America's Ammunition Production May Soon Be Controlled By A Foreign Buyer – Analysis

 May 6, 2024

By James Durso

In October 2023, the Czechoslovak Group (CSG), of Prague, Czech Republic, entered into a definitive agreement to buy the ammunition brands of Vista Outdoor Inc. for $1.9 billion. Vista is an outdoor sports company that specializes in outdoor products, i.e., camp equipment, and shooting sports, i.e., ammunition.

The deal would give CSG control 70% of the manufacturing capacity for ammunition primers, ownership of ammunition brands Federal,  Remington, Speer, CCI,  Hevi-Shot, and Alliant Powder, and management of the U.S. Army’s Lake City Army Ammunition Plant. The transaction was criticized by U.S. Senators J.D. Vance and John Kennedy, Representatives Mike Waltz and Clay Higgins, and the National Sheriffs Association. (CSG currently has a 70% stake in Italian munition maker Fiocchi Munizioni which is widely available in the U.S.)

In February, U.S.-based MNC Capital Partners and a private equity partner made their first offer to buy Vista for $35.00 per share in cash for both the outdoor products and ammunition pieces. The offer was rejected by the Vista board in March.)

The senators claim the deal will put a foreign company that has ties to Russia and China in control of primer production, and at the helm of the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, a government-owned, contractor-operated producer of small arms ammunition for the U.S. government and civilian buyers.

The  acquisition must be approved by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and Senator Kennedy  asked Janet Yellen, the Secretary of the Treasury to ensure that CFIUS will “carefully examine national security concerns of the proposed acquisition.” 

In response to the legislators,  Michal Strnad the CEO of CSG, claimed CSG was a significant supplier to NATO countries, “has never had any ties to Putin’s regime,” only ever exported civilian products to Russia, never broke any embargoes, and has never been sanctioned. Strnad then invited Senator Vance to “visit SG member companies in the U.S. and Europe to experience first-hand who we really are.”

CSG’s American ammunition division CEO David Stepan announced that CSG had “publicly stated our pledge to maintain Vista’s manufacturing operations in the United States, led by the same topflight American management team that runs its operation today.”

“We have no plans,” Stepan added, “to move any employment or production overseas.”

On the other hand, Czech media reports a CSG subsidiary supplied surveillance radars to a Chinese airfield, and, when Michal Strnad’s father, Jaroslav, ran Excalibur Army, a CSG predecessor, the company breached  an arms embargo on Azerbaijan, according to Forbes, so CFIUS and its security service partners have some digging to do.

Assuming everyone is being high-minded here, what are next steps?

First, CRIUS must decide on CSG’s fitness as a buyer of Vista, which will mean plumbing the senators’ concerns about Russia and China connections.

The Pentagon has a vote in CFIUS and it has recently revived concerns about lack of competition in the defense sector. In a 2022 report, “State of Competition within the Defense Industrial Base,” the Pentagon identified munitions are one of five “Priority Industrial Base Sectors” and declared “Each M&A [mergers and acquisitions] case should be reviewed carefully for negative effects on competition.”

The Pentagon also reviewed the surety of its supply chains and in another recent report, “Securing Defense-Critical Supply Chains,” the department recommended action to “Mitigate Foreign Ownership, Control, or Influence (FOCI).” Looking at potential conflicts in Europe and Asia, and the ongoing resupply of Israel and Ukraine, the Defense Department may want to ensure as much ammunition production as possible is controlled by American entities.

Then, the shareholders of Vista will vote and, as many of the shareholders, such as Blackrock, are playing with someone else’s money, they won’t rush  if they can get a better, all-cash offer that is likely to be approved by the feds. In any case, Vista management understands its duty and told MNC it must improve its revised offer of $37.50 a share in cash for the ammunition and outdoor products brands.

According to Reuters, “While CSG’s proposal pays off Vista’s debt, gives shareholders $750 million in cash, and leaves perhaps $150 million for a special dividend, according to Roth analysts, that only totals up to about $15.50 per share, and investors are left owning a sub-scale outdoor business. MNC’s offer gets them $37.50 per share, cash, and a way out.”

What are some options?

CFIUS can green-light the CSG offer with no conditions, or the U.S. may allow the acquisition to proceed if CSG divests itself of enough of its new holdings that satisfies the government that marketplace competition is preserved. Or, the U.S. may require naming a proxy board to head the new companies, or a Special Security Arrangement to ensure U.S. interests in the Lake City plant are safeguarded.  

The U.S. has no beef with foreign buyers. In 2021, Colt’s Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut, the maker of the military’s M-16 and M-4 rifles, was bought by Prague-based Česká zbrojovka Group (CZ).  FN Firearms USA, a supplier to the Pentagon, is owned by Belgian FN Herstal SA. And PMC Ammunition Inc., a supplier to many police agencies, is owned by Korea’s Poongsan Corporation. This deal is foundering on elevated Pentagon and congressional concerns about competition and supply chain integrity, and ongoing resupply commitments to foreign partners.

What is the best deal for the U.S.?

The best deal for the U.S. is a higher offer from MNC so Vista’s American shareholders get more cash, and an invitation to GSG to invest that $1.9 billion in greenfield ammunition plants in the U.S. which, as new facilities, will compete with existing manufacturers and ensure government and private buyers in the U.S. get the best deal. Also investing in the U.S. may turn CSG’s challengers on the Hill into champions if the firm can create jobs in the U.S. while contributing to the robustness of America’s defense industrial base.

