THIRD WORLD U$A
More than 1 in 5 adults with limited car, public transit access forgo health care

BY JULIA SHAPERO - 04/28/23 

THE HILL 

Courthouse Square West Plains Missouri Howell County Photo taken July 21, 2021 Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The anchor of the courthouse square. Constructed in 1937 with Carthage stone and Art-Deco inspired ornamentation.

 (Getty Images)

More than one in five U.S. adults who do not have a car and have limited access to public transit said in a recent poll they have forgone needed health care in the past year.

The poll from the Urban Institute found that 21 percent of those without access to a car or reliable public transit in their area said they went without necessary health care because of difficulty finding transportation.

However, this number dropped to 9 percent among those who don’t have access to a car but reported good public transportation, the poll found.

Having access to a car also makes a difference in obtaining health care, with 13 percent of those without a vehicle saying they skipped out on necessary medical care over transportation issues, compared to just 4 percent of those with a car.

Black and Hispanic adults were significantly less likely to have access to a car, according to the poll. While 94 percent and 93 percent each of white and Asian adults said they had access to a car, respectively, 81 percent of Black adults and 87 percent of Hispanic adults said they did not.

White and Asian adults were also less likely to forgo necessary health over transportation issues, with just 4 percent and 2 percent saying as much, respectively. Eight percent of Black adults and 7 percent of Hispanic adults missed out on medical care because of difficulty finding transportation.

Low-income families also were less likely to have access to a car, at 73 percent, and more likely to have forgone needed health care over transportation issues, at 14 percent, the poll found.

Among those with disabilities, 83 percent said they have access to a car, but 17 percent said transportation problems caused them to skip out on medical care.

“Our study finds that access to public transportation is associated with improved access to health care itself … suggesting that investments in public transit may be a tool to promote health equity,” the Urban Institute’s report noted.

From the Archives: Secrets of the Alien Growers Revealed! (1988)

Trapped in an alien biosphere, Ed Hassle dared defy 

a Queen from Outer Space!

BYHIGH TIMES

APRIL 30, 2023

Artist recreation by Flick Ford, from a description by Ed Hassle

A famous writer from California was held hostage by an evil Queen from Outer Space who intended to keep him as a pet,” states Dr. Franz Berber, a leading San Francisco psychiatrist. The writer, Edward P. Hassle, managed to escape with the help of another alien.

Berber, a well-known hypnosis expert who specializes in treating the rich and famous, made this startling revelation at a recent regressive hypnosis conference held at the University of Illinois, in Urbana, Illinois.

“I know revealing this information is a violation of my doctor-patient relationship,” admits Berber, “but I feel it must be done in the interest of science and the future of the human race.”

According to statements made by the 42-year-old Hassle while in a trance, alien beings have been inhabiting remote sections of the planet and harvesting plant material from around the world. For some reason, the aliens seem particularly interested in marijuana.

“I have played copies of the sessions with Mr. Hassle to many leading experts in the UFO field, and all of them agreed that Mr. Hassle was abducted by an alien craft on October 16, 1986,” says Berber. “He disappeared for two weeks before mysteriously returning to his home with a case of temporary amnesia.”

What makes the disappearance even more suspicious was the fact Hassle was working on an article on UFO’s for HIGH TIMES magazine. After the editors rejected the article for lack of evidence, Hassle resigned from the magazine and began documenting his theory with photographs. It was at this time that he mysteriously disappeared. [See HIGH TIMES, Jan. ’87, page 14.]

“There have been many cases of people abducted by aliens, but this is the first time an alien has tried to hold a human being against their will for an extended period,” says John Holmstrom, executive editor of HIGH TIMES. “This case represents a new and potentially dangerous twist on the current rash of UFO sightings.”

Although Mr. Hassle was contacted at his home in Humboldt County, he refused to comment on the story. “Ed doesn’t want to talk right now,” explains his wife, Sunflower. “We’re still very concerned that the aliens might come back.”

According to an unpublished manuscript obtained by the Weakly World News, Hassle’s discoveries began after he noticed a decline in the potency of the marijuana plants in his backyard. At first this decline was attributed to the fact the plants had been cloned for several years; so, Hassle began growing from his original seed stock. However, the quality of the plants continued to decline.

Hassle put a 24-hour watch on the plants, and on the evening of September 2nd, 1986, he observed a small UFO hovering over his house. A long tube with a suction cup on the end appeared from the bottom of the craft. The craft descended until this tube was directly over his largest marijuana plant. The craft glowed momentarily, then took off at incredible speed, disappearing in an instant. Hassle contacted the police and wrote an account of the incident for HIGH TIMES. “Everyone laughed at him,” says Berber. “It was the beginning of a very traumatic time for Hassle. The police came and just confiscated his plants. He became obsessed by a story no one would publish.”

Hassle began visiting other marijuana growers in the area, and discovered everyone was experiencing a similar decline in potency. Armed with only a notebook and camera, he traveled from one grower to the next. Each night he kept vigil over a different patch of cannabis plants. Within a few weeks he photographed several alien crafts.

However, on the evening of October 16th, while Hassle was alone in a marijuana patch, he mysteriously disappeared. “Ed went to the patch, we saw some flashes of lightning—and he never came back,” Sunflower was quoted as saying at the time. Two weeks later, Hassle appeared in his own backyard, confused and disoriented. He had no knowledge of what had happened, and was plagued by insomnia and anxiety for several months. Finally, he sought treatment with Dr. Berber.

Who are these people?

Who are these strange aliens, and what are they doing on earth?

“They are star travelers from a different solar system,” explains Berber. “They are basically very rich tourists who have become bored with life on their own planets. They can remain on Earth as long as they don’t interfere with life here, but most of them spend their lives in constant space travel, since it’s the only way to stay perpetually young.”

There are actually two different alien civilizations visiting the planet, and they are in constant competition which each other. “They used to use the planet as a hunting ground,” says Berber, “but after they killed off all the dinosaurs, their governments signed an agreement not to disturb the planet any longer. It was at this time that cannabis was introduced to Earth in the hopes it would help pacify what had become a very violent planet.

