nearly 350 people killed in those disasters; instead the US Department of Justice levied a $2.5 billion fine against the company, which is $500 million less than the company spent buying back its own stock in <a href="https://ycharts.com/companies/BA/stock_buyback" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;" target="_blank">March 2018</a>.<br /><br />Since its 1997 merger with McDonnell Douglas, and before grounding the MAX in March 2019, Boeing spent more than $60 billion in stock buybacks. A majority of these buybacks occurred between 2013 and 2019, with Boeing spending $43.5 billion on <a href="https://leehamnews.com/2023/04/25/pontifications-a-contrarian-view-of-stock-buybacks/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;" target="_blank">buybacks</a> in just those six years.</p>Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097019515642724992.post-64010975657466775022024-03-26T11:23:00.000-07:002024-03-26T11:23:32.765-07:00Biden’s budget for world war<p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><span style="color: red; font-family: PT serif, Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"><b><i>Patrick Martin</i></b></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The budget legislation signed into law by President Joe Biden on Saturday provides the largest amount in history for US military spending. Of the $1.2 trillion appropriated to six federal departments, the Pentagon claimed more than two thirds, about $825 billion. The separate budget bill signed by Biden March 8, for the other six federal departments, includes $23.8 billion for the US nuclear weapons programs run by the Department of Energy.</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/04240d52-f173-465d-a89a-b91b3779558c?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">The aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the fast combat support ship USNS Supply transit the Strait of Hormuz, Dec. 14, 2023. <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[Photo: Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Keith Nowak]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">All told, when all other monies appropriated for military-intelligence operations through other departments and agencies are tallied, the cumulative total is likely to surpass $1 trillion, although the actual figure remains secret, since much of the military-related spending on surveillance, military satellite launches, and other operations is classified.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Total US military spending, even based on the publicly available figures, dwarfs that of any possible combination of countries. The US alone accounts for 39 percent of total world military spending, equivalent to that of the next 11 countries combined. Compared to the US total of $877 billion for 2022, the last year for which comprehensive global figures are available, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimated that China spent $292 billion and Russia $86.4 billion. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Russian military spending is a fraction of the combined spending by US NATO allies, more than $300 billion, by the US Asian allies in the so-called Quad (India, Japan and Australia, $160 billion combined), and by US client states in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Israel, Qatar and the UAE, $130 billion combined). The combined military spending of the US and its major allies comes to well over $1.5 trillion, two-thirds of the world total, and four times that of Russia and China.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Given these figures, there is no way to assess the American military posture as anything short of a program for world war. </p><aside data-content-name="33% of article" data-content-piece="/en/articles/2024/03/26/nvtr-m26.html" data-track-content="true" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px;"></aside><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">American imperialism has suffered a protracted historical decline in its economic position. From nearly 50 percent of world GDP at the end of the Second World War, the US fell to 40 percent by 1960 and 27 percent by 1971, when President Richard Nixon ended dollar convertibility into gold because of the rising balance of payments deficit. The US share fell to barely 15 percent of world GDP last year, with the expectation of a further decline in coming years.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">But in the production of war materiel, of the weapons that can destroy human life both with pinpoint accuracy and by the millions, the United States has no peer.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">This contradiction, between declining economic base and massive military buildup, explains the ferocity of American foreign policy. It is expressed in the unanimity of the two main capitalist parties, Democrats and Republicans, on the need to smash the growing threat of China—whose economy is on course to outstrip that of the United States—and subjugate China’s potential allies in Russia, Iran and North Korea. As far as Wall Street and Washington are concerned, they must provoke confrontation with China as soon as possible, because the fundamental trends are against them. They have no time to lose.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The incessant claims by the Biden administration and its apologists in the corporate media, that the US government is averse to the use of military force, or seeks to prevent the expansion of the conflict in Ukraine or to restrain Israeli genocide in Gaza, do not bear up to the slightest scrutiny.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The true savagery of US imperialism is demonstrated in one key provision of the just-passed Pentagon budget. Democrats and Republicans in Congress agreed to bar a single penny of US aid for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which feeds millions of Palestinian refugees daily, including the bulk of the 2.3 million people in Gaza. Whatever the election-year mudslinging between Biden and Donald Trump, both the Democrats and Republicans are united in supporting mass starvation as a weapon of war.</p>Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097019515642724992.post-35103385994683965652024-03-25T10:01:00.000-07:002024-03-25T10:01:44.160-07:00The Hidden Genocide in Ethiopia<div><span style="color: red; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><i>Graham Peebles</i></b></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_317063" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 16.781px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; width: 690px;"><img alt="" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-317063" class="wp-image-317063 size-medium" decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" height="464" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" src="https://www.counterpunch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/lesly-derksen-v1pcGRXSmW8-unsplash-680x464.jpg" srcset="https://www.counterpunch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/lesly-derksen-v1pcGRXSmW8-unsplash-680x464.jpg 680w, https://www.counterpunch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/lesly-derksen-v1pcGRXSmW8-unsplash-923x630.jpg 923w, https://www.counterpunch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/lesly-derksen-v1pcGRXSmW8-unsplash-768x524.jpg 768w, https://www.counterpunch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/lesly-derksen-v1pcGRXSmW8-unsplash-1536x1048.jpg 1536w, https://www.counterpunch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/lesly-derksen-v1pcGRXSmW8-unsplash-2048x1398.jpg 2048w, https://www.counterpunch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/lesly-derksen-v1pcGRXSmW8-unsplash-500x341.jpg 500w, https://www.counterpunch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/lesly-derksen-v1pcGRXSmW8-unsplash-600x409.jpg 600w" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border: 0px; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;" width="680" /><span id="alttext-container" style="border-color: silver; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: auto; overflow: hidden; padding: 1px; pointer-events: none; width: 680px;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><img align="left" height="16" id="alttext-image" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px;" width="16" /><span id="alttext"></span></span><p class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-317063" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: #111111; font-family: "Source Sans Pro"; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0.3em 0px 20px;">Image by Jack Prommel.</p></div><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #111111; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The Ethiopia of Abiy Ahmed and his Prosperity Party, is a dark and frightening place, where anyone challenging the government are at risk of violence and arrest.</span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #111111; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">People from the Amhara ethnic group are particularly targeted; killing of Amhara men, women and children is a daily occurrence in what constitutes a genocidal campaign of hate</span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #111111; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Uniformed thugs, federal and regional, as well as Oromo militia (Oromo Liberation Army or Shene), carry out the killings. Drones hover in the skies; faceless messengers of death used to slaughter Amhara civilians in the streets as they go about their daily lives.</span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #111111; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">A suffocating shadow of fear hangs heavy over Amhara people, in villages, towns and cities. Fear of being identified as Amhara, fear of imprisonment for being Amhara or speaking out about the Amhara genocide. Fear that family members and friends will be murdered, their wives or sisters raped, their homes taken from them or ransacked.</span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #111111; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Stop killing Amhara civilians is the desperate cry of rational peace loving Ethiopians throughout the country and abroad; end the discrimination, the persecution and unlawful arrests, the spying and monitoring. Stop the Amhara genocide Abiy Ahmed.</span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #111111; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><strong style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Homeless and scared</span></strong></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #111111; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">In the five years since Abiy and Co. came to power tens of thousands of Amhara have been killed and millions displaced from Oromia, the largest region in the country; their land, property and cattle stolen by Oromo extremists.</span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #111111; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">And now these people, many of whom have either been the victim of violence or witnessed the killing of family members and friends, are the subjects of a forced relocation programme. Pushed to return to the very places they were evicted from. Towns and villages that are unsafe, where the armed gangs that attacked them are still at large, and where no alternative accommodation is being offered.</span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #111111; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">At best this is a chaotic plan by an inept regime attempting to present a fiction of regional safety, at worst it is a deliberate act by a brutal dictator to force people back into harms way.</span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #111111; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">In addition to murder and forced displacement, a mass programme of unlawful arrests of Amhara people as well as Oromo opposition supporters is in place. Hundreds of thousands of Amhara have been arrested, with many inmates being executed. The prisons are full to overflowing, leading to detainees being located in unknown semi-industrial units, where there are reports of captives being injected with highly contagious fatal diseases and left to die.</span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #111111; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Ethnic profiling by government bodies is widespread and highlights the fact that individuals are targeted based on ethnicity, beliefs, and opposition to the Amhara genocide.</span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #111111;">Internet access is closely monitored, social media accounts are scrutinised; arbitrary stop and search operations are in force; mobile phones are searched, and as The International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE) </span><a href="https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/chreetiopia/a-hrc-54-crp-3.pdf"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">f<span><span style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">ound</span></span></span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;">, any images discovered of historical Amhara figures or national flags bereft of stars arouses suspicion and potential arrest.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #111111; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><strong style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Leave them defenceless</span></strong></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #111111; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">After being subjected to ethnic based violence for years, in April 2023 the federal government announced unconstitutional plans to disband the only force protecting Amhara communities, the Amhara Special Forces (ASF). This triggered huge protests throughout the region. Abiy sent in the Federal Army (ENDF) and fighting erupted between the ENDF and Fano, a regional militia made up of poorly armed, but determined volunteers, together with ex members of the ASF.</span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #111111;">Indiscriminate killing of Amhara civilians by ENDF forces exploded. In a recent </span><a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/AFR2576962024ENGLISH.pdf" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">report</span></b><span style="color: #333333;">,</span></a><span style="color: #111111;"> Amnesty International (AI) documented serious violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) by the ENDF, which they say, “may amount to war crimes.” Amnesty highlight examples of extrajudicial killing of Amhara civilians by ENDF troops in Abune Hara, Lideta and Sebatamit, and acknowledge that these are but the tip of an iceberg of death and intimidation.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #111111; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Unable to overcome the Fano and unwilling to withdraw and reinstate the ASF, a State of Emergency (SoE) was imposed in the Amhara region on 5 August 2023.</span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #111111;">The shadowy </span><a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/08/09/deepening-crisis-ethiopias-amhara-region" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">declaration</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;"> gives the government far reaching powers to arrest/imprison people without due process, impose curfews, ban the right to assembly and search property without a warrant. Draconian powers that the government has employed widely and indiscriminately. Violence and unlawful arrests against Amhara people have increased exponentially.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #111111;">In its six monthly report the Amhara Association of America (AAA) </span><a href="https://www.amharaamerica.org/_files/ugd/e494ca_bcf1ee32c45a47f69eaedeaf79d74fdf.pdf" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">document</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;">, 1606 deaths, and injuries to 824 Amhara civilians (August – February 2024); 37 drone attacks, resulting in 333 civilians killed; Rape of at least 210 young girls and women; Mass arrest of over 10,000 ethnic Amharas……with detainees facing physical and psychological torture”. These numbers according to AAA, shocking as they are, represent a small fraction of the total killed, raped and arrested.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #111111;">Despite overwhelming evidence of killings, mass arrests and executions, on 6 February PM Abiy Ahmed </span><a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/ethiopia-violence-committee/" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">told</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;"> parliament that, “since we think along democratic lines, it is hard for us to even arrest anyone, let alone execute them.” A sick joke perhaps? Either Abiy is completely deluded and actually believes his own propaganda, or he is an habitual liar — probably both.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #111111; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><strong style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Hope killed</span></strong></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #111111; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Swept along by a belief that change could come about, in 2018 when Abiy and his cohorts took office there was tremendous optimism in the country. That hope soon evaporated as it became clear that the new regime was no different to the previous mob – the EPRDF, in fact many believe they are worse.</span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #111111; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The ruling Prosperity Party is a dictatorship led as they all seem to be, by a narcissist, under the guise of a democratically elected coalition government. Contrary to his liberal eulogising and pre-election pledges to respond to historical grievances and ethnic discrimination, Abiy has emboldened extremists and fueled division and hatred.</span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #111111; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Not only is the county fractured as never before, as a result of Abiy’s arrogance and misjudgments, Ethiopia is increasingly isolated within the Horn of Africa and the wider region.</span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #111111; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Among the international community and mainstream media, there is little or no interest in the fractured state of the country. For almost thirty years western nations turned a blind eye to EPRDF suppression and violence, and now, despite the human rights reports, the UN warnings and calls for action, despite the suffering and pain of millions of people, the pattern of neglect and apathy continues.</span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #111111; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Why are these people ignored? They are poor, black and African, this, many suspect, is the reason for global indifference.</span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #111111; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Imagine for a moment that such atrocities were taking place in Europe say, or the US. There would rightly be outrage and immediate action. And there should be the same response to the Amhara genocide taking place in Ethiopia. Action that impacts Abiy and his government directly; targeted sanctions applied by the US and allies, as well as international institutions to directly hurt the men in power.</span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #111111; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Dictators like Abiy, and the world is littered with such monsters, do not suddenly curb their behavior and embrace justice and democracy, they must be forced to do so.</span></p></div>Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097019515642724992.post-5806319077491934942024-03-25T09:53:00.000-07:002024-03-25T09:53:25.490-07:00Here’s Why You Can’t Afford an Electric Car<div><span style="color: red; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><i>Sonali Kolhatkar</i></b></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_317000" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 16.781px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; width: 690px;"><img alt="" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-317000" class="wp-image-317000 size-medium" decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" height="358" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" src="https://www.counterpunch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-23-at-1.48.49%E2%80%AFPM-680x358.png" srcset="https://www.counterpunch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-23-at-1.48.49 PM-680x358.png 680w, https://www.counterpunch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-23-at-1.48.49 PM-1197x630.png 1197w, https://www.counterpunch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-23-at-1.48.49 PM-768x404.png 768w, https://www.counterpunch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-23-at-1.48.49 PM-1536x809.png 1536w, https://www.counterpunch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-23-at-1.48.49 PM-500x263.png 500w, https://www.counterpunch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-23-at-1.48.49 PM-600x316.png 600w, https://www.counterpunch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-23-at-1.48.49 PM.png 1922w" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border: 0px; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;" width="680" /><span id="alttext-container" style="border-color: silver; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: auto; overflow: hidden; padding: 1px; pointer-events: none; width: 680px;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><img align="left" height="16" id="alttext-image" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px;" width="16" /><span id="alttext"></span></span><p class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-317000" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: #111111; font-family: "Source Sans Pro"; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0.3em 0px 20px;">Cybertruck, Tesla.