Changing climate claims railways, houses and beaches in California

Agence France-Presse
October 16, 2022

The sea is swallowing homes, tracks and California's beautiful beaches Robyn Beck AFP

Steve Lang can see catastrophic erosion worsened by climate change happening in real time along one of the world's most scenic railroad lines, where the sea is swallowing homes, tracks and California's beautiful beaches.

"Every day I come here and watch this, and it makes me want to cry," the 68-year-old tells AFP on rail tracks he crosses to go surfing.

Powerful waves wash in from the Pacific over the rails where the "Pacific Surfliner" runs, ferrying sightseers through the stunning coastal landscapes of southern California.

Not long ago, the railway was cushioned by hundreds of feet (tens of meters) of golden sand. But violent southern swells have washed that sand away.

With the beach gone, there was nothing to protect the rails from the fury of Tropical Storm Kay as it lashed the coast in September, eating away at the land on which they stood.

The track, which carries 8.3 million passengers annually between San Diego and San Luis Obispo, is now closed for emergency work.

- Climate change -

In the luxury Cyprus Shore settlement, an enclave of about a hundred plush villas that was once home to former president Richard Nixon, residents look on uneasily.

Without the beach to protect it, the hillside on which it is built is being eaten away and multi-million dollar homes are sliding towards the sea.

The cliffside parking lot is collapsing and two villas with cracked walls are now officially uninhabitable.


"These homes were valued at minimum $10 million each," says Lang.

"We've been trying to raise the alert for years, but we don't get much traction."

The tragedy of the encroaching waters is not limited to San Clemente, says acting mayor Chris Duncan, but a problem for the whole state.


"This area here in Cyprus Shore... is a microcosm," he says.

"The entire California coast is threatened by climate change and threatened by coastal erosion."

Erosion is a natural phenomenon that has helped shape our continents over millennia.


But scientists say it is being speeded up by the warming of the planet; exacerbated by rising sea levels brought about by melting ice caps and glaciers, and by the more powerful waves that warmer oceans hold.

Humanity's unchecked burning of fossil fuels since the industrial revolution has pushed average global temperatures up by 1.2 degrees celsius. They are expected to continue rising.

- 'Lost battle' -


By 2050, between $8 billion and $10 billion of infrastructure could be underwater in California, and other construction valued at $6 billion to $10 billion will be in a high-tide hazard zone, according to a 2019 study released by California's state legislature.

In San Clemente, local transport authorities are trying to stabilize the shifting tracks.

By 2050, between $8 billion and $10 billion of infrastructure could be underwater in California Robyn Beck AFP


Every day, tons of rocks are dumped to reinforce the seawall and protect them, in a $12 million project expected to last more than six weeks.

But "it's a losing battle," Duncan sighs.

The line was closed in September 2021 to add 18,000 tons of rock, and that didn't solve the problem.


"While the rock might temporarily stabilize the slope, it causes exponential sand loss," he says.

"Because now when the waves hit, it doesn't hit a soft beach. It hits a hard rock, bounces off, takes all other sand with it."

Duncan wants federal money to build back the beaches.


"I'm talking about breakwaters, about living shorelines, about possibly groins where it might be appropriate."

Every day tons of rocks are dumped to reinforce the seawall Robyn Beck AFP

Some advocate a more radical solution to save the railway line.


"The best would be to move (the track) back away from the coast," says Joseph Street, a geologist at the California Coastal Commission.

"But of course that's obviously a big, big effort to do that, very expensive."

And, he points out, it does nothing to protect the homes that are at risk behind the track.
Retreat

"A lot of our urban planners and decision makers have really dragged their feet on responding to this problem," says Stefanie Sekich-Quinn, of Surfrider Foundation.

The environmental NGO advocates moving the line away from the coast, an option put forth in a 2009 federal report.

The tragedy of the encroaching waters is not limited to San Clemente, says acting mayor Chris Duncan, but a problem for the state of California Robyn Beck AFP

California has a handful of such initiatives. On the same rail line, authorities in nearby San Diego announced this year a $300 million project to relocate a portion of tracks further inland.

But in San Clemente, that's really a last resort, says Duncan.

"People are going to want officials like me to work to save our homes, to save our rail corridor, and not just give up," he says.

© 2022 AFP

Trump's Truth Social broke the law, says former VP — who gave the Feds the evidence: report

Bob Brigham
October 15, 2022

(Shutterstock.com)

Federal investigators have received evidence of crimes from a former executive at the Trump Media & Technology Group, which runs his Truth Social clone of Twitter, according to a bombshell new report by The Washington Post that was published online on Saturday afternoon.

