California FEMALE bishop acquitted in first United Methodist court trial of its kind in nearly a century

Carcaño, the first Latina bishop in the denomination and a prominent voice on behalf of immigrants

PETER SMITH
Updated Fri, September 22, 2023 



lIn this photo provided by UM News, United Methodist Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño, foreground, attends her church trial on Sept. 19, 2023, in Glenview, Ill. Beside her are her two counsel, the Rev. Scott Campbell and Judge Jon Gray. A United Methodist Church court acquitted Carcaño, Friday, Sept. 22, of all charges in the first trial of one of church’s bishops in nearly a century. Carcaño, the first Latina bishop in the denomination and a prominent voice on behalf of immigrants, faced four charges of violating church law.

 (Paul Jeffrey/UM News via AP)
ASSOCIATED PRESSMore


A United Methodist Church court acquitted a California bishop Friday of all charges in the first trial of one of the church’s bishops in nearly a century.

Bishop Minerva Carcaño, the first Latina bishop in the denomination and a prominent voice on behalf of immigrants, faced four charges of violating church law. They were for alleged harassment, fiscal malfeasance, disobedience to the order and discipline of the UMC and the undermining of another pastor’s ministry.

The jury of 13 clergy members reached its unanimous verdict after about four and a half hours of deliberation Thursday evening. It was announced Friday morning.

Carcaño said she will resume her position as head of the church's California-Nevada Conference on Tuesday.

“There is a need for healing,” she said after the verdict. “Everyone has been hurt. The complainants have been hurt. I’ve been deeply hurt and harmed. The area we serve together has been broken and divided and hurt as well. We have much work to do.”

She said she would ask other bishops to join in encouraging dialogue in the conference.

The case “is truly not just about me," she said, adding that it reflected "resistance to our system of appointment making,” in which United Methodist bishops assign clergy to their ministry positions.

Carcaño's term continues through August 2024 when she reaches the scheduled retirement age of 70. Losing a year and a half to suspension “added to the pain,” she said. “I’m feeling the loss of that time. But want to return and try to do whatever I can.”

Among other particulars, the prosecution alleged Carcaño retaliated against clergy and staff who challenged her decisions and that she took actions or allowed them to be taken while sidestepping committees and other staff that should have been consulted about decisions.

The prosecution also said she benefited from her use of a San Francisco parsonage, which was renovated through a church-development fund, as a second residence. Witnesses also raised concerns about the appearance of nepotism because her daughter lived for a time rent-free in the parsonage and worked as an administrative assistant for a district superintendent.

Carcaño had pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Witnesses at the three-day trial voiced sharply contrasting views of her leadership, with some calling her prophetic and “tender and caring,” others retaliatory and “cuttingly fierce” — or both at different times.

She was suspended with pay and benefits in March 2022 from her leadership of the California-Nevada Conference since 2016.

Carcaño's counsel, the Rev. Scott Campbell, rebutted charges one by one in closing arguments.

“Matters that should have been resolved at home took on a life of their own,” Campbell said Thursday.

The jury wasn't deciding who was at “fault” but "whether chargeable offences were committed,” Campbell said.

He added: “If we allow these thin accusations to yield a conviction of Bishop Carcaño, even if only a single charge, one of the great champions for justice in the United Methodist Church will be diminished.”

But the Rev. Janet Forbes — who as church counsel functioned as prosecutor — urged jurors to focus on the charges.

“A leader can demonstrate faithful, empathetic, courageous and prophetic leadership and do harm in other ways,” she said. She characterized the bishop’s actions as “a violation of sacred trust.”

In more than two hours of testimony on her own behalf Thursday, Carcaño spoke in measured tones as she was questioned about each of the charges and denied them one by one.

Witnesses on behalf of the bishop said she wasn't using the parsonage as a second residence but rather as more affordable lodging than a hotel in an expensive city during times when the West Sacramento-based bishop was ministering in San Francisco. Campbell cited a legal opinion from the conference chancellor saying that the local church could decide whom it offered hospitality in its parsonage.

The chancellor also said Carcaño's daughter's employment wasn't nepotism because she didn't report to her mother.

Some of the most personal testimony centered on an allegation that Carcaño retaliated against a pastor who had received preliminary approvals to lead a new church. After that pastor requested maternity leave that would have overlapped with the start of the church, Carcaño changed her assignment to only quarter-time at the new church, with most of her time spent at a previous assignment.

The pastor, the Rev. Chelsea Constant, testified the experience ran counter to what she learned from the United Methodist Church “that human dignity is sacred to God and must be protected.”

Carcaño testified that, as someone who was in ministry as a young mother, she understood the issue well. She said there were other issues, such as setting a precedent for using church development funds for someone on any kind of leave. She denied asking that Constant take a shorter leave and noted that the pastor eventually went to full-time at the new church. But Carcaño regretted not having dialogue with her earlier.

Carcaño has been in ordained ministry for 47 years and was ordained a bishop in 2004, according to United Methodist News Service.

The proceeding, which took place in a Chicago suburb, was the first known trial of a bishop since 1928, according to the denomination’s historical archive.

That year, Bishop Anton Bast was found guilty of “imprudent and unministerial conduct” and suspended from work as a bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church, a predecessor to the United Methodist Church.

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
View comments (2)

Putin’s war machine risks running out of fuel, so Russia is banning the export of gasoline and diesel


Christiaan Hetzner
Fri, September 22, 2023 

Now 575 days into his war in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has halted virtually all exports of gasoline and diesel out of the country to lessen the pain for average Russians and protect the nation's food supply.

Russia's leader has tried to keep the daily lives of Russians insulated from the worst impacts of his expansionary campaign in order to minimize risks to political stability. But with all resources at their disposal directed at maintaining the war effort, wholesale prices for the two fuels have reached record levels in recent months, according to state news agency TASS.

Since it has no choice but to fuel its military machine operating across the border in Ukraine—a necessity if it hopes to repel Kyiv's ongoing counteroffensive—Moscow will instead divert the supply that would have gone abroad to prevent shortages back home.

“The decision was made to stabilize fuel prices in the domestic market,” the Russian government said in a statement on Thursday, adding it would monitor the situation for the country's food producers daily.

The surprise ban, which won't affect several former Soviet republics including close Kremlin ally Belarus, could indirectly put pressure on the price at the pump for American consumers by lifting benchmark futures prices across the globe.

Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev earlier this month proposed temporarily banning fuel product exports to avoid a “catastrophe” this harvest season, according to the Moscow Times.

“Temporary restrictions will help saturate the fuel market, which in turn will reduce prices for consumers,” the government added.

The effect was immediate, with prices for Russia’s wholesale gasoline delivery contracts falling by a tenth on the St. Petersburg Mercantile Exchange, while prices for diesel fell by 7.5%, according to Reuters.
Unusual ban

The ban, which went into effect as soon as it was published on Thursday, is unusual as Russia is one of the most resource-rich countries in the world, with vast deposits of oil and natural gas across a landmass that spans 11 time zones.

Energy exports are also a vital source of government revenue, with the sale of petroleum products and natural gas contributing 45% to Russia’s federal budget in 2021, the year prior to Putin’s invasion.

Countries like China, India and Turkey are likely to be hit the most, since the trio have effectively replaced Europe barrel for barrel as the prime destination for Russian oil and gas supplies.

