Opinion: How replacement conspiracy theory threatens capitalism (and your pension)

John A. Tures
Sat, May 21, 2022

Replacement theory has allegedly been used as a motive for killing Hispanics at a Wal-Mart in El Paso, Jewish worshippers at a Pittsburgh Synagogue, and African-American shoppers, store workers and a police officer at a Buffalo supermarket, along with many other similar acts of terrorism.

Critics have battled with supporters over how evil the theory is. What we’ve missed is exactly how replacement theory targets capitalism, our republic and even most whites in America as well as non-whites.

Replacement theorists contend that the percentage of non-whites is growing in America, and in Europe, and massive deportations of immigrants won’t change that. So? How is that so bad?

More: Michigan man is 4th conviction in white supremacist group


More: Opinion: How white panic over 'Great Replacement' begets violence

Replacement theorists then move into conjecture. The Jewish publication "The Forward" reported that Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson claimed, “This is a voting rights question.”

“I have less political power because they’re importing a brand-new electorate. Why should I sit back and take that? The power that I have as an American guaranteed at birth is one man, one vote and they’re diluting it. No, they are not allowed to do that. Why are we putting up with this?” Carlson said.

Tucker Carlson speaks during the first day of the AmericaFest hosted by Turning Point USA on Saturday, Dec. 18, 2021, in Phoenix.

Who is 'they'?

But unless Carlson’s family was on the Mayflower or in Independence Hall in Philadelphia in September of 1787, those who have come from other countries have been “diluting” the Carlson vote for decades.

These include Italian Americans, Irish Americans, German Americans, East Europeans who came to America... my ancestors. So unless you’re the “right sort” of white, you’re diluting Tucker’s vote. And our Constitution, which has been amended several times to “dilute” Tucker’s vote, must also be an enemy of Replacement Theory.

Maybe it is a racial question. A “brand-new electorate” could be a code word for “non-white.”

But this repulsive racist rant is actually countered by conservatives, who argue that Republicans are making in-roads with African-Americans and Hispanics.

One of my students, who is conservative, made the finals of a statewide conference with a paper demonstrating that non-whites moved closer to Trump between the 2016 and 2020 elections.

I’ve written about plenty of evidence showing that non-whites can be as socially conservative, if not more socially conservative, than the white population. Is having this country populated with more conservative Christians really so bad? Or is it really about the skin-color thing?
Replacement theory proponents miss the mark

At the infamous 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, marchers allegedly chanted “Jews will not replace us.” Why would Jewish people want to “dilute” their numbers in America? Replacement theory peddlers don’t say.

Replacement theorists aren’t done, though it’s ironic that the theory was imported from France. The alleged Buffalo killer allegedly posted a manifesto that claimed: “Millions of people pouring across our borders, legally. Invited by the state and corporate entities to replace the white people who have failed to reproduce, failed to create the cheap labor, failed to create new consumers and tax base that the corporations and states need to have to thrive.”

So now replacement theory opposes free markets and capitalism? Now I see why National Socialists like the theory so much.

CNN also notes that such immigration also creates enough of a base to fund pensions for the growing, older (ironically whiter) retirement population.

Who can I show the ads the Biden Administration has been running in Latin America, encouraging people not to migrate to the United States? Replacement theory has that wrong too.

Replacement theory flies in the face of capitalism and our Constitution and hurts non-white and even white Americans. This French theory is the only thing actually in need of replacement.

John A. Tures is a professor of political science at LaGrange College.


John A. Tures is a professor of political science at LaGrange College. He can be reached at jtures@lagrange.edu

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Opinion: 'Great Replacement Theory' is an anti-capitalist scam

‘Replacement theory’ still Republican orthodoxy despite Buffalo shooting

David Smith in Washington
Sun, May 22, 2022

Photograph: Sarah Yenesel/EPA

When a white man used a semi-automatic assault-style rifle to kill 10 people at a supermarket in a Black neighborhood of Buffalo, New York, last weekend, attention quickly turned to the likely motive.

The “great replacement” theory describes a supposed elite conspiracy to change the demographics of America, replacing and disempowering white people – and their influence – with people of color, immigrants and Muslims. In recent years the lie has gone from far-right fringe to Republican party mainstream.

Related: ‘His heart is broken’: Buffalo mourns shooting victims as first funeral held

But anyone hoping that Buffalo would break the fever looks set to be disappointed. On the contrary, critics say, Republicans will probably intensify their racist rhetoric to prey on fears and energise supporters for the midterm elections, increasing the likelihood of more Buffalo-style violence.

“It’s good for raising money and good for agitating the base that is already stressed and strapped by inflation and economic concerns and other social changes that they don’t like,” said Michael Steele, the first African American chairman of the Republican National Committee. “It’s exploitive and it’s going to result in more harm to African Americans and other minority communities.”

Payton Gendron, 18, was jailed without bail on a charge of first-degree murder after police said he opened fire last Saturday at a Tops Friendly Markets outlet in Buffalo. Investigators are studying Gendron’s online postings, which include a 180-page manifesto that outlines replacement theory.

During a visit to the crime scene on Tuesday, Joe Biden warned of “a hate that through the media and politics, the internet, has radicalised angry, alienated, lost and isolated individuals into falsely believing that they will be replaced – that’s the word, ‘replaced’ – by the ‘other’ – by people who don’t look like them and who are therefore, in a perverse ideology that they possess and being fed, lesser beings”.

The president said he condemns “those who spread the lie for power, political gain, and for profit” and described silence as “complicity”. Yet Republicans did remain mostly silent. The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, was asked about replacement theory three times on Tuesday but failed to provide a direct answer.