</p></div><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #111111;">It seems that there has never been a better time than now to buy an electric vehicle in the United States, especially if you read </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BK6ki9wV13ZHo6u9q6FVUDsdq0LAXiF6hr7q9k-2BVLAE26ZHVytelqPq0S6570imkz1KDAdmMmLtfaMk7Yx2DDy0dcE0-2FLl9fkVMYbvVT-2FGAe4N83_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPMQr7yLEiNCfINj4Mq5fUXSBHUmZE-2F34eXuTwS2zw5lZh5bxpPHIDoD-2BFWUAJRfvdkfWmgTeEYrTrw-2BzZ13rYgsBtcxg6qsxM1BC84g71wCSAIwnZvLIhYmicU4W80vkOOr0-2F7eGI72ibPz5wdEWPh0Je7V17J2TkDKF43FmtHkzKb9n9nYiGtDhdQaM-2F4FpVOuNkDU4T3-2FimZSOzoUpZqo-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">news headlines</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;"> and </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BLADkCjuVhQIrHT6sfuqdV-2Bwn9BDxYrY2aK4-2F-2BZdkFSsGtaIpYWS925yX5qljaQUOyp-2FMgI2-2FlnnLzpq2HBwNQn35fqEEZto0TLpmbfoxzMHKDyof4oTKZ-2Ba8745-2FZc-2FAzUR3wBdkc81XB3XBNp0veEAEaCB76T-2FpbNICiMrb9GgkFgd9UnRq78IctNSF3DrXVb1bsOg5tBjyjQJeQKPJijZU9ib54iZSdZhfDZekBsLUYuk7PqJsGKFk0J1gO059j6zdOMsstN-2BaLr61KM6C-2BnLK-2FGsHbxaq-2FALkZSZquMEE7FGxchEvYbzfdVgJZlqdIk1Vo4Co-2BEe7D6uga2WwzM-3DDS6-_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPKuffB5UJTAiankyvRtmlJ7b59cEjNbH1KqypI-2Buuka4c3Cn8SG4BAWEw7W9zDyVD-2Byeav8WRtlspGdTc0tefwxUZwrL-2BjQfx915umownf-2F96pZ-2B468ryyHWVP-2FhpMRp0-2FUIx-2BZvVC0L1X00qHgQsOFxXyVy5W-2BT1RP93kdfxNLEYkEv3xAg8O7WAtjfJAzkLszUn3DD4Fi8GE9QEQVX6rY-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">White House press releases</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;">. You might be forgiven for thinking that you can actually afford to upgrade your old gas-guzzling sedan with a sleek, new zero-emissions EV. And if you can’t afford one, the various local, state, and federal </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BHUc3QR4VrTsD5lQ3IT0BtF4w9frEKsLGQdV6VDhjARMAllvOqf2e5-2BRs3VZ3YRmAA-3D-3DsL8D_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPBNwoPDFao07eewIUN4jhidQBrJZqySk5R-2FXO8SbfnjB-2Bt4jN9hSYJJfvLNQdk3dBVqlb1XToCGV0xrFPypsGrK9SdbQAKY-2B79-2BhUyd6f0TOiWp20MowvjQAFKiN5YG3rKMsN38EKyQOVkOa5n54-2BH7tzEyHEe59Nhg1GlJRvI3xqh2sv75re8D-2BuyYnPmoE2GHZLiWiKmo1a41qdUBolAs-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">rebate programs</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;"> will surely knock thousands off the price tag, right?</span></span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #111111;">Wrong. In order to be able to qualify for the ever-changing and complicated </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BJlgfwv4bMZSOM9MKe1SEhqEPfWG7BUOkO2PCejg1c-2BNvxKV9NLUscYG5QuBAmNc4w-3D-3D4dO3_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPA1F7FXpYoZzK68J8-2FpCY8X9PrUX1giFiEVHV92JXYrSHkVw17GBTnm3lgFoYLCI8lqguNlmK-2BNsHoWnWcxreja4oaoUwlOx-2BFPWgAK0Gp3cLDKiMMvyf6sX2SARZeyC2aEioMuCWf2PuNh-2Bn6JbfMwX-2F76qp5-2BaBRJzqBEkj7b4VvjqZzIm1dVnMxG6oih4sWSdtfNSS7rmj1-2FG2nu3-2FuY-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">federal $7,500 rebate</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;"> on EVs, one has to be rich enough to be able to afford to buy a new EV (some used ones qualify but good luck figuring out which one, and then even better luck finding such a car available for purchase). But, in order to qualify for the rebate, one can’t be too rich. If you’re middle-income, like me, you can lease an EV, but then you don’t qualify for the rebate—your leasing company does—and you’re left paying a hefty monthly lease.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #111111;">News headlines about </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BNuCXBverBOHx8gs3zdbDWEcL3FRBnfRHaMiIjXOaizpsTRPPvIzKL8vSgm0-2FtMfav-2FPL3ORzvajizTCCtoxOTdknxHokhWExuaU9dQkmE1cG84qx-2BqFDLN7Da4VW-2FIp0g-3D-3DcGuo_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPBZBspnncBp54CB4pb1vtMWFDJV-2FZAOFVHKMfiXxWH-2Fh4fQc1xbZrQ-2Fa1X2A0B47APC5IuyX6QOzjEqjDlkbMdbiSGcTy87-2BjKsIqvxFmWTBDpkeAXIU7SYRI-2F9yjh5Ifq9b5HaNKxR-2BO5m1Xmqna910N-2FkH7-2FK-2FNM-2BhjBnBcqgBxy3r4YwQ9rorx7T03Wu-2Fwk6uYDCJ72OrfkJgCwbwgYY-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">Tesla slashing its EV prices</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;"> might still convince you that a new EV is within reach—that is if you don’t mind enriching one of the </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BCKdTU3ksn3autqtCriX6-2FhdrByFZNU6noDNNURMkA4RLH4FZ8WaStBTb-2F1-2Bi8eg-2FpoHfQFmTMshn8O4ERM6WlvmzhJKLYGh-2BhSE5mANO8rpLuBD_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPHn5ZPEE7Rfrf2b-2FmQv3xN6-2FRsrGAa1NjvaUXfapJmn4AAsF-2FAE9Pec9veQA2g8I-2BE-2FjP1Al9fy7MGH6EoZxrZfwPrUCROcdWc-2FsfYbLRoxo1m-2BBjH-2Fp8GwturP8Stp6hFoYml1AlqKsuVMH1SmxYSe5lmOOqWk60yd2N6UnUG3DxAnsZclpOhNFwVMfpVcxoPN3Yinz0KqrtuzX51IT87w-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">worst humans on the planet</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;">. But Teslas are still among the more expensive cars on the market.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #111111;">Meanwhile, there are sensationalist headlines about EV sales </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BJcUM19R6WFQMcNbSscM2XIXfBkrKVsCihvaZKIvDbCoScbjL-2BNqoidhG0t1m6qQl2HTp1OpqRkqdg3FtouOpSBxElCx-2F0-2Bbgiy7wHH80Cba8IrV2kK0KKiYolO9PtOSxaAFZ0gOA0XwD2kVWCWX-2Bfw-3DIdC1_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPN8LaU-2BHe5Fv0X1txGRDpOvBFa7Pk3DlHc4NLOulHXsfzQShPER9Vqq0KT8jQ1XphDKhFMt-2BOO-2BbgVaLZ4FveNZOfMk1WBsOfVziLAznuNI1dlyc3DRWT397ppJAdCNfXlCd9NF7Y1GyT5VMvLTrRPlnjle0pn101D9VYKOw3bIYj1wNGgRtR9S68Gk4Xv9i7-2F6-2F8BPHlF8tY2GgsZI9CNU-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">falling</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;"> over the past year, so much so that one might be forgiven for thinking that maybe most people wanting an EV already purchased one and demand is simply weakening. Dig past the headlines however, and the news reports all come to the same conclusion: EVs are still unaffordable for the majority of Americans, especially those who simply want to reduce their carbon footprint and their financial expenses at the same time. “Pricing is still very much the biggest barrier to electric vehicles,” according to one </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BHbStpdEw9MixVzFE6I4ABkfLiwZF6ky1zv1QzPcDuF9BtjSUx2I95XFGyUN4Jv0Aqt-2BKZBuv4X2AEfBA6HE-2BuhdnPOaupDyYB2H3jIZgseRSXHL7KsVtbgJ3hKUX-2F5fNOhtImZnJ9ySKPGym-2FTyGNoKK7Air0jFa-2BdailTf3zHAaRqgxbmx6KgaDpR3kyfiEQ-3D-3DZoVZ_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPBMLDCuA9tIsx5Nmy4es-2FmGC-2BhfcL2oil0XfxfO5MbcS2BzcK4v2Vq6FHbn-2Bmx5bRlrut-2BFEu6fyzwkVyFCWeLtu1UoU09kOVzf75-2BHxyDYAPzCZI30oGf6cy2Lry7WvljYI6B6L5RezlVqyR-2BapvinmQ1eT6uX0FmLnDU7LCep6bB5gVUO7xoCAym4-2BLtR3YroiqFcWnfhHLRMNSRKoBnw-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">research analyst</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;">.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #111111;">A </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BJcUM19R6WFQMcNbSscM2XIXfBkrKVsCihvaZKIvDbCoScbjL-2BNqoidhG0t1m6qQl2HTp1OpqRkqdg3FtouOpSBxElCx-2F0-2Bbgiy7wHH80Cba8IrV2kK0KKiYolO9PtOSxaAFZ0gOA0XwD2kVWCWX-2Bfw-3DQS4h_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPDpNAM3Q9Sb4sutHSIR89IhY0RkZNgDJ3VGS9G5VmnPCa6FUi927U-2F1ayd6UBft7oVM01XwrL4wJVT5d9IXZ-2FrFqpTAHz1AHSFFfSLpy8vBQW1IMN3Tu0zwG2VvFVfQD2fAef0Jx3huPe52f83S9F5nN7ZxW2z9T9GvwDH0S-2FmP7hXXtnwq-2FQRMVLBiAvFQU-2BH7QrBoPBzOOyI0NiFIcDhY-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">Los Angeles Times report</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;"> agreed: “Although the cost of building EVs continues to drop, it has yet to reach price parity with conventional gasoline-powered vehicles.” But the paper then bizarrely blamed Americans for the high price tags, saying, “Americans’ preference for larger vehicles necessitates larger, heavier and costlier battery packs, contributing to the high prices.” There was no mention of auto manufacturers spending years </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BLhKM7vKMw2sAnSWY88Dh3JxcVNt9kUNoFQG-2B7LzhTesHXhd-2FE-2BG5-2F0xv8w-2BPHALzv2P8-2Fj3NM0r1VPxMxQSTHizSaPVDR-2BzCovflPtXmTLh3p6dX3TC-2B-2F8TCDXE7Y3XKDf1Lp-2Fs0cOEEk8Uo8C3y01zrtjQ2-2BeQS4Np5-2BbD3H9adEJPn8GnFG2Fz1Gl-2BnKicw-3D-3DAl_R_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPC6X3v1IiWrXUpQbXJtRP3cKgefuK2i1MfMzPtdZAhAghh4fiSLOZtLtfjhY6-2BnZ6jQ-2F7LCjf9AvPWaXQFknYMbu16DzqQTpdpcZUUFTtSZJikrV-2FIpNJbmLt1-2FXsaKuFLn8x0IEbko55orablXCMpbFDLBPtrwrAuas0krhQC9xwnY9uPLSxTpvII7XUkiPFst07e-2BT8nk3Ne4QqGoiH0Y-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">aggressively marketing SUVs</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;"> and other giant gas guzzlers to Americans. Indeed, there is a whole range of </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BFZzz6muaDXbSso7X0961oVTXquLFwjU6oqS5Mz5jW7VRUDWI5iOhdYJn7t4AafU7dLacZa5h04741uoNGQ-2FVzIVxlecL9aGNM85Eign12quNz3aripnpvlWvVDN9L2ZGg-3D-3Dtb7f_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPFKmTNUzknbC9Q5T3D0538BaNulf-2BX-2B79o7DIeG4X3Ei54Xw0X1PDJFA39OpXdQndR7DUJvlDEwgKxB-2BLe6DIJHFPNXwyMFMU7-2BdixtOLx3-2FU-2FUQNOiMC7Zwxiw7oh2XkXOdGSwEEbZ8Pn6338-2Fhdutd84Djqgfh1gvIa7lA81U1xhMB81L2LrDHv2RWO5eeOa18EgxEM6dP-2FLffjIDuOKs-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">EV trucks on the market</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;"> right now—still out of the grasp of ordinary middle-income Americans looking for an efficient commuter family car.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #111111;">Too bad these consumers don’t have access to China’s new EV, the BYD Seagull, a car that test drivers in the U.S. are </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BMIY6kNKMpnOcP3RoenlN2QRND74rkaWGpDcOeFVhfptYe-2F-2BKh71-2FkX7hsphsyKWnbkY0rWZQq77G24T6PbAIkg-3Di7y__pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPLyxL5M-2B7BRcnkgqnn0RqVcsTtw0gW2msGS1BpR2hUjMmMg-2B17LeBe0druh5yQp7qxuwK00i59HBunkixNSRSHba7H3are4OFPx2MuQy5QhEO2f83OScfzbrja1kUccJ2aNUWtk1IIAEfrPPSLZiSUDlnjGslGykVHQnlH1m6hv-2F47MwvrYkNvItDBoLxQqOnsLZnlVxND-2BldkXGKDP40eU-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">gushing over</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;">, and whose price tag begins at a mere $9,698. “That undercuts the average price of an American EV by more than $50,000,” explained </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BCKdTU3ksn3autqtCriX6-2Fh13j8nV6O-2BbbTEKp-2BuOFgxPnaH4sGrz-2FmfdqyS9CHEJ6QW4j3eHbzcGJGH2SlF5UFD6IM2yVuOdjvXswNE6-2F5Preo50abofwiHIqUi7lDU6musH9OoKbT88gKoKztg2Ds-3DK-GG_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPBytSx3Tn4Idx58d2dQsitKmS5mnr9VJbWt5WS0fJXD32ssdqFn-2FA3tD8Ik3ov-2B-2FsVdd6MbKcVK-2BziNlW69U44y3oXU4-2FUNJlhy5hLF0ZjVBFrkVow1U-2FYofZ7FkBhY2aeV8Hr5clYEXe-2FFd9Hg954sn-2BBD-2BU9UWhMin6I-2BmCbW1SfYSEPB-2BYfEKXmjpCw2WavEM8Nftszb6mr-2BH7Sp7VnQ-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">Bloomberg</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;">. In fact, more than 70 percent of all EVs sold globally are Chinese manufactured. You don’t have to live in China to buy a Chinese EV. You just have to live outside the U.S.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #111111;">What most headlines aren’t saying overtly and what the Biden administration is also keeping relatively quiet about is that the U.S. is engaging in a fiercely protectionist trade war with China in order to shield American automakers. Forget the </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BK6ki9wV13ZHo6u9q6FVUDt0m07O-2B84bm49tuK3rpplwAPVVCKffixiHPYsumqP-2BZ75vIE71luVZM45urCGibLM-3D0WpK_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPND5fHISpwZYEa2DFKnKNvQs1T9mduS2L9oXFDuS2wOoiRfDC8wLvWyNMua3JbNG1ibBczt0hnCSlE9laOHtsGqacGFb84SuMN90ZID7oI5FP4GzuSmjur6Gf0y9NYSK8su6ZS6Xx-2FjuL5USNc4i-2FcerplUelw7s48i2l-2FQA76eI8QYmpb9a-2BgVCbggudamGgJTGZ471NjM-2BtvgSH-2BORsiY-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">TikTok war</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;">—it’s Chinese-made EVs that keep U.S. auto CEOs up at night.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #111111;">To protect them, the Biden administration is fanning the flames of anti-China sentiment and claiming it is worried about “</span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BNH1b3l-2BcnGuEWw3Lz5bpwnOvncDd3opOO-2BblXKgAKG8X8T44xsojRrnYH1DcLTaMMoP2LjQ-2F4ikUlhgWgcXLGpwc6b2G7qvLHKkwEJ7ldOJb3oK91Br67eTst8icncudIexAwZ1ROsJuo0ywMAZSnwHop1u6IgPV-2BUrVXx7tMtsePnV_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPHB3Ppe9biiLxIWm3ZRDOnq-2F8huQ-2FnI-2F0BpA13UsV6-2BDHcy3xqijSrTySGpJ0tOyBQXPDw93Ibni560Bv3GtWZMtmDKKkc8sdHFoAmnuUJlSBz-2BIzDYp-2BgVi6sdJpG1q0R4LIsnPZsUtNrbert6PZEnwYYhBVKtv-2FcSEaV-2Bi82O1JJx8bqBY3jYcVSxXDuOglUagBIWULf-2BxEmW2zuAnT74-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">National Security Concerns</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;">” over the computer systems of Chinese-made EVs. “China is determined to dominate the future of the auto market, including by using unfair practices,” </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BLADkCjuVhQIrHT6sfuqdV-2Bwn9BDxYrY2aK4-2F-2BZdkFSsGtaIpYWS925yX5qljaQUO8Biw3npASgOQ-2FDOcn2Bdl3mMAEuAJFOeJf9hBIzB8jwZq3uAFCoTlPBWrXQZHJ2-2F6YaNEZLdAKZvlyRr4Idd5cdqHmrvl3ZBf9iewlxg3LlAhU-2BxCYAFJGx7RlWWEYaz4u4UT60i2aVuCSpwWCto1CM-2FNrwjT9TROyxxkeGJIaZ1aIL_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPInXLEU60qn1X1tkf0WdBumAmpj0ORlMqLTYdMPrdzv4S3jf2QmZ5vkz4Ia1CrAYMhbAL9BXDd1VICspKeA2Shd9BD4dAZh0LqXwxljY911qPQ-2BIDMVGvXydDSVzoWBbVzBo6h3QdKV9idH7QV-2B3ndjcI4ham7KcS1AaOXEG0-2BEwWJNXgjT41VPY2yaOlBFAnOMCTs5Pyvct6Of0RhXTDUI-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">said Biden</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;"> in late February. “China’s policies could flood our market with its vehicles, posing risks to our national security.” The president has even ordered an investigation into China’s so-called smart cars, which most EVs are these days.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #111111;">But the Biden administration’s </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BK6ki9wV13ZHo6u9q6FVUDsdq0LAXiF6hr7q9k-2BVLAE26ZHVytelqPq0S6570imkz1KDAdmMmLtfaMk7Yx2DDy0dcE0-2FLl9fkVMYbvVT-2FGAeMCHZ_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPEB9LXCbmce78jbXhYTp5MCApijVidCBjHamF-2FfHxdaUf61SdhvGB-2FM1VdxG-2FD-2BJPdL-2FW9RDMQod7sWhXbgthTwB8VuvnUR-2BTXzXTZV9mtXi0CtVBg9dsSB8wfgrHDaa5KKU-2FVqoywTHIJd-2F8iQ-2B9DswFW7VpR6BLnekBTMZgWwwuIft93qwAA2Y6qOaB9Y2nhDF2qAsDO7CFHBSkmbSRGo-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">climate goals</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;"> for auto emissions rely on a mass transition to EVs across the nation. Already, it’s behind in ramping up towards its goal of wanting half of all vehicles sold in 2030 to be EVs, likely because most Americans can’t afford them, or can’t access the far-cheaper Chinese-made cars. On top of that, the GOP has now made attacking EVs part of its </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BK6ki9wV13ZHo6u9q6FVUDsQxdgoheNwdeqEmaJ9-2FXvLxEFsRFSDls0Y1Qt-2BYqdXI-2B0k97gjS0F7ol009dIpQeLuwF7CDSwgS1KnBQCO0m0miBJc4NlrpoNf3eHmx1nPwQ-3D-3D8FY3_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPB0PmZRksyuCkPmjURn0-2Bw4Rml0zOlQrMWmAcKbO5BxApp-2BXaaBcBUv0K0Wf3ON9JBtAzoXtYHcJMnsEVxKLLvn8QkdYnFjGipp7rL-2BeTEVX6VbJNA-2F-2BrCnuJZbfGRsNsYJywGDqskPzCBzD2tZ2kd0L8C8bkxNwDFWyVu3jiXblary34Fvk-2BWw0PAugV4XXiRPvxQ6pL9OKcDqEuhbyMiI-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">new culture war</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;">. It’s no wonder EVs remain out of reach for most Americans.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #111111;">Why are Chinese cars </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BAl6pMMo2HMi0O-2B1WOx6v7JKGmp9DIonKAttwidlkR9bu8kz-2BhnsMebARhDGScN46BO5wrJJlyBbxknjJecMRfvgyIlCxdS9Agqf7eKmX0VjG1umwK8KPH17KCsSOU5CEMHkpPfE2SIip-2Bgp121Q-2BDw-3DXmNr_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPNcKu0YYImx96lZCLRvKkYWo0WoN5AuPrBHZGmdr25Dr2dQ-2BqS869pKflfmxPTi61eMMXqU-2FHSDsUUOCns0laXiV29YbrlrbWAVPTNfmMW3Ds7G0Kwp1SUAskKMDeGdswjxFv6wni7-2BgG9d74g4LO2mT2gQRT5JkSUiOigELjOLfbvsbZmC6uIS71m17jZmfo8wvP73fzdbHU4r-2FtfrMw-2Fs-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">so much cheaper, more varied, and just better</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;"> than American ones? It doesn’t all boil down to the cost of labor as one might imagine. Chinese labor costs are </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BEiEzBHR4mE-2BISo5t5ohWo4X7WlDi-2FD8csXuMsy9UXUE4QH8yBPaWNUoed-2F4IAIenXewWdDZOxu3GDKc7FQsLZI8lahlTdeEJs05K9WJALf5q-2FO7vi1tTOVSq-2BUH-2F6du-2BP8R9QIatjf3I-2BKqnQ4co6RYLTfs9SI19d0nvsLU6tdhATfpETDvkSGUbwYwg5cDY2Gq3K9ahzxpSRmYrpqaMXeFDaUeeWKP9RtxX-2FYEBfpJQTs6_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPEkip7hR3EYJDex4NccQqaxfBd3izQ-2BIZkPycqonR1NhonTwUitdKySdqPK6Ph-2FhFEL2Y62U5tIBjRxVLZt6QZd6HdKE3e-2BZoy9faZR4fE1T-2FnPuJazyUHLMjCkiT7YZsWThVk49d4cLwctGReSnEMsdIiJRxp11iFLWEDPgICrMPpB2JViWqVU1fp0c7JfCae1x0XMpAp-2FXU8mnStsAuSw-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">not as low</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;"> as they used to be. China’s government has simply made EVs a massive priority. An analysis in </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BJifQSkQWHmy6jQ-2BQrtKfpYRTGk696Q0De1uvXcCVZj5y8mdigTY9nZhAGFBwplPPrBj4QHdzQv08sMoqrg-2FCLLtv4TDU6Q8T88B46VD34yftNaaSceGTHf9-2Fc4iL1jR0Q-3D-3D4rEw_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPBhWhCXlEdxBkFCgOzDrn4Yc9IeELY1vmJYI-2BQ3vLTneMrOi4nier5ECF7cph4dNgu2T7wyS2boYqwe9h08Oa86355kgXEuGmI9EZ66nhXJrsqcpK05w7wR86DOGxJ-2BsOGIYpbwkRRqC4Houc5cl82zaPeyJVv-2Bezqxm4uc9NKIiC3oR44lbjdb2Kg5Ylz-2FKE1Hae1pHOIGZZU-2BYoK6jXSo-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">MIT Technology Review</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;"> explained, “the government has long played an important role—propping up both the supply of EVs and the demand for them,” and that there have been “generous government subsidies, tax breaks, procurement contracts, and other policy incentives.”</span></span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #111111;">Instead of adopting a similarly aggressive approach to making EVs a priority, the Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has created a complex series of tax credits that require all EV materials and labor to be sourced in the U.S.—a goal whose </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BPCI6-2F9fgWU9wRETVgUNxOcvOj5197xiib543Lg-2BS2InBdA3kAzbVApTZfFsUbSINRTIAnzrhsHb76VOU4SMSpOWkRL4fChNAuDElb9CyKZJrxK2gisPJZ98NXh3mJIp4EcKwHCxZbxfDnmdq5pyTfU-3DXzMm_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPOIaSqJ6d8l0GgJcDr-2BMVm1hBcc884uZcqMMVgOB-2BYTRWAGExceqxsM-2FTAnXolApyiw6g-2FU-2FOSltjCr-2FdohjZbsxcZqhXOLGxHFdvivPwXHmTYUUIq8WQcdUTjAVgBjks-2BRkNH0NQbJzSFl1VAnoxnRjZmMOMshTDzf2rj0UiYdl87-2BBigFqN7CbUOAc0huFQchyQvI0yVI-2FvuDHuKU4RV4-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">math just doesn’t add up</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;">. And, the IRA </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BC1KfrrxQV2sHqioH3pAab2IMi-2BumLsnmwqNByd6senrVtVrGwKOL1eFVIULZjNwk-2ByawqNu0UvfGu456snjZ04oMyaOLg-2FVcNJYCF8dxcVrtJzX_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPK5zAYUrn2t4ovzsROmGAemlepSAZcnJvzUQXjsoA9-2BfdPPaSVDu6UzPh4lF2QW-2F314X2rSXBLgHOH9tu7aiOOYyGD7HJUvvd4yLi7LBKtrY7GOvfPO1QsTZ8tZnM0GQBTcWGRFM4MNpELvxfNoHf5hv8s4v783DSgvhonKpSVuuLp8tIfTtj-2FSF8f2SmK-2BE1CXSj6DMZETeSwVZj8dmjXs-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">doesn’t even protect</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;"> U.S. workers enough. The United Auto Workers (UAW) denounced the IRA on its first anniversary for failing to require fair labor standards in the transition to an EV economy.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #111111;">Still, UAW did the job itself. Fresh from a </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BDc38lX1gSETe0njf4blIx5p4Iau-2FiGl8glYvCLGbWyM6ejMKrE7YTaiciBQpClH0TQpDnksGCG3-2BELRzypLvT8-3DCglI_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPMoBo4pUeNpZ-2FazVm1EgGYkdjq9CcLz-2FL1WkgdAyhaU3FCuyJFxTao0Vk68t4nv4zI7c1UzHEzfOEXfhSkJMwAuOvE5W4KMGoxO4gEEWuHwDs1rPegEncnipUqR3hBikp5c2pf7YZuma10uWZk6TU4-2FaLe4ziLKOpIHG4-2BS95HtpAwmd8nujNiWyUsr27JJwwkOv3c61TYPPOfs2I8ZiDRM-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">major union victory</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;"> in late 2023 the union </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BK-2BKMyeBHx98zRNK6j-2FvmZaPC4lxF0MIoPT-2FNoLtL-2FPPrDtEAQm7ah0pq03KTz5BkZ9mS7ddCBivba7MDfmemvI-3DyuT2_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPCJfdFeQR6lc1sRc4WWg5p73RmXYl-2BaGwoJwFSoCcRpnWKGQnaqjTLC7LXqWSbIdlXmT50rPjvY5U9-2FGWU8gOkq-2FOJmyMoVreEEzR-2FVegSZZstmouoA58aLzQRL4zYR7agpICYnIiq0VIp3lsZnsOYrATQb6MN5f7yYjKADjJRoCLrQhW4bbn9JgObLWb1v685Q-2B5NqWQ75V0IBBqEGDKJc-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">won job protections</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;"> from the three biggest U.S. automakers for workers transitioning into the EV industry.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #111111;">Our economy relies far too much on cars and most American cities are planned around </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BEYnjBv8TWLUvZMnoNr1-2Fs-2FM1Xz1n5PupMJU4BO23zF0UvsmvCKDENPyzfPbk9mrEhlFZEuMKtYN4GRM4hvLhC0A0xb3kRkhxtRj12CxfhADhqtibK2ObDsaY8pTKwWGNg-3D-3DCug1_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPG9yy1sj8nJIS4jsFaZGFOUSkwMJvQNklH10jJqDco8oMuj4HImOKD9Rc6lw-2BZqrI0yZk-2FZLCpK2XybsCxnUT3wUV89mRFHkH2kcl-2B2FFicB5D7IOVVCs8Q0kk-2FlKPklzB8TmBJfQs3VL0dEjE4gA-2Fn815yzkQQ8Sko05fhAyu0zQEfWATVfD3MgawTZ2GJrg8Sj60xY7P-2Bnv4UKDa2QBKY-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">car-centric living</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;">. It’s no wonder that petroleum-powered vehicles are the </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BK6ki9wV13ZHo6u9q6FVUDsdq0LAXiF6hr7q9k-2BVLAE26ZHVytelqPq0S6570imkz1KDAdmMmLtfaMk7Yx2DDy0dcE0-2FLl9fkVMYbvVT-2FGAezlxu_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPDskefCHwc2qjcH84tkAY-2FtNgGcc7h-2Bq9ozTFM7nADDX2akkx77T-2Fm5VVoDd5dY3jhM9WG85fmAHeFrMpQTKZE-2BF7KGib5EMREIWejgZAMREvKHP-2Fl93JDBK0FWwyADGWJFKf28IcErCbXVNyQecZIkR7fHbTo54KLJWRoBwtoHxX7riY-2FzR-2Fc4fa-2BWid4ODY2DyFfG3kWe1R2HjD0kealU-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">single largest U.S. source</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;"> of climate-changing emissions. There are many ways to reduce this source, including redesigning cities to be more </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BAIV9woID2U0NqR4lK5o4j9FYbSdT-2FqC9YSQgI5A-2B1kKQ8s-2FGvA-2BPlt9xB8vRGlIxUjJET8gWll3oLbJwR-2Ba96YmkVAkxNoC-2BafsheIVwT938PcDJ8cZcrqi-2FiLaiUlJHH0TmKvc7Cjx9zM5ug1i5zY-3DmmdJ_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPJ9rIGc1L6Tv2H-2BsN0DIVPMcGhRQquJd8tPsR5l0S-2FIXXdKNPE6yQ2TU2iyB-2Fv1j-2FvG80LaZiPW8wjWJNNF61McNFhK4jCJlY1al7yn0yBJsfshrDLOsXBXkFmRGdq3lk9ETwn1FTfpGcs3-2FZumPXOv-2F-2BkxqXiNQp0WL3hlK2kCNdQIqSKl9etw-2BwI2-2FgJeaSHUyT8FFXk657rY5XZ63bkc-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">walkable</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;">, improving the quality and cost of </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BBYTt0rNujR76A2vvh57CFYpvZU5f8e0gFerpKDOD-2FO0Hr3XbC4xSvFQg4eftssillwoKEMfhFMybaNXZEllt7clG-2FNhoZgtQUJzYGmGNC7XtnTw2Z5neE4-2FECo5dXo5Qg-3D-3DSgZi_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPLuJzFpaBXZeg1r3OeDMKO4N2K1G-2FlKkv02KgsZ-2BgmpfH1QwOQBESewWSuDNu8ZEQkrUoOwIoPhSlPCHIn9IJO49OCxQBxTK5QB-2BW1sJf731piq6wkKurhxeXocmK2A015jXHLc3X2v3zbQv45OV81D8HT4yz-2FrmtW-2FhD0M9LiMqp7hvdFBWPjTHfPULgbevmOTUFHSJVcte-2FI2egrbzLwg-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">public transportation</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;"> and </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BCo8xXfqB1Fg7VK3KG9PgzGdDgEpO0bjCp5x70mTPfFCCkTew62elwMrDe-2B-2Fj-2FLkG4z7mM4b-2FTZhFX-2F1AzM0p5GTN8hpcNQmzIKSPorDk1mdmuiVyLloGc6IzYyt7RL1Dw-3D-3DVaF9_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPOssDXpDH9iZb-2BBuPRuO89Zr7G23nEwHs4gLZhb8K01t-2Br2HnJlHU91HiPR5SVuglGSGQ1Fr0BRtM7tQ0m3tHXYVEO91jli6P1UntBcV0s1vqX-2F7xBFJOc6jUOuZLQVwuF-2B-2BF-2BXOGYaoZVCMdzB-2FjzyLYWoAJkFoCpDcUouHwQj4S3UQU2UVEBnMmL-2FEctK1ryiH6r-2FHD3ej0jDv4olz0kw-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">train systems</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;">, and encouraging </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BJs3onv8E-2BBUKoGF8XFxdS15nU7VfI-2Fw3ND60RTRqoNhoWgsuL5jdYwURkHxj6-2BoZMmCaVju-2BrYV0AYnN3N-2BqVQE1xYr9JkHbByaKOss6Hl7y3KSniLxSITAZs313-2FkSeQ-3D-3D1lsQ_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPBE1IFGsXBv1iRyQJuud0tTPMBSIMl5J4UK-2Flkzb-2BfHjDFRmgP9QfaSAizMP02iJRr7qQC4vQlm1gT46RzPHVupKNFJbg40em3NasPx91PrTw-2F-2FV4yGMXRKgsacOVf7OK-2FwgGWuU-2BA5XrfHzpKhKLADD7Bhf-2BqoxYtMckDbaS-2F2xcCQd6vxrqY8TKBWi2OKjBwzTd6Rur7Rz9vH7YH2M-2BDE-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">bicycle transportation</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;"> when possible—all of which will take concerted effort, time, and resources.