CHUTZPAH

'All we could do was watch': Israeli army demolishes six family homes in occupied West Bank

Israel ignores open court case and bulldozes three Palestinian-owned residential buildings in area C, then asks family to pay for demolition

Rashid Kawazba standing in front of the rubble that remains of the homes that he and his brothers spent two and a half years building in Al-Maniya village, southeast of Bethlehem (Akram Al-Waara)

By Leila Warah in Bethlehem, occupied West Bank
Published date: 15 November 2022 

Rashid Kawazba, 41, and his brothers were excitedly awaiting the day the electrical company would turn on the electricity, so they could move into their new homes, which they built neighbouring each other in the Al-Maniya village, southeast of Bethlehem.

However, the 25 family members never got to experience their first night in the three adjacent three-storey buildings.

'I can't even describe how I felt; I almost wish I didn't see the demolition. I felt defeated'

- Rashid Kawazba

At around 5am on Monday morning, Israeli army forces raided the village and surrounded the Kawazba family homes. They had brought several bulldozers along with them.

"While I was on my way to work, my family called to tell me that dozens of Israeli soldiers accompanied by bulldozers and military jeeps were raiding the neighbourhood," Kawazba told Middle East Eye, standing near the ruins of what was to be his new home.

Kawazba said that the military shut down the entire neighbourhood, and began demolishing the buildings almost immediately.

"All we could do was watch. I can't even describe how I felt; I almost wish I didn't see the demolition. I felt defeated. Everything my brothers and I worked for was gone instantly," he recounted.

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"We were already picturing our lives in those houses, we couldn't wait to move in, but the Israelis came and destroyed everything. They didn't even let us take anything out of the house,” he said.

"They killed our dream. Everything I did and all the money I paid was for nothing.”
Asked to pay for cost of demolition

Last year, the family received a letter from the Israeli Civil Administration, which enforces home demolitions in the occupied West Bank, stating its plan to demolish their homes within 96 hours. The family immediately hired a lawyer to appeal the case.

The appeal had been moving through the courts for months, and the family’s lawyer had told them things were going well, but there were no new decisions or developments recently. That’s why Kawazba said he was shocked to see the army at his doorstep Monday morning.

'It's ridiculous that now they are demanding we pay for demolishing our house. If we refuse, we have no idea what they will do'

- Rashid Kawazba

"The military appeared out of nowhere, with no notice, and demolished our house,” he said.

Kawazba told MEE that after the demolition, Israeli army officials gave the families a ticket to pay Israeli authorities for the cost of demolition, approximately $18,000.

“It's ridiculous that now they are demanding we pay for demolishing our house. If we refuse, we have no idea what they will do,” Kawazba said.

"And it doesn't stop there," he continued, explaining how much money they have already put into constructing these buildings.

"I have to pay even more money for something that we can't even live in," he said, going on to explain that the total cost of the construction was about $730,000, and he was still in debt for about $292,000.

"Financially, this is terrible. I have lost a lot of money in construction. My brothers and I must continue working for the next two years to pay off a debt for houses that no longer exist and we never got to live in."

Palestinians banned, settlers allowed

The Kawazba family homes are located in Area C of the West Bank, which makes up more than 60 percent of the territory. Area C is under full Israeli security and civilian control; as a result, Palestinians who live there are required by Israeli military law to receive permission from Israel’s Civil Administration in order to build, even if the land is privately owned.

The Civil Administration, however, rarely approves Palestinian building permit applications, forcing many people to build on their land without permission, thus subjecting them to home demolition.

During the first eight months of 2022, 590 Palestinian-owned structures across the West Bank and East Jerusalem were demolished or seized, displacing 707 people.

Kawazba said he tried to get permission from the Israeli Civil Administration, giving them “everything they asked for” throughout the application process. But the family’s applications were still denied, affirming his belief that “Israel doesn't want any Palestinians to have land and houses.”

He also told MEE about a nearby settlement that cuts into land owned by the Palestinian village, "We cannot build on our land, but the Israeli settlement three or four kilometres away can build on our land.”

Achieving swift reduction in global coal emissions central challenge for int'l climate targets

Emissions from existing coal assets would, by themselves, tip the world across the 1.5 °C limit, report warns

AA 

TUESDAY, 15 NOVEMBER 2022


The world must move quickly to significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal to avoid the severe impacts of climate change, a new International Energy Agency (IEA) report said on Tuesday.

