House Dems and Shireen Abu Akleh's Family Urge US to 'Hold Her Killers Accountable'"When Americans are killed abroad it is more or less standard procedure for our government to open an investigation," said Rep. Rashida Tlaib. "But when the murderers wear Israeli uniforms, there is complete silence."

Activists take part in a candlelit vigil outside the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for West Asia building in Beirut to denounce the killing of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh. (Photo: Marwan Naamani/picture alliance via Getty Images)


BRETT WILKINSJuly 28, 2022


Progressive U.S. lawmakers on Thursday joined relatives of Shireen Abu Akleh in demanding the Biden administration thoroughly and transparently investigate the Israeli military's killing of the Palestinian-American journalist, with one congressman introducing a bill that would require such a probe.

"From Day One the Israeli government has denied Shireen's murder. There is no reason for them to be conducting an investigation."

"We want to know who pulled the trigger, and why," said Victor Abu Akleh, a nephew of the 51-year-old Al Jazeera reporter, outside the U.S. Capitol. "And we want there to be accountability for the system that gave the green light, so that other families don't suffer the way that we have. The reality, of course, is that in Palestine, our family's grief is not unique."

Speaking at the press conference, Rep. André Carson (D-Ind.) announced the Justice for Shireen Act, proposed legislation that would require the State Department and FBI to investigate Abu Akleh's killing and publish a report on their findings.

"We need answers to hold the perpetrators fully accountable," said Carson, who called the killing an "attack on the Fourth Estate, the free press, which is vitally important to our society."

"From Day One the Israeli government has denied Shireen's murder. There is no reason for them to be conducting an investigation," he continued. "It makes it more important for our government to conduct our own investigation. Shireen needs justice. Every American killed abroad is entitled to our protection. Every human killed, American or not, deserves justice, Palestinians included."

Demanding that the Biden administration investigate the killing of U.S. citizens by Israeli forces, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.)—who is Palestinian-American—said Abu Akleh's death "was not an accident."

Tlaib said it was "shameful" that "Shireen's family is forced to come here and demand that the State Department and our government... hold her killers accountable and prevent this awful tragedy from repeating itself again and again and again."

"Maybe, for some of my colleagues, they need to take out the word 'Palestinian' from 'Palestinian-American' for her life to matter," she speculated. "We have different standards applied when it comes to Israel even as they kill Americans, including 78-year-old Omar Asad or... Rachel Corrie," the 23-year-old International Solidarity Movement volunteer crushed to death in 2003 by an Israeli bulldozer while trying to prevent the destruction of Palestinian homes in Gaza.

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"When Americans are killed abroad it is more or less standard procedure for our government to open an investigation. But when the murderers wear Israeli uniforms, there is complete silence," Tlaib lamented. "Poor Rachel Corrie's family to this day has been waiting for justice since 2003 and still nothing... I knew when her family didn't get justice that Israel would have impunity for future killings of Americans."

Reps. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) also spoke at the press conference. Ocasio-Cortez asserted that President Joe Biden should meet with Abu Akleh's relatives.

"Shireen and her family deserve to be treated the same way that any other American would be in this situation," the Squad member insisted. "An American journalist was killed abroad by a foreign army, by a sniper. This situation demands a thorough and objective investigation."

In a Wednesday Washington Post opinion piece, Lina Abu Akleh, Shireen's niece, noted that multiple investigations—including by United Nations officials and media outlets such as the Post and The New York Times—all concluded the journalist was killed by Israeli fire.

"Yet I read with bewilderment a statement that the Biden administration issued on July 4," she wrote. "Based on reviewing and summarizing the Israeli government and Palestinian Authority's investigations, the United States concluded that Israel was likely responsible for my aunt's killing, but that there was no reason to believe that it was intentional."

"I was alarmed. Why was the Biden administration repeating Israel's spin, given the lengths that the Israel military has gone to manipulate the events around Shireen's killing?" she asked. "Israel initially blamed Palestinians, circulating a misleading video that human rights organizations quickly debunked. Then, an Israeli military spokesman went so far as to suggest that journalists such as Shireen are 'armed' with cameras."

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Abu Akleh lamented that a Wednesday meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken failed to secure a commitment to investigate her aunt's killing.

