Brazilian scientists find new way to capture carbon from the atmosphere
Saturday, April 16th 2022 - 

Well-managed soils are an effective way to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases

According to a report published Friday by Agencia Brasil, a group of scientists from that country has found new techniques which could be of use in forest recovery and increase the capture of carbon from the atmosphere. April 15 was Brazil's National Soil Conservation Day.

Researchers at the Vale Technological Institute (ITV) in Belém have identified molecular markers capable of quantifying genes and proteins that favor management practices and increase soil carbon stock.

The unprecedented study of Genes and proteins related to nutrient cycling, carbon fixation and soil health began in 2016 and is divided into three strands: mapping of natural soils, monitoring the recovery of degraded areas, and assessing soil quality in reforestation projects and agroforestry systems. In this last stage, the survey is associated with the goal of recovering an additional 500,000 hectares of forests in Brazil by 2030.

The researchers collected soil samples and, in the laboratory, were able to map the existing DNA and proteins. According to study coordinator Rafael Valadares, research has already been done in natural soils, agroforestry systems, and soils impacted by mining. The study began in the Amazon Forest, with soil analysis in Serra de Carajás, an area where Vale operates, mainly in the rusty rupestrian fields and in the Carajás National Forest.

Valadares also explained that in the areas recovered by Vale in the Amazon Forest, “we were able to demonstrate the progress of the recovery from the biochemical point of view of the soil - which is the heart of the forest.” he explained to Agência Brasil.

“The capacity of forest agrosystems is evaluated, which are more conservative systems that use the planting of fruit trees, associated with tree species. We evaluate in Linhares the capacity of agroforestry systems to store more carbon and whether the agroforestry system is a healthier soil or not. The goal is to see which system is contributing to a healthier soil,” he told Agencia Brasil.

The study is distributed to rural producers so they can better understand the soil in which they operate. “With the information on what is working well or poorly in the soil, the producer can direct management techniques to correct what is going wrong. In the same way, we can compare different cropping systems, different plantings, and indicate which system is contributing to overall soil improvement and which is degrading it,” Valadares elaborated.

Data from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) show that the soil accounts for about 70% of the carbon stored in the earth in the form of organic matter. This is almost three times more than is stored in vegetation and about twice as much as is stored in the atmosphere.

Currently, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 33% of the world's soils and 52% of agricultural soils are degraded, mainly by erosion, compaction, and contamination.

According to Soil and Microbiology specialist Igor Assis from the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV), the soil is fundamental for life on Earth. “Soil has several functions, such as food, fiber and fuel production. But also as carbon sequestration, water purification - the water that comes out of the spring is usually clean because the soil performs this purification; degradation of contaminants - many of which end up in the soil, the microbiota itself degrades these contaminants,” he explained.

Assis also emphasized the importance of soil in flood regulation. “When the soil is well managed and structured, it stores a gigantic amount of rainwater. When the soil is degraded, it becomes compacted and cannot store this rainwater, which ends up going all the way to the rivers, and then the great floods that we see today happen. The soil has the function of being a source of genetic and pharmaceutical resources, which are directly used by the population in our daily lives,” he said.

For the scholar, education about soil is essential for the survival of the human species.

“We have exponential growth of the world population and the amount of degraded soils is increasing a lot. So, we are getting a bill that doesn't add up: the population is growing, we need to produce more food that the soils provide us and they are being degraded and, in a not too distant future, many of these services are going to be drastically reduced and this directly affects our lives,” he pointed out.

Another point in focus is the recent discussion about the low-carbon economy, aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions. The subject has been gaining more and more space around the world.

According to the professor, well-managed soils are an effective way to conserve carbon in organic form, reducing the emission of greenhouse gases and contributing to the carbon credit market.

“The climate change issue, which is related to the low carbon economy, initially had the idea of reducing the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere and today we work with two areas related to this: to reduce the emission, to sequester, to drain the carbon that is in the atmosphere. And the only component that we can manage to do this in an easier way is the soil,” he highlighted.

In this sense, to price the market, countries have created the so-called carbon market, a mechanism that allows the sale of credits by nations that limit their emissions of these gases to nations with greater difficulties in meeting reduction targets.

In Brazil, the issue has been discussed in the House of Representatives with the PL 528/2021, which creates the Brazilian Market for Emissions Reduction (MBRE). The proposal aims to ensure the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, curbing global warming.

Argentine port workers to stage 24-hour strike Thursday

Wednesday, April 20th 2022

   
 

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The measure will affect operations at the port of Buenos Aires and other terminals

Argentine port workers will stage a 24-hour strike Thursday to demand certainties from the national government regarding the official port policy. The measure will affect operations at Buenos Aires and other terminals, it was announced.

The decision was made by the port workers' union FeMPINRA (Maritime Port and Naval Industry Federation of the Argentine Republic) given what they consider a situation of uncertainty generated by the national government regarding the call for tenders to renew the concessions of the port terminals and the progress in the awards for the work of the waterway in the Uruguay River.