The IEA calls for immediate policy action to rapidly mobilize massive financing for clean energy alternatives to coal, especially in emerging and developing economies.

The report entitled, The New IEA Special Report: Coal in Net Zero Transitions: Strategies for Rapid, Secure and People-Centred Change, includes the major implications for the coal sector of a transition to net zero emissions by 2050, which would give the world an even chance of limiting global warming to the critical threshold of 1.5°C.

The new analysis revealed that the current global coal consumption in countries that have pledged to achieve net zero emissions has not fallen sufficiently to achieve the emissions target by 2050.

"…Far from declining, global coal demand has been stable at near record highs for the past decade. If nothing is done, emissions from existing coal assets would, by themselves, tip the world across the 1.5 °C limit," the report warns.

Commenting on the report, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said that over 95% of the world's coal consumption is taking place in countries that have committed to reducing their emissions to net zero.

He highlighted that coal is both the single biggest source of CO2 emissions from energy and the single biggest source of electricity generation worldwide, which "highlights the harm it is doing to our climate and the huge challenge of replacing it rapidly while ensuring energy security."

There are around 9 000 coal-fired power plants around the world, representing 2,185 gigawatts of capacity.

"Their age profile varies widely by region, from an average of over 40 years in the United States to less than 15 years in developing economies in Asia. Industrial facilities using coal are similarly long-lived, with investment decisions set to be made this decade that, to a large degree, will shape the outlook for coal use in heavy industry for decades to come," the report said.

The report suggests a big scale up of clean sources of power generation, accompanied by system-wide improvements in energy efficiency, is key to unlocking reductions in coal use for power and in reducing emissions from existing assets.

FOREVER Chemicals in consumer products may cause common tumours in women: Study

Manufacturers use environmental phthalates in numerous industrial and consumer products, and have also been detected in medical supplies and food, the researchers said.

• Melvin Samuel
• 15 November, 2022

By: Melvin Samuel

Environmental phthalates – toxic chemicals found in everyday consumer products – may cause increased growth of uterine fibroids, the most common tumours among women, according to a study.

Manufacturers use environmental phthalates in numerous industrial and consumer products, and have also been detected in medical supplies and food, the researchers said. Although phthalates are known to be toxic, they are currently unbanned in the US, they said.

“These toxic pollutants are everywhere, including food packaging, hair and makeup products, and more, and their usage is not banned,” said study corresponding author Serdar Bulun, from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, US.

“These are more than simply environmental pollutants. They can cause specific harm to human tissues,” Bulun said.

Fibroids are muscular tumours that grow in the wall of the uterus. Fibroids are almost always not cancerous. Not all women with fibroids have symptoms.

Bulun said up to 80 per cent of all women may develop a fibroid tumour during their lifetime.

One-quarter of these women become symptomatic with excessive and uncontrolled uterine bleeding, anemia, miscarriages, infertility and large abdominal tumours necessitating technically difficult surgeries.

The study, published in the journal PNAS, found that women with high exposure to certain phthalates such as DEHP and its metabolites have a high risk for having a symptomatic fibroid.

DEHP is used as a plasticiser to increase the durability of products such as shower curtains, car upholstery, lunchboxes, shoes and more.

Previous epidemiological studies have consistently indicated an association between phthalate exposure and uterine fibroid growth, but this study explains the mechanisms behind that link.

The scientists discovered exposure to DEHP may activate a hormonal pathway that activates an environmentally responsive receptor (AHR) to bind to our genetic material, DNA, and cause increased growth of fibroid tumours.

“Interestingly, AHR was cloned in the early ’90s as the receptor for dioxin, the key toxin in the agent orange,” Bulun said.

“The use of agent orange during the Vietnam war caused significant reproductive abnormalities in the exposed populations, and dioxin and AHR were thought to be responsible for this,” the scientist added.

Our Synthetic Environment - Libcom.org

https://files.libcom.org › files › Bookchin M. Our ...

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by M Bookchin · Cited by 282 — Illness may occur under "favorable" as well as "unfavorable" environmental conditions. Heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and diabetes-the most important.

101 pages

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Small earthquake hits the Montreal area, 'strongly felt' in the region

Digital Writers
The Weather Network

•  

Tuesday, November 15th 2022, 5:41 am - A minor earthquake was reported north of Montreal Monday night

According to Earthquakes Canada, a magnitude 3.7 earthquake was reported in an area north of Montreal on Monday night.

