OPINION

Anti-Palestinianism makes the weaponization of antisemitism possible

Zionism requires the demise of and continuous crimes against the Palestinian people. I will oppose it regardless of what you label me.

BY TERRY AHWAL OCTOBER 15, 2022

PALESTINIAN WOMAN RAISES A PLACARD BY BRAZILIAN CARTOONIST CARLOS LATUFF AT A PALESTINE SOLIDARITY RALLY IN LONDON. (PHOTO: ZUMA PRESS)


In the eyes and minds of Israel’s supporters, I am antisemitic, simply because I am Palestinian. Anything I say about my life, culture, tragedy, and experience is considered the same as vilifying people who are Jewish. Never mind that Zionism is a politically exclusionary movement that originated in Europe and it does not represent all Jews.

Zionist leaders and some of their followers have for years accused me and anyone else who fight for our Palestinian rights as a human being as being antisemitic. They launched campaigns in the United States and across Europe to discredit, dehumanize, fight our narrative and try to erase our existence. They want us and the world to forget about our lineage in Palestine that goes back more than for thousands of years – something we can scientifically and anthropologically trace.

When a political movement tries to erase my culture, steal my history and my land, I will stand and fight to reclaim my right as a human being born to be free.

Since the creation of Israel, the Zionist movement and their supporters mounted campaign after strategic campaign to remove my people from our homeland. They destroyed our villages and expelled 750,000 people, including my family, from their homes. They rebuild their lives over the rubble of our own homes. They have destroyed our lives and labeled us terrorists, savages, foreigners, fake. They insist that our history and narrative never existed and try to erase our existence.

Since the creation of the State of Israel there has also been a continuous campaign to annihilate and discredit the narrative of the Palestinian people.

In Israel and abroad there is an organized effort to stifle the voices of Palestinians — mine included. There is an organized effort by agencies like AIPAC, ADL, the Jewish Federation, Canary Mission to blacklist anyone who dares to speak on behalf of the Palestinians. Palestinian students and activists find their names with the false accusation of antisemitism on the internet. While working for Wayne County in Michigan, a well connected Zionist tried to get me fired for writing an editorial critical of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the suffering of my family. Active Zionists in the Democratic Party scuffled any attempt at my nomination to school and university boards simply because I am vocal about my Palestinian tragedy. Some in my community advised me to keep away from the Palestinian issue if I have any further ambition to serve my country.

The ardent supporters of Israel up the ante by weaponizing antisemitism, partnering with American and European politicians and instituting policies that makes it a crime for me and other activists to boycott companies who do business with illegal Israeli settlements. Today, if I want to work and seek a contract with the State of Michigan, I have to agree not to be part of an Israeli boycott. I can boycott my country, I can protest the policies of my country, but I am criminalized and liable when I protest the theft of my land and the illegal occupation of my people.

In fact, we as Palestinians cannot even tell our own stories. I am accused of hate when I point out the oppressive facts sanctioned by Israel and its supporters. I am called antisemitic when I tell people about the beating of my father. I am lucky that I never lost a job for speaking out, but many others did. Anyone who suggests Palestinians deserve basic human rights are targeted, vilified and accused of antisemitism. When given an opportunity to talk or write about our Palestinian tragedies, I have to wait for an Israeli counter point before my side of story is published. My account regardless of how personal has to have a countered side.

I did not choose to be a Palestinian — like all humans, I inherited my heritage. But I am proud of being Palestinian, and I embrace and celebrate the diversity of my people. I celebrate all its religious affiliations including my own. All Palestinians, whether they be Christians, Muslims, Jews, Druze, Sufis, or atheists, should be free to live in peace based on justice in their homeland. The notion that some are more chosen than others is racist. Palestine is home to all the monotheistic religions; no religious group should have a monopoly on the place because the loving God that we all pray for does not have a preference. I respect the beliefs of others, unless the others devalue my humanity. I respect the humanity of all and believe that peace without justice is tyranny. And therefore, I will continue to seek justice regardless of the accusations directed at me.

My problem with Zionism is their dream for a homeland is at the cost of my destruction.

As a Palestinian, I am grateful for the Jewish people including members of my family who always stood for civil and human rights, and I am keenly aware of the evil of antisemitism. Our Jewish brothers and sisters continue to face violence and bigotry at the hands of religious zealots and hate mongers. I stand with the Jewish people who fight antisemitism. I believe that the safety of the Jewish people is as vital as my safety. We all must work together to ensure each other’s welfare. I am also indebted to the Jewish people who stand by the Palestinian people and fight for their cause, but, for those who equate the call for justice of the Palestinian people with antisemitism, you are doing a disservice for your cause. Equating a country that practices apartheid with the Jewish people does not only harm the Palestinians, but it harms the Jewish people as well.

As for Zionism? If the dreams of Zionists for a homeland requires the demise and continuous crime and eviction of the Palestinian people, I will oppose it regardless of what you label me. My problem with Zionism is their dream for a homeland is at the cost of my destruction. They want to deny my existence. They want to erase my culture, heritage, families and towns, and replace us with people who espouse their beliefs.

