Arizona Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and Progressive Democrats and Community Leaders Statement on Presidential Election

By Arizona Presidential Election Statement

October 25, 2024

Source: Signed Statement

Image in public domain

As Democrats and leaders in the Palestinian, Arab, Muslim and Progressive communities in Arizona, we the undersigned make the following statement, published on 10/24/2024:

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This past year has been very difficult for all of us. With over 42,000 Palestinians killed by Israel using American-supplied weapons and no end in sight despite all our struggle for a ceasefire, we approach the presidential election heartbroken and outraged.

We know that many in our communities are resistant to vote for Kamala Harris because of the Biden administration’s complicity in the genocide. We understand this sentiment. Many of us have felt that way ourselves, even until very recently. Some of us have lost many family members in Gaza and Lebanon. We respect those who feel they simply can’t vote for a member of the administration that sent the bombs that may have killed their loved ones.

As we consider the full situation carefully, however, we conclude that voting for Kamala Harris is the best option for the Palestinian cause and all of our communities. We know that some will strongly disagree. We only ask that you consider our case with an open mind and heart, respecting that we are doing what we believe is right in an awful situation where only flawed choices are available.

In our view, it is crystal clear that allowing the fascist Donald Trump to become President again would be the worst possible outcome for the Palestinian people. A Trump win would be an extreme danger to Muslims in our country, all immigrants, and the American pro-Palestine movement. It would be an existential threat to our democracy and our whole planet.

When we think of Trump in power again, we recall that even a genocide can get much worse. Trump just said that Netanhahu must “go further” in Gaza while criticizing Biden for “trying to hold him back.” His biggest donor, Miriam Adelson, who demanded in 2016 that Trump move the US embassy to Jerusalem if elected –– which he then did –– is now telling Trump to allow Israel to annex the entire West Bank. Netanyahu, Ben Gvir, Smotrich, and the entire far right in Israel want Trump to win and grant Israel total free reign. We cannot give them what they want.

Trump must be defeated. The only way to defeat him is to elect Kamala Harris.

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Voting for Harris is not a personal endorsement of her or of the policy decisions of the administration in which she served. It’s an assessment of the best possible option to continue fighting for an end to the genocide, a free Palestine, and all else that we hold dear.

We are deeply frustrated that Harris has not yet met our movement’s demand that she break with Biden, defy the powerful extremists enforcing the status quo, stand with the majority of Americans, and pledge to uphold US law and international law and condition aid to Israel. Still we believe there are clear reasons to hope that we can win positive policy change with a Harris administration and a Democratic Congress.

Multiple media reports state that Harris’s national security advisors are open to re-evaluating policy and conditioning aid to Israel. On October 13th, the same day the administration threatened to re-evaluate military support if Israel did not improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza and reduce civilian casualties in the next 30 days, Harris tweeted: “Israel must urgently do more to facilitate the flow of aid to those in need. Civilians must be protected and have access to food, water, and medicine. International humanitarian law must be respected.” In Michigan the other day, Harris expressed clear empathy for the suffering of the people of Palestine and Lebanon and the impact of this devastation on Arab Americans. She pledged to do “everything in her power” as President to end the war in Gaza, end the suffering of Palestinians there, and achieve “a future of security and dignity for all people in the region.”

Beyond Harris’s statements, we know that her decisions as President will be shaped by the larger Democratic Party coalition that includes a growing force pushing for Palestinian human rights. Our Arizona Democratic Party passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in January. Every single member of Congress who has publicly called for a ceasefire in Gaza or for an arms embargo is a Democrat. The major national unions, civil rights groups, and progressive organizations that have called for a halt to military aid to Israel are all working to elect Harris.

On the other hand, the Republican Party coalition offers zero opposition to unconditional support for Israel and zero support for Palestinian human rights. Instead Republicans urge the US to join Israel in bombing Iran, call to “bounce the rubble in Gaza” and “kill ‘em all,” and would likely support the Israeli far right’s drive to annex Gaza and the West Bank.

What about a third party? Many in our communities believe this is our best option. Unfortunately, there is not a single third party member of Congress or even state legislator in America. In our electoral system, no third party candidate can win this election. But voting for them could make Trump president.

The polls show the presidential election is extremely close and that it will be decided by 7 swing states, including Arizona. While voting 3rd party may be strategic in non-swing states as a protest of the current US Israel/Palestine policy or as a step to qualifying the Green Party for public funding in future elections by winning at least 5% of the national vote, doing it in Arizona or other swing states in such a close election could bring disaster.

