South China Sea drills conceal a secret war to control the internet

BY MAURIZIO GERI, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR - 05/03/23 

A suspected Chinese militia ship passes as members onboard the Philippine Coast Guard BRP Malabrigo drives them away from Philippine-occupied areas in the South China Sea on Friday, April 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

With the U.S. and Philippines holding the largest ever military drills in the South China Sea, followed by China and Singapore planning drills of their own, tensions are heating up as the Phillippines has reported a “confrontation” between two of its vessels and the Chinese navy.

As one of the world’s most important shipping lanes for oil, minerals and food, whoever dominates the South China Sea will control over a fifth of global trade. But the biggest economic asset up for grabs in the region is Big Data — and the future of the entire internet depends on who wins the battle to dominate this strategic waterway.

Over 486 undersea cables carry more than 99 percent of all international internet traffic globally, according to the Washington-based research firm TeleGeography. The bulk of them are controlled by a handful of American technology giants, namely Google-owner Alphabet, Facebook-owner Meta, Amazon and Microsoft.

Southeast Asia’s internet economy is expected to reach $1 trillion in value by 2030. Whoever controls the Asia-Pacific’s subsea cabling infrastructure will not only dominate this booming economy but control the global internet. Internet data flows, carrying everything from emails and banking transactions to military secrets, are more valuable than oil. As such, the world’s subsea cabling infrastructure is increasingly vulnerable not only to sabotage, but also to espionage — spy agencies can easily tap into cables on their own territory.

That’s why the geopolitical rivalry between the U.S. and China has increasingly focused on controlling the world’s subsea cabling networks.

The New Great Game

China, which claims almost the entire South China Sea, is planning a $500 million undersea internet cable network to create a superfast connection linking up Asia with the Middle East and Europe. It is also impeding U.S.-backed internet cable projects through the South China Sea by delaying licensing approvals and creating stricter operating restrictions.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government has thwarted several Chinese subsea cabling projects over concerns about Beijing’s surveillance capabilities. At least six private undersea cable deals led by Google, Facebook and Amazon connecting the U.S. with Hong Kong were blocked by Washington to keep HMN Tech, a subsidiary of the sanctioned Chinese firm Huawei, at bay. HMN Tech has won praise from the Chinese government as a model of “civil-military integration,” and acknowledges that its activities “offer powerful support for the modernization of our country’s national defense.”

To bypass Chinese control, American tech giants Facebook and Google are building Apricot, the first intra-Asian subsea cable avoiding Hong Kong. The 12,000-kilometer cable will connect Japan, Taiwan, Guam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore — but excludes Malaysia, which has fast become the linchpin of U.S. and Chinese competition to dominate the global internet.

Malaysia’s involvement in Apricot was scuppered due to a 2020 cabotage ban on foreign vessels in the autonomous Sabah region of eastern Malaysia to protect the local shipping industry from foreign competition.

In response, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Amazon wrote to the Malaysian government complaining that the ban would obstruct the new cable venture and requesting an urgent meeting with the prime minister. The request was ignored. As a result, Malaysia has been excluded not only from the Apricot route but also from the Echo and Bifrost cable routes across the South China Sea, also backed by Facebook and Google.

Local frustration over Malaysia’s cabotage ban has revived demands in Sabah for greater autonomy from the federal government. This dovetails with an international legal case on behalf of heirs of a colonial-era sultanate in the remote Sulu archipelago of the Philippines. The sultanate purportedly leased the region of Sabah to British colonists in 1878 in return for an annual payment, which the petitioners have used to justify undermining Malaysian sovereignty in Sabah, claiming a percentage of oil and gas profits there.

The lawyers representing the Sulu heirs have what could be viewed by some as close ties with the same U.S. tech giants competing to dominate subsea internet cables in the South China Sea. Paul Cohen, a former speechwriter on the Clinton/Gore presidential campaign, currently serves as president of the Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center where he works in “dialog” with these U.S. tech firms. Cohen’s colleague, Elisabeth Mason, is a board member of the U.S. charity All Star Code alongside three senior Google executives and founded the Stanford Poverty and Technology Lab with support from both the Obama White House and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

The future of the global internet

Even the appearance of close proximity between the Sulu heirs’ lawyers to U.S. tech giants that bypassed Malaysia to pursue U.S.-backed subsea internet cable routes will exacerbate Malaysian perceptions of Western hostility to its national interests.

Indeed, Malaysia’s exclusion from the U.S.-backed subsea cabling projects has already accelerated the country’s alliance with China. In 2022, Malaysia joined the 5,000-kilometer China-backed South East Asia Hainan Hong Kong Express Cable System (SEA-H2X) linking Hong Kong, China, the Philippines and Thailand to eastern Malaysia and Singapore.How Indo-Pacific economic negotiations can support supply chain resilienceWe need regime change in Russia — but how?

The future of the global internet is at stake. If Malaysia falls under Chinese dominance, it will have major repercussions across the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), potentially triggering a domino effect.

Yet, the U.S. has a fresh opportunity for rapprochement under Malaysia’s new government led by long-time democracy activist Anwar Ibrahim. Given the latter’s first global trip to China securing $38 billion of investments, the U.S. should act fast to ensure Malaysia recognizes the benefits of digital cooperation with the West.

Maurizio Geri, Ph.D. (Twitter: @MauriGeri) is a former senior NATO analyst who has worked at the NATO Allied Command Transformation in the U.S., NATO Southern Hub in Italy and NATO HQ in Belgium, who previously served as an analyst in the Italian Defence General Staff. He is a recipient of the Marie Curie Global Fellowship for research on EU-NATO cooperation against Russian hybrid warfare in the context of the energy-resources-climate security nexus. He is also an associate fellow at South Asia Democratic Forum, at the Center for Media and Peace Initiatives and at the International Team for the Study of Security. He is the author of “Ethnic Minorities in Democratizing Muslim Countries: Turkey and Indonesia” Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.

Iowa lawmakers change bill to relax child labor laws

TOM BARTON Lee-Gazette Des Moines Bureau
1 hr ago

DES MOINES — Iowa lawmakers approved bipartisan changes to a controversial bill to relax some of Iowa’s child labor laws.

