4 acquitted in toppling of British slave trader statue



 Protesters throw a statue of Edward Colston into the Bristol harbour during a Black Lives Matter protest rally, Bristol, England, June 7, 2020. Four anti-racism demonstrators were cleared Wednesday Jan. 5, 2022, of criminal damage in the toppling of a statue of a 17th century slave trader during a Black Lives Matter protest in southwestern England 18 months ago.

 (Ben Birchall/PA via AP, File)


LONDON (AP) — Four anti-racism demonstrators were cleared Wednesday of criminal damage in the toppling of a statue of a 17th-century slave trader during a Black Lives Matter protest in southwestern England.

Protesters used ropes to pull down the bronze statue of Edward Colston and dump it in Bristol’s harbor on June 7, 2020. The demonstration and toppling were part of a worldwide reckoning with racism and slavery sparked by the death of a Black American man, George Floyd, at the hands of police in Minneapolis.

Loud cheers rang out from a packed public gallery at Bristol Crown Court as a jury acquitted Rhian Graham, 30, Milo Ponsford, 26, and Sage Willoughby, 22, and Jake Skuse, 33.

“This is a victory for Bristol, this is a victory for racial equality and it’s a victory for anybody who wants to be on the right side of history,” Willoughby said.

Graham, Ponsford and Willoughby were caught on closed-circuit television passing the ropes around the statue that were used to pull it down, while Skuse was accused of orchestrating a plan to roll it into the harbor.

All four had admitted their involvement but denied their actions were criminal, claiming the statue itself had been a hate crime against the people of Bristol.

They laughed with relief as the verdicts were read out and hugged the many supporters that were waiting outside of court when they were released.

The four had gotten got high profile help with their case. Elusive street artist Banksy designed a limited edition T-shirt, pledging the funds raised to their cause.

“The truth is that the defendants should never have been prosecuted,” Raj Chada, who represented Skuse, said in a statement following the verdict.

“It is shameful that Bristol City Council did not take down the statue of slaver Edward Colston that had caused such offence to people in Bristol, and equally shameful that they then supported the prosecution of these defendants,” Chada added.

Colston was a 17th-century trader who made a fortune transporting enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas on Bristol-based ships. His money funded schools and charities in Bristol, 120 miles (195 kilometers) southwest of London.

Bristol authorities fished the Colston statue out of the harbor and it was later put on display in a museum in the city, along with placards from the Black Lives Matter demonstration.

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Man whose arrest led to ‘separate but equal’ is pardoned

By JANET McCONNAUGHEY

1 of 4

Gov. John Bel Edwards pardons Homer Plessy during the Posthumous Pardoning Ceremony for Homer Plessy at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022. Louisiana’s governor on Wednesday posthumously pardoned Plessy, the Black man whose arrest for refusing to leave a whites-only railroad car in 1892 led to the Supreme Court ruling that cemented “separate but equal” into U.S. law for half a century. (Sophia Germer/The Advocate via AP)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana’s governor on Wednesday posthumously pardoned Homer Plessy, the Black man whose arrest for refusing to leave a whites-only railroad car in 1892 led to the Supreme Court ruling that cemented “separate but equal” into U.S. law for half a century.

The state Board of Pardons last year recommended the pardon for Plessy, who boarded the rail car as a member of a small civil rights group hoping to overturn a state law segregating trains. Instead, the protest led to the 1896 ruling known as Plessy v. Ferguson, which solidified whites-only spaces in public accommodations such as transportation, hotels and schools for decades.

At a ceremony held near the spot near where Plessy was arrested, Gov. John Bel Edwards said he was “beyond grateful” to help restore Plessy’s “legacy of the rightness of his cause … undefiled by the wrongness of his conviction.”

Keith Plessy, whose great-great-grandfather was Plessy’s cousin, called the event “truly a blessed day for our ancestors … and for children not yet born.”

Since the pardon board vote in November, “I’ve had the feeling that my feet are not touching the ground because my ancestors are carrying me,” he said.

Justice Henry Billings Brown wrote in the 7-1 decision: “Legislation is powerless to eradicate racial instincts or to abolish distinctions based upon physical differences.”

Justice John Marshall Harlan was the only dissenting voice, writing that he believed the ruling “will, in time, prove to be quite as pernicious as the decision made by this tribunal in the Dred Scott Case” — an 1857 decision that said no Black person who had been enslaved or was descended from a slave could ever become a U.S. citizen.

The ceremony began with cellist Kate Dillingham — a descendant of the dissenting justice — playing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” while the audience sang along.

The Plessy v. Ferguson ruling allowing racial segregation across American life stood as the law of the land until the Supreme Court unanimously overruled it in 1954, in Brown v. the Board of Education. Both cases argued that segregation laws violated the 14th Amendment’s right to equal protection.

The Brown decision led to widespread public school desegregation and the eventual stripping away of Jim Crow laws that discriminated against Black Americans.

Plessy was a member of the Citizens Committee, a New Orleans group trying to overcome laws that rolled back post-Civil War advances in equality.

The 30-year-old shoemaker lacked the business, political and educational accomplishments of most of the other members, Keith Weldon Medley wrote in the book ”We As Freemen: Plessy v. Ferguson.” But his light skin — court papers described him as someone whose “one eighth African blood” was “not discernable” — positioned him for the train car protest.

“His one attribute was being white enough to gain access to the train and black enough to be arrested for doing so,” Medley wrote.

Eight months after the ruling in his case, Plessy pleaded guilty and was fined $25 at a time when 25 cents would buy a pound of round steak and 10 pounds of potatoes.