"We fully understand the U.S. government's role in fueling the belief of Israeli leaders and soldiers that they enjoy impunity for their actions," she wrote. "Yet this is why it is all the more urgent for my family to impress this message upon the administration: Biden can stop this pattern. He can pledge to pursue meaningful accountability for my aunt, starting with a commitment to conduct an independent U.S. investigation in Shireen's case."
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Propelled to Victory by Dem Leaders,  Rep Cuellar (D-Texas)  Says $7.25 Too Much for Millions of Workers

"If corporate interests were actually serious about workplace flexibility, you'd see them supporting the rights of their employees to have a say in what goes on in the workplace."


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) speak at a news conference in Washington, D.C. on January 4, 2011. 

(Photo: Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images)

JULIA CONLEY

July 28, 2022

Labor experts and advocates on Wednesday expressed disbelief and outrage as the details of an "unconscionable" new bill purporting to expand "flexibility and choice" in workplaces came to light, condemning Democratic co-sponsor Rep. Henry Cuellar for proposing the gutting of minimum wage protections.

"This bill would allow employers to trample on the rights of an untold numbers of workers."

The Worker Flexibility and Choice Act (WFCA) was originally announced by Cuellar (Texas) and his Republican co-sponsors, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Michelle Steel (R-Calif.), on July 20, but it wasn't until Wednesday that law professor Veena Dubal shared the text of the bill on social media, describing the proposal as "terrifying."

Aiming to create a new classification for people working in the gig economy for companies like Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash, the bill would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 by establishing "worker flexibility agreements" in which a worker "will not be treated as an employee for federal tax purposes" and "is not subject to the minimum wage and overtime protections."

The proposal would not only affect gig workers, said Dubal, who is a professor at University of California Hastings College of Law, but would "carve workers out of minimum wage and overtime protections" whenever an employer sets work schedules "using algorithms and incentives instead of providing secure hours."

In other words, said former New York Times labor reporter Steven Greenhouse, "it seems to empower any employer—not just gig companies—to tell any worker: if you want to work for me, you must agree we won't follow minimum wage or overtime rules."

Rebecca Dixon, executive director of the National Employment Law Project (NELP), noted that the bill is being backed by "the corporate lobby group the Coalition for Workforce Innovation (CWI), which was established to fight against growing workers' movements."

The proposal is an attempt to capitalize on the notion that "flexible" working hours benefit workers, Dixon said, but "because the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is already compatible with worker flexibility, it would be a fatal mistake for Congress to create a carveout for companies that demand 'worker flexibility agreements' of their workforce."

Instead of actually providing flexibility, said Dubal, "as Uber, DoorDash, and Instacart have already done to their workforce, it would empower employers to force workers to work long and hard to eke out a living."

Progressive critics of Cuellar were hardly surprised by his sponsorship of the bill, with Usamah Andrabi of the Justice Democrats noting that the anti-choice, anti-climate, pro-NRA lawmaker voted against the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act twice.


The bill intensified outrage over the support Cuellar garnered from Democratic leaders including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), and House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) earlier this year when he faced progressive immigrant rights advocate Jessica Cisneros in the Democratic primary for a second time, winning by just 289 votes.

Cuellar's bill could particularly harm Texans, Cisneros noted, considering the state's minimum wage is among the lowest in the nation.

"Texas still has a $7.25 minimum wage and Cuellar thinks working people in our district don't even deserve that," said Cisneros. "How are Democrats supposed to energize South Texans for the midterms with this?"

The proposal amounts to a "boldfaced lie," said the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU).


"If corporate interests were actually serious about workplace flexibility, you'd see them supporting the rights of their employees to have a say in what goes on in the workplace; paying people wages that keep up with the rising costs of living; and encouraging working parents to take time off to care for sick children," said John Samuelson, international president of the union.

"Instead, this dangerous piece of legislation seeks to deny all of these rights to working Americans AND forbid states and cities from taking any action to hold criminal corporations accountable," he added. "This bill would allow employers to trample on the rights of an untold numbers of workers."

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RENTIER CAPITALI$M PROVES PROPERTY IS THEFT
Report Details 'Abusive' Eviction Tactics by Corporate Landlords During Height of Pandemic

"These firms are buying up a lot of housing, and they're particularly buying up housing in places that have relatively weak tenant protections," said one eviction expert. "And I don't think that that is coincidental."


A demonstrator holds a sign reading, "Eviction Is Violence" at a protest demanding suspension of rent payments amid the coronavirus pandemic on July 5, 2020. 