I stand shoulder to shoulder with my Jewish brothers and sisters in the fight to stop antisemitism, just as I will always continue to fight for a free Palestine. Our history and reality of our lives may not be recognized by our occupiers, but we all know the truth about what happened to our families who were indigenous to the land. No amount of pressure, propaganda, or false accusations will change that. The love of our land is seeped in our veins.

Animal rescue gets death threats after drag queen reads to dogs

"I seriously hope that the next workplace shooting occurs at our organization and snuffs out everyone who approved of this," one threat read.

By Daniel Villarreal Saturday, October 15, 2022


Photo: Shutterstock

A dog shelter is receiving death threats because it had a drag queen read books to dogs.

On September 24, the Hard Knocks Rescue & Training facility of Huntsville, Alabama had a drag queen named Miss Majesty Divine read to the dogs in its care.

Chaya Raichik, who goes by LibsofTikTok on social media, posted an article that sought to generate outrage about the event. Video of the live-streamed event — which had only one child in its in-person crowd — showed the drag queen reading Walter the Farting Dog: Banned from the Beach and making innuendo comments about men liking “meat” and “big bones.”

After Raichik published her article, the dog shelter began receiving violent threats. Her posts, which regularly accuse LGBTQ people of “grooming” children for sexual abuse, have inspired death threats against drag performers, educators, and healthcare providers.

James Miller, the drag performer who read to the dogs, has since been put on paid leave from his job as a teacher in the Huntsville School District after Raichik’s post. He has said the jokes he made weren’t any worse than the innuendo that has appeared in children’s cartoons.

“You guys are total f**king scumbags … You sick f**ks secretly WANT to sexualize little kids because deep down you’re twisted and demented pedos who really really want to f**k kids,” one message said. “I seriously hope that the next workplace shooting occurs at our organization and snuffs out everyone who approved of this. Maybe then our children will be safe from predators like you.”

The shelter also began getting bad reviews on its Google and Facebook pages.

In a video responding to the threats, the shelter owners said, “We’re not backing down on what we do…. We know this is a risk, but it is the right side of things to be on.”

They also said they had reported the threats to the police and FBI but would continue to operate as they usually do.

“We are being very careful about security,” they continued. “We understand that this is a scary situation. It’s a scary situation. For us. It’s a scary situation for our volunteers, and it’s probably going to make a lot of our clients uncomfortable as well.”

They also noted that Miss Majesty Divine had helped them fundraise and host story hour events at their shelter in the past. The books read during the event focus on “inclusion, acceptance, being authentic, being comfortable in your own skin,” they added.

“Our mission is to focus on the outcast dogs, the underdogs, the dogs that nobody wants to work with,” they said. “The people that we kind of gravitate to and pull into our circle are the people who have always felt pushed out.”

One of the owners also said that they knew what it was like to feel marginalized because they grew up with a gay father during the 1980s.

“To have had a place to go and activities that we could have gone to together as a family that also encompassed other things that we liked, would have been life-changing for me,” one owner said.

The shelter also said it wants to begin a program to help at-risk LGBTQ youth work with dogs so they can both “heal together.”

“We would rather be excluded for those we include that included for those we exclude,” the nonprofit’s CEO Lisa Maasen said.

An Indigenous Peoples Day and a racial reckoning in L.A.

Yahoo News

Monday was Indigenous Peoples' Day

 (Photo: Courtesy of URL Media)

 OCTOBER 14, 2022

Guest Opinion. The week started with Indigenous Peoples Day and ends with a subpoena of former President Trump. In between came an exodus from the Los Angeles City Council over racist rhetoric. We turn to URL Media partners to make sense of these intersections.

“Indigenous Peoples Day is an awakening to the truths our people have advocated for decades,” said Darren Thompson, a Native News reporter. It is a celebration of “the millions of people who have lived on this land since time immemorial instead of a lone man who never stepped foot on North American soil,” as URL Media partner Native News Online described the federal holiday.
Want more BIPOC News? Get the free weekly URL Media newsletter today.

Last year was the first time a sitting U.S. president issued a proclamation declaring the second Monday in October Indigenous Peoples Day — the culmination of a decades-long effort led by Native Americans.

Events marking the day spanned the nation. In Minneapolis, the day started with about 70 community members gathered at Bde Maka Ska for a sunrise ceremony, URL Media partner Sahan Journal reported. In Milwaukee, a day of celebration ended with a bridge on the lakefront lit up with the colors of the Indigenous medicine wheel — black, white, yellow and red — Native News reported.

Leading up to Indigenous Peoples Day, URL Media co-founders S. Mitra Kalita and Sara Lomax-Reese spoke with Dr. Kyle T. Mays, associate professor at UCLA, and Levi Rickert, founder of Native News Online, for the latest “Meet the BIPOC Press” episode on The Laura Flanders Show. They explored the forces that have both facilitated and thwarted movement-making among Black and Indigenous people in the United States.

“It’s imperative to not only center Blackness, but also to center Indigenous peoples because upon whose land were African-Americans exploited? This is Indigenous land,” Mays said.

