NATO NATION BUILDING 

Russia Is Profiting From an Oil Corruption Binge in Libya

May 5, 2024
Alia Brahimi


This month, the UN Special Envoy for Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily, resigned his position with visible frustration. Bathily was charged with delivering the troubled country to long-delayed elections, as it remains politically and militarily divided between east and west, but the peace talks were performative from the start.

Last week, Canadian police uncovered a conspiracy by two former UN employees in Montreal to sell Chinese drones to Libya, in direct violation of UN sanctions—and also to export millions of drums of Libyan crude oil to China at a heavily discounted price, in exchange for million-dollar kickbacks.

The reality is that a political agreement in Libya is so elusive because an economic bargain has already been struck. And Libya’s oil sector is central to the corruption binge.

For more than a decade now, and particularly in the last 18 months, political elites across the divide have worked together to carve up Libya’s institutions—and their budgets—between themselves, as well as all manner of black-market fiefdoms.

Bathily, a seasoned Senegalese diplomat, found that his Libyan interlocuters were not negotiating in good faith; but there was no rational incentive for them to change the current system or to help the United Nations turn off the taps to their patronage networks and private interests.

Meanwhile, Libyans themselves are experiencing a crippling economic crisis, despite living atop Africa’s largest oil reserves—and in the time of a relatively high global oil price.

In tandem, a geopolitical storm is gathering. Sources indicate that a significant number of new Russian fighters arrived this week in southern Libya—joining the 1800 already in-country—with some of them destined for Niger, and the remainder for Libya’s oil installations.

In addition, since last summer, the Kremlin has put plans in motion for a Russian naval base at Tobruk. On April 8, a vessel escorted by the Russian navy docked at the port and unloaded 6,000 tons of military hardware. But equipment has been coming in for weeks, from radars and communications tools to T-72 tanks.

The base will empower Russia to grow its supply operations—whether of fighters, weapons, food, fuel, dollars, gold, or ammunition—to and from allies on the African continent.

At Tobruk, Russian proxies will gain sway over traffic crossing the larger Mediterranean and expand the smuggling economy around migrants, drugs, and fuel as a source of funds and as pressure points against Europe. Russia will also be better positioned to watch us closely and, perhaps in the future, to use surrogates to disrupt shipping, in the manner of the Houthi in the Red Sea. Furthermore, Russia can mobilize the corruption multiplying within the Libyan oil sector to fund its operations.

It’s not just that its Libyan allies, the family of eastern warlord Khalifa Haftar, now have access to the budgets of National Oil Corporation (NOC) subsidiaries and control of the private banks that hold NOC money. It’s also about Russia getting its hands on cash and fuel. Russia is helping the Haftars to print counterfeit 50-dinar notes in large quantities, which the Wagner Group can convert into dollars on the Libyan black market to fund its activities in sub-Saharan Africa. Wagner Group fighters are personally involved in the super-charged fuel smuggling operation gripping Libya—Libya is actually a net importer of refined petroleum products because investments have not been made in local refineries—which is itself a multi-billion-dollar industry.

To illustrate, last year the Libyan National Oil Corporation spent $17 billion importing fuel—in 2021 that figure was only $5 billion. Availability on the domestic market in no way reflects that increased supply—there are still queues around the block for petrol—meaning that the fuel is being smuggled out of Libya systematically and at record rates. And much of that fuel is being bought in the first place from Russia, through upstart brokers registered in Dubai and Turkey.

Furthermore, despite an unprecedented budget of roughly $12 billion over two years, which exceeds even its funding during the Gaddafi era, there is little sign that the NOC is capable of ramping up production to help Europe cope with the fallout from Ukraine. Many Libyans, including the head of the Libyan Presidential Council, are now asking where all of these billions have gone.

This oil corruption is threatening to embroil global energy giants, engineering an element of Western complicity. Last November, the Libyan Attorney General paused the signing of major deal between the NOC and a foreign consortium, including Total and Eni, owing to doubts over the transparency of the tender process for the NC-7 block and the fairness of the terms.

Similarly, a Libyan oil minister—who was abruptly removed from his post last month—warned Halliburton against working with an obscure, newly-registered Libyan entity in its development of the Dahra fields, pointedly advising that this “may raise questions about the possibility of corruption in the oil sector”.

In Libya, economic forces are clearly (mis)shaping political outcomes. In the wake of Bathily’s resignation, disrupting this corruption must be the new paradigm for international engagement.

The Biden administration can take the lead in adopting a financial prism and promoting intensified economic scrutiny, targeted sanctions, improved coordination amongst Western powers—even naming and shaming—to help break established patterns of predatory behavior and therefore the political deadlock favored by the current political class.

For too long the foxes in Libya have paid themselves to guard the henhouse. While the Biden administration cannot force a political settlement on Libyans, it can work to dry up the money to the spoilers. This would energize the potential for a democratic transition in Libya, just as it would deny Russia further opportunities to profit from Libya’s oil chaos.

***

Alia Brahimi is a nonresident senior fellow within the Middle East Programs at the Atlantic Council.

 

Cocoa Prices Are On a Wild Ride

Cocoa prices plunged almost 30% in the past week after a rally that pushed prices nearly 80% higher to start the year.Link

MAY 5, 2024

Michael Goodman

michael@thedailyupside.com

After the sugar rush comes the crash. 

