Poundmaker Cree Nation leaves FSIN, will leave AFN, to 'protect treaty rights' independently

Saskatoon StarPhoenix - 

Poundmaker Cree Nation Chief Duane Antoine speaks to media in 2016.© Provided by Star Phoenix

Poundmaker Cree Nation is pulling out of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, and also intends to leave the national Association of First Nations (AFN). Leaders say the band will preserve and protect Treaty rights as an independent nation.

Poundmaker, “in exercising their jurisdiction,” served a band council resolution to the FSIN terminating its membership, effective immediately, the band said Thursday in a news release.

According to the notice, Poundmaker members “no longer want to be associated or represented by the FSIN, as they do not serve the purpose it’s intended for, which is to ‘preserve and protect Treaty.’ ”

Chief Duane Antoine said Poundmaker will also serve notice to the AFN “within a couple of weeks,” ending that relationship.

He said the First Nation will now represent itself directly with the provincial and federal governments “on its own desired self-determined initiatives that support Treaty and inherent rights within the terms of Treaty 6.”

“We are moving along,” he said. “We want to deal directly to our Treaty partner, the Federal government, nation to nation.”

Longtime councillor Bryan Tootoosis said this decision has been years in the making.

“ We’ve discussed it publicly, through our Elders, our band members, in meetings we’ve had about what’s best for our children, the unborn and our Elders, thinking, of course, all the time, about the needs and the requirements of the people from Poundmaker,” he said.

Matters have now come “to a boiling point,” Tootoosis said.

“FSIN has not preserved and protected our Treaty rights for a long time. We just lost faith in the whole area of jurisdiction.”

He said the First Nation has been working hard on issues of education, community safety, health and food sovereignty — but when it needed help, “there was no FSIN around, anywhere.”

In particular, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tootoosis said it has been difficult to get the money and support they need to keep their people safe and well.

“Funding for the pandemic was going through everybody else,” he said. “By the time it got to us, we got crumbs.”

Tootoosis echoed Chief Antoine’s wish for Poundmaker to take on a nation-to-nation relationship with the federal government, one Treaty Six signatory to another.

“We have the education. We have lots of professional people from Poundmaker. We have lawyers, we have social workers, we have all the university-educated people.

“We need to do things ourselves — and I think we do better when we do things ourselves.”

Tootoosis emphasized that this decision is “not a personal attack” on the these advocacy organizations or the people who work there — he himself used to work for the FSIN, and Poundmaker members are still employed there.

“We are trying our best to make things work for everybody, and our number one priority is protecting our Treaty rights and obligations,” he said. “It’s a business, political and community-based decision. The Elders have spoken many times about this, and we decided that this is the appropriate time.”

The FSIN now represents 73 First Nations in Saskatchewan. The federation, which could not immediately be reached for comment, says its mandate is to honour the spirit and intent of the treaties, as well as the promotion, protection and implementation of the treaty promises that were made more than a century ago.

The AFN represents more than 600 First Nations and more than 900,000 Indigenous people in Canada.

Poundmaker Cree Nation, located near Cut Knife, has more than 1,250 members.

— Local Journalism Initiative

jupeterson@postmedia.com

Alberta First Nations file human rights complaint over supports for disabled adults


CALGARY — Representatives from three First Nations in southern Alberta have filed a complaint against the federal government for alleged discrimination against adults with developmental disabilities.


Alberta First Nations file human rights complaint over supports for disabled adults© Provided by The Canadian Press

The complaint from the Siksika, Piikani and Kainai or Blood Tribe First Nations, which was filed with the Canadian Human Rights Commission, accuses Indigenous Services Canada of "systemic discrimination" against adult members with disabilities.

Siksika Coun. Tracy McHugh said federal supports are available for children with disabilities who live on reserves until they turn 18. After that, families can stay on the reserves with no supports or they can access help throughAlberta's Persons with Developmental Disabilities program. But in order to get those provincial supports, they would have to move off reserve.