(Photo: Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images)

JULIA CONLEY

July 28, 2022

Four large corporate landlords filed nearly 15,000 eviction actions in the first 16 months of the pandemic, with some executives and property managers engaging in harassment and deception of their tenants and deliberately inflicting cruelty on people who had been unable to pay their rent.

The U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis released a new report Thursday following a yearlong investigation into the eviction practices of Pretium Partners, Invitation Homes, Ventron Management, and the Siegel Group, all of which were thriving financially when the committee began examining its practices.

"As countless Americans acted admirably to support their communities during the coronavirus crisis, the four landlord companies investigated by the select subcommittee evicted aggressively to pad their profits."

Pretium was investing in a major expansion when the committee, led by Chair James Clyburn (D-S.C.), launched its investigation in July 2021, while Invitation was reporting record profits and both Siegel and Ventron had received more than $2 million in Paycheck Protection Program funds, which they were not required to pay back.

Despite their financial well-being, publicly available data at the time showed that the four companies had filed a combined 5,413 eviction cases between March 2020 and July 2021—a total that was dwarfed by the number the committee uncovered when it analyzed more than 50,000 pages of documents and held numerous meetings with company representatives.

The committee began its investigation following reports that corporate landlords were not complying with a federal eviction moratorium put in place during the pandemic and with rental assistance programs.

"As countless Americans acted admirably to support their communities during the coronavirus crisis, the four landlord companies investigated by the select subcommittee evicted aggressively to pad their profits," said Clyburn as the panel revealed that the true number of evictions by the companies was three times higher than previously known.

"While the abusive eviction practices documented in this report would be condemnable under any circumstances, they are unconscionable during a once-in-a-century economic and public health crisis," Clyburn added. "Rather than working with cost-burdened tenants, abiding by applicable eviction moratoriums, and accepting federal rental assistance, these companies—with properties across 28 states—expedited evictions above all else."

The report detailed numerous abusive practices by the companies as they sought to force tenants out of their homes during the public health crisis, which sent the unemployment rate skyrocketing in March 2020 and left millions of people struggling to afford rent and other necessities.

The investigation's findings included:

Executives' attempts to "bluff" tenants out of their apartments by posting in buildings a court order saying the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lacked authority to impose the eviction moratorium, but leaving out the fact that the moratorium was still in effect while the case was appealed;

An executive's directive that a property manager bring the court order to a tenant "after 5pm" on a Friday "so the courts and constable office are closed and she cannot call to verify anything" and so the company could "see if she vacates over the weekend";

A property manager's message to executives that he "love[d] getting to say that this means the eviction may happen sooner than expected and seeing the look on their faces"; and

An executive's attempt to "get rid of" a tenant whose rent was past due without obtaining an eviction order by ordering a property manager to call Child Protective Services to complain about them—an action that would have violated Texas criminal law prohibiting false child abuse reports.

"In some instances," said Clyburn, "the select subcommittee found that their abuses may have violated the law."



The committee called on federal agencies and Congress to require states and localities to provide direct-to-tenant assistance to renters with landlords who refuse to cooperate with rental assistance programs; support state and local rental assistance infrastructure; and prioritize investigating deceptive or abusive business practices used to expedite evictions.

Peter Hepburn, a research fellow with Princeton University's Eviction Lab, told NPR that the committee's report likely only reveals the "tip of the iceberg" and that abuses by corporate landlords could be rampant across the country.

"These firms are buying up a lot of housing, and they're particularly buying up housing in places that have relatively weak tenant protections, places where eviction is easier, faster and cheaper," Hepburn said. "And I don't think that that is coincidental."

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'These Motherf*ckers': Jon Stewart Goes Off on GOP Turning Back on Sick Veterans

"Republicans are literally blocking care for veterans poisoned by burn pits as part of their temper tantrum over a deal to tax corporations and create clean energy jobs," said another commentator.


Jon Stewart speaks to the press before a news conference about the Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act on July 28, 2022 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)


KENNY STANCIL

July 28, 2022

Liberal comedian Jon Stewart chastised the GOP on Thursday, less than 24 hours after Senate Republicans tanked a bill that would have expanded healthcare access for U.S. military veterans exposed to Agent Orange and toxic burn pits—a move that was made in retaliation for Democrats reviving their reconciliation package following the passage of bipartisan legislation designed to boost domestic semiconductor chip manufacturing.

"Fuck the Republican caucus and their empty promise to our veterans."

