Latvian PM's New Unity party 

ahead in vote, exit poll shows

Fri, September 30, 2022 

By Andrius Sytas

RIGA (Reuters) -The centre-right New Unity party of Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins was set to win Saturday's national election, an exit poll showed, after a campaign dominated by security concerns following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

If confirmed, the result should mean Latvia remains a leading voice alongside its Baltic neighbours Lithuania and Estonia in pushing the European Union for a decisive stance against Russia.

But it could widen a rift between the country's Latvian majority and its Russian-speaking minority over their place in society, amid widespread national anger over Moscow's actions in Ukraine.

The first Latvian head of government to serve through a full four-year term, Karins, a 57-year-old dual U.S. and Latvian citizen, has benefited from his Moscow policy, which included restricting the entry of Russian citizens travelling from Russia and Belarus.

"We have known Russia’s politics for years, we had been trying to warn our neighbours for years before the war started," Karins told reporters after exit polls were published.

"We will continue to invest in our own defence ... to ensure that Latvia and the Baltic region remains as secure in the future as it is today."

An LETA/LSM exit poll showed New Unity at 22.5%, twice the number of votes as nearest competitor, the United List of smaller parties.

The Greens and Farmers Union, a coalition of conservative groups closely knit around Aivars Lembergs, the long-term mayor of Ventspils who was put on a U.S. sanctions list for alleged corruption in 2019, was in third place with 10.9%.

Exit polls showed falling support for parties popular with Latvia's Russian-speaking minority, which makes up about a quarter of the country's population of 1.9 million.

The left-leaning Harmony party saw its support decline to single digits, with observers saying this was driven in part by ethnic Latvian voters turning away. Some Russian speakers were also disappointed by the party leadership criticizing the Kremlin over Ukraine.

(Reporting by Andrius Sytas and Janis Laizans; Editing by Justyna Pawlak and David Holmes)

FAA says Boeing has not

completed work needed for 

737 MAX 7 approval

FILE PHOTO: The first Boeing 737 MAX 7 is unveiled in Renton43

By David Shepardson

(Reuters) -The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told Boeing it has not completed key work needed in order to certify the 737 MAX 7 by December, according to a letter from the FAA seen by Reuters.

Lirio Liu, the FAA's executive director of aviation safety, told Boeing in the Sept. 19 letter that the agency had concerns about the planemaker's submissions and sought discussion "about realistic timeframes for receiving the remaining documents."

The FAA told Boeing to turn in all remaining System Safety Assessments (SSAs) by mid-September "if the company intends to meet its project plan of completing certification work (and receiving FAA approval for this airplane) by December."

Liu said as of Sept. 15, "just under 10% of the SSAs have been accepted by the FAA and another 70% of these documents are in various stages of review and revision."

Boeing faces a December deadline to win approval from the FAA of the 737 MAX 7 and 10 variants, or it must meet new modern cockpit-alerting requirements that could significantly delay approvals.

Congress could opt to waive the requirements that were adopted as part of a certification reform bill passed after two fatal 737 MAX crashes killed 346 people and led to the best-selling plane's 20-month grounding.

The FAA added in the that "most concerning, however, is that Boeing has yet to provide an initial submittal for six of the

outstanding SSAs."

It said it expects "many of these documents will take significant time to review due to their complexity and bearing on the overall safety of the new aircraft."

"Work must be completed deliberately and in such a way that an arbitrary calendar date does not become the driving factor," Liu wrote.

Boeing said it is "discussing with policymakers the time needed to complete these certifications, following established processes."

"We are not seeking to rush this process, and believe safety is best served by allowing the 737-7 and 737-10 certification effort the time needed to complete this important work without introducing different systems," Boeing said.

"Consistent operational experience across an airplane family is an industry best practice," Boeing said.

On Sept. 15, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun predicted the company would win approval for the smaller 737 MAX 7 this year.

