Holocaust victims suing Germany and Hungary have their day at the US Supreme Court on Monday

By Ariane de Vogue, CNN Supreme Court Reporter 

The Supreme Court on Monday will delve into atrocities committed during World War II and hear two cases brought by victims and their family members who are seeking compensation for property they say was stolen from them during the Holocaust.

© Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images 

A visitor looks at the the cupola reliquary (Kuppelreliquar) of the so-called "Welfenschatz" (Guelph Treasure) displayed at the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts) in Berlin.

The justices will ultimately decide whether the cases against Germany and Hungary can proceed in US courts.

The court's decision could open the door to the possibility of similar lawsuits against foreign countries but also raises difficult questions about entangling the judiciary in matters concerning sensitive foreign policy questions.

At issue is a federal law that allows suits against a foreign government when a property is taken "in violation of international law." The US Justice Department is siding with lawyers for Germany and Hungary arguing the cases should be dismissed.

The lawsuit against Hungary was initially brought in 2010 by 14 Jewish survivors, including four United States citizens, who sued Hungary and its state-run railway company seeking compensation for property that was stolen from their families in 1941. They say their possessions and those of their families were taken from them as they boarded trains destined for concentration camps and they seek to represent a class of victims who have been injured in similar ways.

While the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act generally provides immunity to foreign states from suits in US courts, the plaintiffs argue their case falls into an exception because the goods were stolen in violation of international law.

"Hungary committed in the 1947 peace treaty to fully compensate its victim and it has never done so," Sarah Harrington, a lawyer for the victims, said in an interview. "Congress said courts could hear these claims and even the United States has said there is a moral imperative to provide justice for Holocaust victims in their lifetime."

But lawyers for Hungary say that such litigation would interfere with the foreign policy of the United States, and that US courts have long dismissed such claims so as to avoid "international discord."


"Adjudicating these claims would inevitably disrupt foreign relations and could expose the United States to similar treatment by other nations' judges," Gregory Silbert, a lawyer for Hungary, told the justices in court papers. He stressed that Hungary has made "substantial, additional payments to Holocaust victims and Jewish organizations." The "tens of billions of dollars" the plaintiffs might seek would "devastate Hungary's economy," Silbert argues.

The US Justice Department has filed a court brief in favor of Hungary's position. Acting Solicitor General Jeff Wall said the United States "deplores the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime" and it has supported efforts to provide their victims with remedies for "egregious wrongs."

Yet in the case at hand, Wall said the US has "paramount interest" in ensuring that its foreign partners handle the dispute, arguing that litigation in US courts could "undermine that objective." He said that courts have long recognized that in appropriate cases judges could voluntarily defer to another nation to resolve the dispute.

A district court dismissed the lawsuit -- and declined to get involved-- holding that the survivors should have first tried to file suit in Hungary. A US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed that ruling.

The second case, Germany v. Phillipp, takes a closer look at the reach of the law as it applies to the heirs of several Jewish art dealers who did business in Germany in the 1930s.

They seek to recover an art collection of medieval relics and devotional art dated from the 11th to 15th centuries. In court papers their heirs say they were forced to sell the art to the Nazi-controlled State of Prussia at a price much less than the art was worth. They lost a claim in Germany after an advisory commission concluded that the sale of the art "was not a compulsory sale due to persecution."

They then filed suit in US courts seeking the return of the art, or $250 million, or both

Nicholas M. O'Donnell, a lawyer for the victims, said that in 1935 the "Nazis -- led by Hermann Goering and for Hitler's personal benefit -- forced the sale of the collection at issue in this case" known as the Welfenschatz.

"If such a coerced sale is not a taking in violation of international law, then nothing is," he said.

The DC Circuit Court of Appeals held that under the FSIA, the suit could go forward.

© Felipe Trueba/EPA/Shutterstock 

A silver bust reliquary and other items that are part of the Guelph Treasure are exhibited at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Berlin, Germany.

102 species are facing extinction in B.C., here's how they can be saved

Ecosystems in British Columbia are rich in biodiversity, but 102 species in the Fraser River estuary are at risk of being functionally extinct in just 25 years unless a multi-government plan is implemented, says a study from the University of British Columbia (UBC).

102 species are facing extinction in B.C., but scientists say they can be saved

The Fraser River estuary is a unique environment in Canada — the southern portion of the freshwater river meets with the Pacific Ocean, creating an intertidal marsh ecosystem full of nutrients needed by both salmon and birds as they migrate. The estuary also influences the lives of more than three million people living in the Lower Mainland, since it is the heart of several industries and the region’s culture.

Given both the economic and intrinsic value of the Fraser River, the researchers set out to determine how the most at-risk species could be protected in the most cost-effective way. These at-risk species include southern resident killer whales, salmon, and sturgeon.

Members from Coast Salish First Nation communities, government officials, industry experts, academics, and NGOs worked with the researchers to select 102 species living in the estuary that would benefit the most from conservation management. The researchers’ main goal was to use scientific information and input from experts to conserve the most species for the lowest cost so both the environment and human interests are benefitted.

© Provided by The Weather Network Credit: Fernando Lessa

Aquatic species are suffering from a number of environmental stressors, including pollution and climate change. 

The researchers designed the Priority Threat Management (PTM) approach, which they say is a strategy that will conserve species and allow for shared decision‐making authority between several stakeholders, including First Nations groups as well as municipal, provincial, and federal governments. This approach, which focuses on co-governance, differs from traditional conservation research, which typically identifies the threats species are facing as opposed to the most cost-effective management strategies that will reduce or eliminate the threats.