The main concern of the unions in recent years was the future of Terminal 5 operated by BACTSSA, the local subsidiary of the multinational Hutchinson, whose concession had expired in May last year after several extensions that the government refused to grant since the legislation currently in force only allowed for this mechanism to be used for a period equivalent to 20% of the concession.

In 2021 the federal government nationalized the concession of the waterway through the General Administration of Ports (AGP), thus ending 25 years of management by Compañía Argentina de Dragados, run by the Belgian company Jan de Nul and the local firm Emepa. The State's management, in theory, would last one year until the Government called for a new bidding process.

“Since April last year, when the concession in charge of Hidrovía SA ended, decisions were taken that unfortunately created a real quagmire in the awarding of the main navigation route,” according to FeMPINRA.

A week ago, the unions had already declared a state of alert “due to the delays and bureaucratic procedures around the tenders of the metropolitan port and the trunk navigation system”.

The National Board of Directors of FeMPINRA also questioned that some equipment has been returned to the Undersecretary of Ports, Waterways and Merchant Marine (SSPyVN), such as a beacon that remains inactive, due to the lack of coordination with the Foreign Ministry, in charge of the Administrative Commission of the Uruguay River (CARU).

FeMPINRA also called for the creation of a national merchant fleet and decried the recent closing of the shipyard UABL-ATRIA in Punta Alvear.

“Not knowing what will happen in the future of these activities, the need to establish minimum criteria in the sectorial policy increases, issues that the authorities of the area do not succeed in defining,” the labor grouping also said.

Argentina: Massacre of indigenous groups and its cover-up brought to trial

Wednesday, April 20th 2022 -

Witnesses over 100 years old testified through audio-visual records before the Court on opening day on.

Although none of the suspects is still alive, an Argentine court in the northern province of Chaco began Tuesday a “truth trial” for the so-called “Napalpi massacre,” the killing of native peoples perpetrated in 1924.

Some survivors over 100 years old and descendants of the victims are expected to testify in the proceedings which seek to determine what actually happened, although there can be no penalties imposed since the alleged killers have all died.

“This trial will build through Justice a truth that is written, that symbolically repairs the relatives of the victims and also democracy and new generations,” Argentina's Human Rights Secretary Horacio Pietragalla Corti said.

The official was present at Tuesday's opening hearing. A special investigation by the Secretariat has led to this trial. The trial seeks to establish how the Napalpí massacre occurred, in which members of the Qom and Moqoit indigenous peoples were murdered.

On July 19, 1924, about a hundred law enforcement officers and settlers shot members of these communities who were protesting for better working and living conditions.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, there were shots “rampage” for about an hour, after which some 300 members of the Qom and Moqoit ethnic groups were killed, including children, pregnant women, the elderly, and also children.

The prosecutors' opening statement also highlighted that the wounded who could not escape in time were “killed in the cruelest possible ways” and there were mutilations and burials in mass graves.

The Prosecutor's Office recalled that “the aggressor forces justified the attack as a police confrontation against indigenous rebels” and “they also tried to present the facts as an alleged confrontation between ethnic groups.”

“This trial seeks the truth of what happened, which we will try to achieve through the different testimonies and evidence, to arrive at an approximation of the facts as they would have happened,” said Federal Judge Zunilda Niremperger, in charge of the trial.

The magistrate added that this process “does not seek criminal responsibilities” but “to make a judicial determination of the facts, to know the truth of what happened, first for the vindication of the memory of the people, to soothe the wounds, to repair as a form of positive action.

”But also with the aim of activating the memory and generating collective awareness that serious human rights violations should not be repeated, especially in these cases where they were allegedly generated by the State and against a highly vulnerable group, such as indigenous communities,“ she said.

In 2019, the massacre was declared a crime against humanity, thus lifting any statute of limitations from it. In November, the Human Rights Secretariat provided as evidence to the case a thorough historical investigation into the facts and motives that led to the massacre almost a century ago.

That investigation features official documents and testimonies of survivors and relatives and describes the denial and cover-up of the massacre by the authorities, who silenced the facts for decades. ”There was a strategy by the State to construct an official history to deny and cover up the massacre,” the prosecution argued.

In the first hearing of the trial, in addition to the presentation of the Prosecutor's Office and the different plaintiffs, audio-visual records of the Qom historian Juan Chico and of the survivors Pedro Balquinta and Rosa Grilo, who are over 100 years old, were presented.

The Return of COOL? Legislation Would Resurrect Origin Labeling for Meat

Ranching advocates say consumers are willing to pay more for U.S.-produced beef – if it’s labeled properly. An ag economist says an earlier Country of Origin Labeling rule did not cause higher prices for meat.

by Claire Carlson

April 18, 2022

A photograph of a meat label shortly before the stricter 2013 regulations went into effect. 

(Photo by Robert Couse-Baker via Flickr CC BY 2.0)

Mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) is back on the table with the American Beef Labeling Act, which would reinstate COOL for beef after its repeal in 2015. If passed, rancher advocates say profits of independent cattle producers could increase as consumers choose to buy U.S.-produced meat to support the nation’s rural communities.