According to reports published in a recent issue of The Alien Times, Hassle and the Alien Queen engaged in a “smoke-off.” For four hours, the Queen brought out dozens of different varieties of hashish, each time offering the pipe to Hassle after taking a hit herself. The hash was so strong Hassle could barely function, but he pretended to be unimpressed. “You must have something better than this,” he told the Queen. “This one tastes like Colombian dirtweed.”

“You’ve tasted better?” asked the incredulous Queen.

“Sure,” said Hassle. “I’m on my way to the HIGH TIMES harvest festival in Amsterdam next month. They’ve got much better dope than this.”

Eventually the Queen could smoke no more, and left on her anti-gravity couch.

“At that point, the little grey men surrounded Hassle and began patting him on the back,” says Berber. “Hassle became an instant hero. One of the grey men befriended him and eventually helped him escape.”

Humans are the result of breeding experiments conducted with several species of apes. The aliens are far superior to us in intelligence. “Consequently, they pay little attention to man and his minor ‘accomplishments.’ They’re mostly interested in harvesting the purest and finest resin droplets from the tops of the finest marijuana plants.”

And what about the little grey men? As usual, the truth is stranger than fiction: “They are the Queen’s offspring, test-tube grown and genetically altered to make them into servile creatures somewhere between man and dog. They spend their lives catering to the Queen’s every whim.”

In order to populate her kingdom the Queen has constant sexual intercourse, sometimes with other aliens, but mostly with human captives. The captives are always released soon after copulation.

Hassle was given a tour of the alien grow rooms before being released. While under hypnosis he told of “large vats of pure resin being produced by cell division.” Interestingly enough, this synthetic resin is not considered as good as the finest Humboldt sensimilla.

In the meantime, Hassle has not left his house since he returned. “Ed’s not looking for any publicity,” says Sunflower, “he’s just hoping this whole thing will blow over soon.”

Excerpted from The Mysterious Case of Ed Hassle, published by The Weakly World News.

High Times Magazine, April 1988

Indo-Pacific region wants to sidestep U.S.-China spat: Asian Development Bank head

By Dylan Robertson

The Canadian Press
Sun., April 30, 2023

OTTAWA - A senior economist whose organization oversees economic-development projects across Asia says Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy could help the region’s huge infrastructure needs, but risks falling flat if Ottawa tries to wedge countries against China.

“It’s great for Canada to develop closer ties with all of the countries in the region,” said Albert Park, chief economist of the Asian Development Bank.

“For a lot of leaders in Asia, they don’t want to have to pick sides.”

Canada is a founding member of the ADB, which since 1966 has provided loans to businesses from Kazakhstan to Fiji, with much of the financing coming from Japan and the U.S.

The bank is known for keeping tabs on each of the region’s economies and recently published a new assessment of macroeconomic trends, along with a forecast of growth and inflation for each country.

The ABD expects a boost in growth across the region, and expects inflation to gradually moderate back to pre-pandemic levels at speeds that will vary by country and depend on how world events such as Russia’s war in Ukraine play out.

During a recent visit to Ottawa from the bank’s headquarters in Manila, Park said the key factor is China’s economic reopening. Harsh COVID-19 lockdowns involved sudden factory closures that disrupted supply chains, during which Chinese consumers bought goods online but spent little on services.

Beijing makes up half of Asia’s gross domestic product, and it’s the most important trading partner for virtually every country on the continent.

“The region is more tightly connected with China than any other major power right now,” said Park, who appropriated a metaphor often used to compare Canada and the U.S.

“China is the elephant in Asia that everyone’s sleeping next to.”

His group tracks everything from official trade figures to mobility data, such as the fact Chinese subways now have roughly the same passenger traffic as before the pandemic. The bank has also noticed an uptick in demand for hospitality and transportation services, but a lasting hit to youth employment, income levels and the number of migrant workers in the country.

Slow growth in the U.S. and Europe has meant weak demand for manufactured goods from China. Yet Chinese citizens saved up cash through the pandemic and are starting to spend more on domestic services and tourism abroad, which could soon stimulate the country’s sagging housing market.

“What really matters is how the Chinese consumer starts to think about their spending,” Park said. “It’s a huge and unexpected windfall for the region.”

That applies to richer countries such as Japan and South Korea, as well as fast-growing economies such as India and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Last November, Canada announced plans to seek closer ties with all of them through its Indo-Pacific strategy.

The document calls for Canada to continue trading with China, but to limit an economic reliance on Beijing and to freeze the country out of important strategic sectors.

Park said that will be a tricky balance to hit, given that almost every Asian country is seeking to maintain good relations with both Washington and Beijing.

“Most countries in Asia have been pretty consistent in advocating for open trade and continued regional economic integration and global economic integration,” he said.

“There’s kind of a resistance to having politics affect the opportunities for shared growth and prosperity across countries in the region.”

Yet Park did say that Canada’s bet to ramp up infrastructure spending in Asia could reap huge rewards on both ends.

Ottawa’s Indo-Pacific strategy pledges $750 million to finance infrastructure projects in Asia. The funding comes as the Liberals reduce their foreign aid spending, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau saying that many developing countries want infrastructure development instead.

Park would not comment on domestic policy, but he said there are “huge financing needs” across Asia for bridges, ports and roads that accommodate for changing climate patterns.

“There’s enough need, where I think Canada can try to focus on the things that are so consistent with their own agenda on climate, gender, other things that they care about,” he said.

“That helps promote engagement, knowledge and network-building.”

He said the ABD is in touch with FinDev Canada, the Crown corporation overseeing the new infrastructure spend in Asia, about possibly co-financing projects and using the bank’s network to target the funding.

Park also met with officials at Global Affairs Canada and the International Development Research Centre, a Crown corporation that tracks how to best use aid dollars to yield results around the world.

Meanwhile, Park said his team is trying to gauge the impact of “friendshoring,” an American push for allies to rely on each other to make supply chains more resilient, and defang hostile actors from taxing or withholding goods.