The power of intersectional solidarity to effect change is worth recognizing in the wake of audio recordings of three Los Angeles City Council members, including the council president, making racist and other crude remarks.

The day after city-wide celebrations of Indigenous Peoples Day, a cross-section of Angelenos converged at City Hall to demand the resignation of City Council president Nury Martinez and council members Gil Cedillo and Kevin De León during the first council meeting following the leak.

Since that meeting, Martinez has resigned from the council. But her statement failed to take responsibility for her racist comments, like saying the young Black son of a councilman is “parece changuito,” or “like a monkey.”

And her remarks belie the intersecting identities the Latinx community encompasses. In her statement announcing her resignation, Martinez said that she hopes she has “inspired [all little Latina girls across this city] to dream beyond that which they can see.” But what about folks like Breanna Reeves, a reporter for Black Voice News, who wrote about her dual identity as an Afrolatina? “While my mother does not expressly identify as Afrolatine, my siblings and I do,” she wrote. “As her children born in the U.S. to a Hispanic mother and an African-American father, we identify with our heritage on both sides.”

This latest controversy shows that even in cities like Los Angeles that publicly celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day, racism is still very much alive. And Nury's resignation, along with the House Jan. 6 select committee's unanimous vote to subpoena former President Trump, show that gestures toward accountability for public officials may not be all the way dead.

All people — including people of color — must examine their anti-Black racism, on which so much intra-racial discrimination hinges. As writer and civil rights activist Audre Lorde wrote, "I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own. And I am not free as long as one person of Color remains chained. Nor is any one of you."

May we all learn to stand by and with one another.—Alicia Ramirez

PANEL: Infrastructure Law Creating A “Gold Rush” for Tribal Energy Projects

Former U.S. Dept of Energy Indian Energy Director Kenny Frost (Center) speaks on a panel highlighting current energy development opportunities available for Tribes during the inaugural Indigenous Biz Con in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

(Photo: Darren Thompson for Native News Online) 

BY DARREN THOMPSON OCTOBER 15, 2022

MILWAUKEE—With the passage of a “once-in-a-generation” infrastructure law last fall, funding opportunities for tribal energy projects have increased to unprecedented levels. That’s according to industry experts who spoke at an Indigenous business conference in Milwaukee this week.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), enacted last November, includes $13 billion in infrastructure funding, including energy projects, for Indian Country. That is spurring record levels of interest and activity in new energy projects, panelists said on Tuesday at the inaugural Indigenous Biz Con event at the Potawatomi Hotel.
Want to learn more about the Tribal economy? Get the free Tribal Business News weekly newsletter today.

“No matter what region of the country you’re in, there is something going on from A to Z,” former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) James Campos said during the panel discussion. “From nuclear modules to gas and oil, electricity, renewable energy, organic based energy, oceanic energy, money is available in all of these areas.”

Campos is currently a principal partner with Right Energy Group, a consulting agency that helps tribes and businesses take advantage of energy opportunities that are available. Campos and another business partner, Kenny Frost, were among those who spoke to conference attendees about the opportunities — as well as the challenges — that come with using federal funds for energy projects.

For starters, navigating the DOE can be daunting and takes a tremendous investment of time, said Frost, a citizen of the Southern Ute Tribe and the DOE’s former Indian Energy Director.

“Right now, Indian Country, we’re seeing a ‘gold rush’ for energy,” he said. “The idea is to make sure Tribes know what endeavor they’re getting into to ensure they get the full value of their assets.”

One resource mentioned during the panel is the Tribal Playbook, which The White House released to help Tribal governments take advantage of the historic investments in infrastructure.

Frost also spoke about how his Tribe in southwestern Colorado transitioned from being energy assimilationists to energy leaders. “We went from being a poor, destitute Tribe in the 1990s, to being the largest employer in the four corners region,” he said. “Now, we have more jobs than citizens.”

The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe was awarded $9 million in the early 1990s from a water-rights settlement and started investing in energy infrastructure that allowed the Tribe to transition from “being royalty receivers to generating direct revenue,” Frost said.

Because it had developed revenue streams from assets outside of Indian gaming, the Tribe wasn't affected as much as others during the Covid-19 pandemic, Frost said. Today, the Tribe has bargaining power to “pick and choose” who they work with, or how they invest in other projects that are beneficial for the Tribe and its citizens.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs estimates that Tribal lands compose 5% of land area in the United States, but contains an estimated 10% of all energy resources in the country. According to the Dept. of Energy, the Office of Indian Energy has invested over $114 million to more than 200 Tribal energy projects across 48 contiguous states and Alaska between 2010 and 2021.

Many energy projects, though, have stalled or failed for a variety of reasons, including turnover in tribal government and changes in the White House.

“A lot of energy projects die because of transitions of Tribal leadership,” Frost said. “The goal is to find energy champions that are not elected officials.”

Frost also advised Tribes to build relationships with “career Feds,” or federal employees that are not appointed by the President. “The most important question any Tribe should be asking is, ‘who are the career feds in these areas?’” Frost said. “During [administration] transition changes, these people are still there.”