Keith Plessy said donations collected by the committee paid the fine and other legal costs. But Plessy returned to obscurity, and never returned to shoemaking.

He worked alternately as a laborer, warehouse worker and clerk before becoming a collector for the Black-owned People’s Life Insurance Company, Medley wrote. He died in 1925 with the conviction on his record.

Relatives of Plessy and John Howard Ferguson, the judge who oversaw his case in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, became friends decades later and formed a nonprofit that advocates for civil rights education.

Also present at the pardon ceremony were descendants of the Citizens Committee and descendants of the local judge.

The purpose of the pardon “is not to erase what happened 125 years ago but to acknowledge the wrong that was done,” said Phoebe Ferguson, the judge’s great-great-granddaughter.

Other recent efforts have acknowledged Plessy’s role in history, including a 2018 vote by the New Orleans City Council to rename a section of the street where he tried to board the train in his honor.

The governor’s office described this as the first pardon under Louisiana’s 2006 Avery Alexander Act, which allows pardons for people convicted under laws that were intended to discriminate.

Former state Sen. Edwin Murray said he originally wrote the act to automatically pardon anyone convicted of breaking a law written to encode discrimination. He said he made it optional after people arrested for civil rights protests told him they considered the arrests a badge of honor.

Louisiana Governor to pardon Plessy, of ‘separate but equal’ ruling


Keith Plessy and Phoebe Ferguson, descendants of the principals in the Plessy V. Ferguson court case, pose for a photograph in front of a historical marker in New Orleans, on Tuesday, June 7, 2011. Homer Plessy, the namesake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1896 “separate but equal” ruling, is being considered for a posthumous pardon. The Creole man of color died with a conviction still on his record for refusing to leave a whites-only train car in New Orleans in 1892.

 (AP Photo/Bill Haber, File)


JANET McCONNAUGHEY
Tue, January 4, 2022,

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana’s governor is slated to posthumously pardon Homer Plessy on Wednesday, more than a century after the Black man was arrested in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow a Jim Crow law creating “whites-only” train cars.

The Plessy v Ferguson case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ushered in a half-century of laws calling for “separate but equal” accommodations that kept Black people in segregated schools, housing, theaters and other venues.

Gov. John Bel Edwards scheduled the pardon ceremony for a spot near where Plessy was arrested in 1892 for breaking a Louisiana law requiring Black people to ride in cars that the law described as “equal but separate” from those for white customers. The date is close to the 125th anniversary of Plessy’s guilty plea in New Orleans.

Relatives of both Plessy and the judge who convicted him are slated to be at the ceremony.

It spotlights New Orleans as the cradle of the civil rights movement, said Keith Plessy, whose great-great-grandfather was Plessy's cousin — Homer Plessy had no children.

"Hopefully, this will give some relief to generations who have suffered under discriminatory laws," said Phoebe Ferguson, the judge's great-great-granddaughter.

The state Board of Pardons recommended the pardon on Nov. 12 for Plessy, who was a 30-year-old shoemaker when he boarded the train car as a member of a small civil rights group hoping to overturn the law.

Instead, the 1896 ruling solidified whites-only spaces in public accommodations until a later Supreme Court unanimously overturned it in Brown v Board of Education in 1954. Both cases argued that segregation laws violated the 14th Amendment's right to equal protection.

In Plessy, Justice Henry Billings Brown wrote for the 7-1 majority: “Legislation is powerless to eradicate racial instincts or to abolish distinctions based upon physical differences.”

Justice John Harlan, the dissenter, wrote that he believed the ruling “will, in time, prove to be quite as pernicious as the decision made by this tribunal in the Dred Scott Case."

That 1857 decision said no Black person who had been enslaved or was descended from a slave could ever become a U.S. citizen. It was overturned by the 13th and 14th Amendments, passed in 1865 and 1866.

Plessy lacked the business, political and educational accomplishments of most other members of the group trying to strike down the segregation law, Keith Weldon Medley wrote in the book ”We As Freemen: Plessy v. Ferguson.” But his light skin — court papers described him as someone whose “one eighth African blood” was “not discernable” — positioned him for the train car protest.

“His one attribute was being white enough to gain access to the train and black enough to be arrested for doing so,” Medley wrote.

Five blocks of the street where he was arrested, renamed Homer Plessy Way in 2018, runs through the campus of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. The ceremony was scheduled at the campus, outdoors for COVID-19 safety.

Eight months after the ruling in his case, Plessy pleaded guilty on Jan. 11, 1897. He was fined $25 at a time when 25 cents would buy a pound of round steak and 10 pounds of potatoes. He died in 1925 with the conviction on his record.

Relatives of Plessy and John Howard Ferguson, the judge who oversaw his case in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, became friends decades later and formed a nonprofit that advocates for civil rights education.

Other recent efforts have acknowledged Plessy’s role in history, including a 2018 vote by the New Orleans City Council to rename a section of the street where he tried to board the train in his honor.

CREATIVE DESTRUCTION

Evergrande, Already $310 Billion in Debt, Told to Blow Up Chinese Resort Due to Problems

BY ERIN BRADY ON 1/4/22 

A Chinese real estate developer is being ordered to demolish one of its largest complexes.

Evergrande Group was ordered to demolish a 39-building resort complex on Ocean Flower Island, an artificial archipelago off the coast of Danzhou. The developer did not release an explanation as to why the complex is being demolished, although Danzhou's government claimed that the complex violated urban planning law.

In 2021, Beijing began tightening restrictions on developers. The move was touted as one that would help rein in corporate debt and was implemented as part of the Chinese government's ongoing priority to reduce financial risk.