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Some argue that if Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim voters and our allies vote for a 3rd party candidate and intentionally throw the election to Trump, taking credit for defeating Harris, it will prove our power to decide a close election and “punish Democrats” for complicity in genocide. Unfortunately, this is not how power, politics, or change works in our country. When Ralph Nader helped throw the election to Bush in 2000, he was rejected by millions for whom he was once a hero, banished ever since to the political margins. When Jill Stein helped throw the election to Trump in 2016, she remained relegated to the political fringe, becoming less powerful not more. If our communities ally with the Green Party to defeat Harris, we risk marginalizing ourselves as they did by alienating the tens of millions of voters who support the cause of Palestinian freedom and are fighting to defeat Trump by electing her.

Instead, by helping to elect Kamala Harris, we can say, “Despite it all, we gave you another chance and helped put you in office to defend democracy and uphold our highest American values. Now uphold them: end the genocide and secure Palestinian self-determination. We will fight every day to hold you to it.” If Harris and Democrats win, we will wage that fight with more allies among the American people, Congress, and the White House than ever before. If they don’t deliver, we will have a mandate and mass support to hold them accountable through every nonviolent tool of democracy, including protests, resignations, civil disobedience, primary election challenges, and even potential mass noncooperation. It’s a difficult path, but the one that offers the most hope.

The first step –– and our best choice in this horrible situation –– is defeating Trump by electing Harris. We urge you to join us.

SIGNERS

* affiliations listed for identification purposes only

Maher Arekat, Founder, Palestine Community Center of Arizona

Usama Shami, President, Islamic Community Center of Phoenix

Fadi Zanayed, Vice President, American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine – Arizona

Shams AbdusSamad, Secretary, Maricopa County Dem Party; ADP Exec Cmte Mmbr – At Large & SCM

Samir Mufarreh, Palestinian American Christian Community Leader

Maissa Khatib, Palestinian American Professor

Jordan Harb, Lebanese American Youth Leader

Stephen Mufarreh, Attorney, Palestinian American Christian Community Leader

Misaal Irfan, Pakistani American Community Leader

Samara Hamideh, Palestinian Youth Organizer

Mohamed El-Sharkawy, Palestinian American and a Muslim leader

Ala Rumah, Syrian American Activist

Dina Hamideh, Coordinator, Arizona Palestine Film Festival

Salauddin Choudhury, Bangladeshi Community Leader; DNC Delegate CD 5; LD 14 SCM

Hani Hani, President, American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine – Arizona

Dr. Navid Khan, Pakistani American Community Leader

Deena Mufarreh, Chair, American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine – Arizona

Syed Nasir Raza, Progressive Pakistani-American Community Leader; AZ Progressives

Ashraf Elgamal, President, Arab American Organization

Salina Imam, Charity Program Leader

Sawsan Tannous, Chair, American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine – Arizona

Saher Afzal, Pakistani American, Arizona Education Association member, and Exec board AEA local

Nathan Mufara, Chair, American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine – Arizona

Dr. Jaffrey Khazi, Community Leader

Hashim Hamid , Palestinian American Community Elder and Retired Businessman

​​Ameena Arekat, Palestinian American Health Care Worker

Mo Al Hwan Bahu, Palestinian American Christian

Deanna Dabbah, Former President, Arab American Anti-Discrimination Cmte, Fountain Hills, AZ

Dr. Hazem Jabr, Palestinian American Dentist

Jack Saba, Syrian American Entertainer & Democratic Voter

Ramzi Arikat, Palestinian American Business Owner in Phoenix

Shaikh F Shams, LD13 PC & State Cmte Member, Bangladeshi American Community Leader

Hussein Jabr, Palestinian American Doctor

Md Ibrahim Faisal, Bangladeshi American Progressive Democrats

Dean Dabbah, Community Activist, Fountain Hills, AZ

Mazen Arekat, Palestinian American Business Owner

Sujat Jamil, Bangladeshi American Progressive Democrats

Rocky Francis, Iraqi American Businessman

Hazem Arekat, Palestinian American Businessman

Arif Mahmud, Volunteer

Qumrul Ahsan, Precinct committee member LD13

Shahriar Anwar, LD13

Menassa Abinader, Lebanese American; Owner, Mejana Restaurant

Charlotte Hosseini, Sedona Resident ; Concerned citizen and voter

Tan Jakwani, Muslim Community Leader

William Havel, Iraqi Refugee

Jennifer Loewenstein, Jewish Voice for Peace – Tucson ; Arizona Palestine Network (AZ PAL)

Jessica Burke, Jewish Community Member & Progressive Activist

Bob Lord, Former Arizona Congressional Candidate, Jewish Community Member

Rachel Port, Jewish Voice for Peace – Tucson

Laurie Melrood, Jewish Voice for Peace – Tucson; LD 20

Rep. Mariana Sandoval, LD 23

Rep. Quantá Crews, LD 26 ; State and Precinct Committee Person

Martín J. Quezada, Former State Senator

Kai Newkirk, Co-Chair, Arizona Democratic Party Progressive Council

Erika Andiola, Immigrant Rights Leader & Bernie 2016 Latino Outreach Press Secretary