"Everyone needs to watch this," progressive commentator Krystal Ball tweeted, sharing a clip of Stewart, who has lobbied for improved assistance for veterans harmed by toxins, speaking in Washington, D.C. "Republicans are literally blocking care for veterans poisoned by burn pits as part of their temper tantrum over a deal to tax corporations and create clean energy jobs."

Speaking at a Capitol Hill press conference held in the wake of the GOP's refusal to advance the Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act, Stewart told the crowd: "I'm used to the hypocrisy... I'm used to the lies... I'm used to the cowardice... I'm used to all of it, but I am not used to the cruelty."

"These motherfuckers," said Stewart, referring to U.S. senators, "don't support the troops, [they] support the war machine."

"They haven't met a war they won't sign up for, and they haven't met a veteran they won't screw over," added the former host of The Daily Show, who now has a program on Apple TV+.

Republican opposition to the PACT Act is "an embarrassment," Stewart continued. "And if this is America First, then America is fucked."

A version of the PACT Act easily passed the Senate 84-14 last month. It was overwhelmingly approved by House lawmakers 342-88 two weeks ago, but because of a small technical fix made in the lower chamber, the upper chamber was required to vote on the measure again before it could be sent to President Joe Biden's desk to be signed into law.

Instead, the latest iteration of the bill was defeated 55-42 in the Senate, with 41 Republicans in opposition.

The 25 GOP lawmakers who switched their votes on Wednesday are "stab-vets-in-the-back senators," Stewart tweeted Wednesday.

"Fuck the Republican caucus and their empty promise to our veterans," he added.

The GOP torpedoed the burn pit legislation after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced a surprise deal on a filibuster-proof economic and climate package just hours after several Republicans joined Democrats to pass the CHIPS Act—a bill that seeks to bolster the domestic production of semiconductor chips but has been criticized by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and others as a massive "corporate giveaway."

Previously, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had vowed to kill the CHIPS Act unless Democrats abandoned their reconciliation bill. The filibuster-proof economic and climate package looked dead in the water prior to the CHIPS Act vote, but Schumer and Manchin quickly brought it back to life afterward, infuriating McConnell and dozens of other far-right members of Congress.

Schumer was the lone Democrat to vote against the PACT Act on Wednesday. As C-SPAN's Craig Caplan explained, "Schumer switched his vote from 'yes' to 'no' and entered a motion to reconsider the failed cloture vote," which allows him to bring the bill to the floor at a later date.

According to "PBS NewsHour Weekend" anchor Geoff Bennett, Schumer said the Senate will vote again on the PACT Act on Monday.

Stewart was far from alone in expressing outrage over McConnell and his fellow party members' last-minute decision to sabotage the bill.

"Republicans chose today to rob generations of toxic-exposed veterans of the healthcare and benefits they so desperately need—and make no mistake, more veterans will suffer and die as a result," Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), chair of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, said Wednesday in a statement criticizing the GOP's "eleventh-hour act of cowardice."

At Thursday's press conference, much of the blame for the failed vote was placed on Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), who "used a floor speech Tuesday night to urge his fellow Republicans to join him in blocking the bill because of its potential for allowing more discretionary spending than would otherwise be permitted under budget caps," Roll Call reported.

"Sen. Toomey, how many veterans are going to die because of you?" asked Rosie Torres, co-founder of BurnPits360 and the wife of veteran Le Roy Torres, who suffers from a rare terminal condition caused by burn pits. "Please explain to us: what is an acceptable amount of deaths?"

Sen. Kristen Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), meanwhile, shouted, "This is total bullshit."

Republicans, she added, "have just sentenced veterans to death."

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'This Victory Is Historic': Massachusetts Trader Joe's Becomes First to Unionize

"Our worker-led union ensures that we are protected and properly compensated—on our terms," explained a crew member at the Hadley store.


Workers at a Trader Joe's in Hadley, Massachusetts on July 28, 2022 became the first in the supermarket chain's history to unionize. (Photo: Mike Mozart/flickr/cc)

BRETT WILKINS

July 28, 2022

Workers at a Massachusetts Trader Joe's on Thursday voted to become the first of the supermarket chain's more than 500 locations to unionize, a historic development that comes amid a nationwide labor organizing wave.

"Our crew needs to be represented by an entity that is solely dedicated to our best interests."

Employees at the Trader Joe's in Hadley, a suburb of Springfield, voted 45-31 to form a union, according to the National Labor Relations Board.