It comes as the Biden administration restricts China’s access to semiconductor chips made with U.S. technology, in order to slow Beijing’s technological and military rise. Washington has also promised to spend big on green technology, pushing Canada and Europe to match corporate subsidies and tax breaks.

Park said it will take years for economists to see whether this has a lasting impact. America and Europe have had a rise in mutual foreign direct investment and a decline in FDI with China, since 2019. Yet Park said a recent wave of trade delegations to Beijing could reverse a reluctance of companies to move jobs and factories to China during lockdowns.

He also said industries are are diversifying their supply chains in general, given the unpredictability of pandemics, climate change, sanctions on Russia and hostility between the U.S. and China.

“Most multinationals, and many countries, are thinking just about diversifying supply-chain risk, given all of the craziness we’ve seen.”

Still, Park warned that protectionist policies and “excessive friendshoring” will likely cause more inflation and hurt economic productivity. He said he’s particularly concerned about medicines, foods and the technology needed to make a low-carbon transition.

“It’s just so less efficient, in pure economics. And with lower productivity growth, it means goods are not going to be produced as cheaply as they could,” he said.

Park said preliminary data suggests the U.S. and China have large enough economies that they could weather limiting trade between each other, but other countries who trade with both would bear the economic brunt of this decoupling.

“Each country has to pursue its own natural national interests in the way that they see fit,” he added.

“We just want to make these choices more informed.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 30, 2023.

THE CLIMATE CRISIS IS CAPITALI$M'S CRISIS

Scientists: Critical Ocean Currents Could Collapse Within Decades

Antarctic ice melt will halt circulation, new research predicts, with dire global impacts.

FRED PEARCE
 Mother Jones

Meltwater runs off the Nansen Ice Shelf in Antarctica.

C. Yakiwchuck/European Space Agency

This story was originally published by Yale E360 and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

It is being hailed as a sea change in scientific understanding of the global ocean circulation system and how it will respond as the world heats up. A doomsday scenario involving the collapse of the circulation—previously portrayed in both peer-reviewed research and the climate disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow—came a lot closer in the last month. But rather than playing out in the far North Atlantic, as previously assumed, it now seems much more likely at the opposite end of the planet.

A new analysis by Australian and American researchers, using new and more detailed modeling of the oceans, predicts that the long-feared turn-off of the circulation will likely occur in the Southern Ocean, as billions of tons of ice melt on the land mass of Antarctica. And rather than being more than a century away, as models predict for the North Atlantic, it could happen within the next three decades.

“I was genuinely surprised by this work, but they have convinced me. It is agenda-setting.”

Leading ocean and climate researchers not involved in the study who were contacted for comment praised the findings. “This is a really important paper,” says Stefan Rahmstorf, an oceanographer and head of earth system analysis at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. “I think the method and model are convincing.”

“It is the most original research I have seen for some time,” says British polar researcher Andrew Shepherd of Northumbria University, Newcastle. “I was genuinely surprised by this work, but they have convinced me. It is agenda-setting. All the attention has been on the North Atlantic; but I expect there will now be a shift in attention to the Southern Ocean.”

Meanwhile the long-standing concern about a shutdown of the ocean circulation in the North Atlantic sometime in the 21th century appears to be subsiding. A Swiss study published this month found that, contrary to past belief, the circulation did not fail at the end of the last ice age, suggesting, the researchers say, that it was more stable than previously supposed, and less likely to collapse.

Taken together the two studies bring a dramatically new perspective to the likely impact of planetary heating on ocean circulation, which is one of the great stabilizing forces of the planet’s climate system


The ocean circulation system, often called the global conveyor, follows a regular path through the Earth’s oceans and stirs their waters from top to bottom. It starts with water plunging from the surface and disappearing to the depths, from where it travels the world and does not surface for centuries. By capturing heat and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and burying both deep in the ocean, it is currently moderating global warming

.

The global ocean circulation system.
Ma Photo/Riccardo Pravettoni via Gridarendal

The conveyor is driven by the descent of cold, salty water to the ocean floor in just two places: in the far North Atlantic near Greenland and in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. In both regions, the mechanism is the same. In cold polar conditions, large volumes of water freeze. The salt in the water is not incorporated into the ice. It remains in the residual liquid water, which grows ever saltier. The saltier water becomes, the denser it becomes. So the residue is heavier than surrounding water and eventually sinks to the ocean floor.

About 250 trillion tons of salty water sinks in this way around Antarctica each year, subsequently spreading north along the ocean floor into the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific oceans. Similar volumes spread south from Greenland. The process is known as deep-water formation or ocean overturning, and it has continued largely unchanged for thousands of years.

But for how much longer? As the world warms, less ice is forming in the oceans at the ends of the Earth each year. At the same time, more ice on the nearby great ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland is melting and releasing fresh water into the ocean.

As a result, surface water in the Southern Ocean and around Greenland is already becoming less salty, less dense, and so less able to sink. Since the 1990s, measurements taken from ships have shown that the water on the ocean floor, below 13,000 feet in depth, has warmed and freshened, with the trend strongest in the Southern Ocean.Deep-water formation in the Southern Ocean “looks headed towards collapse this century.”

For years, climate scientists have warned that the freshening of the North Atlantic could one day turn off the global circulation system. Such a shutdown would have wide-ranging consequences, including depriving Europe of the warming influence of the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic, which is part of global circulation, and plunging the west of the continent into a deep freeze as the rest of the world warms. Most studies conclude that this extreme scenario is a likely outcome of continued global heating, but unlikely this century.

There has been much less research into the state of Antarctic waters, however. Some oceanographers, such as Alessandro Silvano of the University of Southampton in the UK, have predicted that the melting of ice and freshening of ocean waters would reduce Antarctic bottom-water formation. The most recent assessment of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported “medium confidence” of this occurring later this century.