Steele commented: “I don’t see them changing course. It works for their purposes. The leadership has not come out and condemned it. They refuse to acknowledge any link or nexus between that and the obvious evidence of that connection presented by the killer in Buffalo and so they try to continue to turn a blind eye to it.”

They need to take ownership of the fact that Trumpism is a cancer. Maga Republicans are a cancer on this republic
Mark Takano

Hate crimes and domestic terrorism are on the rise in the US. A white man who gunned down 23 people in El Paso, Texas, claimed that he was enraged by “the Hispanic invasion of Texas”. A white man who killed 11 worshippers at a synagogue in Pittsburgh accused Jews of allowing immigrant “invaders” into the country.

In recent years various iterations of the theory, straining to avoid overt racism or antisemitism, have been articulated by Republicans at congressional hearings and in election campaigns. They have been amplified by rightwing media and given the ultimate platform by Donald Trump at the White House.

Elise Stefanik, the Republican chairwoman in the House of Representatives and a staunch Trump supporter, has been condemned for a Facebook ad last September that accused Democrats of trying to “overthrow our current electorate” through amnesty and enabling non-citizens to vote. Her office has denied any link to replacement theory.

Ron Johnson, a senator for Wisconsin, has described replacement theory as “the Democrat grand plan”. He said in a radio interview last month: “I’ve got to believe they want to change the makeup of the electorate.”

In the Trump era, Republicans evidently see no political incentive in distancing themselves from replacement theory. In an opinion poll released last week, the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about one in three Americans believes that an effort is under way to replace US-born Americans with immigrants for electoral gain.

Several Republican Senate candidates are drawing on replacement theory as they campaign for November’s midterm elections. In Ohio, Trump-endorsed JD Vance told the conservative Fox News network that Democrats “have decided that they can’t win re-election in 2024 unless they bring a large number of new voters to replace the voters that are already here”.

In Missouri, the Senate candidate Eric Schmitt, the current state attorney general, said Democrats are “fundamentally trying to change this country through illegal immigration”. And in Arizona, which borders Mexico, another Senate candidate, Blake Masters, accused Democrats of trying to flood the nation with millions of immigrants “to change the demographics of our country”.

It’s exploitive and it’s going to result in more harm to African Americans and other minority communities
Michael Steele

The message now sits naturally in a party moulded by Trump, who promised to build a border wall, demonised illegal immigrants and hired “alt-right” figures such as Steve Bannon. His campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again” (Maga), was widely seen as a nostalgic nod to a simpler, whiter time.

Mark Takano, a Democratic congressman and vice-chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, said: “They need to take ownership of the fact that Trumpism is a cancer. Maga Republicans are a cancer on this republic.”

“It is an already energised portion of the base and for them to pour water on this fire seems to them like a huge loss. It will be a huge loss for many of them to stamp it out. But they have to have faith that they will arise out of those ashes, that it’s not worth the power they think they will attain by allowing themselves to take advantage of this very potent fire.”

At a press conference on the steps of the US Capitol on Thursday, leading Democrats urged their Republican colleagues to join in the condemnation of replacement theory before it inspires another deadly attack.

Joyce Beatty, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, described replacement theory as “a key plank of the Republican platform”, adding: “Time and time again, domestic terrorists are using the great replacement theory to justify their crimes.

“Right here on Capitol Hill, we hear our Republican colleagues echoing versions of this theory. We must confront it. Let me say it in very clear terms: the Republican leadership is not innocent and, whether they use a dog whistle or a bullhorn, they do not get a pass.”

Fox News’s most watched host, Tucker Carlson, has been one of the theory’s biggest proponents. A study of five years’ worth of Carlson’s show by the New York Times newspaper found 400 instances in which he talked about Democratic politicians and others seeking to force demographic change through immigration.

Kurt Bardella, an adviser to the Democratic National Committee and former senior adviser for Republicans on the House oversight committee, said: “Any time that you devote airtime to espouse these extreme viewpoints you are lending it legitimacy and normalising it and telling your audience that this is an acceptable viewpoint that deserves to be aired in the public domain. That’s exactly what Fox News has done and they have blood on their hands.”

Hundreds protest Biden's Tokyo visit for Quad meeting

Sun, May 22, 2022, 
STORY: "Their (Japan and U.S.) actions are extremely dangerous now. Japan and the U.S. are trying to conduct a war of aggression on China," said protest organiser Shunkichi Takayama, who said Biden's trip to Japan and holding the Quad summit could stoke tensions with neighbouring China.

On the second leg of his first Asia trip as president, Biden will meet with leaders of Japan, India and Australia, the "Quad," another cornerstone of his strategy to push back against China's expanding influence.

Biden is also expected to launch the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) - a programme to bind regional countries more closely through common standards in areas including supply-chain resilience, clean energy, infrastructure and digital trade.

Washington has lacked an economic pillar to its Indo-Pacific engagement since former President Donald Trump quit a multinational trans-Pacific trade agreement, leaving the field open to China to expand its influence.

Russia's war on Ukraine based on flawed logic, Chinese military scholar wrote in article scrubbed from the web

Sat, May 21, 2022

Russia's security rationale for attacking Ukraine was flawed and the aftermath underlines the importance of diplomatic flexibility, a Chinese scholar formerly with Beijing's top military academy has said.

"I still don't see how any country would have dared to invade the world's No 2 military power," Gong Fangbin, a retired professor of the People's Liberation Army National Defence University, wrote in a recent online article.

