Whaling: why the practice will not go away

Agence France-Presse
August 24, 2024

Sperm whale © VALERY HACHE / AFP/File

The detention in Greenland of anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson pending possible extradition to Japan has turned the spotlight on the widely condemned practice of hunting whales.

A 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling allowed numbers to recover following centuries of hunting that decimated the population to near-extinction.

Today three countries still permit the practice -- Japan, Norway and Iceland.

Beyond the moral case against whaling, as made in campaigns such Watson's, what is the science driving the arguments both for and against the practice?

- 'Scientific' whaling? -

In 2019 Japan quit the International Whaling Commission moratorium and resumed commercial whaling inside its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone.

Before this, Japan had been pursuing "scientific research" whaling since 1987, arguing some data could only be collected from dead carcasses.

But the evidence to support the claim was thin, Paul Rodhouse, fellow of the Marine Biological Association in Britain, told AFP.

"There seems to be very little justification for scientific whaling and few worthwhile scientific studies," he said.

A study published in Marine Policy in 2016 found that whaling and non-whaling countries had produced similar numbers of scientific papers on whales between 1986 and 2013.

If we consider all the whales captured "and compare them to the very, very small number of scientific publications produced, we say to ourselves it really wasn't worth it and the scientific objectives were certainly not the priority of this activity", Vincent Ridoux, a marine megafauna researcher at La Rochelle university in France, told AFP.

There is also plenty of non-invasive research being carried out on living whales using increasingly sophisticated technology.


Those tools include satellite transmitters attached to the mammals, passive acoustic devices in submarine vessels, satellite imagery and artificial intelligence.

- Are whales still endangered? -

Overall, the moratorium has been successful in enabling the whale population to recover.

But there remain sharp variations between regions and species.

Japan hunts Bryde's, minke and sei whales, and wants to expand its list to include fin whales as well.

The government says the species are "abundant" and that catching them around Japan in limited numbers is sustainable.


The Bryde's and common minke are listed as being of "least concern" on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List, but globally the sei is "endangered", and fin whales are listed as "vulnerable".

Whales also face other threats besides hunting, including ship collisions, entanglements with fishing nets and rising ocean temperatures.

- Whales and ecosystems -

"Conserving biodiversity is not just a case of saving 'charismatic macrofauna' but maintaining balanced ecosystems for the continued health of nature and humans," Rodhouse said.

Abundant whales in an ecosystem "contribute to enriching the surface layers with mineral salts and mineral elements such as iron", said Ridoux.

Those elements are a key source of nutrients for some organisms.


Because whales breathe at the surface, they release much of what they consume there, providing a food source for surface-dwelling marine organisms.

- 'Disturbing' development -

In May, Japan launched a new "mothership" for its whaling fleet to replace its previous lead vessel, retired in 2023.

Weighing in at nearly 9,300 tonnes, the "Kangei Maru" is a substantial upgrade and has raised alarm in the scientific community.

"It is very disturbing because it is a ship of large dimensions, it can go very far and therefore has probably very high operating costs," said Ridoux.

"If you want to use a boat like this in a commercial logic, you need big quotas to balance the operating costs and there has to be a market for that."

Tokyo argues that eating whale is part of Japanese culture and an issue of "food security" in the resource-poor country, which imports large amounts of animal meat.

But whether or not there is a big appetite in Japan for the meat is an open question.

Consumption has declined significantly in recent decades to around 1,000 or 2,000 tonnes per year compared to around 200 times that in the 1960s.

Indian desert school's unique design offers respite from heat

Agence France-Presse
August 23, 2024 

In the sweltering heat of India's Thar desert, an architecturally striking school is an oasis of cool thanks to a combination of age-old techniques and modern design

 (Idrees MOHAMMED/AFP)

In the sweltering heat of India's Thar desert, where summer highs soar above 50 degrees Celsius, an architecturally striking school is an oasis of cool thanks to a combination of age-old techniques and modern design.

The Rajkumari Ratnavati girls' school uses the same yellow sandstone as the 12th-century fort in nearby Jaisalmer, in India's western state of Rajasthan, dubbed the "golden city" due to the colour of the rock.

Like the fort, the school has thick rubble walls that help bounce back the heat, while the interior is plastered with lime, a porous material that regulates humidity and aids natural cooling.

Unlike the ancient fort, its roof is lined with solar panels, which provide all the school's power in an area with frequent electricity cuts.

Temperatures inside the school, designed by US-based architect Diana Kellogg and built by local artisans -- many of them parents of pupils -- can be as much as 20 percent lower than those outside.

"I love going to the school," said eight-year-old Khushboo Kumari, one of the 170 students.

"The air feels as if it is coming from an AC."

The school's classrooms are arranged around an open elliptical courtyard resembling a Roman coliseum, and walls with grids of vents create shade while allowing for cooling airflow.

Elevated windows allow hot air to escape as it rises. Rainwater is harvested from the flat roof.

In some places, the walls are dotted with perforations -- a technique known as "jali" that was traditionally used for modesty, shielding women from view in the conservative society.