But it said models were not able to quantify the impact of glacial meltwater on how fast or how far this trend might go. Rahmstorf says this failure, which arose because ice dynamics have been poorly understood and not integrated into models of climate change and ocean circulation, is “a long-standing and major shortcoming” of models presented in major IPCC reports.

Until now.

The groundbreaking modeling study published by Australian and American researchers at the end of March for the first time includes a detailed assessment of the likely impact of melting ice, revealing the importance of this past failure. It predicts a 42 percent decline in deep-water formation in the Southern Ocean by 2050. This is more than twice the 19 percent they predict for an equivalent event in the North Atlantic.

And after 2050, their model predicts that things will get even worse. Deep-water formation “looks headed towards collapse this century,” the coordinator of the study, Matthew England of the University of New South Wales, told Yale Environment 360. “And once collapsed, it would most likely stay collapsed until Antarctic melting stopped. At current projections that could be centuries away.”

“The physics at play is pretty simple,” says England. “None of the steps is particularly surprising or complex. But until our study, we did not have the circulation model … to make confident predictions.” The slowdown itself, he says, “didn’t surprise me. But the pace of change—to see a 40 percent slowdown in under three decades—was definitely a surprise.”

“This is the first time I have seen such a compelling argument for the impact of Antarctic ice melting on the Southern Ocean,” says Shepherd. “They have convinced me that current rates of melting are big enough to affect ocean circulation.”

Disrupting deep-water formation might make the Southern Hemisphere drier and the Northern Hemisphere wetter.

Antarctica is by far the world’s largest repository of ice. So, Shepherd says, “we should expect the impacts of this melting to be far-reaching.” The paper’s authors agree. The slowing of ocean circulation will “profoundly alter the ocean overturning of heat, fresh water, oxygen, carbon, and nutrients, with impacts felt throughout the global ocean for centuries to come,” concludes lead author Qian Li, an oceanographer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Marine ecologists are especially concerned about the impact of a circulation shutdown on the cycling of nutrients in the ocean. Currently, nutrients fall to the ocean depths as dead marine creatures sink to the ocean floor but are brought back to the surface by the conveyor.

If there was no new deep water plunging to the ocean depths, however, there would be nothing to bring the nutrients back to the surface. Instead, the waters of the deep ocean would accumulate nutrients and become stagnant, while the supply of nutrients to sustain marine life at the surface would be drastically reduced, says one of the paper’s co-authors, Adele Morrison of the Australian National University. Marine ecosystems could collapse. This would not happen instantly. It might take centuries, but once in train could not be prevented.

A shutdown would also accelerate global warming, says Rahmstorf. “The deep-water formation sites are conduits where carbon dioxide is brought down to the ocean abyss, where it is locked away safely from the atmosphere for centuries [and] currently helps slow down global warming. However, this mechanism is set to be weakened.” The IPCC estimates that the oceans altogether capture a quarter of our CO2 emissions, much of it through deep-water formation.

Disrupting deep-water formation in the Southern Ocean would change global climate patterns in other ways that are currently hard to predict. It might shift tropical rainfall systems, says England, and perhaps make the Southern Hemisphere, as a whole, drier and the Northern Hemisphere wetter.

The Antarctic study suggests that the Southern Ocean could be about to have its own Day After Tomorrow moment. But meanwhile, for some scientists, concern about the risks of the original doomsday scenario in the far North Atlantic is abating. A Swiss study published at the start of April analyzed the climate record of marine sediments to assess the vulnerability of the North Atlantic deep-water formation to a breakdown. Lead author Frerk Pöppelmeier of the University of Bern found that the circulation “has historically been less sensitive to climate change than thought.” In particular, the circulation did not, as once believed, collapse 15,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age. It “weakened much less than assumed,” he says.

Pöppelmeier didn’t say the findings give us an all-clear for Atlantic circulation collapse. It is far from certain how relevant his research is to the situation today. But he did conclude that “melting of Greenland’s ice in the near future will have less of a negative impact on the Atlantic circulation than previously thought.”Even if emissions don’t rise as much as predicted, it is “irrelevant” to the near-term fate of the ocean conveyor, says a researcher.

So have oceanographers been guilty of scare-mongering? Could those involved in the Antarctic study be exaggerating the implications of their findings?

None of the researchers contacted by Yale Environment 360 criticized the new modeling of the impact of ice-melt in the Southern Ocean itself. But some questioned the use in the model projections of an unrealistic scenario for future carbon dioxide emissions. This “business-as-usual” projection has been adopted by the IPCC as a worst-case scenario and is widely used by researchers. But it assumes continued big increases in global coal burning. Mark Maslin, an Earth scientist at University College London, says many researchers now believe this is “deeply unlikely,” as low-carbon energy sources become ever cheaper and governments and corporations remain under pressure to deliver net-zero emissions by mid-century. One study published this month predicted that carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels to generate electricity may have peaked in 2022 and be set for a long-term decline as renewables take over.

But Rahmstorf says such optimism is ill-founded. Even if future emissions don’t rise as much as predicted, it is “irrelevant” to the near-term fate of the ocean conveyor, he says. The extent of deep-water formation in the next few decades has already been largely determined by past emissions and won’t be impacted quickly by any recent changes. “Which scenario we follow will only start to make a big difference beyond the 2040s,” he says. By then, the 40-percent weakening of bottom-water formation may be all but baked in.

King Charles' coronation: $200m cost hard to swallow for struggling Britons

AS IT IS FOR THE REST OF US IN THE COMMONWEALTH

By Nick Dole in London for ABC


Souvenirs on sale in central London days out from the coronation. Photo: AFP

The Evelyn Estate is just half an hour's drive from the gold-trimmed gates of Buckingham Palace, but it feels like a world away.

While at the palace they are polishing the silver, tending the tulips and preparing the King's fine coronation robes, at the Evelyn community centre they're unpacking donated food that more than 100 families rely on.

Christina Norman, who was unpacking vegetables and canned food with a team of volunteers, said the world often saw London through a different lens.

"We've got palaces and landmarks … there's a lot of pomp going on," Norman said.