"Neither of those choices is ideal. Neither of those choices is something a parent or guardian should have to make," said McHugh.

"They have to leave the reserve, and we come from a people that is predominantly under poverty, and ask them to uproot everything to move and leave family behind," she added.

"You leave a whole lot of that culture behind ... to go and access funding. It creates isolation. It creates hardship."

McHugh said her sister was injured in a horse riding accident as a teen, and the family has been fighting for supports for a long time.

Since reserves are under federal jurisdiction, she said, it is up to Indigenous Services Canada to step up and establish stable and equitable funding for the creation of comprehensive and culturally appropriate programs, supports and services to meet the needs of the Blackfoot Nations.

McHugh said Siksika council raised the issue in a private meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last June.

"It's a long time coming. A very, very long time coming," McHugh said.

"Every government has failed our people with developmental disabilities on the reserves. My sister was hurt when she was 14. She's 42 now. That's almost 30 years and the governments have changed out many times."

Blood Tribe Coun. Tony Delaney said it's a matter of fairness and what's best for those with disabilities, without taking them away from their families or culture.

"These are I believe our most vulnerable people. And at times they don't have a voice and we want to be that voice for all of them," Delaney said.

"When they turn 18, they pretty much have to leave the reserve and move into surrounding towns to be able to get the services that every Albertan gets. We could do a lot better taking care of our own."

Indigenous Services Canada said it was unaware of the complaint.

"The department takes allegations of discrimination very seriously. As details are received by the department, ISC will take the time to carefully review," spokeswoman Megan MacLean said in an email.

"Supporting the health and well-being of First Nations communities and individuals is a top priority for Indigenous Services Canada. We remain committed to working with all partners in addressing gaps and improving access to the supports and services that people need."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 13, 2022.

Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press

Reactions: US Sept CPI fortifies hawkish case in Fed inflation battle
Reuters

People shop at a 99 Cents retail store in the Bronx borough of 

New York City, U.S., July 13, 2022. 

REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

NEW YORK, Oct 13 (Reuters) - U.S consumer prices increased more than expected in September and underlying inflation pressures continued to build up, reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve will deliver a fourth 75-basis points interest rate hike next month.

The consumer price index rose 0.4% last month after gaining 0.1% in August, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the CPI climbing 0.2%.

In the 12 months through September, the CPI increased 8.2% after rising 8.3% in August. The annual CPI peaked at 9.1% in June, which was the biggest advance since November 1981. read more read more

MARKET REACTION:

STOCKS: S&P 500 futures turned sharply lower, and were down 2.0%

BONDS: The yield on 10-year Treasury notes rose to a 14-year high and was up 12.4 basis points at 4.026%; The two-year U.S. Treasury yield, surged to a 15-year high and was up 18.3 basis points at 4.470%.

FOREX: The dollar index turned 0.44% higher

ALAN LANCZ, PRESIDENT, ALAN B. LANCZ & ASSOCIATES, TOLEDO, OHIO

"CPI was disappointing. Investors were hoping to get a little control on inflation, and obviously the market's reacting in that capacity.

"With these CPI numbers we're almost back to that end of the second-quarter mid-summer sentiment that maybe we haven't seen the worst, and that maybe it's not something that could be temporary."

MACE M. MCCAIN, PRESIDENT, MANAGING DIRECTOR, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, FROST INVESTMENT ADVISORS, LLC

"CPI came in much higher than expectations, both the headline number and the core, and that's disappointing. We would have hoped to see some moderation in inflation and we're not seeing that at this point. There's just nothing to dissuade the Fed from their path."

“Monetary policy works with the lag and so they may be getting ahead of themselves. But certainly with the sentiment we've been hearing from the Fed governors, I don't think that there's anything that's going to dissuade them at this point from continuing their path."