The newspaper reports the company's former senior vice president of operations, Will Wilkerson, is pursuing whistleblower status from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Wilkerson believes Trump forced out company co-founder and former contestant on the TV show "The Apprentice" Andy Litinsky for not handing over shares in the company to his wife, Melania Trump. Wilkerson provided the newspaper with an email from Litinsky saying the former president was retaliating against him.

"The email — one of hundreds of previously unreported company messages, documents, photos and audio recordings that Wilkerson has provided to the SEC in connection with a whistleblower submission — reveals a stunning portrait of the animosity that has built up inside Trump Media since its high-profile debut last year," the newspaper reported.

Shortly before midnight on Friday evening, Trump posted that "Truth Social was Number One on the Internet today!"

"Promoted as the centerpiece of Trump’s post-presidential business ambitions, the company had marketed itself as a budding media empire, with enterprises planned in social media, video streaming, live events and online payments — a powerful rival not just to Twitter but Disney, Google and Amazon," the newspaper reported. "But inside the company, Wilkerson said, those plans gave way to bitter infighting, technical failures and a chaotic jockeying for power among Trump allies that undermined its potential and left some employees crying at their desks."

The newspaper reports Wilkerson filed a whistleblower complaint in August and was fired on Thursday after speaking to Post reporter Drew Harwell.

"Wilkerson is cooperating with investigations into Trump Media by the SEC and federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York, said his attorneys, Phil Brewster, Patrick Mincey and Stephen Bell," the newspaper reported. "Among the materials he filed with the SEC’s whistleblower office is a detailed, day-to-day computer log compiled by company co-founder Wes Moss, Litinsky and Wilkerson about their daily company-related activities. He also provided to The Post a copy of that log as well as numerous other memos, photographs and videos that chronicled the creation of Trump Media."

Read the full report.

America First megadonor Peter Thiel seeks citizenship from Mediterranean island: report

Bob Brigham
October 15, 2022

Gage Skidmore.

One of the largest individual donors in the 2022 midterm elections is seeking to obtain citizenship in Malta, The New York Times reported on Saturday.

The newspaper based its report on documents it had viewed and "three people with knowledge of the matter."

"Mr. Thiel, 55, is in the process of acquiring at least his third passport even as he expands his financial influence over American politics," the newspaper reported. "Since backing Donald J. Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, the technology investor has become one of the largest individual donors in the midterm elections next month, spending more than $30 million on more than a dozen right-wing Congressional candidates who have decried globalization and pledged to put America first."

Thiel also has a New Zealand passport.

"There is no obvious tax benefit to Mr. Thiel to gaining Maltese citizenship, lawyers and immigration experts said, though wealthy Saudi, Russian and Chinese citizens sometimes seek a passport from the island nation for European Union access and to hedge against social or political turmoil at home," The Times reported. "What is clear is that a Maltese passport would give Mr. Thiel an escape hatch from the United States if his spending doesn’t change the country to his liking."

Thiel has been a major backer of the U.S. Senate campaigns of Blake Masters in Arizona and J.D. Vance in Ohio.

"Both candidates have espoused a form of nationalism that, in part, blames globalization and leaders’ involvement in international affairs for American stagnation," the newspaper reported. "Mr. Thiel has endorsed that worldview with his money and in speeches, including one at the National Conservatism Conference last year where he called nationalism 'a corrective' to the 'brain-dead, one-world state' of globalism."

Read the full report.

In conservative Florida, LGBT community fights to make its voice heard

Agence France-Presse
October 16, 2022

A Pride parade in Orlando transforms the Florida city into a rainbow island in a US state more and more associated with the conservative politics of its governor(AFP)

A Beyonce hit thumped in the background as Pride parade participants marched on Saturday through the streets of Orlando, transforming the Florida city into a rainbow island in a US state more and more associated with the conservative politics of its governor.

Behind their beaming smiles and vibrant outfits, the state's LGBT community is having a tough year.

"We're definitely headed back in time," said Donna Marie, a 55-year-old nurse in a rainbow hat.

"And if this continues, the next thing is going to be gay marriage," she added, referring to the fear of a potential political threat to same-sex unions.

In March, Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, one of the most prominent conservative politicians in the United States, signed a law prohibiting the discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in elementary school classrooms.

The controversial bill -- dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" law by its detractors -- was a major topic of discussion at the Pride parade, with signs encouraging participants to not only "say gay," but also to "shout gay" and "yell gay" too.

For 22-year-old Brianna Johnson, the political environment made her appearance at Pride all the more meaningful, because, she said, "We still show who we are, and nobody can stop us from that."

Johnson, a manager with Disney, said she has known she was a lesbian since But her religious family has been a long-time obstacle on the path to embrace her true identity.

Stopping young people from expressing themselves, as Florida's law could, is "very harmful and hurtful," according to Johnson.

"It hurts my heart," she said.