"But people can't afford to eat and heat. People are really struggling."

Over the winter, Britons suffered their biggest fall in living standards since records began, with stagnant wages failing to keep up with stubbornly high inflation of 10.1 percent.

Food is especially expensive, surging almost 20 percent in a year.

Every week, volunteers transform the south London community centre into a food store, allowing residents to fill their trolleys for a couple of gold coins.

They can't help everyone. More than 60 families are on the waiting list.

Norman said many people who used the community store have jobs, but their pay was not enough to keep up with the cost of living.

"We have nurses … who cannot afford their shopping," she said.

"It shouldn't be like that. There's a new class now, the working poor. It's really worrying."

Norman said next weekend's coronation celebrations might be a welcome distraction for people doing it tough.

"It doesn't matter whether the coronation happens or it doesn't. We'll still be in the same position," she said.

"My fault isn't with the royal family, it's with government."

However, 53-year-old Stewart Lendor, who relies on the food store to feed his family of four, said the estimated 100 million pound ($NZ203m) price tag on the coronation was hard to swallow.

"They're feeding the rich and the poor are getting poorer," he said. "It's all about them."

He said he has no interest in seeing King Charles III crowned.

"I don't give a bee because the royal family are doing nothing for us."

Some Britons remain unenthused about King Charles and Camilla. 

Photo: Yui Mok / Pool / AFP

Celebrations stripped back, but not too much

The St Edwards' crown that will be used during the ceremony. Photo: AFP

King Charles is said to have asked for a more restrained coronation to reflect the country's cost of living crisis.

Royal historian Kelly Swaby said the King was cautious about seeming out of touch.

"We're talking about carriages and tiaras and crowns while the UK is having a cost of living crisis, the worst since the Second World War.

"So I think he's very mindful of that," she said.

Even so, Swaby said the King has his reasons for continuing a number of the key traditions some may see as pompous.

"You can't strip it back too much because then people ask, why do we need it?"

The King and Queen Consort will still travel in a golden coach and the monarch will still be anointed with holy oil.

There will still be 2000 invited guests - far fewer than the 8500 invited to Queen Elizabeth II's coronation.

More than 6000 members of the military will participate in the event, which is seven times less than the number involved in the Queen's event in 1953.

In a break with tradition, there will not be a lavish banquet to celebrate the coronation.

However, there will be a spectacular military fly-past, with more than 60 aircraft flying over Buckingham Palace.

Dozens of aircraft will take part in the military fly-past over Buckingham Palace.

 File pic Photo: NIKLAS HALLE'N

And a celebratory concert will be held in Windsor on Sunday, featuring artists like Katy Perry and Lionel Richie.

For students Jess Prasad and Caner Necatigil, who are struggling to pay for food, the coronation celebrations are over the top.

"We're choosing between whether we buy vegetables or eggs and they're spending so much on the coronation. It just feels like a kick in the teeth," 19-year-old Prasad said.

Necatigil said it was "immoral" for the tradition to continue while so many people were struggling to afford life's essentials.
The national mood has changed

Swaby said the UK was a very different place in 1953 when the Queen held her coronation.

"Britain had come out of the Second World War. There were still parts of London that were in rubble."

She said the coronation of the young queen provided a much-needed boost to morale.

"People would go out and buy their first TV just to watch the coronation. TV licences doubled just for the coronation," she said.

Nowadays the public was less easily impressed, she said.

"There's been a steep decline in deference to the monarchy since the Queen's coronation.




"We're currently having debates about how much the coronation costs. Is it strictly needed?"

She said these were "valid questions in the context of what the UK is going through at the moment".

In a recent YouGov poll, commissioned by the UK Republic group, 35 percent of those surveyed said they did "not care very much" about the coronation.

And 29 percent said they did "not care at all".

However, London couple Susie and Henry Pelly said they were "very excited" by the event.

"It brings in massive amounts of tourism," Henry Pelly said.

His wife said it would bring people together. "The Brits are going to be right behind it."

Union flags fly above Bond Street in central London, on April 29, 2023 ahead of the coronation ceremony. Photo: AFP

As a historian, Swaby said she was looking forward to the event.

"We are the only European monarchy that still holds a coronation. It's not strictly necessary," she said.

"[But] it's a day where we continue a tradition. It's a day that really shows Britain off to the world and it shows the ceremonial excellence that we are so renowned for."
The Queen is a tough act to follow

King Charles is all too aware he doesn't enjoy the same level of public affection as his mother did.

In 2013, A YouGov poll found 75 percent of Britons wanted the monarchy to continue.

However, a pre-coronation YouGov poll commissioned by BBC Panorama found that number had fallen back to 58 percent.

Liz Berry, a 32-year-old Londoner, said she was not very interested in the royal family, especially without the Queen at the helm.

"People my age grew up [with] the Queen and being really familiar with her as a figure," she said.

"Whereas, Charles, we maybe don't respect in the same way."

The royal family's very public feud is unlikely to be helping its popularity.

Prince Harry will be attending the coronation, but Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and their children will remain in California.

In his recent accusations of his brother, Prince William, physically attacking him, and his stepmother, Camilla, leaking to the press, the Duke of Sussex has painted a picture of a deeply dysfunctional family.

However, some royal watchers believe the King can successfully modernise the monarchy and win back public support.

Royal historian Robert Lacey said the King was already showing an openness that the Queen couldn't.

"Charles has also shown an ability to express emotion that his mother never had," he said.

"It was very interesting in his first broadcast and then in subsequent broadcasts."

"He is a monarch expressing feelings in a positive, rather inspiring way. It wasn't his mother's style, but it is the style of this prince who's become a king."

-ABC

Call for British public to swear allegiance to King Charles just an 'invitation', Lambeth Palace clarifies after mockery

30 April 2023

King Charles is pictured meeting members of the public outside Buckingham Palace the day after his mother's death last September. Picture: Alamy

By Adam Solomons

Plans for the public to swear allegiance to King Charles during the Coronation have been clarified as an 'invitation' not an 'expectation or request' after a barrage of criticism on social media

Lambeth Palace revealed on Saturday that a new Homage of the People will replace the traditional kissing of the cheek by hereditary peers.