“Consumers understand the need to strengthen the economic foundation of rural America and they know that they can achieve that through their purchasing choices,” said Bill Bullard, CEO of R-CALF USA, a legal fund for ranchers and cattlemen.

In 2013 USDA tightened its regulation of meat labeling to require sellers to provide consumers with more detailed information about the meat’s origins, including the country in which the animal was born, raised, and slaughtered.

At the same time the revised regulations went into effect, cattle prices and retail beef prices began to increase, according to Bullard.

“Throughout 2013 and 2014, beef and cattle prices rose to the highest nominal levels in history, and cattle producers were finally recovering a profit from the marketplace itself,” Bullard said.

Advocates point to these profit increases as evidence of consumer behavior influencing the domestic meat market because of COOL.

Advocates of better country of origin labeling point to higher cattle prices (blue line) from 2013 to 2015 as evidence of the regulation’s effectiveness. Ag economist Jayson Lusk of Purdue University said the higher prices correspond with a drop in cattle inventory (brown dashed line). 

(Source: 2018 report to members of Congress from the General Accounting Office)

Alan Shammel, a rancher who raises calves near Lewiston, Montana, and member of the Northern Plains Resource Council, saw a considerable increase in profit during this time. When COOL was instated, Shammel got approximately $1 more per pound for his calves, which weigh in at about 700 pounds when they’re sold to feedlots in the Midwest. Shammel sells between 300 and 350 calves each year, so this was an annual increase of $210,000 for his business.

“We buy all our inputs locally, so that money stays in the area,” Shammel said. The inputs, or supplies and infrastructure farmers use to raise cattle, include minerals and feed, new machinery, and ranch updates.

Just two years after the 2013 regulations were enforced, a World Trade Organization (WTO) compliance panel ruled that COOL hampered competition livestock from Mexico and Canada. “Corporate meatpackers were able to convince Canada and Mexico to file a claim to the WTO saying that country of origin labeling was an illegal trade barrier,” said Tim Gibbons, communication director for Missouri Rural Crisis Center.

The WTO authorized $1 billion in retaliatory tariffs from Mexico and Canada against the U.S. because of COOL, jump starting Congress’ repeal the requirement.

In late 2015, most of COOL’s provisions were revoked for both muscle-cut and ground beef and pork. Now, any meat that is born, raised, and slaughtered outside the U.S. can be labeled “Product of the USA” as long as the product was packaged within the United States. Critics of “Product of the USA” labeling say it misleads consumers and undercuts the profits of independent producers in the U.S. during a time of low cattle prices.

One agricultural economist isn’t convinced the repeal of COOL caused the drop in cattle prices seen after 2015.

“Was it correlation or causation?” said Jayson Lusk, a professor at Purdue University. “I tend to be on the side that even though COOL was repealed at about the same time there was a drop in cattle prices and loss of profitability, to my mind it wasn’t really associated with COOL.”

According to Lusk, COOL was enacted when cattle supply was low. “People were reducing herd sizes because of a lot of stuff that had gone on a few years earlier like droughts in the West and the ethanol market and corn prices,” Lusk said. “This really drove [cattle] prices up in 2014 and 2015.”

For cattle ranchers like Shammel, the loss of income after 2015 came as a significant blow.

“It was a loss to the entire community when our ranch lost that extra money. And when you multiply that by all the other ranchers in the area, it’s just tremendous,” he said.

Now, Shammel’s beef is indistinguishable from imported beef in the grocery store because of the less strict requirements for “Product of the USA” labeling.

Efforts to reinstate COOL are growing with the recent introduction of the American Beef Labeling Act into the House and Senate. Supported by politicians from both sides of the aisle, the Senate bill was introduced in September of 2021 by Senator John Thune (R-South Dakota) and is co-sponsored by nine other senators: Jon Tester (D-Montana), Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota), Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), John Hoeven (R-North Dakota), Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming), Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico), John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York).

The House bill, introduced in late March of 2022, is co-sponsored by U.S. Representatives Lance Gooden (R-Texas) and Ro Khanna (D-California).

The American Beef Labeling Act comes in the wake of new strides by the Biden administration’s announcement that it will enforce antitrust laws and fight corporate consolidation. In July of 2021, President Biden signed an executive order promoting competition in the American economy, including the agriculture sector, where just a few corporations control large portions of ag-related markets.

Four meatpacking companies control 85% of the beef industry: JBS S.A., Cargill, Tyson Foods, and National Beef Packing.

“The ability of these multinational meatpackers to import meat and beef from all around the world and undercut prices paid to U.S. independent family cattle farmers is one of the reasons they’re able to take advantage of their market control, increase profits and not pay producers,” said Gibbons with the Missouri Rural Crisis Center. If consumers have more information about where their food comes from, rancher advocates say this could help shift the beef market into the hands of independent producers.

Advocacy groups like Western Organization of Resource Councils are working to get the bill more co-sponsors, including Senator Steve Daines (R-Montana) and Senator Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota). Neither has signed on yet.

“There remain differences in stakeholder opinions on the legislation, but we all want to find lasting solutions to keep American ranchers and farmers in business,” said Senator Cramer in an email to The Daily Yonder. “We must push for solutions which allow American producers to differentiate their higher quality product while not triggering billions in retaliatory tariffs with our largest trading partners.”