Pulse

Not far from a stand selling signs exclaiming "I love my gay son," 61-year-old Morgan Manry shares his own concerns.

The non-profit worker recalls how the 2016 massacre at Pulse, in which 49 people were killed in a shooting at the gay nightclub in Orlando, "brought together the city" and helped the LGBT community become more accepted around town.


Now, the current political climate is "dismantling a social understanding that took years to develop," Manry said.

Transgender student Jason Humphrey says he is facing the indirect consequences the "Don't Say Gay" law.

Even though the new rule is directed at younger students, 19-year-old Humphrey says his own teachers are also now reluctant to discuss his gender identity or name change.

"They were worried about getting in any trouble," he told AFP, calling the situation "horrible."

"We're citizens of Florida too, come on. It's not appropriate," he said of the law, carrying a large python around his arm -- and hurrying to clarify that the animal does not bite.

'Get out and vote'

Coming just weeks before decisive midterm elections, the Pride parade cannot help but take on a political tone.

Local Democratic candidates work campaign stands along the route, and US Senate candidate Val Demings marches right in the middle of the procession, rainbow flag in hand.

The campaigning helps to both differentiate candidates from DeSantis and use the social issue to motivate Democratic voters to show up to the polls.


For some Pride attendants, such as Aubrey Robinson, the strategy seems to be working. Next to a button reading "respect all pronouns," the 43-year-old is wearing another one in support of a Democratic candidate, who, "I'll be honest with you, I don't know anything about him," she said.

But campaigners told Robinson the candidate is opposed to the governor's policies.

"Anybody that is against DeSantis and getting in there and that is for the community, I'm for," she said.


"I think that it's very important to get out and vote. More so than ever now."

© Agence France-Presse

'Seemingly invincible' Chuck Grassley is in his tightest ever re-election battle in Iowa

Bob Brigham
October 15, 2022

Chuck Grassley / Gage Skidmore
HE WAS MADE FOR TERM LIMITS

Republican Chuck Grassley has been an Iowa lawmaker since 1959, but appears to be in a tight battle for political survival as he seeks his eighth term in the U.S. Senate.

On Saturday night, the Des Moines Register released it's latest Mediacom Iowa Poll, showing Grassley only leading retired Admiral Mike Franken by three points, 46% to 43%.

The poll, conducted by pollster J. Ann Selzer, has often been called the gold standard of Iowa polling.

Selzer told the newspaper the poll "says to me that Franken is running a competent campaign and has a shot to defeat the seemingly invincible Chuck Grassley — previously perceived to be invincible."

The poll shows Democrats may have a chance to flip a seat in a largely overlooked seat.

"Election analysts for months have rated the race in Grassley’s favor, and national Democratic groups have indicated they don’t plan to spend money supporting Franken, instead focusing on states where they see greater potential for victory," the newspaper reported. "But the poll indicates weaknesses for Grassley beyond his head-to-head race with Franken. His job disapproval rating is a record high for him in the Iowa Poll. The percentage of Iowans who view him unfavorably also hit a peak. And nearly two-thirds of likely voters say the senator’s age is a concern rather than an asset."

Grassley, 89, was first elected to the Iowa House of Representatives in the 1958 midterm elections. He served eight terms in the legislature, then three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, before first being elected to the U.S. Senate when he shared the ballot with Ronald Reagan in 1980.

Nate Silver of 538 wrote, "The reason this is interesting is not because Grassley is going to lose (probably not) and not even because the Selzer poll has been accurate (though it has been) but because she's a pollster who will publish what her numbers tell her and not herd toward the conventional wisdom."

Also on Saturday, Grassley posted a video explaining how much corn farming has changed during his time as a farmer.

Watch below or at this link:

GRASSLEY GOT IOWA ON THE BIOFUEL TAX CREDIT KICK WAAAAAAY BACK IN 1984

UNDER RONALD REAGAN

'OFF THE DEEP END'

Inside the Jerry Falwell Love Triangle: Pool Boy Tells All

In an exclusive excerpt from his new book, Giancarlo Granda reveals how he fell into a scandalous relationship with the evangelical leader and his wife.

BY GIANCARLO GRANDA, MARK EBNER

OCTOBER 15, 2022

Giancarlo Granda, the Miami hotel "pool boy" whose accusations of a marital affair helped lead to Jerry Falwell's resignation from Liberty University 

TONI L. SANDYS/THE WASHINGTON POST/GETTY IMAGES

BEFORE THE EVENTS related in this excerpt, Giancarlo Granda was just another 20-year-old Miami high school graduate: pool attendant at an iconic Miami Beach hotel, eager to please, ambitious, open to suggestion. A chance poolside encounter with Becki and then Jerry Falwell Jr., first-born son of an evangelical legend and his attractive 40-ish wife intrigued him. He acted on a lark, and was suddenly in the middle of a complex sexual affair with Becki. The affair gave Granda a firsthand view of immense wealth, unexpurgated power and unwavering faith, as well as the duplicity and destruction it takes to maintain their illusion.