Once you establish relationships with the career feds, “projects move a lot quicker,” Frost said, adding that two departments within the Dept. of Interior that are helpful for Tribes: the Division of Energy Mineral Development (DEMD) and Indian Energy Service Center.

Pentagon Grapples With How To Defend Military Women From Tucker Carlson's Insults

The Fox News host, who has never served in the armed forces, can't stand women in the military, even though they're often praised by its leaders.

By Mary Papenfuss
Oct 15, 2022

Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth on Friday called for military leaders to “stand up for women” amid a roiling Defense Department controversy over how to respond to vicious criticism of female soldiers by Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

A fierce debate was triggered after Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe was recently scolded by the Army — and his retirement put on hold — for defending female soldiers, with one of his tweets last year calling out Carlson.

Retired Col. Yevgeny Vindman — the twin brother of retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who testified at Donald Trump’s first impeachment investigation during his presidency — lashed out last month at the treatment of Donahoe by an Army cowed by the political right because he “stood up to Fox/ Tucky.”

The Pentagon and the Army “are lost. They fear the right,” Yevgeny Vindman tweeted. “They are losing their moral compass and service-members will vote with their feet.”

Carlson has repeatedly bashed women in the military with misogynistic insults, as he denigrates an increasingly “feminine” U.S. armed forces — and hails the brutish “masculine” militaries of Russia and China. Carlson has never served in the military.

Wormuth warned at a conference earlier this week that Army leaders need to stay “out of the culture wars” — and out of politics.

“We have got to ... have a broad appeal,” she cautioned. “When only 9% of kids are interested in serving” in the military, “we have got to make sure that we are careful about not alienating wide swaths of the American public to the Army,” Wormuth added.

But on Friday, she clarified her comments amid a furious backlash.

“Let me be clear: I expect @USArmy leaders to stand up for women—and all Soldiers—who are unduly attacked or disrespected,” she tweeted.

She added in another tweet: “Use good judgment online. Keep it professional.”

Several top military leaders have angrily responded to Carlson’s insults — without referring to him by name — and issued statements supporting women in the armed forces.

Donahoe had named Carlson in a tame retort in March 2021, saying the right-wing Fox host “couldnt be more wrong” with his insults against women in the military.

That’s when Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) fired off a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, accusing Donahoe and other military leaders of partisanship for sticking up for soldiers and other service members.

A report on the issue by the Army’s Office of the Inspector General, obtained last week by the website Task & Purpose, stated that “while potentially admirable,” Donahoe’s post “brought a measurable amount of negative publicity to the Army.”

A headline on a Washington Post opinion column early this month asked: “Why is the Army punishing a general for calling out MAGA lies?”

The military is “rightly eager to stay out of politics, but this laudable instinct can lead it to run away from controversy even at the cost of ceding the information battlefield to the far-right forces trying to subvert American democracy,” warned writer Max Boot.

Donahoe’s “only offense was to champion on social media the very values the Army claims to stand for,” Boot added.

New York Candidate for Congress Releases Sex Tape He Says Shows His ‘Sex Positive Approach'

Mike Itkis is running a long shot bid to unseat political powerhouse Rep. Jerry Nadler on a platform that includes sex positivity as one of his keystone issues, and says he supports legalizing sex work

Published October 14, 2022


As the 2022 election season nears its conclusion, one Manhattan candidate is hoping his latest raunchy stunt will help him come out on top — or at least get his name out there.

Mike Itkis is running in New York's 12th district, where he is mounting a long shot bid to unseat Rep. Jerry Nadler, the longtime Democrat who won a June primary over fellow NYC political bastion Carolyn Maloney. Itkis, an independent, is running on a platform that includes sex positivity as one of his keystone issues, and supports legalizing sex work.

To prove he's more than just talk, Itkis was willing to bare all — and no, not in an interview. The candidate filmed and released a sex tape he made with an adult film star in hopes of pumping up support and getting his name into the race.

The cybersecurity specialist and major in the U.S. Army Reserves called his video posted to a pornographic website a "conversation piece," in an interview with City & State.

"If I would just talk about it, it wouldn’t demonstrate my commitment to the issue. And the fact I actually did it was a huge learning experience, and it actually influenced items on my platform," he told the outlet.

On his campaign website, Itkis describes himself as a "liberal independent candidate" who is "not married. No kids. Not celibate. Atheist."

Aside from cybersecurity, sex positivity appears to be one of his top issues he addresses on his website, though he doesn't go into great detail about some of his positions. A pro-choice candidate, his website says he would like to "redefine abortion debate as a right to unplanned sex."

Congressional Candidate Stars in Porn Video to Show He’s ‘Sex Positive’

By BRITTANY BERNSTEIN
October 15, 2022 9:25 AM

A “liberal independent” congressional candidate in New York recently starred in a porn video to demonstrate his “commitment” to sex positivity.

Mike Itkis, who is running against Representative Jerrold Nadler (D., N.Y.), uploaded the 13-minute video, “Bucket List Bonanza,” to Pornhub over the summer.

He told City & State he made the sex tape with porn performer Nicole Sage in 2021 as a “conversation piece.”