Calhoun said if needed, Boeing would seek "some kind of extension" and make a case based on the "safety argument to win."

The Seattle Times reported the FAA letter earlier.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Kim Coghill, Robert Birsel)

HOW MANY?

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3887199-boeing-receives-order-for-up-to-64-737-max-jets-from-canadas-westjet

Boeing receives order for up to 64 737 MAX jets from Canada's ... 

4 days ago ... ... 737 MAX jets from Canada's WestJet airline. ... Seeking Alpha columnist Dhierin Bechai has a Buy rating on Boeing ...

https://www.baystreet.ca/stockstowatch/13848/WestJet-To-Buy-42-Boeing-737-MAX-Aircraft

WestJet To Buy 42 Boeing 737 MAX Aircraft - Baystreet.ca 

3 days ago ... WestJet To Buy 42 Boeing 737 MAX Aircraft. Privately held WestJet Airlines says it has signed an agreement with Boeing (BA) to purchase 42 737- ...

https://tj.news/telegraph-journal/101977065

WestJet to buy 65 Boeing 737 Max 10 airplanes - Telegraph-Journal 

WestJet is tripling down on the Boeing 737 Max. The Calgary-based airline announced a deal on Thursday that will take their current purchase order for 23 of ...

Trans woman's 'horrible' TSA encounter starts conversation on TikTok about the anxiety transgender travelers face: 'They can do better and should'

Katie Mather
Fri, September 30, 2022 

A trans woman shared their “horrible” experience going through airport security on TikTok, and it opened up a larger conversation about the struggles trans people face on a regular basis.

Rosalynne Montoya identifies as a non-binary transgender woman. In March, they were traveling to visit their boyfriend when they experienced an embarrassing back-and-forth with a TSA agent.

“Can we talk about how horrible it is to travel while being transgender sometimes?” Montoya said in the TikTok. “I always have immense anxiety leading up to going through security.”

Even with their intense anxiety, Montoya also mentioned their “privilege” of having all of their government documents correctly identify them as female. Montoya was able to change their documents in Washington state, which allows applicants to change the gender marker on their driver’s license and birth certificate without documentation from a doctor or court.

Unfortunately, the scanner at TSA checkpoints only has two settings. Agents have a split-second to choose whether the next traveler entering the scanner is male or female.

“Looking at me, you know, I look like a woman and I am a woman,” Montoya explained. “But, going through the scanner, I always have an ‘anomaly’ between my legs that sets off the alarm. And so she (the TSA attendant) asked me if I had anything in my pants, and I told her ‘no,’ and she’s like, ‘Well, maybe it’s just like the metal on your shorts, so let’s scan you again.'”

Montoya set off the alarm again and had to explain to the agent that they are trans and were willing to be patted down.

“Her solution was, ‘Do you want to be scanned as a man instead?’ I didn’t. But, I ended up doing it, and then my boobs set off the scanner because, of course,” they continued. “So then she was like, ‘OK, well we have to pat you down. Do you want a man to do it?’ I said, ‘NO! Absolutely not.'”

Setting off the alarm three times in public as well as being misgendered caused Montoya so much anxiety that they had to call their boyfriend afterward to help them calm down.

“I felt dysphoric and disrespected, but remembered how much worse this experience used to be,” they told BuzzFeed News in an interview.

Montoya went on to make the point that, again, they consider themselves very privileged. Earlier in their transition, they experienced worse treatment in airports.

“There needs to be training in all businesses about transgender people,” they told BuzzFeed. “The TSA security machines should account for trans and non-binary people. And the agents should understand that misgendering me and outing me as a trans person in public could be potentially dangerous.”

In a follow-up TikTok, Montoya went on to explain how the TSA can do better.

“The true problem is a systemic problem,” they explained. “There is transphobia rooted in every system of power in this nation. The root solution is simply: believe transgender people when we tell you who we are.”