At the school, it is used to promote ventilation, creating a breeze channelled by the building's oval shape.

"There is cross-ventilation," said school supervisor Rajinder Singh Bhati, aged 29. "The white tiles on the terrace reflect the sunlight."

"It is totally eco-friendly."

- 'Airy and cool' -

India this year baked in its longest-ever heatwave, according to government weather experts.


Temperatures surged above 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), with warnings people will face increasingly oppressive heat in the future.

Manohar Lal, 32, the father of pupil Khushboo, said students looked forward to class thanks to the relative cool.

"There are frequent power cuts in Rajasthan, and children have to suffer as temperatures touch almost 50 degrees Celsius in summer," Lal said outside his modest home of mud and brick, which does not have a ceiling fan.


"But there are no such worries in the school because it is powered by solar energy," he added.

"It is airy and cool, and that is why the children enjoy going to school".

- 'Feels like heaven' -


The school is supported by the US-based CITTA Education Foundation, meaning pupils attend for free in a state where the literacy rate for women is about 52 percent.

Uniforms, school materials and lunch for pupils are also provided.

"It's a big thing that they are getting quality education free of cost, considering they can't even afford proper meals or clothing," said Hindi teacher Priyanka Chhangani, 40.

Kellogg, the architect, said combining tradition with modern design and sustainable techniques was key.

"Because the craftsmen were so familiar with the stone, we were able to integrate traditional architectural details along with indigenous heritage details, so that the structure felt authentic to the region", she said.

Her oval design was inspired by "feminine symbols of strength", she added.


But while her design focused on tackling baking heat, it also faces an unexpected, climate change-driven problem -- floods.

Intense rainfall during the annual monsoon is common from June to September, but experts say climate change is increasing its frequency and severity.

That increased rainfall has begun to impact the school, which was designed for a drier climate.


This year, a long-dormant river was overflowing, washing away soil at one side of the school.

Rajan Rawal, a professor at India's Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology University, said the increasing intensity of rain was impacting buildings designed for other weather.

"Disasters like heat waves and floods impact the structural stability," Rawal said.

They also affect the thermal performance of the building, he added.

But teacher Chhangani said the school was still changing the lives of the pupils.

"These children don't even have fans at home," she said. "When they come to school, it feels like heaven to them."

Kamala Harris wants to unleash a young voter tsunami. But will her plan work?

Ahna Fleming
August 24, 2024 

Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at a campaign rally on Aug. 20, 2024, in Milwaukee. Harris' campaign effort has been making a strong play for young voters. (Sir. David / Shutterstock)

CHICAGO — The "brat"-themed branding reverberating this summer through Gen Z also rocked the 2024 Democratic National Convention as candidates and organizations rally young voters — many participating in their first election — to Kamala Harris’ cause.

Young voters stand to be a critical bloc in the 2024 presidential election, particularly in swing states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia. Here, vote margins in thousands — even hundreds — could determine whether Harris or Republican nominee Donald Trump wins the White House.

And Harris has work to do during the presidential election’s final weeks, particularly among young men, who continue to prefer Trump in significant numbers.

But Team Harris has a playbook, and the Democratic National Convention was ground zero for its unveiling.

ALSO READ: ‘Absolutely essential’: Son of Oath Keeper Stewart Rhodes is all in for Kamala Harris

NextGen America, the nation’s largest youth voting organization, boasted a lime-green setup at DemPalooza inspired by British pop singer Charli XCX’s ‘brat’ album. One of Harris’ most viral endorsements so far: Charli’s July 21 tweet proclaiming “kamala IS brat.”

Emily Slatkow, NextGen’s communications director, said the group, which works to register, educate and mobilize Gen Z voters, is leaning heavily into social media marketing inspired by memes and pop culture. She said the organization has seen more than a 200 percent increase in volunteer sign-ups in the weeks since Harris took President Joe Biden’s spot on the Democratic ticket.

“We saw the enthusiasm, the engagement online and on our social content, and our field team even saw folks approaching them excited and eager to register to vote,” she said. “We have really seen that enthusiasm just take over from the end of July going forward.”

Sunjay Muralitharan, 19, is the national vice president of College Democrats of America, a student at the University of California, San Diego — and a superdelegate at the Democratic National Convention. He believes the Democratic Party “made the right choice” in having Biden step aside.

He’s noticed that a lot of his peers are “very impressed” with the Harris’ campaign’s social media outreach to young voters.

“They're venturing into Tiktok, into Instagram, into Twitter and all these social media platforms to actually connect with young voters. I think this speaks volumes, because the only way for them to do this well is to put young people in power within the campaign — to allow them to make consequential decisions in reaching their own constituency,” he said.

Harris’ spot at the top of the Democratic ticket “proves what is possible,” Muralitharan said, and “speaks to what our nation is.”