“If I would just talk about it, it wouldn’t demonstrate my commitment to the issue,” he told the outlet. “And the fact I actually did it was a huge learning experience, and it actually influenced items on my platform.”

He said he had never had sex on camera before making the video and described himself as an introvert.

“I’m kind of a nerd who doesn’t like to be the center of attention if I can avoid it. But I thought the issues I’m trying to address are so important . . . I wanted to have my issues talked about in some way,” said Itkis, who is running in New York’s newly redrawn 12th Congressional District.

Itkis, a registered Democrat whose bio describes him as “Not married. No kids. Not celibate. Atheist,” said in a statement that making the sex tape was “one of the most meaningful experiences of my life.”

“One of my three primary goals is to advance sex positivity, including several proposals for legislation designed to explicitly protect sexual rights by ending government involvement in marriage, the right to not become a parent in case of pregnancy, a right for women to terminate an abortion, decriminalization of sex between consenting adults, a nation-wide definition of consent, and legalization of sex work,” Itkis said.

He writes on his website that men should not be required to support biological children without prior agreement and that he plans to work to “redefine [the] abortion debate as a right to unplanned sex.”

Itkis, an Army cyber operations officer, said he decided to run for office because “our freedom of expression is under threat from all ends of the political spectrum.”

“The far right, led by the Supreme Court, has a negative view of sexual rights, pursuing the position that sex should only happen between a married man and woman, clearly leaving out multiple demographics such as single individuals, and people whom the ‘traditional’ marriage arrangement doesn’t work,” he said. “With this worldview in mind, modern conservatives are clearly opposed to sexually-explicit speech as well as research that doesn’t comply with their views.”

He added: “Unfortunately, many Democrats have also opposed freedom of speech, contributing to ‘cancel culture’ and political correctness. Being born in the Soviet Union, I’m well aware of the consequences for people who deviate from the party line, and am strongly opposed to restrictions on speech because someone may be offended.”

Mike Zumbluskas, the Republican candidate running in NY-12, said of the sex tape stunt: “You gotta do what you gotta do.”

“The media ignores everybody that’s not a Democrat in the city,” he told City & State.

Why environmentalists went after Canada's biggest bank for alleged greenwashing

Jaela Bernstien - CBC

Standing in the rain in downtown Montreal, Kukpi7 (Chief) Judy Wilson lifts her fist in defiance outside a branch of the Royal Bank of Canada. Wilson's gesture goes largely unnoticed by the shoppers who hurry past, but her efforts to hold banks accountable on financing fossil fuels have certainly caught the attention of Canadian regulators.

Wilson, based in south central British Columbia, is the chief of the Skat'sin te Secwepemc-Neskonlith Indian Band and the secretary-treasurer for the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC).

She's also one of six applicants who filed a complaint to Canada's Competition Bureau, accusing RBC of greenwashing — something that prompted the regulator to open an inquiry into whether Canada's biggest bank misled customers about its climate action.

"It's time to be truthful," said Wilson, who spoke with CBC News while in Montreal for a meeting.

"[Climate change] is real, it's here and we have to deal with it."


Wilson says there's no time to waste in cutting emissions as Indigenous people are disproportionately affected by climate change.© Jaela Bernstien/CBC

The allegations, filed with the help of environmental law non-profit Ecojustice, suggest the bank has been marketing itself as being aligned with the climate goals of the Paris Agreement, all while continuing to finance the fossil fuel industry


It's not the first time RBC has been called out over its support of the oil and gas sector.

A separate report published this year by a group of environmental organizations, including the Sierra Club and the Indigenous Environmental Network, ranked RBC fifth globally among major banks financing the fossil fuel industry.

But in marketing materials, RBC states that it is "fully committed" to supporting drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

"The claims and RBC's actual action don't stack up," said Matt Hulse, the Ecojustice lawyer who helped draft and file the complaint to the Competition Bureau.

In response to the Competition Bureau's investigation, the bank denied it has been misleading clients.

"RBC strongly disagrees with the allegations in the complaint, and believes the complaint to be unfounded and not in line with Canada's climate plan," RBC spokesperson Andrew Block said in an email.

"It's critically important that we get the transition to net zero right in order to address climate change and we have taken a measured, thoughtful, and deliberate approach in our climate strategy."

In the past, RBC has said its transition to net zero must be gradual in order to succeed.

A Royal Bank of Canada logo is seen on Bay Street in the heart of the financial district in Toronto on January 22, 2015. The bank has been accused of misrepresenting its climate actions.© Mark Blinch/Reuters

Time is a luxury that Wilson doesn't have, as her community is already experiencing the impacts of climate change.

"Many of our people still hunt and fish and harvest on the land … so they can firsthand see what climate change is doing. The rivers are low, warmer. The forests are tinder dry," she said.

"With climate-destroying fossil fuels and climate change disproportionately impacting Indigenous peoples around the world, as well in Canada, we have to make the right decision."

Holding companies accountable via the Competition Bureau has worked in the past. Earlier this year, Keurig Canada was ordered to pay a $3-million penalty for falsely claiming its single-use K-Cup pods can be recycled.

