WTF!

Canadian Military under fire as thousands of troops face lost cost-of-living allowance

Story by The Canadian Press • 

OTTAWA — The Canadian Armed Forces is under fire for its plan to cut thousands of troops off a cost-of-living allowance without much notice.


Military under fire as thousands of troops face lost cost-of-living allowance© Provided by The Canadian Press

The military announced last week that about 7,700 Armed Forces members will no longer receive the top-up starting in July, when it will be replaced by a new housing benefit that commanders say will better assist those who need the most help.

Social media and online forums dedicated to military personnel have been crackling with dissatisfaction over the plan, including the abbreviated timeline. Some are also unhappy with a new 10 per cent pay increase over four years, retroactive to 2021.

Experts say the lack of notice speaks to larger problems around how the military treats its people, which they worry is sparking anger and frustration at a time when the Canadian Armed Forces is struggling with a recruitment and retention crisis.

"We're pissing people off," said retired lieutenant-general Guy Thibault, who previously served as vice-chief of the defence staff. "And this may be the final straw that pisses them off. It's not really about compensation. It's just that they're not feeling valued."

The decision to replace the military's existing cost-of-living allowance with a new housing benefit follows a 14-year battle between the Department of National Defence and Treasury Board, the central department that controls federal spending.

Established in 2000 as a way to compensate members for the added costs of having to live and work in certain communities, the allowance rates were frozen in 2009 as defence and treasury officials fought over the program's cost and parameters.

Canadian Forces College professor Alan Okros said members were led to believe that that when a deal was finally struck, it would finally raise rates and expand eligibility as troops living in some parts of the country did not qualify.

"There was a generalized tone and expectation of, 'Look, we're working on it. ... We're going to sort it all out,'" said Okros, who specializes in military personnel and culture. "There was this generalized expectation of, 'It's going to be much better.'"

Such expectations were predicated on the belief that the government would put more money into the pot to compensate troops for their service, particularly given that the Armed Forces is currently dealing with a recruitment and retention crisis.

That didn't happen. Instead, the military says the new housing benefit is both more equitable and more efficient than the previous allowance as it is tied to salary, includes more geographic locations, and will cost about $30 million less per year.

Charlotte Duval-Lantoine, an expert on military culture at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute think tank, said some members who were receiving the cost-of-living allowance would have accounted for that money in their budgetary planning.

"This is the distinction that frustrates people the most, because some of them will not be eligible in this (new benefit) even though they're struggling in terms of their cost of living," she said. "There's going to be a readjustment for people."

The fact it is being taken away in a matter of months without any previous consultation or warning speaks to problems with how the chain of command treats and communicates with its troops, she added.

"It's kind of emblematic of the way that we talk about personnel policy and how the military communicates (with) its personnel," she said. "It's always big announcements. And then we don't hear about it for years on end. Then there's a new announcement."

The housing benefit has also come under scrutiny, with concerns about the actual rates being based on the cost of renting a two-bedroom apartment without consideration for family size. There's also a seven-year cap on receiving the benefit in one location.

Members are also complaining that the new pay increase does not keep up with inflation.

The new benefit and pay increase have nonetheless sparked a bit of a debate over compensation for military personnel, with some arguing troops are relatively well paid and most Canadians are facing some sort of economic pressure.

"We've got a pretty well-paid force, not only against other allied forces or volunteer forces, but against the general population," said Thibault, who is now chair of the Conference of Defence Associations Institute think tank.

"In terms of where we're going with the economy, it's not unique to the Canadian Forces. It's a societal problem right now with interest rates, with inflation, with the economy, with housing."

Rather, experts feel the reaction is more symptomatic of bigger problems as the Armed Forces faces growing demands while struggling with a shortage of personnel, old equipment, and efforts to radically overhaul its culture.

"Our government and Canadians, they seem to care for the Canadian Forces," Thibault said. "But not care enough about them to make it a priority, or to address some of these longstanding problems."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 26, 2023.

Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press

Japan wants 85 percent of male workers to take paternity leave. But fathers are too afraid to take it

Story by Chris Lau • 16h ago


Achild riding on his father’s shoulders smiles as they stroll through a park lined with yellow autumn-touched leaves – that is the typical image of a Japanese “ikumen”.

The term strings together the Japanese words ikuji, meaning care for children, and ikemen, referring to cool-looking men.

Japanese authorities have widely promoted the term in the past decade to combat the country’s notoriously long working hours that have not only deprived workaholic fathers of family time and stay-home mothers of careers, but have helped drive the birth rate to one of the lowest in the world.

To seize the “last chance to reverse” the situation, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last week unveiled a raft of policies, including boosts to child support and a pledge to lift the number of male workers taking paternity leave from the current 14 percent to 50 percent by 2025, and 85 percent by 2030.

But some in the world’s third-largest economy – which has long struggled with a falling fertility rate and an aging population – are skeptical the plan can really move the needle.

Makoto Iwahashi, a member of POSSE, a labor union dedicated to younger workers, said while the government’s plan was well-intentioned, many Japanese men were simply too scared to take paternity leave due to potential repercussions from their employers.

Japanese men are entitled to four weeks of flexible paternity leave, on up to 80 per cent of their salary, under a bill passed by the Japanese parliament in 2021.

But despite the law, men remained “afraid” that taking the leave may have a negative effect on their promotion prospects or that they may be reassigned to a different position with fewer responsibilities, Iwahashi said.

While it is illegal to discriminate against workers who take maternity and paternity leave in Japan, Iwahashi said workers on fixed-term contracts were particularly vulnerable.

And anyway, “A little tweak on paternity leave won’t significantly change a declining birth rate,” he added.

Hisakazu Kato, an economics professor at Meiji University in Tokyo, said while big companies had become more accepting of parental leave over the years, smaller firms still had reservations.

“Small companies are afraid they will face (worker shortages) due to childcare leave, and this puts pressure on young fathers who want to take childcare leave in future,” he said.

At a press conference last week, the prime minister acknowledged the concerns and pledged to consider providing allowances for small and medium-sized enterprises, with details to be announced in June at his yearly policy blueprint.

He also unveiled a plan aimed at boosting the uptake of paternity leave by encouraging firms to disclose their performance.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

‘Last chance’ saloon

In 2022, the number of new births in Japan dipped below 800,000 for the first time since records began in 1899, the latest milestone in a trend that the government sees as increasingly alarming.