Mikkel Jordahl, Attorney

Belén Sisa, Former Latino Press Secretary for Bernie 2020 and DACA Recipient

Salil Deshpande, LD18 State Committee Member; DNC Standing Committee Member

Dan O’Neal, Progressive Democrats of America – Arizona State Coordinator

Armonee D. Jackson, President, Young Democrats of Arizona

Eva Putzova, Former City of Flagstaff Councilmember

Emily Kirkland, PC LD 8; Former Executive Director, Progress Arizona

Melissa Galarza, Chair, LD12 Democrats

Cameron Bautista, Youth Organizer & School Board Coordinator, KeepAZBlue Student Coalition

Nick Collins, LD 12 State Cmte Member, Progressive Council Interim Steering Committee

Ken Kenegos, LD 18 PC, member Progressive Democrats of America

Michael Bradley, Arizona Palestine Network, LD 4 PC

David Higgins, Co-Founder, Arizona Palestine Network (AZ PAL)

Natacha Chavez, Precinct committee person LD 22

Sarah León, Community organizer

Elizabeth Hourican, CODEPINK Phoenix

Emily Verdugo, Community Leader

Kyle Nitschke, LD 6 State Committee Member

Barbara J. Taft, Leadership Team, WILPF US Middle East Peace and Justice Action Committee

Nicole Gutiérrez Miller, State and Precinct Committee Person, LD 12

Dianne Post, International Human Rights Attorney

Lindsay Love, Owner & therapist at TherapyLuv, PLLC ; former CUSD school board member

Joan Etude Arrow, Founder, Arizona Progressive Action Community (AZPAC)

Elizabeth Ogren, LD5 PC and State Committee Member

Jenise Porter, PC and State Committeeperson AZ LD18

Dave Wells, United Campus Workers of AZ, PC LD9

Andreas Clayton La Grow, Community Organizer

Robert Flamida, Palestine Community Center of Arizona, Member

Dr. Marannagan, Autistics for Peace

Bonnie L Lynn, State Committee Member

Frederic Artus, LD 5

Isabel O’Neal, State Committee, PC LD 14, CD 5 Immigration Advocate

Deborah Arekat, Democratic Voter

Asfandyar Khalid, Na

Kathy F. Yontz, PC LD12

Pardis Baradar, LD 12 PC

Grace Wagner Democrat LD8

Laiken Jordahl, Community organizer/advocate

Kathryn Soderquist, Constituent, AZ LD 9

Jana Rose Ochs, Progressive Democrats of America, Progressive Activist

Victoria Eloisa Ramos, Community Leader

Aaron J Essif, LD17 PC & SCM, PDA, Indivisibles

Judith Hilton Coburn, Member, CodePink Phoenix, PDA, Phoenix Anti War Coalition

Peggy Thomas, Progressive Democrats of America activist

Anne Khoury, Concerned citizen and voter

Emily Williams, Democrat LD 12

 

May Golan, Israeli Minister, Calls for a Nakba on Israeli News

by Dissident Voice Communications / October 25th, 2024

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Dissident Voice Communications (DVC) is a non-profit meta-company in the public interest (well, depends on which public), we aim to challenge the hegemony of Big Media by communicating... all sorts of stuff. Read other articles by Dissident Voice Communications.

 

Brazil: 5 Years on, Amazon Guardian’s Killers Still Escape Justice

by Survival International / October 25th, 2024

Paulo Paulino “Lobo” Guajajara, Guardian of the Amazon, was killed in an ambush by loggers in his people’s territory, Arariboia. © Sarah Shenker/Survival International

Five years after the killing of Paulo Paulino Guajajara, an Indigenous Amazon Guardian who was gunned down by illegal loggers, his family still waits for justice.

Paulo’s death was widely covered by the world’s press, but despite the global outcry, the killers have never been brought to trial. Two men, Antônio Wesly Nascimento Coelho and Raimundo Nonato Ferreira de Sousa, have been charged, but not tried.

Paulo Paulino, known also as Kwahu Tenetehar, was shot in the neck and died in the forest after an ambush by loggers. His colleague, Tainaky Tenetehar, was shot in the back and arm but escaped.

The Amazon Guardians have patrolled their territory in the eastern Amazon, which has been heavily invaded by loggers, for more than 15 years. Uncontacted members of the Awá people also live in the territory.

Amazon Guardians Tainaky Tenetehar (left), Paulo Paulino Guajajara (center) and Olimpio Guajajara (right) during an operation to destroy an illegal logging camp. Paulo was shot dead in November 2019, Tainaky was wounded. © Sarah Shenker/Survival International

At least six Guardians have been killed, and many of their relatives shot dead, as loggers and land grabbers target their territory, known as Arariboia – one of the last areas of forest left in that region, in the eastern state of Maranhão.