The earthquake happened at 9:23 p.m. and was located about 26 km north of the city.

There were no reports of damage, with none to be expected, but it was "strongly felt" in the Montreal region, Earthquakes Canada said.

 Where fracking-induced earthquakes could hit in Canada

ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT (OECD)

OECD must end dangerous revolving door with private sector

ON OCTOBER 27, 2022
By Guest Contributor - Opinion


Outgoing head of the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration (CTPA), Pascal Saint-Amans will be joining private sector lobbying firm Brunswick Group on November 1. This shows the lack of integrity on ‘revolving door’ phenomenon at the OECD, questioning progress on key global tax initiatives, writes Matti Kohonen, executive director of Financial Transparency Coalition.

The Brunswick Group itself presents the problem in its own words:

“Pascal has been at the centre of the biggest changes to the international tax framework in a generation. Drawing on his deep experience at the OECD and in politics, he is extremely well-placed to advise organizations on how to engage key stakeholders on tax and other critical policy issues.”

Brunswick then goes on to highlight that they expect him to act as a lobbyist, and to make use of information and experience gained in public office. All this while Saint-Amans remains at the OECD until October 31st, taking part in key negotiations such as the establishment of a minimum corporate tax and the OECD Inclusive Forum (IF) process in which he has been intricately involved.

This entire scenario openly contradicts the OECD’s own 2010 Recommendation Principles for Transparency and Integrity in Lobbying implemented by a number of member states, calling on imposing restrictions for public officials leaving office “to prevent conflict of interest when seeking a new position, to inhibit the misuse of ‘confidential information’, and to avoid post-public service ‘switching sides’ in specific processes in which the former officials were substantially involved.” The principles also recommend “a ‘cooling-off’ period that temporarily restricts former public officials from lobbying their past organisations.”

Other international organisations are more advanced in terms of preventing conflicts of interests. Guidelines developed in the EU Commission, for instance, require a cooling off period for senior staff for a period of 12 months, banning them from lobbying or advising lobbying in this European institution.

At a minimum Pascal Saint-Amans should agree to not lobby the OECD or any of the member states while he remains in his current role. But he has failed to do that.

If he is part of efforts to shape through effective business lobby advocacy conversations and outcomes in a campaign style approach, it may lead to altering the political dynamics of the Inclusive Framework. This is a wider concern already highlighted in the process, as the G-24 intergovernmental group, the African Tax Administrators Forum (ATAF), and the intergovernmental South Centre have voiced concerns that they are much less heard than high-income country groups like the European Union (EU) and the G7.

After all, the Brunswick Group advises businesses in lobbying governments that are members of the OECD, and possibly thus altering positions that some governments may take in the future regarding the Inclusive Framework. The Brunswick Group states in quite plain language that “government regulations and scrutiny can directly impact a company’s bottom line. Lobbying remains essential, but alone it is no longer sufficient. Effective advocacy, consistent engagement, and the ability to shape conversations and outcomes require a campaign-style approach.”

This issue also raises broader serious concerns at the OECD, as the secretariat has long publicly claimed that it seeks to give civil society the same access as it does to lobbyists from the private sector. However, just last year this was confirmed in spectacular style when the main business lobby group wrote publicly to the OECD, detailing the hitherto unknown set of working groups and special channels established for their benefit – and claiming it still allowed them insufficient influence.

An urgent independent ethics review on the relationship of the OECD, the CTPA in particular, and the private sector is required. The terms of reference for such a review should include this specific appointment, and the apparent absence of any safeguards on cooling off periods and how to manage conflicts of interest – present and future. The review should also evaluate the degree of private sector access to the OECD’s process for setting international tax rules, comparing this to national best practice for transparency and integrity in lobbying. Lastly, the review should consider and recommend policies to ensure that the OECD can end the “revolving door phenomenon”.

These shady practices cannot be allowed to stand, for everyone’s sake.

Spanish truckers start new strike over freight rules and cost of living

ON NOVEMBER 15, 2022
By EU Reporter Correspondent


The strike by truck drivers that brought Spain to a halt earlier in the year was repeated Monday (14 November). Hundreds marched through Madrid demanding changes to road freight regulations and protesting the rising cost of living.

The unofficial Platform for the Defence of Transport protests the Madrid region's public healthcare policy. It also comes just 11 days after major unions in Spain held a demonstration against rising living expenses.