Last week, Kishida went as far as to warn that “the next six to seven years will be the last chance to reverse the declining birthrate trend”.

But Stuart Gietel-Basten, a professor of public policy and social science at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, cautioned that a low birth rate was often a sign of entrenched cultural factors that would likely be resistant to policies changes. Such factors might range from work culture to gender attitudes, he added.

“Increasing paternity leave is a good policy, no doubt. It will certainly provide many men (and women) with a positive outcome. However, unless the prevailing cultural norms and attitudes change the impact at a macro level could be limited,” said the scholar.

Riki Khorana, 26, who plans to tie the knot with his girlfriend in June, said the high cost of living was one of his biggest concerns in starting a family.

Working as an engineer at one of Japan’s biggest conglomerates at the heart of Tokyo, the country’s capital, he identified himself as a relatively high earner, yet he said he currently lives with his parents in Yokohama, Japan’s second largest city south of Tokyo.

After getting married, he will move out of his parent’s house but will still have to stay in Yokohama due to Tokyo’s high rents.

Tokyo is the ninth most expensive city for expatriates to live in, according to US consulting firm Mercer’s Cost of Living Survey.

Khorana said he planned to have two children, but if there were more effective government policies then he would consider more.

“For me, I feel like I cannot afford more than two children,” he said. “There are less financially secure people who think they cannot have more than one child.”

The country’s fertility rate – the average number of children born to women during their reproductive years – has fallen to 1.3, far below the 2.1 required to maintain a stable population.

Over the years, experts have also pointed to a sense of prevailing pessimism among young people who, due to the pressures of work and economic stagnation, have little confidence in the future.


Businessmen in front of a convenience store in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, on March 16, 2023. - Stanislav Kogiku/SOPA Images/LightRocke/Getty Images

Last week, the prime minister said he planned market reforms that would push up wages and economic assistance for young workers. He also pledged to introduce benefits that could support freelance or self-employed workers and spoke of extra allowances for child support, education and housing.

The economics professor Kato felt the new policies were unlikely to be enough to solve the country’s demographic problems.

But he saw a silver lining in encouraging paternity leave.

“I think this is a good proposal as it not only improves family policies, but also gender equality,” he said.

CNN’s Natsumi Sugiura contributed

As the IPCC issues ‘final warning’ youth raise their voice in push for stronger climate action

Story by The Canadian Press • Saturday

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change gave a ‘final warning’ earlier this week when it published its Synthesis Report of the sixth cycle, the most in-depth report on the status of climate change since the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015.

The exhaustive data, pulled together by hundreds of scientists working collaboratively around the world, confirms what experts have been cautioning for decades: the window for extreme action to combat the climate crisis is closing quickly.

The effects of climate change have been accelerating across the globe, and the consequences are becoming more and more visible. From June to October of last year, heavier monsoon rains and melting glaciers following a dramatic heat wave—the direct result of a warming climate—decimated Pakistan, killing over 1,700 people and causing unprecedented financial losses. Six months after floods ravaged the nation, over 10 million people living in affected areas were still deprived of safe drinking water. It was estimated that 20.6 million people, including 9.6 million children, were in need of humanitarian assistance.

In September, a cataclysmic hurricane tore through Cuba and the southeast United States. Hurricane Ian was the deadliest to strike Florida since 1935, killing 149 people in the state, six across other southern states and five in Cuba. Approximately 50,000 people there were evacuated from their homes and in Florida over 35,000 residences were damaged or destroyed in just a single county. Damage was estimated at $113.1 billion, the costliest disaster in the state’s history and the third costliest disaster globally on record.

According to the World Economic Forum, there were 10 disasters globally in 2022 that cost over $3 billion in damages, compared to seven in 2021. The total sum of damages from these 10 disasters was well over $150 billion.

“Human-caused climate change is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe,” the IPCC report states. “Evidence of observed changes in extremes such as heatwaves, heavy precipitation, droughts, and tropical cyclones, and, in particular, their attribution to human influence, has strengthened since AR5.” (AR5 was the IPCC’s fifth assessment cycle of climate change impacts originally published in 2014).

According to the IPCC, global surface temperature has warmed faster since 1970 than during any other 50-year period in the last 2,000 years. Between 2010 and 2019, average annual emissions were the highest ever recorded. The report offers some hope; while emissions are at an all time high, the rate of increase is lower than it was in the previous decade.

By signing the Paris Climate Agreement, countries committed to policies that would limit warming to an average of 1.5 degrees globally, compared to pre-industrial levels. Since what was heralded as a groundbreaking international call to action, it has become devastatingly clear that governments, including Canada’s, had little will to oppose corporations across almost every sector that continue to profit from emitting carbon. With the 1.5 degree threshold ignored, and the Paris Agreement representing little more than lip service, scientists began modelling scenarios for two, three and even four degrees of warming.

This week’s report shows that Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) announced prior to COP 26 (in Glasgow in 2021), mean it is “likely” that warming will exceed 1.5 degrees and, if no additional commitments are made, it will be difficult to limit warming to two degrees. Average global temperature is likely to reach 1.5°C between now and 2040 even under the very low GHG emissions scenarios.

Without strengthening policies, the IPCC estimates we are looking at 2.2 to 3.5 degrees of warming by 2100.

This will radically alter human life on Earth.

“The cumulative scientific evidence is unequivocal: climate change is a threat to human wellbeing and planetary health,” the report states. “There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all.”

“What is missing on the messaging is that that is the window that we have. But we can also choose to change the outcome of this window of opportunity,” Stefania Maggi, a professor in the department of psychology at Carleton University who specializes in psychological barriers to climate action and youth activism, said.

The report highlights that the impacts of climate change are not felt equally, as those whose lifestyles cause the most damage are often protected from the consequences, while others around the world whose carbon footprints are much, much smaller suffer the most.

Often, those who face the harshest consequences of climate change are not making governing decisions. Commonly, people in positions of power are motivated to protect the status quo, which has given them the lifestyles they are accustomed to.

“Drawing on diverse knowledge and partnerships, including with women, youth, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and ethnic minorities can facilitate climate resilient development and has allowed locally appropriate and socially acceptable solutions,” the IPCC report states.

Wildfires and localized flooding have made the headlines, but Canada has not seen a disaster on the same scale as Pakistan or Florida.