Survival has supported the Guardians for many years. Survival’s Brazil researcher Sarah Shenker, who accompanied the Guardians on one of their operations, said five years ago: “Kwahu was completely dedicated to defending his forest and his uncontacted relatives, despite the risks. He was also one of the most humble people I’ve ever met.

“He knew that he might pay with his life, but he saw no alternative, as the authorities did nothing to protect the forest and uphold the rule of law.”

His friends and colleagues paid tribute to him in an emotional video.

After years of pressure from the Guardians, and from contacted Awá people, Brazilian authorities have finally begun construction of a guard post in the Arariboia territory, to help them monitor, and prevent incursions by, illegal loggers.

In a statement to mark the anniversary of Paulo’s murder, the Guardians said: “We feel the distress of the Guajajara people over the continued impunity of our people’s murderers, and especially of the warrior Paulo Paulino, who we will always remember, above all for his struggle to protect our ancestral territory.

“The Guardians are preparing an act of remembrance to mark five years of impunity, and we join Survival for this moment of denunciation, and to demand that those responsible for the murder of Paulo Paulino are duly tried and sentenced.”

Fiona Watson, Survival International’s Director of Research and Advocacy, said today: “Five years ago Paulo Paulino paid with his life to protect his beloved rainforest home, and the Indigenous people who live in it.

“He was one of countless Indigenous people in Brazil killed every year for defending their land – and the killers persist because they know it’s unlikely they will ever face justice. Brazil’s government pays lip service to the need to protect what is left of the Amazon – but the people defending it on the ground are sacrificing their lives as the rainforest is destroyed around them. How much longer will this appalling injustice continue?”

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Survival International, founded in 1969 after an article by Norman Lewis in the UK's Sunday Times highlighted the massacres, land thefts and genocide taking place in Brazilian Amazonia, is the only international organization supporting tribal peoples worldwide. Contact Survival International at: info@survival-international.org. Read other articles by Survival International, or visit Survival International's website.

3 journalists killed in Israeli airstrike on press compound in southern Lebanon

WAR CRIME: DELIBERATELY TARGETED


Lebanese Armed Forces soldiers inspect a destroyed vehicle marked "Press" in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in Hasbaya in the south of the country in the early hours of Friday that killed two Lebanese cameramen and a broadcast engineer and injured three others. The men were staying in a compound housing journalists from seven news organizations. Photo by STR/EPA-EFE

Oct. 25, 2024 


Oct. 25 (UPI) -- An Israeli airstrike on a compound in southeastern Lebanon killed three journalists Friday and injured three other people, according to their news organizations and health officials.

The Hezbollah-run Al-Manar network said one of its cameramen died in the attack in Hasbaya near the border with Israel and the pro-Iranian Al Mayadeen said it had lost a cameraman and a broadcast engineer, The New York Times reported.

Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary, who said the site housed seven news organizations with 18 journalists present in total, alleged the site was targeted on purpose saying the attack was a "war crime."

The BBC said the three deceased were all Lebanese nationals, naming them as Al Manar's Wissam Qassem and cameraman Ghassan Najjar and engineer Mohamed Reda from Al Mayadeen.

Footage circulating online, purportedly of the aftermath, shows vehicles, flak jackets and other items clearly marked "Press" although these may not have been visible as the airstrike took in darkness at around 3 a.m. local time.

Israel Defense Forces did not immediately comment but the incident, which brings to eight the number of journalists in Lebanon killed in Israeli strikes, brought protests from groups advocating for journalists' safety and press freedom.

The Committee to Protect Journalists in New York said it "strongly condemned" Israel's killing of three journalists in southern Lebanon.

"The international community must act to stop Israel's long-standing pattern of impunity in journalist killings," the non-profit said in a post on X.

Israel has consistently denied that it targets journalists but according to CPJ's preliminary findings ahead of Friday's deaths, at least 128 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, making it the deadliest period for journalists in the organization's 32-year history.

At least three of those killed, two staffers and a freelancer, worked for the Qatar-run international TV news network, Al Jazeera, which Israel expelled from the country in May over its coverage of the Gaza war which the Israeli government and military alleged was unbalanced and unfair.

On Wednesday Israel named six Al Jazeera journalists as alleged Hamas operatives, saying they were using Al Jazeera's global reach to shill for Hamas, a group designated as a terror organization by the United States and many other Western countries.

It also accused five of the six of holding military roles in Hamas ranging from sniper to battalion team commander, in addition to their propaganda duties.

Israel said it had "unequivocal" documentary evidence against the journalists but Al Jazeera completely rejected the claims, accusing the IDF of pursuing a policy of targeting its staff working in Gaza.