• This article was published at Real Clear World

Projectile Production at Scranton Army Ammunition Plant. Photo Credit: Dori Whipple, DOD

James Durso (@james_durso) is a regular commentator on foreign policy and national security matters. Mr. Durso served in the U.S. Navy for 20 years and has worked in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Central Asia.

PACIFIC BOUGAINVILLE

Canadian miner exploring for gold and copper on Bougainville

Panguna open pit copper mine in Bougainville. S Photo: 123RF

A Canadian mining company, Island Passage Development Canada Limited (IPDC) is undertaking a mining exploration programme in Bougainville.

It says its subsidiary, Island Passage Development Limited, has an exploration licence for a site in the centre of the main island in the autonomous Papua New Guiea region.

It is working jointly with local company, Isina Resources, exploring a 261 square kilometre site in south central Bougainville in the Crown Prince Range, which is close to the shut down Panguna mine.

The company said this marks the first large-scale mineral exploration programme in Bougainville outside of the Panguna development since 1965.

The company started the exploration programme in March with a team led by several Indonesian geologists who are experienced on the island and who specialise in porphyry copper geology and exploration in similar terrains and climate from around the Ring of Fire.

The company's geologists are supported by a team of over 30 Bougainvilleans who have undergone field operations training.

IPDC chief executive Donald McInnes said the world is chasing new supplies of critical and precious metals, and demand is driving gold and copper to new highs.

He said they are committed to working with the customary landowners of Bougainville through an innovative partnership to reassess the mineral potential of Bougainville and to provide a sustainable future.
Mining without a tenement

Meanwhile, the Bougainville Executive Council has endorsed 21 October as the designated date on which transitional arrangements for mining without a tenement cease.

According to section 369 of the Bougainville Mining Act, an individual Bougainvillean may, without being the holder of a mineral licence, carry out mining activities that would otherwise require the person to be the holder of a relevant mineral licence, the Bougainville government said in a statement.

However, the government's decision means that after the expiry of the designated date, any mining activity being carried out by a Bougainvillean without a mineral licence will be deemed unauthorised under law and will be subject to the offences and penalties provisions of the law.

The penalties and offences provisions include provisions for unauthorised mining, unauthorised equipment and unlawful possession of minerals to name a few.

Offenders also will risk having their gold and mining equipment confiscated and forfeited to the Bougainville gvoernment.

President and minister responsible for mineral and energy resources, Ishmael Toroama, is appealing to stakeholders to support the government towards responsible and sustainable mining sector practices.

"This includes discouraging unsustainable small-scale mining practices and providing support to small-scale miners to work in a more structured and regulated environment," he said.

"We want to mitigate the negative socioeconomic and environmental impacts caused by unauthorised mining activities and regulatory and enforcement capacity is being strengthened to achieve this."

 

Nesting In Australia: Indian Spy Rings Take Root – OpEd

 May 6, 2024  

By Binoy Kampmark

In his 2021 annual threat assessment, the director-general of ASIO, the Australian domestic intelligence service, pointed to an active spy ring operating in the country, or what he chose to call a “nest of spies”.  The obvious conclusion drawn by information-starved pundits was that the nest was filled with the eggs and fledglings of Chinese intelligence or Russian troublemakers.  How awkward then, for the revelations to be focused on another country, one Australia is ingratiatingly disposed to in its efforts to keep China in its place.

At the start of this month, a number of anonymous security sources revealed to various outlets, including The Washington Post, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, that the spies in question came from the Indian foreign intelligence agency, known rather benignly, even bookishly, as the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).  

The range of their interests were expansive: gathering information on defence projects of a sensitive nature, the state of Australia’s airport security, and classified information covering Australia’s trade relationships.  The more sinister aspect of the RAW’s remit, and once it has extended to other countries, was monitoring members of the Indian diaspora, a habit it has fallen into over the years.  According to Burgess, “The spies developed targeted relationships with current and former politicians, a foreign embassy and a state police service.”  The particular “nest” of agents in question had also cultivated and recruited, with some success, an Australian government security clearance holder with access to “sensitive details of defence technology”.

In details supplied by Burgess, the agents in question, including “a number” of Indian officials, were subsequently removed by the Morrison government of the day.  The Washington Post also revealed that two members of the RAW were expelled from Australia in 2020 following a counter-intelligence operation by ASIO.

Given the recent exchanges between the Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, and India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, all efforts to pursue the sacred cows of prosperity and security, this was something of an embarrassment.  But the embarrassment is more profound to Canberra, which continues to prove itself amateurish when it comes to understanding the thuggish inclinations of great powers.  Beijing and Moscow are condemned as authoritarian forces in the dark tussle between evil and good, while Washington and New Delhi are democratic, friendlier propositions on the right side of history.  Yet all have powerful interests, and Australia, being at best a lowly middle-power annexed to the US imperium, will always be vulnerable to the walkover by friends and adversaries alike.  

Grant Wyeth writes with cold clarity on the matter in The Diplomat.  “With countries like Australia seeking to court India due to the wealth of opportunities it provides, New Delhi knows that actions like these won’t come with any significant consequences.”  

The lamentably defanged responses from Australian government ministers are solid proof of that proposition.  “I don’t want to get into these kinds of operational issues in any way,” explained Australia’s Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, to the ABC.  “We’ve got a good relationship with India and with other countries in the region, it’s an important economic relationship, it’s become closer in recent years as a consequence of efforts on both sides, and that’s a good thing.”

Operational issues are exactly the sort of thing that should interest Chalmers and other government members.  In targeting dissidents and activists, Modi’s BJP government has taken to venturing afar, from proximate Pakistan to a more distant United States, particularly Sikh activists who are accused of demanding, and agitating, for a separate homeland known as Khalistan.  The methods used there have not just involved plodding research and cool analysis but outright murder.  The Indian PM, far from being a cuddly, statesmanlike sort, is a figure of ethnoreligious fanaticism keen on turning India into an exclusively Hindu state.