(The Falwells have denied Granda’s account and insist that Jerry was not a participant in the affair.)

A decade later, it all looks very different. Their predatory nature, abuse of power, complete lack of moral compass and monumental hypocrisy is breathtaking to look back across the full sweep of it. In this excerpt from their new book Off the Deep End: Jerry and Becki Falwell and the Collapse of an Evangelical Dynasty, co-authors Giancarlo Granda and Mark Ebner recount how those first few tentative steps set Granda on a dizzying path to near destruction.

At the tail end of the high season at the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami, on March 13, 2012, I was close to ending my shift at around 4:00 p.m, when I noticed a woman staring at me. She was camped out in my section—maybe in her mid-forties, attractive, fit, and very charismatic, stretched out on one of the poolside daybeds in a bikini. Daybeds are way more comfortable than the lounge chairs, and the going rate was $150 a day, so anyone with a daybed already had my attention.

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Her dark brown eyes locked on to me, and I felt her watching me wherever I went. She had a deep, penetrating stare, and when she caught my eye she didn’t look away. It was a little disconcerting. The next time I was within earshot, she said, “Oh, these girls don’t know what they’re doing. You need someone older.”

She was being flirty, saying it as a joke, so I flirted back. She asked my name, and when I shook her hand, she complimented me on my handshake. We talked for a few minutes—“Do you go to school?”; “What kind of stuff are you interested in?”—and then I told her I had to get back to work. Every time I cycled through, there was a little more banter and a little more flirtation. She said her name was Becki.

It all seemed innocent enough, but then near the end of my shift, she asked me to sit down next to her on the daybed, where nobody could hear us, and in a conspiratorial tone asked me, “Hey, do you want to come back to my room?”

Not what I was expecting.

When I didn’t say no right away, she added, “There’s just one thing . . . My husband wants to watch.”

 


There was a lot to unpack in that sentence: a sexy rendezvous is about to happen, but wait, she’s married, but no, her husband’s okay with it and in fact he’s coming along to have a look. That was too many hairpin turns, and the resulting whiplash made me a little queasy. She knew it was shocking, and there was a slight catch in her voice when she said it. I must have recoiled ever so slightly, because she was quick to add, “Oh don’t worry, he’ll hide in the corner and watch us. That’s his thing. You won’t even know he’s there.”

By way of explanation, she said that she and her husband had visited Miami Velvet, a local swingers club in Doral. A lot of swingers stayed at the Fontainebleau, so Miami Velvet was well known to all of us who worked there. She confessed they had been curious about these sorts of places, having had no experience with them, but it was all gross, nothing sensual or erotic about it, people having faceless mechanical sex everywhere you looked, so they left. All I really knew about Miami Velvet was that it served as a punch line for the locals. I had never known anyone who had actually been there, and I had the sense that it was for an older age group. But now the conversation was charged with sex, and I wanted her to stay on topic.

I was conflicted. On the one hand, she was in her bikini, touching her neck, fussing with her hair, paying me compliments, sipping on her drink while she stared into my eyes. I found it all very intriguing. But it was also weird and unlike anything I had ever done before. I asked her if we could meet up alone first, but she said that would go against their agreement. I told her I needed some time to think about it and asked her to call me after my shift, which ended in another hour. She typed my number into her phone. She didn’t give me hers.

I had seen her surreptitiously taking pictures of me, in between chatting me up, and I surmised that she must have been texting her husband the whole time. Later, after she sent me a batch of the photos, I realized that at least one of them was taken from outside my section, which means she would have had to move into my section, which I suppose makes it a surveillance photo.

Soon after, her husband came down and joined us, and she introduced him as Jerry. He wore Speedo briefs, with his belly hanging over his waistband. It was a little awkward, and he largely avoided eye contact, but he shook my hand and said, “Nice to meet you, Gian,” with his thick southern accent. He pronounced Gian like “John,” and this became his nickname for me for as long as I knew him.

Some of my coworkers and at least one manager could see what was going on, and they encouraged me to go for it. We all agreed it was strange but also hilarious. When Jerry left, he told me he’d see me later. In the parking lot my cell buzzed and the number came up as blocked. It was Becki. She had mentioned that they were staying in a suite in the Trésor Tower, which is between $1,000 and $1,500 a night, so while I didn’t know who they were, they obviously had money. Still, they suggested we meet at a Days Inn around the corner from the Fontainebleau so we could avoid any issues with hotel management if anybody recognized me. With traffic, it took me an hour to get home to my parents’ house, shower, change into jeans and a black T-shirt, and then a half hour to get back. I called my sister on my way home and told her what was happening, including what hotel we would be at, in case Becki and Jerry turned out to be serial killers. She thought the whole thing was hysterical. She was in her late twenties at this point, and a confidant and best friend, so she knew all about my dating life. She asked me, “Do you think this is a good idea?” laughing as she said it. I told her, “Probably not.” But then, you’re only twenty once.