IAN LYNGEN, HEAD OF US RATES STRATEGY, BMO CAPITAL MARKETS

"Ahead of the data the market was well bid with 10-year yields dropping below 3.85% as headlines surrounding the potential reversal of some aspect of the UK's fiscal plan hit the tapes. The price response in reaction to the data has more than erased that rally and from here we'll be watching for a break of 4% to put a larger downtrade to 4.103% as next support. We're on board with a larger flattening, and while there is sure to be chatter on the potential for a 100 bp hike, this print cements 75 bp in Nov with the more relevant question whether Dec and Feb's hikes will be upsized

KEN POLCARI, MANAGING PARTNER, KACE CAPITAL ADVISORS, BOCA RATON, FLORIDA

“Not good, hello – market collapsing. I’m not surprised – why is anyone surprised? It is not responding, it is clear the Fed put us in this position they should’ve been more aggressive months ago but they weren’t and now they are going to be forced out probably in December to probably go another 75 basis points. Because the November CPI and PPI, now that oil is up 22% this month, next month that is going to be reflected in that number so CPI, PPI is going to rear its ugly head even higher next month.”

“They are too late to the game and it is not working because inflation is becoming entrenched so I don’t think it is working right now."

ARTHUR LAFFER JR., PRESIDENT, LAFFER TENGLER INVESTMENTS, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

"Those are high numbers. The Fed's definitely raising by 75 bps next month and I would not be surprised if it's 50 bps or 75 bps again in December."

"Basically this quarter is the start of a recession even though it may not show up in numbers until the first quarter. All you have to do is look at housing stocks to know it's coming. With a 3.5% unemployment rate, there's no way the Fed is going to stop raising rates until after the end of the year."

"Anybody who says (Fed could) pivot is wishful thinking right now. The Fed has got to get a handle on inflation right now. Soft landing is also becoming wishful thinking the more they raise rates. We're going to have a really soft, maybe even negative fourth quarter."

"A lot of what central bankers worry about is legacy, for better or for worse. No one wants to be Arthur Burns and everyone wants to be Paul Volker and J. Powell probably has the same feeling that he would much rather suffer through a year or two of pain by slowing the economy and getting inflation under control than not. I think he's going to err on the side of overraising rates and slowing the economy more than he probably would otherwise do because he doesn't want a rerun of 1970s inflation. They are worried about liquidity but look what it's cost the yen because of the BoJ and when the BoE intervened."

BRIAN JACOBSEN, SENIOR INVESTMENT STRATEGIST, ALLSPRING GLOBAL INVESTMENTS, MENOMONEE FALLS, WISCONSIN

“That inflation report certainly sucked the enthusiasm out of the room. We expected deflation in durables and nondurables, which we got. It’s mostly shelter that is pushing inflation higher and that’s a horribly lagging indicator based on how it’s calculated by the BLS. Perhaps instead of talking about core inflation the Fed will talk about “super core” where it excludes food, energy, and shelter.”

ROBERT PAVLIK, SENIOR PORTFOLIO MANAGER, DAKOTA WEALTH, FAIRFIELD, CONNECTICUT

"Data came in hotter than expected and that's a bit of a disappointment for the overall market. It's saying that inflation is still not under control. The Federal Reserve will most likely continue with their pace of rate increases. There is no pivot in the near-term future which the market had been hoping for."

RYAN DETRICK, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, CARSON GROUP, OMAHA

“This is a yet another disappointing sign that inflation continues to stay stubbornly high. Thus opening the door for the Fed to continue its extreme hawkish stance. This follows on the heels of the producer level inflation that we saw just yesterday, that came in hotter than expected, showing the overall inflation backdrop continues to disappoint to the upside.”

“The hopes for a pivot are on pause. There are still two more CPI prints before the December meeting with the Fed, but for now, the pivot is on pause. We have to continue to wait to see inflation start to come back down faster, which unfortunately, the data is not showing right now.”

“The data is confirming that the overall backdrop of prices is staying higher across the board, which is a disappointment and suggests the Fed will have plenty of runway to remain hawkish. And the market doesn't like that.”