Young Americans were among the supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris at a presidential campaign rally on Aug. 10, 2024, at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Ariz. (Gage Skidmore)

“Our nation is a nation of immigrants. Especially our generation, Gen Z, nearly half of our eligible voters are immigrants and are minorities,” he said. “Having someone that looks like us displays that anything is possible within this country. Harris rising to the top of the ticket kind of inspires millions of Americans who don't conventionally see themselves in positions of power.”

Hailee Clack, a member of NextGen’s Leaders Lab, is a 21-year-old delegate representing Flint, Mich., who, as a young Black woman, says Harris inspires her.



“There's a certain type of freshness and excitement surrounding Kamala,” she said. “We’re revved up and we feel like our voices are truly being heard this time. It's almost like it's 2008 and 2012 again.”

“I'm from Flint,” she added, underscoring the challenges a decade after a public health crisis revealed lead and other contamination in the drinking water. “Being a young person from Flint in this area is very crucial, so I can make sure that my city is being heard.”

She urged young people to vote, saying “your vote does matter.”

“I know a lot of people feel like it doesn't matter if they vote or not, but it really does,” she said. “A lot of (swing) states end up winning by a small margin of error — two to three thousand votes, maybe even a thousand — but that could just be a few more doors being knocked on.”

Alexandre Burgos, 26, a Latino, LGBTQ+, first-time, at-large delegate from Buffalo, N.Y., agrees.

“I know the outcome of the election and the fate of our country lies in our hands,” Burgos said.

Justin Meszler, a 20-year-old delegate representing Massachusetts' 4th District and student at Brown University, serves as National Programming Director of Voters of Tomorrow, an organization mobilizing Gen Z’s political engagement.

He said Voters of Tomorrow has witnessed young people becoming “more motivated to vote” when the organization educates them about Harris and what she stands for.

“Young people are not apathetic about politics, but for too long we have not seen government meet the moment of the challenges facing our generation,” he said. “Harris brings hope and joy and a renewed energy to the political arena, and young people are fired up.”

Muralitharan said he plans to rally young voters by focusing on how Harris “has clear priorities that align closely with us.”

“Fighting for housing affordability, cracking down on major corporations, acquiring homes in masses, policies like reproductive rights or climate habitability,” he said. “Things like that, that are integral to the priorities of youth.”

One issue that’s particularly important to 19-year-old delegate Jack Chrismon “as a gay person living in the state of Texas,” he said, is the Affordable Care Act.

“It’s because of pre-exposure prophylaxis, which prevents me from contracting HIV,” he said. “Prior to the Affordable Care Act adopting it as a medication that is of essential use for preventing the spread of communicable diseases, it would have cost me $6,000 every three months. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, it is free for me, but that could be undone under Project 2025.”

Chrismon is a rising sophomore at the University of Texas at Austin. He said the Harris campaign is targeting his university as a key location in Texas.

“Because of how dense our student population is and the relatively higher turnout compared to other campuses, Travis County has the highest voter registration rate of any county in Texas. so We have a lot of voters compared to maybe some other campuses around the nation,” he said.

“People are a lot more enthusiastic about this year's election than they were even two months ago. We're expecting higher voter turnout on campus this year than ever before,” Chrismon added.

Chrismon mentioned a trend of young voters expressing dissatisfaction at having to pick “between the lesser of two evils.”

“I feel that a lot of the youth anguish with that issue was especially inflamed by the current war in Gaza,” he said. “Harris is more progressive on Gaza policy than Biden. So I definitely do think now it's less of a question of the lesser of two evils for a lot of young people. And from what I've seen on the internet and in real life, young people are a lot more enthusiastic about voting for Harris now.”

A party divided

Harris can hardly afford to take young voters for granted.

Some young Americans gathered this week in Chicago said they lack enthusiasm for Harris for the same reason they did for Biden: Israel’s 10-month-long war on Hamas.

Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered in Union Park and marched to the site of the convention Monday. Protests continued throughout the week, with 55 to 60 people arrested Tuesday night following clashes with police.

Because many protesters say they believe Biden and Harris are complicit in the killings of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, they plan not to vote for Harris in November, even if that has the practical effect of helping Trump, who has made clear his support for Israel’s military effort.

“It’s important for our politicians to know that they can't have a milquetoast approach towards the conflict in Palestine right now. Like, inaction is one of the worst actions that you could be taking,” said Cameron Crans, a protestor from Seattle. “Maintaining the status quo doesn't make you a progressive politician.”

Protesters expressed anger at the idea of their taxpayer dollars paying for the deaths of civilians in Gaza. Last Tuesday, the U.S. approved another $20 billion in weapons sales to Israel.

“I'm frustrated where my tax dollars are going,” said Kevin Lily, a protestor from Chicago. “I mean, there's people experiencing homelessness, people without health care, people who are really struggling here, and we're sending billions of dollars to a genocidal state the size of New Jersey.

Lily added: “I want to see action. Feeling sorry and understanding all that — that's cute, but like, people are really dying. So I need to see some action behind those words.”

Sean Duffy, a protester and co-chair of Chicago’s Democratic Socialists of America chapter, also said his decision to vote is contingent on Harris’ policy regarding the war.