Cocoa prices plunged almost 30% in the past week after a rally that pushed prices nearly 80% higher to start the year. And yet prices are still so elevated that chocolate-maker executives see the market as detached from reality. Or as Mondelez CEO Luca Zaramella poetically put it on a recent conference call: “The current market structure does not warrant the current market prices.” 

Hot Chocolate

As with any asset class that starts to look like a bubble, the initial runup seemed legitimate: As a recent JPMorgan report noted, climate change-induced drought has ravaged crops in West Africa, which supplies about 80% of the world’s cocoa. And then add to the mix that the crop is still mostly cultivated by small farmers without resources for proper reinvestment to boost yields. But the wild swing has more to do with who’s betting on prices:

• A JPMorgan commodities strategist noted in the report that non-commercial investors now hold more than 60% of total open interest across futures and options in the New York market, a historical high.
• The runup in prices meant that speculative commodities traders, including those hedging against physical holdings of cocoa, have either had to pay more to meet margin calls (an insurance policy to cover potential losses) or close out their positions. That’s led to a drop in the number of outstanding contracts, which has curbed liquidity in the market, exacerbating price moves beyond what’s explained by simple supply and demand.

Make The World Go Away: Big Chocolate had largely locked in cocoa bean prices before this year’s surge, since hedging the future is an essential part of their strategy. Most companies are now eyeing their plan for 2025, but even Mondelez’s Zaramella suggested that a fundamental correction in prices could be two years out. So go ahead and eat all the chocolate you can now — by next year, it’ll give your budget heartburn.

Patrick Kennedy’s new book tells personal stories of mental health in America

NPR

May 5, 2024
By —Ali Rogin
By —Kaisha Young


For former congressman Patrick J. Kennedy, advocating for mental health care is part of his family’s legacy. His uncle, President John F. Kennedy, signed the bill that established the nation’s community-based mental health care system. Ali Rogin sat down with Patrick Kennedy to discuss his new book, which details the mental health struggles and triumphs of everyday Americans.

Read the Full Transcript


Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.

John Yang:

Former Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy, advocating for mental health care is part of his family's legacy. His uncle, President John F. Kennedy signed the bill that established the nation's community based mental health care system. Ali Rogin sat down with Patrick Kennedy to discuss his new book, which details the mental health struggles of everyday Americans.


Ali Rogin:

The U.S. has long been in a mental health crisis that experts say has only gotten worse in recent years. More than one in five adults deal with mental illness but there's still a stigma around openly talking about it.

Patrick J. Kennedy's new book, it's called "Profiles in Mental Health Courage." The title pays homage to his uncle's book which profiled American political leaders. This collection of profiles features the mental health journeys of people from around the country.

Patrick Kennedy, thank you for being here.

Patrick Kennedy, Author, "Profiles in Mental Health Courage": Good to be here.


Ali Rogin:

What made you want to write this book?


Patrick Kennedy:

Well, I remember when Simone Biles wasn't able to complete the Olympics competition and everybody was like, Why can't you get on that balance beam? And she said, I have to protect my mental health.

But really, we don't have a good understanding about what that means because we don't have anybody who tells their full story. I've told the story but frankly we all kind of whitewash it a little bit and make it pretty so that few people who are still in the middle of it don't see themselves reflected in any of the public narratives. Because let's be honest, these are messy, complex illnesses.

And we like finite, very linear descriptions. And for us as a nation, we know all the statistics are horrendous suicide going up, overdose going up. But what we don't have is a sense of what does this really mean like in real people's lives? How do they navigate trying to get insurance coverage? How do they navigate getting good coverage in terms of delivery of evidence based treatment, which many people don't receive?

And then how do they navigate personal relationships, because these are not illnesses in a vacuum. They involve the whole family. And often those stories get left out. We just hear from the first person narrative, this is what happened to me, as if their family was not part of it.

So, I interviewed the therapist, family members, friends, and it's interesting that that provides a much more realistic portrayal of what they're really going through, then the one we often like to tell.


Ali Rogin:

You address a lot of misconceptions in the book, what do you think are some of the biggest, most persistent misconceptions about mental health?


Patrick Kennedy:

Well, the beauty about these stories is that by the end of reading them, people will get a sense of the person and their illness. Part of the reason why people don't want to talk about these illnesses is they think it's such a reflection on their moral character, when in fact, when you read these, it's clear the illness has taken them hostage, that their behavior is a reflection of their brain illness.

And that's a piece that we really haven't fleshed out, because people still, you know, say that that's your moral failing that you've acted in such a way, when you read the stories, you get a very clear sense, well, no, this is this person. And then this is their illness, and those that are already in the middle that will feel less alone, because they'll read stories that they can identify with, we have a very diverse set of profiles, who also have a very diverse set of diagnoses.

But I think from all of it, you will see people need, you know, evidence based treatment for therapy, talk therapy, medicine, and social supports, housing, supportive employment. You can't just do one piece of this and expect the whole thing to work out.

Unfortunately, given our medical system and what we pay for, we often pay for just one leg of the stool, and no wonder it falls down. And no wonder we as a nation are wondering, we spend all this money on mental health. But what's it getting us? We're not paying for what we need to pay for. If we did, we would be getting results, not only because we would screen people earlier, which is what we do for cancer and cardiovascular disease and diabetes. We would be treating them earlier too, which would mean they'd have a better chance of recovering.