Some of the strategies considered in this study include problematic species management, transportation regulation, aquatic disease control, pollution control, private land management, and public land management. Calculations revealed that co-governance increased the feasibility of all strategies to differing degrees and found that strategies involving many municipalities benefitted the most. The increase in feasibility was also connected to improved cost-effectiveness of management strategies and the ability to conserve a higher number of species.

© Provided by The Weather Network  Credit: Alex Harris

Researchers collecting data along the Fraser River.

“To conserve all species groups at a 50 per cent threshold without co‐governance, all strategies are required at a total estimated cost of $326 million. Whereas, when including co‐governance, only four management strategies (public land management, green infrastructure, pollution control, and aquatic habitat restoration) are needed to ensure all species have a better than even chance of persisting, costing an estimated $223 million and saving $104  million,” the study says.

The study revealed that two of the most cost-effective strategies, transport regulation and pollution control, would help 96 per cent of the species survive in the estuary over the next 25 years. However, these strategies still do not protect southern resident killer whales, monarch butterflies, western bumblebees, and barn swallows and the researchers say that conserving these species requires additional management and investment.

© Provided by The Weather Network  Credit: Jason Puddifoot

The Fraser River habitat is essential to the health of migratory birds.

The overall cost of the study’s conservation management plan is approximately $381 million over 25 years, which is equivalent to $15 million annually or $6 per person in the Greater Vancouver Area annually. The researchers say that though this might seem like a staggering cost, the potential financial return-on-investment is impressive. In 1998, the value of fisheries in the Fraser River basin was $300 million annually due to the productivity and health of the fisheries as well as the thriving whale tourism industry.

Southern resident killer whales are facing extinction for several reasons including pollution and a low supply of salmon, which is their main food source. The Fraser River estuary once supported the largest wild salmon runs on Earth, but this species is rapidly dwindling due to pollution, resource exploitation, urban sprawl, and climate change. Many international estuaries are facing the same predicament — a significant loss of biodiversity that may never be fully restored

The study says that over half of the world’s population lives in urban areas, which will be home to more than five billion people by 2030. “Managing these areas for conservation benefits is critical if we are to avert significant global biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse,” the study says.

Thumbnail credit: Tom Middleton

I’m an astronomer and I think aliens may be out there – but UFO sightings aren’t persuasive

Many people who say they have seen UFOs are either dog walkers or smokers.

Aaron Foster/THeImage Bank/Getty Images

If intelligent aliens visit the Earth, it would be one of the most profound events in human history.

Surveys show that nearly half of Americans believe that aliens have visited the Earth, either in the ancient past or recently. That percentage has been increasing. Belief in alien visitation is greater than belief that Bigfoot is a real creature, but less than belief that places can be haunted by spirits.

Scientists dismiss these beliefs as not representing real physical phenomena. They don’t deny the existence of intelligent aliens. But they set a high bar for proof that we’ve been visited by creatures from another star system. As Carl Sagan said, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”

I’m a professor of astronomy who has written extensively on the search for life in the universe. I also teach a free online class on astrobiology. Full disclosure: I have not personally seen a UFO.
Unidentified flying objects

UFO means unidentified flying object.

Nothing more, nothing less.

There’s a long history of UFO sightings. Air Force studies of UFOs have been going on since the 1940s. In the United States, “ground zero” for UFOs occurred in 1947 in Roswell, New Mexico. The fact that the Roswell incident was soon explained as the crash landing of a military high-altitude balloon didn’t stem a tide of new sightings. The majority of UFOs appear to people in the United States. It’s curious that Asia and Africa have so few sightings despite their large populations, and even more surprising that the sightings stop at the Canadian and Mexican borders.

Most UFOs have mundane explanations. Over half can be attributed to meteors, fireballs and the planet Venus. Such bright objects are familiar to astronomers but are often not recognized by members of the public. Reports of visits from UFOs inexplicably peaked about six years ago.

Many people who say they have seen UFOs are either dog walkers or smokers. Why? Because they’re outside the most. Sightings concentrate in evening hours, particularly on Fridays, when many people are relaxing with one or more drinks.

A few people, like former NASA employee James Oberg, have the fortitude to track down and find conventional explanations for decades of UFO sightings. Most astronomers find the hypothesis of alien visits implausible, so they concentrate their energy on the exciting scientific search for life beyond the Earth.
Most UFO sightings have been in the United States.
Are we alone?

While UFOs continue to swirl in the popular culture, scientists are trying to answer the big question that is raised by UFOs: Are we alone?

Astronomers have discovered over 4,000 exoplanets, or planets orbiting other stars, a number that doubles every two years. Some of these exoplanets are considered habitable, since they are close to the Earth’s mass and at the right distance from their stars to have water on their surfaces. The nearest of these habitable planets are less than 20 light years away, in our cosmic “back yard.” Extrapolating from these results leads to a projection of 300 million habitable worlds in our galaxy. Each of these Earth-like planets is a potential biological experiment, and there have been billions of years since they formed for life to develop and for intelligence and technology to emerge.

Astronomers are very confident there is life beyond the Earth. As astronomer and ace exoplanet-hunter Geoff Marcy, puts it, “The universe is apparently bulging at the seams with the ingredients of biology.” There are many steps in the progression from Earths with suitable conditions for life to intelligent aliens hopping from star to star. Astronomers use the Drake Equation to estimate the number of technological alien civilizations in our galaxy. There are many uncertainties in the Drake Equation, but interpreting it in the light of recent exoplanet discoveries makes it very unlikely that we are the only, or the first, advanced civilization.

This confidence has fueled an active search for intelligent life, which has been unsuccessful so far. So researchers have recast the question “Are we alone?” to “Where are they?”