"WE WON!!! Today, Trader Joe's Hadley became the first unionized Trader Joe's location, ever," the new union, Trader Joe's United, tweeted. "This victory is historic, but not a surprise. Since the moment we announced our campaign, a majority of the crew have enthusiastically supported our union, and despite the company's best efforts to bust us, our majority has never wavered."

Gabrielle, who works at the Hadley store, explained that she was voting for a union because "our crew needs to be represented by an entity that is solely dedicated to our best interests."

"Our worker-led union ensures that we are protected and properly compensated—on our terms," she added.

Another Hadley crew member, Maeg, said she was voting "yes" because "we, the crew, are what keep this company running and profitable. It's time for us to sit down at the negotiating table as equals with Trader Joe's and create a contract that protects and takes care of us as workers."

Labor unions and organizers hailed the Hadley vote, with Starbucks Workers United congratulating the store's crew on its "incredible and groundbreaking victory."

Wen Zhuang, a member of the NewsGuild of New York and Emergency Workplace Organizing, called Thursday's vote "amazing."

"Trader Joe's has a deep history of simply atrocious union busting, firing of organizers, and lots of other shenanigans," she tweeted. "What happened here will most definitely be replicated."

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was among the progressive politicians who saluted the newly unionized Trader Joe's workers.

"Now is the time for management to recognize the union and to negotiate a fair contract with decent benefits and safe working conditions," the two-time democratic socialist presidential candidate tweeted.

A Trader Joe's spokesperson said the company is "prepared to immediately begin discussions with union representatives for the employees at this store to negotiate a contract."

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) tweeted that "workers in Hadley just made history by becoming the first Trader Joe's ever to form a union. They join a growing nationwide movement of workers standing up to demand better working conditions and fair pay."

The Washington Post reports:

The union's victory in western Massachusetts follows a wave of successful union drives this year at high-profile employers that have long evaded unionization, such as Starbucks, Amazon, Apple, and REI. Union victories can produce a ripple effect across employers and industries, emboldening new workers to organize. Petitions for union elections this year are on track to hit their highest level in a decade, as a hot labor market has afforded workers more leverage over their employers.

In just over six months' time, Starbucks went from having one unionized location in Buffalo, New York to 200 stores with unionized workforces.

Other Trader Joe's crews have taken notice of the Hadley vote, and workers from at least two other stores have already launched their own union drives. More Perfect Union has reported that Trader Joe's is improving pay, perks, and working conditions in the face of the increased unionization activity.

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Indonesia warns of perils of nuclear-powered submarines in submission to the UN

By Chris Barrett and Karuni Rompies
July 29, 2022 — 

Singapore: Indonesia warns that the sharing of nuclear technology to power submarines could heighten the risk of new types of weapons of mass destruction emerging.

In a submission to next week’s United Nations nuclear non-proliferation review conference, Indonesia said the use of highly enriched uranium for naval propulsion was of growing concern.

Australia has tried to allay the concerns of neighbours in south-east Asia about its plans to build nuclear-powered submarines like the American Virginia class boats.

It comes as a group of American non-proliferation experts have written to US President Joe Biden ahead of the meeting in New York, urging him to abandon plans to sell Australia eight submarines “fuelled with weapon-grade uranium”.

China will also bring up the AUKUS submarines deal at the conference, believing it to be a dangerous precedent and a violation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

While the submission does not reference the AUKUS deal, Indonesia, as well as Malaysia, have voiced anxiety about Australia’s desire to acquire nuclear-powered vessels after the pact with the US and UK was announced last September, worrying it could trigger an arms race.

In a draft working paper for next week’s UN meeting, Indonesia argues the sharing of nuclear technology and materials for military purposes may be counter to the spirit and objective of the NPT and “could potentially set precedence [sic] for other similar arrangements”.

The United Nations headquarters in New York.  CREDIT:AP

It could also complicate safeguards “needed to prevent risks arising from such arrangements including, but not limited to ... the emergence of new types of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), derived from the combination of nuclear materials and conventional weapons”, Indonesia said in the document, which was marked as an “advance unedited version”.

In its submission, Indonesia said concerns about nuclear naval propulsion were deserving of serious attention.

“The exclusion of the production, use, and disposition of Highly-Enriched Uranium (HEU) for nuclear naval propulsion from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards could be exploited to provide a shield for diversion of that material to [a] nuclear weapons program,” it said.

Additionally, Jakarta pointed to safety issues involved with the transportation of nuclear material to non-nuclear weapon states, as well as with its maintenance and use, warning of the “humanitarian and environmental consequences” of accidents and exposure.