Peeling and torn Kamala Harris Forward posters on an abandoned building on the West Side of Chicago on Aug. 20, 2024. (John Ruberry / Shutterstock)

“Vice President Harris would not only win my vote, but I will go knock doors in Michigan and in Wisconsin, which is just a short car ride away, if she commits today to a full arms embargo to military aid to Israel,” Duffy said. “If she doesn't do that, she'd risk losing the election to Donald Trump … there’s a lot of folks who might stay home if they see that Kamala Harris is going to continue the terrible policies and Palestine of Biden's administration.”

The annual Harvard Youth Poll, which surveys Americans aged 18-29 and was published in April, found that out of 16 ranked issues, the Israel-Palestine conflict was of 15th most importance to young voters. Inflation, housing and healthcare were the top three most pressing issues for youth while student debt, the war in the Middle East and free speech were the least.

An April Pew Research Center survey found that, out of adults younger than 30, just 16 percent favor the U.S. providing military aid to Israel, in contrast to 56 percent of adults 65 and older.

Despite these polling numbers, dedicated American advocates of the Palestinian cause are often extraordinarily vocal about the issue, which has led to significant public attention.

A total of 36 uncommitted Democratic delegates — who earned their place at the Democratic National Convention after more than 740,000 presidential primary voters chose “uncommitted” instead of Biden — share similar goals with pro-Gaza protesters.

They hope threatening the Harris-Walz ticket with a loss of voters would assuage the vice president to implement an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and embargo of arms to Israel.

During her nomination acceptance speech Thursday, Harris both affirmed her commitment to Israel’s right to defend itself and the United States’ support of its military — while at the same time declaring the war in Gaza must end and the carnage of innocent Gazans must stop.

Crans said he thinks Gaza policy is “the most important factor” influencing his decision to vote in November, but still would choose Harris over Trump.

“Being in a two-party system,” he said, “I am still gonna vote for her. If it's between her and Trump, yeah, anything to stop Trump from being in office again.”

Muralitharan acknowledged that there’s “generally a negative apparatus” regarding the narrative of the two-party system being a choice between a “lesser of two evils.”

“But right now, we're witnessing such a stark contrast … it’s historic,” he said. “There's this clear difference between one party who's primarily focused on the ego of one man and another that's focused on the best interests of American people.”

LIBERTARIAN DEMOCRATS

How the Democrats became 'the party of freedom'

MYOB

'MIND YOUR OWN (DAMN) BUSINESS'

COACH WALZ 

(MORE LIBERTARIAN THAN RAND PAUL)

John Stoehr
August 23, 2024 

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz (Image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

Depending on your age, you probably remember when the Republicans owned the meaning of freedom. They fought virtually everything in the name of individual liberty. It didn’t matter how good a government program was, the fact that it was a government program at all meant Americans were less free. And most people, most of the time, agreed.

My, my – how things have changed! When the US Supreme Court struck down Roe, it badly undermined the Republicans’ reputation for being “the party of freedom.” But fumbling the ball, to use a football analogy, is one thing. It’s another when the other team picks it up. That’s what happened at the Democratic National Convention last night. Vice presidential nominee Tim Walz ran 95 yards to score.

And spiked the ball.

When Republicans use the word freedom, they mean that the government should be free to invade your doctor’s office. Corporations — free to pollute your air and water. And banks — free to take advantage of customers.

But when we Democrats talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people that you love.

Freedom to make your own health care decisions.

And yeah, your kids’ freedom to go to school without worrying about being shot dead in the hall.

…

That’s what this is all about: The responsibility we have to our kids, to each other and to the future that we’re building together, in which everyone is free to build the kind of life they want.


The Republicans had been losing their grip on individual liberty since going all-in with a lying, thieving, philandering sadist. Donald Trump purged “the party of freedom” of high-minded principles. His demand for loyalty, and suppression of dissent, led to mass conformity. Over time, each and every Republican was trained to say the same thing at the same time for the same reasons, all in the service of Dear Leader.

This Borg-like groupthink is typically underrated, but real conservatives understand it. They still believe in universal democratic freedom, though the Republicans no longer do. And I think Walz had them in mind when he spoke. His message: You didn’t leave the GOP. The GOP left you. There’s room for you among the Democrats.

I don’t mean to suggest a one-dimensional meaning of freedom. Walz offered a mix of negative and positive liberty. Negative: get the government out of your bedroom and doctor’s office. Positive: get the government to take more responsibility for public health and safety. Walz is not the leftist the Republicans want voters to believe him to be. But his speech does represent something new to voters who are just tuning in. It represents a kind of rebalancing of the national consensus.


This process of rebalancing has been ongoing for some time. I would say the beginning was Barack Obama’s second term and the end is, well, I don’t know. More certain is this: Joe Biden is the bridge. He spanned the gap between two Democratic Parties: One that was “neoliberal” and one that restored the class-warrior spirit of Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson. Kamala Harris’ presidency would be a continuation of that process, but Walz’s speech is probably the most dramatic portrayal of it so far. (I say this now, but I might change my mind tonight after watching the vice president’s acceptance speech.)