The absence of evidence for intelligent aliens is called the Fermi Paradox. Even if intelligent aliens do exist, there are a number of reasons why we might not have found them and they might not have found us. Scientists do not discount the idea of aliens. But they aren’t convinced by the evidence to date because it is unreliable, or because there are so many other more mundane explanations.
Modern myth and religion

UFOs are part of the landscape of conspiracy theories, including accounts of abduction by aliens and crop circles created by aliens. I remain skeptical that intelligent beings with vastly superior technology would travel trillion of miles just to press down our wheat.

It’s useful to consider UFOs as a cultural phenomenon. Diana Pasulka, a professor at the University of North Carolina, notes that myths and religions are both means for dealing with unimaginable experiences. To my mind, UFOs have become a kind of new American religion.

So no, I don’t think belief in UFOs is crazy, because some flying objects are unidentified, and the existence of intelligent aliens is scientifically plausible.

But a study of young adults did find that UFO belief is associated with schizotypal personality, a tendency toward social anxiety, paranoid ideas and transient psychosis. If you believe in UFOs, you might look at what other unconventional beliefs you have.

I’m not signing on to the UFO “religion,” so call me an agnostic. I recall the aphorism popularized by Carl Sagan,

 “It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brains fall out.” 

December 4, 2020

Author
 

Chris Impey

University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy, University of Arizona
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#SPACERACE2.0

Chinese probe orbiting moon with Earth-bound samples

BEIJING — A Chinese probe was orbiting the moon on Monday in preparation for the returning of samples of the lunar surface to Earth for the first time in almost 45 years.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The ascent module of the Chang’e 5 spacecraft transferred a container with 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of samples after docking with the robot spacecraft on Sunday and was then cut free.

The orbiter and reentry vehicle will circle the moon for another week awaiting a narrow time window to make the roughly three-day, 383,000-kilometre (238,000-mile) journey back to Earth. It will first “bounce" off the Earth's atmosphere to slow its speed before the reentry vehicle separates and floats down on parachutes to land on the vast steppes of Inner Mongolia, where China's Shenzhou crewed spaceships have also made their landings.

If the mission succeeds, it will make China the third country after the United States and former Soviet Union to bring moon rocks to Earth. They will be the first fresh samples of the lunar surface obtained by scientists since the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 probe in 1976.

The Chang’e 5 ascent stage blasted off from the moon’s surface on Friday, leaving behind the lander module flying the Chinese flag, according to the China National Space Agency, which also released a photo taken by the orbiter showing it approaching for its rendezvous with the ascender, a sliver of the Earth seen in the background.

That marked the first time China had succeeded in lifting off a spacecraft from a celestial body, while no country had previously achieved the tricky feat of executing a robotic docking in lunar orbit. Controllers on Earth had to deal with distance and time lag while precisely manoeuvring a clamp into position with almost no room for error.

The 23-day mission has been front page news in state media for days, paired with reports that China has officially lifted all of its citizens out of the most grinding form of poverty. Along with being a propaganda coup for the ruling Communist Party, the dual stories illustrate the vast economic and technological advances China has made since it became just the third country in history to launch a person into space in 2003.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying praised the “courage to explore, overcome difficulties and pay hard efforts" of those who made the mission possible.

“The entirety of the Chinese people are proud of the efforts and wisdom of the Chinese lunar exploration researchers," Hua told reporters Monday at a daily briefing.

By way of cautious incremental steps, China is now in the midst of a series of ambitious missions that include a probe en route to Mars and the development of a reusable space plane about which little information has been provided.

The Chang’e lunar program, named after the ancient Chinese moon goddess, has also been operating the Chang’e 4 probe on the moon’s less explored far side for the past two years, while the Chang’e 3 rover launched seven years ago continues to send back data.

Future plans call for returning a human to the moon five decades after American astronauts, along with a possible permanent moon base, although no timeline has been offered. China is also building a permanent space station to begin operating as early as 2022.

U.S. opposition has prevented China's secretive, military-backed program from participating in the International Space Station, although the CNSA has been expanding its ties with other programs, including the European Space Agency, which has helped guide Chang’e 5 on its mission.

Chang’e 5 touched down Dec. 1 on the Sea of Storms on the moon’s near side close to a formation called the Mons Rumker, an area believed to have been the site of ancient volcanic activity.

The rocks and other debris were obtained both by drilling into the moon's crust and by scooping directly off the surface. They are thought to possibly be billions of years younger than those brought back earlier and may offer insights into the moon's history as well as that of other bodies in our solar system.

The lunar exploration program has set up dedicated labs to analyze the samples for age and composition. China is also expected to share some part of them with other countries, as was done with the hundreds of kilograms (pounds) of rocks, sand, dust and other samples obtained by the U.S. and the former Soviet Union.

The Associated Press

Ex-FBI deputy attacks Republicans for language that causes violence and recruits fighters just like ISIS

Published on December 6, 2020 By Sarah K. Burris

Former FBI assistant director for counterintelligence, Frank Figliuzzi (Photo: Screen capture)

Former FBI assistant director for counterintelligence, Frank Figliuzzi, said in an interview on Sunday that he sees similarities to the violent rhetoric ISIS used with that the Republicans are using in wake of the 2020 election.

Speaking to MSNBC’s Alex Witt, Figliuzzi said that the country should be looking at the “root causes” of such violent rhetoric in efforts to snub it out


“How did we get here? Where is it going? We got here because the rhetoric we are hearing from influential people is the language of radicalization, Alex,” he said. “The last week to 12 days, we heard the 

“How did we get here? Where is it going? We got here because the rhetoric we are hearing from influential people is the language of radicalization, Alex,” he said. “The last week to 12 days, we heard the kind of rhetoric that should get us all very worried about the potential to incite violence. What did we see the last week or so? Well, let’s start with Joe diGenova, the lawyer for the president, who said on the air that Chris Krebs, the fired head of the Cyber Infrastructure Security Agency, should be taken out at dawn and shot. Then he said that Chris Krebs should be drawn and quartered. This isn’t funny. This is the language that gets people recruited and radicalized whether you intend it to happen or not.”