AUKUS was on the agenda when Foreign Minister Penny Wong met Malaysian counterpart Saifuddin Abdullah in Kuala Lumpur a month ago.CREDIT:FARHAN IQBAL

Contacted on Thursday, Achsanul Habib, the director for international security and disarmament at Indonesia’s foreign affairs ministry, said Indonesia’s UN working paper was “in no way intended to respond to AUKUS”.

“The Indonesian [working paper] was submitted to fill in the gap in the NPT regulation related to nuclear naval propulsion which is still lacking in regulations,” he said.

In a statement, he added: “Concerns over potential dangers that can befall the countries traversed during the process of transporting and maintaining the nuclear naval propulsion materials need to get the attention and the protection under the NPT regime”.

Under the AUKUS agreement, the US and the United Kingdom will share technology with Australia in order for it to replace its ageing diesel-powered submarines with a nuclear-propelled fleet by the 2030s.

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Australia, through a change of government, has maintained that regional neighbours have nothing to fear from its submarine plans.

“We are not a nuclear power,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong told a press conference in Malaysia in late June.

“There are nuclear powers in this region but Australia is not one of them. What we are doing is replacing an existing capability with a new capability and that is nuclear-powered submarines.”

She added during her visit to Kuala Lumpur: “We hope that over time people’s concerns will be able to be allayed.”

Adam Scheinman, the US special representative for nuclear non-proliferation, said this week the AUKUS partnership would not be a breach of the NPT and Washington would make that case at the UN meeting.

In their letter to Biden, however, the US experts warned other US allies might seek the same arrangement as Australia and that countries might also pursue nuclear reactors from Russia, creating a “monitoring nightmare for the International Atomic Energy Agency”.

“We are not concerned that Australia might extract HEU from the submarine fuel to make nuclear weapons,” they said.

“Our concern is that providing Australia with HEU-fuelled naval reactors could allow other states to invoke the AUKUS example to justify their own production or acquisition of HEU fuel.”

The four authors – who included University of Texas professor Alan Kuperman, the founding co-ordinator of the Austin-based Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Project; Princeton University professor and former US assistant director for national security Frank von Hippel; and the US-headquartered Arms Control Association executive director Daryl Kimball – called on the US and UK to commit to developing naval reactors fuelled by low enriched uranium that can’t be used for nuclear weapons.

Kuperman released the two-page Indonesia working paper alongside their letter to Biden.

Recession Fears Spark Calls to Stop Hiking Interest Rates and Rein In Corporate Greed

"As Americans stare down the abyss of a potential recession, Fortune 500 c-suite executives are doing better than ever," noted one critic, "while their workers' wages have severely lagged behind."

Demonstrators rally in front of PhRMA's Washington, D.C. office to protest high prescription drug prices on September 21, 2021. (Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

JESSICA CORBETT

July 28, 2022


As new government data on Thursday stoked fears of a looming recession—and even led to some claims that the nation is already experiencing one—progressives renewed calls for the Federal Reserve to stop hiking interest rates and policymakers to take on the corporate profiteering driving inflation.

"Reining in corporate greed is the key to bringing down costs for families and kickstarting economic growth."

The Bureau of Economic Analysis at the U.S. Department of Commerce released gross domestic product (GDP) figures that show two consecutive quarters of negative growth, which prompted some Republican lawmakers—hopeful to regain control of Congress later this year—to declare that "America is in a recession" and it is the Democrats' fault.

While two straight quarters of negative growth is often seen as a signal of recession, it is not that simple. Harvard University economist Jason Furman pointed out on Twitter Thursday there is "well over a 50% chance that Q1 and/or Q2 gets revised to positive."

"That's part of why NBER doesn't rely on advance GDP to call recessions," Furman added, referring to the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Alex Durante, an economist with the Tax Foundation think tank, told The Hill that "there's this perception, and people are not wrong to have it—it's probably even in my economics textbook from college—that it's two negative quarters of GDP that NBER uses to determine if there's a recession. That's actually not completely true. It actually looks at a wide variety of economic indicators to make that designation."

"They'll look at employment, personal income, durable goods, housing permits, so the GDP is certainly part of it, but they're looking at other indicators, as well," Durante explained.

As Dean Baker, senior economist and co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), detailed Thursday:

The modest drop in GDP reported for the quarter is not good news, but it was hardly a surprise. It also was entirely due to inventory quirks, which will not be repeated in future quarters. Consumption is still growing at a respectable pace, as is investment.