"Russia has shown the world time and again that no one dares touch an inch of its land," he said, countering Moscow's argument that it was cornered by the West and Nato into invading Ukraine.

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

"What's the real reason [for Moscow] to attack Ukraine? I think it's because the Russian leaders have taken the wrong path for rejuvenation."

Gong argued that the rationale to attack Ukraine over so-called security concerns was flawed. And the dilemma faced by Russia as it takes heavy losses on the ground is the result of having chosen a path "long forsaken by human civilisation", he wrote in his article posted on WeChat last Tuesday.

The article, however, has since disappeared from the social media platform.

Gong confirmed to the Post that he wrote the article but declined a request for an interview.

Gong, a military veteran who fought in the China-Vietnam war of 1979, is among a small but growing number of Chinese intellectuals voicing scepticism about Moscow's rationale for its military aggression against Ukraine, despite heavy censorship of the sharing of such views.

"In the age of liberalisation of global trade, countries don't have to gain power through ... grabbing land. This can be done through technology and capital," Gong had written. "But Russia is still obsessed with owning land."

At a Beijing seminar in April, China's ambassador to Ukraine between 2005 and 2007, Gao Yusheng, argued that Russia had shown signs of having lost the war and its global status was set to decline. A summary of his remarks, first published by news outlet ifeng.com in mid-May, was quickly censored.

But there are others making their opinions known. Yan Xuetong, dean of the Institute of International Relations at Tsinghua University, said earlier this month that China had not benefited from the war and Russia was set to pay "a huge price".

And in March, Hu Wei, a political scientist affiliated with the State Council - China's cabinet - called on Beijing to distance itself from Russia as soon as possible over its war on Ukraine.

As the war enters its third month, Beijing still refuses to condemn Russia's act of aggression, despite mounting pressure from the US and its allies. It has also sought to rally international support to criticise the sweeping sanctions imposed on Russia, citing disruption to the global economy.

Since Russia launched its military assault on February 24, China has repeatedly said it respects Ukraine's sovereignty. However President Xi Jinping is among the very few world leaders yet to hold direct talks with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.

Volodymyr Zelensky receives a standing ovation as he addresses Sweden's parliament via video link. Photo: AP alt=Volodymyr Zelensky receives a standing ovation as he addresses Sweden's parliament via video link. Photo: AP>

Meanwhile, Chinese diplomats have sought to contain damage from the country's close, "no limits" relationship with Moscow, as declared in a joint statement issued after Russian President Vladimir Putin met Xi in Beijing ahead of the Winter Olympics.

The diplomatic damage control has involved firmly denying suggestions that China may offer military assistance to Russia, and trying to isolate the Ukraine issue from Beijing's relations with Europe.

Military scholar Gong had argued in another article earlier this month that the Ukraine war underlined how foreign policy flexibility might suffer if it was too closely tied to domestic politics.

This came after he had referenced the situation in yet another article in March, where he argued that countries only make decisions based on their own interests, and hence it was wrong to consider any country as a "strategic buffer", as Russia says it had hoped Ukraine would be.

Failure to understand this, Gong argued, would lead one to also believe in the narrative that China's economic development in the last 50 years owed much to Russia's confrontation with the United States.

"If a country is full of convictions related to strategic barriers and buffer zones, it would be tying itself to the vehicles of others and thus lose autonomy, consistency and necessary flexibility," he warned.

Additional reporting by Jack Lau
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP)

Why Shale driller is paying dividends instead of more oil and gas

Shale drillers have been plagued by pipeline constraints, rising oilfield supply prices, and a shortage of rough necks and rigs. But there’s another reason why the highest oil and gas prices in the last few years haven’t tempted US drillers to increase production: their executives are no longer paid.

It was once encouraged by compensation programs to produce certain amounts of oil and gas. Little consideration of economics.. After years of losses, investors have demanded a change in the way bonuses are created, putting more emphasis on profitability. Now, executives paid for pumps can get more rewards by keeping costs down and returning cash to shareholders.

Shift contributes to A major shift in energy stockOtherwise, the market is sluggish. Energy stocks led the bull market in 2021, with stocks in the S & P 500 up 46% this year, while the broader index fell 18%.

Focusing on profitability rather than growth also helps explain the modest reaction of drillers to the highest oil and gas prices over a decade.US oil and gas production Blockade lowSince then, oil prices have doubled to about $ 113 per barrel, and natural gas has quadrupled to over $ 8 per million British thermal units, yet production is below pre-pandemic levels. I am.

Marcus McGregor, Money Manager Conning’s Head of Product Research, said: “They don’t get paid for doing so.”

Analysts expect oil and gas prices to remain high, as US producers are hesitant to drill further.

The shale liler Told investors For the past few weeks, they have adhered to the drilling plans created when commodity prices were much lower and maintained stable production. Instead of chasing fuel price increases through drilling, Cher executives say they use profits to pay off debt, pay dividends, and buy back shares to increase the value of issued shares.

Nine shale oil companies that reported their first-quarter results in the first week of May summarized: Invested $ 9.4 billion in shareholders Buybacks and dividends were about 54% more than we invested in new drilling projects.

Among them, Pioneer’s output decreased by 2% from the previous quarter, adjusting for sales. Meanwhile, Western Texas excavators will return $ 2 billion to shareholders, pay a dividend of $ 7.38 per share, and repurchase in the first quarter to $ 250 million. The company is currently awarding bonuses primarily related to cost control, achieving free cash flow, and achieving return goals. Over the past few years, 40% of Pioneer bonuses have been associated with production goals.