By comparison, the Group of Seven industrial nations—which include the U.S., Japan and U.K.—as well as the entire European Union agreed to ban the import of refined petroleum products from Russia last year.

Nevertheless prices may still rise in sanctioning countries as most Russian crude and petroleum products can eventually be unloaded onto third-party ships where they can be made untraceable once blended with other fossil fuels.

On Thursday, European wholesale diesel gained 5% to trade back above $1,000 a metric ton, according to Bloomberg News.

"On a global scale, world prices for diesel fuel are already at elevated levels due to rising oil prices and a lack of refining capacity. Restrictions on Russian fuel exports could aggravate this problem," Finam analyst Alexander Potavin told TASS.

Together with Saudi Arabia, Russia has unilaterally cut oil production recently in a bid to underpin global prices for a barrel of crude.

Fortune.com

Russia’s Diesel Exports Ban Is Risky for Moscow and World Alike

Julian Lee
Fri, September 22, 2023 at 10:00 PM MDT·8 min read




(Bloomberg) -- With the northern hemisphere winter approaching and global diesel markets already tight, Russia has banned exports of the fuel that’s used for transportation, heating and industrial processes. Many analysts expect the halt to be temporary, but others see it as another example of Moscow weaponizing energy exports, as its invasion of Ukraine enters a 20th month.

Here’s what we know — and what we don’t — about the ban.

The restriction includes all types of diesel, including summer, winter and Arctic blends, as well as heavy distillates including gasoils, according to the government decree. It came into effect on Sept. 21, but doesn’t have a final date.

Russia plays an important role in the global diesel market. So far this year, the nation was the world’s single biggest seaborne exporter of diesel-type fuel, narrowly ahead of the US, according to Vortexa data compiled by Bloomberg. It shipped more than 1 million barrels a day from January to mid-September.

On the face of it, the ban won’t have a big impact on the Western nations that lined up to support Ukraine after Russian troops crossed the border in February 2022. Traditional buyers in Europe stopped buying from Russia following the attack. That’s pushed the trade elsewhere, with Turkey, Brazil and Saudi Arabia emerging as key destinations.

But oil markets are global and the loss of such a large source of supply for a prolonged period of time is almost unthinkable. For its part, Russia probably can’t afford to keep withholding exports for too long either.

Russian barrels sent to Saudi Arabia and Turkey freed up diesel produced in those countries’ own refineries. That’s now being exported to Russia’s former buyers in Europe. It’s not an efficient trade, but it makes sure everybody still gets the fuel they need. Halting Russian supplies to these “friendly” states risks eventually impacting the “unfriendly” ones in the west through higher prices and curtailed exports from countries like Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

The weaponization argument leans heavily on the timing of the halt, as summer ends and European consumers start to focus on winter fuel. Gasoil is an important heating fuel in parts of Europe, particularly Germany. Diesel is the primary fuel used in the movement of goods by road, making it vital in supply chains.


Russia has already played a key role in tightening global diesel markets, slashing its crude exports in tandem with fellow members of the OPEC+ group of oil producers, most notably Saudi Arabia. Those cuts have deprived refiners of crudes that are rich in diesel fuel. Replacements, like the oils produced from the US shale deposits, yield relatively less.

Domestic Pressures

But there are pressing domestic reasons for an export ban, which may hurt Russia’s refining sector before it hits buyers in Europe.

Russia is wrestling with a surge in domestic fuel prices that’s helping to drive inflation, even as President Vladimir Putin ordered the government to curb those increases.

Domestic demand is probably being boosted at the moment by a bumper harvest, which needs to be cut and collected. The war in Ukraine and support for the occupied territories is also boosting consumption. The scale of the extra demand to demand is hard to quantify.

In contrast, supplies of the fuel have been cut by normal seasonal maintenance at Russian refineries. In the first half of this month, daily refinery runs averaged 5.44 million barrels, about 108,000 barrels a day down from the average for most of August, calculations by Bloomberg show.

Despite the official vagueness, there is an understanding in the Russian government that the limitations will be short-lived, according to an official speaking on condition of anonymity. The measure will last only until a new market mechanism is in place to regulate domestic fuel supplies, another official said.

Export Earnings

Russian refiners earn much more from exporting diesel than they do from supplying the domestic market, and high international prices have provided an additional incentive to export. So the government has repeatedly had to find ways of ensuring the local needs are met. The harsh banning of export flows is needed to demonstrate to the industry it needs to be more receptive of the government’s urges and reach a consensus with the cabinet faster, the one of the officials said.

It’s unclear, however, what a compromise could look like. Earlier, the government also mulled prohibitively high export duties and — more favorably for the oil industry - higher downstream subsidies to encourage flows into the domestic market.

Those subsidies have been putting a strain on government finances and payments to oil refiners in August rose to the highest in more than a year amid a weaker ruble and higher fuel prices, further straining the budget. The subsidies were halved at the start of September.

It’s not the first time that the Russian government has used tough measures to reign in domestic fuel producers. In 2018, the then-Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak threatened to introduce a high export duty for crude oil and petroleum products if domestic fuel demand wasn’t met.

Back then, a late-night meeting between Kozak and oil executives resulted in a deal that froze domestic retail fuel prices and secured commitment to supply more fuel to buyers at home.

The governmental decree specifies the regulation is temporary. “How long will it be in force? As long as it’s necessary to ensure stability in the market,” the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian reporters on Friday, according to Interfax news agency.

Genuine Need?

Russia’s domestic demand for diesel is a big unknown for industry watchers.

Officially, the nation expects to produce over 90 million tons of the fuel this year — equivalent to about 1.9 million barrels a day — and consumes just 40 million tons out of the total, leaving the rest for exports, according to data from Pavel Zavalny, head of the energy committee in Russia’s lower chamber of the parliament.

However, Russia’s war actions in Ukraine create additional demand. The fuel is needed for military units and consumers in the annexed territories in Ukraine’s eastern region, which have no operating refineries of their own.

Details of the supplies are classified; however, the amount needed for military needs in six Russian regions bordering Ukraine, as well as the annexed Donetsk and Luhansk regions, reached about 220,000 tons in September 2022 alone, according to data seen by Bloomberg.

Even with the military requirements, Russia’s diesel production may far exceed the domestic requirements, putting pressure on the nation’s storage reservoirs. Russia doesn’t disclose information about exactly how much diesel it can hold in its ports, refinery facilities and reservoirs near trunk pipelines.

As of Sept. 18, the total diesel volumes stored in the facilities reached 2.96 million tons — about 22 million barrels —, according to industry data seen by Bloomberg. The storage peak of 3.73 million tons was reached in February 2023, indicating that the facilities may be able to hold at least 770,000 tons more. That’s about three days’ worth of production during the first 13 days of September.

How Long?

It may not be possible to maintain the export ban for long before Russia runs into capacity constraints.

Extending the measure beyond early October would damage the nation’s oil industry, a person familiar with the situation said. Russian refineries would need to cut their runs to avoid overstocking as free storage space would run out. That makes an ending of the ban in early October plausible, the person said.

Curtailing all exports would result in domestic supplies building up fast, but there’s little sign that that amount of extra fuel would be needed for long and there is limited room to store an excess.

Russia’s ban on diesel and gasoline exports can’t last for long, according to industry consultant FGE. Failing to restart exports “would force refinery shutdowns and have the exact effect Moscow is trying to counter - higher pump prices and domestic fuel shortages,” the firm noted.