The CPJ also expressed skepticism over the IDF claims saying it was part of a pattern of groundless accusations.

"Israel has repeatedly made similar unproven claims without producing credible evidence," the group said pointing to similar "documentary proof" showing Al Jazeera reporter Ismail Al-Ghoul, who was 26 when he was killed in an IDF drone strike in Gaza in July, received a Hamas military ranking in 2007 -- when he would have been 10 years old.

Polish radio station's move to replace journalists with AI bots sparks backlash


Three AI-generated avatars began delivering the news on a Polish radio station this week, sparking a backlash by journalists who say they were laid off to accommodate the move. Photo by Maylin Sojo/Pixabay

Oct. 25, 2024 

Oct. 25 (UPI) -- A Polish radio station that replaced its human journalists with a trio of artificial intelligence-generated avatars to compile the news has sparked a backlash from reporters and skepticism from the government.

Calling it an "experiment" on "the opportunities and threats that the development of artificial intelligence bring," the online station OFF Radio Krakow on Monday rolled out a new format in which three virtual hosts, created using AI technology, deliver news content prepared by "real journalists who use artificial intelligence tools" to generate the text.

The AI avatars each host a two-hour show on weekdays, according to Marcin Pulit, the station's editor-in-chief.

"The project is time-limited," he said. "We assume that it will last no longer than 3 months and will be evaluated."

Despite assurances the use of AI-generated journalists is merely a temporary experiment, alarms were set off across the country.

Mateusz Demski, a former live host at OFF Radio Krakow who insists real journalists were laid off by the station in order to automate the news, led an effort to bring the incident to the attention of the public and the government.

Demski said Thursday a petition he composed, addressed to fellow journalists and Polish government officials demanding an explanation of the move, had been delivered to the Ministry of Culture with 19,000 signatures.

Nowhere in Pulit's announcement does he mention "that several people had lost their jobs shortly before," the petition states.

A letter similarly demanding information on the AI hosts signed by former journalists at OFF Radio Krakow was sent to Polish Culture Minister Hanna Wróblewska, Demski said in a Facebook post.

The controversy was also joined by Deputy Polish Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski, who serves as the country's minister of digital affairs. He voiced skepticism about the station's move in a social media post on Wednesday.

"I read Mateusz Demski's story about the replacement of journalists by artificial intelligence at OFF Radio Krakow and although I am a fan of AI development, I believe that certain boundaries are being crossed more and more," he wrote, adding, "The widespread use of AI must be done for people, not against them!"

Pulit denied that live journalists were laid off to make way for the AI bots.

He told the Polish business news website Money.pl that "no OFF Radio Krakow employee was dismissed" -- rather, freelancers who were supplying a limited amount of original content to a station that mainly played automated music had contracts that were allowed to lapse.

"The listenership range of OFF Radio Krakow was close to zero," Pulit said, adding that its programming overlapped with its parent station, Radio Krakow, and another digital channel.

"This was the basis for the decision to make the change," he said.

21ST CENTURY IMPERIALISM

Wary of Japan's "Asian NATO" Proposal, Neighboring Countries Stick With Web of Alternatives

Oct. 25, 2024

Italian Navy, Italian-French European Multi Mission Frigate (FREMM ), Alpino (F594) arrives at Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Yokosuka Naval Base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa-Prefecture, Japan on Thursday, August 22, 2024. Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 25 (UPI) --Japan In the lead-up to his election, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba floated the idea of an "Asian NATO" to deter the increasing aggressiveness of China in the Asia-Pacific region. The prospect of setting up an alliance in the Asia-Pacific region resembling the collective defense promised by Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty is hindered by the reality that few, if any, countries are willing to commit to the collective defense of an area where a nuclear nation is already actively testing the limits of its power.

The proposal faced skepticism from regional players, particularly ASEAN countries, which fear that such an alliance could increase economic tensions with China and disrupt their stance of non-alignment. Prime Minister Ishiba has since backed away from this proposal and did not mention it during his first overseas visit with ASEAN leaders earlier this month.

"There are two ways to read it," said Robert Ward, Japan Chair and Director of Geo-economics and Strategy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in an interview with UPI.

"One is to take it literally. It is a complicated thing to bring about, not least of which because you would need constitutional change [in Japan]....The other thing is to look at it as Ishiba floating ideas...this idea not in itself, but what he's trying to convey with this in terms of where Japan's future security debate should go. What he's really saying is that 'the threat from China is so significant that we really need to link up with like-minded countries.'"

Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said in a statement earlier this month in response to Ishiba's proposal that Japan "often hypes up the non-existent 'China threat' to divert the international community's attention from its own military expansion."