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #111111;">But the climate clock is ticking </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BABD0sfgA-2BYnr-2BnL1qc7ah9Q3OLaP5g5D2cqqOv1GqJfa-4P_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPBVXQsRn2L0ogiKkUGm-2Bi3-2FmigE6o0pmGYhyDQ-2B1SuOxzOrymeRDuu6YYBfg6atQTiLNkbP1wIfqVx2XaW8pPaV-2FDxQL9Pk8iyamwtIE-2BpYnyMAIR-2BUwLKPcF93l6IACVQZ9cVzE1CsjNt1X-2BVBha5DCZRKgrAcAiW8e5JJjmRjoHayLbYyAh8RvL-2FZSxBTfv0K9iAHcBuxog-2F-2F0Xwd8hnA-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">fast</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;">. After decades of scientists and climate activists sounding the alarm and being ignored, we are only now starting to take baby steps to mitigate climate change and it’s simply not enough. Even when </span><a href="https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.irwnA1ZB8N-2BHNL3jUmYY-2BKVOBAn0jSsY2iiFL7R2GcY3CmixJJUzvy-2F9q-2BJ68MmGjEahRpLR1HDI2pL2GgV-2Fmof7-2B-2FTSm-2B6nqONtu8mQka7ZLWoJYAxVLN3-2FOYVBgwbraRncoGjgFd-2FG59lmjKbK-2Bg-3D-3D53_h_pb-2B40bGv8VszgSLSxZSae2hniLAOGi35ajohLqdIu8wIVCP-2FjsifAGPrnz8TzLY-2BjN4oLU0vXnqAokNHtUa4M1EKe6UzvTeWwLzBQjVL06T9VbliahhVopTv-2FZkIfPHgDzEpcCQvYmeDAW6q1AQeZpbBaj73gOvKeCeqPZ5dhs8jZ2xt6zCcIx-2BjcVKxD7rmxiMI-2BZIg-2F0KvpB9US9zoGa3NOQv1-2BFEjVK9Xhxoqh-2FvFQq8qJ2Z0vjdI8YBTaxgdD1BrExJlRsT0RvQCuKMapVHrUnXkyQyH7RfW40J-2BiGhjv1PiwXtgmDgBQLjyYUpHPAXQ-2B5ugpYSafsPAlSYECulTox-2FCNlhu5rTWpaGugoWyMBVFg40E13poPgOqPKH8M-2Bnk-2BgiToxwUxdCcHdKSA2Ouj6suxjpm6FqiAAL4jtDNkOyYaGg29taIUJucBTir6Kvjm75-2F6m9xtDwYkNx6IsmDgk3TCA9zGUgk0Q5TwembC3HEE8adY00xR1Gky0CgTuyHuQe-2FLlYQLEEu5ntaDQFtK5q1uoq3YR37zieLl5kAxKrbWH-2Fh4OXlvW-2Bnyd1Ms5bnsEzvVKq-2FuuapIxeLPHifVfMWrqfh-2FEedo-2FVOAUEHRwruR92SPeqD75mDQmDfsV4luWzU9s-2FFmag7kCsUEYKvpRNdNzjwAiVmZPP5bxGm4QJi65yF-2FjaWCRGc70iV2EDDDz6CTucZ5GgRwp2K-2Fqlb0JXQNtD4oaehZNQg4uLv1UtTsDKIoKJCewe6P4sDT6IFEPjpQSbf7F0M1tKGNg3-2Fyge216JO9-2FMZfPKGn4Y-3D" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">accounting</span></b></a><span style="color: #111111;"> for the mineral extraction needed to make EV batteries, EVs have a far lower carbon footprint than petroleum-based cars and are perhaps the best, most accessible tool we have to quickly reduce our carbon impact.</span></span></p></div>Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097019515642724992.post-36032278412974146102024-03-25T09:34:00.000-07:002024-03-25T09:34:16.883-07:00Niger’s junta cancels military agreement with the United States<p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><span style="color: red; font-family: PT serif, Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"><b><i>Athiyan Silva</i></b></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">On March 16, the military junta in Niger, which took power amid mass protests against the French military presence last July, unilaterally canceled a military agreement signed last year, allowing US military personnel and contractors to operate in Niger. Now, after the French withdrawal last year, about 1,100 US military personnel are to leave Niger.</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/f0d18e82-6984-42d3-9ea0-5e47ee2dcb7f?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">In this photo taken Monday, April 16, 2018, a U.S. and Niger flag are raised side by side at the base camp for air forces and other personnel supporting the construction of Niger Air Base 201 in Agadez, Niger <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[AP Photo/Carley Petesch]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Niger junta spokesman Colonel Major Amadou Abdramane said on national television: “The government of Niger, taking into account the aspirations and interests of its people, decides with full responsibility to denounce with immediate effect the agreement relating to the status of military personnel of the United States and civilian employees of the American Department of Defense in the territory of the Republic of Niger.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The announcement by the military follows an unannounced meeting in the Nigerien capital of Niamey on March 12-14 between Nigerien officials and a high-level US delegation led by the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee. General Michael Langley, the commander of the US Africa Command, also participated in this meeting.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Abdramane accused the US delegation of being “disrespectful” and “disrespecting diplomatic procedures.” He stated that Niamey was not informed of the details of the US delegation, the date of their arrival or the agenda. Therefore, he said, “This agreement is not only profoundly unfair in its substance but it also does not meet the aspirations and interests of the Nigerien people.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Abdramane added, “the government of Niger forcefully denounces the condescending attitude accompanied by the threat of retaliation from the head of the American delegation towards the Nigerien government and people.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">During this visit, the US delegation demanded to meet General Abdourahamane Tchiani, the head of the Nigerien junta. However, Tchiani refused to meet the US delegation.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Washington began developing military ties with Niamey in 2003, after the September 11, 2001 attacks and the fraudulent “War on Terror” under the George W. Bush administration. After this, about 1,100 US military personnel and civilian security personnel started operating in Niger under a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) signed between the United States and Niger concluded in 2012.</p><aside data-content-name="33% of article" data-content-piece="/en/articles/2024/03/24/qtch-m24.html" data-track-content="true" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px;"></aside><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The US military operates Airbase 101 in Niamey. It has also built Airbase 201, one of its largest aircraft and drone bases in Africa, near Agadez, 920 km (572 miles) southwest of Niamey. Under the guise of “war against Jihadi groups” in the region, the base operates a fleet of drones. At the same time, US forces do the dirty work of stopping refugees from West Africa and the Sahel region from coming to Europe, placing them instead in detention camps in Agadez.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Intelligence, surveillance and drone reconnaissance operations are carried out from this base across the entire Sahel, from the Red Sea on Africa’s eastern coast to the Atlantic Ocean. The base currently plays a key role not only in NATO wars in West Africa, but in NATO attacks on Houthi forces in Yemen who are attacking Israeli shipping in the Red Sea in retaliation for the genocide in Gaza.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Nigerien military spokesman Abdramane also accused Washington of trying to deny Niger’s right to choose its diplomatic, strategic and commercial partners. He said, “Niger regrets the intention of the American delegation to deny the sovereign Nigerien people the right to choose their partners and types of partnerships capable of truly helping them fight against terrorism.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh responded that US officials had “lengthy and direct” talks with members of the Junta, over US concerns about Nigerien relations with Russia and Iran. “We were troubled by the path Niger took,” Singh said.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Washington is monitoring Russian military activities in Africa to “assess and mitigate potential risks to personnel, American interests and property,” AfricaNews reported.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Washington, Paris and other NATO imperialist powers are notorious for toppling African governments and assassinating political figures they see as obstacles to their domination. They view the economic and military ties African countries including Niger are developing with China, Russia, Iran and other countries as an intolerable threat.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">France is the former colonial overlord in Niger, and its corporations plunder Niger’s vast natural wealth, particularly its uranium mines. It plunged Niger and the entire Sahel into bloodshed by invading neighboring Mali in 2013 on the false pretext of waging a “war on terror.” However, as massacres mounted across the Sahel, there were widespread accusations in the population—echoed even by top state officials—that Paris was secretly arming Islamist terror groups to justify keeping troops to its former empire.</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/baad6195-cde8-46f5-a297-35a2cae5a878?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">A uranium mine in Niger. <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[Photo by Korea Open Government License/Korea Aerospace Research Institute]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Amid mass protests across the Sahel and in Niger against the French military presence, a faction of Niger’s military, previously a fixture of a French-dominated regime, launched a coup and seized power last July. France’s response was ruthless: as it grudgingly moved to withdraw its troops, Paris pressed countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to impose sanctions on Niger. France was forced to completely withdraw its army and diplomatic staff from Niger last December.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">That same month, a delegation led by the Russian Deputy Defense Minister Colonel General Yunus-Bek Yevkurov was received by Tiani, the head of the Nigerien junta. At the end of this meeting, both countries agreed “to the signing of documents as part of the strengthening of military cooperation between the Republic of Niger and the Russian Federation,” Nigerien authorities reported. After the talks in Niamey, the Russian delegation went to the Malian capital, Bamako, for similar talks.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In January, Nigerien Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, Defense Minister Salihou Mody, and the ministers of petroleum and trade made a long diplomatic visit to Russia and Iran. They met Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk in Moscow for talks aimed at deepening the two countries’ economic and military relations.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">During the talks, Overchuk declared, “The Russian Federation regards the Republic of the Niger as a friendly state, with which it has built up mutually beneficial and constructive relations over a long period. We are interested in expanding our trade, economic and investment ties, as well as in boosting trade. For this, it is necessary to take further joint steps to promote our partnership in promising areas such as agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and geological exploration.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In Tehran, the Nigerien delegation reportedly discussed how to deal with ECOWAS sanctions, as Iran has long suffered under crippling US-European sanctions.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">These events show how the Sahel and all of Africa have been drawn in to the global war the NATO alliance is waging on Russia, China and their allies. The war hysteria of French President Emmanuel Macron, who is calling to send European ground troops to Ukraine to fight Russia, reveals how the imperialist powers will brook no challenge to their hegemony. They are determined to cut across any economic ties between Africa and the rest of the world that call into question their domination of the world economy.</p>Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097019515642724992.post-29502511044211748822024-03-25T09:27:00.000-07:002024-03-25T09:27:37.740-07:00Instant denials of Ukrainian intelligence involvement in Russian terror attack are not credible<p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><span style="color: red; font-family: PT serif, Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"><b><i>Clara Weiss</i></b></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Friday’s terror attack at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow, which killed at least 137 people and wounded over 180, is a dangerous new stage in the imperialist war against Russia. </p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/13ea5cb2-1641-4485-9881-b51a0a807d01?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">People lay flowers at a spontaneous memorial in memory of the victims of Moscow attack in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, March 24, 2024. <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the perpetrators were captured on their way to the Ukrainian border, where “a window” had been prepared for them to cross into Ukraine. The four main suspects were identified as immigrants from Tajikistan, a desperately impoverished former Soviet republic in Central Asia. They have pleaded guilty and claim to have acted on behalf of as yet unidentified intermediaries for money. The Afghan-based Islamist terrorist group ISIS-K has claimed responsibility for the attack.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The principal mouthpieces of US imperialism, the <em>New York Times</em> and the <em>Washington Post</em>, have promptly initiated a campaign to deny the involvement of the US and Ukraine in this attack. Both outlets immediately dismissed Putin’s statement about a connection to Ukraine, citing unnamed “US security officials.” Without providing any evidence, they simply echoed the claims of the White House and Kiev, made almost as soon as the attack occurred, that neither the US nor Ukraine were involved. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">How is it possible for the major US media outlets to immediately exclude any connection between this attack and a war raging between Russia and Ukraine, with significant US involvement?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In fact, their claims have no more credibility than their earlier denials of US and Ukrainian involvement in the bombing of the German-Russian Nord Stream gas pipeline. There have been many instances where US denials of culpability later proved to be false. This places the burden of proof on them to prove their innocence. The attack has the mark of the CIA and its proxies in Kiev all over it.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The war propaganda in the media about the terrorist attack reveals its political purpose<em>. </em>The <em>Times</em> wrote, with barely concealed glee, that the attack was “a blow to Mr. Putin’s aura as a leader for whom national security is paramount.” Now, the <em>Times</em> surmised, Russians “might ask whether Mr. Putin, with the invasion and his conflict with the West, truly has the country’s security interests at heart—or whether he is woefully forsaking them, as many of his opponents say he is.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Taking an almost identical line, the <em>Washington</em> <em>Post</em> published a piece under the headline, “Terrorist attack in Russia exposes vulnerabilities of Putin’s regime.” It gloated that the attack “smashed through Putin’s efforts to present Russia as strong, united and resilient” and quoted a “Moscow businessman” criticizing the “lack of responsibility for security at large public events” under Putin.</p><aside data-content-name="33% of article" data-content-piece="/en/articles/2024/03/25/vcnv-m25.html" data-track-content="true" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px;"></aside><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The same line was taken in the <em>Financial Times</em>, which declared that Russian allegations of Ukrainian responsibility serve to “deflect attention from gaps in Moscow’s security system, which have widened since Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The claim that Putin was “distracted” by the Ukraine war does not refute US-Ukrainian involvement in the attack. Rather, it might have been a factor that led NATO plotters to believe that an attack had a high probability of success.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Central to the imperialist propaganda about the supposed “non-involvement” of the US and Ukraine is the fact that ISIS-K has claimed responsibility for the attack. But the involvement of ISIS-K would not disprove Ukrainian and US involvement. On the contrary. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">ISIS-K is largely a creation of US imperialism and its decades-long wars in the Middle East and Central Asia. In 2021, the <em>Wall Street Journal</em> reported that US-trained intelligence agents and elite counterinsurgency troops were joining ISIS-K in Afghanistan. Tajikistan, from where the suspected terrorists hail, has long been entangled in the armed conflicts in Afghanistan, going back to the 1980s when the US trained and funded Islamist fundamentalists in its war against the Soviet Union. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In this context, the March 7 warning by the US embassy in Moscow of an impending major terrorist attack in Russia, can only be interpreted as an attempt to create an alibi for the US in the lead-up to the operation of its proxies.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The involvement of Ukrainian intelligence, which coordinates its day-to-day operations closely with NATO and the US, is also all but evident. In January 2023, the <em>Times </em><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/08/world/europe/ukraine-russia-volunteers-chechens-tatars.html" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0b5394;">reported</span></a> that nationalist and far-right elements from across the former Soviet Union, including Russia’s North Caucasus and Central Asia, had flocked to Ukraine to fight in NATO’s war against Russia. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">As the <em>Times </em>wrote, “most of them harbor long-term political ambitions to return home and overthrow the Russian and Belarusian governments. … The volunteers themselves say that they are acting with the full knowledge and under the orders of the Ukrainian Army and intelligence services. Many of their operations are covert, including dangerous reconnaissance or sabotage missions behind Russian lines.” </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">And just days before the Moscow terror attack, the<em> Times</em> hailed Russian neo-Nazis, which “were openly backed by Ukraine’s military intelligence agency” for an incursion of the country during the presidential elections as “rebellious Russians.” Their “daring attacks,” the <em>Times</em> wrote, could help “undermine the sense of stability in Russia and divert the country’s military resources from Ukraine.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The line of argument developed by the <em>Times</em> and rebroadcast in the world press reveals the political purpose of the terrorist operation. With NATO’s proxy forces in Ukraine facing a military debacle, the terror attack in Moscow was part of the efforts to open up a second front in the war, within Russia itself.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The aim is three-fold: First, to embolden opposition to the Putin regime within the oligarchy and state apparatus; second, to provoke a military response by the Kremlin that can serve as the pretext for a further escalation of the war by NATO; and third, to foster ethnic and religious tensions within Russia that would destabilize the regime and facilitate the carve-up of the entire region by the imperialist powers. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">This strategy stands in a long and sinister tradition. The Nazis mobilized nationalist and far-right forces of the so-called <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/05/31/pil1-m31.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;">Intermarium</a> alliance throughout Eastern Europe and the Caucasus when they invaded the Soviet Union in World War II. During the Cold War, the US deployed these fascist networks in its covert warfare against the Soviet Union. The Stalinist destruction of the Soviet Union and the restoration of capitalism enabled the imperialist powers to pursue this reactionary strategy on a hitherto unprecedented scale.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">This goes not least for Russia itself. For over a decade, the imperialist powers have systematically built up an anti-Putin faction in the Russian oligarchy and state around the late Alexei Navalny. While glorified by the <em>Times</em> as a “democrat,” Navalny for years co-organized Russia’s largest annual fascist event, the “Russian March,” denounced immigrants from the Caucasus and Central Asia as “cockroaches” and maintained close ties to separatist tendencies throughout the country. Other prominent opposition leaders, the ex-oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and Ilya Ponomaryov openly advocate the break-up of the Russian Federation into a series of separate statelets.