Teens could work more jobs and later hours, as well as serve alcohol in restaurants with parental permission and adult supervision, under changes made to Senate File 542.

House Republicans amended the bill, incorporating some recommendations proposed by Democrats, who filed more than 20 amendments to remove or alter what they saw as the most harmful provisions.

The measure passed the Republican-controlled House Tuesday on a party-line vote of 60-34, with all Democrats opposed. The amended bill now heads back to the GOP-controlled Senate for final approval.

Gov. Kim Reynolds told reporters last month she supports expanding youth employment, pointing to her own experiences babysitting, waiting tables and working at a department store when she was young.

Reynolds said parents and children should be allowed to make the decision on starting work at a younger age.

The proposal has sparked protests from labor unions and criticism from the U.S. Labor Department’s top lawyer.

Democrats argued the bill, opposed by groups including building trade unions and the United Way of Central Iowa, would weaken child labor protections and conflicts with federal law.

While Democrats and Republicans were able to find some common ground to remove the “most egregious” parts of the bill, House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights, said it still leaves a lot to be desired.

“I do feel the bill is better but think we could have gone a little further to keep kids safe,” Konfrst said.

House lawmakers stripped language that would have let state officials grant exceptions allowing 14- and 15-year-olds to work in jobs currently banned for minors, as long as they are part of an approved training program with adequate supervision and safety precautions

Sixteen- to 17-year-olds could participate in work-based learning programs in areas like manufacturing, if granted an exemption by state officials.

Lawmakers also added provisions that would:

Require employers to provide a copy of all training materials to the minor’s parents

Prohibit anyone determined to be a sexually violent predator or registered sex offender from employing minors

Prohibit minors from selling or serving alcohol in restaurants unless two adult employees are physically present in the area, and only while food is being served

Require employers to report a workplace harassment incident to the employee’s parents and Iowa Civil Rights Commission, and mandate restaurant employers require all employees to attend sexual harassment prevention training

Children under the age of 16 would be allowed to work up to six hours a day while school is in session, which is two more hours than currently allowed under law.

Federal rules prohibit 14- and 15-year-olds from working past 9 p.m. in the summer and 7 p.m. during the school year. The bill would extend that two hours to 11 p.m. and 9 p.m., respectively.

Sixteen- and 17-year-olds could also work the same hours as adults and serve alcoholic drinks at restaurants, provided the employer has written permission from the teenager’s parent or guardian. Lawmakers amended the bill to clarify that teens cannot work in bars or in strip clubs.

The bill also would create a committee to look into whether teenagers ages 14 and older can receive a special permit to drive themselves to work.

Republicans said the bill modernizes Iowa's outdated child labor regulations and provides more opportunities for young Iowans to earn a paycheck and learn valuable skills through workforce training programs.

The bill is backed by business groups including the Iowa Restaurant Association and the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, as well as conservative groups Americans For Prosperity and the Opportunity Solutions Project

Rep. Dave Deyoe, a Republican from Nevada and the bill’s floor manger, said opponents have misrepresented the legislation.

Dangerous industries like mining, logging and meatpacking could not employ minors under the amended bill, and parents have to give written permission for teens to work in controlled environments, like existing school-to-work programs for welding.

Such work-based learning programs would have to be approved by Iowa Workforce Development or the Iowa Department of Education, and employers would have to demonstrate work performed by those age 16 to 17 would be done under adequate supervision and training that includes proper safety precautions.

Deyoe said benefits of expanding youth employment opportunities include “less poverty, money for future education, less delinquent behavior, experience in the workplace and access to mentors and role models,” as well as exposure to promising careers in skilled trades.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s top lawyer, Seema Nanda, disagreed, saying in a statement it is “irresponsible for states to consider loosening child labor protections.”

Amid increasing child labor violations, states should be working to increase accountability and ramp up enforcement — “not make it easier to illegally hire children to do what are often dangerous jobs,” Nanda said.

House Democrats echoed the sentiment, saying the bill would increase the chance of workplace accidents and injuries among youth.

Both violations of child labor laws and proposals to roll back child labor protections are on the rise across the country, according to a March 2023 report from the Economic Policy Institute.

At least 10 states have introduced or passed laws rolling back child labor protections in the past two years. And the number of minors employed in violation of child labor laws increased 37 percent in the last year, according to the report.

A group of state lawmakers and public officials reported possible underage labor and safety hazards last month at the construction site of Cedar Rapids’ $49 million Banjo Block development.

Rep. Jeff Cooling, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, proposed an amendment that failed that would have prohibited state agencies from contracting with companies that have a history of child labor law violations.

Rather than address Iowa’s workforce shortage by making employment in the state more attractive through better wages, comprehensive benefits and improved worker safety, Democrats argued the business lobby is proposing less restrictive child labor regulations so younger Iowans may fill the employment gap.

Cooling also proposed amending the bill to require employers demonstrate they have made a good-faith effort to hire additional employees or retain current employees prior to hiring minors. That amendment also failed.

“How are we protecting children from dangerous workplaces, and how are we making sure we’re enforcing existing labor laws?” asked Rep. Adam Zabner, a Democrat from Iowa City, who along with Cooling was among the group of lawmakers that toured the Cedar Rapids construction site.

Hundreds of Children Found Working at McDonald's Restaurants Across Several States

Most of the restaurants were located in Kentucky

By Logan Reardon • Published 50 mins ago •

Sixty-two McDonald's restaurants were found to be in violation of federal labor laws, the U.S. Department of Labor revealed on Wednesday.

Over 300 children were found working at the restaurants across several states, with 45 of the 62 McDonald's restaurants located in Kentucky.

At one store in Louisville operated by Bauer Food LLC, two 10-year-olds were found to be working unpaid and as late as 2 a.m., the department said. The two children had a variety of responsibilities, including preparing and distributing orders, cleaning the store, working at the drive-thru window and operating cash registers. The department found that one of them was allowed to operate a deep fryer, which is prohibited under federal law for workers under 16 years old.