The Ocean Flower Island demolition is the newest headache that Evergrande has faced over the past few years. It has the dubious distinction of being the most indebted developer in the entire global real estate industry with around $310 billion in debt.

It is not immediately clear how much more debt the company will accumulate due to the demolition on Ocean Flower Island, nor has a timeline for the demolition been announced. Evergrande's buildings are the only ones being demolished on the island.

Evergrande Group was ordered to demolish a 39-building resort complex on Ocean Flower Island, an artificial archipelago off the coast of Danzhou, China. Above, Evergrande headquarters in Shenzhen, southeastern China, on September 14, 2021.

PHOTO BY NOEL CELIS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Evergrande's struggle to comply with tighter official restrictions on use of borrowed money by China's real estate industry have prompted fears of a possible default and financial crisis. Chinese regulators have tried to reassure investors that any potential impact on financial markets can be contained.

Economists say Beijing can keep Chinese lending markets functioning normally in the event of an Evergrande default, which looks increasingly likely. However, they say Chinese leaders want to avoid sending the wrong signal by arranging a bailout at a time when they are trying to force companies to reduce surging debt levels.

Evergrande asked Monday for trading of its shares in Hong Kong to be suspended. Trading resumed following Tuesday's announcement, gaining 7.6 percent.

Evergrande warned last month it might run out of cash to keep up with debt payments and other obligations.

The company says it has 2.3 trillion yuan ($350 billion) in assets and 2 trillion yuan ($310 billion in debt), but it has struggled to sell assets fast enough to keep up payments to bondholders. Construction of some projects was temporarily suspended after contractors complained they weren't being paid.

Tuesday's announcement said buyers in 20210 signed contracts to purchase property worth a total of 442 billion yuan ($70 billion).

The government will organize demolition if the company fails to act.

The Hainan government ordered an investigation last year of Ocean Flower Island, a complex of hotels, an amusement park and other facilities, according to news reports. They said some building permissions were revoked and fines of 215 million yuan ($34 million) were imposed for planning and construction violations.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Evergrande Group's $310 billion debt will grow due to the company being ordered to demolish a 39-building complex. Above, a worker pushes a cart in front of a sign showing Evergrande's China operation at a housing complex owned by the property developer in Beijing on December 8, 2021.

PHOTO BY NOEL CELIS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Check out the man-made island where Evergrande was ordered to tear down 39 buildings

Grace Kay
Tue, January 4, 2022

Getty


Evergrande was ordered to demolish 39 buildings on its man-made island.


The embattled real estate developer has poured nearly $13 billion into its Ocean Flower Island.


Take a look at the flower-shaped archipelago that has everything from theme parks to hot springs.

Evergrande, an embattled Chinese real estate developer, confirmed on Tuesday that it was ordered to tear down 39 buildings on its man-made island in China's southern Hainan province, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

Chinese authorities in the province have given the company 10 days to demolish the buildings, according to a notice that was obtained by The Journal and dated December 30. The developer has 60 days to file a potential appeal. The South China Morning Post cited media reports on Monday that an illegally obtained permit had been revoked by the provincial government which required the buildings to be dismantled.

An Evergrande spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment and Insider could not reach Hainan provincial authorities for comment.

Over the past 12 years, Evergrande has invested nearly $13 billion into the artificial archipelago or group of islands known as "Ocean Flower Island," The Journal reported. The potential demolition of its 39 buildings on the island represents one of many setbacks that the world's most indebted developer has faced over the past year. Evergrande is currently struggling to repay over $300 billion in liabilities.

The cluster of man-made islands were designed to emulate the shape of a peony and made up of three flower-shaped islets. The center of the cluster was constructed as a major business and tourism hub.

ShutterStoc

The project was over a decade in the making and opened in late 2020 as the world's largest man-made tourism island, spanning 1,980 acres. The Ocean Flower development is the largest project since Dubai opened its man-made archipelago, Palm Island, in 2009

Palm Island in DubaiShutterStock

The Ocean Flower project encompasses houses and hotels, as well as business and tourist opportunities, including a roughly 1.1 million square foot convention center built to resemble giant blooming peonies.

Getty

Ocean Flower Island, also known as "Haihua" in Chinese, has attracted over 5.5 million tourists since it opened, according to China's stateside publication, South China Morning Post. Last month, local Chinese government said the development was harming the marine environment, including causing mass damage to coral reefs.

The center of the archipelago has 28 major business hubs.

Getty

The complex offers an array of museums, as well as several amusement parks, including a fairy-tale world and water park.

ShutterStock

It also has several more relaxing options for tourists, including a botanical garden and hot springs.

Getty

While many of the tourist and business options are located at the center of the archipelago, housing makes up the outskirts of the structure. According to a 2019 construction plan from the Danzhou government that was obtained by South China Morning Post the maximum total population of the three islands was estimated at over 200,000.

The stateside publication reported that Evergrande told residents of the island where 60,567 apartments had been delivered to buyers that the demolition will not impact residential structures.

'Return our money!' Evergrande investors protest at office of Chinese developer

Protesters and police officers outside the Evergrande International

 Center in Guangzhou

Mon, January 3, 2022
By David Kirton

GUANGZHOU, China (Reuters) - Investors in financial products issued by China Evergrande Group protested outside the cash-strapped company's offices in Guangzhou on Tuesday, with many worried that their returns would be sacrificed to keep real estate projects afloat.

Members of the crowd of roughly 100 people shouted "Evergrande, return our money!", reprising a chant used by disgruntled investors and suppliers last autumn as the deterioration in its financial position became apparent.

On Friday, Evergrande announced a dial-back of plans to repay investors in its wealth management products, announcing that each could expect 8,000 yuan ($1,256) per month in principal payment for three months starting in January, irrespective of when their investment matures.