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">While over 70 percent of Russia’s population of about 140 million are ethnic Russians, the country is home to over 190 ethnic groups. Muslims comprise at least a tenth of the population. Many of them live in a few largely Muslim republics as well as the North Caucasus, where the Kremlin has waged two brutal wars against Chechen separatists between 1994 and 2009. In addition, there are some 17 million immigrants living in Russia who mostly come from former Soviet republics such as Tajikistan and belong to the most exploited sections of the working class. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The social basis and politics of the oligarchic Putin regime make it highly vulnerable to the machinations of the imperialist powers. Its invocation of Great Russian chauvinism and nationalism serves to disorient, divide and demobilize the working class and, ultimately, aids the imperialist war aims. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">There is a real danger that the Putin regime and other right-wing forces will try to direct the popular shock toward the targeting of different national and ethnic communities while stepping up state repression. Already, on Saturday, Moscow police launched raids of immigrant living quarters, and social media reports indicated a developing boycott of predominantly Tajik cab drivers.</p>Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097019515642724992.post-20206856474687721012024-03-25T09:12:00.000-07:002024-03-25T09:12:33.517-07:00Massive budget cuts and layoffs announced for K-12 will devastate school districts across the US<p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><span style="color: red; font-family: PT serif, Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"><b><i>Renae Cassimeda</i></b></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">School districts across the US face an unprecedented fiscal cliff for the approaching 2024-2025 school year. Preliminary budget proposals have been announced by districts throughout the nation this month and outline a clear jobs bloodbath and massive cuts to resources and programs in K-12 education. </p><div class="dn-p mv4 pr5-l" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin-bottom: 2rem; margin-top: 2rem; padding-right: 4rem;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; margin: 10px auto; max-width: 550px; width: 550px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" class="" data-tweet-id="1772271418039754829" frameborder="0" id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=true&id=1772271418039754829&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsws.org%2Fen%2Farticles%2F2024%2F03%2F25%2Fpcud-m25.html&sessionId=407965d9e0ed1c2df621ad56aee66181a23503bf&siteScreenName=WSWS_Updates&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="display: block; flex-grow: 1; height: 644px; position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px;" title="X Post"></iframe></div></div></div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Various factors have been cited in the mainstream media as contributors to the ongoing financial crisis for K-12 schools, which include the ending of COVID-19 relief funding, overall decline in enrollment, declines in birth rates. Numerous other factors, including increased homelessness, the growth of enrollment in charter schools and homeschooling as the result of decades-long budget cuts to public schools largely go unreported in corporate news outlets.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The final installment of Federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds, will expire in September 2024. The COVID-19 relief money, which has totaled roughly $190 billion, was meant to help schools address needs arising from the pandemic, including making up for learning loss during the pandemic, but many districts have used it for one-time staffing costs to keep districts budgets afloat.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Much of state and federal funding for public education is tied to district enrollment figures. US public schools have seen a significant decline in enrollment over the past few years while the number of students in charter and private schools has increased. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools reported a 2 percent increase in charter school enrollment for the 2022-2023 school year. Figures from the <em>Washington Post</em> indicate that the number of homeschooled children in America has almost doubled from 1.5 million children in 2019 to 2.7 million in 2023.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">It is also worth noting the 2023 study by Stanford University and the Associated Press which found over 240,000 “missing” students who were no longer attending public schools between the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years but not accounted for. Numerous factors play a role, including the significant impact of Long COVID, the growth of homelessness, parents being forced to work more than one job and other forms of social and economic distress that cause students to drop out of school.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In addition to the approaching end of federal COVID-19 relief funding this September, Congress approved early Saturday morning the second half of resolutions for the 2024 federal budget. According to a recent report by K-12 Dive, the federal budget includes $500 million less for the Department of Education as compared to the 2023 fiscal year and represents the first major cut to education since 2015. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The federal cuts to public education come as Congress and the Biden administration have allocated vast sums for war and expansion of the military. More than half of domestic discretionary spending, $886.3 billion, will go to the Department of Defense. Biden is also calling for more military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan to ramp up America’s wars for global conquest. Less than half of the remaining discretionary funds are to be divided up among various agencies, including public education, healthcare and others. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">While several compounding factors have contributed to the attacks on public education, all of them emerge from the prioritization of Wall Street profit-taking and US imperialist wars over the lives of children or the jobs of school workers.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Mass opposition is mounting throughout the country to the slashing of budgets and their impact on public education. In every district where cuts have been announced, students, parents, teachers and school staff have spoken out. School board meetings have seen hundreds of people lining up to call for revoking the cuts that would all greatly impact the quality of education in their respective districts. In multiple cases, students, parents and teachers have organized walkouts, protests and sickouts in support of their teachers and schools. </p><h4 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.75rem; line-height: 1.25; margin: 3rem 0px 2rem;">West Coast</h4><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD), the second largest district in California, recently announced over 400 preliminary layoff notices to teachers and school staff to close a $94 million budget deficit. Teachers have organized a rally this next week in opposition to the cuts. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In the Los Angeles region’s Anaheim Union High School District (AUHSD), students and parents protested a school board decision to gut 10 percent from the school budget, including the layoff of an estimated 120 teachers. Eighth grade student Hailey Sotelo helped organize the protest in support of her teachers and school staff. Speaking to local news media at the protest, Sotelo said, “We’re concerned about how big class sizes are going to be. Class size does determine how well a teacher can teach.”</p><aside data-content-name="33% of article" data-content-piece="/en/articles/2024/03/25/pcud-m25.html" data-track-content="true" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px;"></aside><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">A petition is circulating online among students and community members opposed to the cuts which has received over 3,000 signatures. One AUHSD student, Carol Huang, wrote, “Teachers aren’t just numbers; they are the people who help students grow and learn, the ones that are guiding our futures. Think about all the people aspiring to be teachers too. All this does is disappoint and discourage future teachers and educators. Can I really say I’m proud of my school district if the teachers are not even protected? If some of the most important influences on my life can just be erased after all their hard work?”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">On Friday, teachers in Salem-Keizer School District in Oregon voted by 94 percent to authorize a strike amid contract negotiations with the district. While calling for major cuts due to an estimated $60 million budget deficit, district officials have claimed there is no money for teachers’ demands to lower heavy workloads, decrease large class sizes and for pay raises. According to Tyler Scialo-Lakeberg, the president of the Salem-Keizer teachers union, cuts might include reducing many full-time positions to part-time work. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The school board in Vancouver, Washington, recently voted to slash $35 million from the budget resulting in over 260 layoffs of teachers, counselors, librarians and other school staff. Walkouts at multiple high schools were carried out by students throughout last week in opposition to the cuts and layoffs. A flyer circulating among students and staff at Vancouver School of Arts and Academics (VSAA) stated, “VSAA is ultimately getting gutted as an art school so please walk out, email the superintendent and talk to everyone you know about this. Transparency and visibility are so important right now!” Students carried signs including, “Fund our Future” and “Fund School Not War.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Also in Washington, the Seattle Public Schools faces a massive $105 million deficit for the coming 2024-2025 school year, and officials have announced initial plans for sweeping cuts to the district which include the closure or consolidation of dozens of schools in the district. The cuts for the next school year come in addition to $100 million in cuts that have already been carried out for the 2023-2024 school year. </p><h4 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.75rem; line-height: 1.25; margin: 3rem 0px 2rem;">Midwest</h4><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Last week, teachers in Flint Public Schools (FPS) in Michigan carried out a powerful one-day sickout and unanimous vote to strike. Teachers in the district face untenable conditions, with many working multiple jobs to make ends meet. In January, the district rescinded a contract agreement made with the United Teachers of Flint (UTF), citing a $14 million budget deficit. Teachers are outraged over the rejection of the agreement by the district. For its role, the UTF had failed to call a strike vote until after teachers carried out a sickout. Teacher wages have been frozen since 2012. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Sweeping budget cuts are also being carried out throughout the Detroit region. On Thursday, the Ann Arbor school district announced mass layoffs of school staff to cut $25 million from the 2024-2025 budget. Wayne-Westland School District had planned to pass a multimillion-dollar budget cut plan at Thursday’s board meeting but voted to delay the decision after the meeting erupted in opposition from teachers, bus drivers and other school workers. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">According to the Association of Metropolitan School Districts, more than 70 percent of Minnesota’s metro school districts expect deficits this next school year. Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) teachers have been fighting the Democratic Party’s funding reductions since July. MPS announced a $90 million budget deficit and an initial proposal for major cuts for the upcoming school year which include cuts to over 200 full-time positions in the district. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Having recently averted a strike with the help of the Saint Paul Federation of Educators union, Saint Paul Public Schools recently announced its preliminary plans to close its own $100 million budget deficit, which will include cuts to afterschool programs, teacher prep time, food service and custodial staff funding. </p><h4 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.75rem; line-height: 1.25; margin: 3rem 0px 2rem;">The South</h4><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The Houston Independent School District, the largest district in Texas, recently announced punitive budget cuts to schools. Superintendent Mike Miles has required dozens of schools in the district to cut up to 12 percent from their sites for the upcoming school year, resulting in part of his plan to cut $15 million from an over $250 million deficit. The cuts will target 140 schools in the district that have not yet implemented the superintendent’s reform program, the “New Education System” (NES). Twenty-five schools will be required to cut the full 12 percent. A major decrease in enrollment—by over 32,000 students since the 2016-2017 school year—is being used as the justification to drastically reduce state funding. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Kanawha County Schools in West Virginia is facing multiple school closures and job cuts for the upcoming school year. Fifty-two school staff face potential layoffs, and the district has announced the closure of three schools in the county where the state capital of Charleston is located. This occurs as state educators mark the sixth anniversary of the wildcat strikes in 2018 that sparked a national wave of educators’ walkouts against bipartisan austerity and school privatization. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In Arkansas, school districts in financial distress can be taken over by charter school companies. Little Rock School District (LRSD) announced its plans to cut $16 million from the budget to avoid privatized takeover. Cuts include rearranging of middle school schedules in such a way that would necessitate cutting 11 positions and save close to $1 million. Further cuts include laying off support staff, leadership and office jobs.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">New Hanover County Schools (NHCS) in Alabama has a $20 million shortfall and has proposed slashing 224 school staff positions and 56 school office staff positions. </p><h4 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.75rem; line-height: 1.25; margin: 3rem 0px 2rem;">East Coast</h4><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">New York City Public Schools face an ongoing massive budget crisis. In January, $100 million in cuts were announced by the Democratic administration of Mayor Eric Adams for the upcoming school year in the face of a $700 million shortfall. The district is planning over $100 million in cuts to Pre-K services, which has received enormous opposition from parents.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Also in New York state, middle and high school students at Hamburg Central School District just south of Buffalo, New York, walked out of classrooms over the layoff of 27 teachers and school staff. At last week’s school board meeting, hundreds of teachers, parents and students opposed the cuts.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Brockton Public Schools (BPS) in Massachusetts faces a shortfall of up to $25 million for the 2023-2024 school year. The district is carrying out significant cuts to cover the deficit and avoid a state takeover. Schools have reported a major staffing crisis, and students are being left unattended in the cafeteria for hours. In February, several members of the Brockton school committee requested that the Massachusetts National Guard be deployed to manage safety concerns in the high school.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">D.C. Public Schools officials anticipate an estimated 200-450 positions will be eliminated from the district. Given the drying up of COVID-19 relief funds, many of the layoffs will be of support staff, who have provided critical services for students. Mayor Muriel Bowser recently stated that individual school sites will have to decide which positions are cut. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">On Wednesday, elementary students and parents protested budget cuts in Howard County, Maryland. Howard County Public Schools (HCPS) recently announced cuts to important student programs for the 2025 school budget. Programs are being slashed for gifted and talented students, and the entire third grade strings program is being gutted. The latter program is an integral part of the district’s beloved and revered instrumental music program. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Layoffs have been announced, as well as the increasing of class sizes by two students. A petition to restore third-grade strings has more than 5,700 signatures, and a petition to restore elementary gifted and talented programs has over 1,700 signatures. During last week’s protest outside one of the Howard County government buildings, multiple elementary school students played their violins and cellos to demonstrate their opposition to the cuts to their music education. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The current growing opposition among teachers and school workers to decades of austerity in public schools comes after the wave of teacher rebellions in 2018-2019 and has continued throughout the ongoing pandemic. Since 2022, teachers and school workers have carried out strikes and sickout actions in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Minneapolis, New Haven, Durham, Flint, Seattle and elsewhere. Even further, tens of thousands of educators demanded strike action over the deepening assault on public education as funds are drained from social programs to pay for war. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">With each struggle the treachery of the trade union bureaucracies led by the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association have resulted in concessionary contracts, no guarantees of staffing, and enshrined cuts to real wages, lack of resources and now massive budget cuts. The union bureaucracies also enforced Biden’s back-to-school orders despite the ongoing pandemic and the lack of elemental ventilation systems in decaying school systems. Above all, the AFT and NEA bureaucracies are deeply entrenched in the Democratic Party and its reckless military confrontations with Russia and China, which threaten the nuclear annihilation of civilization.</p>Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097019515642724992.post-50728086831868530162024-03-23T05:03:00.000-07:002024-03-23T05:03:24.508-07:00At least 60 dead, 145 wounded, in Moscow terrorist attack<p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><span style="color: red; font-family: PT serif, Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"><b><i>Clara Weiss</i></b></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">A terror attack at a popular Moscow concert hall, Crocus City Hall, Friday evening local time left at least 60 dead and 145 injured. Russian authorities declared that the number of dead may well rise. Among those injured are several children. The Afghan-based fundamentalist Islamist group ISIS-K has claimed responsibility for what is the largest terrorist attack in Russia in two decades.</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/117e0acd-044e-4d2e-abf5-bb17b4fc4a2c?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">A Russian Rosguardia (National Guard) servicemen secures an area as a massive blaze seen over the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2024. <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[AP Photo]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The attack involved a group of at least four armed men who began shooting at the crowd of some 6,000 people shortly before the beginning of a concert by the popular rock group “Piknik” (Picnic) at 8pm local time. Video footage of the attack has widely circulated on social media and survivors of the attack have described horrific scenes to the media. A woman called Eva told <em>Gazeta.Ru</em>, “First we saw something that looked like fireworks, and then the sounds of gunfire began, people shouting to run. Of course, people were in panic. People in Crocus were building barricades, trying to break the windows.” </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The Russian secret service FSB and Russia’s national guard stormed the building but reports indicate that the rescue operation took well over an hour. According to Russian media reports, drivers who passed by the building helped people evacuate the site of the attack. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In addition to the machine gunfire, several explosive devices went off, setting the theater ablaze and leading to the collapse of its roof. Russian media reports indicated that the fire extended to an area of almost 13,000 square meters.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">As of this writing, fire-fighting operations were ongoing and Russian authorities were still looking for the perpetrators. Heightened security measures were introduced at metro stations throughout the capital as well as the airports in the Moscow area, and all large-scale public events in the capital were canceled for this weekend. Russian President Vladimir Putin has not yet issued a statement. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The terror attack took place as tensions between NATO and Russia, which are engaged in a proxy war in Ukraine, were reaching fever-pitch. Days before the attack, Vladimir Putin was confirmed the victor in last weekend’s presidential elections. The elections were preceded by announcements of French President Emmanuel Macron that NATO was considering to deploy troops to Ukraine amidst a severe crisis of the NATO-backed Ukrainian army. In the days leading up to the election, a series of missile strikes on the border region of Belgorod killed at least 5 civilians and forced the closure of schools and shopping malls. During the election itself, Russian neo-Nazi militias, backed by Ukraine and NATO, launched in incursion of Russian territory. It was the first attack on Russian territory involving tanks since the defeat of the Nazis by the Red Army in World War II.