The comments come after Georgia voting system manager Gabriel Sterling revealed the tipping point that led him to speak out this week was that he got a call from a project manager from Dominion Voting Systems in Colorado. The shaken employee said that one of their contractors was threatened because of the work he did for Dominion.

“When I was going through the Twitter feed on it, and I saw it basically had the young man’s name, which was a very unique name, so they tracked down his family and started harassing them,” Sterling told “Meet the Press” Sunday. “It said his name. ‘You’ve committed treason. May God have mercy on your soul,’ with a slowly swinging noose. And at that point, I just said, ‘I’m done.'”

Figliuzzi explained that political polarization has turned the division into existentialist threats.

“What do terrorism experts tell us, Alex?” he continued. “When people think there is an existential threat to their being, what they believe, when they believe is that the other side is not just wrong, it is evil or from the devil — as Doug Collins in Georgia implied with Rev. Raphael Warnock who’s running for Senate. For the audacity of what? Being a pro-choice pastor? And Doug Collins said that is a lie from the pit of hell? When we hear rhetoric like this, it should wake all of us up.”

In his MSNBC column on the topic, Figliuzzi explained that this is the type of rhetoric that groups like ISIS use to recruit people, but not to bring people to the Republican Party to lead them to violent action.

“What I am saying, the language, it isn’t about recruiting someone to a political party,” he explained. “This is about using the kind of rhetoric that people will increasingly view as a call to arms. A call to action. We have seen it before, with people like the Kenosha shooter, the Walmart shooter, identify with this leadership that calls them toward violence. People wearing suits, with law degrees, masters of divinity, in the case of Collins, We see their main-streaming of violent rhetoric. Whether they intend it or not, contribute to a volatile flashpoint, where the language is put into action.”

Read Figliuzzi column here and see his interview below:

Trump rally-goer arrested for assault in Washington state

By AP staff (AP) OLYPMIA, Wash. Dec. 6, 2020 

Police arrested a 27-year-old man participating in a rally in support of President Donald Trump after he allegedly fired a gun at counter-protesters during a clash near the Washington state capitol

It was not immediately clear if anyone was shot.

The Olympia Police Department said the suspect was booked into jail on suspicion of first- and second-degree assault following a pro-Trump rally and march that began Saturday afternoon on the Capitol Campus.

When the Trump supporters encountered a group of counter-protesters, police said the two sides clashed in a fight involving up to 200 people, The Olympian reported. Participants were armed with bats, bottles, rocks, chemical sprays and guns, police said.

Officers had ordered the crowd to disperse when the shooting suspect allegedly pulled out a pistol and fired toward the crowd and also used the pistol to assault someone, KOMO-TV reported.

Olympia police received reports that a counter-protester may have been shot. Authorities asked for any victim to come forward so the appropriate charges could be brought.

Conservative radicalizers are well-coiffed, well-paid — and increasingly dangerous

The language of a dangerous lunatic fringe is creeping closer to the mainstream.

Anjali Nair / MSNBC; Getty Images

Dec. 4, 2020, By Frank Figliuzzi

In the space of about a week, the dangerous language of a lunatic fringe leapt closer to mainstream madness. We were reminded that radicalized rhetoric — the kind that leads to violence — can be spewed by people dressed in a suit and tie, or in leopard print and heels.

We saw dangerous dialogue launch from the lips of people with advanced degrees such as Juris Doctorate and Master of Divinity. Those radicalized professionals held, or still hold, impressive titles like U.S. attorney, appellate section chief, U.S. senator, congressman, and lieutenant colonel and chaplain in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. This was a week that further confirmed how radicalized we’ve become as a nation and how much closer we are to the moment when treacherous talk turns into violent reality.

When we add religion and eternal damnation into the mix to demonize those with different politics, we’re sliding into extremist territory.

On Monday, Nov. 30, former U.S. Attorney Joe DiGenova, a prominent conspiracist on President Donald Trump’s election loss legal team, publicly called for a former federal official to be “taken out at dawn and shot,” and suggested that the person be “drawn and quartered” — a particularly barbaric form of torture and execution.


Former US election security chief reacts to comment that he should be ‘shot’

DEC. 1, 2020 08:23

DiGenova’s violent ideations were aired on radio on Newsmax’s "Howie Carr Show." To whom was DiGenova directing his homicidal wrath, and for what unthinkable conduct? None other than Chris Krebs, recently terminated by Trump for simply leading our government’s election security efforts, and for daring to counter Trump’s narrative that the 2020 election was rife with fraud.

A practicing attorney calling for the murder of an election security champion who advocates for fact over fiction and defends our democracy, is dangerous enough. But when another like-minded professional adds religion and eternal damnation into the mix to demonize those with different politics than you, we’re sliding into extremist territory. And when the person behind that volatile wrath is, for example, a preacher and congressman, he can start sounding more like a radically violent leader ranting against unbelieving infidels than, say, the U.S. Air Force reserve chaplain that he is.

These well-coiffed and well-paid radicalizers might not fully grasp that their words can become a call to arms.

If we were to rearrange the titles and names, these calls to violence sound increasingly like those coming from the terrorist organizations that these very same officials and former officials validly view as a threat.

While educated and professionally trained, these well-coiffed and well-paid radicalizers might not fully grasp that their words can become a call to arms, something readily recognized by those with extensive experience in counterterrorism. Americans have for years consumed coverage of radicalized terrorist cells in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. But few are drawing the connection that many of our own prominent professionals are starting to sound, to those abroad who recruit, radicalize and raise up violent actors. Not nearly as blatantly violent, perhaps — but it’s becoming easier to imagine how rhetoric aimed at the demonization of others could get us there.