As I said, most people, most of the time, used to agree with the Republicans. That consensus empowered them to resist virtually any government program. But that power had a necessary subtext, which was the presence in most people’s minds of a government that really did grind individuals to dust, namely totalitarian Russia. The Cold War ended in 1989, but its vestiges remained here for decades.

It’s because of that subtext that the Republicans could credibly accuse anyone who favored good government programs of being communists, socialists or Marxists. Though the “Evil Empire” is gone, they still do this. They said Harris’ plan for “price controls” is tantamount to a communist takeover of the food industry. “Price controls” is a lie. She is proposing a ban on price-gouging, which isn’t the same thing.


But to be credible, the Republicans needed their reputation for being the party of individual liberty. They also needed to avoid appearing to become what they accuse others of being. The Supreme Court undermined the first, but not enough attention has been brought to the second. The Republican Party has become a communist party.

This is why I think Ana Navarro’s speech given earlier this week is a natural companion to Walz’s last night. As a journalist and co-host of ABC’s “The View,” she is his target audience: a real conservative who has been alienated not only by the Republican Party’s abandonment of individual liberty, but also by its descent into totalitarian politics.

She said:


Donald Trump and his minions call Kamala a communist. I know communism. I fled communism from Nicaragua when I was 8 years old. I don't take it lightly. And let me tell you what communist dictators do. And it's never just for one day.

They attack the free press. They call them the enemy of the people like Ortega does in Nicaragua. They put their unqualified relatives in cushy government jobs, so they can get rich off their positions, like the Castros do in Cuba. And they refuse to accept legitimate elections when they lose and call for violence to stay in power, like Maduro is doing right now in Venezuela.

Now you tell me something. Do any of those things sound familiar? Is there anybody running for president who reminds you of that?

Stackexchange.comscifi.stackexchange.com/questions/289197/looking-for-a-story-that-possibly-started-myob

Looking for a story that possibly started "MYOB"

Jun 20, 2024 ... This must surely be ...And then there were none by Eric Frank Russell. This was first published as a novella in Astounding in 1951, ...

DOJ files rent-fixing lawsuit against corporate landlords' go-to software firm

Julia Conley, Common Dreams
August 24, 2024 

Merrick Garland l(AFP)

Executives at the property management software company RealPage claimed they had the "greater good" in mind when they offered corporate landlords a price-fixing algorithm service, said the U.S. Department of Justice as it filed a lawsuit Friday against the firm—but the scheme allegedly drove rental costs up in communities across the country, contributing to the housing crisis.

The antitrust lawsuit, filed with attorneys general from states including California and Colorado, accused RealPage of using confidential data about its clients to algorithmically determine the highest price renters would pay, using its AI software.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and other officials said the company has violated antitrust laws by providing the service, which gives corporate landlords recommended rental prices and allows them to align prices with one another instead of having to compete.

Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter said the lawsuit is "best understood in the words of RealPage's own executives," who have said the company's software allows landlords to "drive every possible opportunity to increase price, even in the most downward trending or unexpected conditions."

"RealPage tells landlords that it would prefer everybody succeeding versus essentially trying to compete against one another," said Kanter. "But that's not how free markets work. Competition among landlords, not RealPage, should determine prices for renters."

Garland added that "Americans should not have to pay more in rent because a company has found a new way to scheme with landlords to break the law."

As Common Dreams reported in June, RealPage and the corporate landlords that rely on it has come under the scrutiny of watchdogs including Accountable.US, which found that the six largest property management firms brought in a combined $300 million in increased profits in the first quarter of 2024, thanks largely to rent hikes.

The windfall came as rent prices have skyrocketed by more than 31% since 2019, while wages have gone up by just 23%.

RealPage's algorithm is alleged to have helped fix rent prices for about 16 million rental units across the country, said Accountable.US.

"Today is a good day for renters and families and a bad day for predatory landlords," said Lindsay Owens, executive director of the progressive think tank Groundwork Collaborative. "The Department of Justice is right to take on the affordability crisis that RealPage has been supercharging. Algorithms are being used to unfairly drive up prices for housing, meat, and more. This price-fixing must be stopped."

Caroline Ciccone, president of Accountable.US, said Friday's lawsuit shows that "the Justice Department sees evidence of a major rental price-fixing conspiracy by RealPage that extends to metro areas around the country."

"We've documented how many of the same landlord companies that were sued in the initial rent fixing lawsuit have boasted of massive profits after jacking up rents," said Ciccone. "Any property company that uses RealPage in one of these states should face a serious probe. No renter in America should be price gouged under a potentially illegal rent fixing scheme."

Accountable.US added in a social media post that "while rents soared, RealPage executives bragged about how their software could 'maximize' profits, even in the face of a housing crisis."

Andrea Beaty, research director for the Revolving Door Project, said RealPage's actions have "left tenants across the country paying the literal price of corporate greed, even in the midst of a global pandemic."