At Range Resources, CEO Jeffrey Ventura received a $ 1.65 million cash bonus in 2019. More than half of this is due to Appalachia’s gas producers exceeding their production and reserves targets, even as gas prices have fallen. This year, as in the previous two, production and reserves have been removed from Range’s bonus calculations and replaced with incentives to keep costs down and increase revenue. Range, who declined to comment, told investors to repay debt, buy back shares, revive quarterly dividends suspended during the pandemic later this year, reduce drilling and stay within budget.

According to Meridian Compensation Partners LLC, production was included in less than half of last year’s disclosed bonus plans, down from 89% of the 2018 Big Sher Liller incentive formula. Wage consultants have found that the weight given to annual cash bonus production has shrunk from 24% three years ago to 11%.Meanwhile, cash flow targets, rate of return indicators, and Environmental goals..

“Companies were burning cash and trying to maximize production,” said Christoph Nelson, Credit Research Director, Income Research + Management, Investment Manager. “It’s not what investors are looking for anymore.”

In the decade before the pandemic, US shale producers spent a great deal of time claiming domestic oil and gas deposits made available by new drilling techniques. Companies competed for the right to shale sweet spots, then drilled to secure long-term leases and reserve additional oil and gas reserves.

The oil and gas flood overturned concerns that the United States was running out of fossil fuels, which overwhelmed the market and pushed down American energy bills. But the benefit was that of Wall Street.

According to Deloitte LLP, between 2010 and 2019, shale companies spent about $ 1.1 trillion, but lost about $ 300 billion in free cash flow, income minus investment and daily costs. rice field. The company expects producers to make up most of their losses with two profits this year and earlier.

When OPEC started price competition in late 2014, oil crashed and Bankruptcy increases Among North American free market producers.With shareholders Activist investor We focused on paid plans that reward production growth, regardless of what price the barrel got. Investors have thrown lifelines to many companies, Buy over $ 60 billion in new stock The producer reduced their debt burden and sold it because it was floating.

But as soon as prices recovered, shale producers surged again. Critics of paid pump compensation have doubled their efforts.

Activist investor Carl Icahn aimed Occidental Petroleum Executive Compensation He criticized how much the company was spending on drilling after announcing its acquisition of rival Anadarko Petroleum Corp. in 2019.


Vicki Hollb, CEO of Occidental Petroleum, says that there are currently few incentives to increase production.

Occidental and Anadarko executives have been rewarded for achieving the production mark. Currently, the combined company output, which declined in the first quarter, has not affected the annual bonus.

CEO Vicki Hollb told investors earlier this month that Occidental is unlikely to increase production. Expensive drilling and oilfield supplies I got it. “If you try to accelerate something now, it’s almost a destruction of value,” she said. Last year, most of Hollub’s $ 2.4 million annual incentive compensation was based on keeping accidental costs per barrel below $ 18.70, according to the company’s recent agent.

This year, Occidental’s share price is the top performer of the S & P 500, up 118%.

Analysts expect oil and gas prices to remain high, as US producers are hesitant to drill further. When a major challenge comes in the fall, executives may feel pressure to increase market share, especially if spending plans for 2023 are drafted and supply chain issues are alleviated, managing partners and Mark Viviano, who urged the board to rewrite the bonus plan as a public head, said the shares of energy investment company Kimmeridge.

“I don’t know how long capital discipline will last with $ 100 of oil,” said former Viviano. Oversaw a portfolio of energy stocks Wellington Management says, “Are these companies expanding their production because they found a religion or because of actual operational constraints?”

Electricity bills in the United States are soaring and can rise as households break air conditioners. WSJ’s Katherine Blunt explains why electricity and gas prices have risen significantly this year and provides tips on how to manage costs.Illustration: Mike Chesslick


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Brazil regulator probes whether activist's funds engaged in insider trading -documents

Mon, May 23, 2022
By Tatiana Bautzer

SAO PAULO, May 23 (Reuters) - Brazilian regulators are probing potential insider trading violations by activist investor Nelson Tanure related to his acquisition of medical labs company Alliar, according to documents seen by Reuters.

Tanure, who in the past has waged takeover battles in the oil and telecom industries, last November proposed buying a controlling interest in Centro de Imagem Diagnosticos SA , as Alliar is formally known. The deal was finally announced on April 14.

Brazil securities regulator CVM is now probing how funds controlled by Tanure were trading Alliar shares with knowledge of non-public information derived from the funds' talks to buy the company, which would constitute insider trading, the documents show.

Tanure representatives said earlier this month that the fund that now controls Alliar, Fundo de Saude, and the investor's lawyers have not been notified of any insider trading probe.

Trades during the talks, which lasted from November until mid-April, are being probed by the CVM. Its records are under seal, but the probe was active as of mid-May, according to one of the documents.

Tanure has been successful in recent years buying companies such as oil producer PetroRio SA and homebuilder Gafisa SA but he has also been fined by the CVM in the past over abuse of controlling power.

Alliar's shares surged by 22.5% on Nov. 18 after a Brazilian newspaper reported that Tanure would buy the company at 20.50 reais per share.

Between Nov. 18 and Nov. 30, four investment vehicles controlled by Tanure, which already held a 29% stake in the company, sold 1.5 million common shares in Alliar for 25.465 million reais, according to the documents, reaping an average price 39% above its Nov. 17 closing price, or 7 million reais more than what the shares would have fetched before the news.

On Dec. 22, the company announced that shareholders could opt to sell their shares to Tanure's vehicles only within two years. As the deal could take longer to close, markets were doubtful about the need for a tender offer to minority shareholders, and shares fell.