</p><aside data-content-name="33% of article" data-content-piece="/en/articles/2024/03/23/cxcp-m23.html" data-track-content="true" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px;"></aside><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Over the past two years of the war, terrorist attacks, mostly targeting prominent supporters of the Kremlin in the war, drone strikes on Moscow as well as Russian oil refineries and ports, have become a central component of NATO’s and Ukraine’s war strategy. Hours before the attack took place, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s press secretary, for the first time used the term “war”, as opposed to the official term of a “special military operation”, to describe Russia’s conflict with NATO in Ukraine. Peskov stated, “Yes, it started as a special military operation. But as soon as this gang developed and the collective west started participating in the conflict on the side of Ukraine, for us it became a war.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Volodymyr Zelensky and several of his advisers were quick to deny wide-spread speculations that Ukraine was behind the terrorist attacks and John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications for the National Security Council, declared that the US believed that Ukraine was not involved in the attack.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">On March 7, the US embassy in Moscow had issued a security alert, urging Americans to avoid crowded places in the Russian capital for the next 48 hours in view of “imminent” plans by terrorists to target large gatherings, including concerts. Several Western embassies repeated the warnings. On Tuesday, Putin denounced these warnings as “provocative statements” and “blackmail” aimed to “destabilize” the country.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">When asked about the March 7 warning of the US embassy on Friday, John Kirby stated that “I don’t think that was related to this specific attack.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Shortly thereafter, ISIS-K (Islamic State-Khorasan), the Afghanistan-based group of the Islamist terrorist organization Islamic State (ISIS), claimed responsibility for the attack on social media. US officials confirmed the claim and told the <em>New York Times</em> that they had gathered intelligence in March about an impending attack. According to the <em>Times</em>, which routinely functions as a mouthpiece for the US intelligence services, US officials “had privately told Russian officials about the intelligence pointing to an impending attack.” </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">As of this writing, the Russian authorities have not commented on the claims by the US or ISIS-K. In February, the Russian secret service, FSB claimed that it had broken up an ISIS cell in Kaluga, a city southwest of Moscow, and killed two ISIS members from Central Asia. In early March, the FSB reported that it had “liquidated” another ISIS cell in the Kaluga region, which was composed of militant Islamists from Afghanistan. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Friday’s attack was the deadliest attack in Russia since the 2004 Beslan school siege by Islamist fundamentalists, which killed at least 334 people, roughly half of them children, and the deadliest in the Russian capital since the 2002 siege of a Moscow theater which resulted in more than 170 dead.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">These sieges were part of a series of Islamist terrorist attacks that rocked Russia, especially in the 2000s. There have also been several Islamist terrorist attacks over the past decade, but virtually all of them took place in the predominantly Muslim North Caucasus. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">That wave of terrorist attacks took place in the context of two brutal wars that the Kremlin waged on Chechnya and an Islamist separatist movement between 1994 and 2009 to prevent the break-off of the predominantly Muslim North Caucasian republic from the Russian Federation. It is estimated that up to a tenth of the Chechen population was killed in these wars. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Especially in the 1990s, Chechen separatist forces enjoyed the backing of US imperialism which has long sought to foster separatist, ethnic and religious tensions in the multi-national country, in order to bring about the destabilization and break-up of Russia. The country is home to about 14 million Muslims (roughly ten percent of the population.)</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Islamist separatists from the North Caucasus are known to have developed close ties with al-Qaeda, ISIS as well as the Taliban which have ruled Afghanistan since the US troop withdrawal in 2021. Other Chechen radical Islamists have joined US-backed Islamist militias that have been fighting against the Russian-backed Assad government in the civil war in Syria.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The close ties between Chechen Islamist separatists and various Islamist fundamentalist groups throughout Central Asia and the Middle East, many of which have connections to the US, have been a central concern of the Kremlin for many years.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In 2021, the <em>Wall Street Journal</em> <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/left-behind-after-u-s-withdrawal-some-former-afghan-spies-and-soldiers-turn-to-islamic-state-11635691605" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0b5394;">reported</span></a> that US intelligence agents and elite counterinsurgency troops, who had been trained by the CIA and the Pentagon during the 20-year US occupation of Afghanistan, were joining the Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K), the group that now claims responsibility for the attack in Moscow. As the WSWS explained at the time, the CIA had “intimate connections to the emergence of ISIS.” The CIA had also trained Osama bin Laden and other future al-Qaeda leaders as part of the US-funded mujahideen guerrilla war in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union in the 1980s.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Regardless of the immediate culprit of Friday’s terrorist attack, it is clear that it took place in a context of an expanding and escalating war against Russia by the imperialist powers. This conflict already extends well beyond Ukraine to the Middle East and other parts of the world. It has destabilized the entire former Soviet Union, large parts of Central Asia and Eastern Europe, and the forces unleashed by this growing global conflict involve not only Russian and Ukrainian neo-Nazis but also Islamist militias that have been bred by decades of US wars of plunder in the Middle East.</p>Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097019515642724992.post-12455224953237611012024-03-23T04:53:00.000-07:002024-03-23T04:53:40.631-07:00Homeless Australians dying 30 years younger than the national average<p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><span style="color: red; font-family: PT serif, Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"><b><i>Vicki Mylonas</i></b></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Homeless people in Australia are dying on average 30 years earlier than the general population, according to several recent studies. The reports, which suggest that even a brief period of rough sleeping can have an enormous impact on health and life expectancy, are of particular concern amid a rise in homelessness, including of people with paid jobs.</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/06f6ae9d-f60f-46fd-86d7-5c7083d9e206?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">Homelessness on the rise in Australia <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[Photo: Mission Australia]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The true extent of this crisis remains concealed to the general public, as no Australian government compiles specific data on deaths among the homeless population.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The <em>Guardian’s</em> “Out in the Cold” series is based on a 12-month investigation into the cause of 627 homeless deaths it was able to identify between January 2010 and December 2020. This involved combing through 10 years’ worth of non-public death reports to state coroners and an analysis of inquest findings.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">As not all deaths are reported to the coroner, and the fact that a person was homeless is frequently not noted in the coronial records, the <em>Guardian</em> considers this to be a “vast undercount.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Of the 627 deaths that could be identified, the average age at death for homeless men was 45.2 years and for women, 40.1 years. The median age at death among the general population is 79 years for men and 85 years for women.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The overwhelming majority of the deceased—87.1 percent—were men. Indigenous Australians were also significantly overrepresented, making up 21.5 percent of the 627 deaths despite comprising 3.2 percent of the total population.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Natural causes were responsible for 158 of the deaths, while 130 were from intentional self-harm. At least 24 were caused by assault. Drug toxicity was the most common external factor, as the primary contributor to 203 deaths, while 74 were from asphyxiation by hanging.</p><aside data-content-name="33% of article" data-content-piece="/en/articles/2024/03/23/wuxj-m23.html" data-track-content="true" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px;"></aside><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Deborah Di Natale, chief executive of the Council to Homeless Persons, described the premature deaths as the “stark reality” of homelessness. “It is really dangerous to be experiencing homelessness,” she said, adding that living on the streets poses an increased risk of death due to untreated illnesses and lack of adequate access to health care.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The overrepresentation of “deaths of despair”—suicide and drug overdose—points to both the demoralising and debilitating effect of homelessness and poverty, as well as the broader crisis of public mental health care.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Another study, of 324 deaths in Sydney, by Macquarie University researchers found that the mortality rate of homeless people was 80 percent higher than that of the general population, across age groups.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">A 15-year longitudinal study by Melbourne researchers determined that people who experienced even a single episode of homelessness were almost four times more susceptible to premature death than the average.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In Perth, a study led by the University of Notre Dame Australia’s Professor Lisa Wood, based on hospital records, found that the median age of death for homeless was 50 years. Their research revealed that in 2021, at least 70 homeless people died in Perth, a city of around 2.2 million people.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Wood said, in response to the refusal of governments to track homeless deaths, “I can’t help but think it’s such an uncomfortable truth that in some ways, it’s less confronting for governments and others if it remains hidden.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In 2021, David Pearson, chief executive of the Australian Alliance to End Homelessness, wrote to Greg Hunt, then health minister in the federal Liberal-National government under Scott Morrison, warning that the failure to collect even the most basic data about homelessness deaths was a national emergency.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Pearson called on the government to develop a reporting framework that would allow hospitals and other services to report on these deaths. He said that Hunt did not respond to this appeal and that the Morrison government referred him to the (predominantly Labor) state governments. Most of the states, he added, did not even respond.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The Australian Medical Association has called the premature deaths of homeless Australians a national tragedy and has advocated for the government to both invest in a monitoring regime and improve housing and health services.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The <em>Guardian</em> investigation has prompted a degree of hand-wringing in parliament.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Federal Housing Minister Julie Collins described the premature deaths as “completely unacceptable,” but refused to commit to the establishment of a federal reporting scheme. Instead, she reiterated the Labor government’s paltry pledge to deliver 30,000 new social and affordable homes over the next five years, not even 5 percent of the expected shortfall.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Reforms to the reporting of homeless deaths are now being considered in New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria. But while tracking these figures is critical, it would not in and of itself address the roots of the crisis—an acute lack of affordable housing and the slashing of real wages and social spending, spearheaded by Labor governments at state and federal level.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Confronted with unprecedented and growing demand, homelessness services are facing a $73 million funding cliff by the end of 2024, which would put at risk 700 critical support jobs.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The tragedy of premature homeless deaths is not an isolated phenomenon but the sharpest expression of the broader impact of social inequality on health outcomes. A study by Victoria University in 2021 revealed that wealthy Australians live up to 6.4 years longer than those on the lower end socio-economic scale. The report added that even middle-income Australians are 23 percent more likely to die early of a preventable illness compared to the top income earners.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">This underscores the fact that the capitalist system is fundamentally incapable of satisfying even the most basic needs of human life. This has been starkly revealed during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The profit-driven “let it rip” policies embraced by governments worldwide have caused some 30 million preventable deaths. In Australia, overall life expectancy declined for the first time since World War II as a result.</p>Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097019515642724992.post-68854539906108281212024-03-22T13:01:00.000-07:002024-03-22T13:01:52.591-07:00Greek government enacts private university laws, facing down mass protests with police repression<p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><span style="color: red; font-family: PT serif, Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"><b><i>Robert Stevens</i></b></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis pledged this week to continue the brutal crackdown on students, youth and workers fighting new university legislation. The bill opens university education to the private sector and is aimed at dismantling the right to free universal higher education. It was passed by 159 to 129 votes in the 300-seat parliament in which New Democracy holds a clear majority.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Greece has 24 accredited public universities, as well as several private colleges. More than 650,000 students are currently enrolled at state-run universities.</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/2f26a987-5e97-4dd4-8c96-ce7c93877479?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">Riots police clash with students in front of the Parliament during a demonstration in Athens, Greece, March 8, 2024 <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The new measures allow private universities to operate as Greek branches of foreign educational institutions and will be able to offer degrees equivalent to those offered by public universities. Although operating under a “nonprofit” status, they would be able to charge tuition fees.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The law will favour wealthy families able to pay exorbitant fees. By eroding public provision, it will harm young people’s job prospects in a country where youth unemployment has been at record levels for over a decade.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Passing the law was unconstitutional as private institutions have been prohibited from operating as independent universities for almost 50 years. Following the fall of the military junta in 1973, Article 16 of the 1975 Constitution stipulated that tertiary education is exclusively “public and free of charge”.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Greece’s ruling elite, with many ties to those in power during the junta era, wants to restore private sector control over campuses and quell an area of society that has long been a bastion of left-wing ideology and activity.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Tens of thousands of students have protested nationwide over the last months, with riot police brutally attacking demonstrations. By the third week of January, around 250 out of Greece’s 450 faculties and departments were under occupation, with hundreds of academics signing petitions opposing the private university plans. The conservative daily <em>Kathimerini</em> referred to student assemblies as “battlefields” and occupations as a “virus” that had “also spread to secondary education”.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">On March 9, tens of thousands protested in Athen’s Syntagma Square, with the participation of nearly 200 student groups from universities nationwide, alongside others protesting Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Riot police attacked demonstrators with tear gas and stun grenades and waded into them with batons and shields.</p><div class="dn-p mv4 pr5-l" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin-bottom: 2rem; margin-top: 2rem; padding-right: 4rem;"><div class="bg-black-05 pa3 pa4-m br4 center" style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); border-radius: 1rem; box-sizing: border-box; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 550px; padding: 2rem;"><div class="flex justify-center items-center mv2 mv3-m" style="align-items: center; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; height: 480px; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 1rem;"><img class="db mr3" src="https://www.wsws.org/img/loading.gif" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-right: 1rem; max-width: 100%;" /><div class="avenir f7 f6-m black-60" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;">Loading Tweet ...</div></div><div class="avenir f7 black-60 tc" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.75rem; text-align: center;">Tweet not loading? <a class="black-60" href="https://twitter.com/user/status/1766386136279085516" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6);">See it directly on Twitter</a></div></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; margin: 10px auto; max-width: 550px; width: 550px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" class="" frameborder="0" id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=true&id=1766386136279085516&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsws.org%2Fen%2Farticles%2F2024%2F03%2F21%2Fzvab-m21.html&sessionId=4d02fd2d3dba404867d962019cf50ea951da4aa5&siteScreenName=WSWS_Updates&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="display: block; flex-grow: 1; height: 0px; position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px;" title="X Post"></iframe></div></div></div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Anna Adamidi, a philosophy student on the protest, told Associated Press, “This government wants to privatise everything ... but at the same time, the cost of living is going up and up and our wages remain pitiful. The private sector comes in and dismantles public education, making use of resources that they will pay nothing for.”</p><aside data-content-name="33% of article" data-content-piece="/en/articles/2024/03/21/zvab-m21.html" data-track-content="true" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px;"></aside><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">On March 16, riot police smashed into Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and arrested 49 students involved in the occupation of several departments at the School of Applied Sciences. The arrested, aged between 19 and 30, were charged with obstruction of justice and serious disruption of the smooth operation of a legal entity under public law.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">At the same time, police raided the University of Athens’ Zografou campus, making two arrests.</p><div class="dn-p mv4 pr5-l" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin-bottom: 2rem; margin-top: 2rem; padding-right: 4rem;"><div class="bg-black-05 pa3 pa4-m br4 center" style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); border-radius: 1rem; box-sizing: border-box; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 550px; padding: 2rem;"><div class="flex justify-center items-center mv2 mv3-m" style="align-items: center; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; height: 480px; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 1rem;"><img class="db mr3" src="https://www.wsws.org/img/loading.gif" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-right: 1rem; max-width: 100%;" /><div class="avenir f7 f6-m black-60" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;">Loading Tweet ...</div></div><div class="avenir f7 black-60 tc" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.75rem; text-align: center;">Tweet not loading? <a class="black-60" href="https://twitter.com/user/status/1769046024159424801" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6);">See it directly on Twitter</a></div></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; margin: 10px auto; max-width: 550px; width: 550px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" class="" frameborder="0" id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=true&id=1769046024159424801&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsws.org%2Fen%2Farticles%2F2024%2F03%2F21%2Fzvab-m21.html&sessionId=4d02fd2d3dba404867d962019cf50ea951da4aa5&siteScreenName=WSWS_Updates&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="display: block; flex-grow: 1; height: 0px; position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px;" title="X Post"></iframe></div></div></div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">On Tuesday, Mitsotakis vowed to continue the crackdown, saying, “I want to again repeat that illegal acts will not be tolerated; the government and Greek Police will be at the forefront in rendering university institutions to those who really belong there, students and professors, so that universities remain centres of knowledge and not a refuge for those… who seek to turn them into dens of violence and a space for barren conflicts”.