Over 300 children under the age of 16 – two that were only 10-years-old – were found working beyond federal child labor limits in 62 McDonald's locations across Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and Maryland, according to the Department of Labor.

Click on each location below for more information.
Data: Department of Labor

Bauer Food LLC responded by saying the 10-year-olds were children of a night manager and they were just visiting their parent at work, all while not being approved by franchisee organization management.

The Labor Department's investigation found that at least 305 children were employed in violation of federal labor laws across McDonald’s locations in Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland and Ohio. Three franchisees — Bauer Food LLC, Archways Richwood LLC and Bell Restaurant Group I LLC — own and operate the 62 locations found to be in violation.

Now, the three franchises face civil money penalties with an estimated combined total of more than $212,000.

Archways Richwood LLC will face the biggest penalty, an estimated $143,566 in civil money penalties, after it was found that 242 children between the ages of 14 and 15 worked beyond allowable hours at their locations.

You can read the full report from the U.S. Department of Labor here.

McDonald’s franchises fined for child labor violations

 Federal investigators found more than 300 minors, including the 10-year-olds, were working illegally, the Labor Department said in a statement Tuesday, May 2, 2023. 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Two 10-year-olds are among the 300 children who worked at a McDonald’s restaurants illegally, a Labor Department investigation of franchisees in Louisville, Kentucky, found.

Agency investigators found the 10-year-olds who received little or no pay, the Labor Department said. The franchisees were fined $212,000 in total.

Louisville’s Bauer Food LLC, which operates 10 McDonald’s locations, employed 24 minors under the age of 16 to work more hours than legally permitted, the agency said. Among those were two 10-year-old children. The agency said the children sometimes worked as late as 2 a.m., but were not paid.

“Below the minimum age for employment, they prepared and distributed food orders, cleaned the store, worked at the drive-thru window and operated a register,” the Labor Department said Tuesday, adding that one child also was allowed to operate a deep fryer, which is prohibited task for workers under 16.

Franchise owner-operator Sean Bauer said the two 10-year-olds cited in the Labor Department’s statement were visiting their parent, a night manager, and weren’t employees.

“Any ‘work’ was done at the direction of — and in the presence of — the parent without authorization by franchisee organization management or leadership,” Bauer said Wednesday in a prepared statement, adding that they’ve since reiterated the child visitation policy to employees.

Federal child labor regulations put strict limits on the types of jobs children can perform and the hours they can work.

The Kentucky investigations are part of an ongoing effort by the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division to stop child labor abuses in the Southeast.

“Too often, employers fail to follow the child labor laws that protect young workers,” said division Director Karen Garnett-Civils. “Under no circumstances should there ever be a 10-year-old child working in a fast-food kitchen around hot grills, ovens and deep fryers.”

In addition, Walton-based Archways Richwood LLC and Louisville-based Bell Restaurant Group I LLC allowed minors ages 14 and 15 to work beyond allowable hours, the department said.

What Happens When Economies Go Into a Winner-Take-All Death Spiral? America 2023 Does

What the Hollywood Writers Strike Says About How Much Trouble Our Economy’s Really In

Leave it to Bernie Sanders to sum it up best. “Last year, 8 Hollywood CEOs made nearly $800 million, yet pay for TV writers has fallen by 23 percent over the last 10 years.” Ouch. That’s a concise description of the reason more than 11,000 writers are now on strike. And in America? That’s a big deal, because the Writers’ Guild is one of the few labour organizations which still functions. You don’t see a strike at this scale often, even in Europe — but especially not in America.

All of this is a perfect metaphor for where our economies are. What went wrong with them. Why they feel so…hopelessly broken. Let me begin at the beginning.

Think about what it means to have your income fall by 25% or so over a decade. Your income should grow. Over time. As you gain experience, as you gain skills, as you learn how to be more “productive,” and I’ll come back to that. But we all know — at least those of us who aren’t billionaires — that…that doesn’t really happen anymore.

What does happen? Well, what happens is exemplified by the flipside of the writers on strike — Big Tech. The dawn of streaming brought with it huge monopolies. Those huge monopolies pay…pennies…to artists, writers, musicians. This is a huge issue in music, too, where even the world’s top artists, LOL, can’t make a living off what they stream, because the monopolies have set the rates that low. Meanwhile? From Spotify to YouTube, they’re making a killing.

But even that hasn’t brought with it anything resembling job security in tech. Instead, while the writers’ strike shows the grim reality of life in our economies at the everyday level — stagnation, shrinking income — the tech industry shows the upside. And even the upside isn’t that good. Tech workers can stumble into a high-paying job, sure. But those don’t last forever, and there’s no guarantee of the kind of steady upward mobility that used to once to be the norm in a healthy economy. Instead, now? Zuck or Elon or whomever the creepy tech baron is can lay you off — snap!! — just like that. And you don’t just naturally fall into another high-paying job at another mega-firm, because, well, those layoffs come in industry-wide waves. So: high-reward, but high-risk. And the high-reward lasts for a relatively short time across a lifetime — it’s not a gentle, steady rise in earning power, which leads to savings, and so forth.

The downside? It’s bad. The upside isn’t great, either. Those tech workers then have to…LOL…try to buy or rent houses in San Francisco. So in this way, for the vast, vast majority of people, the economy is failing, and it’s failing incredibly badly. Gone are the days of work hard and get ahead. Instead, now? The economy is basically a thing of insecurity. For almost everyone.

Of course, some have it worse — much worse — than others. But even at the upper echelons? I don’t mean the CEOs and billionaires, just the average person, who’s done well. There’s still little security. It’s hard to build a life, savings, own much — and I mean really own it, as in outright, not just rent it from the bank on credit, which is better than nothing, but it’s still far from the kind of outright ownership that’s far more the norm in Europe.

Now. We may all have become a little inured to this. But let me, as your friendly neighborhood economist, point out, and assure you. When an economy only offers insecurity for everyone but CEOs and billionaires, it is a deeply, deeply unhealthy one.