An inquiry could take more than a year, but environmental advocates hope that if they're successful, other banks will take note.

"RBC is a market leader. What they do, other banks — particularly in Canada — follow," Hulse said. "We thought that going after the biggest, if our complaint is upheld, would send a message across the industry."

Dror Etzion, a professor specializing on sustainability at the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University, said it's become popular for banks to project an image of sustainable finance.

"The key really is, how serious, how honest is self-reporting on these topics?" Etzion said.

He said regulators can play an important role in holding companies accountable on climate promises, rather than leaving it to individuals.

"It's very tough for consumers to shoulder and also it's a bit of guilt-tripping us as individuals to try to force corporations to change their behaviour."

While the bureau's findings could create ripple effects within the financial industry at large, Etzion said they may not lead to the kind of outcome that environmentalists are hoping for.

"It wouldn't be good if the outcome is that the legal teams and these banks just become more careful in how they express themselves," Etzion said.

"What would be very good is if the policies and strategies underlying these banks' activities do change in a meaningful way."

Wilson hopes it's the latter, but regardless of the outcome said she will keep pushing for climate action.

"There's going to be continued pressure like this, people aren't just going to give up," she said.

Wilson, who will be attending the UN Climate Change Conference in Egypt next month, said she's learned issues must be tackled holistically.

Political, legal and technical — it was the three-pronged approach that she learned from her late Uncle George Manuel, an internationally-renowned Indigenous activist and founder of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples.

Wilson said she now adds spiritual and international as important components to that formula.

"What we're doing is important not just for the planetary crisis, it's for the well-being of our children and our grandchildren," she said.

"I'm going to do everything I can to keep my children and my grandson well, so that they can survive. Our ancestors did that for us, otherwise we wouldn't be here."

Speed limits in the ocean? 

Massive ships are killing endangered 

whales each year.

Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY

Sun, October 16, 2022 

OFF THE FARALLON ISLANDS, Calif. – Twenty-eight miles off San Francisco Bay, the sea is alive with whales. Spout after spout shoot from the water as more than two dozen humpbacks feast on glittering schools of anchovies.

From the prow of a small boat, Bekah Lane, program coordinator for the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, California, scrambles to track them all.

"There's a group of five over there, and another three over there, and at least four moms with calves," she said, binoculars scanning back and forth over the water. "We're just surrounded by whales here."

Unfortunately, the abundant fish that draw humpbacks here mean these whales are effectively having a picnic on a freeway – and they don't know they're in danger. These rich feeding grounds are smack in the middle of the path to the fourth-busiest ports on the West Coast. Ships the size of the Empire State Building power through daily to reach docks in Oakland and San Francisco.

Bekah Lane of the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, CA takes photos of whale flukes to help identify the whales feeding more than 20 miles offshore of San Franciso Calif. Each year, more than 80 whales die after being struck by ships off the West coast. She is uploading whale data to Whale Safe, a computer system that went live on September 21, 2022 that notifies ships when whales are present so they can slow down and hopefully avoid such ship strikes.

More than 80 whales are struck and killed each year in West Coast shipping lanes, the roadkill of robust international trade. So far, 2018, 2019 and 2021 have been the worst years on record for whale-ship collisions.

Lane and other scientists are part of a recently launched tool called Whale Safe that's working to give the mammals a fighting chance by getting ships to slow down when whales are present, just as cars slow down in school zones.

Attired in a wetsuit, marine biologist Douglas McCauley sits on the deck below Lane, his eyes picking out mothers and their calves in the roiling waters. He helped construct the system. Now he's about to jump in the water to do some adjustments to the acoustic buoy that's busy listening for whales even when they're deep underwater, invisible to the humans above.

As intelligent as they are, he explained, whales haven't yet learned how to avoid ships in part because so many interactions result in death.

In late August, a humpback mother with a calf that had been tracked by whale watchers for years had her skull knocked off her spine in a ship strike. She was known as Fran, and her body washed ashore near San Francisco. Researchers are still looking for her calf.

MORE: Fran, California's 'most popular' whale, likely killed by ship collision

Whale Safe was first launched off the Southern California coast two years ago. In September, San Francisco was added, which scientists hope "can help protect whales like Fran all along the California coast," McCauley said.

Eventually, they want to add Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia, to protect these enormous creatures as they travel the West Coast between their winter feeding grounds near Alaska and their breeding grounds near Mexico.

Douglas McCauley inspects an acoustical buoy that helps track whale activity offshore of San Francisco. Each year, more than 80 whales die after being struck by ships off the West Coast.

Telling ships how 'whaley' it is

Working with scientists at universities and research groups around the world, Whale Safe hinges on an acoustical buoy that listens for whales.

The bright yellow beacon, designed and built by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, doesn't look like much in the water. But it's a half-million-dollar piece of equipment that carries a high-tech hydrophone that constantly listens for whale songs, translating them into a count of whales and species using an onboard computer.

Taking a deep breath, McCauley falls backward into the 55-degree water, then dives to the bottom of the buoy.