I arrived at the Days Inn around 8:30 or 9:00 p.m. Becki was sitting on a couch in the lobby. I was nervous, and I guess she was too, because she poured whiskey from a fifth of Jack Daniel’s into a plastic cup. She wore nightclub attire: a tight dress that finished at mid-thigh, not see-through but suggestive, and black heels. We passed the cup back and forth between us to calm our nerves. At one point, she said, “I can’t believe we’re going to do this. This is crazy.”

At the time I had the impression they had never done this before, but a decade later I think that’s highly unlikely. Regardless, we made small talk as she lightly stroked my arms and inner thigh. I rested my hand on her leg, and soon we were comfortable enough with each other that she told me, “All right, let’s go upstairs.” On the elevator up she backed up against me, and I folded my arms around her.

Jerry Falwell Jr. ETHAN MILLER/GETTY IMAGES

I followed her into a clean, generic room with two queensize beds. Jerry lay on the one closest to the door, dressed, but with his jeans unbuttoned and fanned open so you could see his underwear; shoes off, with his shirtsleeves rolled up to the elbows. It was awkward at first, but he was already drunk, and he greeted me with “Hey, Gian,” and then let out a giggle. That was a little disconcerting, but it also served to break the ice, since it added to the absurdity. He had a drink, which he kept sipping while we talked.

I told him, “If you get jealous at any point, just let me know and I’ll get the hell out of here. I will not hesitate.” I was still worried that he might attack me and stove in the back of my head. But he told me, “Don’t worry about it. You guys do what you want to do.”

I kissed Becki, and she was practically vibrating. I picked her up and carried her over to the second bed. She was surprisingly light. She wasn’t wearing any panties, which is the kind of thing that makes an impression on you at twenty, and she half whispered, “Our rule is anything but intercourse,” meaning no penetration. I nodded that was fine. I went down on her, and when she finished, she told me, “My turn. Lay back.”

At some point, Jerry got up and walked to the side of the bed to get a better angle. I had a moment of near panic, thinking, What is he doing? and I told him to back off—not in a hostile way, just establishing some boundaries. He apologized and quickly walked back toward the entrance and stood right outside the bathroom. After that I was able to put blinders on and block him out. Becki rarely lost eye contact with me, but for all her forwardness, she seemed submissive in the moment, eager to please.

Afterward, they were elated that we’d managed to pull it off. She was buzzing, electric, and Jerry continued to giggle with excitement. I was happy, but this was enough pathfinding for one day. I told them, “All right, guys—I’m outta here.” Becki kissed me on the lips and then walked me down to the lobby. As I drove home, I was pretty sure I’d never hear from them again.

The next day, my cell phone rang as I was walking across campus. I picked up to hear Becki’s voice. “Hey, what’s up?” she said. “You want to see me again before I leave?”

I paused, then thought, Why not?

From OFF THE DEEP END: Jerry and Becki Falwell and the Collapse of an Evangelical Dynasty by Giancarlo Granda and Mark Ebner, published by William Morrow. Copyright © 2022 by Giancarlo Granda. Reprinted courtesy of HarperCollinsPublishers

Offering abortion pills on campus could eliminate boundaries to access, students say

California state schools must provide abortion pills on campus by Jan. 1.

ByNadine El-Bawab
Video byJessie DiMartino
October 15, 2022,

Colleges and universities offering the abortion pill on campus could help reduce barriers to abortion care access, even in states that currently have protections for this care, students advocating for abortion rights say.

Students in California and New York told ABC News that increasing the points of access to care, such as requiring schools to provide medication abortions, would likely go a long way toward lightening the burden on clinics that are being overwhelmed with patients traveling from other states.

MORE: Students at more than 50 schools, universities stage reproductive justice protests

A 2019 law signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom will require state colleges and universities to provide abortion pills on campus starting on Jan. 1. This summer, Massachusetts also enacted a law requiring public universities to submit a plan for providing medication abortions on campus by November 2023.

A person holds a carton of the "morning-after" pill purchased from the Plan-B vending machine that sits in the basement of the student union building on the Boston University Campus in Boston, July 26, 2022.
Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images, FILE

A similar bill is in the works in New York State. It would require that all student health centers on college and university campuses in the state offer medication abortion services free of charge.