Because you know what? These are all hard-working people we’re talking about. Watch much TV? I’m sure you do, we all do. Life is bleak these days, and binge-watching a show is everyone’s favorite escape. No judgment from me, I do it too. So if all those hard-working people are making things that the rest of us need — and yes, we do need things like a vibrant culture, just as much as food and water, unless you like living in, say, Afghanistan these days — why can’t they make ends meet? You see, there’s something wrong with this set of outcomes, and I mean both at moral and economic levels: they’re making stuff we need, maybe more than ever, given the political and social climate — and yet their incomes are falling. They’re making stuff for which demand is higher than it’s ever been — and yet their incomes are falling.

And then there’s the moral level, which is simply that everyone should be able to have a decent life.

So what happened here? The way that Bernie summed it up isn’t an exaggeration. It’s in fact very, very good economics.

We’ve developed what’s known as a winner-take-all economy. We’ve had one for a while. But now? It’s reached grotesque, obscene, staggering proportions. Think back to, say, the late 80s or 90s. That was the age in which everyday millionaires — the winners of the economy — started to become multimillionaires. And by the 2000s, they’d become multi-multi-millionaires. Today? 8 CEOs of Hollywood studios earn more than $800 million. A year. That’s more than $100 million each.

Meanwhile, America’s median income is a little over…LOL…$30K. That means these CEOs are earning almost 3000 times the median income. Every year.

What kind of sense…does that make? You see, there are two ways to think about this economically. One is to throw your hands up in the air, and say something like “free markets reward competition!! The most skilled earn the most!!” But…LOL…that’s not really thinking about any of this, that’s just a cop out. These aren’t free markets in any real sense of the word, they’re monopolistic ones. And it’s hard to say that said CEOs have any real skills outside of navigating the corporate world — mastering its politics, and learning how to climb the ladder. Certainly, I doubt whether they’d be able to…write a watchable show.

The better way to understand all this, economically, is that in our economies, if you ascend to the top of an institution, well, something incredible happens. You earn incredible amounts of money for doing…not a whole lot. What does a CEO actually do? It’s not that it’s not hard work, but it’s not…brain surgery. It’s just deal-making and accounting and hiring and firing. Pretty mundane, humdrum stuff. And yet because these are monopolies, competition doesn’t really apply. Get to the top, and you’ll just be showered with a fortune, no matter what. Run the company successfully? Here’s a hundred mil, and a bonus. Tank it? Here’s a hundred mil.

That’s the clearest signal that something is wrong here. At an economic level. Reach this level of the game, and you can never do any wrong. You can run a company into the ground, still walk away with a Versailles-level fortune, and worse, headhunters will be knocking on your door tomorrow…offering you a new job. That’s…surreally ridiculous.

When we see winner-take-all effects, we know something isn’t working. We should never really see them happening outside of a very few peculiar situations — like a pandemic that needs a vaccine, misfortunes like that, which, yes, create sudden, huge imbalances in supply and demand. But to see an entire economy dominated by winner-take-all effects? Which just get worse and worse over time?

To the point that by now, the average person can’t make ends meet, while CEOs walk away with massive, groaning fortunes so big that bank accounts are barely big enough to hold them…whether or not they do a good job, or a terrible one? That says that the fundamental equation of economics — work hard, earn a fair reward — is being violated, in a really egregious way.

All this is rent-seeking, AKA, I take as much as I can, because I have power — not because I’m doing a particuarly good or necessary job. It’s just that my position or rank gives me power, and I use it to just grab outsized rewards. What am I not doing? The fundamental equation of economics — it says that you should get a fair share of the wealth or value you create. Not that you should take all of it.

Or more than all of it.

Which is what’s happening here. When CEO pay explodes to an amount that absurd — more than $100 million a year — while pay at the average level actually falls, in this case, for Hollywood writers, then we know that there is a game of value extraction happening. Those at the top are taking more than 100% of the value created, which is why everyone else’s income is falling.

Now, if I put this to those CEOs, they’ll start crying, and plead that they’ve done a really good job, because, well, the rise of streaming has left the entire industry much poorer. That’s true, it has. But how, LOL, badly is an industry doing, really, when it can still afford to pay CEOs more money than 99.999999% of human beings who have ever lived will ever have seen…in one year? Don’t buy the crocodile tears. Sure, streaming’s been a disaster. But it’s been a disaster precisely because said CEOs haven’t negotiated better deals with Big Tech, and so media’s been ripped off royally. The CEOs, meanwhile, earned billions for…doing that bad a job.

That’s a little bit of industry gossip. I digress. Let me come back to the point and place all this in a larger context for you. After all, it’s hardly just about Hollywood. It’s every industry, really, from finance to marketing to housing and beyond. Winner-take-all effects of extreme, outsized kinds, dominate. The average person can’t make ends meet, and meanwhile, incomes at the top just keep on skyrocketing, to bizarre, surreal levels. What do you even do with a hundred million dollars…a year?

That’s not a rhetorical question. All this is bad for the economy. Why? Well, what do normal people do when they get raises? They spend. They save. They invest. And all of that is what a healthy economy is. I spend, and jobs are created, businesses have demand, new industries blossom. I save, and there’s security and stability. I invest, and fuel new wealth and productivity. But when a tiny, tiny handful of winners are taking all? None of that happens.

They just hide their surreal levels of wealth offshore, mostly. What, after all, can you do with a hundred million dollars a year? You can put it in a normal bank, and pay the tax-man, which nobody wants to do. You can put some of it in stocks, I guess, but even then, it’s just too much money. You can buy more mega-mansions than you can live in and still barely make a dent. So this money just…sits there. In its weird offshore “special purpose vehicles,” mostly. Nobody knows where it is. The Caymans? Switzerland? And just sitting there, it does the economic equivalent of rotting. It doesn’t circulate through the rest of the economy, as much as it should, in a virtuous cycle of spending and saving and investment. It’s just…hoarded.