Youth, increasingly, are confronting leadership that has proven to be ineffective. Historically, politicians have prioritized the concerns of older voters elected officials relate to and who turn out to election polls at a high rate.

Youth who have grown up over the past two decades, cannot escape the threat of climate change. From extreme weather events to changing air quality, the bleaching of our oceans and the disappearance of entire lakes, the scenes that have unfolded around them, including in the constant portrayals of dystopian life in popular culture, are unlike what their parents and grandparents experienced. Few elected officials who grew up with the advent of hyper-consumerism and the calming of the Cold War, can relate to the sense of climate anxiety more and more young people are living through—it’s only their air, water and planet that’s at stake.

“For young people who are thinking about their future, for example, knowing that there is an expiration date to their ability to realize their life goals, is very daunting,” Maggi said. Older generations, she adds, might share some of the fear, but even that is often a sense of concern for their children and grandchildren, who will actually have to live with the consequences.

“It becomes a matter of existentialism. How can I even plan for the future? So the choices I make today, do they even matter? Is there even a place for me to give meaning to the things that I do?”

“Adults might like warmer winters, but we see them as terrifying,” said Ottavia Paluch, a youth activist with Future Majority, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to make politics more accessible and sustainable for young people.

This difference in experiences has led to the spread of youth activism across the country, challenging climate change legislation at all levels of government. Just within the past year, youth groups have taken both the provincial and federal governments to court, demanding more responsibility and stronger action for climate mitigation.

In September, seven youth from across Ontario came together to take the provincial government to court for the weakening of emissions reductions targets. Former Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne helped pass legislation in 2016 which committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, 37 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050. In 2018, Premier Doug Ford replaced the Act with the Cap and Trade Cancellation Act. While the new Act still focuses on a reduction of emissions, the targets are not nearly as aggressive and do not meet standards set by most jurisdictions around the world committed to global reduction goals.

Under the Cap and Trade Cancellation Act emissions are compared to 2005 levels which in Ontario were already 13 percent higher than in 1990. The PCs set the target of 30 percent reductions from 2005 levels by 2030, a far lower goal than the original one set by the Liberals.

The youth challenged the legislation under Section 7 and 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms which guarantees life, liberty and security for all Canadians and ensures every Canadian, regardless of race, religion, national or ethnic origin, colour, sex, age or physical or mental disability, is to be treated with dignity and respect. The plaintiffs argued that climate change disproportionately affects young people.

The Mader case, as the provincial case is known, is not the only example of youth mobilizing in the legal system to fight for stronger climate policies. Fifteen young people from across Canada initially took the federal government to court in 2020 for allegedly violating their rights under Section 7 and Section 15 of the Charter. The case was dismissed by the federal courts on two key grounds: Justiciability, referring to whether the matter at hand falls within the jurisdiction of the courts; and the overly broad nature of the complaint.

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The youth returned with their litigation team in February, this time at the federal court of appeal, arguing for their chance to be heard in court. Both cases are currently awaiting a decision.

On Wednesday, another example of youth frustration with apathetic leadership was witnessed when the Council chamber inside City Hall was filled with volunteers from Future Majority’s Mississauga chapter. The group delegated before Council about a renewed and strengthened commitment to climate action with particular attention to the implementation of Green Development Standards (GDS). The four youth who took to the podium, and the dozens more in the audience want their municipal leaders, elected by the citizens, to do their job.

“We've tried to take shorter showers and reduce our carbon footprint, yet the steps we take never quite seem like enough,” Poluch said in the delegation. “When something happens over and over, you feel as though you can’t control it and let it take over. And that's why so many resign themselves in the context of climate.”

Many of the youth delegates attend school but took time off to address council members in the seat of local government.

“But climate change isn't just an interruption to our schedules. It's also an opportunity for an overlooked demographic to help fix an overlooked policy,” Amanda Snel, one of the delegates, told elected officials.

“If you're going to be listening to developers, as official stakeholders, you should hear from future renters and homeowners as well,” Kaneera Uthayakumaran added.

GDS are measures created by municipalities that encourage environmentally, socially and economically sustainable design of buildings and associated infrastructure. In Mississauga, buildings make up the largest source of emissions; across the province they are the second worst cause of pollution, after transportation. Mississauga’s Green Development Standards were implemented in 2012 and have not been updated in more than a decade, despite dramatic, climate-related changes impacting municipal planning.

The delegates encouraged council members to look at Whitby, Ajax, Pickering and Toronto, communities which all have stronger environmental policies to govern future development.

“They all have mandatory energy tier approaches, which also require an energy modeling report, and they all use energy metrics to run a design. We are the second largest economy and third largest city in Ontario, so why [can’t] we do the same?” Uthayakumaran asked.

Council members thanked the youth for their delegation, recognizing the importance of the issues raised. Councillor Martin Reid said they should be at the table during the development process.

“It's one thing to tick a box and say, ‘Yes, we're going to address climate change’. It's another thing to see your faces there,” he said.

Other members were quick to give themselves a pat on the back for the action they have taken.

“We all agree that this is one of the most critical issues of our generation that we have to come and face. And we were one of the first councils to pass an emergency plan and passed our climate change action plan up into June of 2019,” Mayor Bonnie Crombie said.

“You're preaching to the converted here, we're all working as hard as we can,” Councillor Carolyn Parrish said.

While Mississauga has done far more than its neighbour, Brampton, on climate action — Mississauga is further ahead in greening its transit fleet and dedicated more than 40 percent of its 2023 capital budget to climate related initiatives — the only concrete climate action that anyone on council could point to was the declaration of a climate emergency last term, which was not an actual action, but simply a pledge to do more.

Council members told the youth they would be better off visiting Queen’s Park to take on the increasingly environmentally destructive policies of the Ontario PC government. Andrew Whittemore, commissioner of planning and building at the City of Mississauga, pointed to the limitations of the Planning Act and the provincial Building Code.

“In fact, you guys will all recall Bill 23, which was ushered in, that Bill actually contemplated eliminating all green development standards period. That was walked back. And then some new green standards were brought forward that we were allowed to regulate mainly around green roofs and environmental landscaping, that sort of thing,” he said.

In November, when Bill 23 was still going through the legislative process, Future Majority delegated to the provincial government in opposition to removing GDS from the Building Code.