High-visibility vest-wielding protesters marched through central Madrid, passing Atocha train station and Parliament, waving slogans like "We don’t want subsidies, but we want solutions".

The March-April strike of truckers caused Spanish supply chains to stop, led to food shortages and triggered an inflation flare up that hampered quarterly economic growth.

Platform for the Defence of Transport demanded a second open-ended strike Monday to seek changes in road freight regulations to protect margins, and keep truckers' prices down.

Local media reported that traffic flowed as usual Monday morning in the critical supply chain centers in Barcelona's port and in Madrid's wholesale food markets. Seville is the fourth-largest city in the country.

Truckers finally received a package worth €1 billion, which included rebates on diesel fuel prices and a €1,200 cash bonus. However, they claim that the rebates were overtaken since then by rising fuel prices.

Nuria Hernan, the wife of a truck driver, said that many people are going bankrupt in transport because they cannot pay their expenses.

The 45-year old added: "It's just not worth going to work."

FULLY AUTOMATED LUXURY COMMUNISM

 

Give Us Fully Automated Luxury Communism - The Atlantic

https://www.theatlantic.com › ideas › archive › 2019/06

Jun 20, 2019 — FALC is a strong brew of technological determinism, sunny utopianism, and souped-up socialism: Let the robots do all the work, and let humans ...

Fully Automated Luxury Communism - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Fully_Automated_Lux...

Fully Automated Luxury Communism: A Manifesto is a book by Aaron Bastani first published by Verso Books in 2019. It argues that technology can be used to ...

The Right to Be Greedy: Theses on the Practical Necessity of Demanding Everything

by For Ourselves: Council for Generalized Self-Management

The Right To Be Greedy: Theses On The Practical Necessity Of Demanding Everything is a book published in 1974 by an American Situationist collective called "For Ourselves: Council for Generalized Self-Management". Post-left anarchist Bob Black describes it in its preface as an "audacious attempt to synthesize a collectivist social vision of left-wing origin with an individualistic (for lack of a better word) ethic usually articulated on the right".

Its authors say that "[t]he positive conception of egoism, the perspective of communist egoism, is the very heart and unity of our theoretical and practical coherence". It is highly influenced by the work of Max Stirner. A reprinting of the work in the eighties was done by Loompanics Unlimited with the involvement of Bob Black who also wrote the preface to it.

Most libertarians think of themselves as in some sense egoists. If they believe in rights, they believe these rights belong to them as individuals. If not, they nonetheless look to themselves and others as so many individuals possessed of power to be reckoned with. Either way, they assume that the opposite of egoism is altruism. The altruists, Christian or Maoist, agree. A cozy accommodation; and, I submit, a suspicious one. What if this antagonistic interdependence, this reciprocal reliance reflects and conceals an accord? Could egoism be altruism's loyal opposition? Yes, according to the authors of this text. What's more, they insist that an egoism which knows itself and refuses every limit to its own realization is communism.

Contents:
Preface by Bob Black
1. Wealth
2. Individualism and Collectivism
3. The Dialectic of Egoism
4. The Resonance of Egoisms
5. Communist Society
6. Radical Subjectivity
7. Pleasure
8. Sexuality
9. Authority
10. Morality
11. Revolution
Appendix: Preamble to The Founding Agreements of For Ourselves: Council for Generalized Self-Management

World Cup prize money disparity is an obstacle to Equal Pay

By ANNE M. PETERSON

AP

Yesterday

1 of 3

 United States' Megan Rapinoe lifts up the trophy after winning the Women's World Cup final soccer match between US and The Netherlands at the Stade de Lyon in Decines, outside Lyon, France, in July 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

World Cup prize money continues to be a sticking point for equality in soccer, despite the historic equal pay agreement between U.S. Soccer and its men’s and women’s teams.

Earlier this year, the U.S. national teams decided to split prize money, which means that the haul from playing in the sport’s most prestigious tournaments will be distributed equally between players for both teams — after the federation takes a cut off the top.

It was a landmark agreement, hailed as an important step for equality even beyond sports. But other nations haven’t followed suit.

At the heart of the matter is the huge disparity in prize money between the men’s and women’s tournaments — and how it is eventually passed on by federations to their players.

FIFA has earmarked $440 million in prize money for this year’s men’s World Cup. The winner in Qatar will take home $42 million.