A prolonged export ban on diesel and gasoline would not be in Russia’s interest, according to Citigroup Inc. analysts including Francesco Martoccia as it could force refineries to trim operations, leading to lower crude production during winter.

Russia’s domestic diesel demand for the harvest is set to peak in next tree-to-five weeks, before slowing in November and then plummeting in December, the Citigroup analysts noted. That would likely put a six-week upper limit on the curbs.

Nevertheless, the export ban may “reduce some of the complacency that had crept into the market about a Russian disruption threat,” RBC analysts including Helima Croft and Christopher Louney said in a note.

--With assistance from Prejula Prem, Jack Wittels and Alex Longley.

 Bloomberg Businessweek

HE GOT FAWNED OVER IN CANADA
Zelensky Had a Bizarre and Frustrating Trip to the U.S.
Fred Kaplan

SLATE
Fri, September 22, 2023 

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Getty Images


Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky came to America this week hoping for a reprise of the cheering adulation and pledges of massive military support that he received during his last visit, 10 months ago. Instead, he smacked into arcades of dysfunction.

On his first stop, at the United Nations, he gave an impassioned speech before the General Assembly—but more than a third of the hall’s seats were empty, the heads of state from four of the Security Council’s five permanent members were no-shows, and his meeting with the council dramatized that body’s inability to help him stave off Russia’s aggression.

Then came a trip to Capitol Hill, in which the beleaguered House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, not only declined Zelensky’s request to address a joint session of Congress but barred him from the chamber’s private meeting room, directing the few House Republicans who wanted to greet him to do so at the National Archives, nearly a mile away. (More than half the Senators—including several Republicans—attended a briefing by Kyiv’s wartime leader on the other side of the Capitol.)

Finally, President Biden warmly welcomed Zelensky to the White House for the second time and promised him yet another package. But Biden denied him the long-range ATACMS missiles, at least for now, and it is unclear whether Congress—which is on the verge of forcing a government shutdown, owing to a few House Republicans’ guerrilla tactics—will approve any more funding. Then there’s the nightmare of Donald Trump’s possible return to power a year and a few months from now, in which case Kyiv is likely doomed to a coup by some Kremlin-backed quisling.

Zelensky’s plane ride back home must have been a bit grim.

The U.N. follies seemed especially discouraging. His entry into the Security Council started out well. The Russian ambassador protested that, since Ukraine is not a council member, Zelensky should not be allowed to speak at all. To which Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama—one of the rotating nonpermanent council members who happened to be serving as chair—proposed a mirthful deal: “You stop the war, and President Zelensky will not take the floor.”

But then things went badly. Under the U.N. Charter’s rules, each of the council’s five permanent members has the right to veto any resolution—which is how Russia has managed to block any serious move to condemn Moscow or support Kyiv in this war. In frustration, Zelensky railed against the charter itself, urging the council to change the rule—to allow the General Assembly to override a veto.

The problem is that it takes two-thirds of the General Assembly to change any rule. In any case, none of the Security Council’s members are likely to surrender their power. It is worth noting that although Russia has vetoed resolutions 121 times over the decades (including during its days as the Soviet Union), the U.S. has done so 82 times; China, 17 times; and France, 16 times. In April 2022, the General Assembly passed a resolution requiring debate when a veto is cast in the Security Council, but this hasn’t led to any reversals.

In other episodes not involving Ukraine, the U.N. showed itself incapable of seriousness. At a breakaway session to discuss climate change, Secretary-General António Guterres excluded the world’s five largest emitters of greenhouse gases—China, the U.S., Russia, India, and Japan—from attending. Since no remedies can be negotiated without those countries’ involvement, Guterres all but admitted that the whole meeting was mere theater.

By the time Zelensky moved on to Washington, Capitol Hill was plowed over in a theater of the absurd. The week before, the handful of MAGA extremists in the House had threatened to shut down the government and possibly evict McCarthy from his speaker’s chair if he didn’t undertake an inquiry into impeaching Biden. McCarthy relented—but the faction, small but crucial to the Republicans’ slender majority, persisted in its threat.

McCarthy lashed out in an interview on Fox News: “This is a whole new concept of individuals that just want to burn the whole place down. That doesn’t work.” He was wrong about two things. First, it’s not new—McCarthy caved to these individuals in order to win the speakership. Second, for the moment, it seems to be working.

Privately, McCarthy favors the continued support of Ukraine. He reportedly told Zelensky as much in a closed meeting. But because the extremists who hold a sword over his head oppose giving Kyiv any more money, he can’t say so publicly. Instead, he fumed to reporters: “Was Zelensky elected to Congress? Is he our president? I don’t think so”—a remark that must have warmed Vladimir Putin’s heart.

Finally came the much friendlier meeting with Biden, who repeated assurances that he would do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes, to support Ukraine and hoped that Congress would wind up doing the right thing. But then his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, announced that, contrary to leaked news stories a few days earlier, the new aid package would not include the long-range ATACMS missile, which Zelensky has been desiring—though, Sullivan added, Biden had “not taken it off the table for the future.”

This is bizarre. There are legitimate arguments both for and against providing ATACMS missiles to Ukraine. On the one hand, the missiles have a range of 190 miles, giving Ukraine the ability to strike targets on Crimea and well into Russian territory. On the other hand, striking such targets may cross Putin’s “red lines” and push him to escalate the war. Whichever view is right, it makes little sense to deny the missiles now but leave them on the table for later. If Biden isn’t on principle against providing them at some point, then now is the time to send them.

The Washington Post reported Friday that Biden might send an older model of ATACMS that is armed with cluster bombs. If true, this suggests that he might have been persuaded by some U.S. Army officers who have argued that our own stockpile of ATACMS missiles is too dwindled to share them with others. Since the U.S. doesn’t use cluster bombs in its own operations, the older missiles might therefore be free to go.

In any case, Zelensky is not having a good month. The counteroffensive is progressing much more slowly than he had hoped. The New York sessions revealed that the U.N. can’t put effective pressure on Russia. The trip to D.C. must have affirmed his suspicions that there might be limits on American patience and aid.

A week before this trip, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was hosting the G20 summit, barred Zelensky from attending. And just yesterday, as Zelensky was wrapping up his American voyage, Mateusz Morawiecki—the prime minister of Poland, one of Ukraine’s leading allies—said he would no longer be sending Kyiv modern weapons, as the country needs them for its own defense. Polish President Andrzej Duda clarified that Poland would send older weapons, but still, the damage was done.

Ukraine’s cause in the war is as valid as ever. Its plight in the war is at least as urgent. Yet Zelensky is running into obstacles beyond his control, ones that have less to do with the merits of his case than with the limits of international institutions and the morbidity of domestic politics (in the U.S. and elsewhere). Meanwhile, the war grinds on in a stalemate. There are no available guarantors of a peace, nor even a formula for a cease-fire that wouldn’t strike one side or the other as a surrender. Meanwhile, Putin’s reign, which many once saw as fragile, seems very durable: The war is likely to persist as long as he is in power, and that’s likely to be the case for a while.
View comments (158)

SORRY WE GOTTA GO FOR THE WEEKEND

McCarthy rejected Zelensky’s request to address Congress during visit

Brad Dress
Thu, September 21, 2023 



Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) declined a request from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to address Congress Thursday, saying there was not enough time.