In the CVM's analysis of the trading of Alliar shares, the regulator alleged that the funds knew about the plan to allow investors to sell their shares within two years through a derivatives contract, since they were a party in the talks, and knew that when the disclosure of the contract's existence became public, shares would fall.

In the document, CVM manager Marco Antonio Papera Monteiro said the funds' conduct suggested evidence of "potential crimes."

Asked to comment on the allegations in the document, Tanure representatives repeated that they were not aware of any probe. The CVM declined to comment.

On April 14, the company announced most shareholders had opted to sell immediately and that Tanure's vehicles had built a 63.3% stake. It also said Tanure would launch an offer for all outstanding shares.

In a statement earlier this month, Tanure representatives said the deal closure was successful and that the transaction was "transparent."

Alliar is the latest holding of Tanure, who since the 1990s has acquired stakes in newspapers, shipyards, Brazilian telecom company Oi SA, an oil company and a homebuilder.

In an earlier run-in with the CVM, the regulator fined him 130 million reais ($26.7 million) in 2019 for "abuse of controlling power" at shipyard Verolme. CVM said part of Verolme's cash was diverted to other companies controlled by Tanure.

In the case of Verolme, the fine was ultimately reduced by 85% to 16.2 million reais after an appeal to Conselho de Recursos do Sistema Financeiro Nacional. Unlike other market violators, Tanure was not restricted by regulators from working in listed companies. He is currently a board member at Alliar. ($1 = 4.8639 reais) (Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer in Sao Paulo Editing by Christian Plumb and Matthew Lewis)

Geopolitics Takes A Back Seat As Biden Drops Sanctions On Venezuela

Editor OilPrice.com
Sun, May 22, 2022, 

When Biden sent a delegation to Caracas in early March, rumors began to circulate that the U.S. was considering reopening relations with Venezuela as oil prices soared. Now, after a period of silence from Washington on the subject, it appears that the U.S. is going to ease its sanctions on the Latin American oil giant. At the same time that the U.S. is lifting some sanctions, Venezuela is working with Iran to help revive its oil industry. It seems geopolitics has taken a back seat to the global energy crisis as oil prices soar.

The U.S. imposed oil sanctions on Venezuela under the Trump administration in 2019 due to ongoing human rights violations by President Nicolás Maduro. Under President Biden, there were discussions about reopening some trade links by allowing crude-for-diesel exchanges on humanitarian grounds, although this never came to fruition. However, the U.S. oil and gas firm Chevron has been allowed to continue limited operations in Venezuela in order to help avoid the collapse of the country’s oil industry. There has been speculation in recent months around whether Biden would ease restrictions on Venezuela in response to global crude shortages and a severe rise in oil prices, with several commentators highlighting the dangers of such a move.

The White House announced in May that it was reconsidering its restrictions on Venezuelan oil, entering discussions with Maduro. Biden will now allow Chevron Corp. to negotiate its oil license with state-owned oil producer Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), thereby reducing certain sanctions on the oil-rich state. Although no further oil drilling or additional revenues for the Maduro government will be permitted. The move follows a meeting between US officials and Maduro in March to discuss how to move forward.

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez confirmed rumors about the shift in policy by tweeting “Venezuela aspires that these decisions of the United States of America pave the way for the absolute lifting of the illegal sanctions that affect all of our people.”

But the Republican opposition has been quick to criticize Biden’s actions. Senator John Barrasso, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, strongly opposes the easing of sanctions on Venezuela, stating "our experience buying Russian energy should have taught President [Joe] Biden that buying energy from tyrants is a dangerous proposition."

The White House apparently responded to a request by Maduro’s political opposition to ease sanctions, although the opposition said that the request came from Maduro. The Biden Administration hopes that dangling oil industry allowances in front of the president may encourage him to make greater political concessions with the opposition, putting Venezuela on track for free and fair presidential elections in 2024.

Despite ongoing sanctions, Venezuela has been trading oil products with U.S.-sanctioned Iran in recent months, using discreet shipping methods. Venezuela has also increased its oil exports to China. Iran has been using ship-to-ship transfers to deliver oil products to Venezuela, as well as other clandestine methods. Although Venezuela has around 303 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, its crude is extra-heavy and requires condensate to dilute it, which has been in short supply.

Iran has also shipped gasoline and equipment to Venezuela to support the reparation of PDVSA's rundown refineries. This month, the state-owned National Iranian Oil Engineering and Construction Company signed a $116 million contract to restore the EL Palito 146,000-bpd refinery to restart production. This builds on the agreement between the two countries, established in 2021, to swap Iranian condensate for Venezuelan heavy crude.

In April, more than 200,000 barrels of Iranian heavy crude were shipped to Venezuela’s 310,000-bpd Cardon refinery. In addition, 400,000 barrels of Iranian oil reached the Dino I carrier, en route to the Jose port. A further 2 million barrels of condensate were expected to reach Jose the same month. Despite the ongoing sanctions, Iran and Venezuela are becoming increasingly successful at boosting their energy trades.

The new agreement follows a meeting earlier in the month between Iran’s oil minister and President Maduro in Caracus. The two sides discussed “the construction of routes and mechanisms to overcome the unilateral coercive measures imposed by the United States government and allied countries” in the meeting, according to the PDVSA. The two countries have been working together to overcome the sanctions imposed on both states by the U.S., as they each look for a way to redevelop their hard-hit oil industries.

Iran has boosted its oil production and exports over the last year as several countries have become more willing to open their doors to Iranian energy as a nuclear deal looks more promising. As a result of President Trump’s reimposition of sanctions on Iran after the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA, the country’s crude exports fell dramatically. But as talks for a new nuclear deal recommenced under president Biden last year, Iran’s oil production increased, rising to an average of 2.4 million bpd in 2021 and around 3.8 million bpd this year.