When people read these stories, they'll have the sense we need as a nation go further upstream, if we have a conversation earlier about this, because we're not so filled with shame, we're going to be able to help people earlier in the process of their suffering, because we're not going to say, oh, that's something I shouldn't talk about, because it's intruding on their personal territory, we'll have that conversation because we want to save each other's lives. And at the end of the day, more people end up surviving.


Ali Rogin:

One of the things you write about a lot in the book, in terms of your own story, and the others that you share is the connection between mental health and addiction. And so frequently, they're treated as two completely separate things. Why was that important to make that point throughout the book?


Patrick Kennedy:

Well, obviously, we've divvied up brain illnesses, as if they're all separate diagnoses when it's the brain, the brain, the brain. And obviously, you need to treat both kind of concurrently if you're going to get the best results.

And in the advocacy world, we need to stop the siloing. We all want the same things. And so we need to create a new political movement that's much more sophisticated and has the power that really the numbers reflect. We are the biggest special interest group or we could be if we were organized.

And as a former elected official, if I knew this many people in my district cared about this issue, which I can't get now there's no list serve, like there is for the environment, or for organized labor or any other issue. I can't know how many people in my district really will vote differently based upon whether I adhere to their stated set of priorities.

So in the back of this book, I add a QR code to our Alignment for Progress. The concept is we want to align the financial incentives so that we provide housing, supports, medication, talk therapy, and we get the best test results.

Our goal is 90 percent screened. 90 percent given evidence based treatment, and 90 percent having supportive recovery, that should be our goal as a country. Unfortunately, we don't have a vision that unites us. But we have to build on the stories in order to create that vision.


Ali Rogin:

Yeah. And these stories really illustrate that vision that you're talking about. Patrick Kennedy, author of the new book "Profiles in Mental Health Courage." Thank you so much for coming in.


Patrick Kennedy:

Thank you so much for having me.

How some colleges and students have reached agreements over pro-Palestinian protests

NPR

May 5, 2024

By —John Yang
By —Harry Zahn
By —Claire Mufson


The prevailing images of college protests over the Israel-Hamas war in the past few weeks have been of escalating tensions, clashes with police and mass arrests. But students and administrators at several schools from Rhode Island to California have found common ground during negotiations. Erin Gretzinger, a reporting fellow at The Chronicle of Higher Education, joins John Yang to discuss.

 Full Transcript


Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.

John Yang:

The prevailing images of college protests over the Israel-Hamas war in the past few weeks have been of escalating tensions, students clashing with police and mass arrests. But students and administrators that at least six schools from Rhode Island to California have found common ground and negotiated agreements to close tent encampments.

Erin Gretzinger is a reporting Fellow at the Chronicle of Higher Education. Erin, what are these agreements look like? What of what of schools agreed to do?

Erin Gretzinger, Chronicle of Higher Education: Yeah, so at the schools who have made agreements, so far, we've seen distinct stipulations, but common themes and each of those agreements. At Northwestern, which made an agreement early last week, we saw several steps toward what students viewed in the groups there as moving toward their major demand of divestment.

So there we saw them make agreements to have a committee that will look at divestment, Northwestern agreed to disclose investments to all internal stakeholders, as well as some movement on agreements that have been in the works for longer for students who are Muslim, who are from the Middle East, and are of North African descent. So looking at students centers as well.

We've seen similar things in agreements at Brown, who will take a vote on divestment this fall. And overall, I think the main themes to take away here are that these encampments have been really central for administrators who wanted to focus on deescalating the situation, that's been the main mantra of these administrators. Students, on the other hand, have really looked at these as key first steps toward their broader demand of divestment.


John Yang:

I was going to ask that I mean, how meaningful are these are these concessions? Because they're not the vesting? They're going to talk about the vesting.


Erin Gretzinger:

Yeah, absolutely. And I think what a lot of higher ed onlookers have seen in these agreements is that these administrations appear to have taken student demands seriously, but have still fallen short on what other students see as the key purpose of these protests, which is divestment.

So there is some question I think some pro-Palestinian student demonstrators, and experts I've talked to as well, who studies student political activism, aren't quite sure how far these agreements will go if they go as far as some student protesters would hope.

There's questions of if this will ultimately result in divestment. And similar universities have taken actions before Brown and Northwestern have had similar reports and committees studying these issues, but nothing has moved in the past.


John Yang:

And have there been any criticism to the reactions to this from other student activists, and maybe donors and alumni of the of the schools.


Erin Gretzinger:

Yeah, so there's definitely been a sense that while some student groups who forged these agreements are declaring victory and at university administrators as well, some Jewish groups, local campus and national have criticized these agreements, particularly at Northwestern University, we saw some immense backlash there, with three major Jewish groups calling on the President there to resign, characterizing this as a betrayal to the students for failing to enforce their policies there. There's also been a federal discrimination lawsuit filed against Northwestern.

So you can see there's sort of the broad, broad spectrum of reactions here and really gets to the point I think of presidents being in hot water in this moment, and having to contend with many different stakeholders, sort of pulling everyone in different directions.


John Yang:

I mean, given that the administrators of hot water what was the motivation for the students to sort of bail them out to try to get an agreement?


Erin Gretzinger:

Yeah, it's an interesting question, because I've talked to experts who say, you know, students in this regard, have a really clear eyed goal of divestment. And that puts college administrators in a tricky place, because normally, they have a playbook to sort of go into negotiations with students, essentially, whether it's an identity based movement, they can turn to suit certain student affairs programs, or if it's a matter of student employee relations, they can go to the negotiating table surrounding unionization.