Skeptics of COOL have cited concerns that the WTO would have similar opposition to the bill as in 2015. The American Beef Labeling Act addresses this concern by stating that the “United States Trade Representative, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, shall determine a means of reinstating mandatory country of origin labeling for beef…that is in compliance with all applicable rules of the World Trade Organization.”

Cattle rancher and Colorado Department of Agriculture commission member Kathryn Bedell isn’t worried about retaliation from the WTO if COOL were reinstated. “I think we’re more prepared to take on the WTO than we were [in 2015],” Bedell said. “We’re seven years down the road and there’s different people there and different things that have happened around the world.”

Kathryn Bedell says current profit margins are so low 

that ranchers can’t afford to make beneficial changes 

in how they raise livestock.

 (Photo via Quivira Coalition)

Bedell raises grass-fed beef outside of De Beque, Colorado. She is the sole owner of her cattle, handling them throughout the entire process – from birth to slaughter to sale to the consumer. Bedell is also a staunch advocate for regenerative agriculture and responsible land stewardship.

“Here in the Grand Valley, methods like no-till and cover cropping are really starting to take off,” Bedell said. “Conventional grain farming for cattle works, but it actually works better to put livestock on the land because then you’re recycling nutrients.” Recycling nutrients means ranchers buy less fertilizer as cows put nutrients back on the field through their manure.

“You’re cutting down on your inputs like pesticides, which makes the world healthier,” Bedell said.

These values have influenced Bedell’s support of COOL, which advocates believe could increase ranchers’ profits if reinstated. “If you can allow cattlemen to make more money, they can afford to do a better job and change what they’re doing,” Bedell said. “Right now, the profit margins are so low that we have no money to change the way we’re doing business.”

The number of independent cattle producers has been decreasing as these profit margins get smaller, but it’s difficult to track exactly how many independent producers are entering or leaving the business, according to rancher advocates. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) no longer publishes annual cattle producer data, so the only way to track these numbers is with the USDA’s agriculture census, published every five years.

“We are definitely in a serious crisis right now as an industry,” R-CALF’s Bullard said. “Competition has been purged throughout the live cattle and beef supply chains. Country of origin labeling would empower consumers to reignite competitive market forces in the entire beef supply chain because consumer buying preferences would initiate demand signals upstream.”

If the legislation passes, beef producers would have one year to implement COOL. No timeline has been released for when the House and Senate bills will be voted on.

Brazil again top global beef exporter, followed by India, USA and Australia

Tuesday, April 19th 2022 

Brazil is projected to account for 22% of global beef exports. After disruptions in 2021, Brazil has resumed exporting beef to China/Hong Kong.

Brazil during March exported 203,490 tons of beef, up 28% year on year, and the UN Department of Agriculture anticipated that the country is projected to become once again the largest beef exporter in 2022., with shipments 12,1% higher than in 2021.

Brazil has been the largest beef exporter running for the last five years, and since becoming the leading exporter in 2004, it has been at the top of the ranking in 14 out of the last 20 years.

Brazil is projected to account for 22% of global beef exports. After disruptions in 2021, Brazil has resumed exporting beef to China/Hong Kong.

Exports to the U.S. increased by 131% in 2021 and are sharply higher so far in 2022, following increased Brazilian market access to the fresh product in early 2021. However, Brazil will encounter sharply higher tariff rates in 2022 for exports to the U.S. once the “other country” Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) is met.

According to the Brazilian Meatpacking Association (Abrafrigo), income generated from beef and processed products during March grew 57% reaching US$ 1.124 billion, an all-time high for March.

“In addition to exports growth, average product prices rose from US$4,415 (per ton) last year to US$5,319, considering the first three months of the year,” Abrafrigo said in a note.

Beef exports totaled 545,751 tons from January through March, 33% more than in the same period in 2021, generating US$2.9 billion, a 60% increase

China continues to lead among importers, with 188,236 tons in the quarter (+30.6%) and when added to Hong Kong, beef exports to China totaled 275.300 tons and US$ 1.658 billion, 50.45% and 57.11%, respectively, compared to the first quarter. According to Abrafrigo, the United States ranked second in the quarter, with 69,799 tons (+395%).

Overall the tier of beef exporting countries includes U.S., India and Australia in that order and with roughly the same volume of exports. By a small margin, the latest USDA forecast is for the U.S. to be the second-largest beef exporting country for the second consecutive year in 2022.

India is forecast to be the third-largest beef exporting country in 2022, with sales increasing year over year from 2021 levels. India was the largest global beef exporter from 2014 to 2016 but slowed and declined to a recent low in 2020 before recovering. Production of bovine meat in India includes beef and meat from water buffalo (carabeef).

Australia is forecast to be the fourth-largest beef exporting country in 2022. Beef production in Australia dropped to the lowest level in more than two decades in 2021 as the industry began to rebuild after several years of drought-forced liquidation. Beef exports are forecast to increase by 14.2% year over year in 2022. Australia accounted for just 12.3% of U.S. beef imports in 2021, the lowest on record. This compares to an average share of nearly 29% for the prior 20 years.