“October historically is quite volatile, leading up to that reputation. Now we turn our focus to earnings season - how strong is corporate America and the consumer. Inflation is a clear worry, but now the next worry is what does the economy look like? And what all corporate America has to say about these continued higher prices and how much it's impacting potential consumption. That's why this earnings season will be very important to get those clues.”

Iraqi parliament elects Abdul Latif Rashid as new president

Election breaks months-long political deadlock and came hours after rockets struck areas near Baghdad’s Green Zone.

Rashid attends the parliamentary session to elect a new head of state [

Iraqi parliament media office handout via Reuters]

Published On 13 Oct 202213 Oct 2022
|

Lawmakers in Iraq have elected Kurdish politician Abdul Latif Rashid as the country’s new president, paving the way for the formation of a new government and ending a year of deadlock, even as rockets landed near the parliament building.

Rashid replaced fellow Iraqi Kurd Barham Saleh as head of state after the two-round vote in parliament on Thursday, winning more than 160 votes against 99 for Saleh, an assembly official said. Saleh reportedly walked out of the parliament building as the votes were tallied.

Shia politician Mohammed Shia al-Sudani was quickly named prime minister-designate, assuming the task of reconciling feuding Shia factions and forming a government after a year of deadlock. Al-Sudani replaces caretaker Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi.

In Iraq’s power-sharing system, the presidency is reserved for Kurdish groups to nominate while the premiership falls under Shia blocs. The speaker of parliament is a Sunni.

Reporting from Baghdad, Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud Abdelwahed said the election of Rashid signals that “this chapter of rivalry has been concluded in the Iraqi parliament,” while noting that forming a government could still be an uphill battle.

“It remains to be seen what reactions could unfold in the streets given the fact that this has not been easy,” Abdelwahed said. “This process has taken a long time and it has included violence between supporters of rival political parties.”

The 52-year-old Sudani, who has the backing of the pro-Iranian Coordination Framework, will now have 30 days to form a government, a daunting task that will require winning over those affiliated with influential Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr.

The most recent political deadlock began after al-Sadr emerged as the biggest winner in an October 2021 parliamentary vote, but failed to rally enough support to form a government. Al-Sadr in August announced what he called his “final withdrawal” from politics, sparking protests that killed at least 30.

In July, when al-Sudani was first proposed for the role, protesters backed by al-Sadr also stormed parliament. The standoff has seen both sides set up protest camps in the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses many government buildings.

Iraq had already made three failed attempts this year to elect a new head of state.

The presidency was also fiercely contested between Iraq’s Kurdish region’s two main parties – the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) which nominated Rashid, and its traditional rival, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

Rashid’s election raises concerns about escalating tensions between the KDP and PUK, who fought a civil war in the 1990s.

Rocket attacks ahead of vote

In advance of the much-anticipated session, at least nine rockets targeted the parliament building inside the Green Zone, wounding at least five people.

The attack was swiftly condemned by the US and UK ambassadors to the country, with UK envoy Mark Bryson-Richardson tweeting the “violence has no part in the political process and state institutions must be allowed to operate.”

It was not the first time rocket attacks have targeted the parliament building as lawmakers prepared to attend a session.

On September 28, three rockets targeted the Green Zone as a session was convened to renew confidence in parliament speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi.

Both Rashid and al-Sudani have long histories in Iraqi politics.

Rashid was the minister of water resources from 2003 to 2010 and has since served as a presidential adviser. He hails form Sulaimaniyah, a major city in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, and speaks Kurdish, Arabic and English.

Al-Sudani rose to prominence within the Shia political leadership following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

In 2010, he launched his political career in Baghdad, rising within the government of prime minister Nuri al-Maliki and becoming the minister of human rights, then social affairs, and then of industry.

Both Rashid and al-Sudani are seen as close to al-Maliki, a longtime foe of al-Sadr.