The U.S. women won $4 million from a $30 million pot at the 2019 Women’s World Cup. FIFA President Gianni Infantino has proposed doubling the prize money for the 2023 event, but the field has expanded from 24 to 32 teams.

That could change. FIFA secretary-general Fatma Samoura recently suggested that the final prize money total for the women could be greater.

“Today, the men’s World Cup is the one that is funding all the FIFA competitions, including the Women’s World Cup. But we have seen new trends in terms of revenues,” she said at an event in Sydney.

Some countries — including Australia, Ireland, Brazil, Norway and others — have made significant strides toward equal match and appearance fees, but an equal division of pooled World Cup prize money hasn’t been part of those deals.

Brazil announced equal pay for its men’s and women’s teams in 2020 but the agreement pays the women a “proportionately equal” amount — or the same percentage — of World Cup prize money.

In July, Spain’s federation also agreed to give its female players a percentage of bonuses equal to the men’s side, as well as earnings from sponsorships, image rights and improved working conditions. It did not reveal specifics.

Lisa Delpy Neirotti, associate professor of Sport Management at George Washington University, said there is a three-pronged approach for equal pay: Public sentiment has to be for it, the women have to be unified in their demands, and the players needs allies, as in the case of the U.S. men’s team.

That might be a tough ask in countries like France and Germany, both successful World Cup nations, because the men’s team would give up a lucrative payday. France, which won $38 million for winning the 2018 World Cup in Russia, distributed $11 million between the 23 players on the squad.

In contrast, the U.S. women have been more successful than the men, winning the last two World Cups. The U.S. men failed to qualify for the 2018 tournament in Russia.

“If the (U.S.) women continue to do better than the men, it’s not really hurting the men. Even though the men get more, the women can actually contribute just as much if they keep going,” Neirotti said. “But it’s not always the same economics in other countries — those other countries where the men go further in the tournament and thus generate a larger prize pool. So obviously the economics of coupling that with women would probably be more significantly hurting the men than the women.”

Players like Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and Becky Sauerbrunn tirelessly campaigned for pay equity, spurring chants of “Equal Pay” at the World Cup final three years ago in France and gaining public support. Then the women worked with the men’s union to forge an agreement, securing both sides a larger share of the overall prize money after the federation’s stake.

U.S. Soccer will take 10% of the money awarded to each team, then split the rest among the players on the two teams’ World Cup rosters.

For the 2026 and 2027 tournaments, the USSF will take 20% and split the rest in a similar manner.

Australia, which co-hosts the 2023 Women’s World Cup, has instead called on FIFA to equalize the prize pools. The Socceroos, as they’re known, will get a cut of the prize money if the team advances to the knockout round. But the federation also has plans to put the windfall into a second-tier women’s league and a national women’s competition.

Canada’s men, currently in contentious contract talks with the federation, have asked for 40% of World Cup prize money, a friends and family travel package and an “equitable structure with our women’s national team that shares the same player match fees, percentage of prize money earned at our respective FIFA World Cups and the development of a women’s domestic league.”

Canada’s women have said they do not consider an equal percentage of prize money as equal pay.

“Canada Soccer has been engaged in ongoing discussions with our National Teams, which are and have always been anchored on our values of fairness and pay equity — addressing previously unbalanced standards. That means dollars, not percentages,” Canada Soccer said in a statement. The federation says there has been progress in the negotiations.

For now, at least while FIFA’s disparities in prize money exist, getting men’s teams on board is what it will likely take for women’s teams to win equal pay, said Gina Antoniello, clinical assistant professor at the NYU School of Professional Studies.

“So how can we get that allyship? Because it’s the right thing to do. Because women’s rights are human rights,” Antoniello said. “It is, I think, a little bit of a delicate balance, to collaborate, but not be pandered to.”

___

AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Why India is set to be a big player in the global gaming industry

Justin Shriram Keeling on why the time was right for India’s first gaming and interactive media VC.

15 NOVEMBER 2022

Justin Shriram Keeling is the Founding General Partner of Lumkai, India’s first gaming and interactive media VC. Lumikai’s State of India Gaming report says that the country’s game companies in India raised $513 million this year, and projects that India’s game industry willl quadruple in value by 2027. A long-time founder and builder, Keeling has worked in the gaming, media and technology sectors in Japan, the U.S. and U.K. for the BBC, Comcast and News Corporation’s Fox Interactive Media. He was also the Head of Product & Strategy for UTV Games in India before co-founding Lumikai in 2019.
Lumikai is India’s first gaming and interactive media VC.