After the Archbishop of Canterbury proclaims "God Save the King", those watching the ceremony at home, in pubs and in parks will be invited to reply: "God save King Charles. Long live King Charles. May the King live forever."

After the plans prompted mockery, Coronation organisers insisted the rally cry is “very much an invitation rather than an expectation or request”.

Read more: Late Queen's confidante given lifelong home by King Charles days after being 'turfed out' of Windsor

Read more: Warning that Brits celebrating King Charles's coronation could face fines with impromptu street parties

Members of the Welsh Guards prepare to swear allegiance to the King during Coronation rehearsals at RAF Odiham, Hampshire this weekend. Picture: Alamy

A Lambeth Palace spokesperson told The Telegraph: “For those who do want to take part, some will want to say all the words of the homage; some might just want to say 'God Save The King' at the end.

"Others might just want to say it to be a moment of private reflection.

"It’s quite right that people decide for themselves how they relate to this moment."

The clarification also comes a day after Lambeth Palace revealed that next weekend's Coronation will feature faith leaders from non-Christian religions for the first time.

Trafalgar Square is prepared for Coronation events next weekend, with signs placed on Saturday. Picture: Alamy

A Lambeth Palace spokesperson said: "Lambeth Palace and Buckingham Palace are pleased to confirm the names of the Faith Leaders and Representatives who will deliver a Greeting to His Majesty The King at the end of the Coronation Service at Westminster Abbey on 6th May."

They include Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, KBE (Judaism), The Most Venerable Bogoda Seelawimala (Buddhism), The Rt. Hon. The Lord Singh of Wimbledon, CBE (Sikhism), Radha Mohan das (Hinduism) and Aliya Azam, MBE (Islam).

After the service is over, the King will receive a special greeting by the Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, Muslim and Buddhist leaders in attendance.

Lambeth Palace said this "unprecedented gesture" reflects Britain's "religious diversity".

China donates patrol boat to Sierra Leone to tackle illegal fishing and piracy off West Africa

Beijing’s ‘gift’ commissioned as communities in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Guinea concerned about Chinese fleets depleting fish stocks

Analysts say military donations are a diplomatic means for China to strengthen relations with African continent and protect its economic interests.


Jevans Nyabiage
 30 Apr, 2023

Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio commissioned the 26.7-metre patrol boat, Madam Yoko, on April 25. The vessel was a gift from the Chinese government to help Sierra Leone tackle illegal fishing and piracy. Photo: Handout

China’s donation of a navy patrol vessel is aimed at helping Sierra Leone and other West African countries in the Atlantic Ocean fight illegal fishing and piracy, says Sierra Leone President Julius Maada 

Bio commissioned the 26.7-metre (87-foot) long navy patrol boat that is equipped with a 14.5-mm calibre weapon.

He said the Offshore Naval Patrol Boat PB 106 – named the Madam Yoko – was a gift from China to the government of Sierra Leone “as a result of the strong bilateral relationship between the two countries”.

China-funded infrastructure across Africa force difficult decisions for its leaders

Bio said the gift from the Chinese government was significant because it strengthened the country’s offshore capacity and would help the country monitor its territorial waters. Sierra Leone is home to China’s multimillion-dollar mining (mostly iron ore) and timber interests.

“Sierra Leone has been struggling to control illegal, unreported and unregistered fishing on our territorial waters,” Bio said in a speech during the commissioning of the naval patrol vessel on Monday.

Beijing’s contribution to Sierra Leone’s efforts was recognised even though fishing communities along the Atlantic coastline of Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Guinea have raised concerns that China’s distant-water fishing fleet has depleted fish stocks.

“This offshore capacity will obviously reduce the risk and deter those crimes in our maritime domain,” Bio said.

Chinese fishing plans ‘threaten environmental catastrophe’ in Sierra Leone
1 Jun 2021


Further, he said China had provided engineering equipment and overseas training and sent medical teams that had significantly enhanced the capacity of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF).

Francois Vrey, a research coordinator at the Security Institute for Governance and Leadership in Africa at Stellenbosch University, said Sierra Leone was subject to a dire illegal fishing threat in its waters and Chinese trawlers were among illegal fleets entering the country’s waters.

He said Chinese vessels – whether flagged or licenced – dominated foreign fishing licences in Sierra Leone.

“China’s distant fishing fleet is vast and the Gulf of Guinea is fertile ground,” Vrey said.

“China is making a play in the Gulf of Guinea given that it is also seeking a naval facility in the Gulf of Guinea, and these waters are also in the picture in the Belt and Road Initiative.

China has donated a patrol boat to Sierra Leone to help the West African nation tackle illegal fishing and piracy to protect its own fishers and seafood stocks. Photo: Visit Sierra Leonean

He said Sierra Leone was a signatory to the Yaoundé Code of Conduct (YCC) that sought to respond to maritime security threats in the Gulf of Guinea.

“This vessel helps in its zone of responsibility as its other vessels also have limited reach, and this one can probably operate further out to sea,” Vrey said of the Madam Yoko.

China’s ambassador to Sierra Leone Wang Qing said the patrol boat gifted to Sierra Leone showed the shared views of both countries towards their long-standing friendship and military-to-military cooperation.

“I want to appreciate our Chinese military team who, since the arrival of the vessel, has been in the country to share expertise with the Sierra Leone Navy on how to operate the vessel and the machine,” Wang said.

Observers said Chinese military donations – typically military equipment and training – were a diplomatic means employed by Beijing to strengthen relations with the continent and protect its economic interests.

China is the continent’s largest trading partner and has pumped billions of dollars in loans that have gone towards building mega projects such as ports, dams and highways under President Xi Jinping’s multibillion-dollar pet project, the Belt and Road Initiative.