“The reason why we're here this morning is because we were there advocating for municipalities to have the ability to enforce these standards. So today's on the local level. And we want to see all representatives supporting strong climate action in this position,” Paluch said. “We want to see all levels of government prioritizing climate, but I would like to see them take a little bit more responsibility. I think having it start from the ground up is so vital.”

When the delegates and council members addressed the topic of Bill 23, the age of the youths was mistaken for inexperience and a lack of understanding of the topic.

“We talk about Bill 23 as we're all familiar with it. You guys haven't a clue what we're talking about half the time, I'm sure. It is provincial, and you've got to go to the Province,” Parrish said.

A few months ago, Future Majority delegated to Brampton council about the same issue. The youth admitted they were unprepared and did not have comprehensive responses to the comments and concerns of councillors there. It encouraged them to better prepare for their visit to Mississauga City Hall.

“We have done our homework with the Ontario Building Act. And we did go speak about Bill 23 in November. So we did want to show the local government as well, that other municipalities are doing what we're asking them,” Uthayakumaran said. “We only see it as a testament to how much work we can do. And what they don't know that we're capable of.”

In the end, council members did pass a motion in favour of the delegation committing the City to revisit its Climate Change Action Plan and GDS policies and make suitable adjustments in the wake of the IPCC report, and that a new pathway report to meet these standards would be developed in consultation with the Environmental Action Committee as well as youth and Indigenous peoples.

“Advocacy really does matter. This is how you get things done. This is the first step. There's a lot of work to get done after this. But you've taken the steps to be a constructive partner in this process. And this is your future as well,” Councillor Alvin Tedjo said.

Maggi stressed the importance of other forms of activism at other levels.

“If you are not the kind of person who is politically involved, who likes to go and do collective gatherings and fight climate change at that level, then you tend to feel that there's no space for you to make a contribution towards climate action.”

As we move closer to human-caused climate danger she stresses the importance of localized and individualized projects that can still spark positive action.

“So the division between us and them, or the messaging that nothing is happening, or nothing is working, which is also not true; there's things that are happening, but we need to do more,” she said.

This week’s exhaustive IPCC report, based on hard data from around the world, is overwhelming to many.

Some of the most bleak consequences of climate change, many of which are now irreversible, highlighted in the report include:

The soul-wrenching list is all too familiar to many young people who have grown up surrounded by this ominous reality.

“I don't think, genuinely, anyone is actually prepared for something like this; psychologically, socially, I don't think we are,” Maggi says. “But that doesn't mean that we cannot do it.”

Rachel Morgan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Pointer
Email: rachel.morgan@thepointer.com
Twitter: @rachelnaida_

The far out, far-right plot that Germany is still trying to unravel

Story by Sophie Tanno • CNN - Saturday


An extremist and until recently almost unheard-of network in Germany is back in the spotlight after police carried out nationwide raids against it.

The Reichsbürger movement – made up of small groups and individuals spread across the country – peddles a number of bizarre views and rejects the legitimacy of the state.

In December last year, 25 people were arrested on suspicion of plotting to attack Germany’s parliament building, overthrow its constitutional order and install the group’s central figure – aristocrat Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss – as leader.

Raids linked to the group continued this week, with German officials on Thursday saying they had placed one person who was a suspected member and supporter under formal arrest after a police offer was shot and wounded on Wednesday.

Germany’s Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said the shooting “shows how dangerous the missions are. It is the duty of the authorities to disarm Reichsbürger.”

As the crackdown continues, CNN takes a look at what exactly the movement is and the danger it poses.

What is the Reichsbürger movement?

The movement’s adherents have a range of beliefs, including that modern Germany is not a sovereign state and should therefore be rejected as a legitimate form of government.

Some believe that the German Empire of 1871 still exists while others want to bring back Hitler’s Third Reich.

Many subscribe to right-wing, populist, antisemitic and Nazi ideologies.

Emergency forces stand by emergency vehicles during a search on behalf of the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office on March 22. - Marijan Murat/picture alliance/Getty Images

Werner Patzelt, a political scientist and former professor at TU Dresden, believes the Reichsbürger is less of a “movement” but rather “a loosely coupled network of political stupids who believe that, or at least behave as if, the Federal Republic of Germany does not exist.”

“They claim that Germany is still an occupied country under US control, or a business enterprise registered in Frankfurt,” he told CNN.

“From such fictitious ‘facts’ they derive both a ‘right’ not to pay taxes and penalties, or to establish ‘provisional political authorities.’

“Much of this is operetta-like. In some cases, however, criminal energy goes hand in hand with political nonsense, leading to attacks on financial or police officers.”

Followers refuse to cooperate with the German state in a number of ways including not paying taxes or choosing to print their own currency and identity cards.

Tobias Ginsburg is a German journalist who reported undercover on Germany’s far-right scene.

“You meet people there of all walks of life,” Ginsburg said. “I met the stereotypes, but also normal people, the dentist from downtown, someone working with the tax revenue service, just normal people. Some had no idea what they had entered.”

He thinks that authorities stepping in to prevent last year’s coup attempt is the “bare minimum” that can be done to tackle a wider issue of far-right extremism in Germany.


Thomas Strobl, Minister of the Interior of Baden-Württemberg, pictured during rais in Baden-Württemberg. - Marijan Murat/picture alliance/Getty Images

Ginsburg said that large parts of the German population had the perception of the Reichsbürger “that these are loonies, these are old people, or even a Prince -- he seems strange – and the question that everyone is asking could they have been successful, but this is not the question.”

The “royal” concerned is 71-year-old Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss, one of the group’s alleged ringleaders. The prince is a descendant of the House of Reuss, the former rulers of parts of eastern Germany, and now works as a real estate entrepreneur, according to CNN affiliate NTV.

“What we need to see as society and what our politicians need to understand is that the problem is not some so-called Reichsbürger, the problem is far-right ideology getting more and more people to act upon their beliefs,” Ginsburg adds.

How many followers does it have?

According to government data, there are about 23,000 Reichsbürger members, up from 19,000 in 2019.

Of these, an estimated 1,250 people are associated with the right-wing extremist scene.

Ginsburg believes the official figures are “conservative,” saying many members choose not to make their affiliation public.