In September last year, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke of “credible allegations” that Indian agents had murdered Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Khalistan advocate designated in 2020 by New Delhi to be a terrorist.  He had been slain in his truck on June 18, 2023 outside the Surrey temple, Guru Nanak Gurdwara.  “Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil,” reasoned Trudeau, “is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.  It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open and democratic societies conduct themselves.”  

This month, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced that three Indian citizens resident in Edmonton had been arrested in connection with the killing.  “There are separate and distinct investigations,” stated the RCMP assistant commissioner, David Teboul.  “These efforts include investigating connections to the government of India.”

Given that Australia has a Sikh population of around 200,000 or so, this should be a point of nail-biting concern.  Instead, Canberra’s tepid response is all too familiar, tolerant of violations of a sovereignty it keeps alienating it to the highest bidders.  Tellingly, Albanese went so far as to assure Modi during his May visit last year that “strict action” would be taken against Sikh separatist groups in Australia, whatever that entailed.  Modi had taken a particular interest in reports of vandalism against Hindu temples in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney featuring pro-Khalistan slogans.

Be it Washington’s seduction with its promise of nuclear-powered submarines and a security guarantee against manufactured and exaggerated threats, or India’s sweet undertakings for greater economic and military cooperation, Australia’s political and security cadres have been found wanting.  There has even been an open admission by Burgess – expressly made in his 2022 Annual Threat Assessment address – that “espionage is conducted by countries we consider friends – friends with sharp elbows and voracious intelligence requirements.”  The ABC similarly reports, citing unnamed government sources, “that friendly nations believed to be particularly active in espionage operations in Australia include Singapore, South Korea, Israel and India.”  Something to be proud of.

Shar

Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. 

He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: bkampmark@gmail.com

The rise of Sweden's super rich

By Maddy Savage,BBC News, Stockholm

Maddy Savage

Konrad Bergström made his fortune in businesses including those that sold headphones and speakers

Sweden has a global reputation for championing high taxes and social equality, but it has become a European hotspot for the super rich.

On Lidingö island there are huge red and yellow wooden villas on rocky cliff tops, and white minimalist mansions with floor to ceiling windows.

Less than half an hour's drive from Stockholm city centre, this is one of Sweden's wealthiest neighbourhoods.

Serial entrepreneur Konrad Bergström flicks the light switch in his wine cellar, to reveal the 3,000 bottles he's got stored there. "French Bordeaux, that's what I love," he says, flashing a bright white smile.

Elsewhere, there's an outdoor pool, a gym upholstered in reindeer leather, and a workshopcome-nightclub, complete with a large metal urinal.


"I have a lot of musical friends, so we play a lot of music," explains Bergström. He made his money co-founding businesses including a headphones and speaker company, and this home is one of four properties he owns in Sweden and Spain.

It's not a surprising lifestyle for a successful entrepreneur, but what might surprise global observers is how many people have become as wealthy as Mr Bergström - or even richer - in Sweden - a country with a global reputation for its leftist politics.

Although a right-wing coalition is currently in power, the nation has been run by Social Democrat-led governments for the majority of the last century, elected on promises to grow the economy in an equitable way, with taxes funding a strong welfare state.

Maddy Savage

Lidingö island is home to a number of Sweden's super wealthy

But Sweden has experienced a boom in the super rich over the last three decades.

In 1996, there were just 28 people with a net worth of a billion kronor or more (around $91m or £73m at today's exchange rate), according to a rich list published by former Swedish business magazine Veckans Affärer. Most of them came from families that had been rich for generations.BBC World Service - The Documentary Podcast, Super-rich Swedes

By 2021, there were 542 "kronor billionaires", according to a similar analysis by daily newspaper Aftonbladet, and between them they owned a wealth equivalent to 70% of the nation's GDP, a measure of the total value of goods and services in the economy.

Sweden - with a population of just 10 million - also has one of the world's highest proportions of "dollar billionaires" per capita. Forbes listed 43 Swedes worth $1bn or more in its 2024 rich list.

That equates to around four per million people, compared to about two per million in the US (which has 813 billionaires - the most of any nation - but is home to more than 342 million people).

"This has come about in a sort of a stealthy way - that you haven't really noticed it until after it happened," says Andreas Cervenka, a journalist at Aftonbladet, and author of the book Greedy Sweden, in which he explores the steady rise of Sweden's super rich.

"But in Stockholm, you can see the wealth with your own eyes, and the contrast between super rich people in some areas of Stockholm and quite poor people in other parts."

Miriam Preis Journalist and author Andreas Cervenka is an expert on Sweden's super rich

One reason for the rise of the new super rich is Sweden's thriving tech scene. The country has a reputation as the Silicon Valley of Europe, having produced more than 40 so-called unicorn start-ups - companies worth more than $1bn - in the past two decades.

Skype and Spotify were founded here, as well as gaming firms King and Mojang. More recent global success stories include the financial tech start-up Tink, which Visa acquired for around $2bn during the pandemic, healthcare company Kry, and the e-scooter company Voi.

At Epicenter - a shared office and community space with a giant glass atrium - veteran entrepreneur Ola Ahlvarsson traces this success back to the 1990s. He says a tax rebate on home computers in Sweden "wired or connected all of us much faster than other countries".

A serial co-founder himself, he also points to a strong "culture of collaboration" in the start-up scene, with accomplished entrepreneurs often becoming role models for - and investors in - the next generation of tech companies.