But here when they have such clear cut demands, like divestment, there's not a lot of room for compromise in the students eyes. And I think that's important to consider in these agreements, where so many students have not even chosen to come to the table, even when their administrators have asked them to.


John Yang:

You talked to going to the table at Pomona and Yale students that won't talk what are their motivations?


Erin Gretzinger:

Yes. So there's a sense that you know, some people have criticized these students that if you want to meet your meet your ultimate goal divestment, you have to come to the table and you have to negotiate. Other experts and students themselves have said, we don't want to stop short divestment until then there's no point in meeting right until these universities are at least this disclosing their investments, taking some action toward that they don't see a point in meeting and I think it gets at a broader tension as well.

Experts I've spoken to point out that this generation of student activists have grown up In an era full of social justice movements from Black Lives Matter in 2020, March for Our Lives, climate change, and they've sort of been instilled with a lack of trust in public officials that they see as motivating students to not necessarily come to the table to not be placated, as that's one of the major criticisms of some pro-Palestinian protesters in this moment that these agreements are placating students to basically step back take down these encampments before their ultimate goals are met.


John Yang:

In the schools who wanted to negotiate and reach these agreements. Are they in any way pressuring the schools that aren't doing that?


Erin Gretzinger:

It's a good question. I think it's hard to say how many schools will fall behind these other institutions, because different institutions in this moment are facing different kinds of pressures for private schools. You know, we have seen an immense amount of donor pressure building up since October 7.

I think public schools have a different sort of obligation there have a lot of eyes on them from their state legislatures. I think there's also different pressures when it comes to their strict — they have to strictly abide by First Amendment time place manner restrictions. And I think a universal pressure in this moment is that it's the end of the semester, and it's kind of a double edged sword in that sense. It's a really busy time. There's graduation finals, alumni events that may be pushing some schools to want to pursue action.


John Yang:

Erin Gretzinger of the Chronicle of Higher Education. Thank you very much.


Erin Gretzinger:

Thank you.

State police arrest 25 protestors at University of Virginia

BY FILIP TIMOTIJA - 05/04/24 11

AP Photo/Steve Helber
A statue of University of Virginia founder, Thomas Jefferson, stands watch over the Rotunda.


State police officers arrested around 25 pro-Palestine protestors at the University of Virginia (UVa.) on Saturday.

Saturday was the fifth day of the ongoing protests in Charlottesville, Va., where calls for the school to divest from Israel continued.

A group called UVA Encampment for Gaza called for the school to disclose all investments and refrain from using its endowment to invest in institutions connected to Israel.

Tents were set up on Friday, which, along with megaphone use, were in violation of the institution’s policy. They were not cleared on Friday since, according to the school, children were in the area, rain was pouring and the protestors were “peaceful.” They were then cleared on Saturday.

Police officers equipped with riot gear confronted the protestors Saturday afternoon.

Jim Ryan, UVA’s president, said the school supports free speech, but the institution has to enforce its policies to make sure expression does not “interfere with the rights of others.”

“Unfortunately, a small group today made a choice to willingly break the rules after being given many opportunities to comply, and they then refused to leave the site voluntarily,” Ryan said in a statement on Saturday.

Those who were arrested were taken to Albemarle County Regional Jail, according to multiple media reports.

The school said it is still waiting for an answer regarding how many protestors were affiliated with the institution.

Protesting students ‘confident’ blockade will force Trinity to cut Israeli ties

Pro-Palestinian activists have blocked off access to the historic Book of Kells at the Dublin university site.


VISITORS WERE UNABLE TO ACCESS THE HISTORIC BOOK OF KELLS OVER THE WEEKEND DUE TO THE ACTION THAT BEGAN AT THE DUBLIN UNIVERSITY ON FRIDAY (BRIAN LAWLESS/PA)

PA WIRE
DAVID YOUNG

1 DAY AGO

Students taking part in a pro-Palestinian encampment protest on the grounds of Trinity College in Dublin have voiced confidence the action will force the university to cut ties with Israel.

Visitors were unable to access the historic Book of Kells over the weekend due to the action that began on Friday evening when student activists set up tents inside the campus of the prestigious university.

The university authorities have cut off public access to the grounds in response to the protest.

The Book of Kells is blockaded, there's absolutely no tourism and we're staying there. So, I think this is putting a lot of student and staff pressure on (the university authorities)

OUTGOING STUDENTS’ UNION PRESIDENT LASZLO MOLNARFI

Outgoing students’ union president Laszlo Molnarfi said the size of the camp continued to grow, with around 100 people and 70 tents as of Sunday.

He said they were committed to maintaining the blockade of the Book of Kells until the university severed all ties with Israel.

“The Book of Kells is blockaded, there’s absolutely no tourism and we’re staying there,” he said.

“So, I think this is putting a lot of student and staff pressure on them (the university authorities).”

Mr Molnarfi said, as of Sunday afternoon, university officials had yet to reach out to those taking part in the protest since it began.


He said there was a lot of energy in the encampment.

“People are very confident,” he said.

“There is board games and guitar and political discussions and music and food.

“It’s a nice community that’s been built. So people are feeling very confident.”

The scenes at Trinity follow a wave of similar student protests at university campuses across the US.

The encampment was initiated days after it emerged that the university authorities had fined the students’ union more than 200,000 euro (£172,000) over previous protests on campus.

It invoiced the union for 214,285 euro (£184,000) after a series of demonstrations about fees and rent, as well as pro-Palestinian solidarity protests.