KEEP READINGl
Thousands of Iraqis gather to mark 2019 anti-government protest
Rockets hit Baghdad for second day as Iraq unrest escalates
13 dead in Iranian attacks on Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

UK Rwanda deportation policy for asylum seekers is 'inherently unlawful and unfair'Deportation flights are grounded while the legal cases are fought


The legal battle is playing out at the High Court. AP

Simon Rushton
Oct 13, 2022

Plans to deport some asylum seekers from the UK to Rwanda are “inherently unlawful and unfair”, the High Court has been told.

Charlotte Kilroy KC, representing the charity Asylum Aid, told judges it was bringing a “systemic challenge” against the home secretary over the decision-making process for sending people to east Africa.

Asylum seekers could have their claims processed in as little as three weeks after arrival in a process that is “seriously unfair”, Ms Kilroy said.

Far-right collector of fascist memorabilia elected Italian Senate speaker

Ignazio La Russa, of Brothers of Italy party, showed off collection in 2018 newspaper interview; like leader Giorgia Meloni he is ambiguous about party’s neo-fascist roots

By AGENCIES

Today, 7:31 pm


Italian far-right party Fratelli d'Italia's (Brothers of Italy) Ignazio La Russa addresses the Italian Senate after he was elected its new president, in Rome on October 13, 2022. (Andreas Solaro/AFP)

ROME, Italy — Ignazio La Russa, who was elected speaker of the Italian senate Thursday, is a veteran of the far-right who collects fascist memorabilia as a hobby.

The 75-year-old co-founded the post-fascist Brothers of Italy party with Giorgia Meloni, whose victory in elections last month put her on course to become prime minister.

As speaker, La Russa now has the role of guiding legislation through parliament’s upper house, but is also expected to wield power behind the scenes.

Meloni hailed him as a “patriot, a servant of the state” who for her party “is an irreplaceable point of reference, a friend, a brother, an example for generations of activists and leaders.”

The senate opening ceremony was presided over by Holocaust survivor Liliana Segre, a 92-year-old senator-for-life. In an emotional address she noted that she was presiding over the Senate as Italy soon marks the 100th anniversary of the March on Rome, which brought Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini to power.

The Brothers of Italy party, which won the most votes in the September 25 elections and has its origins in a neo-fascist movement, is to head Italy’s first far-right-led government since the end of World War II.

Segre didn’t refer to the party by name in her speech, but she said Italian voters had expressed their will at the ballot box.

Brothers of Italy’s leader Giorgia Meloni casts her ballot to choose the Chamber president in the Italian lower Chamber on the opening session of the new parliament, October 13, 2022. (Alessandra Tarantino/AP)

La Russa has been a part of the nationalist Italian right since the end of the 1960s, when his long hair and beard prompted writer Umberto Eco to compare him to Rasputin.

But politics is also in his blood. His landowner father, Antonino La Russa, was a local official in Sicily for the National Fascist Party of dictator Benito Mussolini.

And after World War II, he was elected MP and then senator for its successor organization, the Italian Social Movement (MSI), set up by Mussolini’s followers.
‘Different view of history’

Ignazio La Russa, born on July 18, 1947, in Paterno, near Catania in Sicily, has Benito as a middle name.

He has defended the MSI, saying it was “the party of those who lost the war, but their great merit was to never think of terrorism or rebellion against the democratic choice.”

“Of course, they had a different view of history, but they built a party that could not be more democratic,” he told the Corriere della Sera newspaper earlier this year.

Holocaust survivor, Senator Liliana Segre chairs the opening session of the Italian Senate of the newly elected parliament, October 13, 2022. (Gregorio Borgia/AP)

The family moved to Milan when La Russa was 13, and he still lives in the northern city, the capital of the Lombardy region.

During his studies — he trained as a lawyer — La Russa was an activist with the MSI’s youth wing and at 38, became an MSI regional councilor in Lombardy.