Once China's top selling developer but now reeling under more than $300 billion in liabilities, Evergrande had previously agreed to repay 10% by the end of the month when the product matured, without specifying an amount.

The change sparked investor fear that they won't get their money back.

"I think it's hopeless, and I'm scared, but if we don't fight for our rights, that's worse," said a retired woman surnamed Du who was among those outside Evergrande's offices in the southern Chinese metropolis and said she had invested one million yuan in Evergrande wealth management products.

"The economy's not good at the moment, these are ordinary people and they need this money for kids, for supporting their parents," she said.

China Evergrande did not respond to a request for comment on the protest or on the concerns of the investors.

By midday, about 60 of those protesting had been hemmed in by rows of security personnel. Videos circulating in WeChat groups showed several people being detained at the scene.

In the afternoon, a group of 20 remaining protesters were told to leave a street near Evergrande's offices, while security stopped and took the details of at least three people who tried to describe their experiences to a Reuters reporter.

HIGH YIELDS AND GUCCI BAGS

Lured by the promise of yields approaching 12%, gifts such as Dyson air purifiers and Gucci bags, and the guarantee of China's top-selling developer, tens of thousands of investors bought wealth management products through Evergrande. [L1N2QN2YG]

More than 80,000 people – including employees, their families and friends as well as owners of Evergrande properties - bought products that raised more than 100 billion yuan in the past five years, said a sales manager of Evergrande Wealth, launched in 2016 as a peer-to-peer (P2) online lending platform that originally was used to fund its property projects.

"We worry we will be sacrificed," said a 34-year-old protester who works in e-commerce and would only give her name as Sophie, for fear of reprisal from authorities.

"It's okay for younger people like me, we can still earn it back, but I’m worried about the older ones who put everything into this," she said.

Protesters and members of messaging groups of people owed money by Evergrande have said they had been told by police not to cause trouble, and had seen their chat groups blocked.

Sophie said police had taken her to the station four times since she joined protests at Evergrande's headquarters in the nearby city of Shenzhen in September.

"We don't know what happens to our money but we're expected to keep quiet, it's not right," she said.

($1 = 6.3718 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by David Kirton; Editing by Tony Munroe, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

Chile Tensions Over Lithium Contracts Show Scope of Clean-Energy Task




James Attwood
Tue, January 4, 2022

(Bloomberg) -- Mounting opposition to new lithium contracts in Chile is the latest indication of just how difficult it will be for the world to churn out the building blocks of the clean-energy transition.

In the final months of its term, the government of President Sebastian Pinera is about to award new production quotas in an effort to tap more of the world’s biggest reserves. It comes as surging electric-vehicle demand sends prices of the battery metal to record highs.

Previously, such efforts would have met with little resistance given the abundance of lithium hidden under Chilean salt flats and how clean and easy it is to produce compared with the hard-rock mining practiced in top producer Australia. After all, winners of the new contracts will still have to undertake exploration work and go through all the usual permitting before they can develop projects. But politics -- and environmental and social sensibilities -- have changed.

Pinera, 72, is about to hand over power to 35-year-old left-winger Gabriel Boric, whose team accuses the outgoing government of trying to rush through the new contracts at a time when the country is reassessing its stance on natural resources in a process to draft a new constitution.

This week, a group of opposition lower-house members filed an injunction to halt the bidding process, accusing authorities of bypassing community consultation obligations in a fragile desert ecosystem. An umbrella union of copper mining workers slammed the process as extemporaneous.

The crescendo of criticism underscores the enormous challenge of getting societies on board to crank up supply of metals like nickel, cobalt and lithium in the transition away from fossil fuels.

Chile, the largest producer of lithium after Australia, has seen its share of the market dwindle in recent years, producing about 18,000 metric tons last year. The country is offering five contracts to produce as much as 80,000 tons apiece over 20 years.

Sony reveals its EV market ambitions with the Vision-S 02 electric SUV

Mariella Moon
·Associate Editor
Wed, January 5, 2022, 12:13 AM·2 min read

At this year's CES, Sony has unveiled a follow up to the electric car it revealed at the same event two years ago. The new prototype is an SUV that the company is calling Vision-S 02. Sony took the sedan's EV and cloud platforms and put them in a new form factor to create the vehicle, which features a large interior that can seat seven.

The electric SUV has sensors all over its body, including CMOS image and LiDAR sensors for its driver assistance system. Sony says it's conducting tests in Europe as part of its efforts to release a Level 2+ driver assistance technology on public roads. Inside, there are Time-of-Flight sensors for driver authentication, as well as support for intuitive gesture and voice commands. The vehicle will also have 5G connectivity to enable over-the-air updates and remote operation, which Sony is currently working on with its partners.

While the Vision-S 02 is just a prototype at the moment, Sony has ambitions to become a player in the electric vehicle industry and sell its cars to the public. It will establish an operating company named "Sony Mobility Inc." this spring and will explore entry into the EV market. The company didn't reveal what other steps it's taking to achieve that goal, and it remains to be seen whether it'll truly be able to release its Vision-S vehicles. It's worth noting, however, that Sony has been testing its electric sedan on public roads in Europe since December 2020 and has also started verification tests of the safety and user experience of the vehicle's imaging and sensing technology.

Follow all of the latest news from CES 2022 right here!

Sony looks to electric cars for its next big hit

Tue, January 4, 2022
By Shinji Kitamura

(Reuters) - Japan's Sony Group Corp plans to launch a company this spring to examine entering the electric vehicle market, looking to harness its strengths in entertainment and sensors to play a bigger role in next-generation mobility.