"This lawsuit will hopefully usher forth renewed corporate accountability in the rental market beyond RealPage, which is far from the only corporation capitalizing on tenant's struggles to live in safe and affordable homes," said Beaty. "We hope that in addition to the bipartisan set of eight state attorneys general suing RealPage, even more attorneys general will sign on in response to RealPage's actions to drive up rental costs in communities in their states."

Australia tackles poor Great Barrier Reef water quality

Agence France-Presse
August 23, 2024 


Australia's Great Barrier Reef has been plagued by repeated mass bleaching events, including one in 2024 (DAVID GRAY/ADP)

Australia on Friday launched a multi-million dollar effort to stop pesticide runoff and other water quality issues on the Great Barrier Reef, the latest effort to save the ailing natural wonder.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek unveiled a US$130 million bid to reduce nutrient and pesticide runoff, improve invasive species management, and support better land management across some of the most vulnerable spots along the reef.

Often dubbed the world's largest living structure, the Great Barrier Reef is a 2,300-kilometer (1,400-mile) long expanse, home to a stunning array of biodiversity that includes more than 600 types of coral and 1,625 fish species.

But repeated mass bleaching events -- when extreme heat saps the coral of nutrients and colour -- threaten the reef's fragile ecosystem.

Mass bleaching events along the reef occurred in 1998, 2002, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2022 and now 2024.

Such is the damage to the reef that the UN's cultural organization UNESCO has weighed labelling the world heritage site "at risk", a move that could put millions of tourist dollars at risk.

Plibersek said the latest funding was vital to stop some of the other problems plaguing the ecosystem and "make sure the beauty and majesty of the Reef can be enjoyed for our kids and grandkids".

"Sediment run-off is one of the biggest threats to the Great Barrier Reef," she said.

"Poor water quality stops coral from regrowing, kills seagrass, and blocks the sunlight needed for a healthy reef."


- Beyond recovery? -

This year's bleaching event has left 81 percent of the reef with extreme or high levels of damage -- one of the most severe and widespread on record, the latest government data shows.

It will take scientists a few more months to determine how much of the reef is beyond recovery.


Coral bleaching occurs when water temperatures rise more than one degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit).

Australian Marine Conservation Society marine ecologist Lissa Schindler welcomed the government's funding boost but said more needed to be done to address the root cause of climate change.

Historically, investment had been spread thin across the reef rather than a targeted approach, she said.


"Water pollution is one of the biggest threats to the reef outside of climate change," she told AFP.

"The reef needs every bit of help it can get."

But Australia, one of the world's largest gas and coal exporters, has only recently set targets to become carbon neutral.

'Bees starving' in disastrous year for French honey

Agence France-Presse
August 24, 2024 

Working bees on honey cells (Shutterstock)

Beekeepers across France say it has been a disastrous year for honey, with bees starving to death and production plummeting by up to 80 percent.

Mickael Isambert, a beekeeper in Saint-Ours-les-Roches in central France, lost 70 percent of his honey and had to feed his colonies sugar to help them survive after a cold, rainy spring.

"It has been a catastrophic year," said Isambert, 44, who looks after 450 hives.

A beehive typically produces 15 kilos (33 pounds) of honey a year, but this time, Isambert said his farm had only produced between five and seven kilos.

When it rains, bees "don't fly, they don't go out, so they eat their own honey reserves," said his co-manager and fellow beekeeper Marie Mior.

Low temperatures and heavy rainfall have prevented bees from gathering enough pollen, and flowers from producing nectar -- which the insects collect to make honey.

- 'Some died of hunger' -

Bad weather has affected honey producers countrywide, with spring production dropping by 80 percent in some regions -- figures that summer harvests will struggle to offset, said the French national beekeeping union (Unaf).

Rainfall rose by 45 percent on the yearly average, Unaf said in a letter to its local branches.

"With weather conditions that have been catastrophic in many regions with abundant rain... and low temperatures until late, many beekeepers' viability is under threat," said Unaf.

Temperatures stagnated below 18 degrees Celsius (64 Fahrenheit), the minimum temperature needed for flowers to produce nectar, said Jean-Luc Hascoet, a beekeeper in Brittany in western France who lost about 15 colonies.

"For some of my colleagues it was worse," he said.

"In June, the bee population increases and the needs of the colonies grow but as nothing was coming in, some died of hunger," said Hascoet.

- 'Black year' -

French beekeepers had already been reeling from dealing with several seasons of scorching heat and delayed frosts, according to Unaf president Christian Pons, making this "black year" even worse.

"Ten years ago, I made one and a half to two tons of honey per site, compared to 100 kilos today," said Pons, a beekeeper in the southern Herault region.

Honeymakers earlier this year protested against "unfair competition" by foreign producers, which led to the government releasing five million euros ($5.6 million) in aid.

French consumers eat on average 45,000 tons of honey per year, about 20,000 tons of which is produced in France, according to the left-wing Peasants Confederation union.