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Every previous attempt by right-wing conservative-led governments to allow private universities was prevented by mass protests.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Almost 20 years ago—in 2006 and prior to the onset of mass austerity imposed in Greece by successive governments from 2010—students and academic staff held months of mass demonstrations, rallies and occupations of universities. The movement against the Karamanlis ND government saw 350 of Greece’s 456 faculties under occupation by students, with more than 100,000 students participating in rallies and protests.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The ability of ND to sweep into office last year, pursue its class war agenda, and finally pass the laws, is entirely the responsibility of <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/topics/event/2015-2019-syriza-greece" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;">Syriza</a> (Coalition of the Radical Left-Progressive Alliance.)</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Taking power in 2015 under Alexis Tsipras, Syriza, with staunch backing from pseudo-left groups internationally—who hailed it as the wave of the future—deepened an austerity offensive in alliance with the trade unions, without precedent on the European continent. Tsipras authorised the use of police units to break up a student occupation at the Technical University of Athens within months of taking office.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In July 2019, Syriza was booted out of office as millions of workers deserted this rotten party. Routed again in the 2023 election, though still the main opposition party in parliament, Syriza now reaches barely 10 percent in the polls.</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/fa383f7f-c34c-4f91-a9d6-e5fe4934c27f?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">Greece's Prime Minister and New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis, right, and leader of the main opposition Syriza party, Alexis Tsipras, laugh before a debate at the premises of public broadcaster ERT in Athens, Greece, Wednesday, May 10, 2023. Heads of Greece's political parties participate in a televised debate ahead of the country's May 21 elections. <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The ruling class seized on this opportunity. In 2021, ND passed its authoritarian Education Bill, again in the face of large protests, establishing a special campus police force for the surveillance of universities. The force is not only allowed on campus but empowered to arrest those deemed troublemakers by the authorities. It is answerable to the Hellenic Police rather than to the education institutions they patrol. Since 2019 there have been around 45 police operations in occupied university premises.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">These moves built on the abolition in 2011 of the Academic Asylum law by the social democratic PASOK government.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The 1982 law, under which police could only enter university campuses with permission, and which guaranteed students sanctuary from arrest or state brutality, was born from the bloody legacy of the junta. It was enacted in response to popular anger over the brutal state murder of students who took part in the uprising at the Polytechnic in Athens on November 17, 1973. On that day students had launched strike action under the slogan of “bread, education, freedom” against the military, which had taken power in 1967.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In November 2011, Lucas Papademos’s coalition government—including PASOK, ND and the far-right Popular Orthodox Rally—authorised police entry into a public university, at Thessaloniki, for the first time since 1982.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The abolition of the 1982 law was demanded by the United States. Among the huge haul of diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks in 2010 was one from Daniel V. Speckhard, the former US ambassador in Athens. Calling for its scrapping, Speckhard described the law as “nothing more than a legal cover for hoodlums to wreak destruction with impunity”.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Syriza is duplicitous. Its 36 deputies voted against the new university legislation, but its new leader, Stefanos Kasselakis—a former trader at Goldman Sachs in the US as well as the owner of several shipping companies—has been a long-time advocate of private universities operating in Greece.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Kasselakis wrote a series of anti-working-class screeds for the right-wing Greek-American <em>National Herald</em> newspaper between 2007 and 2015. In 2007, he expressed support for the attempts of Karamanlis to establish private universities. These proposals were also shelved in the face of massive student opposition.</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/eb8df1a7-42d4-41de-ba83-9e138d2c0e3f?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">Stefanos Kasselakis, newly elected leader of main opposition party Syriza, speaks to supporters outside the party's headquarters in Athens, Greece, September 25, 2023. <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Attacking PASOK for opposing the measures after having initially supported them, Kasselakis wrote, “If [PASOK] had the political courage to support the change, with which [it] initially agreed, students would still have been beaten up by the riot police, but at least the state of education would have been radically challenged and would have changed.”</p>Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097019515642724992.post-38589319520864398172024-03-22T12:51:00.000-07:002024-03-22T12:51:36.768-07:00Climate change report predicts devastating worldwide impacts<p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><span style="color: red; font-family: PT serif, Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"><b><i>Mark Wilson</i></b></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">By examining in detail the impact on a range of six developing countries, a research program led by Professor Rachel Warren at the University of East Anglia has confirmed the serious and rapid consequences of global warming on an international scale.</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/407351b9-d88e-4422-a167-4791811adc15?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">Climate activists march through the streets of Glasgow, Scotland, Friday, Nov. 5, 2021 which is the host city of the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)</figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The scientific consensus on climate change is undeniable. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-cycle/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0b5394;">report</span></a> released in 2022, synthesised tens of thousands of research papers and represents the most comprehensive overview of climate science.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">It stated with high confidence that “human activities, principally through emissions of greenhouse gases, have unequivocally caused global warming.” The IPCC warned that this had already “led to widespread adverse impacts and related losses and damages to nature and people.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">A <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac2966" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0b5394;">2021 analysis</span> </a>from Cornell University demonstrated a more than 99.5 percent consensus among the peer-reviewed literature on human-caused contemporary climate change. This fact was “no more in contention among scientists than is plate tectonics or evolution,” it concluded.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Climate change denial has never been a more untenable position than it is now.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Despite this widespread consensus, some knowledge gaps relating to climate change risks have remained. Specifically, a methodologically consistent approach to how climate change will impact different countries has been lacking. This is because research on global climate risks that uses consistent models and methods does not normally consider the differing effects between individual countries.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">By contrast, national climate change studies will differ in their modelling methods from country to country. There is thus a need for a consistent approach to assessing climate change risk between nations.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The latest report addresses this knowledge gap through eight research papers produced from June 2021 to February 2024. The researchers chose six developing countries to analyse: Brazil, China, India, Egypt, Ethiopia and Ghana.</p><aside data-content-name="33% of article" data-content-piece="/en/articles/2024/03/22/crdl-m22.html" data-track-content="true" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px;"></aside><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">These countries were chosen to assess both different levels of development and different geographies. The six countries span 67th (China) to 134th (Ethiopia) on Inequality Adjusted Human Development Index from 2022 and are spread out over three continents.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In each of the papers, the same set of climate models was used for each country that was analysed, to provide a consistent risk projection across countries for each increment of global warming. Each paper covers a different topic relating to climate change risk, including droughts, flooding, crop yields, biodiversity and economics.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The combined findings of the eight studies were compiled in a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-023-03646-6" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0b5394;">synthesis report</span></a> published in the journal <em>Climatic Change </em>on February 29. The results are in line with the consensus on climate change. “With a few exceptions, increasing warming leads to greater exposure to drought, fluvial and coastal flooding, and greater declines in biodiversity and crop yields,” the report stated.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">While the scope of the research in this collection is far too large for one article to cover comprehensively, some of the key findings from this synthesis report can be outlined here, as well as how it relates to previous climate change research.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">For all six countries, the study found major risks from climate change in terms of increases in drought frequency and severity. Specifically in Brazil, China, Egypt and Ethiopia, 3 degrees Celsius of warming could expose more than 80 percent of the agricultural area in each country to droughts of longer than one year.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Crop yields subsequently will be affected by such droughts. For all countries besides India, the study found major climate risks of decreased crop yields. Egypt, for example, is “projected to suffer impacts to welfare due to negative impacts of climate change on rice and wheat yields, subsequent production, and increasing crop prices.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">While more severe and frequent droughts are expected in some regions, others will be subjected to coastal flooding. The researchers found that climate change poses major flooding risks for China, Egypt and Ghana.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In Egypt, one of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-021-03289-5" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0b5394;">the papers</span></a> in this collection estimated a shocking 50-fold increase in potential human exposure of fluvial flooding at 4 degrees Celsius of warming. This was a conservative estimate as it kept population constant. Using a population projection associated with a “middle of the road” scenario of 9 billion people globally by the year 2100, the study projected a potential 12,000 percent human exposure increase in Egypt to flooding at 4 degrees Celsius of warming.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Risks will vary between countries, but the global picture is grim. A <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2016EF000485" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0b5394;">2016 paper</span></a> cited by the IPCC report mentioned earlier found a 20-fold increase of flood risk in India and Bangladesh for 4 degrees Celsius warming.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">On a global scale, the average risk of flooding from climate change corresponds to an additional 24 million people per decade at risk of flood impacts due to 4 degrees Celsius warming.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">While 4 degrees Celsius of warming is on the higher end of climate change projections, it is certainly <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsta.2010.0290" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0b5394;">not ruled out</span></a> in the absence of serious climate mitigation efforts, and could be reached by <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsta.2010.0292" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0b5394;">the 2070s</span></a>.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Biodiversity is also at major risk from climate change in most of these countries. Climate change increases the exposure of many species to extreme conditions. The report stated that in countries such as Brazil, 3 degrees Celsius of warming would leave “very few climate refugia for plant biodiversity.” In India, only 17 percent of the country is projected to “act as a safe refuge for biodiversity” at 3 degrees Celsius of warming.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The lack of natural refuge from climate change in a warmer world will inevitably lead to biodiversity loss above pre-existing rates. According to the<a href="https://www.nature.com/news/polopoly_fs/1.20381!/menu/main/topColumns/topLeftColumn/pdf/536143a.pdf" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;" target="_blank"> <span style="color: #0b5394;">International Union for Conservation of Nature</span></a> (IUCN), over 1,600 threatened or near-threatened species are already being impacted by climate change. The IPCC noted in its latest report: “As warming levels increase, so do the risks of species extinction or irreversible loss of biodiversity in ecosystems.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In an <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-024-03691-9" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;" target="_blank">editorial introduction</a> to the collection of studies comprising the new report, climate scientists Daniela Jacob and Tania Guillen Bolanos remark that “widespread and escalating climate change risk” is the future that awaits humanity if immediate reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is not implemented.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">They add that “the risk of severe impacts increases with every additional increment of global warming,” highlighting the necessity to limit the degree of warming as much as possible.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">This is not happening under the capitalist system. The 3 degrees Celsius of global warming that researchers have warned about is exactly the trajectory that the earth is headed toward given current policies.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In the words of a recent study, “current midcentury net zero goals are insufficient to limit global warming to 1.5°C above preindustrial temperatures. The primary barriers to the achievement of a 1.5°C-compatible pathway are not geophysical but rather reflect inertia in our political and technological systems.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Fossil fuel companies and the ruling classes who defend their profit interests are sending these six countries and the rest of the world into climate catastrophe.</p>Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097019515642724992.post-13397319617246655252024-03-22T12:32:00.000-07:002024-03-22T12:32:56.823-07:00Polish Post plans to cut thousands of jobs<p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><span style="color: red; font-family: PT serif, Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"><b><i>Martin Nowak</i></b></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">On March 5, the management of Poczta Polska (Polish Post, PP), the Polish postal service, announced an “employment and remuneration plan” for 2024. According to this, the number of postal workers is to be reduced from 62,939 to 58,482 full-time positions this year, i.e. by 4,457 jobs. This would continue a retrenchment programme that has seen over 10,000 postal employees fall victim to the cuts since 2021 alone.</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/4c161e83-2335-4125-bacf-1a63ba0aeb69?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">Protest by Polish postal workers in Szczecin in 2021 <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[Photo by ZZPP Szczecin]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">According to the new PP executive board member Sebastian Mikosz, the reduction is to be achieved through “natural fluctuation,” i.e., through expiring contracts and retirement. However, the NSZZ-Solidarnosc trade union has been informed that this is only the tip of the iceberg. Even more extensive savings and 10,000 redundancies are planned in 2024 alone.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Since the reintroduction of capitalism in Poland more than three decades ago, one attack on postal workers has followed another. The general assault began in the 2000s with the liberalisation and privatisation of the Polish postal system. Like all the “reforms” intended to make Poland “fit” for joining the EU, it led to massive cutbacks at the expense of the workers.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In 2012, the abolition of the government monopoly of the mail created a lever to make the postal service even more profitable in competition with other providers. Countless waves of staff cuts and thousands of closed post offices later, however, PP is still not profitable.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The idea that it is not possible to make a profit from public utilities such as the postal service, healthcare or waste disposal without devastating consequences for workers, is simply not criticized in the Polish media. This is not in the least due to the trade unions, which have helped organise all “restructuring” to date.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Even the monthly minimum wage of 4,242 zloty (around 933 euros), which has been in force since January 1, is not being adhered to by PP in the lowest wage bracket. It is only achieved because the basic salary of 4,023 zloty is topped up with special bonuses.</p><aside data-content-name="33% of article" data-content-piece="/en/articles/2024/03/22/bzjf-m22.html" data-track-content="true" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px;"></aside><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The fact that PP resembles a “zombie” that still “seems to be functioning but is already falling apart,” as <em>Gazeta Wyborcza</em> puts it, is not in the least a result of the complicity between all the establishment parties and the trade unions.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">According to press reports, PP posted a loss of 787 million zlotys in 2023. As salary payments account for around 80 percent of expenditure, the trade unions also argue there is basically no alternative to making cuts. Faced with worker’s opposition to far-reaching cost-cutting measures, however, they are striking a combative pose, talking about the “imminent collapse” of PP and threatening to strike. But these brash speeches are part of a familiar game with which the nationalist trade union bureaucracies seek to disguise their corporatist role as co-managers.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">This applies to both the postal section of Solidarnosc and the ZZPP postal union, which belongs to the competing trade union organisation OPZZ. Both knew about the cuts planned weeks beforehand. The ZZPP met with the new Minister of State Assets, Jacek Bartmiński, who is responsible for the postal service, in January, praising the talks as “very fruitful.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">A PP extraordinary general meeting was then held on February 8. As the state is the main shareholder, it was more of a consultation within the government. With the appointment of Paweł Wojciechowski as Chairman of the Supervisory Board and shortly afterwards, Sebastian Mikosz as Chairman of the Management Board, a hand-picked duo was formed to push through the austerity regime.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Wojciechowski had previously been a member of a government under Donald Tusk, who is now leading the Polish government again. When the far-right PiS was in government, Wojciechowski had campaigned for a flat-tax model as chief economist at the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS). He later became director of the consulting firm Whiteshield Partner and an economic expert in the election campaign team of the conservative Polska2050 party, which has been part of the governing coalition since last year.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Mikosz made a name for himself from 2013 to 2015 as head of the Polish airline, LOT, with a rigid austerity programme. He implemented wage cuts, redundancies and route closures and has since been regarded as a hardliner who simply cancels collective agreements.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The fact that the trade unions were involved in PP’s cost-cutting plans from the outset is also shown by their representation on the company’s management bodies. Robert Czyż (ZZPP) and Magdalena Lebiedź (Solidarnosc) sit as union representatives on the Supervisory Board. And with Andrzej Bodziony, Solidarnosc even provides the Vice President.