The new company, Sony Mobility Inc, comes as the Japanese tech giant is "exploring a commercial launch" of electric vehicles, Sony chairman and president Kenichiro Yoshida told a news conference, speaking ahead of the CES technology trade fair in the United States.


"With our imaging and sensing, cloud, 5G and entertainment technologies combined with our contents mastery, we believe Sony is well positioned as a creative entertainment company to redefine mobility," he said.

Although its once-dominant position in consumer electronics has been eroded by Asian rivals like South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co, Sony still has an arsenal of sophisticated technology in areas such as sensors critical to autonomous driving.

It also remains one of the world's biggest entertainment companies, home to prominent video game and movie franchises. Audio and entertainment systems are increasingly a focus for next-generation vehicles.

Shares in Sony jumped 4.2% in Tokyo after the electric vehicle plans were announced, easily outpacing a flat Nikkei index.

Yoshida unveiled a prototype sport utility vehicle (SUV), the VISION-S 02, which uses the same electric vehicle platform as the previously announced VISION-S 01 coupe that began testing on public roads in Europe from December 2020.

He said the company saw mobility as an "entertainment space" where passengers could chose individual entertainment options and use 5G internet connection.

Wall Street is betting heavily on electric cars and the global auto industry has been upended by Tesla Inc, now the world's most valuable automaker. Many investors also expect Apple Inc to launch its own vehicle within the next few years.

Japan's Toyota Motor Corp in December committed $70 billion to electrify its automobiles by 2030.

(Reporting by Shinji Kitamura; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Kenneth Maxwell)

Federal judge refuses to toss University of Florida professors’ First Amendment lawsuit

Dara Kam
Tue, January 4, 2022

A federal judge on Monday refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by University of Florida professors challenging a policy that gives the school discretion in blocking faculty members from testifying against the state in legal cases.

Political science professors Sharon Austin, Michael McDonald and Daniel Smith filed the lawsuit after university officials denied their requests to serve as plaintiffs’ witnesses in a legal battle about a new state elections law (SB 90) that will, in part, make it harder for Floridians to vote by mail.

Previous coverage:

Judge set to hear arguments in University of Florida faculty dispute


Academic freedom: UF Faculty Senate study finds broad fear of reprisal for criticism


UF board chairman defends administration in academic freedom controversy

The professors turned to the court after university officials told them that going against the executive branch of the government was “adverse” to the school’s interests. Three additional professors later joined as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

The professors contend that the university’s conflict-of-interest policy violates First Amendment speech rights and discriminates based on viewpoint and content.

Amid a national spotlight on the policy, University of Florida President Kent Fuchs walked back the decision on the professors’ testimony in the elections case, saying they would be allowed to be paid as plaintiffs’ experts if they did so on their own time and did not use school resources. Fuchs also quickly assembled a task force to review the conflict-of-interest issue and signed off on recommended changes to the policy.

The revised policy says there is a “strong presumption” that the university will approve faculty or staff requests to testify as expert witnesses.

University leaders last month asked Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker to toss the lawsuit, arguing in part that the case is “moot” because administrators have changed the conflict-of-interest policy.

The defendants — Fuchs, UF Provost Joseph Glover, and the university’s board of trustees — also maintained that the professors lack “standing” as plaintiffs in the case because the university ultimately authorized their requests to serve as expert witnesses.
Judge rebuts defendants' claims that professors lack 'standing' and that changes in policy render case moot

But Walker on Monday refused to stop the case from advancing, finding that the professors face a “credible threat” that future requests will be denied.

Walker’s decision included lengthy excerpts of recent comments by UF Board of Trustees Chairman Morteza “Mori” Hosseini, which the judge said “leave this court with little doubt that the University of Florida intends to enforce its conflict-of-interest policy in the manner plaintiffs fear.”

During a board meeting last month, Hosseini said faculty members had “taken advantage of their positions” by using their university jobs “to improperly advocate personal political viewpoints to the exclusion of others.”

Mori Hosseini, chairman of the University of Florida Board of Trustees, address the board Friday during its session on the Gainesville campus.

“This will not stand,” Hosseini said. “It must stop, and it will stop.” Hosseini also said that state leaders are “fed up” with faculty “misusing their positions.”

“In short, plaintiffs’ activities anger Tallahassee, that threatens the university’s funding, and so the university must halt plaintiffs’ activities,” Walker wrote in Monday’s 23-page ruling.

Walker also rejected the defendants’ arguments that the case is moot because the school’s policy has been revised.

“This case is not about what has happened; this case is about what will happen,” he wrote. “Further, plaintiffs contend that the university reversed course on its earlier denials to try to ride out the firestorm of criticism those denials triggered.

“Once that storm is over, plaintiffs say, the university will pick up right where it left off. And that renewed application of the conflict-of-interest policy is what plaintiffs sue to prevent.”

University of Florida president Kent Fuchs delivers comments during the December meeting of the University of Florida Faculty Senate, at the chamber meeting room in the Reitz Union, in Gainesville Dec. 16, 2021. The faculty senate talked about academic freedoms for faculty members as well as other agenda items.

The university’s revamped policy also falls short, Walker wrote, because it does not set a time limit for administrators to respond to faculty requests. Plaintiffs argued that would allow the university to run out the clock before acting on requests.

“More to the point, the new policy does not repudiate the premise that the university may reject a request to testify not because testifying would interfere with the professor’s duties, but because the testimony the professor intends to deliver would so infuriate Florida’s political leaders that it would harm the university’s bottom line,” Walker wrote.