South Africa plans to ‘bomb’ mice that eat albatrosses alive

Agence France-Presse
August 24, 2024 2:28PM ET

(AFP)

Conservationists said Saturday that they plan to bomb a remote South African island with tons of pesticide-laced pellets to kill mice that are eating albatrosses and other seabirds alive.

Hordes of mice are devouring the eggs of some of the world’s most important seabirds that nest on Marion Island, about 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) southeast of Cape Town, and have started eating live birds, leading conservationist Mark Anderson said.

This includes the iconic Wandering Albatross, with a quarter of the world’s population nesting on the Indian Ocean island.

“The mice have now, for the first time last year, been found to be feeding on adult Wandering Albatrosses,” Anderson told a meeting of BirdLife South Africa, the country’s leading bird conservation organization.

Gruesome images presented at the meeting showed bloodied birds, some with flesh chewed off their heads.

Of the 29 species of seabirds that breed on the island, 19 are threatened with local extinction, the Mouse-Free Marion Project said.

Mouse attacks have escalated in recent years but the birds do not know how to respond because they evolved without terrestrial predators, said Anderson, a leader of the project and CEO of BirdLife South Africa.

“Mice just climb onto them and just slowly eat them until they succumb,” he told AFP. It can take days for a bird to die. “We are losing hundreds of thousands of seabirds every year through the mice.”

Extreme conditions

Billed as one of the world’s most important bird conservation efforts, the Mouse-Free Marion Project has raised about a quarter of the $29 million it needs to send a squad of helicopters to drop 600 tonnes of rodenticide-laced pellets onto the rugged island.

It wants to strike in 2027 in winter, when the mice are most hungry and the summer-breeding birds are largely absent.

The pilots will have to fly in extreme conditions and reach every part of the island, which is about 25 kilometers long and 17 kilometers wide.


“We have to get rid of every last mouse,” Anderson said. “If there was a male and female remaining, they could breed and eventually get back to where we are now.”

The mice are proliferating because warmer temperatures due to climate change means they are breeding more frequently over a longer period, Anderson said. After eating through plants and invertebrates, the mice turned to the birds.

House mice were introduced to the island in the early 1800s. Five cats were brought in around 1948 to control their numbers. But the cat numbers grew to about 2,000 and they were killing about 450,000 birds a year. An eradication project removed the last cat in 1991.

'Trump is unfit': Fox News publishes mass-GOP endorsement for Kamala Harris

Kathleen Culliton
August 23, 2024 

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a moderated conversation with former Trump administration national security official Olivia Troye and former Republican voter Amanda Stratton on July 17, 2024 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Harris is the new Democratic presidential nominee, according to FEC filings. (Photo by Chris duMond/Getty Images)

A group of powerful Republicans with decades of service in Washington D.C. have thrown their support behind Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign, the conservative network Fox News was first to report.

Twelve White House lawyers who represented former presidents Ronald Reagan's, George H.W. Bush's and George W. Bush's administrations endorsed Harris over former President Donald Trump, whom they dubbed a danger to the nation.

"We endorse Kamala Harris and support her election as President because we believe that returning former President Trump to office would threaten American democracy and undermine the rule of law in our country," the lawyers wrote in a letter obtained by Fox News.

"We urge all patriotic Republicans, former Republicans, conservative and center-right citizens, and independent voters to place love of country above party and ideology and join us in supporting Kamala Harris."

Among the signatories is Michael Luttig, the conservative judge who made headlines earlier this week with his historic decision to back a Democrat over Trump.

"I am proud to join my colleagues and friends in this endorsement," Luttig wrote on X. He extended thanks to Harris and to Fox News.

Luttig was joined by former White House attorneys John Bellinger, Benedict Cohen, Peter D. Keisler, Robert M. Kruger, John Mitnick, Alan Charles Raul, Nicholas Rostow, Peter J. Rusthoven and Wendell L. Willkie, according to Fox News.

The twelve attorneys represent a small portion of Republicans who say they'll cross the aisle to ensure Trump does not reclaim the White House in 2025.

Former Vice President Mike Pence has refused to endorse Trump and former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R-GA) and former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) went so far as to give speeches supporting Harris at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week.

John Bolton, Trump's National Security Adviser said publicly the former president is "not fit" for office. While former Attorney General Bill Barr echoed these sentiments, he has effectively endorsed the president anyway.

"Donald Trump’s own Vice President and multiple members of his Administration and White House Staff at the most senior levels – as well as former Republican nominees for President and Vice President – have already declined to endorse his reelection," the letter states. "Trump’s own Attorney General and National Security Adviser have said unequivocally that Donald Trump is unfit for office, dangerous, and detached from reality."

Trump declares support for keeping subminimum wage in Las Vegas

Jennifer Solis, Nevada Current
August 24, 2024 

Trump Friday criticized Harris’ support for legislation in 2021 to raise the federal minimum wage to $15, noting that legislation also would have eliminated the federal “tip credit” provision.

Former president Donald Trump’s first campaign event in Nevada since his Democratic rival Joe Biden dropped out was billed as an event to tout Trump’s “no tax on tips” policy.