Sweden's size makes it a popular test market, too. "If you want to see if it works on a larger market, you can - at limited cost and without too much risk for your brand or for your stock price - try things here," says Mr Ahlvarsson.

But Mr Cervenka argues there is another narrative that deserves more attention - monetary policies which he says have helped transform the country into a paradise for the super rich.

Sweden had very low interest rates from the early 2010s until a couple of years ago. This made it cheap to borrow money, so Swedes with cash to spare often chose to invest in property, or high risk investments like tech start-ups, many of which shot up in value as a result.

"One of the big factors that's driven this huge increase in billionaires is that we've had, for a number of years, quite a strong inflation in the value of assets," says Mr Cervenka.

Although top earners in Sweden are taxed more than 50% of their personal incomes - one of the highest rates in Europe - he argues that successive governments - on the right and left - have adjusted some taxes in a way that favours the rich.

The country scrapped wealth and inheritance taxes in the 2000s, and tax rates on money made from stocks and pay outs to company shareholders are much lower than taxes on salaries. The corporate tax rate has also dropped from around 30% in the 1990s to around 20% - slightly lower than the European average.

"You don't have to move out of Sweden if you're a billionaire today. And actually, some billionaires are moving here," says Mr Cervenka.

Back on Lidingö island, Konrad Bergström agrees that Sweden has "a very favourable tax system if you are building companies". However he says his wealth has a positive impact because his businesses - and homes - provide employment for others.

"We have a nanny and we have a gardener and cleaners… and that also gives more jobs. So we shouldn't forget about how we're building the society."

Mr Bergström points out that wealthy Swedish entrepreneurs and venture capitalists are also increasingly reinvesting their money in so-called "impact" start-ups, which have a focus on improving society or the environment.

In 2023, 74% of all venture capital funding to Swedish start-ups went to impact companies. This the highest percentage in the EU, and far above the European average of 35%, according to figures from Dealroom, which maps data on start-ups.

Perhaps the country's most high profile impact investor is Niklas Adelberth, who co-founded the unicorn payments platform Klarna. In 2017, he used $130m of his fortune to launch the Norrsken Foundation, an organisation that supports and invests in impact companies.

"I don't have the habits of a billionaire in terms of having a yacht or a private jet or anything like that," says Mr Adelberth. "This is my recipe for happiness."

Maddy Savage

Billionaire Niklas Adelberth says he has no interest in yachts or private planes

But others argue that Sweden is missing a nuanced public debate about billionaire wealth, beyond a good-bad dichotomy of how entrepreneurs are spending their fortunes.

Recent research from Örebro University concluded that the media image of Swedish billionaires is predominantly positive, and suggested that their fortunes are rarely explained in the context of the nation's shifting economic policies.

"As long as the super-rich are seen to embody the ideals of the neoliberal era, such as hard work, taking risks, and an entrepreneurial attitude, the inequality behind this is not questioned," says media researcher Axel Vikström.

Mr Cervenka adds that debates about taxing the super rich are not as pronounced in Sweden as they are in many other western countries, such as the US.


"That's sort of a paradox. One would think that with our background - being perceived as a socialist country - this would be top of mind," says the author. "I think it has to do with [the fact] that we have become more of a mentality of 'winner takes it all'.

"That, if you just play your cards right, you can also become a billionaire… And that's quite a significant shift, I think, in Swedish mentality."

Sweden's rich list also reveals that the nation's wealth remains largely concentrated in the hands of white men, despite the country's large immigrant population and decades of policies championing gender equality.

"Yes, it's where people can create new money, create new wealth, but it's still very closed and the double standards are quite high in terms of who gets their ideas funded," says Lola Akinmade, a Nigerian-Swedish novelist and entrepreneur. "Sweden is an incredible country that's a leader in many ways, but there's still a lot of people excluded from the system."

Alaska lawmakers aim for last-minute review of public pension reform

Iris Samuels, 

Anchorage Daily News on May 5, 2024

Amid high vacancies and turnover in the ranks of public employees, some lawmakers are hoping that a major overhaul of Alaska's public retirement system could be adopted in the final days of the legislative session.

It's a tall order. Alaska's public workers have been without a guaranteed pension since 2006, when lawmakers did away with the defined benefit system that was plagued by underfunding. Since then, labor groups representing teachers, public safety workers and other public-sector employees have increasingly raised alarm about the long-term impacts of the move, which meant fewer employees were incentivized to remain in Alaska for the duration of their careers, and many were lured to other states where benefits were more generous.

Reinstating some form of a guaranteed public pension has been one of the bipartisan Senate majority's key priorities for over a year, but opposition from some Republican House members has stalled the progress of a bill that the Senate adopted last year.

The policy change has received limited attention this year as lawmakers had their eyes on addressing education- and energy-related legislation. But a last-minute effort could push the plan to the finish line before lawmakers' May 15 deadline to end the current session.

Senate Bill 88 would offer public workers a new model: a return to defined benefits — meaning a guaranteed pension — with key differences from the pre-2006 plan that are meant to spread the risk between the state and its employees, and ensure the state does not risk unfunded liabilities as it did in the 2000s.

The Republican-led House majority has slow-rolled its consideration. In an unusual move, the bill last year was relegated to a newly formed subcommittee of the House State Affairs Committee, which has met only once since the current session began in January.

In late April, House Minority Leader Calvin Schrage, an Anchorage independent, attempted on the House floor to discharge the Senate bill from the State Affairs Committee. The procedural move would have relinquished control over the fate of the bill from that subcommittee, sending it instead to the House Labor and Commerce Committee — which appears to view action on pension plans more favorably.