“Zelensky asked us for a joint session; we just didn’t have time,” McCarthy told reporters on Capitol Hill, according to videos of the exchange.

The comments come as the House is struggling to advance funding bills with a deadline looming at the end of the month and with continued financial support for Ukraine one of the sticking points among conservatives.

Zelensky, who addressed a joint session of Congress during his last visit in December, traveled to Washington Thursday to meet with lawmakers on Capitol Hill as he seeks to shore up support for more U.S. aid in the fight against Russia.

While the entire Senate met with Zelensky in the Old Senate Chamber, only a select few House leaders attended a meeting on the other side of Capitol Hill.

McCarthy said the Zelensky meeting was no different than previous ones the House has held with foreign leaders.

“What we’re doing for Zelensky is the exactly the same thing we did for the prime minister of the U.K., the prime minister of Italy,” he said.

Approved U.S. aid for Ukraine is running out fast, and Congress will soon need to approve another package.

President Biden has requested $24 billion in additional funding, but there remains no clear path to passing a supplemental in Congress at the moment, which is currently ensnared in a crisis to keep the government funded.

Zelensky is also meeting Thursday with leaders at the Pentagon and with Biden in the White House.

THE LARGEST UKRAINIAN DIASPORA

Zelenskyy invites Canadian businessmen to rebuild Ukraine
Ukrainska Pravda
Fri, September 22, 2023 


President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have met with Canadian business leaders interested in investing in Ukraine.

Source: Ukrinform

Quote: "Right now, we are most interested in the reconstruction of Ukraine: energy facilities, water supply, dams, infrastructure and, of course, military equipment.

The second part is the start of work on the transformation of Ukraine, which will take place after the war. I would say that it is cheaper to do this now than after the victory. So, please, open [your businesses – ed.] in Ukraine, we are very interested in jobs, new businesses and technologies, and we are very digitalised, probably the leaders in Europe in this area."

Details: For his part, Trudeau noted that there is still a lot of work to be done in the area of humanitarian and military assistance, which his government is working on, but much of it also concerns the economic bloc: "So I'm very pleased that business leaders are here to talk to President Zelenskyy."

Background:

Zelenskyy arrived on an unannounced visit to Canada after visiting the United States, where he met with US President Joe Biden.

During the talks, the leaders of Ukraine and Canada discussed Ukraine's defence needs, further financial and humanitarian support for Kyiv, as well as economic and investment collaboration.

Zelenskyy meets with Canadian Prime Minister
Ukrainska Pravda
Fri, September 22, 2023



Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, arrived at the Canadian Parliament on 22 September, where he was welcomed by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Source: European Pravda

In a brief statement for the media Zelenskyy underlined Ukraine’s gratitude to Canada, its government and people for their support from the very beginning of the full-scale war.

"I would like to thank you for taking in Ukrainians during this hard period, for helping us on the battlefield with your military, financial, and humanitarian aid. Thank you for being with us, for standing up for the sake of our freedom," Zelenskyy said.

Trudeau in his turn stated that for him meeting the President of Ukraine "is another opportunity to sit down and talk about everything we need to do together, express our support of the rule of law and everything Ukraine does."

He also confirmed that Canada "decisively and unequivocally" supports Ukraine in its fights against Russia’s full-scale invasion.

It is expected that the Ukrainian and Canadian leaders will discuss Ukraine’s defence needs, further financial and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, as well as economic and investment cooperation. Later on 22 September, according to the Canadian media, Zelenskyy will make a speech in front of the Canadian law-makers.

Background: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in Canada on an unannounced visit after visiting the US where he met the US President Joe Biden.

During the visit the US announced that Ukraine will be supplied with a new aid package in the security and defence sector worth a total amount of US$325 million.

Zelensky Welcomed by Trudeau in Ottawa for Start of Canada Visit
Storyful
Fri, September 22, 2023 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife, Olena, to Ottawa on Thursday, September 21.

The visit is Zelensky’s first to Canada since the start of the war, according to national media.

The Ukrainian president was to address the Canadian parliament on Friday, and was also expected to visit business leaders in Toronto, according to reports. Credit: Justin Trudeau via Storyful

Canada announces $480 million aid program for Ukraine

The New Voice of Ukraine
Fri, September 22, 2023 

Justin Trudeau in the Parliament of Canada, September 22, 2023

Canada will extend a three-year-long $482 million aid program to Ukraine, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Sept. 22.

In a joint address to the Canadian parliament with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trudeau reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to supporting Kyiv for as long as necessary.

Read also: Biden promises Zelenskyy a number of ATACMS missiles — report

He said the government would provide long-term assistance: CAD 650 million ($482 million), which will be used for 50 armored vehicles manufactured in Ontario. Trudeau also stated that Canada would send instructors to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets.

Read also: Zelenskyy in Canada to address parliament, drum up investment in meeting with business leaders in Toronto

Previously, Canadian broadcaster CTV reported that as part of the aid program, Canada would supply Ukraine with additional Leopard-2 tanks.

The Ukrainian president and First Lady Olena Zelenska arrived in Canada on Sept. 22 after their visit to the United States. Ukraine’s head of state met with Trudeau, discussing Kyiv’s military needs, future financial and humanitarian support, as well as economic and investment cooperation.

Ukraine's Zelenskiy to visit Canada, address parliament
Kanishka Singh
Thu, September 21, 2023 

Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau and Ukraine's President Zelenskiy shake hands during press conference in Kyiv

By Kanishka Singh

(Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will visit Canada to meet Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and address the Canadian parliament in Ottawa, Trudeau's office said in a statement late on Thursday, after Zelenskiy's U.S. visit wrapped up.

"The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced that the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, will visit Canada, from September 21 to 22, 2023," Trudeau's office said.

Zelenskiy was in Washington on Thursday where he met U.S. lawmakers and President Joe Biden, a day after addressing the U.N. Security Council in-person for the first time since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

While in Canada, Zelenskiy will also visit Toronto to meet with Canadian business leaders to strengthen private-sector investment in Ukraine's future, the Canadian prime minister's office said.

"Canada remains unwavering in our support to the people of Ukraine as they fight for their sovereignty and their democracy, as well as our shared values like respect for the rule of law, freedom, and self-determination," Trudeau said in a statement.

"I look forward to welcoming President Zelenskiy to Canada," the Canadian prime minister said.

In June, Trudeau made an unannounced trip to war-time Kyiv, where he paid his respects at a memorial to Ukrainian soldiers killed fighting pro-Russian forces since 2014, met Zelenskiy and addressed Ukraine's parliament.

NATO member Canada, which has one of the world's largest Ukrainian diasporas, has supplied military and financial assistance to Kyiv since Russia invaded in February 2022. It has also joined other Western allies in imposing sanctions on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.

"Since the start of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, Canada has welcomed more than 175,000 Ukrainians," Trudeau's office said on Thursday.

Zelenskiy's U.S. and Canada visits come as Ukraine's summer counteroffensive has hit stubborn Russian defenses, and colder, wetter weather will soon make many rural roads impassable for heavy vehicles.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh; Editing by Sandra Maler and Leslie Adler)

Zelensky arrives in Ottawa, greeted by PM Trudeau
Olena Goncharova
Thu, September 21, 2023

President Volodymyr Zelensky arrives to Ottawa late on Sept. 21 for his first official visit to Canada since Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022.