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">On February 21, a meeting was held at company’s headquarters between board members and trade union officials. In a press release, Solidarnosc subsequently reported favourably that the aim of Mikosz’s “action plan” was to “restore the company’s profitability, which required a significant transformation/restructuring.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">While the unions now claim they are the only ones who know how to restructure properly, all sides are concealing the real reasons for the financial difficulties. Due to price increases and rampant inflation, which reached almost 20 percent in 2022, Poland’s ruling class was also forced to significantly increase the nominal minimum wage, from 2,250 zlotys (495 euros) in 2019 to 3,600 in 2023, 4,242 in January 2024, to 4,300 zlotys (946 euros) in July 2024.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Although real wages still fell, the increases tore a hole in the finances of the state-owned company, which also has to compensate for the cost increases in the energy sector. As PP cannot simply raise prices at the same rate due to legal regulations, there is now a huge gap in its finances.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Donald Tusk’s government, like its predecessor under the PiS, is spending billions and billions on armaments and war. Now it is using PP’s deficit as an excuse for a drastic “cure.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The latest parliamentary resolution on the new postal law passed last week only provides for an increase in state subsidies from 593 to a maximum of 750 million zlotys this year, and from a further 651 to a maximum of 1,302 million zlotys in 2025. This is nowhere near enough to cover the cost increases. The same Tusk government that recently purchased Swedish weapons for one billion zlotys is not prepared to pay decent wages to postal workers, but is continuing the PiS-era policy of cuts.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The trade unions also fear that this attack on postal workers will not be without consequences. They quote the <em>Wyborzca </em>at length with the warning that the massive attack could lead to “a dangerous escalation of social tensions, followed by an escalation of protests and even a general strike.”</p>Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097019515642724992.post-91015111064601875772024-03-22T12:25:00.000-07:002024-03-22T12:25:05.196-07:00Genetic makeup of modern Europeans derived through ancient migrations from Asia<p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><span style="color: red; font-family: PT serif, Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"><b><i>Frank Gaglioti</i></b></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Astounding research in four scientific papers published on January 10 in <em>Nature,</em> show that the genetic makeup of modern Europeans was largely determined through migration waves from Asia starting 45,000 years ago, and not from the adaptation to the local environment, as was previously thought. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The studies indicate that diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) that are prevalent in northern European populations entered via these migrations. Differences in height between taller northern Europeans and shorter southern Europeans also resulted from the migrations. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Lluís Quintana-Murci, population geneticist at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, who was not involved in the study told <em>Nature</em>, “This is a tour de force.” He explained that the research provides unprecedented detail on how ancient ancestry can influence disease risk to this day, saying, “It’s a beautiful example of how, by addressing very basic fundamental anthropological and genomic questions, you can inform medicine.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The studies involved a large international team of 175 scientists led by evolutionary geneticist Professor Eske-Willerslev at the universities of Cambridge and Copenhagen, and Clinical Professor Thomas Werge at the University of Copenhagen, and statistical geneticist Professor Rasmus Nielsen at the University of California, Berkeley.</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/7249cd66-d77d-4989-adfb-d32b1deba584?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">Left to right: Eske Willerslev, Rasmus Nielsen and Thomas Werge <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[Photo: Cambridge University, University of California at Berkeley]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The researchers extracted and sequenced the DNA of 317 ancient European skeletons aged between 3,000 and 11,000 years old. These were compared to an existing database of 1,300 ancient Eurasian gene sequences. Researchers were able to develop a gene map of Eurasia, sampling the bones and teeth of 5,000 humans who lived across the land mass from 34,000 years ago. The extracted ancient DNA was compared to that of modern populations.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">“Creating a gene bank of ancient DNA from Eurasia’s past human inhabitants was a colossal project, involving collaboration with museums across the region,” said Willerslev.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The research was made possible by the DNA revolution, the fact that genomes can be sequenced on a mass basis relatively cheaply and that ancient genetic material can be extracted from fossil remains.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Modern Europeans are the result of three migration waves, with the first roughly 45,000 years ago by hunter-gatherers from Asia. The second wave were farmers from the Middle East, who arrived 11,000 years ago. The last migration wave, about 5,000 years ago, consisted of pastoralists and animal herders from western Asia and eastern Europe.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">A comparison of the age, burial location and genetic characteristics of the human remains enabled the scientists to develop a genetic map and determine how the genetic makeup of the populations changed over time. Willerslev and his team found that the steppe pastoralists mostly went to northern Europe, while the Middle Eastern farmers went to the south and west.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The researchers who contributed to the paper “<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06865-0" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06865-0" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Population genomics of</span></a><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06865-0" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06865-0" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0b5394;">post-glacial western</span> </a><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06865-0" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06865-0" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Eurasia</span></a>” found that in some cases the new populations totally replaced the established population.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">“Large-scale ancestry shifts occurred in the west as farming was introduced, including near-total replacement of hunter-gatherers in many areas, whereas no substantial ancestry shifts happened east of the zone during the same period,” the researchers state.</p><aside data-content-name="33% of article" data-content-piece="/en/articles/2024/03/22/gvqq-m22.html" data-track-content="true" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px;"></aside><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">A similar shift occurred across Europe when the previously existing hunter-gatherer population was replaced by the Yamnaya people, who spread across western Eurasia about 5,000 years ago. The process is thought to have taken place over about 1,000 years.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The Yamnaya people are thought to have originated in what is today western Russia’s Don River basin. They became known from an excavation at a graveyard called Golubaya Krinitsa in 1903 with remains the researchers now think were from about 7,300 years ago. Previously archaeologists dated the remains at around 5,400 to 5,300 years ago. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The Yamnaya people are named after their burial practices of placing their human remains in tumuli (mounds) with simple pit chambers. The name Yamnaya means related to the pits in Russian. They are thought to have inhabited a large part of south-west Asia.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">When the Yamnaya people arrived in Europe, they mated with the people known as the eastern European Globular Amphora Culture, known from their distinctive dome-shaped ceramic vessels. The resulting hybrid population known as the Corded Ware Culture became dominant in the area and then migrated to northern Europe.</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/d6d12fb5-7e6c-475c-a154-6091607eef49?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">Pottery of the Corded Ware Culture of north-central Europe</figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The Corded Ware Culture was named after their distinctive pottery found in archaeological excavations. They are thought to have inhabited an extensive area in central Europe from the Rhine to the Volga rivers. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The Corded Ware Culture was a “hybrid population adapted rapidly to its new surroundings and formed a dominant culture,” evolutionary biologist Morten Allentoft, of Curtin University in Perth, Australia and an author of the paper, told <em>Science</em>.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">According to archaeologist Volker Heyd of the University of Helsinki, who did not participate in the new research, “These genetic discoveries align with previous archaeological evidence.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Intriguingly, the Yamnaya migration introduced the gene associated with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) into northern European populations. Northern Europeans have double the incidence of MS than southern Europeans. Some scientists think that MS is the result of infection with the Epstein-Barr virus, but others feel there is a genetic basis for the disease. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">MS is an autoimmune disease that damages the outer lining of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The disease is thought to have once given a biological advantage in resisting diseases humans may have acquired from their herd animals. The neolithic period saw the development of agricultural societies, resulting in an increased prevalence of diseases due to humans living in denser populations.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The research reported in “<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06618-z" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06618-z" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Elevated genetic risk for multiple sclerosis emerged in steppe pastoralist populations</span></a>” was led by computational biologist William Barrie from the University of Cambridge. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">“Our analyses indicate that MS gene variants helped people survive in the past,” Barrie told an online news conference held by the researchers in Copenhagen in January.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Barrie and his group compared ancient Eurasian DNA to DNA collected from 410,000 white British people. The researchers looked at gene changes associated with MS. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Barrie et al. stated, “The last 10,000 years have seen some of the most extreme global changes in lifestyle, with the emergence of farming in some regions and pastoralism in others. While 5,000 years ago farmer ancestry predominated across Europe, a relatively diverged genetic ancestry arrived with the steppe migrations around this time. We have shown that this genetic ancestry contributes the most genetic risk for MS today and that these variants were the result of positive selection coinciding with the emergence of a pastoralist lifestyle on the Pontic-Caspian steppe and continued selection in the subsequent admixed populations in Europe.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">They also found evidence that genes associated with Alzheimer’s disease and Type 2 diabetes were brought to Europe by the migration of the Yamnaya people. It is not clear if those genes gave any adaptive advantage to the population. </p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/a48b1c97-c3be-4795-815b-946a848cce44?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">Mapping of various sub-cultures in the post-glacial development of Europe.</figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Their genetic influence on today’s population of southern Europe is much weaker.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In another paper by Assistant Professor of Molecular Ecology and Evolution at the University of Copenhagen, Evan K. Irving-Pease and his team, “<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06705-1" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0b5394;">The selection landscape and genetic legacy of ancient Eurasians</span></a>,” examines the transition with the Holocene period that began around 12,000 years ago and is characterized by the development of agriculture. This period saw enormous changes in human diet and general lifestyle as people started living in denser communities, which meant more likely exposure to pathogens.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The researchers found that strong selection in the HLA region of chromosome 6 that influences the immune system in this period. They found that selection occurred near the <em>LCT</em> locus, responsible for the formation of the protein lactase, which enables lactase persistence but predates the emergence of the gene by thousands of years. This is the mechanism that enabled the digestion of milk to persist into adulthood. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In “<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06862-3" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06862-3" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0b5394;">100 ancient genomes show repeated population turnovers in Neolithic Denmark</span></a>,” Morten Allentoft and his team sequenced genomes from 100 skeletons spanning 7,300 years of the Mesolithic period, Neolithic period and Early Bronze Age in Denmark. This is a critical period in human culture as it spanned the latter part of hunter-gatherer society in Europe, followed by the development of agricultural communities, up to the formation of urban societies.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The scientists found, genetic homogeneity from around 10,500 to 5,900 years before the present when neolithic farmers from Anatolia arrived. The researchers ascertained there was a very rapid population turnover thereafter, with very limited evidence of the original hunter-gatherers. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Allentoft and his team stated, “The succeeding Neolithic population, associated with the Funnel Beaker culture, persisted for only about 1,000 years before immigrants with eastern Steppe-derived ancestry arrived. This second and equally rapid population replacement gave rise to the Single Grave culture with an ancestry profile more similar to present-day Danes.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The four papers have made an invaluable contribution, illuminating the complex history of human evolution. They show that modern Europeans are the result of mass migrations and the repeated mixing and intermingling of a variety of populations.</p>Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097019515642724992.post-77653773933551014072024-03-22T12:12:00.000-07:002024-03-22T12:12:01.898-07:00Australia’s Rich List: Bonanza for billionaires amid cost-of-living crisis<p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><span style="color: red; font-family: PT serif, Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"><b><i>Eric Ludlow</i></b></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The annual “Rich List” of the Murdoch-owned <em>Australian</em> newspaper was published last week. It hails the obscene wealth of Australia’s richest 250 individuals which has climbed to more than $591 billion—an increase of $60 billion, or 11 percent, over the past 12 months. This rise is nearly six times greater than the increase registered in last year’s list.</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/e9d74e3e-d8e8-41a9-b643-c6f63a02597d?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">Gina Rinehart and Twiggy Forrest</figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">An additional 20 billionaires were included in the list compared to 2023, taking the total number Australian billionaires to 159.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The ultra-wealthy have increased their fortunes by profiteering from skyrocketing commodity prices and the ongoing property bubble. These movements in the markets have come off the back of the ongoing US-NATO imperialist war against Russia in Ukraine, the profit-driven dismantling of any COVID safety measures, killing millions, and increasing global financial uncertainty.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Amid the soaring cost of living for ordinary workers and cuts to social spending in order to fund militarism and genocide, the <em>Australian</em> published an editorial on 14 March titled “The List – Richest 250 cause for celebration.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">“We strongly believe there is nothing wrong with making money,” the editorial declared.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">It continued: “Reading the stories of how money is made should be an inspiration.… The Richest 250 List is not a road map but it is a field guide for anyone with the determination to succeed. It is proof there still are no limits for those who are willing to back themselves and give it a go.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">It is doubtful that working people will be joining these celebrations.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The same week the Rich List was published, an analysis of data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the two-year drop in real disposable income of Australian households since 2022 was <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/03/08/whih-m08.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;">the biggest in 50 years</a>. Falling living standards coupled with soaring house prices and inflation far higher than nominal wage “increases” have seen more Australian workers finding it difficult to make ends meet.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">This transfer of wealth has been overseen by the Labor government of Anthony Albanese which was elected in 2022 on fraudulent slogans of “a better future” and “no one left behind,” only to implement harsh austerity measures and to insist on “sacrifice” once in office.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Like previous years, even among the richest 250 individuals, wealth is highly concentrated among the top 10 billionaires. Their combined wealth exceeds $224 billion—nearly 40 percent of the total wealth on the List.</p><aside data-content-name="33% of article" data-content-piece="/en/articles/2024/03/22/rajq-m22.html" data-track-content="true" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px;"></aside><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Retaining their positions at the top are iron ore mining magnates Gina Rinehart and Andrew Forrest.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Rinehart’s fortune increased by a staggering $13.4 billion, or 36 percent, in one year to $50.48 billion. Forrest and his wife Nicola saw their wealth increase by $1.96 billion over the last 12 months to $37.17 billion in 2024.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Fellow mining magnate Clive Palmer dropped to eighth place, though his wealth continued to rise by $1.52 billion in the last year to $21.92 billion.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Labor has revealed its commitment to providing the conditions for the mining billionaires of Australia to continue making profits despite the disastrous impacts of climate change. Last week, treasurer Jim Chalmers pledged to “streamline” approvals of new gas and other mining projects.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The only new faces in the top ten compared to last year are Nicola Forrest, whose combined wealth sees her sit in third below her husband, and Kerry Stokes—chairman of the commercial broadcaster Seven Network. He holds the ninth position with $11.01 billion.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Also in the top ten is the owner of cardboard and recycling behemoth Pratt Industries, Anthony Pratt ($27.66 billion—slightly down from $27.87 billion last year) in fourth, and 91-year-old housing mogul Harry Triguboff ($26.01 billion—up from $23.6 in 2023) in fifth.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In sixth and seventh place are the co-founders of Atlassian, Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar. Their combined wealth rose by nearly $14 billion in the last 12 months to more than $45.5 billion after a fall of $19.57 billion in the previous year.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Co-founders of tech company Canva, Cliff Obrecht and Melanie Perkins, share tenth position. Their combined wealth continued to fall to $10.92 billion—nearly half their 2023 fortune.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The individuals on the Rich List are presented as contributors to society and an “inspiration” through their “determination” and willingness to “give it a go.” The reality is that their fortunes were extracted through a parasitic relationship to the economy tied to the socially destructive activities of finance capital.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Of the richest 250, 38 are in their 40s or younger—many have made their millions through cryptocurrency trading and e-commerce. These highly speculative forms of wealth accumulation are closely related to the stock market boom.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Property investment is a prominent feature of those on the List. For decades, successive Australian governments including those of the Labor Party, have fed the ability of property developers to increase the profits they can make through the real estate market.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">This includes leaving negative gearing and capitals gains tax unchanged, allowing private property developers, landlords and investors, and <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/08/21/ligm-a21.