As the U.S. slightly eases its sanctions on Venezuela, it suggests greater potential for the country’s oil industry. Having boosted output and exports in recent months, it will likely build upon its existing relationship with U.S.-sanctioned Iran to help develop more trade routes and get ready to boost supply if greater allowances come into place.

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

‘Workers don’t want toys or free food, they want a higher quality of life’: The Great Resistance is here — as companies struggle to get workers back to the office

May 23, 2022


Amy Faust Liggayu, 32, a market-research project manager based in Tinley Park, Ill., mother of a 7-month-old son, never imagined she would have a life where she could spend five days a week with him, while also working full time. But that was before March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced offices across the country to tell their employees to work from home.

She had previously spent $20 a day commuting four days a week, and worked the fifth day from home, but when her manager called employees back full time, a move many other businesses are making now that vaccines are widely available and the worst days of the pandemic appear to have receded, she was not willing to give up all that freedom remote work had given her.

Those early months of COVID-19 when millions of people worked from home gave them a rare opportunity to reevaluate the role of work in their lives. And in 2022 they have leverage: Unemployment is falling and wages are rising, as companies struggle to attract and retain workers. In fact, there are two job openings for every unemployed American, the highest level on record since 2001.

But many companies want workers back. Google parent company Alphabet
GOOGL, Facebook parent Meta FB and Microsoft Corp. have requested workers go back to the office at least a few days a week. Jefferies Financial Group, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs Group
are among the financial institutions that have also asked workers to return.

Amid these efforts, Faust Liggayu counts herself among the Great Resistance. “I’m very outspoken about my desire to never work in an office again,” she said. “The quality of life is so much better when you can cut out that commute or spend your lunch break with your family.” She would often not arrive home until 6:30 p.m. if she left the office at 5 p.m. Those were precious hours lost with her son.

When she received news that all employees were going to be back in the offices, she told MarketWatch that she was frustrated. “They haven’t been listening to me,” she recalls thinking. “They know I don’t want to go back.” So she took a stand. “Job recruiters were reaching out to me on LinkedIn. All the jobs they reached out to me about were working from home.”

The outcome was a win-win for her: She found a new job two months ago that paid more money, while working full-time from home. “I went from making $50,000 a year to $80,000. When I get to stop at 5 p.m., I’m done. I get to spend that time with my son. Time moves quickly. It means so much at this age. It means so much to get those extra two hours a night with him.”
Amid labor shortage, employees flex their muscles

The Great Resignation — regarded by some observers as more of a Great Negotiation for better pay and working conditions — has led to the Great Resistance, a battle of wills between senior management and, well, everyone else. For those who are fortunate enough to have the option to work remotely, which other figures put at 40% of the workforce, they’re not giving up.

“There is definitely a sense of resistance amongst employees against the full-week, all-day, in-person work concept,” said Vanessa Burbano, associate professor of business at Columbia Business School in New York. “Remote working enables a degree of flexibility in the day that is practically impossible to recreate in a physical co-working space.”

Faust Liggayu said her breakup with her former employer was respectful and without animosity. She had worked at that previous job from 2017 to March 2022, and it was a small team. But the standoff between some employees and their companies has not always been so free of drama. Apple, for one, has suffered at least one high-profile resignation as a result.

“The Great Resignation has led to the Great Resistance, a battle of wills between senior management and, well, everyone else. ”

 

A group, “Apple Together,” signed an open letter to the tech giant, claiming over 3,000 signatures from workers, rejecting a hybrid work model and asking the company to allow them to make their own decisions. “Stop treating us like school kids who need to be told when to be where and what homework to do,” they wrote. (Apple did not respond to a request for comment.)

Thus far, workers have successfully dug their feet into their sofas. Some 64% said they would consider looking for a new job if they were required to return to the office full time, a survey by ADP, a provider of human resources management software and services, found. Younger people (18- to 24-year-olds) are the most reluctant (71%) to return to the workplace full time.

“This shift from the traditional 9-to-5, office-based model cannot be undone and has long-term implications for the jobs market,” the report said. “As companies — and employees — re-evaluate their approach to the workforce, it is clear that having a flexible approach is key, as there are advantages and drawbacks to both exclusively, whether fully remote or fully in office.”

Last month, Airbnb acknowledged that the era of full- or even part-time office working is over, telling workers they could work from home or the office, if they choose, and they can work from anywhere in the U.S. without a change in pay. Starting in September, they can also live and work in over 170 countries for up to 90 days a year in each location.

Ken Steinbach: ‘There is a special connection when we are in the same space together face to face.’

There’s no such thing as a free lunch

Chris Herd, CEO of Firstbase, which helps companies go remote, said there’s no such thing as a free lunch. “Workers don’t want toys or free food, they want a higher quality of life. Forcing people to commute two hours a day — where they carry laptops to an office to sit in a chair for eight hours and then Slack or Zoom people who aren’t in the office all day — has created broken ways of living.”

He said the Great Resignation reflects people’s desperation for better work-life balance and believes that giving ultimatums will lead to “armageddon” inside companies. “Over the last two years, companies have found out people don’t need to be in the office for great work to keep happening,” he said. “Now, companies are pushing back for employees to return to office again.”

Nicholas Bloom, professor in the Department of Economics at Stanford University, said neither hard nor soft nudges will work. His own poll of 3,000 people revealed a “fiendishly hard” task for managers to get people back. “Nobody commutes for one hour for a free bagel or box or to use a ping-pong table,” he said. “They come in to catch up with friends and work in person.”