Colin P. Clarke, a senior research fellow at the Soufan Center, a global security research group, advised, “The reason a kid like Kyle Rittenhouse would go grab a gun and join a local militia is the same reason why somebody would be lured to a jihadi group.”


Breaking down DHS talking points that were sympathetic to Kyle Rittenhouse

OCT. 1, 2020  03:49

Clarke, who’s closely familiar with right-wing and anti-government extremism groups like the "Boogaloo Bois," said, “It’s identity, it’s grievances they have that are being exploited and magnified,” continuing: “And there’s this constant call to get off the couch and get off your ass and go do something. Like, ‘You be the guy that goes and defends whatever.’ Groups are different, the ideologies are different, but a lot of the messaging and the narrative are the same.”

On Nov. 28, Rep. Doug Collins, a Georgia Republican, attacked a Democratic Senate candidate in the state, the Rev. Raphael Warnock, by insisting that "there is no such thing as a pro-choice pastor." Collins turned his dialogue into demonization by claiming that Warnock’s status as a Christian pro-life advocate was a “lie from the pit of hell.”


This form of negative politics that devolves into dangerous radicalization is what the British political scientist Roger Eatwell has called “cumulative extremism.” As detailed by Anne Applebaum in an Oct. 30 article in The Atlantic, Eatwell believes that “people tend to become violent, or to sympathize with violence, if they feel an existential threat.” They also become more extreme, he said, when they feel their political opponents are not just wrong, but evil —“almost the devil.”

Yet, DiGenova and Collins weren’t the only professionals taking us down the perilous route to potential violence. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Sidney Powell, now a full-time spinner of election fraud fantasies, was a guest on a Nov. 21 Newsmax show. On that program, Powell used the subtle language of divine dimensions regarding her work to undermine election results when she asserted that the president’s lawyers would file a lawsuit of “biblical” proportions. The suit would allege, without evidence, that some election officials were embroiled in a pay-to-play scheme with a prominent manufacturer of voting software.

It was also Powell who used the phrase “release the kraken” to refer to the conspiracy theories she would use to avenge the loss of Trump and defeat the powers of perceived injustice and evil responsible for President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

The phrase comes from the film "Clash of the Titans," wherein Zeus, king of the gods, barks the order to "Release the kraken!" Whether intended or not, Powell’s invoking of a creature from Norse mythology, believed to be controlled by gods who release it to vanquish threats, further feeds the radicalized ideology by painting those who don’t accept Trump’s false claims as enemies.

On Tuesday, Powell’s radical extremism took a less subtle turn as she gained a troubling new ally already associated with inspiring ideologically based violence: the longtime administrator of the message board 8kun, internet home of the QAnon conspiracy theory.

Powell filed an affidavit from Ron Watkins, the son of 8kun’s owner, Jim Watkins, in a Georgia lawsuit alleging that Dominion Voting Systems machines used in the election had been corrupted as part of a sprawling voter-fraud conspiracy. As described by The Washington Post, “Powell has claimed that a diabolical scheme backed by global communists had invisibly shifted votes with help from a mysterious computer algorithm pioneered by the long-dead Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez — a wild story debunked by fact-checkers as a ‘fantasy parade’ and devoid of proof.”

Yet another degreed professional, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, a Harvard Law School alum, threw his hat into the radicalization ring with a tweet implying that some unnamed enemy was going to cancel his Thanksgiving because of recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to limit holiday travel. His message came in the form of a "war on Thanksgiving" meme featuring a turkey with the words "come and take it" — a phrase usually reserved to incite and rally those who fear their Second Amendment gun rights are in jeopardy. While Cruz implied that he might be willing to risk his life and others’ for green bean casserole, his state was tallying 1 million cases of Covid-19.

As radical rhetoric emanates from the educated elite, it becomes part of popular idiom, and the increased potential for violence over election results is no longer hypothetical. The threat is real. On Tuesday, Georgia election official Gabriel Sterling harshly admonished Trump and Georgia’s senators for their role in inciting threats against that state’s election staff. Previously, we saw reports that the FBI had opened investigations into threats against Georgia election officials.

Many Americans are attempting to find comfort in a self-delusion that domestic, politically based or ideological violence was a mere anomaly associated with mental instability, troubled youth or fringe belief systems. But make no mistake, violent rhetoric and dangerous ideology isn’t a trait of the “unwashed masses.” It’s perpetuated by the elite and powerful. The tragic repercussions of that high-level radicalization, however, will hurt us all.

Frank Figliuzzi
is an MSNBC columnist and a national security contributor for NBC News and MSNBC. He was the assistant director for counterintelligence at the FBI, where he served 25 years as a special agent and directed all espionage investigations across the government. He is the author of "The FBI Way: Inside the Bureau's Code of Excellence

 Ivory Coast cocoa producers end chocolate war with Hershey's

Published December 5, 2020 By Agence France-Presse

Cocoa Workers (AFP)

Ivory Coast’s cocoa producers have ended their row with Hershey’s after the US chocolate giant committed to paying a premium above the market price under an initiative to help lift the incomes of poor farmers, according to a letter to the firm.

Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world’s number one and two cocoa producers respectively, on Monday accused confectionery giants Hershey’s and Mars of sidestepping a deal to pay the living income differential (LID), a bonus of $400 per tonne of cocoa, the raw material for chocolate.

Millions of small farmers in Ivory Coast and Ghana, which together grow 60 percent of the world’s cocoa, live in grinding poverty.

The LID is part of a programmes run by the multinationals to certify that their chocolate is ethically produced — meeting standards of sustainability and free of child labour — allowing them to sell it at higher prices to Western consumers.