China's military exercises earlier this month encircled Taiwan, setting a record with the highest number of Chinese military aircraft crossing the sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait, while Chinese coast guard vessels intentionally collided with Philippine ships during maritime standoffs earlier this year. Japan and its regional allies are concerned that China's threats to the region are far from "hyped-up" and are part of a greater normalization of incremental encroachments in the region.

"We are facing a post-peak globalization planet that now is operating essentially under new rules of the game," said Mike Studeman, National Security Fellow at MITRE and former Rear Admiral and Commander of the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence, at a Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (FCCJ) press conference on October 25th.

"When one country that size becomes very zero-sum and mercantilist, then it has very strong repercussions for many other countries that are interdependent."

One effect of this, however, has been the recent doubling down on Japanese defense spending proposals that would have, in the recent past, seemed unthinkable. Although there is skepticism about the proposed timeline, Japan's latest National Security Strategy, published in 2022, announced an increase in military spending to 2% of its GDP. While on par with the proposed military spending for NATO members, this potentially puts Japan on track to become the third-largest military in the world. However, constitutional limitations prevent this from being called a "military" and would still restrict its offensive capabilities. The weakening of the yen is another obstacle that could prevent many of Japan's defense ambitions from coming to fruition.

While an "Asian NATO" might be a bridge too far, a plethora of smaller formal and informal defense alliances already exist in Asia and are expanding in addition to the many cooperative trade agreements in the region set up with half an eye on balancing China's influence. The Japan-Philippines Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), created in July, is an example, which allows Japanese forces to deploy in the Philippines for joint military exercises. Japan has also signed RAA agreements with Australia and the United Kingdom.

The Quad (an informal alliance between the U.S., Japan, Australia, and India) meets frequently to discuss defense and security in the Asia-Pacific region. There has been support for the idea that this alliance should be expanded into a "Quint" or a "Quad Plus" to include South Korea. South Korean President Yoon has signaled in the past that South Korea would accept an invitation if one were made.

"What you've got now is these groupings, many laterals, some of them more formal than others," says Ward.

"The beauty of these is that you can link like-minded countries together on specific issues and deal with specific strategic issues in a kind of spot way, whereas if you try to link everybody up, you'd never get agreement."

An "Asian NATO" may not be possible to create given the geopolitical diversity of the Asia-Pacific. However, the diversity of ideas within Asia on how to manage Chinese aggression have in effect acted as a multiplier, creating a broad spectrum of alliances and approaches that make managing the balancing forces that China is up against much more complex.

"China would love to be able to only deal with these things bilaterally where they maintain all of the advantages," says Studeman. "This is a time when many states need to work together as a coalition."

King Charles III acknowledges 'painful past,' does not endorse reparations for royal slavery profiteering

Britain's King Charles III Thursday acknowledged a painful past of Britain and the royal family's profiting from human slavery, but did not support financial reparations payments at a Samoan summit of Commonwealth leaders. Twelve British monarchs profited from the slave trade over a span of 270 years, according to historians. Photo by Lukas Coch/ EPA-EFE

Oct. 25 (UPI) -- King Charles III acknowledged a "painful" past of Britain and the royal family's profiting from human slavery, but did not support financial reparations payments at a Samoan summit of Commonwealth leaders.

Speaking to the gathering in Chogm, Charles said, "the most painful aspects" of the British commonwealth's past "continue to resonate."

He said there is a need to "acknowledge where we have come from."

According to historians, for 270 years 12 British monarchs sponsored, supported or profited from Britain's human slave trafficking.

From Elizabeth I in the 1500s, who shared profits from the slave trade and gave a large royal ship to slave trader John Hawkins, all the way to William IV in the 1800s, Britain's royal family directly benefited from slavery.

Some African and Caribbean nations have called for Britain and other European powers to pay financial reparations as compensation for slavery.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has ruled out reparations or even apologizing for Britain's complicity in the slave trade, but has indicated a willingness to support debt relief and financial institution restructuring to partially address reparatory justice.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said a reparative justice plan is needed that deals with the enduring psychological and socioeconomic impacts of slavery.

He noted that millions of dollars in compensation went to enslavers when slavery was abolished, while zero was paid to those people who were enslaved.

"There was nothing for them to start with and build on -- no land, no money, no training, no education," Gonsalves told The Guardian.

Calls for reparations in the British Commonwealth aren't just attempts to get money paid to slavery's victims of the past, it's an effort to officially recognize that centuries of enslavement have had centuries of adverse impacts on descendants of slaves.

Just one company formed by British royals to conduct the slave trade took 41,923 African slaves captive on its ships from 1714-1740, according to the Slave Voyages database.

Queen Anne, who reigned from 1702-1714, dramatically expanded Britain's slave trading by using the South Sea Company to secure a monopoly on supplying African slaves to Spain's South American colonies.

In 2023, Charles III indicated support for researching royal family links to slavery after a 1689 document revealed King William III had a financial investment in a slave trading company.