The discharge attempts failed twice in the same week, with all House majority Republicans opposing the move. But the split was narrow. In the second attempt, 19 out of 40 House members voted in favor of the move.

House Republicans who opposed the discharge vote said they were still waiting on new actuarial analysis requested by Senate members earlier this year. Those analyses were available as of the end of April.

Sen. Cathy Giessel, an Anchorage Republican sponsoring the bill, said she shared a packet of information with House members following the discharge attempts that she said would "encourage" them to view the bill as "an answer to the current statewide recruitment and retention crisis." She met with House majority leadership members on Tuesday, asking for them to schedule the bill for a hearing.

In a letter to House members, Giessel wrote that "the cost of the status quo is quite literally, killing our state."


In response, the House State Affairs Subcommittee, led by Rep. Craig Johnson, an Anchorage Republican, scheduled a hearing on the bill on Tuesday at 6 p.m. — just over a week before the scheduled end of the session. Johnson said Friday that he's "not crazy" about the bill but that the intention would be to transfer its review to the full State Affairs Committee.

"We're just going to try to get everything out on the table and filter out as much as we can and kick it back to the committee and see what the rule of the body is," said Johnson.

Even if the committee passed the bill, its final adoption this year would require several additional hearings before reaching a vote on the House floor, including in the House Labor and Commerce and House Finance committees. Both Johnson and Schrage said it was potentially still possible, as lawmakers ramp up their work pace in the final days of the session.

"One of the recurring themes of this Legislature is that there are many proposals that have a majority of legislators supporting them and we cannot get those proposals to the floor for a vote," Schrage said Friday. "I think if you put a defined pension plan on the floor, it passes today."

'Only Alaska took up the challenge'

In 2005, amid contentious debates over an underfunded pension system, and a national push to overhaul retirement benefits, Alaska lawmakers narrowly agreed to do away with the defined benefits that guarantee a regular pension, replacing them with a 401(k)-style contribution system as a cost-saving measure for the state.

At the time when Alaska eliminated its defined benefits plan, there was interest nationwide in the move, according to Teresa Ghilarducci, a professor of economics studying pensions at the New School for Social Research.

"There was lots of pressure in every single state, and only Alaska took up the challenge," Ghilarducci told the House Labor and Commerce Committee in hearing earlier this year. "And so in some ways, the country is grateful because you ran the experiment."

By the state's own assessment, the change has meant that many of Alaska's public employees hired since 2006 have less money saved up for retirement. Under the defined contribution plan, employees' retirement funds are subject to the success of the investment decisions they make throughout their careers.

"That's just the inefficiency or the waste of having an individual having to manage their own plan," said Ghilarducci. "Most people are not good professional investors."

Experts say that while hiring problems exist in other states, Alaska is unique in the recruitment and retention challenges created by its retirement plan. Teachers, public safety workers and others can gain a form of a guaranteed pension in most states, meaning they are often tempted to leave the state once they begin to think about retirement.

Alaska's staffing challenges have impacted virtually every public service that Alaskans depend on — schools have been wracked by teacher vacancies and have come to rely increasingly on teachers coming from overseas on temporary visas; public benefits, including food assistance, have been disseminated late or not at all amid a shortage in workers tasked with processing requests; and jails and prisons have struggled to fill correctional officer vacancies despite offering $10,000 hiring and retention bonuses.

Generational differences

Supporters of the Senate bill say that a return to some form of defined benefits in Alaska is inevitable, and better sooner than later. Without the change, some analysts and labor organizations say the problems of recruitment and retention will only get worse.

Counterarguments persist. Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy earlier this year said during a press conference that by his estimation, young Alaskans working as teachers would prefer to receive annual bonuses that could help pay for a car or student loans, instead of receiving a pension.

Dunleavy himself receives a monthly state pension for his years as a public educator, on top of his salary as governor. In a 2009 interview to a newspaper in Pennsylvania, where he is from, Dunleavy said that after his career as a public school teacher and administrator, "the system has been very good" to him, and he "could retire with a retirement income that many people would envy as a working income."

Ultimately, even if lawmakers could muster the votes to support the bill, the governor could use his veto pen to nix the policy. He has so far been noncommittal in his position on the bill.

The chair of the House State Affairs Committee — Anchorage Republican Rep. Laddie Shaw — receives two monthly pension payments from the state and the military. Still, he has remained reticent to advance the bill. Shaw declined an interview request on the pension bill.

Dunleavy's assertion that young Alaskans are not as interested in pensions as their predecessors is negated by a growing body of research.

"We're finding that the age of being concerned about financial futures is much younger," said Ghilarducci. "That number is really early — I would say around 28-30 is when people are thinking about their financial future."

As labor organizations push for last-minute progress on the bill, conservative groups are actively fighting the re-implementation of pensions. The Alaska chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative advocacy group, sent an email late last month to House members urging them not to vote for the bill.

Quincy Azimi-Tabrizi, strategic director for Americans for Prosperity Alaska, wrote in the email that the new defined benefits plan is "flawed" and said there is "little, if any, evidence that a defined benefit pension is a revenant factor that helps drive employee recruitment and retention." Instead, Americans for Prosperity called for wages to be increased as a means to attract and retain workers.

The email warned lawmakers that votes on the bill "may be recorded in our 2024 legislative session scorecard" — a veiled reference to the ramifications that lawmakers may face during upcoming reelection campaigns. Americans for Prosperity has already registered its intent to raise and spend money in the upcoming election to support some candidates — and oppose others.