The chief judge’s ruling on the motion to dismiss came just days before a Friday hearing in the case. The hearing will focus on the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction to block the policy from being enforced.

University officials also argued that the case should be dismissed because the professors failed to follow proper grievance procedures required under their union’s collective bargaining agreement.

But Walker rejected those assertions as well, finding the agreement “explicitly specifies an exception … for ‘any alleged violation’ of a faculty member’s constitutional rights.”

©2022 The News Service of Florida. All rights reserved.

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This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Judge refuses to dismiss UF professors’ free speech lawsuit

Deere says its robo-tractors are ready to till the fields



Tue, January 4, 2022
By Joseph White

DETROIT (Reuters) - John Deere & Co said on Tuesday it will start commercial delivery this year of technology that enables a tractor to till a field without an operator in the cab, a first for the top North American tractor manufacturer after years of effort to automate farm work.

Deere plans a low-volume launch this year delivering systems for 12 to 20 machines, and then scaling up, Jahmy Hindman, Deere's chief technology officer, told Reuters. The company is weighing whether to sell the technology, lease it, or offer it to farmers in a subscription package that could allow for upgrades as hardware and software evolve, he said.

The cameras and computers for automated tilling can be installed on an existing tractor and tiller machine in a day, Hindman said.

Deere and other equipment makers such as Caterpillar have invested heavily in technology to automate off-highway vehicles such as farm tractors and mining machines. In the farm sector, finding workers to operate tractors is a chronic problem made more acute by the pandemic.

For the farm equipment industry, Deere's commercial launch is a significant step in a journey that has been underway for nearly two decades, beginning with the use of satellite positioning and later hands-free operation with a driver still in the cab. Deere has been testing fully autonomous tractors for three to four years, Hindman said.

While automated tractors do not have to contend with pedestrians, the chaos of urban traffic or highway safety regulations, Hindman said self-driving tractors do need to be able to navigate accurately, avoid obstacles and precisely control equipment such as a tiller.

Deere's initial automated tractors will use stereo cameras in the front and rear, and can send images of what the cameras see via a smartphone app to a farmer or equipment operator. The operator can take the tractor to a field, swipe the smartphone screen and the machine will start on a programmed path.

The tractor's computerized vision system will monitor the tiller, which will have mirrors installed on the shanks that churn plant stubble into the ground. If one of the shanks hits a rock and gets tipped up, the change in the reflection from the mirror will be visible to a remote operator.

Deere is working on automating other farm operations, with spraying likely the next target for automation, Hindman said.

(Reporting By Joe White; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

Deere unveils autonomous tractor to transform agriculture



Joann Muller
Tue, January 4, 2022

Deere & Company introduced the world's first autonomous tractor Tuesday, a technology breakthrough that could help farmers cope with a worsening skilled labor shortage.

Why it matters: Farmers are getting older — 55 years old on average — and with more than 80% of the U.S. population residing in urban areas, there aren't enough laborers to do the work or operate machinery.

So robots are the new farmhands as growers try to boost productivity to keep up with soaring global demand for food, biofuels and other agricultural products.

Driving the news: The giant green and yellow machine, which debuted at CES, the annual consumer electronic show in Las Vegas, represents a new era in agriculture.

"The last time agriculture was on the precipice of this much change was when we were on the cusp of replacing the horse and plow," Deere Chief Technology Officer Jahmy Hindman tells Axios.

For the first time, a farm tool can do the work without a human or animal providing the labor.

While Deere has had self-guided tractors since 1999, operators have remained in the cab. Now, its tractors can operate autonomously, 24 hours a day.

All the farmer has to do is transport the machine to a field and configure it for autonomous operation. Using a phone or tablet, the farmer then swipes left to right on Deere's app to start the machine.

The farmer can leave the field to focus on other tasks while monitoring the machine's status on a mobile device.

How it works: Deere’s 8R tractor is outfitted with a GPS guidance system and new advanced technologies including artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities.

Six pairs of stereo cameras provide a 360-degree view around the machine.

Images captured by the cameras are passed through a deep neural network at a rate of 3 frames per second to determine if an obstacle is detected and whether the machine should keep moving or stop.

The tractor continuously checks its position relative to a so-called "geofence," to make sure it's operating where it is supposed to, within an inch of accuracy.

Data collected by the tractor can also help farmers make better strategic decisions in the future.

The bottom line: Deere has been adding automation to its farm machinery for 20 years, enabling precision planting, for example, and the spraying of fertilizer or pesticides on individual plants.

With its fully autonomous tractor, available later this year, farmers can now leave chores like tilling the soil to the machine.

The hot air surrounding cows and methane


Carlton Fletcher, The Albany Herald, Ga.
Tue, January 4, 2022

Jan. 4—TIFTON — It is not difficult to find somebody talking about methane these days. Simply turn on the TV, open your computers to your news affiliate of choice or log into any social media platform.

Over and over, we have been told that methane is a potent greenhouse gas, it contributes to global warming, and since ruminants (i.e., cattle) produce methane, they are destroying the world.

I am here to tell you that all of that is true, other than the last bit about cows destroying the world. On the contrary, cattle have a role in actually cooling the Earth's atmosphere.

It is true that cattle produce methane — the average beef cow can produce between 0.1 to 0.2 pounds of methane every day. This is a natural process that allows the animal to control the pH of their rumen by removing hydrogen, an element that impacts acidity.

Methane is a very potent greenhouse gas, and we do need to do our part as humans to try to reduce the amount of methane produced. However, unlike carbon dioxide (CO2), which is in the atmosphere for approximately 1,000 years, methane has an atmospheric lifespan of only 10 years, after which methane is converted to CO2.