Do you know why, for example, feudal societies never developed higher living standards? Because the kings would literally hoard all the wealth — they’d keep it in hoards. That starved the rest of society of investment. Spending power. Saving power. And so peasants were trapped, tilling the soil, for millennia — and then handing half their harvest over to the sheriff. They had no surplus left over. Because all the wealth in their societies was literally being hoarded.

So everyone else had basically three choices: become a priest, a warrior, or a farmer. That was it. What’s not on that list? Doctor, scientist, engineer, neurosurgeon, researcher, novelist, writer. These modern pursuits were made possible because wealth was liberated from being hoarded, and as it began to circulate, societies could spend, save, invest. They could build things like hospitals, trains, factories. Or televisions and transmission towers. Because it wasn’t just locked up away in the coffers of a tiny, tiny handful winners, who’d decided that more than 100% of everything belong to them.

More than 100%. I keep the hoard — and I take half your harvest, every year, too. I “earn” a hundred million dollars a year (for negotiating a terrible deal that wrecked my industry, with the sharks of Big Tech) while your income goes down. The principle remains the same.

This principle is at work in our economy, too, all over again. And it’s why society seems to be heading right back to a feudal, medieval time, a regressive, destructive craving pulsing through it. When people lose stability and security, they lose trust and confidence, in themselves, among their neighbors, in institutions.

When an economy’s just a handful of winners, who take more than 100% of everything, everyone else loses. They begin to feel like it. Along come demagogues, who prey on those feelings, and point the finger of blame at innocents. This is how the fanatics and lunatics in the GOP are rising to power, and doing worse every day. Just today? They want to take divorce away from women, and train kids…in battlefield trauma…to deal with school shootings. Crazy town.

But this is how it happens. Regress. When only a tiny, tiny number of people in an economy are winners, everyone else is a loser. And that? That demon sings to us from the beginning of time, in a banshee howl, of rage, vengeance, spite, and hatred. Take it out on them!! The innocent ones! Those dirty, filthy subhumans!! Just annihilate them, says the demon, and you will be something even better than free. You’ll be powerful again. You’ll be Great Again. You loser.

So yes. The writers strike in Hollywood — more than you think. It’s a perfect example of how got here — and why things are this bad, not just economically, but politically and socially, too.


Umair
May 2023

Remembering “The Winners,” George Romero’s Forgotten Sports Documentary Series

Dan McQuade/Defector (Original Dawn of the Dead poster by Lanny Powers)

By Adam Charles Hart

May 3, 2023

In 1973, only five years after releasing Night of the Living Dead, George A. Romero was, in the eyes of the movie industry, washed up. Night was already well on its way from revolting little horror movie to hipster favorite to cult classic to actual classic. But no one saw much money from it—even though, it should be pointed out, it was still playing on the Midnight Movie circuit in 1973. And after failing to replicate Night’s success with subsequent efforts, Romero’s filmmaking troupe split, burdened by debts and frustrated by the mounting difficulties of raising money for another movie.

Romero was on his own for the first time in his career. He was in Pittsburgh, about as far as you can get from Hollywood, and he wanted to work. He wanted to keep making movies. He and his collaborators had built a very successful business making commercials, mostly for local companies. (Romero also directed a few shorts for local children’s TV host Fred Rogers, including the immortal Mister Rogers Gets a Tonsillectomy, and branched out a few times into more national concerns, including a high-profile campaign film for Lenore Romney’s unsuccessful 1970 Senate run—any footage you saw of young Mitt during his presidential run was likely filmed by Romero.) Ads were a way to pay the bills and buy cameras and lights and such; shooting them was also the closest thing to film school Romero’s crew could find in Pittsburgh. They made rent while teaching themselves the equipment, developing their style, and making the sort of connections that would be useful in raising money for low-budget features. But by 1973 Romero was past that. All through his tenure as a commercial director he had been trying to get features off the ground, and with Night, he’d finally succeeded. He wasn’t above this sort of work for hire, but he’d done enough of it for a lifetime.

US Double Standards on Press Freedom Day

By Kevin Gosztola

May 3, 2023
Source: Shadowproof

Antonio Marín Segovia, Free Assange. Flicker

For the United States government, World Press Freedom Day is an opportunity to further project an image of the U.S. as a supposed champion of journalism and human rights. But that projection is muddied greatly by the prosecution against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

An event was hosted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at the UN headquarters in New York. It marked the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day.

Dr. Agnès Callamard, the secretary general for Amnesty International, called attention to the double standard of so-called democratic countries while discussing challenges to protecting press freedom.

“It is not just what is happening in Iran or in Russia that should worry us, although it should worry us a lot. It is also what is happening here [in the U.S.],” Callamard said. “Who is imprisoning Julian Assange? Who is creating more laws to curtail the freedom to protest? All of those indicators and trends are occurring within the so-called democracies of the world.”

Callamard added, “Sadly, the playbook of autocracy, of control over conscience, of control over speech, has been well-learned by our so-called democratic leaders.”

President Joe Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have wielded the playbook of autocracy through deliberate acts of omission—by consistently dodging any attempts by reporters or civil society leaders to hold them accountable for pursuing the Assange case.

At the White House Correspondents Dinner on April 29, Biden highlighted Russia’s detention of Evan Gershkovich and the abduction of Austin Tice in Syria over a decade ago.

Then Biden proclaimed, “Tonight, our message is this: Journalism is not a crime.”

However, that message seems fraudulent as the U.S. government remains committed to prosecuting Assange and keeps him in jail.

Assange has been a target of surveillance and subject to some form of arbitrary detention for more than a decade. The journalism he oversaw as WikiLeaks editor-in-chief, which involved publishing classified documents from the U.S. government, effectively made him a target.

Last year, Blinken uttered the following on World Press Freedom Day:

When individual journalists are threatened, when they’re attacked, when they’re imprisoned, the chilling effects reach far beyond their targets. Some in the media start to self-censor. Others flee. Some stop reporting altogether. And when repressive governments come after journalists, human rights defenders, labor leaders, others in civil society are usually not far behind.