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;">last year’s decision</a> by the Labor-dominated “National Cabinet” to deny a freeze or cap on rents, instead further slashing planning and building regulations.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Most starkly expressed in the likes of Triguboff, the Rich List highlights how Australia’s wealthiest individuals have used property investment to turn their millions into billions.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Paul Little (number 76) was the managing director of global transport giant Toll before making his billions in property. Lawyer Shaun Bonétt (78) and Tony Perich (81), from a dairy farming family, also became billionaires through property investment.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In an <em>Australian </em>article published on 14 March titled “Move over boys, women are taking their rightful place among wealthy Top 10,” a cynical attempt is made to present the Rich List as some great leap forward for gender equality, highlighting the reactionary nature of feminism and identity politics more broadly.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The article begins, “Australia’s three richest women control business empires worth almost $100bn.” Another article in the newspaper celebrates the fact that 33 of the richest 250 individuals in the country are women.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">No matter the gender or, for that matter, any other identity of those on the list, they inhabit a world completely removed from the daily struggles of working-class people in Australia and internationally of all genders and backgrounds. In its own way, the List highlights that the fundamental division in society is class, not various identities such as race or gender.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">While the rich continue to get richer, the working class in Australia, like their class brothers and sisters internationally, are paying the price for the crisis of global capitalism. That includes the vast diversion of resources to the military, as imperialist governments, including in Australia, support the genocide in Gaza, the US-NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine and Washington’s preparations for a catastrophic conflict with China.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">A year ago, the Albanese government signed off on a $368-billion-dollar nuclear submarine deal as part of the anti-China AUKUS military pact with the US and UK. Money spent on machines of war is coming out of education, healthcare and social welfare.</p>Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097019515642724992.post-38805110524022888992024-03-21T12:30:00.000-07:002024-03-21T12:30:23.180-07:00Sunak UK government oversees “catastrophic” teacher shortage and education funding crisis<div><span style="color: red; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><i>Tom Pearce</i></b></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/65e97076-fcc2-44f5-a79f-7e280a3c3584?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /><span id="alttext-container"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><img align="left" height="16" id="alttext-image" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px;" width="16" /><span id="alttext"></span></span></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">A reception class teacher (left) leads the class at the Holy Family Catholic Primary School in Greenwich, London, May 24, 2021. <span classname="black-40 nowrap" style="font-size: 11.2px;">[AP Photo/Alastair Grant]</span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Teacher numbers in the UK are showing no signs of improving as recruitment and retention of teachers continue to fall due to the pressures of the profession.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The Department for Education (DfE) in England under the control of the Conservative government has slashed its recruitment targets for secondary teacher trainees by 9 percent in response to missing its target by half this year. There is mounting evidence of a deepening supply crisis as year on year the government has missed recruitment targets.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The government sets annual targets against which recruitment is assessed and predicted that there needs to be 23,955 postgraduate initial teacher training (ITT) secondary trainees next academic year to provide enough new teachers for 2025-2026.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">However, this target is down from the 26,360 secondary trainees that the DfE said it would need for this year—a target that it missed by half which has sent alarm bells ringing around the sector. Only 50 percent of the 26,360 secondary trainees (13,102) the government said were needed this year were recruited onto courses, prompting school leaders to label once again the teacher shortage as “catastrophic”.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The only outcome is one of desperation for schools who are struggling right now to fill vacant posts. This will only be exacerbated by the reduction of teachers entering the profession in the future. The crisis will not be solved by government fudging the numbers and hoping that teachers will miraculously appear.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The government's other plan is to devalue the profession even further by developing proposals for a new non-graduate route into teaching, labelled the Teacher Degree Apprenticeship (TDA). The TDA will offer an employed route for non-graduates to enter teaching. These apprentices will study for a degree and Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) while working in a school over a period of about four years, with about 40 percent of their time spent on academic study each year. The DfE described this as an “earn and learn” approach, attractive to teaching assistants and other career changers.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The lowering of entry requirements to admit non-graduates to a course of ITT will only undermine teaching as a graduate career choice, making recruitment worse. It also aims to create a two-tier workforce on the cheap.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The recruitment situation is even worse in subjects such as maths, science, art and design suffering from lower numbers, which have therefore seen an increase in targets. Overall, trainee targets increased across eight secondary subjects for 2024-25, and decreased for nine subjects.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">There has been some recognition of shortages in the primary targets with the raising of the primary teacher trainee target by 2 percent, from 9,180 to 9,400, after the Tories lowered it last year. The DfE said the increase was a result of primary recruitment and retention forecasts “becoming less favourable this year, leading to a slightly increased need for ITT trainees to meet future demand, despite falling pupil numbers”.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The DfE has justified the reduction due to “more favourable supply forecasts” for both new teachers and returners in the secondary sector. The department also said it has lowered the secondary teacher trainee target this year because the growth of secondary student numbers has slowed.</p><aside data-content-name="33% of article" data-content-piece="/en/articles/2024/03/20/wxns-m20.html" data-track-content="true" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px;"></aside><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">But this takes no account of the number of educators that are leaving the profession and are also considering a move out of the classroom in the next academic year. The government is totally impervious to the reality that teachers are exhausted, burnt out and leaving the profession in droves. There has been an influx of social media sites that are places of solace for educators. One Facebook site <em>“Life After Teaching - Exit the Classroom and Thrive”</em> has over 150,000 members.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In Scotland, under the Scottish National Party-run devolved parliament there is a refusal to staff schools beyond the absolute bare minimum (and sometimes not even to that level) making a difficult job increasingly impossible. Figures released by the Liberal Democrats show that, since 2018, more than 1,300 new teachers have walked away from the classroom entirely within the first five years, not even taking up a different role within education.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The biggest increases have come from new teachers leaving the profession within three or four years of having qualified. In 2018, 110 individuals fell into this category, but by last year that figure had almost doubled.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Analysis of DfE data the National Association of Head Teachers and school leaders’ union (NAHT) shows that England currently has the highest number of unfilled teaching posts in over a decade, with one in seven schools in England reporting at least one vacancy.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Vacancies more than doubled between 2020 and 2022, from 1,098 to 2,334, the NAHT analysis revealed. The union found that one in four secondary schools have reported a vacant or temporary role. Over half of schools in the outer boroughs of London had a job available.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The NAHT call for a “double digit” pay rise for teachers despite Downing Street demanding that pay awards should “return to a more sustainable level”. This would be as low as a 1 percent increase if the independent School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB)—which makes pay recommendations in England—is to be believed.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">School leaders are asking for at least a 10 percent increase in all teaching salaries. The NAHT stated in evidence submitted to STRB that this is needed to counter the “recruitment and retention crisis”, and the uplift must be higher than average pay settlements in other industries across the country.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Last year hundreds of thousands of teachers—as part of a strike wave across the public and private sectors—went on strike demanding a fully funded, above inflation wage rise of 12 percent. Instead, the education unions, including the NAHT <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/07/19/rczy-j19.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;">pushed through a sell-out deal</a> of 6.5 percent (of which 3 percent would have to be funded from schools’ decimated budgets). The deal was put at the point where for the first time ever all major education unions had passed ballot thresholds for action which could have shut all schools nationally. The response of the union leaders was to sabotage this collective action, with the NAHT declaring that 6.5 percent was “an offer that our members can live with.”</p><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/43e5a1a4-9440-4cbf-ad5c-e948cb9dbcb7?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">A demonstration in Leeds by teachers during the nationwide strike, March 1, 2023</figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Following this rout, the unions are dialing up the rhetoric again with NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman stating that the union’s evidence shows “the real-life impact of the government’s neglect of teaching staff over the last decade”.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">“It could not be clearer that teachers and school leaders are reacting to eroded salaries and the cost-of-living crisis, as well as increasing workload, pressure and lack of wellbeing, and are leaving the profession,” he said. Whiteman added that the government needed “to send a clear signal to the workforce that change is coming—that starts with an urgent double digit pay uplift”.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Commenting on the government’s decision to cut secondary school training targets, Daniel Kebede, General Secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said, “This Government’s failure to hit its own teacher training targets stretches back more than a decade. A generation of children have already had to endure the consequences, in many cases taught by teachers without the relevant subject specialism. Teachers and school leaders are forced to bake this into the system, making the best of a bad situation.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">He complained of a government “crisis of their own making. A decade-and-a-half of pay cuts. Sky-high workload… The sooner [Education Secretary] Gillian Keegan wakes up to the causes of the shortage, the better the education system will be.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Why should educators put their trust in the NEU, NAHT, or any of the sell-out unions to challenge the Conservative government on the schools crisis? They have collaborated in a “decade-and-a-half” of cost cutting, below inflation pay deals and sacrificed safety against COVID in schools.</p></div>Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097019515642724992.post-11444179450440712072024-03-21T12:22:00.000-07:002024-03-21T12:22:48.351-07:00The American oligarchy and the 2024 election<div><span style="color: red; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><i>Patrick Martin</i></b></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><figure class="relative ma0 overflow-hidden dn-p" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 2rem 0px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="relative overflow-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img class="db relative center" loading="lazy" src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/4204434e-01e0-4328-aed3-0e44e733182d?rendition=image1280" style="border-style: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" /><span id="alttext-container"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><img align="left" height="16" id="alttext-image" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px;" width="16" /><span id="alttext"></span></span></div></div><figcaption class="db avenir f7 f6-m lh-title black-60 tc pt3 ph3" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; padding-left: 1rem; padding-right: 1rem; padding-top: 1rem; text-align: center;">Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos (AP Photo/John Locher, File)</figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Figures published over the weekend by Inequality.org, based on an analysis by the Institute for Policy Studies of the running totals of billionaire wealth maintained by <em>Forbes</em> magazine, reveal the staggering concentration of wealth in the United States in the hands of a tiny oligarchy.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The number of billionaires in the US has risen from 614 to 737 over the past four years, coinciding with the four years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their combined wealth has nearly doubled, up 88 percent over that period, from $2.947 trillion to $5.529 trillion.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Among the top 10 billionaires, eight are based in the information technology industry or its offshoots. This includes the top four wealthiest individuals in the US: Jeff Bezos ($192.8 billion), Elon Musk ($188.5 billion), Mark Zuckerberg ($169 billion) and Larry Ellison ($154.6 billion). The only exceptions are Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway investment firm has holdings concentrated in such “old” industries as railroads, and Michael Bloomberg, the media billionaire.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The growth in wealth, during a pandemic that killed more than 1.4 million people in the US, is staggering. Musk’s fortune was up 600 percent in four years, while Zuckerberg of Facebook and Ellison of Oracle nearly trebled their wealth. The assets of Steve Ballmer (Microsoft) and Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google all more than doubled. Bezos of Amazon regained his status as the world’s richest man. He would have doubled his fortune as well but for a $40 billion divorce settlement with ex-wife Mackenzie Scott.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">These vast sums are difficult to grasp merely as numbers. In <a href="https://twitter.com/jkishore/status/1770464656278102366" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;" target="_blank">several tweets</a> Tuesday, Joseph Kishore, presidential candidate of the Socialist Equality Party, translated these figures into human terms. The combined assets of $5.5 trillion is equivalent to three times the total US student debt; seven times what is spent on K-12 education in the US; nearly 150 times what is estimated would be needed, per year, to end global hunger by the end of the decade; more than 178 million times the US median income; and more than 700 million times the median savings account balance for families in the United States.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The oligarchic character of American capitalism infects every institution of the state, the courts and the media. And it dominates the entire 2024 presidential election.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">America’s ruling elite are aware of the fragility of their position at the top, amid widespread social suffering and rising class struggle. Their response is to reinforce the political straitjacket of the capitalist two-party system in America. Accordingly, the billionaires sustain both of the two capitalist parties competing for their favor in the 2024 presidential election, which pits the fascist ex-president Donald Trump against the current president and advocate of world war and genocide, Joe Biden.</p><aside data-content-name="33% of article" data-content-piece="/en/articles/2024/03/21/kpfd-m21.html" data-track-content="true" style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px;"></aside><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Trump’s support among the billionaires is actually weaker than Biden’s, in large part because he is regarded as unreliable on key questions of foreign policy, above all the US-NATO war against Russia over Ukraine.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">A substantial section of the oligarchy, however, is prepared to break with all pretense of legality.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">On April 6, billionaire hedge fund boss John Paulson will host a fundraiser for Trump in Florida, co-chaired with real estate “investor” Robert Bigelow, previously the biggest donor to the abortive presidential campaign of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Shale gas and oil billionaire Harold Hamm, a previous opponent of a Trump reelection bid, has also agreed to co-chair, according to a report in the <em>Financial Times</em>.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">“The invitation to the fundraiser,” the newspaper reported, “shows two categories of donors: those who give $814,600 per person and can sit at Trump’s dinner table, and those who give at least $250,000.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The financial oligarchs co-chairing the event come mainly from the world of financial speculation (Robert and Rebekah Mercer, Scott Bessent, Jeffrey Sprecher) and casinos and entertainment (Steve Wynn, Phil Ruffin, Linda McMahon). An even more dubious and reactionary co-chair is Pepe Fanjul, described as a “sugar tycoon” by the <em>Financial Times.</em> A member of a Cuban exile family and owner of Domino Sugar, he collects vast federal subsidies every year and notoriously employed the neo-Nazi wife of white supremacist David Duke as his executive assistant for many years.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The Wall Street backing for the presidential ticket of Biden and Kamala Harris is broader, reflecting the transformation of the Democratic Party over the past three decades into the principal party of the stock exchange and major banks.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The Biden campaign has amassed $155 million in cash, which it is hailing as the “highest total of any Democratic candidate in history” at this point in the election. This included a record $53 million raised in February.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">While the corporate media describes Biden going out on the “campaign trail,” the reality is quite different. Biden’s face-to-face contact is almost entirely with big campaign donors, and his real focus during the spring and summer will be to gather the financial resources required to mount a massive media barrage in the months leading up to the November 5 vote.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">In many cases, particularly on trips to non-competitive states like California, the Democrats dispense with any pretense of public campaigning and simply address their real constituency in the financial oligarchy. Last week, even in tightly contested Michigan, Biden did not appear in public because of fears of counter-demonstrators protesting the US-backed genocide in Gaza.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">Headed into the fall campaign, there are two main components of the Democratic Party strategy: piling up financial resources and suppressing efforts to place third-party candidates on the ballot, particularly left-wing opponents like the Socialist Equality Party, which has launched its initial ballot drive in Michigan, one of the most critical battleground states.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The Democrats are preparing an “<a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/03/15/zneh-m15.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 153) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 350ms ease-out 0s, box-shadow 200ms ease-out 0s, color 200ms ease-out 0s;">all-out war</a>” on third-party candidates. According to an article published in the <em>New York Times </em>yesterday, the Democrats are hiring an “army of lawyers ... to challenge the steadily advancing ballot-access efforts of independent candidates.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; max-width: 34em;">The <em>Times </em>cites one of the lawyers as stating that the aim “is to ensure all the candidates are playing by the rules, and to seek to hold them accountable when they are not.” For the Democrats, no less than the Republicans, the “rules” are those set out by the corporate-financial oligarchy to block any challenge to their wealth and power. </p></div>Mastermindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16242633193488554147noreply@blogger.com0