Ivory Coast’s Coffee Cacao Council said Friday it had lifted the suspension of Hershey’s sustainability certification programmes after the firm committed to paying the premium, according to a letter to the US company.

“This lifting of the suspension follows your final commitment to pay the LID,” CCC head Yves Kone wrote to Hershey’s.

Ivory Coast and neighbouring Ghana on Monday had launched an unprecedented media offensive against Hershey’s and Mars, accusing the chocolate titans of avoiding paying the LID after Hershey’s reportedly made a large cocoa purchase on the US futures market.

The two firms had denied the charges and assured that they supported the mechanism, imposed by Ivory Coast and Ghana in 2019.

In his letter, Kone indicated that lifting the suspension was decided following a video interview with Hershey officials on December 1, the day after the public denunciation.

The CCC hopes that “in the interest of producers, in your own interests and those of the cocoa sector, our organisation will no longer have to suspend the Hershey programmes in Ivory Coast again,” Kone wrote.

It was not immediately known whether Ghana had also lifted its sanctions.

The public accusations, which escalated Thursday as Ivorian cocoa farmers threatened to boycott multinational chocolate makers, could be costly in terms of image and sales to the groups, already in the hot seat for several years over ethical issues.

The world’s chocolate market is estimated to be worth more than $100 billion, concentrated in a small number of multinational corporations.

But only six percent of the bonanza trickles down to the farmers in tropical countries which grow the raw product.

Half of Ivorian growers live below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.

Research group buys 'salmon ranch' to feed southern resident orcas

The number of southern resident orcas is down to 74 largely because of dwindling salmon stocks in the Salish Sea

Author of the article: Darron Kloster • Victoria Times Colonist
Publishing date: Dec 07, 2020 • 

Mother J35, centre, surfaces with her 10-year-old son J47 along with her day-old baby J57 off the San Juan Islands in Washington state Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020. J35, nicknamed Tahlequah, is the mother orca who made international headlines when she carried her newborn dead calf for 17 days and over 1,600 kilometres in 2018, bringing the plight of the southern resident killer whales to the attention of the world. 

PHOTO BY SARAH MCCULLAGH/PACIFIC WHALE WATCH ASSOCIATION

An American organization that has studied the decline of the southern resident orca population for more than four decades has acquired land on either side of a Washington river with hopes it can restore historic runs of chinook salmon for an “ecosystem approach” to feeding the whales.

The Center for Whale Research, based in Friday Harbour, Washington, said chinook salmon are the main food source for the resident orcas, whose numbers have been squeezed down to 74 largely because of dwindling salmon stocks in the Salish Sea.

The centre has acquired 45 acres on the Elwha River near Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula, where native chinook salmon spawn. They’ve dubbed the property Big Salmon Ranch.

The U.S. government in 2014 removed two hydro-electric dams that blocked salmon runs on the Elwha, and fish populations are improving, said Ken Balcomb, the Center for Whale Research’s founder and senior scientist.

“The salmon are coming back in greater numbers each year and in 20 more years they may reach historical population levels,” he said. “Restore the ecosystem and the salmon will recover. We decided to champion a good example as a model for other river ecosystems that can ultimately provide food for the southern resident orcas.”

Balcomb said the organization will keep its Elwha ecosystem habitat in an undisturbed, non-resource-extraction condition in perpetuity so that chinook salmon can recover to pre-dam levels of 25,000 to 33,000 returning adults in the coming decades.

The 7,400 chinook that recently returned to the Elwha created about 900 redds, or spawning nests, each containing about 5,000 fertilized eggs. Optimally, more than four million chinook smolts will be produced by the Elwha. By 2024, the organization said it could result in 80,000 to 250,000 returning adult Chinook salmon for the orcas and the overall fishery.

But the new landowners say the Elwha alone won’t be enough to sustain the orca population.

The Center for Whale Research said the collapse of the Fraser River chinook populations in recent years has made it imperative that other food sources for the southern resident orcas be found and encouraged to recover as quickly as possible. The group believes all of the natural populations of chinook salmon that spawn in Salish Sea rivers are now endangered due to fishing and habitat degradation.

“If other major runs of chinook salmon in southern resident orca habitat were healthy, like the Snake and Columbia River systems once were, the whales might be OK,” the group says. “But virtually all of these other ecosystems have major habitat issues.”

The southern resident population is comprised of three pods, J, K and L, which use dialect in their calls that are unique from other orcas. As of October, the Center for Whale Research said J Pod consists of 24 animals, K Pod has 17 and L Pod 33.

'The original farmers': Interest in First Nations farming revival growing

The Tsawwassen First Nation farm school has become a model for other Indigenous agriculture projects across B.C.

Author of the article: Glenda Luymes
Publishing date: Dec 07, 2020 • 

Nicol Watson at the Tsawwassen First Nation Farm School. A former student, Watson now has a small farm plot where she grows vegetables for her community. 

PHOTO BY FRANCIS GEORGIAN /PNG

It felt like time to return to the land.

After several years away, Nicol Watson moved back to her family home on the Tsawwassen First Nation in 2017.

“I decided to return to my community and learn to live off the earth,” she said. “I knew I needed a change, but I didn’t really know what I was doing.”

As a child, Watson helped her grandfather in his garden. She grew up, got a job and moved away, but a bad car crash made it hard for her to continue to work as an industrial painter.

“The garden gave me peace, so I decided to go in that direction,” she said.

Shortly after returning home, she enrolled in the Tsawwassen First Nation farm school.

In 2013, as part of its agricultural plan, the Tsawwassen First Nation set up a partnership with Kwantlen Polytechnic University to develop a hands-on agriculture training program. The Tsawwassen First Nation farm school was established on about 20 acres — roughly 20 city blocks — of traditional TFN land to teach students about small-scale sustainable agriculture and Indigenous food systems.