Advocates for the bill say that the assertions by Americans for Prosperity are incorrect. Most importantly, they say that opponents fail to acknowledge that the bill under consideration is vastly different from the defined benefits plan that existed in Alaska until 2006. That plan had no flexibility in it to account for situations in which the state's ability to fund it wavered. But the new proposal has been altered so that if the plan's solvency dips, employees will increase their contributions to help shoulder the burden. It also includes only modest health care benefits as a cost-saving measure.

Advocates also point to research showing the efficacy of pensions in improving recruitment and retention. Several studies have shown in other states that have some form of defined benefit offering, workers stay on average far longer than they do in Alaska, including a study of Alaska teachers conducted by Dan Doonan, executive director of the National Institute on Retirement Security, who traveled to Juneau this month to speak with lawmakers in favor of the return to defined benefits.

He found that newly hired teachers in Alaska remain educators in the state for far less time than teachers hired in California, Washington, Oregon or Montana.

The cost of hiring and training new employees each year is tallied in the millions of dollars, and is not always included when considering the cost of implementing the new plan, Ghilarducci said.

'We have those scenarios'

The actuarial analysts hired by the state found that the plan could cost the state more than $1 billion over the course of 14 years. But Giessel said that the cost is based on an assumption that the new pension plan would lead every person hired by the state to remain in their job through retirement — leading to higher salaries over time as workers gain experience and regular pay raises.

"We don't believe that everyone will stay for their entire career. People move around," said Giessel. Because of that, Giessel requested the actuarial analysts to look at various scenarios, including ones that take into account that not all employees will remain in public employment through their entire career.

"Part of the reason that the House was delaying working on the bill is they were waiting for those scenarios. Well, we have those scenarios now," Giessel said. They generally show that the cost of the pension plan will likely be below $1 billion for the 14-year period examined, changing depending on the number of current employees who switch from the defined contribution to the defined benefit plan and the number of employees who are enticed to remain in their jobs long-term by the pension option.

Giessel also said that the projected cost is not necessarily a bad thing, because it includes higher wages for more experienced workers who will choose to build their careers in Alaska's public sector, providing better, more efficient services to Alaskans.

There is evidence that most current Alaska employees broadly support the move to defined benefits. Earlier this year, Public Safety Commissioner James Cockrell emailed all employees of his department asking them whether they supported a defined benefits retirement system or a defined contribution system. According to an email obtained by the Daily News, he received 458 responses from department employees; 82% said they preferred defined benefits over defined contributions.

"The purpose for the survey was geared toward high level talking points to bring to legislators when discussing this very political and sensitive topic, and the results will be very helpful when that time comes," Cockrell wrote in the email sharing the results with department employees, adding that he believes "there needs to be fundamental changes to the current retirement system" for all public employees in the state.

"It is my opinion that we need either an option of a hybrid system and/or a defined benefit with both having a reasonable health care plan after retirement," he said.

The Reason Foundation, a Libertarian think tank, has weighed in extensively on Alaska's pension debate. In a series of opinion pieces, the foundation has argued in favor of retaining the current defined contribution plan over the defined benefit plan. The foundation has also argued that the Senate bill would add $9.6 billion in unforeseen costs to the state over the course of 30 years.

Giessel said that the Reason Foundation is backed by insurance companies that stand to benefit financially from a move away from defined benefits.

The Reason Foundation, which does not publicly disclose its donors, offers free-to-lawmakers consulting services on pensions and has advocated in favor of defined contribution plans, rather than defined benefits plans, in numerous states.

Johnson said he invited the foundation to testify during the Tuesday hearing because they were ready and able to do so on short notice, and he wanted to get a balanced view on the proposal.


©2024 Anchorage Daily News. Visit at adn.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

INDIA PRESS

PM Justin Trudeau touts Canada as a 'rule-of-law country' after arrest of three Indians in Nijjar murder case

As the RCMP stated, the investigation remains ongoing, as does a separate and distinct investigation not limited to the involvement of the three people arrested yesterday, says Trudeau

PTI

 Toronto

 Published 05.05.24

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Canada is a "rule-of-law country" with a strong and independent justice system and a fundamental commitment to protect its citizens, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said, a day after three Indian nationals were charged with the murder of Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18, 2023

Karan Brar, 22, Kamalpreet Singh, 22, and Karanpreet Singh, 28, all Indian nationals residing in Edmonton have been charged on Friday with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. All three will be brought to the Lower Mainland in Vancouver, British Columbia, for a court appearance on Monday, Global News reported.

"This is important because Canada is a rule-of-law country with a strong and independent justice system, as well as a fundamental commitment to protecting all its citizens," Trudeau said about the arrests on Saturday at a Toronto gala celebrating Sikh heritage and culture.

"As the RCMP stated, the investigation remains ongoing, as does a separate and distinct investigation not limited to the involvement of the three people arrested yesterday," Trudeau said.

Police say they are investigating whether the Indian government was involved, an allegation made by Trudeau in the House of Commons last year, resulting in strained relations between Canada and India.

He said that many in Canada's Sikh community are feeling unsafe following Nijjar's killing, adding: "Every Canadian has the fundamental right to live safely and free from discrimination and threats of violence in Canada." Meanwhile, Global News, quoting a source familiar with the reported that Nijjar's killing was a murder-for-hire and was believed to be tied to the Bishnoi crime group, which has been implicated in drugs, extortion and killings.

Its leader, Lawrence Bishnoi, has been imprisoned in India since 2014 but continues to operate from behind bars, said Shinder Purewal, a political science professor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey.