A similar statement about the climate of fear fueled by prosecuting Assange has been made by Rebecca Vincent, the director of operations and international campaigns for Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

“If the U.S. government is successful in securing Assange’s extradition and prosecuting him for his contributions to public interest reporting, the same precedent could be applied to any journalist anywhere,” Vincent contended. “The possible implications of this case simply cannot be understated; it is the very future of journalism and press freedom that is at stake.”

This year, Blinken will participate in a “moderated conversation on the state of press freedom worldwide” with Washington Post columnist David Ignatius.

After Assange’s arrest on April 11, 2019, Ignatius argued the U.S. Justice Department had “drawn its indictment carefully enough that the issue [was] theft of secrets, rather than their publication.” The Washington Post Editorial Board has maintained that WikiLeaks “differs from journalism.” So Blinken will likely be permitted to advance a litany of double standards without being called on it.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) marked World Press Freedom Day by promoting “Reporters Shield.” Under the new program, certain journalists and media organizations can apply to become “members” that are eligible to receive funds to help combat legal threats aimed at silencing them (Note: USAID has in the past been used by the CIA as a front for operations.)

According to USAID Director Samantha Power, who spoke at the UNESCO meeting, independent journalists around the world increasingly face lawfare from “corrupt leaders,” who are intent to drive them out of business.

“Repressive or corrupt elites have tried to silence opposition by killing journalists. Now they are trying to kill journalism,” Power stated.

Power was thinking of journalists countries like Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea, but the reality is that Assange and WikiLeaks might benefit from such a program.

The CIA mounted a disruption campaign against WikiLeaks to make it difficult for the media organization to function. Officials reportedly discussed kidnapping or poisoning Assange while he was living under political asylum in the Ecuador embassy, and Mike Pompeo, when he was secretary of state, pressured Ecuador to toss Assange out of the embassy so the US could get their hands on him.

Later in the meeting, Committee to Protect Journalists Jodie Ginsberg pointed out that if we really want to keep journalism safe then all governments must cease lawfare that involves targeting journalists with a “wide variety of spurious charges.”

“One thing that the United States could concretely do is drop the charges against Julian Assange,” Ginsberg declared. She noted if Assange was brought to trial it would “effectively criminalize journalists everywhere.”

Hitting Assange with Espionage Act charges and jailing him for the past four years has forced WikiLeaks to focus on freeing their founder. The organization has little to no funds to support the publication of new leaks, not to mention their reputation has been tarnished by smear campaigns engaged in by current and former U.S. intelligence officials. And it has also become harder to maintain the invaluable archive of documents on the WikiLeaks website.

U.S. officials could abandon this case on World Press Freedom Day, but they will not because officials have entrenched themselves in the spiteful position that Assange is not a journalist. They see no conflict between their calls to free imprisoned journalists and their own autocratic conduct.

Julian Assange persecution: “The most dangerous threat to press freedom today”
By Jodie Harrison

May 3, 2023
Source: Pressenza

(Image by International Federation of Journalists)

Media organisations across the globe are marking World Press Freedom Day with a re-energised push for the release of award-winning Australian publisher Julian Assange.

US President Joe Biden is facing growing pressure to drop charges against Assange as Australia’s Media Entertainment Arts Alliance (MEAA), the International Federation of Journalists, the European Federation of Journalists and major global media outlets describe the ongoing persecution of the WikiLeaks founder as “the most dangerous threat to press freedom today”.

Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, a filmmaker, says: “Each day Julian spends in prison is another day we must all question whether journalists around the world are truly free to report US foreign and military policy”.

“Four years of confinement in a maximum-security prison and 13 years isolated from the world – what will it take for the appetite of those who wish to punish Julian to be satiated?“

In 2010, Assange published US government records on WikiLeaks that revealed the US military committed war crimes against civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq, including the killing of two Reuters journalists. Since April 2019, he has been held in a jail cell in the UK’s high-security Belmarsh Prison, fighting extradition to the US. If found guilty, he faces a jail term of up to 175 years.

“Back in 2010, Julian worked with leading media outlets from around the world to publish factual information in the public interest about US war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. Many of the revelations were deeply embarrassing to the US and its allies, including Australia,” says Assange’s brother.

“In November last year, the first media outlets to publish WikiLeaks material – The Guardian, the New York Times, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, and El País – came together to publicly oppose Assange’s persecution and urge the US government to drop all charges against him. They published an open letter, under the title ‘Publishing is not a crime’, which called the prosecution a direct attack on media freedom. “

Gabriel Shipton concludes: “And while Julian has been singled out and continues to suffer the vicious wrath of the US Government, it’s heartening to see these media outlets calling for Julian’s freedom, and we hope they continue to do so.”

In 2011, Assange and WikiLeaks were awarded the Walkley Award for Most Outstanding Contribution to Journalism. At the time the Walkley judges said WikiLeaks applied new technology to “penetrate the inner workings of government to reveal an avalanche of inconvenient truths in a global publishing coup”.

Assange Campaign Legal Advisor, Greg Barns SC says: “The Assange case represents an ideal opportunity for the Albanese government to demonstrate in a powerful way, that its commitment to press freedom is not simply rhetoric and roundtables.”

The MEAA 2022 press freedom survey showed that a staggering 92.5% of media workers said they feared that threats, harassment and intimidation of journalists are on the rise.

MEAA Media President, Karen Percy says she is saddened that the case continues to drag on for Assange who has been a member of the union since 2007.

“The prosecution of Julian Assange imperils journalism everywhere and undermines the United States’ reputation as a safe place for press freedom and free speech. We urge the Australian government to ramp up its advocacy to the Biden Administration for the charges be dropped, which would allow Assange to be released from prison and reunited with his family,” says Ms Percy.

World Press Freedom Day – 3 May

“The true test of a free press is not how it treats those in power, but how it treats those who are powerless.” – Julian Assange

Background information courtesy assangecampaign.org.au:

4 January 2021: Westminster Magistrates Court discharges [throws out] the US extradition request against Julian Assange. District judge Vanessa Baraitser rules that extradition is barred under the 2003 Extradition Act because it is “oppressive” (s.91). The United States Government appeals.