“TSA needs to remove the gendered settings from their scanners,” they continued. “They should also believe me when I tell them that I’m a trans woman and that I don’t want to be pat down by a man or scanned as a man, because I’m not one.”

“Gender is not relevant for flight safety,” a commenter agreed. “They can do better and should.”

“[TSA] could have handled that better,” another wrote. “Not cool at all.”

Satanists file federal lawsuit to overturn Idaho's abortion ban

Kip Hill, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
Fri, September 30, 2022 

Oct. 1—The Satanic Temple has joined the legal effort to overturn Idaho's criminal ban on abortions.

The religious organization headquartered in Salem, Massachusetts, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Idaho on Friday alleging the law, which went into effect Aug. 25 and imposes felony criminal charges on any person performing an abortion in the state, violates members' Constitutional rights.

The lawsuit claims the group, which "venerates but does not worship" the Satan that is present in John Milton's epic poem "Paradise Lost," has more than 3,500 members in Idaho, including women who become involuntarily pregnant.

"(The Satanic Temple) members wish to remain anonymous due to the risk of violent retribution from domestic terrorists motivated by animosity to proponents of abortion and non-Christian religious beliefs," the lawsuit states.

The Satanic Temple alleges Idaho's law violates its members' Fifth, 13th and 14th Amendment rights, and violates Idaho state laws protecting the free exercise of religion. The group has an established ritual for members receiving an abortion, practices that are prevented because of Idaho's law banning abortions, the lawsuit alleges.

Idaho's law has has been challenged by the health care provider Planned Parenthood in the state Supreme Court. A hearing on those challenges is scheduled for a hearing in Boise on Thursday.

The Satanic Temple lawsuit has been assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Raymond Edward Patricco Jr. A hearing had not yet been scheduled as of Friday afternoon.

The organization filed a similar lawsuit in Indiana on Sept. 21, where it claims to have 11,300 members. A federal judge ruled this week that Indiana's abortion ban was unconstitutional and blocked its enforcement. They are also fighting Texas' ban on abortion in federal court on similar grounds.

Georgia judge nixes tax break for electric truck firm Rivian

JEFF AMY

Fri, September 30, 2022 

ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia judge rejected an agreement that would have provided a huge property tax break to Rivian Automotive, clouding the upstart electric truck maker's plans to build a plant east of Atlanta.

Morgan County Superior Court Judge Brenda Trammell rejected what is normally a routine request by a local government to validate a bond agreement, ruling Thursday that the development authority that brought the case hadn't proved that the $5 billion plant, projected to hire 7,500 people, was “sound, reasonable and feasible” as is required under state law.

Trammell also ruled that under state law, Rivian should be required to pay regular property taxes because of its level of control over property it would be leasing from the development authority, undermining the reason that the legal action was brought in the first place.

Rivian declined to comment.

The Georgia Department of Economic Development and a local four-county joint development authority that recruited Rivian said they were “disappointed and respectfully disagree with Judge Trammell’s decision. They said they aren't giving up on their plans, and are considering an appeal.

“We remain undeterred in our efforts to bring high-paying, American manufacturing jobs to Georgia, and are currently assessing all legal options,” the groups said.

The Irvine, California-based electric vehicle manufacturer announced last year that it would build the facility on a 2,000-acre (800-hectare) site in Morgan and Walton counties about 45 miles (70 kilometers) east of Atlanta along Interstate 20. It plans to produce up to 400,000 vehicles a year there. Rivian, which also has a plant in Normal, Illinois, had hoped to break ground as early as this summer and begin production in 2024.

By maintaining ownership of the property and leasing it to Rivian, local governments would exempt Rivian from a projected $700 million in property taxes over 25 years, although Rivian has agreed to make $300 million in payments in lieu of taxes during the period.

The property tax break is a key part of the $1.2 billion in tax breaks and incentives that Georgia and local officials offered for Rivian to build a plant in the state.