The other element that makes up methane is carbon. Let's consider where this carbon is coming from — the cow's diet, whether that be forage, supplement or a total mixed ration. For the most part, our cattle are consuming plants, either as forage, grain or byproducts.

Now, let's think back to fifth-grade science class and remember how plants grow.

Through a process called photosynthesis, plants pull CO2 from the atmosphere and peel off the oxygen (O2), using the carbon to produce energy for plant growth. This means that the methane produced from the rumen of cattle is formed from CO2 that could have previously been methane from the rumen of a grazing beef cow. This is the cycle of biogenic methane — methane that is produced by a living organism.

If we consider that the methane produced from the U.S. beef herd is biogenic and that this carbon is consistently being recycled through the system via grasslands and grain, the story we should be hearing is that cattle are not actually a negative source of greenhouse gases, but instead can actually act as source of carbon sequestration and short-term global cooling.

Today, if the global cattle herd does not grow in number of head, the amount of carbon released (i.e., methane) and sequestered (i.e., CO2 taken into soils and plants) is in balance. This is great news. What is even better news is that if we utilize novel technologies, such as feed additives, we have the opportunity to release less methane, which would lead to short-term cooling.

As producers, many may ask the obvious question, "If we are currently not significantly contributing to global warming with our cows, why would I want to spend more money to reduce methane?"

The answer to that is efficiency. When cattle produce methane, they do that at a cost and that cost is energy. Approximately 2 to 12% of the energy consumed by cattle is lost as methane, with cattle consuming forage-based diets producing three to four times more methane than their grain-fed counterparts. Therefore, by mitigating the release of methane from ruminants, the opportunity arises for that carbon to go into meat, milk or fiber production.

It is important for us to consider these aspects of methane production. It is easy for many of us to scoff every time we hear someone speak about the methane produced by cattle, but maybe it is time for us to consider that the story we need to be telling is that we have the ability to cool the planet with cattle while saving on our feed bills.

IVORY TOWER ARYAN SUPREMACIST

US is 'better off with fewer Asians, less Asian immigration,' says tenured UPenn professor



Sarah Yukiko
Tue, January 4, 2022, 11:14 AM·3 min read

University of Pennsylvania (Penn) law professor and second-generation immigrant Amy Wax made anti-Asian and xenophobic remarks following a conversation with fellow Ivy League professor Glenn Loury on his podcast “The Glenn Show” (“TGS”).

Anti-Asian remarks

After Wax appeared on “TGS,” Loury shared a response from one of his listeners, George Lee, on Substack. “I usually agree with Amy, but her views on immigration (which she had stated earlier elsewhere) disturbed me,” Lee wrote. “Again, no one is entitled to immigration. But do we want to do without, to give a dramatic example, key contributors to the Manhattan Project, like Edward Teller and John von Neumann, when, as it turned out, German physicist Werner Heisenberg was just one calculation error away from a Nazi atomic bomb? Amy herself did come from an immigrant Jewish family.”

Wax addressed Lee’s response by repeating Asian stereotypes and writing that Asians possess a “desire to please the elite, single-minded focus on self-advancement, conformity and obsequiousness.” She claimed that Lee is “is too optimistic about the influence of Asians and Asian immigrants on our polity and culture.”

She also wrote about Asians’ supposed “lack of deep post-Enlightenment conviction,” “lack of thoughtful and audacious individualism” and “indifference to liberty.”

She concluded her response by saying, “As long as most Asians support Democrats and help to advance their positions, I think the United States is better off with fewer Asians and less Asian immigration. There needs to be more focus on people who are already here.”

Social media outrage

Wax’s response drew outrage on social media, where many pointed out that she had previously used white supremacist rhetoric to promote anti-Black sentiment.

“What the sh*t in the f*ck,” blogger Angry Asian Man tweeted.

“Ah, it’s the yellow peril all over again,” one user wrote.

“Can’t believe remarks even exists [sic] in 2021 from a professor whom herself was a second generation immigrant,” another user said.

Penn Law School dean’s response

Dean of Penn’s Carey Law School, Theodore Ruger, released a statement on Jan. 3 both condemning Wax’s remarks and reaffirming her status as a tenured professor.

“Wax’s recent comments inflict harm by perpetuating stereotypes and placing differential burdens on Asian students, faculty, and staff to carry the weight of this vitriol and bias,” he wrote. “Yet Wax makes these statements as a faculty member with tenure.”

Ruger went on to defend the importance of tenure, stating: “The same academic freedom principles that permit current scholars to engage in critical and overdue analysis of this nation’s historical and structural discrimination – despite zealous efforts to censor such speech by some – also apply to faculty like Wax who voice xenophobic and white supremacist views.”

Wax, a second-generation immigrant whose parents originally come from Eastern Europe, has previously made overtly white supremacist remarks, and in 2019, she was prohibited from teaching core curriculum classes at Penn Law School. Based on Ruger’s recent statement, it is unclear whether or not she will face additional repercussions.

Penn Law professor said that the US is 'better off with fewer Asians' because they support Democrats


DeArbea Walker
Tue, January 4, 2022

University students walking on pedestrian road , near University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA

Stock Photo/Getty Images


A Penn professor said the US would be better off with less Asian immigration.

Amy Wax said the US should limit Asian immigration because of their support for Democrats.

Wax is now facing backlash for her comments.

A University of Pennsylvania law professor is facing backlash after she said the United States would be "better off with fewer Asians and less Asian immigration."

In a letter obtained by DailyMail.com, Amy Wax doubled down on racist comments she made on The Glenn Show in December, saying that the US should be concerned about the number of Asian people immigrating to the US because they vote for Democrats.