Willing to do anything for money, Bishnoi has an estimated 700 gunmen, including in Canada, where the gang is “very active,” he said.

The alleged hitmen entered Canada over the past five years and were suspected of involvement in the world of drug trafficking and violence, the report said.

The ties between India and Canada came under severe strain following Trudeau's allegations in September last year of the "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of 45-year-old Nijjar, a Khalistan separatist.

India has dismissed Trudeau's charges as "absurd" and "motivated." The presence of Sikh separatist groups in Canada has long frustrated India, which had designated Nijjar a "terrorist." After three Indian nationals were arrested in connection with the murder, Police in Canada said they had worked with US law enforcement agencies, without giving additional details.

The police suggested more arrests might be coming. Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Assistant Commissioner David Teboul, the force's commander for the Pacific region, said Friday that he wouldn't comment on the alleged links between the three men arrested and Indian officials but noted the force is "investigating connections to the government of India." Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said what is happening in poll-bound Canada over the killing of Nijjar is mostly due to their internal politics and has nothing to do with India.

He said a section of pro-Khalistan people are using Canada’s democracy, creating a lobby and have become a vote bank.

The ruling party in Canada has no majority in Parliament and some parties depend on pro-Khalistan leaders, he said.

“We have convinced them several times not to give visa, legitimacy or political space to such people which is causing problems for them (Canada), for us and also for our relationship,” Jaishankar said.

But the Canadian government has not done anything, Jaishankar said, adding that India sought the extradition of 25 people, most of whom are pro-Khalistan, but they did not pay any heed.

“Canada did not give any proof. They do not share any evidence with us in certain cases, police agencies also do not cooperate with us. It is their political compulsion in Canada to blame India. As elections are coming in Canada, they indulge in vote bank politics,” the minister said.

PHOTO ESSAY

Lithium mine being built on 'sacred ground' where Native Americans say they were massacred

Joe Biden wants the US to be the world leader in electric cars, which requires lithium. But is a mine being built on the site of a massacre?

James Matthews
US correspondent @jamesmatthewsky

SKY NEWS
Monday 6 May 2024 

3:33
Play Video - Lithium mine 'on sacred ground'


It could be a scene from centuries ago. In the Nevada desert, Native Americans are protesting over a mining project they say desecrates sacred land.

They are riding to Sentinel Mountain, which their ancestors once used as a lookout in times gone by. Here, they say, more than 30 of their people were massacred by US cavalry in 1865.

Today, the land is at the heart of America's electric car revolution and Joe Biden's clean energy policy

Native American tribal members say the mine neglects their interests and offends their history.

The route of the "Prayer Horse Ride", a journey on horseback through mining-affected communities in Northern Nevada, is designed to publicise their objections.





"Being the original inhabitants of the land means we have cultural ties and roots to these landscapes," says Gary McKinney, a member of the Duck Valley Shoshone Paiute tribe.

"To me, it's sacred ground," says Myron Smart. His grandmother survived the massacre of 1865 as a baby. Industrialising this place, he says, offends her memory and reflects the story of Native Americans through time.

"We're people too. We have red blood just like everybody in the United States."

Myron Smart says the land is sacred ground

Myron Smart's grandmother, who survived the 1865 massacre

However, a US judge has rejected their complaints and the project is going ahead.

The open mine, which is on public land, will source lithium to power up to a million electric vehicles a year and will create 1,800 jobs in its construction phase.

President Biden aims to make the United States a world leader in electric vehicle technology and reduce reliance for lithium supply on countries like China.

The Thacker Pass project has supporters as well as opponents.





Lithium Americas, the company behind the project, insists the mine is not located on a massacre site. This was supported by a judge in 2021 who ruled the evidence presented by tribes "does not definitely establish that a massacre occurred" within the proposed project area.

Tim Crowley, the company's VP of Government and External Affairs, said in a statement to Sky News: "Lithium Americas is committed to doing this project right, which is why we have a community benefits agreement in place with the local Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe that ensures benefits from Thacker Pass accrue to them.

"Concerns about cultural and environmental resources were thoroughly addressed in the BLM's (Bureau of Land Management) approved Environmental Impact Statement, which withstood comprehensive reviews by the Federal District and Circuit Courts."

However, members of different Nevada-based Native American tribes continue to oppose the mining project. They say their evidence of the 1865 massacre, and a separate inter-tribal conflict, is rooted in the oral history passed on from their ancestors, through generations - not collated with a court case in mind, but compelling nonetheless.

"Back in our ancestors' days, they didn't write any documentation down, they didn't send letters, they didn't write in journals," says Gary. "So there was no way that the United States government could know our story.

"These stories have been passed down generation to generation, so we have direct lineage from survivors of these massacres, which is how these stories remain in our families."





The courts have also rejected complaints by tribal members and conservationists on the environmental impact and planning consultation.

The project throws a focus onto the issues surrounding the pursuit of clean energy.

"First off, we have to acknowledge that we need electric vehicles," says Amanda Hurowitz of Mighty Earth, a global environmental non-governmental organisation.

They are more efficient than petrol and diesel cars, she says, and they are needed for the US to hit its climate targets.

But they also need more mined minerals - like lithium - and getting those materials out of the ground has an impact.

"All mining operations need to get consent from the local people," she adds, "and the more consent, the better."

MBtv: ‘No second planet’ – Colombian mission to Antarctica analyzes climate change footprints

May 6, 2024

• MB.tv
• Documentaries
• MNA
• International
• Macau
• MB.tv Featured

Colombia’s 10th Antarctic Expedition made its way to the far reaches of the continent, exploring remote and almost untouched places inhabited by penguins, whales and the occasional seal.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Qantas to pay $66 million fine after ‘ghost flights’ scandal

By

 AFP

Australian airline Qantas agreed to pay a $66 million fine Monday after a bruising “ghost flights” scandal, following accusations it kept selling seats on long-cancelled trips.