The long-used maneuver circumvents a ban in Georgia’s state constitution on giving “gratuities” to companies or individuals. If Trammell’s order requiring normal property taxes is upheld, it could call other big tax breaks into question and keep officials from using the tool in the future.

The state also plans to spend $200 million to buy the site and prepare it. Rivian could claim a projected $200 million income tax credit, and $280 million in sales tax breaks on machinery and construction materials. The state also plans to spend $90 million to build a job training center and train workers.

The judge found persuasive the arguments of a group of local residents who oppose development of the plant, saying it will spoil their quality of life in a rural area that Atlanta's sprawl is now encroaching upon.

“It is very fulfilling that we local citizens were able to band together to do so much research in order to bring a great legal team on board and deliver us fantastic results like these,” said JoEllen Artz, president of opposition group Morgan Land, Sky & Water Preservation. Artz and other opponents intervened in the lawsuit to question the appropriateness of the tax break deal proposed by a four-county joint development authority that helped recruit Rivian.

The company has encountered difficulties in ramping up production in Illinois and its once soaring stock price has tumbled with some key investors dumping shares.

Trammell wrote that local and state officials appeared not to have considered the higher costs of services that local governments would incur, or whether Rivian had the money to complete the project.

“Rivian's cash reserves are quickly drying up, thus casting serious doubt on whether it will be able to commence, let alone complete, the project," Trammell wrote.

___

Follow Jeff Amy on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jeffamy.

Thousands rally for Nigeria's Labour party 2023 election campaign

Sat, October 1, 2022 at 10:27 AM·2 min read


Thousands of supporters for Nigeria's Labour party candidate Peter Obi rallied in Lagos and other cities on Saturday, in the first major campaign march for the 2023 presidential election.

Obi, a former state governor, is challenging the long dominance of ruling APC and main opposition PDP to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in governing Africa's most populous country.

Five months before the February 25 ballot, main candidates appear in a tight race with Nigeria's faltering economy and rife insecurity among the top priorities for the winner.

With Afrobeats tunes blasting from trucks, and crowds chanting his name, Obi's supporters packed into highway service lanes in several districts in Lagos, Nigeria's economic capital.

"We are taking back our country," said Chijioke Chuwunyere, a tech consultant who was marching in Lagos Surulere area. "This is a chance to right all the wrongs."

Obi supporters also rallied near the Lekki tollgate, where peaceful #EndSARS protests demanding better governance and an end to police brutality were violently disrupted by security forces in October 2020.


Obi was not at the rallies, but supporters also marched in other cities across the country.

Obi's supporters who call themselves "Obi-dients" say the 61-year-old former banking executive offers an alternative to the old-guard candidates put forward by the PDP and APC.

High inflation, lack of jobs and insecurity have left many younger Nigerians frustrated with politics and apathetic about change at the ballot box.

But earlier this year, electoral authorities say 70 percent of newly registered voters for 2023 are aged between 18-34.

Obi has gained a huge following on social media, but analysts question how much he can convert that into votes on election day.

The PDP governed Nigeria from the end of military rule in 1999 until 2015, when the APC defeated it to give Buhari his first term.

Nationwide, the Labour Party does not have the structure of the All Progressives Congress (APC) or Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), or any state governorships. But supporters say they have momentum.

"We want a man, a governor, a president who will hear the voice of the masses," said therapist and Labour party organiser Felicity Okorocha at one of the Lagos rallies.

APC's candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a former governor dubbed "Godfather of Lagos" for his political influence touts his experience running the megalopolis as key.

Tinubu, 70, has been in London resting before the start of his campaign, an APC presidential campaign council member Ayo Oyalowo told Arise TV.

"He has five months to engage with Nigerians," he said on Friday.

PDP's Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president on his fifth run at the presidency, this week launched his campaign with a book event.