27-28 October 2021: US appeal hearing before the High Court Appeal. Julian Assange suffers a transient ischemic attack (TIA) on the first day.

10 December 2021: The decision to discharge the extradition request is overturned by the High Court due to the United States Government issuing so-called ‘diplomatic assurances’ to the UK Government. The High Court rejects the United States Government’s arguments that the district judge erred in her findings.

14 March 2022: The Supreme Court refuses Julian Assange permission to appeal the High Court’s decision. The case is sent back to the Magistrates’ Court with instruction to issue the extradition order.

20 April 2022: The Magistrate issues the extradition order, which is sent to Home Secretary Priti Patel for approval.

17 June 2022: Home Secretary Priti Patel approves the extradition order to extradite Julian Assange to the United States.


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New US report on Abu Akleh killing must be released, senator says

The request was made by Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen in a letter sent to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Published: MAY 3, 2023 

A Palestinian walks in front of a mural depicting the slain Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh ahead of the visit of US President Joe Biden at Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, July 13, 2022.
(photo credit: REUTERS\Mussa Qawasma)

The United States must release its new report on the shooting death of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh before any changes are made to its contents, Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen said in a letter he sent to the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday.

“I ask that you immediately authorize the release of the full and unedited … report under appropriate classification to me and other interested Members of Congress,” Van Hollen wrote.

“I ask that you immediately authorize the release of the full and unedited … report under appropriate classification to me and other interested Members of Congress.”Chris Van Hollen

What happened to Shireen Abu Akleh?

The veteran Al Jazeera correspondent was fatally shot while covering a firefight in Jenin between the IDF and Palestinian gunmen on May 11, 2022.

She was wearing a helmet and flack jacket that clearly identified her as a journalist when she was shot.There has been no definitive determination as to who fired the lethal bullet. The Palestinian Authority has accused the IDF of deliberately targeting her, while the US and Israel have said that the IDF may have accidentally shot her.

Senator Van Hollen alongside community leaders (credit: OMRI NAHMIAS)

Van Hollen said that the US Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority (USSC), who did an initial report on the matter last summer, has now completed a full investigation into the incident, which turned Abu Akleh into an international heroine.

“My office has been in contact with individuals at the State Department several times over the last 12 days regarding this matter,” the senator from Maryland wrote.

“Most recently, we were informed that, before the Congressional release of the USSC Report is authorized, the Administration plans to make unspecified changes to its contents.

While the Administration has characterized its proposed changes as ‘technical,’ any actions to alter the USSC's Summation Report in any way would violate the integrity of this process,” Van Hollen stated.

“As we approach the one-year anniversary of Ms. Abu Akleh's death, no one has been held accountable and no independent, official investigation has been completed.

“At the same time, the Security Coordinator has had the opportunity to review an array of in-depth analyses and assessments in order to complete the Summation Report,” Van Hollen said.

Press Freedom Index: MENA countries go from bad to worse for journalists

The New Arab Staff

03 May, 2023

Most countries in the MENA region have become more hostile to journalists, according to the 2023 World Press Freedom Index.

Most Arab states saw a decline in press freedoms over the past year, according to the 2023 World Press Freedom Index.

The report, compiled annually by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) to review the state of journalism around the world, concluded that press freedom in several major Arab countries - including Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt and Jordan - remains extremely low.

"Whether suppressed by authoritarian rulers or censored by rebel militias, the freedom to report the news is heavily curtailed in the Middle East, where the situation is classified as 'very serious' in more than half of its countries," the report stated.

Syria (175), Saudi Arabia (170), Yemen (168), Iraq (167) and Egypt (166) are near the very bottom of the index, which ranks 180 countries by freedom of the press.

Syria remains one of the most dangerous places to be a journalist, with reporters there often caught in the crossfire between the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad, regional militias, and Turkish troops.

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The New Arab Staff & Agencies

Monarchies in the Gulf states are resorting to surveillance and censorship to muzzle the media.

Saudi Arabia has fallen four places from last year as Riyadh continues its crackdown against journalists and dissidents.

"Emboldened by the impunity enjoyed by the crown prince in connection with the Khashoggi murder, the Saudi kingdom continues to repress journalists, sentencing them to long prison terms, banning them from leaving the country, and keeping them under close surveillance, even when abroad," read the report.

Egypt has been a dangerous place for journalists ever since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi took power after deposing the democratically elected Mohammed Morsi in a coup in 2013. Sisi has since launched a massive crackdown on journalists critical of his government.

"Pluralism is almost non-existent in Egypt," reads the report. "Independent media are censored and targeted by prosecutors. As for television and radio, their popularity has confined them to the role of relaying political propaganda."

Qatar 2022: It's Comin' Home and Free Palestine!

In-depth  The New Arab Staff

Qatar is one of the few countries in the region that rose in the ranking and is up 14 places to 105th. The report states this is likely thanks to its hosting of the 2022 World Cup, when authorities loosened some of the country's media laws.

Palestine has also risen 14 places in the ranking, but the Palestinian territories remain extremely dangerous for journalists as Israeli forces routinely attack journalists with impunity, as exemplified by the killing of prominent Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot by Israeli forces last May.

Israel is ranked 97th, but Arab journalists face more difficulties in their reporting compared to their non-Arab counterparts. Palestinian journalists in particular are routinely targeted.

Tunisia press freedoms in freefall under Saied: RSF

MENA   The New Arab Staff

Conditions have also worsened across North Africa, as several countries - most notably Algeria and Tunisia - continue to drift towards authoritarianism.

Press freedom in Tunisia in particular has deteriorated quickly as a result of President Kais Saied’s "growing authoritarianism and inability to tolerate media criticism", RSF said.

Tunisia enjoyed a good spell of press freedom after an uprising overthrew the dictatorship of Zine El Abedine Ben Ali in 2011.

The 2023 index concluded that press freedom was slipping around the world, and that the environment for journalists was good in only three out of every ten countries. State-sponsored surveillance, censorship, and disinformation have made an already perilous environment worse for journalism.