The system uses information from the buoy, sightings logged by trained researchers such as Lane, and a predictive model of blue whale habitat preferences and oceanographic data.

Combined and posted online, these give passing ships an hourly "whale presence" rating of low, medium, high or very high. In the past month 126 humpbacks have been sighted and the buoy has heard blue and fin whales in the vicinity, giving most days a "very high" rating.

Whale Safe can't give exact locations for individual whales, but captains don't need that, McCauley said.

"What we're giving the shipping industry is a risk index," McCauley said. "We're telling them how 'whaley' it is on any given day and how important it is that they slow down then."

That, at least, gives them a chance.

Even a 330,000-pound blue whale is no match for a 300-ton ship.

“It’s not like a deer and a car. It’s more like a deer and a skyscraper,” McCauley said.

OFF FLORIDA COAST: NOAA wants boats to slow for right whales

Asking nicely hasn't helped whales

For years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has asked the enormous ships that ply the shipping lanes heading into San Francisco Bay to voluntarily cut their speed during whale migration season.

Some do, but many don't.

The scientists behind Whale Safe hope that by giving ships – and the companies that run them – near-real-time updates on when whales are present, they'll be more inclined to slow down.

"It can also be made available directly to the captain of the ship; they can get it on their phone as well," said Kathi George, director of field operations and response at the Marine Mammal Center.

Whale Safe also assigns a letter grade based on safe speed to companies running large ships in the area. An "A" means whale-saving speeds. An "F" means too many ships barreling through.

Most people have never heard of the shipping companies, but they carry the things Americans buy every day, McCauley said.

"I don't think people realize there's an opportunity for saving whales every time they go into a store," he said. By pushing retailers to use only shippers that are whale-safe, "consumers can have some leverage."

The Whale Safe tool makes report cards for companies running ships of more than 300,000 tons.

Together with other efforts by NOAA, the Southern California Whale Safe program is seeing success. Compliance with the voluntary speed reductions has increased each year, from 47% in 2019 to 62% this year, said Callie Steffen, Whale Safe project scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

That system, together with other initiatives – such as Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies, a program that incentivizes companies to slow their ships – has helped make a difference, said Sean Hastings, policy and information officer at NOAA's Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary off the Santa Barbara coast.

NOAA scientists calculate that if 90% of the large ships cooperated with the Vessel Speed Reduction Program, the risk of lethal ship strikes would be reduced by as much as 30%.

Preliminary figures show that this year the cooperation rate in Southern California is just shy of 70%, Hastings said.

It's not enough. "We really do need 100% cooperation," he said.

Whales and ships sharing the sea

Lacking mandates, Whale Safe hopes information and public shaming will encourage companies to slow down.

This year, the world's largest shipper, MSC, got an A. It has incorporated the data stream directly into its ships' navigation software and is setting the standard for others, Hastings said.

"They're slowing their ships down over 90% of the time," he said. "It's a beautiful thing."

Other companies say they can't.

Matson, a Honolulu-based company that mainly ships to Alaska, Hawaii and Guam, said it's not able to slow down because of the urgency of its cargo. It slows its ships "to the greatest extent possible" but can't always because "when a ship is late, our communities see empty shelves," said spokesman Keoni Wagner.

Whale Safe data for Matson ships entering or exiting Los Angeles and Long Beach ports found that 57.5% of Matson ships traveled 12 to 15 knots in the go-slow area.

A NOAA study showed that because slower speeds result in fuel efficiency, slowing to 10 knots in shipping lanes during the months whales are present in Southern California would result in only a 2% increase in total costs for shippers.

Conservationists have also strongly advocated for shifting sea lanes slightly to avoid areas where whales tend to congregate. The NOAA study found this decreased ship transit times, so doing so plus slowing in ship lanes actually lowered costs by 1.6%.

The problem is only going to get worse, said John Calambokidis, a cetacean expert with Cascadia Research, a nonprofit organization in in Olympia, Washington, that focuses on whale research. Whale populations are recovering just as international shipping is increasing. Today there are more whales and more large ships in the oceans, and those ships are bigger and moving faster than ever before.

Though Whale Safe isn't a total solution, it is a valuable piece of the puzzle, said Cotton Rockwood, a senior marine ecologist with Point Blue Conservation Science, a nonprofit that contracts with NOAA to study whale populations.

Companies really do want to end ship strikes. "Nobody wants to kill a whale. It's heartbreaking when it happens," he said.

Without mandatory speed restrictions, it's hard to get industry buy-in because voluntary slowdowns put companies doing the right thing at a disadvantage. "It's got to be a level playing field," he said.

That's part of Whale Safe's secret weapon. By making speeds public, consumers can pressure businesses they buy from to pressure shippers.

At the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary office, Hastings thinks most Americans would be glad to factor the value of whale's life into the timing of their next purchase.

"I'm pretty confident," he said, "that you and I could wait an extra minute for our iPhone to hit the shelf."

Elizabeth Weise covers climate and environment issues for USA TODAY. She can be reached at eweise@usatoday.com.