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PRIVATIZED WATER

Thames Water secures $3.9B loan to keep it afloat through October 2025


Thames Water, Britain's largest water utility, announced Friday it had secured a $3.9 billion lifeline, access to cash reserves and extensions on its liabilities to keep it afloat for the next 12 months as it battles to restructure a $20.8 billion mountain of debt. File photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Britain's embattled Thames Water, the country's largest water utility, announced Friday it had secured a $3.9 billion line of credit, access to cash reserves and extensions on its debt to keep it afloat through October 2025 after regulators capped bill rises.

The company, which serves 16 million homes and businesses in London and the southeast, said in a news release that it had launched a "consent process" on a transaction support agreement with its creditors and shareholders that if approved would provide a significant boost to Thames Water's "liquidity runway."

It said completion of the Liquidity Extension Transaction and the related Security Trust and Intercreditor Deed proposals would improve the solvency position of the business sufficiently "to enable us to continue with the planned investment and maintenance of our infrastructure in order to continue to meet customers' needs, and our environmental responsibilities."

The deal buys Thames more time to restructure a $20.8 billion debt mountain that it admitted would climb to $23.3 billion by the end of the financial year in March.

Related

British water companies ordered to repay $139M to customers for poor performance
Britain's Thames Water secures $960M cash injection amid nationalization threat
Britain weighs taking Thames Water utility into public ownership
British water utilities seek approval for $117B modernization plan paid for by higher bills
British water companies ordered to repay $139M to customers for poor performance

But Thames said it would also allow it to progress its equity raise process, a recapitalization transaction and complete a final determination process to figure out if a five-year Ofwat package of price controls, service requirements and incentives is workable -- and if not, to appeal to the antitrust regulator.

Launching an appeal with the Competition and Markets Authority would further extend the transaction, keeping Thames liquid for another seven months through May 2026.

The BBC reported that the deal centered on existing creditors agreeing to take a haircut.

Last month, Thames warned it could run out of money by December after Ofwat, the water industry regulator, placed it in special measures and denied it permission in July to hike customers' bills -- initially by 43% by 2030 and then 53% -- that the company said it needed to avoid going bust

Thames and 15 other water utilities in England and Wales wanted to cover the $135.7 billion cost of modernization plans to maintain quality drinking water, build 10 new reservoirs and cut water pollution by raising annual bills by $187 over the next five years.

But Ofwat capped the rise at $122 amid public anger over poor performance including the loss of billions of gallons of water through leaks, raw sewage spills into rivers and lakes and polluted swimming beaches.

Thames was allowed a 23% raise meaning the average bill will rise to $695 a year.

The cap is linked to a September 2023 ruling in which Ofwat said 11 of the water companies must pay their customers back a combined $139 million in 2024 through lower bills as a penalty for "underperformance" on pollution, leaks and customer service.

As the largest water utility by far, Thames had to pick up 90% of the tab or $122.7 million after their performance was assessed against annual targets for 2022 to 2023 and found "seriously wanting." It was among seven water companies judged as "lagging, with the other four deemed only "average" and none were categorized as 'leading.'"

However, CEO Chris Weston hailed Friday's announcement as proof of the progress Thames, which has a $20.8 billion debt mountain, was making toward getting back onto a more stable financial footing, stressing that the company had also upped Ofwat-verified service performance levels

"We are working closely with and have the support of our creditors, enabling Thames to continue to implement our turnaround plan so that we can deliver better results for our customers and the environment whilst seeking to attract new capital into the business," said CEO Chris Weston.

"In the meantime, our teams on the ground continue to supply our services to our 16 million customers every day."

Thames Water Chairman Sir Adrian Montague said the finance injection was an important step in the process of bolstering the company's long-term financial resilience.

"There will be further stages and we will continue to work collaboratively with our many stakeholders as we look to attract new equity into the business and seek a final determination that enables the delivery of our ambitious business plan for the next five years," said Sir Adrian.

Proof that immigrants fuel U.S. economy can be seen in the billions they send back home

By Ernesto Castañeda, American University
Oct. 25, 2024 

THE CONVERSATION

Social scientists and analysts tend to concur that immigration -- both documented and undocumented -- spurs economic growth. Photo by Pixabay/Pexels

Donald Trump has vowed to deport millions of immigrants if he is elected to a second term, claiming that, among other things, foreign-born workers take jobs from others. His running mate JD Vance has echoed those anti-immigrant views.

Researchers, however, generally agree that massive deportations would hurt the U.S. economy, perhaps even triggering a recession.

Social scientists and analysts tend to concur that immigration -- both documented and undocumented -- spurs economic growth. But it is almost impossible to calculate directly how much immigrants contribute to the economy. That's because we don't know the earnings of every immigrant worker in the United States.