The university cited a loss of revenue due to blockades of the Book of Kells and famous Long Room library among the reasons for the fine.

Lawmakers Should Spend a Night in a Homeless Shelter

YOU MEAN THEY  DON'T?!

Maybe then they’d drop their opposition to even modest tax credits for low-income people like the ones I work with.

May 5, 2024 by Other Words 

 

By Tiffany Tagbo

If there’s one thing I could tell lawmakers, it would be to bring back the expanded, monthly, fully refundable Child Tax Credit.

Those monthly payments of up to $300 per child cut child poverty nearly in half in just a few months. And when the credit expired in late 2021, child poverty immediately shot back up. So we know it works.

Lawmakers are now considering a more modest expansion. It doesn’t go far enough, but it could lift another 400,000 kids out of poverty — children like the ones I worked with.

I grew up walking the fine line of having something and nothing all at the same time. I’ve experienced tumultuous times as an adult, and I’ve worked with people experiencing poverty and homelessness. I can tell lawmakers firsthand no matter which side of the coin families end up on, legislation and programs such as the Child Tax Credit, SNAP, WIC, and other safety net programs make a difference.

When I was growing up, my mother worked several minimum-wage jobs and relied on social programs to fill the gaps left by low wages. As a result, my siblings and I never had to sleep on the streets, go to school hungry, or wear tattered clothing like many children do.

With that help, I went on to graduate from the University of Central Oklahoma with a bachelor’s degree. Eventually, I became a Child Welfare Investigator at the Oklahoma Department of Human Services following up on claims of neglect and abuse.

While I saw some of both, many of these cases were simply the conditions of poverty. Many caseworkers had never experienced poverty and couldn’t make the distinction, but I could. Unfortunately, poverty landed many children in the child welfare system.

With decent pay and benefits, I was able to buy a house. But the work was soul-crushing and I eventually burned out.

You do everything right, and still — boom! You’re knocked right down. One day you are employed with a good salary and benefits, the next you are unemployed without the means to afford the basics, even with a college degree. Married, pregnant, and unable to find decent work, I relied on SNAP and Medicaid to get by — barely.

My job changed, but the clients I work with haven’t.

Poverty puts them in impossible situations. They must choose between food or shelter, medical care or poor health, running water or electricity. It’s a vicious cycle of suffering.

Without a fixed address or help navigating the system, families can’t always access assistance programs that would help them.

If y clients had the expanded monthly Child Tax Credit, many could have afforded housing, clothing, and food — and escaped the cruel cycle of poverty. In his recent budget proposal, President Biden called on Congress to restore the expanded, pandemic-era Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit that lifted tens of millions out of poverty in 2021.

A newer bipartisan tax proposal before the Senate would help. It would modestly expand the Child Tax Credit, lifting 400,000 kids out of poverty and helping 16 million overall.

The bill passed the House with an overwhelming bipartisan majority but has stalled in the Senate, where some senators are blocking it for political gain. Families deserve better. The time for delay is over. The Senate needs to vote.

I challenge lawmakers to live on the $6 a day that SNAP recipients do, or to come and spend just one night in a shelter. Once they experience these hardships, they’ll restore the expanded Child Tax Credit faster than they can say “expand it.” Perhaps this should be a requirement of the job.

We must make our voices heard and speak for those who are silenced and often left out of policy discussion. We must restore the Child Tax Credit expansion and ensure the thriving of all children.

How a Texas-based think tank upended Florida's homelessness strategy

Ryan Gillespie, Orlando Sentinel on May 5, 2024


The critical elements of Florida’s bold new statewide homelessness policy emerged from the written prescriptions of a Texas-based conservative think tank bent on thwarting the nation’s “homeless-industrial complex,” according to records obtained by the Orlando Sentinel.

Emails show the Cicero Institute offered Florida lawmakers a menu of reforms last summer, sending them to the staff of House Speaker Paul Renner in July. It then worked persistently to secure the passage of House Bill 1365, which banned public camping and sought to move unsheltered people from sidewalks to sanctioned, highly structured encampments.

So successful were the Institute’s efforts in the Sunshine State that when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill in March, Cicero’s co-founder, billionaire tech investor and GOP mega-donor Joe Lonsdale cheered it as setting an example for the rest of the country to follow.

“When we started working on homelessness, many people considered these ideas fringe. Activists have vociferously opposed us at every turn. It takes guts to stand up to the homeless-industrial complex,” Lonsdale wrote in a blog post. “This is the strongest set of homelessness reforms in the nation, and we were proud to work with Florida leaders to see them adopted.”

And Cicero has many ideas about how Florida – and other states – can go further.

Also included in the policy memo, which the Sentinel obtained among other documentation of Cicero’s efforts in a public records request, are reform proposals making it easier to involuntarily commit somebody to psychiatric treatment, banning local care organizations from pursuing so-called “Housing First” initiatives to address homelessness, and funneling money toward mental health and substance abuse treatment instead.

Advocacy groups and organizations on the ground fear these policies – and Florida’s new law – will make their work to treat and combat homelessness even more challenging. Since the law’s requirements for sanctioned encampments make those facilities difficult to fund, locate and operate, and shelters are full most every night, it’s likely to force law enforcement to arrest people who have nowhere else to go but the streets, they say.

“What I anticipate, though, is this becomes a checklist,” said Martha Are, the CEO of the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida, assessing the influence of Cicero’s policy menu.