US fears over Chinese military in Africa should focus on Atlantic: analysts
13 Feb 2023


Dr Ilaria Carrozza, a senior researcher at Peace Research Institute Oslo, said China’s donation of a navy patrol vessel to Sierra Leone was one of Beijing’s foreign policy tools to cultivate long-term relationships with African countries.

“Donating arms and military equipment is seen by the Chinese leadership as a cost-efficient way of building trust and promoting strategic cooperation between the People’s Liberation Army and the recipient’s armed forces,” Carrozza said.

She said military donations from China were typically associated with economic ties between Beijing and the recipient country and included the aim of protecting Chinese interests and citizens.

“In my research, I have found that China provides donations of arms and military equipment to nearly all African countries, which is coherent with its broader emphasis on South-South cooperation,” Carrozza said.

A study co-authored by Carrozza last year said China had provided military help to 47 African countries in the past two decades, with Zimbabwe and Angola the top recipients of military arms and training.

China’s total spending on security force assistance to African countries between 2015 and 2020 was around the US$25 million a year it pledged to the African Union in 2015, the study said


Koffi M. Kouakou, a senior research fellow at the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for Africa-China Studies, said Sierra Leone, a nation in the throes of electoral campaigns, needed security support.

He said that for decades pirates and drug traffickers used Sierra Leone to transit to Europe with devastating effects on its people, especially its youth.

“China is only responding to President Julius Maada Bio’s request to deal with challenges and protect the country’s battered coast, democracy and sovereignty,” Kouakou said.

“Chinese diplomacy delivers a smart bundle of development and security, or vice versa. This package is almost unbeatable and Western nations are struggling to compete with China on that front.”

Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio commissioned the Madam Yoko, a 26.7-metre (87-foot) long navy patrol boat equipped with a 14.5-mm calibre weapon. Photo: Handout


At the Madam Yoko commissioning, Bio said Sierra Leone was taking part in a regional initiative to keep the Gulf of Guinea secure. The gulf, which stretches from Angola to Senegal and is a key shipping route, is said to be one of the world’s most dangerous places for attacks on ships, with piracy still frequent in the region.


For instance, early this month, pirates took control of a Chinese-operated oil tanker in the Gulf of Guinea. China has in the past decade taken part in dozens of military exchanges with countries from the gulf and deployed naval vessels for counter-piracy operations.

Is China making a cautious return to African infrastructure funding?
8 Apr 2023


David Shinn, a specialist in China-Africa relations at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, said China’s donation of patrol vessels – including some previously well used boats – to African countries was a common practice.

For example, Shinn said Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Mauritania had been given patrol craft by China.

“In 2006, China even donated a gunship to Sierra Leone, which is an interesting choice of countries because of complaints by local fishermen about Chinese fishing in its offshore waters,” Shinn said.

He said licensed and unlicensed Chinese fishing vessels had been depleting fish stocks off Sierra Leone.

In 2021, China and Sierra Leone announced a controversial US$55 million Chinese-financed industrial fishing harbour, Shinn said.

“Sierra Leone may well use the vessel to discourage illegal fishing,” he said.





Jevans Nyabiage
Kenyan journalist Jevans Nyabiage is South China Morning Post's first Africa correspondent. Based in Nairobi, Jevans keeps an eye on China-Africa relations and also Chinese investments, ranging from infrastructure to energy and metal, on the continent.

U.S. Treasury Department authorizes sending cars, tractors and agricultural equipment to Cuba

“The license includes used cars, new cars, trailers, tractors and all agricultural equipment. It is aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises so that they can import their cars for exploitation,” said Eduardo Aparicio, from Apacargo Express, the licensee.

by  OnCuba Staff
April 29, 2023
in Cuba-USA


According to several sources, the United States Department of the Treasury has granted licenses to send cars and other vehicles to Cuba on the condition that the recipients are self-employed, not government officials.

“This license, which is for ten million dollars, includes used cars, new cars, trailers, tractors and all agricultural equipment. It is now aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises, so that they can import their cars for exploitation,” Eduardo Aparicio, from Apacargo Express, the company that received the OFAC license, told journalist Mario Vallejo.

He explained that there is a high demand, but that the first step is to ask the importing company for a quote to find out what the final value of the operation will be. Cuban customs, he said, do not charge much tax; but it is expensive to pay the importing company, which is asking for around 30% of the invoice value of the vehicle.

For example, a car that costs an average of $20,000 in the United States can cost the self-employed approximately $6,000 more in taxes, and close to $10,000 in logistics and documentation.

The measure has been announced in a context of the fuel crisis. The Cuban government has said that it is due to breaches by suppliers.

Fentanyl, another U.S. war

The aggressive and dangerous Republican discourse insists on pointing to Mexico; Trump came to consider the number of drug overdose deaths a “military attack.”

by  Alfredo Prieto
April 26, 2023
in USA

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. Photo: Aristegui Noticias.

A ghost as real as it is deadly is running through the United States: its name is fentanyl. A synthetic opioid 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, whose use as a drug is deadly for humans. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has not hesitated to describe it as “the deadliest drug threat our nation has ever suffered.”

The statistics are terrifying. In 2021, nearly 71,000 Americans died from fentanyl overdoses, far more than the 58,220 who died during the Vietnam War. This is a record for overdose deaths: an increase of almost 30% over the same period the previous year. And almost double in the last five years.

The overdose epidemic of the new poison is defined as a “national crisis” that, for the same reason, “knows no geographical borders and continues to worsen.” The government has seized enough fentanyl to give every American a lethal dose, the Office of National Drug Control Policy once reported.

Fentanyl pills. Photo: CNN.

It’s even scarier: according to a CNN report, 10.1 million Americans ages 12 and older abused opioids in 2019, including 9.7 million prescription painkiller users and 745,000 heroin users.

In late 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that life expectancy in the United States had fallen to its lowest level in two decades, partly due to the increase in fentanyl overdose deaths. Those who died from the use of the substance, they announced, were mostly under 40 years of age.

From another angle, these are very easy-to-hide pills. They are smuggled camouflaged in cars, suitcases, and the clothes of those who cross the southern border.