From the early 1990s, he was in parliament first for the MSI, and when it was dissolved for its successor, National Alliance, then as part of a right-wing coalition led by Silvio Berlusconi.

La Russa served as defense minister during Berlusconi’s 2008-2011 government, where he is credited with persuading the then premier to take part in the war in Libya that ended the Kadhafi regime.

Heirs to Il Duce

While rejecting the autocratic nature of the Mussolini regime, La Russa — like Meloni — has maintained a level of ambiguity about his party’s neo-fascist roots.

When his brother Romano, head of security in the Lombardy region, drew criticism during the election campaign by giving the fascist salute at the funeral of a far-right activist, La Russa said it was a “serious mistake.”

Then on television a few days later, he asserted that “we are all heirs of Il Duce [Mussolini], in the sense that we are heirs of our fathers and our grandparents.”

He often uses humor to brush off criticism of his views. In February 2020, mocking social distancing rules recommended to protect against coronavirus, he urged on Twitter: “Do not shake hands with anyone, the infection is lethal.”

“Use the Roman salute, anti-virus and anti-microbial.” He later deleted the message.

In 2018, Corriere visited his Milan home and filmed his collection of fascist relics, which include statues and medals of Mussolini, photos and books on the black shirts and colonial Italy.

He is also a fan of American history, naming his three sons after Native American tribes or warriors: Antonino Geronimo, Lorenzo Cochis, and Leonardo Apache.

Party leader Meloni was herself a member of the youth branches of MSI and the National Alliance and founded Brothers of Italy in 2012, keeping the tricolor flame symbol of the MSI in her party logo.

During the campaign, amid Democratic warnings that she represented a danger to democracy, Meloni insisted that the Italian right had “handed fascism over to history for decades now,” and had condemned racial laws and the suppression of democracy.

World Economy Heading For 'Slow-Motion Train Wreck': Ex-Treasury Adviser

BY KATHERINE FUNG 

ON 10/13/22 

Nouriel Roubini, a former senior adviser to Obama's Treasury Secretary, said the global economy is on track to a "slow-motion train wreck," in an interview with Newsweek.

"We're seeing a situation in which short term trends are consistent with my medium-, long-term story where there is mounting economic, monetary, social, political, geopolitical, environmental and technological threats and they're building up," Roubini, who earned the nickname "Dr. Doom" for predicting the 2008 financial crisis, said.




In his latest book MegaThreats: Ten Dangerous Trends That Imperil Our Future, And How to Survive Them, Roubini outlines ten threats catapulting the world towards unprecedented economic catastrophe. Among the threats is what he predicts to be "the mother of all debt crises," which he says will come sometime in the current or next decade.

Nouriel Roubini, former senior adviser to President Obama's treasury secretary and former senior economist for President Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers. "The trend is not going in the right direction," Roubini told Newsweek.

Over the last couple of years, the economy has taken several devastating blows as a result of the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Skyrocketing inflation and rising prices at gas pumps and grocery stores have forced many Americans to tighten their belts and head to the polls this November with the economy at top of their minds, numerous polls show.

Another bad sign came on Thursday in the form of September's inflation report, which showed consumer prices climbing far more quickly than expected, with the Consumer Price Index rising to 8.2 percent, and overall inflation climbing another 0.4 percent, much higher than last month's 0.1 percent.

"Economic and financial damage is happening here now," Roubini said.

Roubini said that while much of the underlying economic problems have been in slow-motion for some time now, the "geopolitical depression" that the world is in—with the war in Ukraine, the OPEC's oil production cut, tensions between Beijing and Taiwan, recent missile launches from North Korea and the election of far-right Giorgia Meloni in Italy, among other events—has put us on a "collision course that is accelerating."




On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin's mass strikes across Ukraine prompted Western allies readied to further economic sanctions against Moscow. Although Roubini thinks the sanctions are needed, he said it is "likely" that the U.S. and Europe will end up in a recession by next year.

"A hard landing is more likely than a soft landing," he told Newsweek.