What challenges did you encounter as the first of your kind in the country?

Like with anything new, when we were started, some folks thought we were crazy. There were all these established narratives around gaming, and gaming in India, especially. People said that there are lots of Indian gamers — more than 500 million at last count, the second highest in the world — but no one here pays for games. Or that there aren’t enough good founders. Or no exits for investors.

Fast forward two years, and India is the fastest monetising market for games in the world. The market crossed $2.6 billion in value and is growing 30% year on year. We’ve spoken with over 1,200 founders in the last 18 months. And in the last year, India has generated three gaming unicorns, gaming M&A worth over $600 million, and its first gaming IPO in Nazara. We’re humbled to be the tip of the spear in a market that’s hit a major inflection point.

India’s gaming market isn’t as well-known outside the country as Japan or China. How does the market in India differ to what we see elsewhere?

The biggest difference is that India is a mobile-first market. India didn’t see the evolution of gaming from 2D to 3D, to consoles and PC, and then to mobile like Japan or China. Four years ago, an Indian telco called Jio launched basically free 4G data to hundreds of millions of people. It was a supernova moment for India’s entire digital economy, including games.

Today we have over 800 million smartphone users in India, and half a billion of them play games. It’s an insanely deep market, but most of it is on mobile.

How have restrictions on Chinese companies affected India’s gaming sector?

There have been two major knock-on effects. The first is that the Indian government outright banned games (and apps) from a large number of Chinese developers in 2021, even popular mobile games like Free Fire and PUBG that have hundreds of millions of Indian players. If you had perceived links to China, you were banned. The second has been on the investment side. Partly due to political border tensions in 2020, the Indian government decided to limit all Chinese foreign direct investment into India without advance approval.

By that point, a lot of Chinese tech conglomerates were all-in on India and very active investors in the market. That has all come to an end. On the flipside, it opened a huge white space for non-Chinese developers and investors in the gaming market, including those based domestically.

Do you see Indian gaming companies expanding outside the country?

Absolutely. At one point during the pandemic, an Indian mobile game called Ludo King had over 50 million players a day — more than Fortnite. We’re invested in a studio called Bombay Play that has over 40 million players, and 90% are outside of India. We’re seeing studios in India constantly break out globally.

India has such a rich culture and mythology, with a massive interconnected pantheon of gods and heroes. You see some of this crop up in games like Final Fantasy, but we’re seeing a lot of Indian developers now build games to export this rich culture to the world. You’re going to see India become a much bigger net exporter of gaming content over the next 3-4 years.

The Depravity Of Hedge Fund ‘Journalism’ – OpEd

November 15, 2022

Eurasia Review 
By Jim Hightower

Throughout the country, newspaper subscribers are asking questions like: Hey, who took my Saturday paper? What happened to those political cartoons and columns that I liked? Why does it take two days to get election results and sports scores? How did my local paper get filled with filler?

Oh… and who doubled the price?

The cause of all of the above is a Wall Street concept called “financialization” — a euphemism for corporate plundering.

Multibillion-dollar hedge funds like SoftBank Group, Alden Global Capital, and Chatham Asset have bought up thousands of our dailies and weeklies. They extract enormous profits, not by making a better journalistic product for customers and the community, but by eliminating reporters, selling off each paper’s real estate and assets, shriveling and standardizing content… and jacking up the paper’s price.

Like avaricious airlines, the profit strategy of these Wall Street newspapers is to monopolize the market, then charge more for less.

But won’t readers stop subscribing? Of course — they’re leaving in droves. But hedge fund profiteers don’t care. Their plan is to strip-mine the business of every dime it has, take the profits, and leave town.

For example, SoftBank, the Japanese owner of the Gannett chain, has pillaged hundreds of local papers. It’s now making another round of deep cuts in its newsrooms, including dumping more journalists. The financializers are also requiring other employees to take unpaid leave and are suspending payments to their pensions.

SoftBank bosses simply said, “we need to ensure our balance sheet remains strong.”

Sure, take care of Number One! But what about ensuring that local journalism remains strong, providing the information and connections that communities must have for strong democracies? Don’t be silly — that’s not part of the hedge fund business model.

OtherWords columnist Jim Hightower is a radio commentator, writer, and public speaker. This op-ed was distributed by OtherWords.org.