Cicero’s approach is not unique. Across the country, interest groups are pushing state legislatures to write their ideas into law, and some of the most successful have been conservative organizations working with GOP-led legislatures like Florida’s. The Florida-based Foundation for Government Accountability, for example, has pushed labor law changes that critics say weaken protections for child workers, scoring a signal success last year in Arkansas.


Cicero has interests in other issues as well, but its main focus has been homelessness, a vexing issue that has increasingly preoccupied state and local governments in Florida and elsewhere.

In the Orlando area alone, homelessness has increased 75% over the past five years, which providers and advocates say is a reflection of the region’s soaring housing costs and shortage of affordable units.

In the same five-year time frame, rents increased nearly $600 per month.

Currently, the nation’s predominant strategy to combat homelessness is called Housing First, an approach to end a person’s homelessness as quickly as possible by placing a roof over their heads, often in a hotel or an available apartment. Then, the person receives other services such as mental health or substance abuse treatment, job training and other needs, in hopes they can sustain their new lifestyle.

“Housing First is treatment,” said Eric Gray, the CEO of the Christian Service Center, which operates Orlando’s day services center for the homeless said in an email. “Science shows us that trying to treat an individual for ANY medical condition is near impossible if they aren’t also in stable housing. Housing IS health care.”

Andrew Sullivan, a University of Central Florida researcher specializing in homelessness, said his research and that of others routinely reveals the merits of the strategy of providing housing, and that laws like Florida’s public camping ban don’t reduce homelessness.

Cicero disagrees, attributing homelessness to untreated mental illnesses. It’s trying to move states away from Housing First principles to its slate of alternatives, said Devon Kurtz, who wrote the memo to Renner and oversees the think tank’s homelessness policy.

“What Cicero cares about most is getting states engaged on this issue,” Kurtz said. “For the past three decades, it’s been ceded to the federal government through continuums of care.”

Along with its success on the camping ban, Cicero scored a little-noticed victory over Housing First in Florida by securing budget language that requires recipients of state challenge grants typically used to house people to instead “prioritize mental health and substance abuse treatment” as well as short-term shelters, sanctioned camping sites and safe parking sites.

That grant program accounted for $20 million last year, with the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida receiving about $900,000.

Cicero initially sought to outright ban use of the grants for any Housing First or permanent housing program, but state leaders held off on going that far.

Are said that rising homelessness numbers aren’t a reflection on the Housing First strategy, but instead a commentary on a tight housing market.

“To blame Housing First is kind of like blaming the emergency room for how many people came in with COVID during the peak of the COVID crisis,” Are said. “The emergency room was implementing the best interventions they could, but they could not control how many people were getting infected with the virus.”

So far, Cicero has helped get bills passed similar to Florida’s camping ban in Republican-led states including Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Kentucky. The group says that the steps Florida is taking on homelessness policy beyond its ban makes its approach the nation’s “strongest.”

In Florida, Lonsdale has donated at least $213,000 to politicians and politician committees over the past three years through his company Lonsdale Enterprises. That included $50,000 to a committee controlled by DeSantis, $10,000 to another controlled by Renner and $60,000 to the Republican Party of Florida.

A few weeks after the memo was sent to Renner, Lonsdale contributed more than $23,000 of food and drinks to the Republican Party of Florida. The emails show Renner met with Cicero representatives at a conference last summer in Utah. Lonsdale also hosted a fundraiser in support of DeSantis’ presidential bid.

While Cicero representatives never testified publicly about the camping ban bill, its lobbyist worked with lawmakers and staff on it prior to and during the three-month-long session, the records show. Legislative staffers solicited the group’s input.

For example, in October, months before the session began in January, a House staffer emailed one of Cicero’s lobbyists about the plan: “where is Cicero on the questions/follow up we discussed in our meeting on the homelessness proposals?”

Garrison, who carried the bill through the House, is slated to be a future House Speaker.

It’s unclear what level of interest Florida leaders have in Cicero’s other homeless policy proposals. Renner, Garrison and Daniel Perez, the incoming House speaker, didn’t respond to emailed questions and a request for an interview.


Kurtz wasn’t sure either, but was hopeful.

“We hope so,” he said of Florida implementing the remainder of Cicero’s package. “In future sessions, we do hope to work more on the mental health and substance abuse side.”

_____


©2024 Orlando Sentinel. Visit orlandosentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Data Ethics: Why TikTok Faces Unequal Scrutiny – OpEd

 May 6, 2024  

By Altaf Moti

The recent push to ban TikTok in the United States has ignited a heated debate about the delicate balance between national security concerns and individual civil liberties. As lawmakers grapple with the implications of this decision, it is essential to examine the broader context and consider the potential consequences for free speech, privacy, and the rights of American citizens. 

The Racial Dimension of Surveillance

American domestic surveillance has a troubling history of targeting marginalized communities. In the 1960s, Black activists faced intense scrutiny, and in the post-9/11 era, Muslim Americans were disproportionately surveilled. The latest move to ban TikTok continues this pattern. President Biden recently signed a bill into law that gives ByteDance nine months (or up to a year, under certain conditions) to divest itself of its US business. If ByteDance fails to do so, it will become illegal for US entities to provide web-hosting services to TikTok, effectively banning the app in 2025. ByteDance intends to challenge this law in court arguing that it is unconstitutional. The company aims to protect its interests and prevent the forced sale or complete ban of TikTok in the US. 