The University of California, Berkeley, already offers medication abortions at its student health center for pregnancies up to 10 weeks. Recently, Barnard College, a women's only school in New York, announced it would offer medication abortions starting in Fall 2023.

Demonstrators hold signs as they stage a protest in favor of abortion rights on the steps of Sproul Hall on the U.C. Berkeley campus on March 08, 2022 in Berkeley, Calif.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, FILE

The decision at Barnard came after over two years of pressure from student groups on campus, led by a group called the Reproductive Justice Collective.

The RJC found a need for access to abortion pills on campus for three main reasons: overwhelmed New York abortion clinics; the high cost of abortion care; and long travel time to reach clinics off campus, Niharika Rao, a student at Barnard and activist with the RJC, told ABC News in an interview.

Rao said that clinics in New York are overwhelmed and have long wait times, with many patients coming from Pennsylvania and Ohio for care. Long wait times can often lead to patients needing more complicated and expensive abortion care.

MORE: Self-managed abortions may rise as access to care decreases, providers say


Medication abortion is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for up to 10 weeks into pregnancy, but some studies have shown it is an effective method of abortion up to 11 weeks.

A sign for Barnard College stands in New York, Dec. 12, 2019.
Jeenah Moon/Getty Images, FILE

The closest Planned Parenthood clinic to Barnard's campus is a 40-minute train ride away, according to Rao.

Rao said many students hope that abortion services at Barnard will be subsidized by the university and be more affordable to students than care at clinics unaffiliated with the school.

"If students who are obviously going to Planned Parenthoods now are able to access this type of care on their campus, then we're hoping that reduces the load on [New York's] clinics. It also hopefully reduces the funding pressure on our abortion funds," Rao said.

The RJC is also advocating for medication abortion to be available on campus for students at other New York schools including Columbia University, New York University and CUNY system schools.

MORE: Here's where abortion is banned 3 months after Roe v. Wade was overturned

Even in states like New York that protect abortion rights, "very real barriers to care and access still exist, despite the fact that abortion is very much legal. And if we want to be a sort of pro-choice, abortion friendly state, then we have to reconcile and deal with those barriers," Rao said.

When campuses require that a student go off campus for care, that often means they miss school, miss assignments, have to pay for travel, have to miss jobs or internships, according to Tamara Marzouk, director of abortion access at Advocates for Youth, a non-profit that helps youth, including the RJC, organize around reproductive justice issues.

Abortion rights advocates march holding placards during the demonstration against the Supreme Courts recent decision to overturn Roe Vs. Wade. in downtown in downtown Berkeley, Calif.,July 2, 2022.


While California is a state that protects abortion rights, students told ABC News that similar barriers to abortion care exist there as well.

Abortion care being offered on campuses would especially make a difference for undergraduate students who may not have local providers they trust or a means of transportation to get them to off-campus services, MacKenna Rawlins, a graduate student at the University of California, San Diego, and the vice president of external affairs for the school's Graduate and Professional Student Association, told ABC News

That being said, Rawlins said she has not seen a lot of student activism surrounding abortion care on her campus after Roe fell, which she largely attributes to the perceived "safety net" of living in California, where there are protections for the right to abortion.

Lauren Adams, a student at the University of California, Berkeley, told ABC News that she feels supported by her university but also recognizes her responsibility to demand more protections and fight for women in other states where the right to abortion is being taken away.

Student in nearly 30 states staged protests earlier this month, demanding their universities step in and protect their reproductive rights, months after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending federal protections for abortion rights.

MONOPOLY CAPITALI$M

US retailers Kroger and Albertsons agree to $24.6bn acquisition to create grocery giant

The tie-up would give increased buying power and an opportunity to save on costs JOBS/WORKERS

Shares of Kroger and Albertsons fell 7.3 per cent and 8.5 per cent, respectively, following the announcement of the acquisition. Reuters

Bloomberg
Oct 15, 2022

Kroger has agreed to buy Albertsons in a deal with an enterprise value of $24.6 billion that would create a US grocery giant with almost 5,000 stores and annual revenue of about $200bn.

Investors will receive $34.10 for each share in Albertsons, which includes a special dividend, the companies said in a statement on Friday.

That reflects a premium of about 33 per cent to the closing price on October 12, the day before Bloomberg News first reported on the deal talks. The companies plan to offload as many as 375 stores through a spinoff if they can’t find buyers for them.

The proposed tie-up gives rise to a grocery giant with increased buying power and an opportunity to save on costs as brick-and-mortar retailers invest heavily to enhance their online offerings.

While the deal would create a beefed-up competitor to Walmart and other rivals, it’s sure to face tough antitrust scrutiny as US regulators under President Joe Biden cast a more sceptical eye on big mergers.

“This combination will expand customer reach and improve proximity to deliver fresh and affordable food to approximately 85 million households,” the companies said.