The top four beef exporting countries represent about 60% of the 2022 projected global total in the USDA report. The third tier of beef exporting countries begins at about half the level of Australia, including Argentina, the E.U., New Zealand, Canada and Uruguay.

Exports from these five countries are projected to decrease by 3.4% in 2022, with only the E. U. showing a slight increase in exports. Together, the top nine exporting countries are forecast to account for nearly 87% of global beef exports in 2022. Additionally, beef exports from Mexico and Paraguay are forecast at slightly more than half of the Argentina level and bring the total share of the top eleven beef exporters to 93% of the global total in 2022.

With Roe On Thin Ice, The GOP Is Attacking Abortion Rights Like Never Before

2022 is shaping up to be the most devastating year on record for reproductive freedom.


Alanna Vagianos
Apr. 19, 2022,

Anti-choice lawmakers have introduced 536 abortion restrictions in 42 states so far this year, 30 of which have passed into law.
ILLUSTRATION: DAMON DAHLEN/HUFFPOST; PHOTOS: GETTY

The year is shaping up to be the most devastating on record for abortion rights.

Texas’ abortion ban created a nearly unbeatable blueprint for other red states looking to restrict access to the procedure. Anti-choice lawmakers have introduced hundreds of restrictions. And the Supreme Court could gut Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that expanded access to abortion nationwide, in a matter of months.

The anti-abortion rights movement is invigorated — and it appears to be winning.

“The anti-choice movement and the extremist politicians that do its bidding are emboldened by the looming threat to the constitutional right to abortion and are using this legislative session to chart new waters in their quest to end legal abortion,” said NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju. “We have seen lawmakers hostile to reproductive freedom launch an all-out assault on abortion rights and they aren’t slowing down.”

For the past decade, anti-choice lawmakers on the state level have consistently tried to roll back abortion rights — that’s nothing new. In 2021 alone, they introduced 663 measures to restrict access to abortion care, 108 of which were enacted into law, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization that supports abortion rights.

What is new is the anti-abortion movement’s renewed sense of energy.

As state legislative sessions wind down, 42 states have introduced 536 abortion restrictions, according to an analysis from the Guttmacher Institute, in the first few months of 2022.

Just over 30 of those measures have been passed into law in nine states, including Arizona, Florida and Indiana. Kentucky and South Dakota lawmakers have been particularly aggressive: Five of the new anti-abortion laws are in South Dakota, and 19 are in Kentucky.

In the first three and a half months of 2022, 19 states introduced copycat versions of Texas’ abortion ban, which restricts abortion at six weeks and effectively deputizes private citizens to enforce it. In December, the Supreme Court allowed the Texas law to stand — including its six-week ban and extreme enforcement mechanism — as the lawsuit opposing its constitutionality proceeded in lower courts.

In addition, a dozen states introduced “trigger bans,” or abortion restrictions that would go into effect immediately if Roe is overturned.

And the fall of Roe could be soon: The Supreme Court heard arguments in December on a 2018 Mississippi abortion ban that seeks to restrict the procedure at 15 weeks with no exceptions for rape or incest.

Experts and advocates on both sides agreed that the conservative-majority high court signaled it would either overturn Roe or cut the gestational limit from 24 weeks to 15 weeks. The much-anticipated decision in that case is expected sometime in June.

“For the past decade, anti-choice lawmakers on the state level have consistently tried to roll back abortion rights — that’s nothing new. What is new is the anti-abortion movement’s renewed sense of energy.”

At least 26 states are poised to ban or severely restrict abortion access if Roe falls this summer. In some states, there are abortion bans on the books that predate the 1973 Supreme Court case; those would immediately go into effect if Roe was overturned. Other states have preemptively passed trigger bans in anticipation of Roe falling in the coming months.

As activists on both sides of the aisle prepare for the looming Supreme Court decision, abortion opponents have ramped up their attacks on medication abortion, while pro-choice advocates are working to provide access via websites and by mail. Of the 536 total restrictions introduced so far, 116 are medication abortion restrictions, and 14 of them have been enacted.

Encouraged by the impending Supreme Court decision and by a political party now playing to its most extreme wing, many abortion opponents have already claimed victory. And that can be seen in just how cruel many of the measures introduced this year are.

In Oklahoma, state lawmakers considered creating a database of pregnant people looking to get abortions. In Missouri, a state senator wanted to ban people from traveling out of state to get abortions, while others tried to criminalize treating ectopic pregnancies — which are not viable and often life-threatening. In New Hampshire, lawmakers debated a bill that would give men veto power over a woman’s choice to get an abortion.

On the heels of Texas’ six-week abortion ban, several states have introduced similar legislation this year that copies the Lone Star state’s brutal enforcement mechanism. Idaho became the first state to pass a copycat Texas ban into law last month. Although the Idaho law allows exceptions for rape or incest (unlike other copycat measures), it forces women to file a police report and provide it to a physician before being allowed to get an abortion. And, if a woman fails to do all this before her abortion, the rapist’s family members could sue and collect damages.