The scene cordoned off with police tape. - Julian Rettig/picture alliance/Getty Images

The group gained prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw a significant rise in conspiracy theories in Germany, especially relating to the Reichsbürger and QAnon groups, according to research published by the Global Network on Extremism and Terror.

The Reichsbürger movement’s ideologies, including the refusal to follow restrictions imposed by the German state, found common cause among Covid-19 deniers and anti-lockdown protesters.

Such ideologies were peddled by the Querdenker organization – the largest Covid-19 deniers’ movement in Germany.

Querdenker organized large demonstrations to protest against Covid-19 measures mandated by the state, with symbols of the Reichsbürger and QAnon groups often displayed at such rallies.

How dangerous is it?

Germany’s Interior Ministry gave a damning assessment of the movement in a statement to CNN, describing adherents not as “harmless nutcases” but rather “dangerous extremists who are driven by violent fantasies and possess a lot of weapons.”

The group’s firearms stockpile has left authorities particularly concerned. Latest government figures show that around 400 members own weapons. Since 2016, 1,100 people have had their weapons permits revoked.

Some 2,300 adherents are considered to be prone to violence – an increase of 200 people compared to 2021.

According to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, another cause for concern is that a significant number of the group’s members are thought to be current or former soldiers, including from elite units, who are highly trained and in some cases legally possess firearms.

Ginsburg calls the group “extremely dangerous” and is concerned that their ideology could spread.

“If you look at the right-wing AfD [Alternative for Germany] party – a big party after all – you find bits and pieces of that conspiracy theory in their official programs and you have people sitting in the parliament in far-right circles, in Reichsbürger circles,” he said.

To combat this threat, Ginsburg says the issue of the far right in Germany should be tackled in schools through better education on the subject.

“We talk so much about the fight against the far right and about the long shadow of history, and yet the education on what fascist beliefs are, how widespread are they, how can we stop them, they are vague at best,” he said.

The German government insists it will continue to take action – like the raids seen this week – until the country is rid of such extremism.

“We protect our democracy against extremist threats,” the Interior Ministry said. “We will continue this tough approach until we have completely exposed and dismantled these structures.

“No one in this extremist scene should feel safe.”

Nadine Schmidt reported from Berlin and Sophie Tanno reported from and wrote in London.

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Evacuated villagers tell how Spain's forest fire forced them to leave animals

Story by By Guillermo Martinez • 

A wildfire burns parts of rural areas in Monte Pino© Thomson Reuters

BARRACAS, Spain (Reuters) - Spain's first major wildfire of the year scorched more than 4,000 hectares (9,900 acres) of forest and forced 1,700 villagers to leave their homes in the Valencia and Aragon regions.


A helicopter drops water on a wildfire in Los Calpes© Thomson Reuters

Residents recounted fleeing their houses and leaving animals behind.

"Bad, how am I supposed to feel? Your town is burning, your life is burning, Our animals were there and no one can tell us anything," Antonio Zarzoso, 24, who had to leave the village of Puebla de Arenoso, told Reuters.

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More than 500 firefighters supported by 20 planes and helicopters were working to bring the blaze under control near the village of Villanueva de Viver, emergency services said on Saturday, forcing 1,500 to leave their homes.

The blaze also spread to the Teruel area of the Aragon region, where 200 people had to be evacuated, authorities said on Saturday.

However, they managed to stop the fire spreading to other areas.

"The surrounding forest has been reached by fire and we don't know how exactly the area looks," Montse Boronat, from Los Calpes, told Reuters.

Ximo Puig, president of the Valencia region, told reporters the blaze was made more "voracious" by summer-like temperatures of about 30 Celsius (86 Fahrenheit).

Las Provincias, a regional newspaper, reported police believe that the blaze may have been started by a spark from a machine used to gather brushwood.

A Spanish Civil Guard spokeswoman said that an investigation was underway into the cause of the fire.

An unusually dry winter across parts of southern Europe has raised concern that there could be a repeat of last year's devastating wildfires.

The weather will be drier and hotter than usual this spring along Spain's northeastern Mediterranean coast, increasing the risk of fires, meteorological agency AEMET said last week.

Last year, some 785,000 hectares were destroyed in Europe, more than double the annual average for the past 16 years, based on European Commission (EC) statistics.

In Spain, 493 fires destroyed a record 307,000 hectares of land, according to the Commission's European Forest Fire Information System.

(Reporting by Graham Keeley, Guillermo Martinez, Miguel Gutierrez, Editing by Jason Neely and Frances Kerry)

Opinion: As GOP governors obscure Black history, let’s finally tell the truth about Marcus Garvey

Opinion by Justin Hansford • Thursday

Earlier this month, President Joe Biden called out the GOP for “trying to hide the truth” about Black history. While politicians like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin have described their efforts to reform education as bans on teaching critical race theory, in reality, these bans have been invoked to prohibit teaching elements of American history, especially Black history.


Justin Hansford - Courtesy Justin Hansford

Shaq Al-Hijaz - Courtesy Shaq Al-Hijaz

The suppression of stories integral to the American narrative not only robs us of important historical lessons, but also warps our vision of ourselves and our future — and makes all of our lives less rich.

With some of this country’s most powerful political figures trying to obscure the story of Black history, now is a good time to tell the true stories of Black leaders in America — particularly ones like Marcus Garvey, who was the subject of injustice and distortion. Known superficially as a “Back to Africa” advocate (as in, repatriating Black people to the African continent), Garvey actually founded what might well have been the largest human rights campaign in the history of the African Diaspora. At its zenith, Garvey’s organization boasted a membership of at least 6 million people with chapters registered in more than 40 nations. It provided inspiration for the life’s work of many important Black leaders, including Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.

The Jamaican-born Garvey energized millions by calling for an end to colonialism in Africa, for economic justice for the entire African Diaspora and for cultural and political recognition and independence 100 years ago — a time when such declarations were just about unheard of.

As part of his push to provide economic opportunity and autonomy for Black people, Garvey started the Black-owned and -operated Black Star Line shipping company, stylized after the White Star Line, which owned the Titanic. Garvey’s ships, in theory, could have helped transport Black people back to Africa, facilitated trade throughout the diaspora and instilled pride while providing a vision of economic empowerment.