“Consistent with prior transactions, Kroger plans to invest in lowering prices for customers and expects to reinvest approximately half a billion dollars of cost savings from synergies to reduce prices for customers.”

Kroger shares fell 7.3 per cent to $43.16 at the close in New York, while Albertsons dropped 8.5 per cent to $26.21 after a big gain on Thursday.

Kroger rose 1.7 per cent this year through October 12, the day before Bloomberg News reported on the deal talks. Albertsons fell 15 per cent during the same period, while an S&P index of consumer-staples companies slid 12 per cent.

The deal’s purchase price could decrease. It hinges on how much cash Albertsons decides to funnel to shareholders through its dividend and on how many stores are spun off.

The combination ranks among the retail industry’s biggest transactions in years, evoking such deals as Amazon.com’s purchase of Whole Foods Market in 2017 for $13.7bn and the $9.8bn acquisition of Albertsons itself in 2006 by CVS Health, Supervalu and an investment group led by Cerberus Capital Management.

Workers at Target stores and distribution centres in places such as New York, where competition for finding and hiring staff is the fiercest, could receive starting wages as high as $24 an hour this year. AP

The companies said they would squeeze about $1bn in “annual run-rate” cost savings within the first four years after the deal closes, net of divestitures, thanks to improved purchasing, technology investment and optimised manufacturing and distribution networks. They will use $500 million of the savings to cut prices.

Kroger said it has $17.4bn in fully committed bridge financing from Citigroup and Wells Fargo & Co. The deal includes the assumption of $4.7bn in net debt and is expected to close in early 2024, the companies said. Kroger chief executive Rodney McMullen will lead the combined company.

The combined company would face a competitor of comparable size in terms of grocery sales: Walmart. During their most recent fiscal years, Kroger and Albertsons brought in a combined $209.8bn in sales. Walmart’s US stores generated $218.9bn in groceries. That excludes sales at Sam’s Club, Walmart’s chain of warehouse stores.

Cold War back as US proclaims new strategy for domination

With the West flooding Ukraine with arms, what's clear is that this Cold War is getting much hotter and more dangerous

Latvian soldiers readying the RBS 70 air defence system as part of a Nato exercise (Picture: NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation on Flickr)

As missiles dropped across Ukraine last week, US president Biden announced a return to Cold War politics. He launched his National Security Strategy report saying the world is at an “inflection point”. He now plans to “shape the future of the international order” and ­“outmanoeuvre” competitors.

“This decade will be decisive, in setting the terms of our competition with the People’s Republic of China, managing the acute threat posed by Russia,” said the 48-page document. Biden makes it clear that this requires a massive shift of resources towards the military and that China is marked as the main enemy. The potential of nuclear war is always in mind.

China “is the only competitor with both the intent to reshape the ­international order and, increasingly, the economic, ­diplomatic, military and technological power to do it,” the administration declares.

It continues, “Nuclear deterrence remains a top priority for the nation. “By the 2030s, the United States for the first time will need to deter two major nuclear powers. “To ensure our nuclear ­deterrent remains responsive to the threats we face, we are modernising the nuclear triad—nuclear command, control, and communications—and our nuclear weapons infrastructure.”

To be sure we are getting the ­message, it continues, saying, “Nations are seeing once again why it’s never a good bet to bet against the United States of America”. Even mainstream commentators are shocked at the way the report echoes the language of the ­previous national strategy document—­written by Donald Trump’s team in 2018.

Biden’s policy shows us that the West’s war in Ukraine has nothing to do with democracy or the rights of small nations faced with imperialist aggression. The US sees the conflict as a way of both containing and diminishing Russian power as part of its long term strategic goal of economic and military domination.

The strategy document was ­published just as the Nato military alliance announced a ten-year plan to rebuild Ukraine’s military and arms industry—and fully integrate them into Nato command.

“We will be looking at defence planning requirements to get Ukraine fully interoperable with Nato,” a senior Nato official said. That would mean that Ukraine would become a member of Nato “by default”, even if its formal request for membership is denied.

Ukraine war entering a deadly new phase

It would also be a huge strategic gain for the US. But the move can only inflame the war and risk spreading it across the region. Seeking to surround Russia with Nato, or Nato-aligned, countries ramps up the threat making a nuclear conflict even more likely.

But for now the West seems ­content to pour in ever more weapons and prolong the conflict indefinitely. The Washington Post newspaper reported last week that US officials have ruled out the idea of pushing the Ukrainian leadership to negotiate with Russia.

That’s despite the administration believing that neither side can win the war “outright” and Biden saying last week that the war in Ukraine could trigger “Armageddon”.
Why missile shields won’t protect Ukrainians

Russian attacks on Kiev and a dozen other cities last week saw renewed calls for the West to supply Ukraine with missile defence shields. Some have already arrived. The first shipment of new heat-seeking missiles from Germany reached Ukraine on Tuesday.