In August 2020, then-President Donald Trump issued an executive order to effectively ban the app in the United States by prohibiting US entities from making transactions with ByteDance. That order was initially set to go into effect in late September. However, the legal battle continued, and TikTok remained operational in the US. 

The Rise of TikTok

TikTok, a short-form video platform, has taken the world by storm. With over a billion users globally, it has become a cultural phenomenon, allowing people to express themselves through music, comedy, and other creative content. However, its rapid rise has also raised eyebrows among policymakers particularly due to its Chinese ownership. 

Beyond TikTok: Data Exploitation and Vulnerability

While acknowledging TikTok’s flaws, it’s essential to recognize that the entire data ecosystem is exploitative and vulnerable, regardless of an app’s ownership nationality. The rush to ban TikTok seems motivated by a desire to protect user data from foreign governments. Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers express concerns about TikTok potentially sharing Americans’ data with the Chinese government. This “national security threat” is often framed through vague references to the company’s potential connections with the Chinese Communist Party. 

WhatsApp, Meta, and Israeli Military Surveillance

Yet, we have not seen the same outrage from US politicians over reports that data from WhatsApp, owned by the American company Meta, might have been used by the Israeli military in targeting Palestinians. WhatsApp has denied these reports, stating that they are not accurate. However, according to Meta’s last available Transparency Report, the government of Israel made 1,088 requests of the company between January and June 2023. More than half of these requests were categorized as emergency disclosure requests, for which Meta may “voluntarily disclose information to law enforcement” if there is a “good faith reason to believe that the matter involves imminent risk of serious physical injury or death.” Meta produced user data in response to a majority of requests from the Israeli government—78 percent. 

Interestingly, there hasn’t been the same level of outrage from U.S. politicians over reports that data from WhatsApp (owned by the American company Meta) might have been used by the Israeli military in targeting Palestinians. WhatsApp has denied these reports, but the issue remains. Meta’s Transparency Reports do not disclose the citizenship of users whose information is requested by foreign governments. The U.S. government’s decision to single out TikTok while ignoring American tech companies’ data-sharing practices suggests that American data and surveillance policy is driven, in part, by racism. 

The National Security Argument

The primary argument against TikTok centers on national security. Critics claim that the app’s parent company, ByteDance, could potentially share user data with the Chinese government. While there is no concrete evidence to support this claim, the fear of foreign influence has led to calls for a ban. 

The Role of Big Tech

As we grapple with the TikTok ban, we must also examine the role of big tech companies in shaping our digital landscape. Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms wield immense power over public discourse, often making editorial decisions that impact millions of users. The concentration of this power in the hands of a few corporations raises concerns about censorship, bias, and the erosion of democratic values. 

The Global Context

It’s hard not to conclude that the TikTok ban is being pursued at this moment because of its impact in empowering voices that were previously marginalized, a situation that is detrimental to the official US narrative. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has also hinted at the possibility of a TikTok ban in the EU, mirroring steps already taken against the platform on Commission corporate phones. The global debate around TikTok highlights the tension between national security and individual rights. Governments worldwide are grappling with how to regulate digital platforms without stifling free expression. 

The Double Standard

Ironically, the focus on TikTok’s data practices highlights a double standard. American tech companies routinely collect vast amounts of user data, often without explicit consent. Social media giants like Facebook and Google have faced scrutiny for their data-sharing practices, yet they continue to operate freely. The selective outrage over TikTok’s potential data sharing reveals a bias that undermines the principles of equal treatment and fairness. 

The Impact on Free Speech

Beyond the data privacy debate, banning TikTok raises serious questions about free speech. The app has become a platform for marginalized voices, allowing users to share their experiences, opinions, and creativity. By stifling TikTok, we risk silencing these voices and limiting the diversity of expression in the digital sphere. The First Amendment protects our right to speak freely, even when that speech challenges the status quo or makes us uncomfortable. 

The Legal Precedent

The TikTok ban sets a legal precedent for regulating social media platforms. If the government can ban an app based on national security concerns, what other platforms might face similar scrutiny? The delicate balance between security and individual rights requires thoughtful legislation and judicial oversight. The TikTok case will shape future debates on tech regulation. 

As we delve deeper into the complexities of the TikTok ban, we must consider these additional facets. The decision transcends a single app; it reflects broader societal tensions around technology, freedom and governance. Let us engage in informed discussions that safeguard civil liberties while addressing legitimate concerns.

The Israel-Palestinian media disconnect

MAY 5, 2024
HEARD ON NPR

ALL THINGS CONSIDERED
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Transcript


There is a split-screen of media coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. Israeli channels focus on the Oct. 7 attack, the soldiers and the hostages, while Palestinian media highlights daily suffering.

SCOTT DETROW, HOST:

In an ongoing war, information is often viewed as an important weapon - information about what the other side is doing, but also what the people in a country and war see and know about the conflict. This is the sound of a video clip from Al Jazeera English posted earlier today on the social media platform X.


(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)



UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: If you're watching this prerecorded report, then Al Jazeera has been banned in the territory of Israel.



DETROW: Israel has banned the Qatari news channel from its airwaves and online in the country, saying its coverage of the war in Gaza threatens national security. The move comes as critics accuse both Israeli and Palestinian media of failing to cover the suffering on the other side of the conflict. And each side is quick to discredit the other's point of view. NPR's Carrie Kahn talked with news consumers and journalists on both sides of the ongoing war and brings us this report.