While in Ottawa, Zelensky will deliver an address to Canadian Parliament. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Zelensky will then travel to Toronto, where they will meet with Canadian business leaders "to strengthen private sector investment in Ukraine’s future," according to a press release published by the office of the Canadian Prime Minister on Sept. 21.

Zelensky and Trudeau are also expected to sign an agreement to continue strengthening economic ties between the two countries.

On Sept. 17, Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair announced that Canada will provide $33 million Canadian dollars ($24.4 million) to a U.K.-led partnership delivering much-needed air defense equipment to Ukraine.

In June, a partnership was formed by multiple nations, including Denmark, the Netherlands, the U.K., and the U.S., with the aim of assisting Ukraine in countering Russian missile and drone threats. According to a press release, this initiative is supplying Ukraine with a substantial quantity of short- and medium-range air defense missiles and associated systems.

Read also: Canada pledges nearly $25 million to bolster Ukraine’s air defense

PRIVATE HS RAIL IN DESANTISLAND
Brightline Train Hits, Kills Pedestrian On First Day Of Expanded Service

Owen Bellwood
Fri, September 22, 2023 

A photo of a Brightline train crossing a road.

A Brightline train operating in Delray Beach killed a pedestrian this morning.

New train day should be a positive one filled with stories about happy commuters that are finally able to leave their cars at home and ride to work. But today, the day Brightline began the first high-speed rail link between Miami and Orlando, isn’t one of those days. That’s because America’s deadliest rail line has struck and killed another pedestrian.

This morning, amid much fanfare, Brightline kicked off its first service from Miami to Orlando in Florida. The inaugural service was sold out, according to local news, and makes the journey from Miami to Orlando in around three and a half hours thanks to a top speed of up to 125 mph.


While there was a barrier across the road at the intersection between the Brightline tracks and Southeast Second Avenue, the rail line uses old FEC Railway tracks that have “have few barriers to pedestrians walking along them or crossing them.”

It’s this infrastructure along the rail line that has earned Brightline the title of deadliest railway in America. In the past year alone, trains on the line have hit a car transporter and SUV and a car that was lost on its tracks.

While I’ll always come out in favor of more trains, that can only happen when governments and private companies are prepared to invest in safety measures that protect rail riders and those who live and travel around the tracks.

Jalopnik

How fast are Brightline's higher-speed trains? You'll see beginning Friday
Wicker Perlis, Treasure Coast Newspapers
Updated Thu, September 21, 2023 

The first Brightline trains will begin traveling Friday morning with passengers from South Florida to Orlando, completing a massive expansion project that cost the company $6 billion and took four years to complete.

Brightline trains have been speeding through the Treasure Coast at previously unseen speeds for weeks, but on Friday those trains will be carrying something new: passengers.

Their frequency also will increase, as test runs turn into a regular service schedule of up to 32 trains per day.

Top speeds will reach 110 mph in the journey through the Treasure Coast, Brightline corporate affairs senior vice president Ben Porritt said in an email.

More: Brightline train schedule shows how many trains will pass through Treasure Coast and when

While detailed speed zones were not provided by Brightline, the company estimates a total travel time between Miami and Orlando of about 3½ hours for Friday's trains, according to its ticketing website. Along the 235-mile corridor, 3½-hour journey would mean the train would average about 67 mph.

Brightline has said its trains — which already run at up to 79 mph south of West Palm Beach — will travel up to 110 mph from West Palm Beach to Cocoa and then 125 mph between Cocoa and Orlando International Airport. Brightline has said trains will slow to cross the St. Lucie River bridge in Stuart.

The 110 mph speed would put Brightline in the same track class as the Amtrak Northeast Corridor between New York and Washington, D.C. Speeds will be even higher between Cocoa Beach and Orlando, when trains will operate on a higher class track. In that stretch there will be an upper limit of 125 mph, said Federal Railroad Administration spokesperson Warren Flatau. That puts it in line with the rest of the Amtrak Northeast Corridor.

More: Brightline opposition on Treasure Coast began almost as soon as the trains were proposed

The maximum authorized speeds will generally increase as the route moves northward, Flatau said, but trains cannot always operate at the maximum speed.

"Keep in mind these speeds are the maximum authorized, but there are various speed changes along each segment due to topography, track geometry, and other operational factors," Flatau said in an email.

More: Video shows Brightline train go through intersection while bars up; officials explain why

One reason for slowing down is the approach to and departure from stations. That said, Brightline trains, for now, will not be stopping on the Treasure Coast. In a 2018 lawsuit settlement, the railroad did agree to build a station somewhere in St. Lucie or Martin County within five years of the beginning of regular scheduled service ... which means Friday. Still, no plans for a station have been announced by Brightline. The city of Fort Pierce, though, has begun independent design work for a station.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: What to know about Brightline train speeds before Friday's launch

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for BRIGHTLINE 

Extremists have turned Texas into a hotbed for hate, report finds

Robert Downen
Thu, September 21, 2023

A sign with the message "Pray for Allen Tx" hangs from a makeshift cross in memory of the eight victims of the Allen Premium Outlets mass shooting, in Allen on May 7, 2023. Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune

Texas continues to be a hotbed for extremism and antisemitism, driven by the heavy presence of white supremacist and anti-LGBTQ+ groups that are headquartered or active in the state.

That’s according to a report released Thursday by the Anti-Defamation League that examined nearly three years of “alarming levels of extremist ideology and activity” in Texas, and suggested a handful of policies to combat the growing problem.

Since 2021, the report found, antisemitic incidents in the state have jumped by 89%, and there have been six “terrorist plots” in addition to 28 “extremist events” such as training and rallies. Texas also led the nation in white supremacist propaganda last year; had the most residents charged in relation to the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection; and, in March, saw a neo-Nazi and extreme misogynist gunman kill 8 people at an Allen shopping mall.

The report specifically noted the presence of white supremacist groups such as Patriot Front, which is based in the Dallas area and has repeatedly marched in major cities across the country, including this summer in Austin. Patriot Front was founded by Texas resident Thomas Rousseau after 2017’s deadly neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville, Virginia, and was responsible for roughly 80% of all white supremacist propaganda incidents nationwide last year. The group also was present at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Waco this year, and 31 of its members were arrested near a 2022 Idaho Pride event on conspiracy to riot charges.

The ADL report also notes the uptick in neo-Nazi activity in the state, specifically at anti-LGBTQ+ demonstrations. Experts have for years warned that extremist groups are using “groomer” panic as a way to recruit, and neo-Nazis have been a fixture at anti-drag rallies that have been organized by groups with close ties to Texas lawmakers.

Texas is also home to churches affiliated with the New Independent Fundamental Baptist movement that preaches extreme — and often violent — messages about the LGBTQ+ community, the report found. This includes Stedfast Baptist Church, a Dallas-area church whose pastor has said LGBTQ+ people "should be lined up against a wall and shot in the back of the head.”

Also driving the surge in extremism, the report found, is the heavy presence of anti-immigrant and “vigilante” groups that have been active on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The report follows years of warnings that extremist groups have been emboldened by the Republican Party and its amplification of things such as “great replacement theory,” a white supremacist conspiracy theory that claims there is an intentional, Jewish-driven effort to destroy white people through immigration, interracial marriage and the LGBTQ+ community.