Media Freedom Coalition Statement: World Press Freedom Day 

From: Global Affairs Canada

Statement

On this World Press Freedom Day, we, the undersigned members of the Media Freedom Coalition, pay tribute to journalists and media workers all over the world and the work they do in informing the public, exposing wrongdoing, revealing untold stories, and holding the powerful to account. 

Today is the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day. The recommendation adopted by UNESCO that led to the establishment of this day declared that “a free, pluralist and independent press is an essential component of any democratic society.” Never has this been more true than it is today. Democracies cannot function without journalists scrutinising governments and providing accurate information on the opportunities and challenges facing society. 

Independent journalism is also essential to the full enjoyment of human rights, as made clear by the theme of this year’s World Press Freedom Day: “Shaping a Future of Rights: Freedom of expression as a driver for all other human rights.” The information that journalists provide can help citizens to better understand and secure the full protection stemming from their inherent rights; when fundamental freedoms are denied it is so often journalists who are the first to expose this. 

As a global partnership of 51 countries from six continents, the Media Freedom Coalition is forthright in its belief that journalists and media workers must be free to carry out their critically important work, and we remain deeply concerned by the multitude of threats and challenges they face, both offline and online. 

Journalists – in all their diversity - are subjected to physical attacks, hate speech and online abuse. Journalists in vulnerable situations may face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and harassment, including due to gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation or disability. Women journalists are disproportionately targeted online, while the number of women journalists killed is increasing. Impunity for crimes against journalists remains far too high, with 9 out of 10 killings of journalists going unpunished. Powerful companies and individuals continue to abuse the legal system to shut down or undermine the credibility of journalists trying to report on them. Criminal defamation laws remain in force in 80% of countries according to UNESCO, while other laws that are unrelated to journalistic activity are increasingly being used to stifle and shut down independent reporting. 

Misinformation and disinformation, including gendered disinformation, continue to erode trust in the media, and to be used as a pretext for repression. Powerful companies, including social media platforms, have not always taken adequate steps to promote information integrity, which has contributed to a decline of public trust in journalism. Many media outlets from all over the world are struggling to remain financially viable in a challenging business environment with dwindling advertising revenues. Journalists should be fairly paid for their work.   

Today, the Media Freedom Coalition honours all journalists and media workers, and the vital work they do. We particularly pay tribute to journalists who are persecuted or unjustly detained simply for doing their jobs, and those who have been forced to flee their home country and continue their important work abroad. These journalists are an inspiration to us all. 

The members of the Coalition call on governments to end repression and the stifling of independent journalism in all its forms, including the use of inflammatory rhetoric about media, and to create enabling environments in which free, independent media can flourish. 

The Media Freedom Coalition applauds those governments that have taken concrete actions to advance media freedom, at home or abroad, whether through legal and policy reforms, actions by embassies, funding and other support to independent media, or by providing safe refuge to journalists who have fled their country. We encourage governments to listen to journalists and media and the civil society organizations that represent them, to ensure their own actions in defence of media freedom are well-informed and coordinated.

The Media Freedom Coalition reaffirms its commitment to upholding media freedom, which is essential to the security, prosperity and wellbeing of all societies. 

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belize, Botswana, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guyana, Honduras, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kosovo, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, United States

Media Relations Office
Global Affairs Canada
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Global warming is to blame for devastating East Africa drought, scientists believe

Rivers in the Horn of Africa are usually in full flow, but a devastating drought caused primarily by climate change has left villagers without water for drinking, cooking and washing - and killed off crops and livestock

Children risk their lives digging holes in the river bed 

(Image: Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)

By
Ryan Fahey

World News Reporter

29 Apr 2023

The devastating drought tearing through the Horn of Africa would not have happened if it wasn't for human-driven climate change.

The region has been left completely devoid of water - forcing desperate families to dig several metres into arid river beds to find a trickle - after months of failed rainy seasons delivered the worst drought in 40 years.

The situation has also driven conflict, with more than four million people now in need of humanitarian aid.

A cohort of 19 researchers from seven countries studied if climate change was to blame, ruling that the longer rainy season has become drier, while the short rainy season has become wetter all due to changes in global temperatures.


They branded the drought "one of a kind", adding that climtae change had made agricultural drought one hundred times more likely.


Kids risk their lives digging for water in East Africa's worst drought since Live Aid

Sabina Lenteye, 25

 (Image: Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)

They added: "Ongoing devastating drought would not have happened at all without the effect of greenhouse gas emissions".

Head meteorologist at the Kenya Meteorological Department Joyce Kimutai said: "Climate change has made the drought exceptional."

The study group from the World Weather Attribution group analysed historical weather data - which included changes in the region's two primary rainfall patterns.

Somali refugees collecting water from French charity Doctors Without Borders 

(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

The scientists did concede that high temperatures, conflict, fragile statehood and poverty, were also to blame.

The United Nations said more than 20 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda and South Sudan have been affected by the drought.

In Somalia and Ethiopia there is an added risk to thousands of expectant or breastfeeding women.

A nurse records measurements of malnourished 14-month-old Philippo.

 (Image: Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)

Inside drought-stricken East Africa as one person dies of hunger every 30 seconds

Friederike Otto, senior climate scientist at Imperial College London and the leader of the study, said it underscored how climate change's effects "strongly depend on how vulnerable we are."

Rod Beadle, head of relief and humanitarian affairs at Food for the Hungry, said almost 15 million children are exposed to acute malnourishment.

"Despite the recent rains in North Kenya, the pressure from previous failed seasons makes for a dire situation. The flooding has impacted livestock and many pastoralists lost their primary livelihoods. The drought conditions have resulted in severely compacted soil that cannot absorb the water; hence the floods are more severe. The country is also facing severe outbreaks of cholera and other diseases as more refugees arrive," Beadle said.

Development gains in the countries have been offset by a long history of natural disasters, famine and disease, said Guyo Malicha Roba, a food security expert who heads the Jameel Observatory, which works on food insecurity issues in dryland nations.

Roba said the food situation in the region's drylands has addressed by raising money and with food distributions from governments and humanitarian partners, but more work needs to be done to use early-warning systems to respond more quickly to "food shocks."