(CROSSTALK)



CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: At a convenience store in Tel Aviv's working-class Hatikva neighborhood, a group of men are filling out lottery tickets, smoking cigarettes and occasionally glancing up at the TV playing the evening news. Shahaf Simantov, a 20-year-old driver for a food delivery app, says he gets almost all his news from TV.



SHAHAF SIMANTOV: What's up in my country, I see. What I need to see, I see. Hamas from Gaza, fake news.



KAHN: He doesn't believe people are going hungry in Gaza or the high Palestinian death toll - more than 34,000, according to the health ministry, which Israelis emphasize is run by Hamas.



(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)



UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Non-English language spoken).



KAHN: The TV is set to Channel 14, which was launched 10 years ago and is now Israel's No. 2 station. With its steady stream of conservative and favorable coverage of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it's been dubbed Israel's Fox News. Alon Harazy is 44 years old. He works for a moving company.



ALON HARAZY: (Non-English language spoken).



KAHN: He says he likes Channel 14 stories about Israel's military, which he says motivates young people to join the army. Most Israeli TV coverage focuses on soldier profiles and Hamas' brutal attack on Israel on October 7 that killed about 1,200 people, according to Israel. There are also frequent updates on the more than 100 hostages still held in Gaza and their relatives' agonizing wait for their release. However, Rutie Poltal, a 63-year-old retiree, says she seldom sees what's happening to the people of Gaza on Israeli TV. She watches TikTok.



RUTIE POLTAL: (Non-English language spoken).



KAHN: It breaks my heart to see their destroyed hospitals, all the children without fathers, mothers crying, she says.



(SOUNDBITE OF HAIRCLIPPERS BUZZING)



KAHN: Across the street at a small hair salon, 33-year-old Schlomi Rachamino is getting his weekly trim. Channel 14 is also on the TV above his chair. He says he has no need to watch anything else.



SCHLOMI RACHAMINO: (Through interpreter) I don't need to see anyone in Gaza. We need to erase them all.



KAHN: Almost half of Israelis over the age of 20 watch TV news, and almost a fifth say they'll only watch Channel 14, says Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler, a media expert at the Israel Democracy Institute.



TEHILLA SHWARTZ ALTSHULER: Just like what happens in America these days, our media is very, very polarized.



KAHN: And just like in other countries, she says, Israeli and media budgets have been slashed as advertisers shift to social media. At the same time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues his campaign against critical media. He's facing criminal charges for allegedly giving favors to media tycoons to get better coverage. He denies any wrongdoing. Israelis are getting their news in a bubble, says Shwartz Altshuler.



SHWARTZ ALTSHULER: And this creates crazy blind spots for the Israeli public, as well as a gap between the world's understanding of what is happening in the territories or in Gaza and the Israeli public's understanding.



KAHN: Israelis view themselves as victims after October 7 and don't understand why the world sees them as the aggressors in this fight, says Meron Rapoport, an Israeli journalist. And they were stunned when accused of genocide in the International Court of Justice, he adds.



MERON RAPOPORT: The Israeli public deserves that at least you will get a wider picture of what's going on.



KAHN: Rapoport, who works at the independent news site +972, says Israelis are being fed a steady diet of patriotism and victimhood.



UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Non-English language spoken).



KAHN: In the control room of Watan television in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, a man directs a nightly call-in show. Palestinian media faces scrutiny too, like reporters calling Hamas militants resistance fighters. General director Muamar Orabi says Watan tries to cover both sides fairly.



MUAMAR ORABI: All of us, we saw what's happening in the 7 of October when Hamas attacked, but today they're killing everything in Gaza. This is our children, our fathers, our mothers. So we need to highlight the suffering.



KAHN: Watan's offices in Gaza were destroyed in an Israeli airstrike. At least 97 journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 7, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Ramallah resident and avid news consumer, 38-year-old Mohammad Quasam Ali, says Palestinians know all they need to know about October 7. He gets most of his news from Telegram and Al Jazeera, the Qatari-based news channel.



MOHAMMAD QUASAM ALI: (Non-English language spoken).



KAHN: We cannot forget which side is responsible for October 7, he says. The international community and Israel has trapped Gaza for decades, leaving little hope, he adds. He doesn't believe what is on Israeli media. A recent poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey showed that 90% of Palestinians do not believe Hamas committed atrocities on October 7. As Palestinian media continues to report what they view as an extreme and intolerable manmade humanitarian crisis, Israeli media presses its coverage of what it reflects as a just and existential fight for security and survival.



(SOUNDBITE OF HAIR PRODUCT SPRAYING)



KAHN: Outside Tel Aviv, in the makeup room at Channel 13's studios, Raviv Drucker, one of Israel's best-known investigative journalists, gets last-minute hairstyling. His weeknight news show is about to go live.



RAVIV DRUCKER: I need to go in.



KAHN: You have a good show.



He, too, criticizes Israeli media for not showing what is happening to Gaza's population. But he says journalists are people too, and like society, they're traumatized by Hamas' vicious attack.



DRUCKER: It's really easy to ask them to be - to aspire to the highest standards, but it's very difficult to implement.



KAHN: He recently put an image of a Palestinian baby with blood on his face on a show, and was criticized as being too provocative by panelists. Israel's public doesn't want to see that side of the story, he says, and most of Israeli journalism doesn't want to show it. Carrie Kahn, NPR News, Tel Aviv.



(SOUNDBITE OF TRACEY CHATTAWAY'S "EMBERS")



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