That conspiracy theory — and corresponding violence — has been bolstered by frequent depictions of immigrants as “invaders” by major figures such as Tucker Carlson and Gov. Greg Abbott. Before he set fire to an Austin synagogue on Halloween 2020, Franklin Barret Sechriest wrote in his diary that “no invader is innocent.” And, after a gunman, hoping to fight the “Hispanic invasion of Texas,” killed 22 people at an El Paso WalMart in 2019, Abbott vowed to stop using such language to describe immigrants. He has since resumed his use of "invasion" rhetoric.

The ADL also noted that Texas has hosted numerous conferences on QAnon. Pillars of the conspiracy theory — including the belief in a secret globalist cabal that sacrifices and rapes children — borrow heavily from centuries-old antisemitic tropes that have historically led to bloodshed, including by the Nazis.

Despite the myriad warnings about the conspiracy theory’s dangers, prominent Republicans — including Sen. Ted Cruz, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and former Texas GOP chairman Allen West — have appeared with major QAnon figures. In 2020, the Texas GOP also adopted a well-known QAnon slogan — “we are the storm” — that the party later tried to claim had nothing to do with the conspiracy theory.

The ADL also suggested a handful of “nonpartisan” policies that they said would help stem the growing extremism and violence. Among the recommendations: creating a commission to study domestic violent extremism, create annual assessments; and provide clear statistics on hate crimes; mandate that law enforcement agencies report hate crimes to the FBI; and “hold social media platforms accountable” by creating a task force to study and address online extremism.

“Elected officials in Texas have an opportunity to confront this issue to significantly curtail the negative impact that extremism has on the people they represent,” Oren Segal, vice president of the ADL’s Center on Extremism, said in a statement. “It is imperative they prioritize the views and experiences of our most vulnerable communities so that targets of extremism have the resources they need to collaborate with law enforcement to solve this issue.”

NEW JERSEY

With antisemitism on the rise, this new play tells an urgent story about determination

Charles Paolino

The Bergen Record

Thu, September 21, 2023 

As Emily Mann’s new play "The Pianist" was in rehearsal at George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, Pope Francis beatified the Ulmas, a Polish family murdered by the Nazis for sheltering Jews during World War II.

These events occurred during a surge in anti-Semitism that is on the minds of Mann and Daniel Donskoy, who plays Wladyslaw Szpilman, the principal character in "The Pianist," running Tuesday, Sept. 26, to Sunday, Oct. 22.

Mann — who for two decades was artistic director and playwright-in-residence at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton — also directs this production. She adapted the play from the memoir of Szpilman, a pianist and classical composer who, with his parents and three siblings, was confined in 1940 to the ghetto the Nazis created to isolate Jews in Warsaw. In 1942, most of the family were murdered at Treblinka, an extermination camp in Poland.

Szpilman, however, thanks to an acquaintance, avoided transfer to the camp. He remained in the ghetto, doing heavy labor but also assisting in the buildup to an ill-fated uprising. He then spent two years moving from one hiding place to another, helped by friends and contacts.

The cast of "The Pianist," which begins performances at George Street Playhouse on Tuesday, Sept. 26.

Eventually, Szpilman was discovered in an abandoned house by a German officer who was ashamed of his country. He asked Szpilman to play a piano in the house, gave him a coat, and brought him food. Szpilman emerged from that house in 1945 when the Germans abandoned Warsaw. After a long musical career in Poland, he died in 1988.

Donskoy, who plays the piano in the play, said music was one element that attracted him to this role.

“It amazed me when reading the memoir,” Donskoy said before a morning rehearsal, “that, after having your entire family killed, you’re still able to smile, to love, to be married, to feel like a human being after seeing all that death.

"But music kept him going, and music was a throughline," he continued. "For me, music has always been that. My grandma, who lives in Berlin, was my first piano teacher, and she helped me prepare for this role.”

Mann is a great fan of the Academy Award-winning 2002 film "The Pianist, but the play is based on the memoir, she said.

The subject is a part of her “personal makeup,” she added: Mann is the descendant of Polish Jews who were lost during the German occupation.

Director Emily Mann and Daniel Donskoy run through rehearsal notes for "The Pianist." Mann adapted the play for George Street Playhouse from the memoir of Wladyslaw Szpilman.

So when Broadway producers suggested that Mann adapt Szpilman’s story, she visited Poland.

“I found my great-grandmother’s grave,” she said, “but no others after her. They were all killed and probably buried in mass graves.”

Mann decided to tell this story to honor the memory of her family — and it has become more urgent as anti-Semitism and racism flourish in the United States and around the world.

The Nazis, Mann added, were enabled by the sluggish response from other nations, and that was partly because others failed to grasp Germany’s goal.

“No one could imagine what the bigger plan was,” Mann said. “It was just an impossibility that the Germans would massacre millions and millions of Jews.”

That included some of the Polish Jews themselves — including Szpilman’s father, as portrayed in this play — who couldn’t believe rumors of mass extermination and expected to be rescued.

“‘The Allies will come and save us as they did in World War I,’ ” Mann said, paraphrasing the doomed Jews. “But they didn’t come until it was too late, which is a lesson of this play. You have to move decisively to stop monsters in power.”

Mann noted that the Nazis didn’t act alone. Many Poles helped in the persecution. This illustrates the issue of identity that often confronts Jews, Donskoy said. As the play portrays, the Szpilman family was not fearful as Jews when the Nazis invaded in 1939.

“They were Polish,” Donskoy said, “and their country was invaded by an enemy. But very quickly that turned, and they weren’t Poles anymore because the Polish people turned on the Jews as well.”

This was another factor that drew Donskoy to the role, “that experience of always being kind of part of society but also on the outskirts.

"I was born in Russia," he continued. "I grew up in Germany, and then we moved to Israel, and I moved to London. I was an immigrant most of my life. So, you’re part of the group, but you’re also not, and that’s a very Jewish perspective.”

Antisemitism predates the Nazis and flows from canards about such things as Jews killing Jesus and controlling world banks and the media. Hatred toward Jews, Mann said, often surfaces in response to envy and the need for a scapegoat.

“In Germany,” she said, “there were only about 500,000 Jews when Hitler started this atrocity, but 50 percent of the lawyers, doctors, academics and great musicians were Jews.

“After World War I, when the economy crashed, people said, ‘Look at them. It’s because of them that we’re starving. They did something wrong to get where they are. They’re feeding off of us. Why is my life so bad? Oh, it’s because of them.”

Still, there were heroes, such as those who helped Szpilman, including the family who were beatified in September and now are candidates for canonization.

In 1944, Jozef and Wiktoria Ulma sheltered eight Jews in the village of Markowa. If the Germans discovered such a situation, they executed the Jews and the entire family that had harbored them. In this case, that meant Josef, the pregnant Wiktoria, and their six children, ages 18 months to 6.

“Szpilman could not have survived if not for his Polish friends,” Mann said. “They put their lives on the line to save as many as they could. They have to be applauded for their courage.”

The actions of those heroes should be more astounding than the actions of Nazis and their collaborators, Donskoy said.

“Risking your life every day to protect people because you love them should be more understandable than wanting to kill them.”