A first in B.C., the farm school has become a model for other Indigenous agriculture projects across the province.

“It’s a very practical program,” said Kent Mullinix, director of KPU’s institute for sustainable food systems. “It’s designed to transfer knowledge.”

While part of the school involves KPU classes, the majority of the learning happens, quite literally, in the field. There are no educational requirements for participation in the program, which is not accredited, meaning no diploma is awarded at the end. Instead, students are given the opportunity to create a business plan and establish their own incubator farm on a plot at the farm school.

“They have access to that for three years, as well as access to tools, machinery and technical and marketing support so they can build their business in an environment that’s as risk-free as possible,” said Mullinix.

The program accepts about 12 students each year on average, with priority given to Tsawwassen First Nation students and other Indigenous students.

The Tsawwassen First Nation Farm School gives students a hands-on education in sustainable agriculture. 

PHOTO BY SUBMITTED PHOTO - PAIGE LESLIE /PNG

The farm grows various crops and recently added livestock, including pigs. 

PHOTO BY SUBMITTED PHOTO - PAIGE LESLIE /PNG

Students work on the farm while taking classes in integrated pest management, plant science and tree fruit, among other subjects. Produce from the farm is provided to Tsawwassen First Nation elders. Students also participate in farmers’ markets and a community-supported agriculture box program. Indigenous food sovereignty and sustainability are at the forefront of teaching and discussion.

“We want settler-descendant students to learn that their farm has to reflect Indigenous food sovereignty — it needs to be a part of what it means to be a sustainable farmer,” said Mullinix.

Chief Ken Baird said in statement that his nation views food sovereignty as an “extension of its culture, of viewing Mother Earth as a sustaining force.”

The school draws from cultural practices, including respecting elders as knowledge keepers, and maintains a traditional smokehouse at the site.

Agriculture is also a land use that can provide revenue, food, jobs and education, he said, as well as “an enduring cultural connection for present and future generations.”
The original farmers

Discussion about Indigenous agriculture projects tends to forget that First Nations people are “the original farmers,” said Jennifer Grenz, a sessional lecturer in the University of B.C.’s faculty of land and food systems.

“People use terms like natural areas and wilderness to describe landscapes that we’ve shaped since time immemorial to provide food,” she said. “If you expect food production to look like a typical agrarian setting, you’re not going to see it.”

Historically, along with hunting and fishing, B.C. First Nations cultivated land to grow plants and bulbs.

“Now, we are taking up farming that might be slightly more recognizable to settlers, but it is still different,” said Grenz, who is Nlaka’pamux.

Indigenous agriculture is about growing food for people in a way that’s respectful of the land and ecological reconciliation. There’s also great variety in the types of farms and food production being done.

“Settler ideas sometimes hold us to the past. We bring a unique perspective and food experiences, but we’re farmers, and we’re expanding our expertise and pursuing our economic interests,” she said.

For Watson, who is also an ordained minister, farming is a way to contribute to her community. She uses her incubator farm to provide “blessing bags” to members of the community who can’t afford fresh, organic food.

“For me, it’s been valuable to learn how I can do my part for our nation. I want to gain that knowledge and pass it on to others,” she said.

Watson’s sister has also started to take courses through the farm school, which is now accepting students for its spring program after intake was suspended last spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic

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Nicol Watson at the Tsawwassen First Nation Farm School.

 PHOTO BY FRANCIS GEORGIAN /PNG

A quieter summer meant farm staff could focus on developing the farm, while KPU has provided support to several other B.C. First Nations that are also interested in starting a farm school or community farm on their lands.

The Sik-E-Dakh First Nation near Hazelton reached out to the university to provide online courses for its farm school students three days a week. On the other days, instruction happens on community farmland, where students plan, plant and harvest crops, raise chickens and attend workshops, including those on food preservation and Gitxsan food ways, said band administrator Velma Sutherland

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The Sik-E-Dakh First Nation “community pantry” farm stand. From L-R, farmers Eric Wale, Victor Wesley and Eric Fowler. PHOTO BY SUBMITTED PHOTO /PNG

Farmers tend the crops at the Sik-E-Dakh First Nation farm school.
PHOTO BY SUBMITTED PHOTO /PNG

Students in a carpentry program built a greenhouse and chicken house on the land, as well as a “community pantry” farm stand.

“Next year we hope to expand. The goal is to bring some economic development and also teach people skills,” she said. “We want this to be something the community can be proud of.”

Sutherland said food security has become even more important during the pandemic, but for the Sik-E-Dakh, generosity is also key.

“It doesn’t have to make us millionaires,” she said. “We want to make sure everyone in the community has enough potatoes and carrots, and once they do, we can sell the rest.”

Reliable access to nutritious food

Food security is top of mind for many of the B.C. First Nations that have begun exploring agricultural programs, said Trevor Kempthorne, a consultant with the First Nations Agriculture Association of B.C.

The association, which began in 1978 but shut down for several years before starting up again in 2018, provides business planning, soil testing and workshops for Indigenous farmers.

“When we’re invited into a community, they tell us what they’d like to do,” he said.

While COVID-19 has highlighted the need for local food sources that aren’t dependent on international markets, remote First Nations can also be cut off from the food supply chain by natural events, such as rock slides.

“It’s all about sustainable agriculture for the community. To be able to grow and supply your own community and have some control over that,” said Kempthorne, adding food security can also lead to employment opportunities, better health and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

Statistics Canada figures shows that while Indigenous people are under-represented in agriculture — making up about 2.7 per cent of Canada’s farm population compared to 4.9 per cent of the country’s total population — the number of Indigenous farm operators is rapidly growing.