"Maybe it's just that Democrats love open borders and Asians want more Asians here," The Penn Law professor wrote, according to DailyMail.com. "But as long as most Asians support Democrats and help to advance their positions, I think the United States is better off with fewer Asians and less Asian immigration."


During a December interview on The Glenn Show, Wax and host Glenn Loury engaged in a discussion about US immigration when the conversation turned toward Asian immigration.

"It's just harder to assimilate those people or to have confidence that our way of life will continue if we bring a lot of people in who are not familiar with it," Wax said. "These are not original ideas on the [political] right."

Wax went on to say that the US should be concerned about South Asian elites migrating to the US and its impact on American culture.

"[We] have to distinguish mass-immigration, which we're getting from the Hispanics, south of the border, which I think poses different questions and challenges from the Asian elites that we're getting," she said. "It doesn't mean that the influx of Asian elites is unproblematic. I actually think it's problematic... I think it's because there's this… danger of the dominance of an Asian elite in this country."

Wax is now facing backlash for her comments.

Penn Law School Dean Theodore Ruger said Wax's comments were "anti-intellectual" in a statement on Monday, calling them "xenophobic and white supremacist views."

"Like all racist generalizations, Wax's recent comments inflict harm by perpetuating stereotypes and placing differential burdens on Asian students, faculty, and staff to carry the weight of this vitriol and bias," he said.

"As we have previously emphasized, Wax's views are diametrically opposed to the policies and ethos of this institution," Ruger added. "They serve as a persistent and tangible reminder that racism, sexism, and xenophobia are not theoretical abstractions but are real and insidious beliefs in this country and in our building. This reality sharpens and deepens our commitment to support our community as we continue to work to advance equity and inclusion."

Former President Donald Trump's niece Mary Trump also criticized Wax's comments.

"It helps explain the situation this country finds itself in that an Ivy League university allows the morally and intellectually bankrupt racist #AmyWax teach the next generation of American lawyers," she said on Twitter. "There should be consequences for this kind of hateful rhetoric @pennlaw."

Wax has previously faced similar backlash for her views on the US' need to favor white over non-white people in the immigration system.

"Let us be candid: Europe and the First World, to which the United States belongs, remains mostly white for now. And the Third World, although mixed, contains a lot of non-white people," she said at the inaugural National Conservatism conference 2019, according to Vox. "Embracing cultural distance nationalism means in effect taking the position that our country will be better off with more whites and fewer non-whites."

Penn Law rebukes professor who said U.S. would be 'better off with fewer Asians'



Brahmjot Kaur
Tue, January 4, 2022

The dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School criticized comments by a professor at the school as "thoroughly anti-intellectual and racist" for suggesting that the United States is “better off with fewer Asians and less Asian immigration.”

The dean, Theodore Rugers, was responding to comments made by Amy Wax, a white law professor, in an interview last month.

“Once again, Amy Wax has, through her thoroughly anti-intellectual and racist comments denigrating Asian immigrants, underscored a fundamental tension around harmful speech at American universities,” Rugers wrote in a statement.


“Like all racist generalizations, Wax’s recent comments inflict harm by perpetuating stereotypes and placing differential burdens on Asian students, faculty, and staff to carry the weight of this vitriol and bias.”

No punishment has been announced.

During a Dec. 20 interview on journalist Glenn Loury’s web show, Bloggingheads.tv, Wax criticized Asian immigration to the United States, warning of the “danger of the dominance of an Asian elite in this country.”

“If you go into medical schools, you’ll see that Indians, South Asians are now rising stars. In medicine, they’re sort of the new Jews, I guess, but these diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives are poisoning the scientific establishment and the medical establishment now,” said Wax, who is Jewish.

Wax did not respond to NBC News’ request for comment.

Loury, a professor of social sciences at Brown University, attempted to defend Asian Americans by invoking the model minority myth. “What would be wrong with having a lot of Chinese or Indian or Korean engineers, physicians, computer scientists, and whatnot, running around here creating value, enlivening the society?” he said.

Wax also said Asians in the U.S. should be more thankful. “Why should someone who emigrated from India, has taken advantage of everything our society has to offer, who is leading the good life, who’s part of the elite — why shouldn’t that person be objectively grateful? And, you know, recognize overtly all the wonderful things about our country?” she said.

On Sunday Loury published an email he received from a listener who was critical of Wax’s comments. He also allowed Wax to respond to the listener.

“Maybe it’s just that Democrats love open borders, and Asians want more Asians here,” she wrote. “Perhaps they (and especially their distaff element) are just mesmerized by the feel-good cult of ‘diversity.’ I don’t know the answer. But as long as most Asians support Democrats and help to advance their positions, I think the United States is better off with fewer Asians and less Asian immigration.”

Wax’s comments quickly went viral on Twitter.

It’s not Wax’s first time facing backlash over racist or discriminatory remarks. In 2006, faculty at Penn Law rebuked her public advocacy against same-sex marriage. In a 2017 interview on the Glenn Show, Wax said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Black student graduate in the top quarter of the class, and rarely, rarely in the top half.” (Ruger denied that this was true and Wax was barred from teaching first-year law courses.)

And in 2019, students at Penn Law called for Wax’s termination after she was caught on camera saying the United States “will be better off with more whites and fewer nonwhites,” the Pennsylvania Capitol-Star reported.

"They [Wax’s views] serve as a persistent and tangible reminder that racism, sexism, and xenophobia are not theoretical abstractions but are real and insidious beliefs in this country and in our building. This reality sharpens and deepens our commitment to support our community as we continue to work to advance equity and inclusion,” Ruger said in this week’s statement.