“‘If you have to force somebody to come to the office it is not in their interests to come in.’”

— Nicholas Bloom, professor in the Department of Economics at Stanford University

Indeed, some Silicon Valley companies pulled out all the stops to entice people back and foster a sense of community, he told MarketWatch. “Google got so desperate they hired Lizzo to give a concert, which is great for one day, but unless you are planning on getting Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and then Justin Bieber after that, this is not a permanent solution.”

“The resistance is there when employees do not see the point in coming in,” Bloom said. “If you have to force somebody to come to the office it is not in their interests to come in. To avoid forcing people you need to make it benefit them to come in. That means setting up typically two or three days a week of office time on anchor days when everyone comes in.”

He said it makes more sense to create a hybrid environment where team members show up on the same day rather than enforce a five-day week and fail. “So I see resistance to returning to the office a symptom of over-ambitious return to office plans. Realistic plans centered around anchor days, probably two to start off with, can work well and firms can build on this.”

For those who can work from home, this may be a luxury problem. The Labor Department says only 7.7% of employees teleworked in April. Millions of jobs necessitate in-person interactions. Retail, manufacturing and essential-services workers such as supermarket and hospital staff and public-transport employees put their lives at risk during the pandemic.

Remote work is a tradeoff for everyone

As managers negotiate with office workers, companies are negotiating with landlords about their office leases. In Manhattan, monthly leasing activity decreased by 11.5% month-over-month to 2.7 million square feet in April, Colliers said. However, companies seem to be betting on some kind of return to office life: Demand more than doubled year over year.

Herd, however, said managers will soon see the advantage of remote work. “E-commerce killed physical stores because people prefer to shop online, it gave them more choice, it was more efficient and costs less,” he said. “E-companies kill office-based companies because workers prefer to work online, it gives them more choice, it is more efficient and costs less.”

It’s obviously not a one-size-fits-all question, even for those who have had the luxury of working from home. “For me, in the mental-health counseling field, I can see both sides,” said Ken Steinbach, a Portland, Ore.,-based counselor. “There is a special connection when we are in the same space together face to face, and I would love to be able to connect that way again.”

“The reality is that most of my clients might not be able to have therapy if they had to block out time to go into an office,” Steinbach told MarketWatch. “Working virtually has made my services much more accessible to a great many people and I can’t see that changing. So yes, I love the idea of being in person, but that may not be the world we live in.”

Peter Gray, professor of commerce at the University of Virginia, said workers miss out on the emotional, social and intellectual stimulation that comes with being around others. For that reason, he favors a hybrid work model. “Employee resistance is to me perfectly natural when people believe that they can be just as effective at home as in the office,” he said.

But spending all that time working from your sofa or kitchen table or — if you’re lucky enough to have one — a home office may be a more expensive tradeoff for employees and management than they anticipate. “What they don’t realize is that their networks will slowly shrink as they spend more time at home, and this can hamper their effectiveness long term,” Gray said.

“Once they realize that some of the rich interactions they used to have in the office have faded, they start to wonder if they might be missing something important,” he added. “And as their broader networks shrink — the ones that expose them to creative new ways of thinking outside of their main work stream — their performance can suffer.”

The resistance appears to be winning

Another obstacle: An empty or half-empty office doesn’t help new employees or interns who rely on those face-to-face interactions for honing their skills and, critically, building a professional network so they can move up the corporate ladder and/or put their name in the hat for a promotion. For every seasoned employee who knows the ropes, there are others who need to be given a helping hand.

Skeptics also worry that some people may be tempted to take advantage of remote work, spend an hour or two catching up on their favorite TV show, while keeping a casual eye on their work emails, or — worse — take the entire day off and go to the beach, while answering the occasional Slack message from under an umbrella. In fact, eight out of 10 workers have admitted to slacking off.

Burbano, the Columbia Business School professor, is not surprised by such polls. “Remote work also comes with increased opportunities for worker misconduct, worker shirking and putting in less effort, as my research has shown, which is likely part of the reason that there is a desire amongst employers to bring people back to the physical office.”

Social media is filled with people claiming they will point-blank refuse to commute again. “I’m not going back to the office with these gas prices,” one person recently wrote on Twitter

“The gas people and the commercial real-estate people are just gonna have to fight it out amongst themselves.” Another added bluntly: “Not in the mood to work or be around people.”

Recent research suggests such resistance is winning. The Conference Board, a nonprofit organization, says only 4% of companies are requiring staff to return to work full time and only 45% were requiring them to work five days a week from the office — even if a few days a week appears too much for some Apple employees and workers like Amy Faust Liggayu.

Faust Liggayu doesn’t fully buy the brainstorming-by-the-watercooler argument. “At my previous job, we had a meeting every morning to go over the workload for the day. That meeting would sometimes last an hour because we would just bulls*** about everything. But if you have enough calls where you can be spontaneous and a good team that works together well, you can still have that environment.”

And now? She is much happier at her new fully-remote, better-paid job. “I make a point of remembering what people are up to and ask them about their plans for the weekend to keep that community together,” she said. “I love it. I officially turned one of our extra bedrooms into an office. I get to spend my lunch with my son, feed him when he’s hungry. The flexibility is incredible.”


Amy Faust Liggayu: ‘I officially turned one of our extra bedrooms into an office.’

Bank of America raises hourly minimum wage to $22

Mon, May 23, 2022,

By Elizabeth Dilts Marshall

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp said it was raising its U.S. minimum hourly wage to $22 on Monday, a step closer to its promise of paying workers $25 an hour by 2025.