Abubakar, 75, says his government experience and business acumen can "rescue" Nigeria from APC's mismanagement. But the PDP also faces a major split within its ranks with a powerful governor.

pma/yad

Firefly Aerospace reaches orbit for the first time



Darrell Etherington
Sat, October 1, 2022 at 5:36 AM·1 min read

There’s another space-proven private launch company in the club — Firefly Aerospace. The company’s small payload Alpha rocket reached orbit successfully early on Saturday morning after taking of from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

This is a major achievement for Firefly, which has been a lot to get here: The company originally began operations as Firefly Space Systems, which went bankrupt, and was then reborn as Firefly Aerospace after its assets were acquired by Max Polyakov’s Noosphere ventures in 2017.

Tom Markusic, who founded the company and led it as CEO, also departed the post in June. Markusic shifted into a technical advisory and full-time board member role, but his departure was preceded by the very public leaving of Max Polyakov, who in February shared a post pointing the finger at the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), the Air Force and other U.S. agencies for his forced exit. Polyakov is a UK citizen but was born in Ukraine.

Firefly launched its first Alpha rocket just over a year ago on September 2, 2021, but the launch vehicle exploded mid flight, prior to achieving orbit.

That launch, like today’s, carried a number of payloads for actual paying customers. The difference is that Firefly claimed “100% mission success” for today’s flight, including successful deployment of all three payloads on board to their target orbits.

Firefly now ranks among the small but slowly growing club of private space companies that have attained orbit, including SpaceX, Rocket Lab, Virgin Orbit and Astra.

Firefly launches rocket from Vandenberg, a year after mid-air explosion

Janene Scully
Sat, October 1, 2022 

A fledgling rocket made its second flight early Saturday morning from Vandenberg Space Force Base, achieving several key milestones as it went “to the black” and delivered its cargo.

Liftoff of the Texas-based Firefly Aerospace ’s Alpha booster occurred at 12:01 a.m. from Space Launch Complex-2.

Foggy conditions kept most would-be spectators from seeing the flight of the 95-foot-tall rocket. A faint rumble could be heard in Santa Maria and other areas.

A report of second engine cutoff, or SECO, prompted cheers and applause from the control room.

“Orbit achieved. Alpha’s in the black,” a Firefly team member said.


Ninety minutes after launch, tracking stations on the ground confirmed the payloads had deployed. A short time later, company representatives declared on Twitter “100% Mission Succcess.”

The Alpha rocket’s engines fire at Vandenberg Space Force Base as the Firefly Aerospace achieves a successful second flight early Saturday morning. Screenshot via Everyday Astronaut/Firefly Aerospace

Firefly officials labeled the launch a technology demonstration flight as they aimed to prove Alpha’s ability to carry payloads into space, filling the need for small satellite customers by providing an economical flight to orbit.

More than a year ago, the Alpha rocket’s flight ended in a fiery failure following liftoff from Vandenberg.

The firm’s road to a second rocket’s liftoff wasn’t smooth thanks in part to glitches and unfavorable weather.

The liftoff came after a Sept. 11 countdown ended with helium pressure troubles. A planned Sept. 12 launch was scrubbed due to forecasts calling for windy conditions and the team looked toward a week later, but a strong rainstorm prevented the attempt.

Friday’s attempt also encountered a last-minute abort leading to the decision to try again Saturday and succeed at getting off the ground and into space.

With launch facilities at both Vandenberg and in Florida, Firefly hopes to accommodate monthly flights by late 2022.

The rocket, employing carbon composite materials, carried a much lighter cargo load.

Since it was a demonstration flight, the research and development payloads amounted to about 77 pounds, much less than the 2,200 pounds Alpha is designed to carry.

On board Alpha were some small spacecraft aiming to test technology for future use in space.

For instance, the Teachers in Space Serenity payload will collect data about atmospheric pressure, temperature and radiation via a matched pair of Geiger counters, one wrapped in experimental radiation protection material and one unwrapped.