The Biden administration has repeatedly reassured the American public that a recession does not lie ahead, and just Tuesday, the president himself said that even if there were one, it would be a "very slight" economic dip.

"Every six months they say this. Every six months, they look down the next six months and say what's going to happen," Biden told CNN's Jake Tapper. "It hadn't happened yet. It hadn't...I don't think there will be a recession. If it is, it'll be a very slight recession."

But Roubini fears that what looms ahead will be much worse than slight.

"The dystopian scenario, to me, looks more likely, so far, than the more utopian one," he said. "The trend is not going in the right direction."

In his book, Roubini also argues that there is also a "demographic time bomb" when it comes to providing financial safety nets for aging workers.

"Not enough money exists to deliver on the financial promises that have been made to workers and the swelling numbers of retired workers in advanced economies," he writes. And so, "Instead of buying goods and building nest eggs for young families, the paycheck of active workers will be more and more devoted to maintaining safety nets for the elderly."




On Thursday, Social Security announced an 8.7 percent cost of living adjustment for retirees—the highest inflation increase to benefits in 40 years. At the time of last year's 5.9 percent increase, the bump had been the largest adjustment seen in four decades.

Beginning in January, the average Social Security retiree benefit will increase $146 a month, then $1.827 in 2023 and $1,681 in 2022.

"Younger generations are already worried—even before they retire—about whether their income and wealth is going to be as good or better than their own parents," Roubini said. With a number of unexpected setbacks like COVID, "their job opportunities, income and wealth are already challenged, let alone the fact that the Social Security Trust Fund is going to be run down in two years."

"By the time Millennials or Gen X or Gen Z are gonna retire, we know that they're gonna receive only a fraction—80 percent, 70 percent, 60 percent—of what their expected benefits are," he added. "But they're already having trouble today, let alone 30, 40, 50 years from now."


"MegaThreats" is set to publish October 18.

 

We need to do more to end the largest lockout in Canadian history Two weeks ago we sent out an appeal on behalf of 28,000 Canadian performers who were locked out by their employer when they refused to take a 60% pay cut and give up their retirement savings plan. To date 4,727 trade unionists around the world have sent solidarity messages in support of these workers and ACTRA, their union. If you are one of those 4,727, thanks -- and please pass this appeal on to your contacts and encourage them to join you. If you haven’t yet done so, please do take a few seconds (really) and support these workers.  Just go HERE. Thanks! Eric Lee

STATEHOOD OR INDEPENDENCE
US opts to not rebuild renowned Puerto Rico telescope

The National Science Foundation has announced it will not rebuild a renowned radio telescope in Puerto Rico, which was one of the world’s largest until it collapsed nearly two years ago

By DÁNICA COTO

 Associated Press
October 13, 2022

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- The National Science Foundation announced Thursday that it will not rebuild a renowned radio telescope in Puerto Rico, which was one of the world’s largest until it collapsed nearly two years ago.

Instead, the agency issued a solicitation for the creation of a $5 million education center at the site that would promote programs and partnerships related to science, technology, engineering and math. It also seeks the implementation of a research and workforce development program, with the center slated to open next year in the northern mountain town of Arecibo where the telescope was once located.

The solicitation does not include operational support for current infrastructure at the site that is still in use, including a 12-meter radio telescope or the Lidar facility, which is used to study the upper atmosphere and ionosphere to analyze cloud cover and precipitation data.

The decision was mourned by scientists around the world who used the telescope at the Arecibo Observatory for years to search for asteroids, planets and extraterrestrial life. The 1,000-foot-wide (305-meter-wide) dish also was featured in the Jodie Foster film “Contact” and the James Bond movie “GoldenEye.”

The reflector dish and the 900-ton platform hanging 450 feet above it previously allowed scientists to track asteroids headed to Earth, conduct research that led to a Nobel Prize and determine if a planet is potentially habitable.