The Fed has been raising interest rates ostensibly out of concern that the economy was growing too fast, causing inflation. This report should help to stem those fears. While people are apparently not so concerned about a recession to keep themselves from taking trips and going to restaurants, they are still not spending down their pandemic savings. The sharp drop in the inflation rate reported in the core [Personal Consumption Expenditures] deflator should also alleviate concerns about a wage-price spiral.

CEPR co-founder and co-director Mark Weisbrot argued in a Thursday opinion piece for MarketWatch that the Fed—which on Wednesday hiked interest rates for the second straight month—will be to blame if there is a recession.

"As many economists have noted, the vast majority of the increase in inflation that we have seen over the past 18 months has been a result of external shocks, most important the war in Ukraine, which has raised food and energy prices (the CPI energy index rose 41.6% over the past year from June); and the economic disruptions caused by the pandemic," Weisbrot wrote.

"Some of these prices have begun to reverse; and in any case it's difficult to see how the Fed's interest rate hikes are going to lower these prices, as Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated last month," he continued.

Critics of the Fed's interest rate hikes—from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) to economists who formerly served in the federal government like Robert Reich and Claudia Sahm—have called on the central bank to rethink its approach, and some have taken aim at Powell.

Rakeen Mabud, chief economist and managing director of research and policy at the Groundwork Collaborative, said Thursday that the "GDP report makes it crystal clear that Jerome Powell is willing to push millions out of work and throw away our economic recovery in the name of an arbitrary 2% inflation target he doesn't even believe he can hit."

"We can all agree that fighting inflation should be a top priority," she added, "but asking the workers and families who have been hit hardest by rising prices to also bear the brunt of a potential recession is not just cruel—it's bad policy."

The GDP report came less than 24 hours after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced the Inflation Reduction Act, compromise legislation on climate, healthcare, and taxes. While some progressives have concerns about the specifics on climate, others called on congressional Democrats to swiftly pass the budget reconciliation package, which follows months of obstruction by Manchin.

"Sky-high inflation is a major contributor to the economic slowdown, and nothing is driving up costs more on everyday families than corporate greed," said Kyle Herrig, president of the government watchdog Accountable.US, in a statement Thursday.

"Across industries, we've seen major corporations continue to post record high profits and approve billions of dollars in shareholder giveaways while disingenuously claiming to have no choice but to raise prices so high," he noted. "As Americans stare down the abyss of a potential recession, Fortune 500 c-suite executives are doing better than ever, averaging over $18 million in compensation while their workers' wages have severely lagged behind."

According to Herrig:

Reining in corporate greed is the key to bringing down costs for families and kickstarting economic growth, and fortunately Congress has the opportunity [to] do it. Passing the Inflation Reduction Act will ensure corporations will finally begin to pay their fair share in taxes. This bill will put billions of dollars more into the pockets of Americans by reducing the leverage Big Oil, health insurance, and drug companies have to charge whatever they please—all while creating thousands of new jobs. Congress must not squander the best opportunity they may have for years to create an economy that works for everyone, not just billionaires and greedy corporations.

Unrig Our Economy campaign director Sarah Baron similarly asserted that the legislation "is a significant step towards combating corporate greed and making an economy that works for working people," highlighting the same provisions as Herrig.

"The vast majority of Americans rightly blame corporate greed for driving inflation, so it is heartening to see Democrats unite around a bill that addresses the issue at its source," Baron said. "As the bill is considered by Congress, Unrig Our Economy urges all members to decide where they stand—with corporations or with the hardworking constituents they were elected to represent."

Groundwork Collaborative executive director Lindsay Owens also backed the bill, saying that "the Inflation Reduction Act gets it exactly right: We bring down costs for families by making needed public investments, not pulling back on spending when we need it most."

"We bring down energy costs when we invest in clean energy and lessen our dependence on Big Oil profiteers. We bring down healthcare costs when we use public power to counter Big Pharma and get a fair price for seniors. And we strengthen our democracy and our economy when the largest corporations contribute to these investments, instead of buying politicians to oppose them," she added. "Congress should send the Inflation Reduction Act to the president's desk as quickly as possible."

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Mexico: UN Expert Calls For Measures To Stop Kidnappings Of Human Rights Defenders At US Border

Friday, 29 July 2022, 
Press Release: UN Special Procedures - Human Rights

GENEVA (28 July 2022) – A UN expert today sounded the alarm that a Baptist pastor working to provide the basic needs of migrants on the Mexico-USA border was at high risk of attack or kidnapping.