Go: "The Pianist," Sept. 26 to Oct. 22, George Street Playhouse, New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, 11 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick, $25 to $70; 732-246-7717, georgestreetplayhouse.org.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: The Pianist: Emily Mann Play based on memoir opens in NJ

Nazi Germany had admirers among American religious leaders – and white supremacy fueled their support

Melissa J. Wilde, Professor and Chair of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania

Meghan Garrity, Assistant Professor of International Security & Law, George Mason University

THE CONVERSATION

Fri, September 22, 2023 

Thousands of people attend a pro-Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden in New York in May 1934, with counterprotestors outside. Anthony Potter Collection/Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Each September marks the anniversary of Nazi Germany’s Nuremberg Laws, whose passage in 1935 stripped Jews of their German citizenship and banned “race-mixing” between Jews and other Germans.

Eighty-eight years later, the United States is facing rising antisemitism and white supremacist ideology – including two neo-Nazi demonstrations in Florida in September 2023 alone.

The Nuremberg Laws were a critical juncture on the Third Reich’s path toward bringing about “the full-scale creation of a racist state … on the road to the Holocaust,” according to legal historian James Whitman. Yet across the Atlantic, many Americans were unconcerned, and even admiring – including some religious leaders.

As a political scientist and a sociologist, we wanted to examine what Americans thought about Hitler and the National Socialist Party before the U.S. entered World War II – and see what lessons those findings might hold for our country today. Our recent research, which focused on religious publications, suggests that Americans’ support for Nazi Germany is best explained by belief in white supremacy.
View from the pulpit

In 1935, Adolf Hitler entered his third year in power and legally solidified the Nazi regime’s racist policies. During this period, Jews, Romani, homosexuals, the mentally or physically disabled and African-Germans were all targets of Hitler’s wrath. Thousands of refugees fled the country in search of safety – many to U.S. shores.

Chart from Nazi Germany showing the regime’s racial categorizations under the Nuremberg Laws of 1935. Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Individual public opinion data about Nazi Germany is not available for this period; Gallop’s first survey on the topic was conducted in 1938. Instead, we used a database of periodicals from religious organizations that one of us, Wilde, had originally compiled for a book on views of contraception in the early 20th century. Using these periodicals, we examined the views of leaders in 25 of the United States’ most prominent religious groups.

In the 1930s, the U.S. was a far more religious country than it is today, with around 95% of Americans claiming membership in a religious denomination. The groups in our sample include 82% of Americans who reported religious membership at the time. Most are white Protestant denominations, but our sample also included Roman Catholics, three Jewish groups, Black churches, and smaller groups like Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

We argue that while these texts are not necessarily representative of individual members’ views, they are evidence of the views religious elites tried to cultivate in large segments of the American population.

‘Unequaled in cruelty’

These periodicals dispel the notion that Americans did not know, or understand, the gravity of the situation in Germany at the time. A third of the denominations in our sample were critical of Hitler, and their alarm demonstrates that ample information was available about the escalating situation in Nazi Germany.

A poster designed by Jean Carlu for Fortune magazine in 1941. swim ink 2 llc/Corbis Historical via Getty Images

These groups, which were both Christian and Jewish, wrote about “the omnipresent terror that grips every town and hamlet”; the German concentration or “education camps”; and the number of people jailed, sent to camps, killed or sterilized. Leaders of Conservative Judaism warned that “German Jewry is on the way to extinction.” The Universalist General Convention described the situation in Germany as “unequaled in cruelty and brutality even by the Spanish Inquisition.”

On the other end of the spectrum, religious leaders from the Norwegian Lutheran Church, which has long since merged with other denominations, emphasized that Hitler was legitimately elected and enjoyed strong support among the German people. Another article recounted a recent trip to Germany, writing that “what we interpret as militarism” is a manifestation of support for “the program of Hitler” and “the common good.” The Presbyterian Church in the U.S. – a white Southern denomination that later merged with other Presbyterian denominations – wrote of Hitler’s regime making “effort[s] toward social justice” with reforms for illegitimate children.

And while some religious elites sympathetic to Hitler acknowledged that the Nazis’ tactics were unsavory, they suggested “the means do not, taken by themselves, condemn the end.”

Finding the pattern

As we analyzed the periodicals, we classified leaders’ writings into four categories. Beyond groups that clearly sympathized with Hitler or criticized him, the largest number were ambivalent, with mixed views. Others were “distant,” barely commenting on events in Europe.

We found that two main factors explain religious elites’ views of Hitler in 1935. The first is whether their group embraced white supremacist ideas. The second is whether they were atop the religious hierarchy – that is, mainstream Protestant denominations whose members would not have been at risk of persecution in Germany.

Groups that consistently criticized Hitler had members that were marginalized because of their race or ethnicity. They regularly spoke out against prejudice, segregation and lynching. In contrast, denominations that were well established and mostly white tended to be ambivalent toward Nazism, even those that spoke out against anti-Black racism in the U.S.

Jewish pushcart workers on New York’s Lower East Side participated in a two-hour protest in 1933, refusing to make sales, during a day of mass demonstrations against the persecution of German Jews. Bettmann via Getty Images

But a few groups, five in total, did more than express ambivalence – they openly sympathized with Hitler. What united these groups were white supremacist beliefs. Their periodicals included articles titled “The Fitness of the Anglo-Saxon” and “Why the Anglo Saxon,” emphasizing “men are born equal in their rights, but they are not equal in their fitness and ability to serve … God needed the white Anglo-Saxon race.”

Importantly, the groups that supported Hitler were also antisemitic and eugenicists, believing human beings could be “perfected” through selective breeding.

However, antisemitism was rampant at the time, even among groups that were ambivalent about Hitler. Similarly, support for eugenics was too broad to explain why certain religious groups in the U.S. sympathized with the Nazis. There were even religious leaders who criticized Hitler yet had connections to the American Eugenics Movement, which promoted forced sterilization laws and, later, the legalization of birth control.

Instead, what most strongly differentiated Hitler’s sympathizers in this era was their belief in white supremacy vis-a-vis African Americans. These groups published literature claiming that African Americans were physically and mentally inferior, and one wrote positively of the Ku Klux Klan. A Southern Baptist bishop wrote, “The Negro is not like the white man … there are striking differences physical and mental,” going on to claim, “the white race … assumes its superiority in strength and capacity.”
Fast-forward

Although 1935 is nearly a century behind us, U.S. politics has been awash in comparisons to the Third Reich for several years now. Former President Donald Trump recently compared his indictments to Nazi Germany, obfuscating the mass atrocities of Hitler’s regime.

But such comparisons do prompt reflection on what drove American support for Nazi Germany in the 1930s, as Trump campaigns with an authoritarian vision for his second term, and as white nationalism remains a major aspect of U.S. politics.

In 1935, Europe was not at war, and concern about mass killings would have seemed alarmist. Yet just a few years later, a global conflagration began. On the anniversary of the Nuremberg Laws, what motivated American support for Hitler’s authoritarianism in the 1930s still resonates today.

This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. 

It was written by: Meghan Garrity, George Mason University and Melissa Jo Wilde, University of Pennsylvania.

Read more:

Antisemitism isn’t just ‘Jew-hatred’ – it’s anti-Jewish racism

Antisemitism on Twitter has more than doubled since Elon Musk took over the platform – new research

Melissa Wilde received funding from the Louisville Foundation and the University of Pennsylvania for the data connected to this research.

Alliant lands $30 million DOE grant for nation's first carbon dioxide-based battery

Karl Ebert, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Fri, September 22, 2023 

A carbon-dioxide battery built by Energy Dome in Sardinia, Italy. Alliant Energy was awarded a $30 million federal grant to lead a project to build the first carbon-dioxide battery in the United States.