But that message was overshadowed by Arizona independent candidate Robert F Kennedy’s announcement that he was dropping out of the race and endorsing Trump.

“We just had a very nice endorsement from RFK,” Trump said at the Las Vegas campaign event Friday.

Trump said it was “a great honor” to receive Kennedy’s endorsement, adding he would be meeting with him soon to discuss his support. Despite Kennedy’s declining polling numbers and past controversies, Trump praised him and his endorsement.

“Not everyone agrees with everything he says. That’s true of everybody, but he’s a very respected person. He’s a very beloved person in many ways,” Trump said.

Kennedy joined Trump during a campaign event in Arizona on Friday following Trump’s Las Vegas event.

With Kennedy no longer campaigning in critical battleground states, his voters are up for grabs in tight swing states. Following the endorsement, Trump’s campaign team said they believe a majority of Kennedy’s Nevada voters will break for Trump based on their own internal modeling, making his exit a net positive for Trump in major swing states.

The latest The New York Times and Siena College poll shows Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, his new rival for the presidency, neck-and-neck in Nevada — a state Biden won four years ago — with Trump leading Harris 48% to 47%.

“We’re going to win. The state is looking very good,” Trump said Friday.

It’s far from clear what if any impact Kennedy’s departure from the race will have in Nevada. Trump’s lead over Harris was actually larger when the NYT-Siena poll included Kennedy in the mix, putting Trump at 45%, Harris at 42%, and Kennedy garnering 6%.

Friday’s campaign event was Trump’s first Nevada appearance since rival Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris earlier last month.

The low-profile affair held in a Las Vegas restaurant also came within 24 hours of the last night of a raucous Democratic National Convention that officially nominated Harris.

Trump declares support for subminimum wage

Trump delivered remarks pushing his “no tax on tips” policy proposal at the Toro E La Capra restaurant, located near Sunset Road and Decatur Boulevard. The proposal would abolish federal income taxes on tips.

Trump first unveiled the policy during a campaign rally in Las Vegas in June. The policy was quickly endorsed by the politically connected Culinary Workers Union in Las Vegas.


At Friday’s event, Trump suggested his declaration to end the federal taxation of tipped income would earn him voters from Culinary workers.

“We want to get the Culinary Union,” Trump said. “A lot of them are voting for us, I can tell you that.”

The Culinary, however, has endorsed Harris, and prior to Trump’s remarks Friday, Culinary officials held an event and issued a statement slamming Trump.


“Kamala Harris has promised to raise the minimum wage for all workers – including tipped workers – and eliminate tax on tips,” said Culinary Vice President Leain Vashon.

Vashon said Trump didn’t help tipped workers while he was president, so “Why would we trust him? Kamala has a plan, Trump has a slogan.”

While details on Trump’s tax policy are scant, the policy proposal quickly gained steam, leading Nevada Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen to back a “no tax on tips,” bill introduced by Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.


Harris later proposed her own “no tax on tips” policy.

“Kamala Harris is now pretending to endorse my policy,” Trump said. “She’s a copycat. She’s a flip flopper.”

Harris’ position — similar to legislation Nevada Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford said he will sponsor — eliminates federal taxation on tips, but would also eliminate the federal subminimum wage on tipped incomes, which can be as low as $2.13 an hour.


Trump Friday criticized Harris’ support for legislation in 2021 to raise the federal minimum wage to $15, noting that legislation also would have eliminated the federal “tip credit” provision.

That is the provision in federal law that allows employers to pay tipped workers less than the federal minimum wage.

“Kamala supports a bill to eliminate the federal tip credit, which would force restaurants to impose large service charges on diners, meaning customers will not leave tips at all, and you’ll be stuck with a minimum wage,” Trump said. “I will never let that happen under the Trump administration.”


Horsford has said his legislation would also include guardrails designed to prevent employers or high-end earners from exploiting the elimination of federal taxation of tips.

The policy may have some appeal in the Silver State. Nevada has one of the largest shares of tipped workers in the nation. Nevada is also one of only seven states that have abolished the subminimum wage for tipped workers altogether.

Nationally, as many as 4.3 million people work in predominantly tipped occupations in the United States, according to the National Employment Law Project. Women also make up more than two-thirds of the tipped workforce, according to the National Woman’s Center. Tipped workers are also more than twice as likely to live in poverty compared to the overall workforce.


Neither the Culinary nor congressional backers can provide an estimate of how much of a financial impact would actually be realized if tips weren’t taxed.

An analysis by the left-leaning Center for American Progress projects that “exempting tips from income taxes does nothing for tipped workers whose earnings are so low that they are already exempt from income taxes.”

The group points to an estimate from the Yale Budget Lab indicating at least a third of tipped workers don’t make enough to pay any income taxes, and for moderate wage tipped workers who do pay income taxes, any tax relief from not taxing the tipped portion of their income would be small.

Harris and Trump are set to debate Sept. 10.

Nevada Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nevada Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Hugh Jackson for questions: info@nevadacurrent.com. Follow Nevada Current on Facebook and X.