Instead, Garvey’s movement splintered in the summer of 1923, when a federal judge in the southern district of New York convicted him of mail fraud for sending out advertisements for the purchase of stock in the Black Star Line, even though the shipping company was failing economically. The government not only accused Garvey of seeking to sell stock for too high of a price, but it insinuated that Garvey’s entire career was nothing more than a Ponzi scheme designed to make a quick buck.

To the contrary, historians have for decades believed that Garvey was framed for political reasons. Indeed, as one of us has documented, the entire legal process dripped with injustice and animosity toward Garvey. For example, both the trial judge and an appellate judge were conspicuously friendly with Garvey’s political opponents.

In fact, even the initial charges can be traced directly to espionage and efforts to infiltrate the Black Star Line by J. Edgar Hoover, who hired some of the first-ever Black Bureau of Investigation agents in order to stop any “Black Moses” figures like Garvey from succeeding. Hoover wrote about his search to find a charge that would allow the government to deport Garvey, settling on mail fraud when other grounds for charges were unsuccessful.

After thousands of Garvey’s followers (the supposed victims of the fraud) petitioned for his release, his sentence was commuted in 1927. Ultimately, after Garvey’s political vision had been silenced, advocates for racial justice in the United States and abroad began to focus less on economic justice and more on civil and political rights for most of the 20th century. Today, the widening wealth gap and other indicators of inequality suggest that this shift in focus was costly.

Now Democratic Rep. Yvette D. Clarke of New York, first vice-chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, and Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia are trying to set the historical record straight, recognizing the weight of evidence supporting Garvey’s innocence and identifying him as a champion for the liberation of people of African descent.

“The world deserves to know the truth about Marcus Mosiah Garvey and the truth about Black history,” Clarke declared in introducing the resolution to exonerate the civil rights leader. Johnson added that “it’s time to right this fundamental wrong” given the “utter lack of merit to the charges on which he was originally convicted, combined with his profound legacy and contributions to Black history in our country.”

To be sure, Garvey’s record involves some controversial decisions. This includes meeting with the KKK, asserting correctly that, during the 1920s, they had a strong voice in the US government. But this cannot stand in the way of learning about Garvey’s true history and exonerating him. This is more than simply an exercise in historical truth telling and providing justice for his family, although both are immensely important.

Garvey’s legacy is also relevant today because we see the same tactics — espionage and politically motivated charges — being deployed against Black leaders attempting to organize against the status quo. For example, Black Lives Matter protesters were designated as Black Identity Extremists by the FBI, and informants were inserted into their movement spaces in 2020 after the George Floyd uprisings.

As a society, we have failed to learn from Garvey’s story. That’s largely because mainstream narratives rarely teach about his legacy, and when they do, they usually fail to correct the historical inaccuracies promulgated by his wrongful conviction. By failing to learn the lessons from Garvey’s case, and by underestimating the harm of politically motivated infiltration and prosecution, we open the door to continuing these policies and practices. And this will result in shame for years to come.

Posthumous vindication for Garvey would begin the process of acknowledging that political sabotage from the government is antidemocratic and inherently wrong. And at a time when a battle is being waged against teachers and schools that dare discuss the African American experience, including threatening the banning of AP African American Studies in Florida, exonerating Garvey would be an important response. It would be a clear sign of resistance to revisionist history and the urge to promote versions of the past that fail to look critically at our path to the present.

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Jewish teens set Women of the Wall prayer books on fire - report

Story by By ZVIKA KLEIN • 7h ago

Jerusalem District Police arrested two Jewish teenagers on the suspicion of setting fire to the prayer books of the Women of the Wall (WoW) movement last Thursday, Walla! reported on Sunday.

Members of the Women of the Wall, Conservative and Reform Movement hold Rosh Hodesh prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem Old City, March 4, 2022.© (photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

The prayer books were most probably left at the plaza since earlier that day WoW held their monthly prayer service for Rosh Chodesh, the first day of the month according to the Hebrew calendar.

The two were brought in for questioning, at the end of which they were released under restrictive conditions, as per the report

Repeating incidents of attacks on Women of the Wall

WoW responded that "seven years ago, extremists tore a Women of the Wall prayer book, four years ago more of our prayer books were burned and a year and a half ago 39 of our prayer books were stolen and torn in the Western Wall plaza as we were spat upon, pushed, and cursed at."

WoW added that "three days ago, after a festive Rosh Chodesh prayer, celebrating the month of freedom and liberty, one of our prayer books was burned again.


Members of ''Women of the Wall'' pray with a Torah scroll during a monthly prayer near the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City July 24, 2017 (credit: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)© Provided by The Jerusalem PostMembers of ''Women of the Wall'' pray with a Torah scroll during a monthly prayer near the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City July 24, 2017 (credit: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)

"We are shocked and outraged by the inaction of Western Wall security, which does not even try to stop the violence against us. We call on decision-makers to wake up before it is too late. We strongly encourage the police to investigate and prosecute the inciters and the perpetrators of these ongoing hate crimes," WoW said.

https://womenofthewall.org.il

Women of the Wall - the Modern-Day Western Wall Liberators ... 

Since 1988, Women of the Wall has fought for women's right to pray collectively and aloud with Torah scrolls, tallitot and tefilin at the Western Wall in ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_of_the_Wall

Women of the Wall - Wikipedia 

Women of the Wall is a multi-denominational group, including Reform, Conservative and modern- orthodox members. Since 1988, the group has faced a legal battle ...

In Macron's France, streets and fields seethe with protest





- A riot police officer aims during clashes as part of a demonstration in Paris, on March 7, 2023. French President Emmanuel Macron has ignited a firestorm of anger with unpopular pension reforms that he rammed through parliament. Young people, some of them first-time demonstrators, are joining protests against him. Violence is also picking up. 

(AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, File)


JOHN LEICESTER
Mon, March 27, 2023

PARIS (AP) — A big day has come for French high school student Elisa Fares. At age 17, she is taking part in her first protest.

In a country that taught the world about people power with its revolution of 1789 — and a country again seething with anger against its leaders — graduating from bystander to demonstrator is a generations-old rite of passage. Fares looks both excited and nervous as she prepares to march down Paris streets where people for centuries have similarly defied authority and declared: “Non!”

Two friends, neither older than 18 but already protest veterans whose parents took them to demonstrations when they were little, are showing Fares the ropes. They’ve readied eyedrops and gas masks in case police fire tear gas — as they have done repeatedly in recent weeks.