In 2022, DEA agents reported seizing around 14,000 pounds of fentanyl at border posts, a true record. But such lethal merchandise can even enter the country in mail packages weighing less than 1 kilogram. The chemicals used to make it are often shipped from China to Mexico. Also from India.

The Biden administration is credited with committing $4 billion in funding from the COVID-19 relief package, known as the American Rescue Plan, to combat fentanyl overdose deaths, including expanding services for the substance use disorder and mental health. But so far, their efforts have been insufficient. This is where, in part, the crisis arises.

The scapegoat: Mexico

In 2023 things have taken a troubled course in Republican discourse. In January, former President Trump alluded to sending “special forces” and using “cyber warfare” to hit Mexican cartel leaders if he were re-elected and called for “battle plans” to attack Mexico.

For their part, the same month, Reps. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) and Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) introduced a bill seeking authorization for the use of military force to wage a “war against Mexican cartels.” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said he was willing to send troops into Mexico to attack drug lords, even without government permission. And Republican lawmakers from both houses have introduced a bill to classify various cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations.”

Deep down they weren’t new ideas. They were handled and disposed of first during the Obama administration and then under Trump himself. But in this context, they have been gaining strength among the most conservative and belligerent sectors of the Republican Party.

At first, it was considered an outlandish proposition with little prospect: for the United States military to attack fentanyl laboratories and traffickers in Mexico, with or without the permission of the Mexican government, to fight a scourge that has claimed the lives of dozens of thousands of Americans was not something that was talked about every day.

Dan Crenshaw. Photo: Crohn.

But the idea was clear: Washington had to take justice into its own hands in the face of the “dysfunctionality” of the Mexicans. Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw said all they want is to take on powerful criminal groups that terrorize the Mexican people, bribe and threaten Mexican politicians, and poison Americans.

However, not all party leaders signed up for the chorus. John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, said unilateral military operations were “not going to solve the problem.” And the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Mike McCaul (R-Texas) expressed his concerns in the sense of possible “immigration implications and the bilateral relationship with Mexico.”

The Democrats, for their part, reacted to these proposals starting with the president himself, who expressed his refusal to launch an invasion and refused to apply the terrorist label to the cartels. According to the Biden team, two executive orders issued expanded the power of the authorities to attack transnational drug organizations.

“The administration is not considering military action in Mexico,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said. “Designating these cartels as foreign terrorist organizations would not grant us any additional authorities that we don’t already have.”

Gen. Mark Milley. Photo: Military Times.

On the other hand, the army’s high command did not support them either. General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that invading Mexico “was a bad idea. I wouldn’t recommend anything be done without Mexico’s support,” he stressed.

Outside of Congress, however, politicians like Ron DeSantis have continued to push the traditional line of blaming immigrants for drug trafficking. “We have people crossing illegally from every country in the world. And what has that brought us? Now the leading cause of death among people ages 18 to 45 is fentanyl overdoses,” he said.

Last March, GOP White House hopeful Nikky Haley visited the border and called for special forces to be sent to Mexico to deal with cartels “like we did ISIS.” “The Mexican president is told: either you do it or we do it.”

Another candidate for the Republican nomination, Vivek Ramaswamy, has tweeted for his part that President “Biden sits in the White House and watches the fentanyl crisis as if he were a bystander. I will use our army to annihilate the cartels.

”

Nikki Haley. Photo: REUTERS.

All of the above, and other facts omitted for reasons of space, led to a progressive poisoning of the atmosphere. According to an Ipsos poll, 53% of Americans agreed that there was an “invasion” of the southern border; almost 40% claimed that most of the fentanyl entering the United States was trafficked by illegal immigrants, a percentage that rose to 60% among Republicans — despite being an entirely false claim.

The Mexican reaction

The reaction of the Government of Mexico did not wait. “If they do not change their attitude and think that they can use Mexico for their propaganda and political purposes, we are going to call for them not to vote for that party,” President López Obrador said last March.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Photo: REUTERS/Luis Cortés.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador made it clear that these Republican proposals were unacceptable and outside international law. “What do these mean, interventionist, arrogant think they are? Mexico is respected,” he stressed. And he recalled that Mexico “was not a protectorate or a colony of the United States.”

Later, despite assuring that relations with the United States “were in good health,” he launched into criticizing the role of agencies such as the DEA and the State Department in Mexican territory: “Mexico is much safer than the United States.”

“No country fights trafficking like Mexico,” said Secretary of Foreign Relations Marcelo Ebrard in the classic political hyperbole typical of these cases.

Despite the above, the messages from the Mexicans sounded loud and clear. First: the White House could not afford not to cooperate with its neighbor to the south in dealing with the problem. And second: the United States had to recognize its responsibility as the world’s leading consumer of drugs. But for those Republicans, they went with the wind.

Towards the future?

Most analysts and experts agree that instead of stopping, Republicans of this type will continue to wave the “Mexican fentanyl” banner from now on. As this perception of threat grows among their voters, the idea of harsh measures against their neighbor finds more acceptance among themselves and those around them

.

Donald Trump in Waco, Texas. Photo: Getty Images.

If a Republican were to defeat Biden in 2024, the risk of all that nonsense becoming politics is as real as it is an undesirable possibility. Just a fact if this were to happen: at the end of last March, during an election rally in Waco, Texas, Donald Trump compared the number of deaths from a fentanyl overdose to a military attack.

In these cases, the usual thing happens: over and over, blame it on the other. This is an aggressive and dangerous discourse that emphasizes the supply side of drugs while trying to minimize the dynamics brought to the market by the abundant and growing demand for fentanyl in the United States

.

Alfredo Prieto

Investigador, editor y periodista. Ha trabajado como Jefe de Redacción de Cuadernos de Nuestra América, Caminos, Temas y Cultura y Desarrollo, y ejercido la investigación y la docencia en varias universidades. Autor de La prensa de los Estados Unidos y la agenda interamericana y El otro en el espejo.