Notably, some of these measures are actually becoming law — and, unlike in the past, few are facing successful court challenges. A rash of 15-week abortion bans with no exceptions for rape or incest sprang up this year. Governors in Florida, Arizona and Kentucky all signed 15-week bans into law that will devastate access to care. All three are unconstitutional and will likely face legal challenges before they take effect.

The brazen choice by many GOP lawmakers to abandon standard language in anti-choice measures, such as rape and incest exceptions, is proof enough that the tide has turned.

“Even as Roe stands, abortion access is already being eviscerated at rapid speed across the country,” said Timmaraju. “Make no mistake: They won’t stop at banning abortion — the anti-choice movement wants to attack birth control, LGBTQ children and families, and roll back many of the freedoms we hold dear. These cruel attacks fall hardest on the folks who already face the greatest barriers to accessing care.”

The Republican Party, especially at the state level, is no longer interested in making abortion restrictions palatable to voters. And Republicans seem to be getting away with it.

 Irish Travellers say racism is causing a suicide crisis - BBC News

Apr 19, 2022

Racism and discrimination are being blamed for high suicide rates amongst Irish Travellers.

They suffer some of the worst discrimination and poverty of any ethnic group in Europe, according to EU research.

Suicide accounts for more than one in 10 deaths in the community.

Irish Traveller Mags Casey has lost 28 family members to suicide over a 10-year period, one of whom was her 13-year-old cousin.

 

Irish Travellers - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Travellers

Irish Travellers also known as Pavees or Mincéirs (Shelta: Mincéirí), are a traditionally peripatetic ethno-cultural group originating in Ireland.

The Irish Travellers Uphold the Traditions of a Bygone World 

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/article/irish-travellers-uphold-the-traditions-of-a-bygone-world

Aug 17, 2016 ... An ethnic minority in Ireland, the Travellers have lived on the margins of mainstream Irish society for centuries. Efforts have been made to ...

Who are the Irish Travellers in the US? - IrishCentral 

https://www.irishcentral.com/culture/who-are-irish-travellers-us

Jul 10, 2020 ... In Ireland, nearly everybody is aware of the existence of the Irish Travellers — they're one of Ireland's oldest and most marginalized minority ...

A Short History of Irish Travellers (Video 4min 50) - Pavee Point 

https://www.paveepoint.ie/project/a-short-history-of-irish-travellers-video-4min-50

Roads from the Past, Travellers' Times Films, 2019 (5mins43secs). This is an animated history of Britain's Gypsies, Roma and Irish Travellers.

A Brief History of Irish Travellers, Ireland's Only Indigenous Minority 

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/ireland/articles/a-brief-history-of-irish-travellers-irelands-only-indigenous-minority

Mar 16, 2017 ... At the time of the 2011 census, there were around 29,500 Irish Travellers in the Irish Republic, making up 0.6% of the population. The community ...

Irish Traveller Communities Abroad: Hidden Histories of ... - YouTube 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m0-m89WU9s

The Irish Traveller diaspora is one group with a fascinating and little-known history that has rarely featured in broader histories of the Irish ...

How The Persecuted Irish Travellers Survive The Modern World 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBiOLwXkr40

You can find more of Mary Turner's work at: www.maryturnerphotography.com What happens to Irish Travellers when they are forced to adapt to ...

'Stunning clean sweep' as Starbucks workers win 5 straight union votes in Virginia

Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams
April 20, 2022

Workers at the Willow Lawn Starbucks in Richmond, Virginia show their support for unionization. The store's employees voted 19-0 to form a union on April 19, 2022.

 (Photo: @_devinonearth/Twitter)

The nationwide wave of labor organizing by Starbucks workers continued to bear fruit Tuesday as employees at five of the coffee chain's Richmond, Virginia stores overwhelmingly voted to unionize.

"Within 48 hours we had 70% of the store signed up for union cards."

According to More Perfect Union, the votes at the five Richmond Starbucks were 17-1, 22-3, 11-2, 13-8, and 19-0. The stores are the company's first in Virginia to unionize; workers at a Springfield location narrowly rejected forming a union last week.

"The movement of workers demanding dignity on the job wins again," tweeted U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). "Congratulations to Starbucks workers in Richmond on your vote to unionize! I will see you Sunday!"

Sanders is scheduled to appear Sunday at Unity Fest, a free event "to support and celebrate the organizing efforts of Starbucks workers locally and across the country."

Starbucks Workers United, the group coordinating the nationwide organizing effort, now boasts a record of 21 unionizations in 23 attempts.


Inspired by the historic unionization of Starbucks workers in Buffalo, New York late last year, the global coffee chain's Richmond employees began their own organizing journey in February.

"It really came together fast for our store," said Tyler Hofmann, a barista at the North Boulevard Starbucks. "My store manager went on vacation, and I was like, this is the time, we have an opportunity to organize."

"My store was super supportive," he added, "and within 48 hours we had 70% of the store signed up for union cards."