The second-largest U.S. bank by assets has been steadily raising its minimum hourly wage since 2017, when it was $15, and has been at the leading edge of banks raising base pay for hourly workers.

Last year the bank pledged to pay its workers at least $25 an hour by 2025, the highest minimum wage of any big retail bank, and also began requiring its vendors to set a minimum wage of $15 an hour.

This latest pay hike comes as inflation in the U.S. hovers at a 40-year high, raising prices for food, healthcare and rent, which, in March, hit the highest level since 2006.

There are also a record number of unfilled jobs, which means banks face stiff competition for hiring new workers and are putting a high priority on keeping the workers they have.

Sheri Bronstein, chief human resources officer, said the bank's raises and other benefits are part of "our focus on being a great place to work ... so that we continue to attract and retain the best talent."

In January the bank gave around 97% of its employees special compensation awards, most in the form of restricted stock units.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Dilts Marshall; Editing by David Gregorio)

Aurangzeb: Why is a Mughal emperor who died 300 years ago being debated on social media?


Geeta Pandey - BBC News, Delhi
Sat, May 21, 2022

Mughal emperor Aurangzeb

A Mughal emperor who died more than 300 years ago has become a hot topic of debate in India in recent months.

Aurangzeb, often described as the "last effective Mughal emperor" ruled India for nearly 50 years from 1658 to 1707 - but he was never a favourite in the eyes of historians.

For a start - he came to the throne after imprisoning his father and having his older brother killed.

And in comparison with other Mughal rulers, he fared badly - his great-grandfather Akbar was described as the benign secular ruler, grandfather Jahangir was known for his love for art and architecture and father Shah Jahan was the great romantic who built the Taj Mahal.


But Aurangzeb, the sixth emperor and a devout Muslim, was often described as a ruthless tyrant who was an expansionist, imposed tough Sharia laws and brought back the discriminatory jizya tax that Hindu residents had to pay in return for protection.

He was also described as someone who hated music and other fine arts, and ordered the destruction of several temples.

All that happened hundreds of years ago - but the hate he's been getting recently has been unprecedented.

It started when the dispute over the Gyanvapi mosque began bubbling in the holy city of Varanasi - the mosque is built on the ruins of the Vishwanath temple, a grand 16th Century Hindu shrine destroyed in 1669 on Aurangzeb's orders. Now, his name is trending on social media with thousands of disparaging references, can be found in court files and has been invoked by India's present-day Hindu nationalist rulers.

In December, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about "Aurangzeb's atrocities, his terror" at an event in Varanasi. "He tried to change civilisation by the sword. He tried to crush culture with fanaticism," Mr Modi said.

He mentioned the Mughal ruler's name again last month - speaking on the occasion of the 400th birth anniversary of Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur who was beheaded for refusing to convert to Islam.

"Even though Aurangzeb severed many heads, he could not shake our faith", Mr Modi said.

His comments seemed to baffle a Canadian-American journalist who asked on Twitter why the Indian Prime Minister was "giving a long speech attacking a Mughal emperor who died 300+ years ago"?


In a series of tweets, historian Audrey Truschke responded that Hindu nationalists believed that "Muslims oppressed Hindus for hundreds of years so they deserve to be oppressed today, as retribution for the past".

She said Aurangzeb's name was being used as "a dog whistle to signal that it is acceptable to hate and use violence against present-day Muslims".

In the days since this Twitter discussion, much more hate has been heaped on Aurangzeb.

Describing him as a "butcher", the mayor of the city of Agra said all traces of him should be removed from public places. On Twitter, the Mughal emperor was called "an invader" who wanted to wipe out Hindus and one user suggested that all monuments and buildings by Mughals built over Hindu places of worship should be bulldozed.

On Thursday, his tomb in the western state of Maharashtra was shut to visitors after a regional politician questioned "the need for its existence" and called for its destruction.

Historian Nadeem Rezavi, author and professor of medieval history at Aligarh Muslim University, says Aurangzeb is "a very convenient name" to bring up to demonise India's Muslim minorities who, in recent years, have been at the receiving end of violence from Hindu mobs.

Prof Rezavi says the Mughal emperor did demolish a number of Hindu temples and imposed the discriminatory tax on Hindus, but he was a complicated figure, and not completely evil.

"He gave the highest number of grants for maintaining Hindu temples, he himself was two-thirds Hindu by blood because Akbar, his great-grandfather, had married a Rajput [a warrior Hindu caste], and there were more Rajputs in higher echelons during his rule than that of any other Mughal."

The tomb of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Maharashtra has been shut to visitors after threats

Despite popular perception, Prof Rezavi says Aurangzeb was not a fundamentalist in his personal life and that he "enjoyed wine, played the veena - an instrument favoured by Hindu goddesses - and more music books were written under him than any other Mughal".

But, he adds that Aurangzeb "invoked religion to cover up for his political failures and strengthen his authority - much like India's present-day leaders.

"But the question to ask is that even if Aurangzeb was all dark and evil, a sectarian and fundamentalist, who destroyed temples, should we be emulating him today?" Prof Rezavi asks.

"He was a tyrant and an emperor who lived 300 years ago. At the time there was no modern democracy, there was no constitution to guide him. But today we are guided by the Indian constitution and laws of parliament, so how can you duplicate the deeds that were done in the 16th and 17th Century?

"So if someone is indulging in the politics of 17th Century, they are committing a far greater crime than Aurangzeb did in the 17th Century," he adds.