NASA’s TechEdSat-15 carries various experiments including the primary one to test technology for de-orbiting satellites in the future. The exo-brake device has been designed to survive much higher temperature environments.

Another experiment on TechEdSat-15 includes the Beacon And Memory Board Interface (BAMBI), which optimizes internal and external data transfer from the nanosatellite.

“The TechEdSat-NOW series has multiple research goals including using the exo-brake to de-orbit high-altitude nanosatellites at end of mission to reduce issues related to orbital debris,” according to the team. “Additionally, drag modulation has uses for sample return from low-Earth orbit as well as tailoring orbits during aero-pass maneuvers for future planetary applications.”

The TechEdSat-15 project is managed by NASA Ames Research Center and funded by the NASA Ames Engineering Directorate with San Jose State University being a partner.

Libre Space Foundation’s PicoBus deployer will release several picosatellites with a mission focused on testing various technology for telecommunications.

The next launch from Vandenberg will be a Space Exploration Technologies Falcon 9 rocket carrying the next batch of Starlink satellites with liftoff aiming for 4:56 p.m. Monday.

Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. 

What all that stealing says about America


Organized crime is behind spate of retail thefts: Coalition of Law Enforcement and Retail president

Andy Serwer with Dylan Croll
Sat, October 1, 2022 

I recently went to my neighborhood drug store in New York City to buy some Tylenol and saw it was locked up on a plastic shelf—as was much of the store’s stock.

We’re used to seeing expensive jewelry secured behind glass or a few items behind convenience store counters, but lately the amount of seemingly ordinary items—soap, ice cream, detergent—locked up in stores—CVS, Best Buy, Home Depot, etc—is increasing. If you don't see this where you live yet, you might soon. Or you might visit parts of America where it has become commonplace.

Is stealing from stores really increasing, and if so, by how much? Turns out hard data is tough to come by, but nationally, the problem might not be as bad as it seems. According to the 2022 National Retail Federation’s Retail Security Survey, the average "shrink rate" — otherwise known as inventory loss — last year was 1.4%, or roughly $94.5 billion out of $6.6 trillion in total retail sales. That's roughly the same percentage as the last five years, the report found.

In the greater scheme of things, skeptics say that's no big deal.

Maybe those shocking organized theft videos or the railroad bandits of LA make the problem feel overblown. But I don’t think it’s that simple. First of all, a significant portion of retail crime goes unreported. Another point is that these are broad-brush numbers. While in some localities shoplifting rates are flat, in others, i.e., New York, San Francisco, they may be soaring.

'Organized retail crime has definitely been ticking up'

Who’s doing the stealing? “Three categories,” says Lisa LeBruno, senior executive vice president of the Retail Industry Leaders Association. “There’s the opportunistic shoplifter, the persistent habitual offender and then organized retail crime gangs or ORC,” she says.

What’s getting stolen? “CRAVED,” says Mark Mathews, vice president of research development and industry analysis at the National Retail Federation. “Which stands for items that are concealable, removable, available, valuable, enjoyable, and disposable.”

Companies used to be tight-lipped about thieving as it scares off Wall Street, customers and employees. Not so much anymore.

“Organized retail crime has definitely been ticking up over the last few years,” says Mike Combs, director of asset protection, organized retail crime and central Investigations team at The Home Depot. “During the pandemic, many would have thought it may have gotten better, but it actually got worse. It certainly affects the bottom line.”

Best Buy CEO Corie Barry said on an earnings call last November that the pressure from retail theft was showing up in the company's financials, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Then there’s this from Rite Aid’s CFO this week, as reported by Fox Business: "I think the headline here is the environment that we operate in, particularly in New York City, is not conducive to reducing shrink…” Rite Aid reported a tough quarter on Thursday and its stock plummeted 28% that day. The company said that store closures, driven in part by excessive theft, were a factor.

And below is from a Target store in San Francisco per Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi.