Pastor Lorenzo Ortiz was kidnapped for the first time, by a local people-smuggling cartel just over a month ago.

“Pastor Lorenzo Ortiz has been voluntarily providing food and shelter to migrants on the border for more than five years,” said UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor. “He has been threatened and intimidated by local cartels in the past, but now the risk of real harm has drastically escalated.”

On 2 June 2022, Pastor Ortiz was kidnapped by a local people smuggling cartel, along with 10 migrants he was sheltering. Ortiz runs a network of non-profit shelters on both sides of the US-Mexico border that provide for the basic necessities of migrants making the often-perilous journey through Mexico and the US.

The cartel accuses him of stealing their business and refuse to believe he aids migrants free of charge, the Special Rapporteur said. They had initially demanded 40,000 USD for Pastor Ortiz’s release.

“The swift and efficient mobilisation of national authorities, civil society and the local community pressured the cartels into releasing Pastor Ortiz, unharmed and without ransom,” Lawlor said.

However, she said the status quo on the ground remained the same; Pastor Ortiz was under constant surveillance from his kidnappers, who make unannounced visits to his shelter and have vowed to ‘keep a close eye” on him.

“While I am glad the authorities responded in time and with sufficient show of force to secure his release and that of the migrants, I am deeply troubled by the situation of human rights defenders and migrants more generally in border regions of Mexico,” said the Special Rapporteur. “Very little has changed – Ortiz’s case shows the extraordinary risk that human rights defenders run to provide basic support in the region. This is not an acceptable state of affairs.”

Lawlor urged the Government of Mexico to do more to tackle the influence of cartels in border communities, and to take urgent measures to prevent and reduce the immediate risk of abduction or physical attack against human rights defenders like Lorenzo Ortiz, and the migrants he protects.

The Special Rapporteur is in contact with Mexican authorities on the issue. Her call was endorsed by the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Felipe González Morales.

Ms Mary Lawlor (Ireland) is the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders. She is currently an Adjunct Professor of Business and Human Rights in Trinity College Dublin. She was the founder of Front Line Defenders - the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders. As Executive Director from 2001-2016, she represented Front Line Defenders and had a key role in its development. Ms. Lawlor was previously Director of the Irish Office of Amnesty International from 1988 to 2000, after becoming a member of the Board of Directors 1975 and being elected its President from 1983 to 1987.

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OUT OF FRYING PAN INTO FIRE

Manatee released into Florida waters after long SeaWorld rehab stint

By Selim Algar
July 28, 2022 

Ailing manatee returned to FL habitat after 8 month rehab stint

An ailing manatee that was rescued in waters off of Texas in 2021 was returned to the wild Wednesday after eight months of rehabilitation in San Antonio.

Given the name TexasTeeMiguel, the manatee was found in Galveston Bay suffering from flipper injuries, weight loss and cold stress and had likely been struck by a boat, according to the Associated Press.

After receiving treatment at SeaWorld in San Antonio, the 1,240-pound animal — which gained 400 pounds during recovery — was deemed healthy enough to survive on its own and released Wednesday into Kings Bay in Crystal River, Florida.

In a complex process that took 24 hours to complete, TexasTeeMiguel flew in a DHL Express cargo plane in a custom container built for manatee transport.

He was placed on a foam mattress surrounded by blankets while being kept cool with an occasional misting, the outlet reported.

After receiving treatment at SeaWorld in San Antonio, the 1,240-pound manatee — was deemed healthy enough to survive on its own

.Getty Images

The plane stopped in Austin and Cincinnati before finally landing in Orlando, where marine biologists performed a quick checkup to make sure he was ready for his new life in the Sunshine State.

A lack of seagrass has let to an alarming mortality rate among the beloved sea creatures, with roughly 1,100 perishing last year.

There are 92 manatees undergoing similar rehabilitations at marine centers across the country.

While their population remains fragile, manatees were removed from the endangered animals list in 2017, according to the Washington Post.

She’s 1,300 Pounds, Moves ‘Like A Potato Sack,’ And Just Wants A Place To Nap

Jul 28, 2022

NBC News

A young female #walrus named #freyajkt48  has shot to stardom in #Norway by traveling the country’s coastline, feeding in local harbors and crushing small boats with her hefty frame.