We do, however, have a good idea of how much they send back to their home countries -- more than $81 billion in 2022, according to the World Bank. And we can use this figure to indirectly calculate the total economic value of immigrant labor in the United States.

Economic contributions are likely underestimated

I conducted a study with researchers at the Center for Latin American and Latino Studies and the Immigration Lab at American University to quantify how much immigrants contribute to the U.S. economy based on their remittances, or money sent back home.

Several studies indicate that remittances constitute 17.5% of immigrants' income.

Given that, we estimate that the immigrants who remitted in 2022 had take-home wages of over $466 billion. Assuming their take-home wages are around 21% of the economic value of what they produce for the businesses they work for -- like workers in similar entry-level jobs in restaurants and construction -- then immigrants added a total of $2.2 trillion to the U.S. economy yearly.

That is about 8% of the gross domestic product of the United States and close to the entire GDP of Canada in 2022 -- the world's ninth-largest economy.

Immigration strengthens the United States

Beyond its sheer value, this figure tells us something important about immigrant labor: The main beneficiaries of immigrant labor are the U.S. economy and society.

The $81 billion that immigrants sent home in 2022 is a tiny fraction of their total economic value of $2.2 trillion. The vast majority of immigrant wages and productivity -- 96% -- stayed in the United States.

Remittances from the United States represent a substantial income source for the people who receive them. But they do not represent a siphoning of U.S. dollars, as Trump has implied when he called remittances "welfare" for people in other countries and suggested taxing them to pay for the construction of a border wall.

The economic contributions of U.S. immigrants are likely to be even more substantial than what we calculate.

For one thing, the World Bank's estimate of immigrant remittances is probably an undercount, since many immigrants send money abroad with people traveling to their home countries.

In prior research, my colleagues and I have also found that some groups of immigrants are less likely to remit than others.

One is white-collar professionals -- immigrants with careers in banking, science, technology and education, for example. Unlike many undocumented immigrants, white-collar professionals typically have visas that allow them to bring their families with them, so they do not need to send money abroad to cover their household expenses back home.

Immigrants who have been working in the country for decades and have more family in the country also tend to send remittances less often.

Both of these groups have higher earnings, and their specialized contributions are not included in our $2.2 trillion estimate.

Additionally, our estimates do not account for the economic growth stimulated by immigrants when they spend money in the United States, creating demand, generating jobs and starting businesses that hire immigrants and locals.

For example, we calculate the contributions of Salvadoran immigrants and their children alone added roughly $223 billion to the U.S. economy in 2023. That's about 1% of the country's entire GDP.

Considering that the U.S. economy grew by about 2% in 2022 and 2023, that's a substantial sum.

These figures are a reminder that the financial success of the United States relies on immigrants and their labor.

Ernesto Castañeda is a professor at American University.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

RIP

Grateful Dead bassist, co-founder Phil Lesh dies at 84


Grateful Dead co-founder Phil Lesh, shown performing at the Mizner Park Amphitheater in Boca Raton, Fla., on June 22, 2006, died Friday at age 84. File Photo by Michael Bush/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Phil Lesh, the innovative and unconventional bassist and founding member of the seminal American rock band The Grateful Dead, died Friday. He was 84.

The announcement of his death was posted on his official Instagram page.



Lesh "passed peacefully this morning. He was surrounded by his family and full of love. Phil brought immense joy to everyone around him and leaves behind a legacy of music and love," the post read.

Lesh, born in Berkeley, Calif., on March 15, 1940, attended the University of California-Berkeley after growing up in a middle-class family headed by his parents, who owned an office machine repair shop.

After making several musical forays and receiving classical training, Lesh first met Grateful Dead co-founder Jerry Garcia in 1959 and again in 1964 when Garcia was fronting The Warlocks, an early incarnation of the famous band.

Garcia invited Lesh to join the Warlocks as a bass player -- an instrument he had never played -- and the partnership lasted for decades until Garcia's death in 1995.

He taught himself to play bass, incorporating a distinctive style that leaned on classical music concepts such as Johann Sebastian Bach's "counterpoint" style in which two independent musical themes combine to play off of each other.

But as in most things musically associated with the band, it was his improvisations that most enthralled audiences. One of his signature sounds was the "bass bomb," in which he would pound out three-note chords rather than play single notes.

Lesh also contributed vocally on the Dead's early 1970s masterpiece albums, Workingman's Dead and American Beauty, but afterwards stepped back from singing duties.

Following Garcia's death, Lesh enthusiastically continued the Grateful Dead's tradition by occasionally appearing and touring with other survivors under differing formations.

In recent years, he and his wife, Jill, opened the Terrapin Crossroads restaurant and music venue in San Rafael, Calif., with their sons, Grahame and Brian, serving as house band, according to Rolling Stone.