Locked up Tide

“We take a multi-layered approach to combating organized retail crime,” Brian Harper-Tibaldo, senior manager of crisis communications for Target, told Yahoo Finance. “This includes in-store technology, training for store leaders and security team members, and partnerships with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies as well as retail trade associations.”

Why are people stealing these days? That’s a tough one. To some degree it’s a reflection of our times. Simply put, America’s social contract is straining. Until recently we’ve been able to lay out goods—often in mammoth, big box stores with only a handful of employees. When our social contract is strong—i.e people are getting a fair shake—it’s a model that works. Now it seems more people are stealing instead. (BTW, our stressed social contract may be capping how far we can push this people-light, technology-heavy model. Last month Wegman’s ended its scan-and-go shopping app. Why? Shrinkage of course.)

I think wealth inequality has everything to do with all this. Think back to the so-called Public Enemies era in the 1930s, when bank robbers ran rampant across the land. That also coincided with the Great Depression. Less money in the hands of poor people and more stealing. Seems like cause and effect to me.

Also exacerbating the situation are some additional factors: The opioid crisis, a dearth of employees and now inflation. More stealing may make matters worse.

“This is a problem for all of us, because it raises prices for all of us,” says Mark Mathews, of the National Retail Federation. “This is an industry with very low margins, often below 2%. So, when you're losing goods, the cost of that gets passed onto the customer.”

And locking up goods has its own downside for retailers as it can reduce impulse buying. If you have to wave down an employee to unlock the door, you might be less inclined to grab that Häagen-Dazs.

Does anyone benefit here? Online marketplaces benefit as consumers switch to e-commerce because shopping in stores with locked merchandise is too much of a hassle.

Who else benefits? Companies such as Indyme, InVue, RTC and Vira Insight, which produce among other things, those systems with clear plastic shelving, locks and buttons to summon employees. Also makers of turnstiles, security cameras, mirrors and security guards. Business is brisk here.

Yes, there are places in America where you can leave $5 at an honor-system farm stand for a dozen eggs, but in other places you need to get a store clerk to unlock a $5 tube of Crest. Like so many things in America these days, our social contract doesn’t seem well distributed.

This article was featured in a Saturday edition of the Morning Brief on Saturday, Oct. 1. Get the Morning Brief sent directly to your inbox every Monday to Friday by 6:30 a.m. ET. Subscribe

Follow Andy Serwer, editor-in-chief of Yahoo Finance, on Twitter: @serwer

NOW THAT HE IS SAFE HE CAN TALK
From inside the US's most secure prison, 'El Chapo' is pointing fingers at what he says are the real powers in the drug trade

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M & IMPERIALI$M

Luis Chaparro
Sun, October 2, 2022 

Mexico's attorney general holds a photo of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán at a news conference in Mexico City in July 2015.REUTERS/Stringer

Three years after his conviction, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán remains in the US's most secure prison.

The former Sinaloa Cartel chief says high-level officials are the real powers in the drug trade.

Guzmán's lawyer said the kingpin believes putting away the cartels' "alleged leaders" doesn't work.

Ciudad Juarez, México — Five years after being extradited to the US, Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán is pointing fingers at what he says are the real powers behind the drug trade on both sides of the border.

Through his attorney, Mariel Colón, one of the few people allowed to have regular contact with him, Guzmán said that for the drug war to stop, authorities would have to go after "politicians on both sides of the border."

"For years, authorities have put away these alleged leaders but it is not serving any purpose, but if you go after politicians that are allowing this to happen, it's a different thing," Colón told Insider. "That's what he has expressed before. That's what he thinks."

Guzmán is aware that he may just be a political instrument for the US and Mexican governments, Colón said.

"Every new US president has his trophy. With Trump [it] was Chapo. After him, Biden has his trophy as well," Colón added. "It's always been just politics."