The country’s competition watchdog said Qantas “admitted that it misled consumers” by advertising seats on tens of thousands of flights — despite those flights being cancelled. 

Qantas will also fork out $13 million in compensation to 86,000 travellers impacted by the cancellations and botched rescheduling. 

“Qantas’ conduct was egregious and unacceptable,” said Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairperson Gina Cass-Gottlieb. 

“Many consumers will have made holiday, business and travel plans after booking on a phantom flight that had been cancelled.” 

Qantas said that, in some cases, customers were booked on flights that had been cancelled “two or more” days prior. 

Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson said the airline “let down customers and fell short of our own standards”. 

“We know many of our customers were affected by our failure to provide cancellation notifications in a timely manner and we are sincerely sorry,” she said in a statement.

The US$66 million (Aus$100 million) fine is subject to court approval. 

Long-dubbed the “Spirit of Australia”, 103-year-old national carrier Qantas has been on a mission to repair its reputation.

It has faced a consumer backlash stirred up by soaring ticket prices, claims of sloppy service and the sacking of 1,700 ground staff during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Qantas has previously defended selling seats on cancelled flights. 

It argued that rather than buying tickets for specific seats, customers buy a “bundle of rights” and a promise the airline will “do its best to get consumers where they want to be on time”. 

Qantas posted an annual profit of $1.1 billion last year, capping a major financial rebound after the travel turbulence of the Covid years. 

Veteran chief executive Alan Joyce announced his early retirement amid a barrage of criticism in September last year.

Rare video: Swedish Archer SPH destroying the Russian Msta-S

By Boyko Nikolov 

On May 5, 2024

The Ukrainian forces recently neutralized another Russian Msta-S self-propelled artillery system. This was captured on film by the 45th Artillery Brigade’s press division. A stealth reconnaissance drone located a camouflaged Russian artillery vehicle and then guided precise artillery fire toward the vehicle, ultimately leading to the destruction of the Msta-S self-propelled gun.

Photo credit: BAE Systems

24/7 BulgarianMilitary.com – all you need to know about Ukrainian – Russian war

The brigade added a caption to the video, stating, “One less enemy firepower. A direct hit by our forces! 45 OABr. Heading East,” indicating that the elimination of the enemy unit was likely due to a Swedish 155mm Archer self-propelled artillery weapon.

It’s worth recalling that the official approval for the transfer of the Swedish 155-mm Archer self-propelled guns to Ukraine was granted in March 2023. The discussions regarding this transfer became public as far back as August of the previous year.

Photo by Dmitriy Fomin

Interestingly, during the 2023 autumn celebration of Ukraine’s Missile Forces and Artillery Day, the Ground Forces Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces decided to unveil this significant self-propelled gun to the public via a showcase video.

The Automated Archer

Regarded as the world’s most advanced automated artillery system, the Archer self-propelled artillery operates uniquely with a crew of just three to four people. Nevertheless, while the onboard team is small, the total number of personnel required for the system’s combat operations is considerably larger.

This was revealed by Stefan Sjöberg, the commander of the Boden Artillery Regiment A8 for the Swedish Armed Forces, who said that nearly 100 Ukrainian archers were trained to handle the eight Archers transferred to Ukraine. This information was relayed during an interview with the SVT TV channel.

Interestingly, the training of this large number doesn’t necessarily suggest that Ukraine will acquire additional Archers. Instead, it underscores the fact that the operative deployment of weaponry involves not only the crew but also maintenance, fuel, ammunition transportation, and command management. The team train extended beyond the gun’s crew; it also included specialists for the upkeep of the self-propelled guns and battery command personnel.

It’s worth noting that an American M109 self-propelled gun battery, with eight artillery systems, also operates with about 100 personnel, despite having a five to six-person crew. Thus, advanced automation of the artillery system doesn’t necessarily result in a significant decrease in personnel numbers.

Photo credit: Twitter

However, this automation greatly enhances the combat capabilities of an artillery system like the Archer. The Archer’s extraordinary ability to fire the first shot just 14 seconds after halting, release a three-round burst, and vacate the site before the initial round impacts the enemy’s position is truly remarkable.

In addition, the Archer can unleash its full load of 21 shells in only 3.5 minutes, although it needs to retreat for restocking afterward. Therefore, the Archer shines as a precision tool in counter-battery warfare due to its high firing range and exceptional maneuverability, rather than simply inundating the enemy with projectiles.
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

Photo credit: UralVagonZavod

On February 21, 2022, Russia stated that its border facility was attacked by Ukrainian forces, resulting in the deaths of five Ukrainian fighters. However, Ukraine quickly dismissed these allegations, labeling them as ‘false flags’.

In a notable move on the same day, Russia announced it officially recognized the self-proclaimed areas of DPR and LPR. Interestingly, according to Russian President Putin, this recognition covered all the Ukrainian regions. Following this declaration, Putin sent a battalion of Russia’s military forces, tanks included, into these areas.

Fast forward to February 24, 2022, global headlines were dominated by a significant incident. Putin commanded a forceful military assault on Ukraine. Led by Russia’s impressive Armed Forces positioned at the Ukrainian border, this assault wasn’t spontaneous but a premeditated action. Despite the circumstances resembling a war, the Russian government refrains from using this term. They’d rather refer to it as a “special military operation”.

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