“The French are known for fighting and we'll fight," says one of the friends, Coline Marionneau, also 17. “My mother goes to a lot of demonstrations ... She says if you have things to say, you should protest.”

For French President Emmanuel Macron, the look of determination on their young faces only heralds deepening crisis. His government has ignited a firestorm of anger with unpopular pension reforms that he railroaded through parliament and which, most notably, push the legal retirement age from 62 to 64.

Furious not just with the prospect of working for longer but also with the way Macron imposed it, his opponents have switched to full-on disobedience mode. They're regularly striking and demonstrating and threatening to make his second and final term as president even more difficult than his first. It, too, was rocked by months of protests — often violent — by so-called yellow vest campaigners against social injustice.

Fares, the first-time protester, said her mother had been against her taking to the streets but has now given her blessing.

“She said that if I wanted to fight, she wouldn’t stop me,” the teen says.

Critics accuse Macron of effectively ruling by decree, likening him to France’s kings of old. Their reign finished badly: In the French Revolution, King Louis XVI ended up on the guillotine. There’s no danger of that happening to Macron. But hobbled in parliament and contested on the streets piled high with reeking garbage uncollected by striking workers, he’s being given a tough lesson, again, about French people power. Freshly scrawled slogans in Paris reference 1789.

So drastically has Macron lost the initiative that he was forced to indefinitely postpone a planned state visit this week by King Charles III. Germany, not France, will now get the honor of being the first overseas ally to host Charles as monarch.

The France leg of Charles' tour would have coincided with a new round of strikes and demonstrations planned for Tuesday that are again likely to mobilize many hundreds of thousands of protesters. Macron said the royal visit likely would have become their target, which risked creating a “detestable situation.”

Encouraged by that victory, the protest movement is plowing on and picking up new recruits, including some so young that it will be many decades before they'll be directly impacted by the pushed-back retirement age. Their involvement is a worrisome development for Macron, because it suggests that protests are evolving, broadening from workplace and retirement concerns to a more generalized malaise with the president and his governance.

Violence is picking up, too. Police and environmental activists fought pitched battles over the weekend in rural western France, resulting in dozens of injuries. Officers fired more than 4,000 nonlethal dispersion grenades in fending off hundreds of protesters who rained down rocks, powerful fireworks and gasoline bombs on police lines.

“Anger and resentment,” says former President François Hollande, Macron's predecessor, “are at a level that I have rarely seen.”

For Fares, whose first demonstration was a peaceful protest in Paris this weekend, the final straw was Macron’s decision to not let legislators vote on his retirement reform, because he wasn’t sure of winning a majority for it. Instead, he ordered his prime minister to skirt parliament by using a special constitutional power to ram the bill through.

It was the 11th time that Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne had to resort to the so-called Article 49.3 power in just 10 months — a telling sign of Macron’s fragility since he lost his parliamentary majority in an election last June.

“It’s an attack on democracy,” Fares said. “It annoyed me too much.”

Her friend Luna Dessommes, 18, added hopefully: “We have to use the movement to politicize more and more young people.”

At age 76, veteran protester Gilbert Leblanc has been through it all before. He was a yellow vest; by his count, he took part in more than 220 of their protests in Macron's first term, rallying to the cry that the former banker was too pro-business and "the president of the rich."

Long before that, Leblanc cut his teeth in seminal civil unrest that reshaped France in May 1968. He says that when he tells awe-struck young protesters that he was a “soixante-huitard” — a '68 veteran — they “want to take selfies with me.”

This winter, he has kept his heating off, instead saving the money for train fares to the capital, so he can protest every weekend, he said.

“My grandfather who fought in World War I, got the war medal. He would rise from his grave if he saw me sitting at home, in my sofa, not doing anything,” Leblanc said.

“Everything we've obtained has been with our tears and blood.”

Fresh clashes rock France as protests shift to water dispute

Story by AFP • Saturday

French police again clashed with protesters Saturday as campaigners in the southwest sought to stop the construction of giant water storage facilities, the latest flashpoint as social tensions erupt nationwide.


Macron has remained defiant in the face of the protests© Emmanuel DUNAND

The violent scenes at Sainte-Soline came after days of unrest over President Emmanuel Macron's pensions reform, which forced the cancellation of a visit by King Charles III of the UK.

The protest movement against the pension reform has turned into the biggest domestic crisis of Macron's second mandate, with police and protesters clashing daily in Paris and other cities over the past week.



Protesters in France set police vans on fire© Camille CASSOU

At Sainte-Soline, several protesters and members of security forces were injured in Saturday's confrontations at the banned protest. Campaigners there are trying to stop the construction of giant water "basins" to irrigate crops, which they say will distort access to water amid drought conditions.



Several protesters and members of security forces were injured in the clashes around Sainte-Soline© Pascal LACHENAUD

A long procession of activists set off late morning for the site, numbering at least 6,000 people according to local authorities -- around 30,000 according to the organisers.

"While the country is rising up to defend pensions, we will simultaneously stand up to defend water," said the organisers.



In a tweet supporting the work of the emergency services, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne denounced violence at Sainte-Soline© Thibaud MORITZ

Once they arrived at the construction site, which was defended by the police and gendarmes, clashes quickly broke out between the more radical activists and the security forces, AFP correspondents said.



The clashes over the water reservoir construction have added to tensions in an increasingly challenging situation for the government© Thibaud MORITZ

The authorities had mobilised more than 3,000 police officers and paramilitary gendarmes to guard the site.

Protesters threw various projectiles, including improvised explosives, while police responded with tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets.

- 'Completely inexcusable' -

According to the latest figures from the prosecutor's office, seven demonstrators were injured, including three who had to be taken to hospital. In addition, 28 gendarmes were injured, two of them badly enough that they had to be hospitalised.


Protesters threw various projectiles, including improvised explosives, while police responded with tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets© Thibaud MORITZ

Two journalists were also injured.

The alliance of activist groups behind the protests said 200 of their number had been injured, and one of them was fighting for their life, information not confirmed by the authorities.

In a tweet supporting the work of the emergency services there, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne denounced "the intolerable wave of violence" at Sainte-Soline.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin also condemned the violence, blaming elements from the "ultra-left and the extreme left".

Eleven people were detained after police seized cold weapons, including petanque balls and meat knives, as well as explosives.