According to a report based on the results of the 2016 agriculture census, the number of Indigenous agricultural operators increased 53.7 per cent from 2006, compared to a decline of 30 per cent in the total number of agricultural operators.

B.C. had the largest number of First Nations farmers in 2016 with 285, followed by Ontario with 215 and Alberta with 150.

“It should be noted that Aboriginal history has been marked by government policies that affected Aboriginal access to farmland, tools and markets,” said the report. “The recent statistics, then, should be viewed with this history in mind.”

Kempthorne said the most common barrier he’s encountered is access to capital. While some First Nations have high-quality farm land, startup costs for livestock and equipment can be very high. Part of his work includes sourcing funds and financing options for farmers.

“Basically, it’s all about putting together a strong business plan,” he said.

The median gross farm revenue of First Nations agricultural operations was about $18,000, according to the 2016 agriculture census, or about one-quarter of the revenue of farms managed by non-Aboriginal operators.

The census also found First Nations operators were more likely to be part-time farmers and work at an off-farm job or business as well.

The Statistics Canada report concluded “more research on Aboriginal peoples and agriculture remains to be done, particularly on the subject of Aboriginal access to agricultural land.”

Harvest at the Tsawwassen First Nation Farm School. 

PHOTO BY SUBMITTED PHOTO - PAIGE LESLIE /PNG

Students sell farm school produce at local farmers’ markets. 

PHOTO BY SUBMITTED PHOTO - PAIGE LESLIE /PNG

Fifty farm and food projects supported over two years

In 2018, the B.C. government launched the Indigenous agriculture development program, which has provided support to about 50 farm and food projects so far, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

The program aims to support business planning and skills development for communities and individuals who want to develop opportunities in agriculture and food. It has two streams, including one for Indigenous governments, communities and organizations, and another for Indigenous entrepreneurs.

Since its launch, the B.C. government has provided more than $320,000 in funding to the program, including $172,900 so far this fiscal year.

Many projects have “economic development goals as well as goals related to supporting food security and Indigenous food systems,” said a statement from the Ministry of Agriculture.

UBC instructor Grenz said it’s an exciting time for Indigenous agriculture.

“It’s a unique time,” she said. “We’re seeing more support.”

By reclaiming their culture, First Nations are also reclaiming food sovereignty.

“You don’t have food without culture,” she said.

#ENDFURFARMING

COVID-19: Outbreak declared at Fraser Valley mink farm

An outbreak has been declared at a Fraser Valley mink farm after eight people at the site tested positive for COVID-19

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© Provided by Vancouver Sun FILE PHOTO — 

A COVID-19 outbreak has been declared at a Fraser Valley mink farm.

Fraser Health says a team is now screening all farm employees and conducting contact tracing, while the farm operators and affected staff are self-isolating.

“The mink farm has been ordered to restrict the transport of animals, products and goods from the farm,” Fraser Health said in a news release. “Animal welfare is being supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and testing of animals is underway. Enhanced measures are in place to ensure safety of animals and farm owners.”

Minks have been discovered to be susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 virus, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Last month, the government in Denmark, the world’s largest producer of mink pelts, ordered a massive cull of the country’s 17 million minks, which are farmed for their pelts, to head off infection carrying over to the human population.

To date, no infections have been reported in mink here in B.C., but outbreaks have killed thousands of the animals across the border at farms in Utah, Wisconsin, Michigan and Oregon.

There are 14 mink farms in the Fraser Valley. Fraser Health did not identify which farm had the outbreak.

A Fraser Health spokesperson told Postmedia that it is not known if any of the farm’s animals had been tested for the virus.

Earlier this fall, government officials inspected every mink farm in B.C. to ensure that all measures were being taken to make certain that the virus that causes COVID-19 does not pass between animals and humans.

“Ministry of Agriculture staff have been in contact with the province’s licensed mink farms within the last several months to ensure that all necessary precautions are being taken to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19 through human to animal or animal to human transmission,” the ministry said.

The ministry said the farms had been advised to increase sanitation and enhance “biosecurity measures.”

Lesley Fox, the executive director for the Fur-Bearers, a charity group established to eradicate the commercial fur industry, said the Fraser Valley outbreak shows that the government’s safety measures weren’t good enough.

“The ministry knew this was a problem — they knew mink are highly susceptible to this virus and despite whatever efforts they made … it was a failure. They can’t contain it,” said Fox, who noted that her group had called on the ministry to conduct testing of both the mink and farm workers.

Fox said if animals on the farm are also infected, the potential for spread is huge.

“Those animals are kept in outdoor sheds and mink escape from farms all the time,” she said.

The Fur-Bearers launched a petition last week calling on the federal government to carry out testing on mink farms, develop a plan to quarantine and sanitize infected farms, and create a program to help mink farmers in transition away from the fur industry.

With files from Randy Shore and National Post

Bankers ask Trump’s CDC to prioritize financial industry employees for vaccine: report

BANKERS SAY THEY ARE ESSENTIAL FOR CAPITALI$M

Published on December 4, 2020
By Bob Brigham

Doctor holding vaccine. (AFP)

The ethical questions over the prioritization of COVID-19 vaccines will be put to the test as industry trade groups attempt to get their workers to the front of the line.

“Frontline bank employees could get a shot in the arm in the coming months. Tellers and other consumer-facing bank workers could jump ahead of most Americans for coronavirus inoculations, after vaccines receive widely anticipated emergency-use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, potentially putting those financial-industry workers in line ahead of those 65 and older, other adults with medical issues and the rest of the U.S. population,” MarketWatch reported Friday.

“The American Bankers Association, which represents community banks, said it has asked the CDC to designate a narrow slice of the financial-services industry as ‘essential workers,’ mainly adhering to guidelines issued by the Department of Homeland Security,” MarketWatch explained.