In 2019, Guzmán, who is now believed to be 65, was sentenced to life in prison on multiple drug-related charges. Since then, he has been held in solitary confinement at ADX Florence, a "supermax" facility in Colorado regarded as the US's most secure prison.

The Federal Correctional Complex, including the Administrative Maximum Penitentiary, or "Supermax" prison, in Florence, Colorado.Thomson Reuters

Guzmán receives only one hour outside a day and is only allowed 15 minutes of phone calls a month with three people previously vetted by the US government: his mother, one of his sisters, and his youngest child.

"Guzmán has been in complete isolation. He had no access to any recreational area or access to any other area around the prison other than his cell," Colón said.

In 2020, his legal team submitted an appeal complaining that he faced "inhumane conditions," which was dismissed by a federal judge. Guzmán's treatment, which his attorneys say is "torture" and the result of a "political vendetta," has not changed.

US authorities said the security measures are meant to prevent Guzmán from escaping or engaging in illegal activity, but even with Guzmán behind bars since his capture in January 2016, business has been booming for the Sinaloa Cartel.

During the 2016 fiscal year, which ran from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016, more than 5,000 pounds of cocaine was seized by the US Border Patrol. That spiked to more than 9,000 pounds in 2017. After a decline in 2018, US Border Patrol seizures of cocaine rose to over 11,000 pounds in 2019 and to over 15,000 pounds in 2020.

Seizures of other drugs in the US have also risen over that period — a trend that experts say shows the flaw of focusing on the capture of cartel leaders, as US and Mexican authorities have done for decades.

Packets of cocaine seized from a ship at a Philadelphia port in June 2019.AP Photo/Matt Rourke


'The agents are bought'

Testimony during Guzmán's trial named several Mexican presidents, chiefs of police, and high-ranking military officers as involved in the drug trade.

Jesus "El Rey" Zambada, the youngest brother of Sinaloa Cartel drug boss Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, alleged on the witness stand that "the real leaders" of the cartel were Mexican government officials and US law enforcement.

Zambada pointed specifically to Genaro García Luna, who was Mexico's secretary of public security from 2006 to 2012. García Luna was arrested in the US in December 2019 and accused of taking bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel.

García Luna has pleaded not guilty. His trial was supposed to start in October this year but was delayed until January 2023 at the request of his lawyers.

García Luna is accused of accepting millions of dollars to allow Guzmán to "operate with impunity in Mexico" for more than a decade, according to the US Justice Department. At the same time, Garciá Luna was allegedly making deals with high-ranking officials inside top US national-security and law-enforcement agencies.

In October 2020, Salvador Cienfuegos, Mexico's defense minister from 2012 to 2018, was arrested as he arrived in Los Angeles on a flight from Mexico City.

Cienfuegos also faced drug-related charges, allegedly as part of the investigation of the Sinaloa Cartel and Guzmán's connections. He was accused of using his authority to protect a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel while ordering operations against its rivals.

US Border Patrol agents near the US-Mexico border fence in Imperial Beach, California in November 2021.FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images

Cienfuegos pleaded not guilty at his first hearing, and in a surprise move, US prosecutors dropped the charges against him after negotiations with the Mexican government. The ex-general was sent back to Mexico and released.

García Luna and Cienfuegos have not been convicted, but a cartel enforcer in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juárez has said Guzmán's accusations are not far from reality.

In an October 2016 interview with Mexican newspaper El Universal, the mid-level boss in La Línea, the armed wing of the Juárez Cartel, said several US border agents were on their payroll.

"The agents are bought," the enforcer said at the time.

As of 2016, the Center for Investigative Reporting documented 153 cases of corruption investigations targeting US border officers, the majority of them members of US Customs and Border Protection.

Drug trafficking was the most common offense, followed by bribery and human smuggling, and the vast majority of the cases cited by the CIR involved agents with 10 or fewer years of service. Most of the incidents were in Texas, followed by California and Arizona.