France, the Netherlands and Spain last week pledged to send more. And the US said it would hasten the delivery of two missile launchers of the type already used around Washington. But the drive to “clear the skies” can only intensify the war, rather than make civilians safe.

Placing “defensive shields” around the Ukrainian capital and other potential Russian targets will inevitably cause Russia to send ever more missiles. Russian planners will seek to overload Ukrainian defences by inundating them with all manner of weapons.

Its military will direct attacks towards those areas in the majority of the country that remain unshielded. And even more than is already the case, they will target less well-protected civilian areas, rather than military assets where the missile batteries are based. war

The introduction of Western anti-missile technology will also push Russia towards other, even more dangerous strategies. That includes the possible use of battlefield nuclear weapons and longer-range ballistic missiles fired from deep within Russia. war

Ballistic missiles generally fly too fast and at too high an altitude to be hit by anti‑missile shields. That would mean missiles with even more deadly payloads could start to smash into Ukraine.

What would then be the West’s response? Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly asked for the US-made Patriot missile system. war

This can shoot down both ballistic missiles and supersonic aircraft. It has a range long enough to hit targets well within Russia and at high altitudes. war

If the West agreed to such a demand it would signal an escalation so grave that so far even US military officials have rejected it. Far from keeping Ukrainians safe from Russian bombs, missile shields only make them a target of even more deadly weapons.

SOCIALIST WORKER

Alaska cancels snow crab season due to sustainability concerns

by Jack Birle, Breaking News Reporter 
October 15, 2022 

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced Monday the Bering Sea Snow Crab Season would be canceled for this winter, after concerns over the species population.

After an analysis of survey of the species from the National Marine Fisheries Service and the ADF&G, both agencies decided to keep the species closed to fishing for the 2022-2023 season.

"ADF&G appreciates and carefully considered all input from crab industry stakeholders prior to making this decision. Understanding crab fishery closures have substantial impacts on harvesters, industry, and communities, ADF&G must balance these impacts with the need for long-term conservation and sustainability of crab stocks. Management of Bering Sea snow crab must now focus on conservation and rebuilding given the condition of the stock," the department said in a statement.

The news comes on the heals of the department announcing the Bristol Bay Red King Crab Season had been canceled.

The canceled season come as the waters in Bering Sea are warming significantly. The snow crab harvest for the 2021-2022 season was the smallest in more than 40 year, at only 5.6 million pounds.

Officials are searching for answers on how to solve the issue of declining population, with an estimated one billion snow crab disappearing in the past two year, per CBS News.

State officials are optimistic they can find a remedy to support sustainability and conservation, but until that time the fishing seasons are on hold.

Alaskan Snow Crab Season Canceled After 90% Of Population Disappears

The fate of the animals is "a canary in a coal mine for other species that need cold water," one researcher said.

Hilary Hanson
Oct 15, 2022

For the first time in history, Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game has canceled the state’s winter snow crab season due to a shocking plummet in the crustacean’s numbers.

Between 2019 and 2021, researchers “saw the largest decline we’ve ever seen in the snow crab population, which was very startling,” department biologist Miranda Westphal told Alaska Public Media in the wake of Monday’s cancellation.

The department made the decision based on data from the National Marine Fisheries Service, which conducts an annual survey of the population in the eastern Bering Sea. In just two years, the animals’ numbers in the area dropped by about 90% — amounting to an estimated 1 billion crabs, CBS News reported.

Freshly caught snow crabs in Japan in 2020.
BUDDHIKA WEERASINGHE VIA GETTY IMAGES

Scientists are investigating what caused the crabs to vanish. Climate change is a likely culprit.

“Snow crabs are an Arctic species,” Westphal told The New York Times on Friday, adding that in previous years of warming water in the Bering Sea, “the snow crab population kind of huddled together in the coolest water they could find.”

In higher temperatures, the crabs have a metabolic need for more oxygen, according to Gizmodo. But warmer water also holds less oxygen, leading to a perilous situation for animals adapted to colder environments. Warmer temperatures have also been known to drive disease among marine life.

Fish and Game Department researcher Ben Daly told CBS that the crabs are “a canary in a coal mine for other species that need cold water.”

This week’s news is not only a severe warning sign about the Arctic ecosystem, but a major economic blow. Alaska has also canceled its king crab fishing season for the second consecutive year due to low population numbers.

Gabriel Prout, who owns a fishing business with his family, told Alaska Public Media that those who depend on the crabbing industry are “going to have to make some hard calls” about what to do next.

“Fishermen are really going to be hurting the next year,” he said.