While not directly related to the anti-pensions reform campaign, the clashes over the water reservoir construction have added to tensions in an increasingly challenging situation for the government.

The government is bracing for another difficult day on Tuesday when unions are due to hold another round of strikes and protests. That would have fallen on the second full day of Charles's visit.

The recent scenes in France have sparked astonishment abroad. "Chaos reigns in France," said the Times of London above a picture of rubbish piling up.

Protesters in France set police vans on fire  Duration 0:24
AFP   View on Watch

DailymotionViolent clashes between police and protesters at French anti-reservoir protest
0:35

WIONFrench reservoir protest: Violent clashes between police and protesters
5:19

Global NewsFrench protesters against farm water reservoir clash with riot police, light car on fire
2:27

In France, Macron has faced accusations from the left that he removed a luxury watch in the middle of a television interview Wednesday, fearing images of the timepiece could further damage his reputation.

- 'I will not give up' -

Uproar over legislation to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 was inflamed when Macron exercised a controversial executive power to push the plan through parliament without a vote last week.

The streets of the capital are strewn with rubbish because of a strike by waste collectors.

But there has also been controversy over the tactics used by the French security forces to disperse the protests.

On Friday, the Council of Europe warned that sporadic violence in protests "cannot justify excessive use of force".

Macron has refused to offer concessions, saying in a televised interview Wednesday that the changes needed to "come into force by the end of the year".

The Le Monde daily said Macron's "inflexibility" was now worrying even "his own troops" among the ruling party.

In another sign of the febrile atmosphere, the leader of Macron's faction in parliament, Aurore Berge, posted on Twitter a handwritten letter she received threatening her four-month-old baby with physical violence, prompting expressions of solidarity across the political spectrum.

It remains unclear how the government will defuse the crisis, four years after the "Yellow Vest" demonstrations rocked the country.

Borne is under particular pressure.

But she told a conference on Saturday: "I will not give up on building compromises...

"I am here to find agreements and carry out the transformations necessary for our country and for the French," she said.

bur-jj/fb

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Ex-Morgan Stanley adviser arrested after allegedly defrauding NBA players out of millions


Chris Cwik
Sat, March 25, 2023

Former Morgan Stanley adviser Darryl Cohen was arrested Thursday after allegedly defrauding NBA players out of millions.

Cohen is accused of transferring roughly $13 million from his NBA clients into his personal accounts. Cohen was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud. If found guilty, Cohen could face up to 20 years in prison for each charge.

Cohen was also charged with one count of investment adviser fraud, which can result in a maximum of five years in prison, per the United States Department of Justice.

Cohen allegedly conspired with Brian Gilder, an independent financial planner, to allegedly defraud multiple athletes. Charles Briscoe, a former sports agent, and another man, Calvin Darden Jr., were also allegedly involved. All four men received one charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud. Briscoe was also charged with one count of aggravated identity theft.

Milwaukee Bucks' Jrue Holiday is among the athletes involved in a lawsuit against former Morgan Stanley adviser Darryl Cohen. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

The athletes are not named by the Department of Justice. Milwaukee Bucks point guard Jrue Holiday and former NBA players Chandler Parsons and Courtney Lee are reportedly all part of a lawsuit against Cohen. In that lawsuit, Holiday and his wife, former soccer player Lauren Holiday, accused Cohen of giving $7.7 million of their money to "dubious individuals," per the New York Times.

The Department of Justice alleged Cohen used some of the funds acquired from players to renovate his house, which included allegedly building an athletic training facility on his property and getting work done on his pool.

Dogs rescued from China meat farms get new homes in US after arriving at JFK Airport


Ellen Moynihan and Leonard Greene, 

New York Daily News
Sat, March 25, 2023 

NEW YORK -- Forty-four good boys and girls arrived at Kennedy Airport on Thursday on the last leg of a rescue journey from China.

After a grueling 19-hour flight with a refueling stop in Anchorage, Alaska, the pups were cleared by a vet and the U.S. Department of Agriculture on what was National Puppy Day, a day to raise awareness about pet adoptions and the plight of puppies.

The Malamutes, Labradors and Pomeranians were taken out of their crates to eat, go outside and even listen to music scientifically engineered to appeal to dogs.

“I started playing all the music as everyone got settled in and there was a good amount of silence once it started.” said Kiera Mejia of The Ark, the Animal Reception Center at JFK.

Then, one by one, the dogs emerged to be greeted, in some cases by their new owners.

“We’ve been waiting a long time,” said Mark Goldstein, 59, who drove from Brambleton, Va., that morning to take home Blossom the miniature poodle.

“She was in a bus or a truck on the way to the slaughterhouse,” said Goldstein, who works in healthcare. “She is going to be the most loved and spoiled little dog.”

The adoptions came courtesy of No Dogs Left Behind, an animal rights group that rescues dogs from slaughterhouses, dog traffickers and dog meat trucks in East Asia. Founder Jeffrey Beri, a New York native, has gone all over the world with his crew of volunteers, pulling pooches out of danger in places like China.

Beri says the dogs are bred for food, but sometimes stolen from their owners, with their leashes cut in backyards.

“Today is a very emotional day,” he said. “These are covert missions that are taking place. We are getting closer every day to ending the dog meat trade. We have activists and volunteers from all over. We have an underground army.”

They also have the cutest pups this side of the Westminster Dog Show. Just ask Amy Carrico, 48, of Syracuse, who was waiting for Rudy, a 2-year-old poodle.

Carrico already has three other poodles from China that were rescued by Beri’s group.

“They need it and we can, so we do,” Carrico said, explaining her motivation to help. “I work three days a week. My husband works from home. So he will get lots of attention.”

Thirteen of the tail waggers caught connecting flights to Los Angeles, Miami, Utah and Texas, and a few without foster or permanent homes were headed to a sanctuary No Dogs Left Behind recently opened in Canton, N.Y.

The lucky dogs were targeted for rescue by Beri and No Dogs Left Behind, with the adoptees signing up to take them home over the summer. The organization has also done rescue work in Ukraine since it came under invasion.

“I really wanted to foster and I applied to like five places,” said Ann-Marie Roach, 31, of Jersey City, who was adopting a dog related to a pooch she had already gotten from the rescue group.

“For us it was really just the mission and the horrifying aspect of the meat trade, and that it’s still happening in this day and age.”