Starbucks workers have defied what they say is a concerted union-busting campaign by the Seattle-based company. Last week, a group of 24 of the coffee giant's employees urged the U.S. House of Representatives' labor committee to compel billionaire Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz to testify about what they called an incessant and unlawful effort to thwart the nationwide unionization drive.

Last week, Bloomberg reported prosecutors at the National Labor Relations Board plan to formally accuse Starbucks of illegally firing a group of activists seeking to unionize their Memphis, Tennessee store.

Richmond Starbucks workers said the company utilized union-busting tactics as they sought to organize, including slashing employee hours.

"It's reached to a point where a lot of us have been, you know, discussing finding other jobs and stuff to be able to make ends meet," barista Iman Djehiche told More Perfect Union. "That's been something we've been experiencing since we got our ballot date."

Barista Cory Johnson said the union drive has boosted solidarity among his co-workers.

"In an industry that a lot of people, I think, write off and say can't be organized, Starbucks baristas have shown that you can organize these places and you can win," he said. "It just takes one victory to kind of spark a movement. And even someone like Howard Schultz isn't too big to organize against."

Ron DeSantis transforms Florida's Education Department into his Ministry of Propaganda in stunning move

Ray Hartmann
April 17, 2022

Ron DeSantis speaking at the 2016 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

It isn’t every day that a presumably non-partisan state agency issues a press release with a headline reading like this: “FLORIDA REJECTS PUBLISHERS’ ATTEMPTS TO INDOCTRINATE STUDENTS.”

But that was the choice of the taxpayer-funded Florida Department of Education (FDOE) late Friday. The release -- apparently translated from the original Russian -- announced that state authorities “found 41 percent of the submitted textbooks were impermissible with either Florida’s new standards or contained prohibited topics.”

The man appointed as education commissioner by Governor Ron DeSantis to censor “prohibited topics” is former state Rep. Richard Corcoran. His only education credentials at the time of his selection were advocacy for charter schools (with a brother who lobbies for them) and having called the Florida teachers union “disgusting, repugnant and evil.”

Corcoran hasn’t forgotten his political roots in shaping FDOE as a propaganda ministry for DeSantis.

“Florida has become a national leader in education under the vision and leadership of Governor DeSantis,” the press release beamed. “When it comes to education, other states continue to follow Florida’s lead as we continue to reinforce parents’ rights by focusing on providing their children with a world-class education without the fear of indoctrination or exposure to dangerous and divisive concepts in our classrooms.”

In a spontaneous development that few could see coming, Corcoran’s FDOE public-relations team also quoted DeSantis himself.

“I’m grateful that Commissioner Corcoran and his team at the Department have conducted such a thorough vetting of these textbooks to ensure they comply with the law,” DeSantis said, according to the release. “It seems that some publishers attempted to slap a coat of paint on an old house built on the foundation of Common Core, and indoctrinating concepts like race essentialism, especially, bizarrely, for elementary school students.”

In keeping with FDOE’s commitment to disregarding that it’s taxpayer-funded and presumably non-partisan, the release added this:

“It is unfortunate that several publishers, especially at the elementary school grade levels, have ignored this clear communication and have attempted to slip rebranded instructional materials based on Common Core Standards into Florida’s classrooms, while others have included prohibited and divisive concepts such as the tenants of CRT or other unsolicited strategies of indoctrination – despite FDOE’s prior notification.”

Contrary to all that, Common Core is a state-level standards program -- used in some form by the majority of states in the nation -- that contains no curriculum content for indoctrinating anyone. Here’s a simple video from an Education Week reporter explaining the current state of the debate over Common Core. Here’s a “myths vs. facts” compilation from the Common Core website.

As to indoctrination, the FDOE press release also had this to say about DeSantis:

“In 2019, Governor DeSantis issued Executive Order 19-32 to set Florida on the path to eliminate Common Core, develop world-class education standards, and increase the quality of instructional materials, and this textbook adoption is another important step in affirming Florida’s commitment to high-quality, lawful and world class instruction.

FDOE also praises itself for a “transparent” instructional review process, with no pretense of impartiality that -- to borrow Corcoran’s erstwhile phrase about Florida teachers -- seems to review national textbook providers as evil.

“The instructional materials process allows Florida to prevent publishers from incorporating inappropriate, ineffective, or unsolicited concepts and strategies into instructional materials that will dilute the quality of Florida’s nationally-recognized education system.”

For those who wish to study actual indoctrination, FDOE provided this link, which in turn connects to language such as this instructional guide regarding the teaching of K-12 studies. It includes teaching about the Holocaust and anti-Semitism, but studiously avoids any reference to “racism” in its voluminous 28 pages of content except for this:

“Example of theories that distort historical events and are inconsistent with State Board approved standards include the denial or minimization of the Holocaust, and the teaching of Critical Race Theory, meaning the theory that racism is not merely the product of prejudice, but that racism is embedded within American society and its legal systems in order to uphold the supremacy of white persons.

“Instruction may not utilize material from the 1619 Project and may not define American history as something other than the creation of a new nation based largely on the principles of the Declaration of Independence.”