EARLIER THIS YEAR: Dead fish are piling up on San Francisco Bay Area shores. A toxic algae bloom is likely cause.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pacific Ocean speed limits? Ships kill endangered whales each year

Joe Biden brands Liz Truss’ shelved tax-cut plan a ‘mistake’

Rare criticism of an ally’s domestic agenda comes after market turmoil.

US President Joe Biden | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

BY MATT HONEYCOMBE-FOSTER
OCTOBER 16, 2022 9:28 AM

U.S. President Joe Biden laid into beleaguered U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss’ tax-cutting agenda Saturday, calling it a “mistake” and warning that a lack of “sound policy in other countries” could hold back the United States.

Truss, just weeks into the job, is fighting for her political life after proposing — and then being forced to abandon — debt-funded tax reductions for Britain’s top earners and businesses that roiled the markets.

The U.K. leader on Friday sacked her top finance minister, Kwasi Kwarteng, and junked a totemic commitment to reduce corporation tax.

Speaking on a campaign stop in Oregon, Biden claimed it was “predictable” that Truss would have to row back on her agenda, which was also openly criticized by the International Monetary Fund.

“I wasn’t the only one that thought it was a mistake,” the U.S. president said of Truss’ plans. “I think that the idea of cutting taxes on the super-wealthy at a time when […] I disagree with the policy, but that’s up to Great Britain.”

With inflation expected to play a major part in the upcoming U.S. mid-term elections, Biden said the American economy remained “strong as hell,” but that he is “concerned about the rest of the world.”

And he added: “The problem is the lack of economic growth and sound policy in other countries. It’s worldwide inflation, that’s consequential.”

Biden’s swipe at the Truss agenda is an unusual move, given that presidents tend to avoid commenting on the domestic policy of allies.

It came as Truss’ newly-appointed chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, signalled further fiscal U-turns could be on the cards.

“We have to be honest with people and we are going to have to take some very difficult decisions both on spending and on tax to get debt falling but the top of our minds when making these decisions will be how to protect and help struggling families, businesses and people,” Hunt said in a statement issued overnight.

Truss and Hunt will on Sunday hold talks at the prime minister’s country retreat, Chequers, the BBC reported, ahead of a fresh economic plan due to be unveiled October 31.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has attacked “grotesque chaos” surrounding Liz Truss after the sacking of Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor.

Liz Truss ‘clinging to power’ amid ‘grotesque chaos’ of Kwarteng sacking, Starmer says

Sir Keir said there was “no historical precedent” for the current situation facing Ms Truss and her Government 

Giving a speech in Barnsley after a day of upheaval in Westminster, Sir Keir said the damage caused by last month’s mini-Budget was "unprecedented" as he repeated calls for a general election.

He pointed to the "grotesque chaos of a Tory prime minister handing out redundancy notices to her own chancellor" as he accused Ms Truss of putting “party first and country second”.

Sir Keir said there was “no historical precedent” for the current situation facing Ms Truss and her Government.

The Labour leader said: “There are no historical precedents for what they have done to our economy. Britain has faced financial crises before but the prime ministers and chancellors who wrestled with them all acted fast.

“When their policies ran against the rocks of reality, they took decisive action.

“But this lot, they didn’t just tank the British economy, they also clung on as they made the pound sink. Clung on as they took our pensions to the brink of collapse.

“Clung on as they pushed the mortgages and bills of the British public through the roof.

“They did all of this – all the pain our country faces now is down to them.”

He accused Ms Truss of clinging to power amid the most serious crisis to hit her still-new administration yet.

“There is still one person clinging on, the prime minister,” Sir Keir said in a speech in Barnsley.

“No doubt we will hear plenty of laughable excuses in the coming days. After 12 years of stagnation, that’s all her party has left but even they know she can’t fix the mess she has created.

“And deep down, her MPs know something else. They no longer have a mandate from the British people.”

But Sir Keir also had a sobering message for his own party as the Government attempts to rebuild credibility ahead of the next election with new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.

“It won’t be easy,” he said. “I would love to stand here and say to you that Labour will fix everything. But the damage that they’ve done to our finances and public services means things are going to be really tough.

“We can’t take irresponsible risks with the country’s finances. We must be the party of sound money. You can’t build a fairer, greener Britain without first restoring economic stability.”

Speaking on Friday, Liz Truss announced the Government would go ahead with the planned rise to corporation tax after previously vowing to reverse the decision.

Despite questions over her position, she refused calls to resign and remained steadfast in the belief that her economic plan would deliver growth.

“It is clear that parts of our mini-budget went further and faster than markets were expecting, so the way we are delivering our mission right now has to change,” she said.

“We will do whatever is necessary to ensure debt is falling as a share of the economy in the medium term.”

Despite claiming the administration had made mistakes, new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, said the prime minister’s overall pursuit for growth was correct on Saturday.

He did add, however, there will be “difficult decisions” ahead on tax and spending.

Read More

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Labour ‘will turn Britain into green growth superpower’, Sir Keir Starmer says

Starmer quotes famous Kinnock put-down in attack on Tories’ ‘grotesque chaos’