Alliant Energy will receive a $30 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop the first battery system in the U.S. to use carbon dioxide to store and release energy.

The battery, to be built in Columbia County near the utility's Columbia Energy Center, was developed by Energy Dome, an Italian renewable energy company that launched in 2020 and recently completed a funding round that allowed it to scale up for the project and other developments.

The battery technology bypasses the need for rare metals and other challenges associated with lithium battery storage by using only three easily sourced components: carbon dioxide, water and steel, according to the company. The technology was tested at Energy Dome's first large-scale installation in Sardinia, Italy.

How it works is relatively simple.

Energy that flows into the battery is used to compress carbon dioxide gas until it becomes a liquid. The liquid is stored until the energy is needed, at which point the liquid is allowed to warm up and expand, becoming a gas that turns a turbine to create electricity.

The company's name references the large dome that collects and stores the uncompressed carbon dioxide.

More: The village of Boaz in Richland County has a history of blackouts. A new microgrid aims to change that

Battery storage is seen as critical component of ensuring a reliable electric supply as utilities transition to renewable energy because it can be drawn on during times when solar and wind installations aren't producing energy at full capacity such as cloudy days, at night and when winds are weak. The reserve power would also be available during outages or whenever demand outstrips supply.

“As we diversify our energy mix, the added capacity and unique capabilities of energy storage solutions will strengthen our generation portfolio, increase grid resilience, improve reliability and help us continue to meet customer needs," said John Larsen, board chair and CEO of Alliant Energy.

The 20-megawatt battery will be built south of Portage in the town of Pacific. It is a "long-duration" battery that will be able to store enough energy to power about 20,000 homes for 10 hours.

That is significantly longer than lithium-based batteries, which are able to produce backup power for two to four hours.

Despite that limitation, lithium-based batteries are readily available and are the most common form of backup power used by utilities. However, tests are planned or underway across the country of a variety of long-duration battery batteries that incorporate alternative chemistries.

They include an an organic battery that We Energies will test later this year at its Valley Power Plant and Xcel Energy's partnership with Massachusetts-based Form Energy to build iron-air batteries that capture and release energy by creating and dissolving rust.

The Energy Dome battery is considered a pilot project and is substantially smaller than other Alliant battery systems being built in Grant, Wood and Sheboygan counties that will be able to produce a combined 274 megawatts of electricty. Those are all lithium-based battery installations.

Alliant expects to submit a plan early next year to the Wisconsin Public Service Commision for review. Pending approval, construction would begin in 2025 and completed the following year.

The Columbia Energy Storage Project is being led by Alliant in partnership with WEC Energy Group, Madison Gas and Electric, Shell Global Solutions US, Electric Power Research Institute, UW-Madison and Madison College.

Britain to import power from solar farms in Egypt

Jonathan Leake
Fri, September 22, 2023 



Sun beating down on the Egyptian desert could help to power British homes under plans being drawn up to help bolster energy security in a net zero world.

Plans to install subsea cables connecting Egypt and Europe across the Mediterranean will see power from solar farms and wind turbines in North Africa exported to the UK and Europe.

Exports will flow during times when low wind or poor sunshine reduce output from North Sea wind farms and onshore solar farms. Details of the project will be set out at an energy summit in London next week.

Carlos Diaz, director of renewables and power at Rystad, the energy analysts organising the conference, said North Africa was becoming an increasingly important source of electricity for all of Europe.

He said: “European demand for low carbon electricity is expected to grow substantially over the next three years. Building infrastructure in Europe may never be sufficient so we need to look at other sources.”

Those sources include a series of giant solar farms built or under construction in the Egyptian deserts and wind farms built close to the Suez Canal – an area known for strong steady winds.

Together they are expected to generate about 10 gigawatts of power – roughly equivalent to 10 UK power stations. Their energy would be transmitted under the Mediterranean via a 600 mile cable terminating in Attica in Greece.

“About a third of the power will be used in Greece and the rest will be exported to the rest of Europe,” said Diaz. “Europe already has a good grid network so this should allow distribution of the power all the way to Northern Europe and the UK.”

The £3.7bn project is being developed by the Copelouzos Group, a Greek company, in conjunction with Infinity, an Egyptian business that has developed solar farms across desert regions.

The Egyptian project will run in parallel with another separate scheme to lay four cables directly between Morocco and the UK – a distance of about 2,400 miles.

That project, being developed by Xlinks, would deliver solar power generated in the Maghreb to a terminal on the south coast of Devon.

Such cables, known as interconnectors, already link the UK’s power grid to France, Belgium, Norway and the Netherlands, with another link to Denmark under construction.

Interconnectors are becoming increasingly important in keeping the nation’s lights on. Between January and June this year, the UK used those cables to import roughly £2bn of power, compared to £322m in exports.

Links to the continent help to compensate for a long-term lack of investment in nuclear and other home-grown generation.

A National Grid spokesman said: “Interconnectors are a vital part of the energy transition, enabling energy to move from where it is generated to where it is needed most.

“They have numerous benefits, not least in helping to make Britain’s energy system more secure, giving system operators access to huge volumes of electricity at the flick of a switch. This is vital in an energy system more reliant on intermittent renewables.”

 

Gen Z workers are freaking out about AI
Beatrice Nolan
Fri, September 22, 2023 

Expectations are high for Gen Zers to reap the benefits of AI.

Elizabeth Starkova/Getty Images

Employees have been finding creative ways to use AI at work.


Gen Zers, in particular, are expected to capitalize on this AI boom.


But the pressure of this expectation is causing concern for some workers.

AI is often heralded as the latest productivity hack at many workplaces.

Employees and bosses have been finding creative ways to leverage the technology to save time and boost output. Young workers are leading the charge — or at least expected to.

Gen Zers are being promoted as the most AI-literate generation and are well-positioned to capitalize on the technology. However, the pressure of this expectation is causing concern for some workers.

Data compiled by LinkedIn found that Gen Z workers were feeling overwhelmed and worried about falling behind when it came to AI.

In the recent study, which was based on 2,037 workers aged over 18, researchers found that 41% of Gen Zers said they'd pretended to know more about AI than they actually did. Only 18% of Gen X, for example, admitted to doing the same.

Gen Zers were also 10% more likely than the general population to have said they'd used an AI tool when they hadn't, the research found.

This behavior largely stemmed from young workers being concerned about their AI knowledge. The study found that 45% of Gen Zers are worried they should know more about AI than they do.

However, Gen Zers were also the most likely generation to have given some AI tools a go. The study found that 82% of Gen Z respondents said they'd tried using the technology at work. Only 38% of Gen X respondents said they'd done the same.

Charlotte Davies, group manager, consumer communications and career expert at LinkedIn, said, "Our research shows that nearly half of Gen-Z are feeling overwhelmed and are conscious of falling behind, with many admitting they say they know more than they do about AI, while others worry their colleagues are more clued up than they are."

"While it's understandable there are mixed feelings about AI, what is pertinent to note is that 92% of Gen-Z are excited to use AI in their role and they're eager to learn," she continued.

Davies added that young workers have had to deal with a significant amount of change over the past few years.

"They had to contend with the huge disruption caused by the pandemic and now a new era of AI is poised to mean further implications in our working lives," she said.

Many workers are also concerned that the technology could be a threat to jobs. Several workers have claimed their jobs have been outsourced to AI.