The standards then go on to list eight straw-man concepts it links to CRT and forbids -- as inclusions of CRT -- such prohibited topics as “culturally responsive teaching” and “social justice.” The document condemns “social justice” as “closely aligned with CRT.”

As a result, Florida students are not to be taught such verboten CRT concepts as these:

* “Seeking to eliminate undeserved advantages for selected groups.”

* “Undeserved disadvantages are from mere chance of birth and are factors beyond anyone’s control, thereby landing different groups in different conditions.”

* “Equality of treatment under the law is not a sufficient condition to achieve justice.”

Having thus buried any notion of race-conscious remedy such as affirmative action -- or for that matter the Civil Rights movement, which is only mentioned once as something not to be distorted -- Florida’s social-studies curriculum doesn’t shy away from some good old-fashioned indoctrination of its own.

That would be because “civil education is essential an upright and desirable citizenry that preserves and defends the blessings secured by the Constitution of the United States.”

According to the state, one way to ensure students join an upright and desirable citizenry is to teach them “the root causes of American exceptionalism.” And there’s this:                                 

“Students compare the success of the United States with the success or failure of other nations’ governing philosophies.”

Which, apparently, is DeSantis’ idea of protecting Florida’s kids from indoctrination.

Ray Hartmann is a St. Louis-based journalist with nearly 50 years experience as a publisher, TV show panelist, radio host, daily newspaper reporter and columnist. He founded St. Louis alt weekly, The Riverfront Times, at the age of 24.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Cryptocurrency world is ripe for fraud and financial loss
Josh Planos,

 Nebraska Examiner
April 20, 2022

A hacker at work (Shutterstock)

The Los Angeles Rams won Super Bowl LVI, but an argument could be made that cryptocurrency finished as the runner-up. Digital currency providers eToro, Crypto.com and FTX ran spots on advertising’s biggest stage. So did Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange, which spent nearly $14 million on an ad that featured a bouncing QR code. It performed so well that it temporarily crashed the app.

Digital currencies and payment systems have existed in some form or fashion for more than a decade, but the Super Bowl felt like a watershed moment for a relatively new international economy that exists as lines of computer code. Crypto had gone mainstream.

The popularity of cryptocurrency ads spiked in the days following the Super Bowl, amplified by the star power — LeBron James, Larry David and Matt Damon, to name a few — hawking it. But volatility is a constant in the crypto space, and headlines in recent weeks have been concerning:
A man in Plano, Texas, came forward after losing more than $220,000 in a scam.

A poker player in Las Vegas was charged in connection with a $500,000 Bitcoin trading scam.
Meta was sued by Australia’s consumer protection committee over scam advertisements for crypto schemes endorsed by celebrities.

Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, called cryptocurrency the new “front line” for scams.”

These headlines mirror the findings of a study released in late March by the Better Business Bureau’s International Investigations Initiative, which found that the industry is ripe for fraud and financial loss.

Reports received to BBB Scam Tracker about fraudulent activity have tripled in the past three years, the study found.

BBB received 2,465 complaints in 2021 with losses totaling $7,933,474. These are conservative figures, given that the vast majority of fraud goes unreported. Cryptocurrency was found to be used as a new payment method in old scams, such as the fraudulent sale of goods online, advance fee loans, employment and romance scams.

Those between the ages of 25 and 34 were the most likely to report cryptocurrency scams, followed by those between 35 and 44. Almost equal numbers of men and women reported these scams.

In some cases, victims were targeted by rug pulls, where a scammer convinces people to invest in a new project by trading in their cryptocurrency for a new token that doesn’t exist. Others had their account information hacked or were directed to fake websites, where personal information was stolen.

Most fraud reports involved Bitcoin, which accounted for some 90% of reports. Ethereum followed as the second most common.

Availability of Bitcoin ATMs or kiosks made it easier for victims to exchange with scammers. These ATMs allow users to purchase or send money around the globe. There are tens of thousands of U.S. Bitcoin ATMs, including at least 10 in the Omaha and Lincoln metro areas, according to RockItCoin’s ATM finder. Although they are regulated by FinCEN in the U.S. and registration is required, scammers have been known to request payment with them.

The irreversibility of these transactions makes cryptocurrency a lucrative playground for scammers. Safeguards and regulations baked into standard financial systems aren’t found in the crypto space, so there is no protection like you’d find with check deposits or chargebacks to credit and debit cards.

Romance scams, one of the costliest frauds monitored, began requesting money in cryptocurrency.

Your BBB advises to be wary of:

Sharing your cryptocurrency wallet
Unfamiliar email addresses and website addresses
Paying with cryptocurrency for products
Fake recovery companies and reviews
Social media celebrity endorsements, claims and “friends”
Crypto apps from unfamiliar sources
Promises of guaranteed returns

There are no signs these harrowing numbers will subside. Complaints are rapidly increasing, and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center recently noted that cryptocurrency is now considered the preferred payment method for all types of scams.

It’s imperative that those affected speak out and report the damages. Those who experience scams are encouraged to report them to BBB Scam Tracker.

Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Cate Folsom for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com. Follow Nebraska Examiner on Facebook and Twitter.