“We understand how much the site has meant to the community,” said Sean Jones, assistant director for directorate of mathematical and physical sciences at NSF. “If you’re a radio astronomer, you’ve probably spent some time of your career at Arecibo.”

But all research abruptly ended when an auxiliary cable snapped in August 2020, tearing a 100-foot hole in the dish and damaging the dome above it. A main cable broke three months later, prompting the NSF to announce in November 2020 that it was closing the telescope because the structure was too unstable.

Experts suspect that a possible manufacturing error caused the cable to snap, but NSF officials said Thursday that the investigation is still ongoing.

Jones said in a phone interview that the decision to not rebuild the telescope comes in part because the U.S. government has other radar facilities that can do part of the mission that Arecibo once did. He added that the NSF also envisions a five-year maintenance contract to keep the site open, which would cost at least $1 million a year.

“This is a pivotal time. The education component is very important,” said James Moore, assistant director for education and human resource directorate at NSF.

He said by phone that one of the agency’s priorities is to make STEM more accessible and inclusive and that the proposed education center would fill that need.

“It’s a way to augment some of the things that young people are getting in their schools or not getting,” he said.

FRASER INSTITUTE FAIL

Nearly half of federal budget deficit during pandemic not related to COVID spending

“You could argue that part of the reason for the larger deficit was that federal revenues were down during the pandemic and spending up”

Bryan Passifiume - National Post

A health care worker guides a woman wearing a mask outside of St. Michaels Hospital in Toronto during the COVID-19 pandemic.© Provided by National Post

As Canada set new records for government spending during COVID-19, a newly released report suggests nearly half of the spending was not related to the pandemic.

Authored by Lakehead University Economics Professor Livio Di Matteo for the Fraser Institute, the paper — entitled Storm Without End: The Fiscal Impact of COVID-19 on Canada and the Provinces — says federal spending grew by 73 per cent in 2020/21 to $644.2 billion.

That number declined into the next fiscal year, falling 21 per cent to $508.2 billion in 2021/22.

In 2020/21, the report says, the federal government debt grew by around 41 per cent, and 12.4 per cent, to $1.3 trillion, in 2021/22.

“You could argue that part of the reason for the larger deficit was that federal revenues were down during the pandemic and spending up,” Di Matteo said.

“But if you look at the federal revenue performance, it was down about 5 per cent in 2021, but started to rebound quite dramatically.”

Estimates for 2021/22, which Di Matteo said have yet to be finalized, suggest a 17 per cent increase.

Health spending saw an estimated increase of nearly 13 per cent between 2019 and 2020, the report reads — a rate of increase Di Matteo said was over triple the established health care spending growth rate since 2015, and a boost not seen in over three decades.

During the pandemic, around 60 per cent of the federal budget deficit was directly related to the pandemic, largely both federal health spending and related transfers to the provinces, as well as income support programs.

This, the report indicates, suggests a permanent, long-term spending increase.

Projections released late last year by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CHI) suggested the spike in pandemic health spending — expected to exceed $308 billion by the end of 2021 — could put hamper efforts by provinces to rebuild their health care networks post-COVID.

Dr. Katharine Smart, 

president of the Canadian Medical Association, told The Canadian Press in November that provincial health care systems haven’t kept up with these historic increases in health spending, comparing the problem as an out-of-control freight train.

But what impact does this have on Canada’s economic future?

A looming longer-term consequence, he said, is the impact on the federal debt.

“You’re looking at a debt to GDP ratio going from about 33 to 50 per cent, and for the time being a lot of that is locked in at relatively low interest rates,” he said.

But as that debt starts to turn over and new debt accrues, that could lead to higher interest rates and a subsequent increased cost in servicing that debt.

While a great many factors go into a rise in inflation, the increased spending is certainly having an impact, Di Matteo said.

“Inflation is also a function of the supply chain disruptions, the w ar in Ukraine and u ltra-low interest rates still present, so that’s a complicated picture,” he said.

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