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  31. <title>Criminal-Probe Pretext for NYPD ICE Cooperation Alarms Immigrant Advocates</title>
  32. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/criminal-probe-pretext-for-nypd-ice-cooperation-alarms-immigrant-advocates/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=criminal-probe-pretext-for-nypd-ice-cooperation-alarms-immigrant-advocates</link>
  33. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/criminal-probe-pretext-for-nypd-ice-cooperation-alarms-immigrant-advocates/#respond</comments>
  35. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Gwynne Hogan /  THE CITY ]]></dc:creator>
  36. <pubDate>Thu, 08 May 2025 16:00:09 +0000</pubDate>
  37. <category><![CDATA[Activism]]></category>
  38. <category><![CDATA[Courts & Law]]></category>
  39. <category><![CDATA[Immigration]]></category>
  40. <category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
  41. <category><![CDATA[Social Justice]]></category>
  42. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  43. <category><![CDATA[columbia university]]></category>
  44. <category><![CDATA[Jessica Tisch]]></category>
  45. <category><![CDATA[Leqaa Kordia]]></category>
  46. <category><![CDATA[mass deportation]]></category>
  47. <category><![CDATA[nypd]]></category>
  48. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=307706</guid>
  49.  
  50. <description><![CDATA[<p>The city's police commissioner says providing Palestinian activist Leqaa Kordia’s file to the feds was a “standard” exception to city sanctuary laws.</p>
  51. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/criminal-probe-pretext-for-nypd-ice-cooperation-alarms-immigrant-advocates/">Criminal-Probe Pretext for NYPD ICE Cooperation Alarms Immigrant Advocates</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  52. ]]></description>
  53. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="has-small-font-size">This story was originally published by The City. <a href="https://www.thecity.nyc/the-scoop/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Sign up</a> to get the latest <a href="https://www.thecity.nyc/the-scoop/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">New York City news</a> delivered to you each morning.</p><p><strong>NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch</strong> is defending the NYPD’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities currently detaining a Palestinian woman who participated in protests at Columbia University, arguing New York’s strict sanctuary laws don’t apply.</p><p>But advocates for immigrants say that Tisch is dangerously wrong in the case of the woman, 32-year-old Leqaa Kordia, and in effect cooperating with the <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/donald-trump/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="4" title="Donald Trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump</a> administration practice of arresting people first and providing justifications later.</p><p>The situation is alarming immigrant advocates, who warn it could reveal a massive loophole in the city’s sanctuary laws being actively exploited by the NYPD.</p><p>At a press briefing with Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday, Tisch addressed a question about how the sealed record of Kordia’s arrest last year ended up in the hands of the Department of Homeland Security.</p><figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left">
  54. <blockquote>
  55. <p>The arrest record was used by DHS attorneys arguing for her deportation.</p>
  56. </blockquote>
  57. </figure><p>That document was subsequently used by DHS attorneys arguing for her deportation in immigration court, in a development first reported by the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nypd-ice-leqaa-kordia-trump-palestinian-protests-90c6f446f431e8cec23a93172e1eb0b8" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Associated Press</a>. </p><p>Tisch described the recent handover of Kordia’s NYPD file as part of a “fairly standard” process under which an agent with Homeland Security Investigations in New Jersey requested the record from the NYPD, saying it was for a money laundering investigation.</p><p>While New York City’s sanctuary laws forbid cooperation on civil immigration enforcement, in a case that involves an underlying criminal investigation, the NYPD regularly complies with federal requests, Tisch said. </p><div id="ad_slot_wrapper_22724279127_1" class="max-w-td m-auto p-6 ad-slot--wrapper ad-slot--wrapper--article-hrec-1">
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  62. <p>“When we get that type of request into our real-time crime center from any partners, but also our federal partners, we ask a bunch of information, the name of the person making the request, where they’re assigned, and what the request is related to,” she explained.</p><p>“In the case that you are asking about, the member said that they were seeking information on this person related to a money laundering investigation, and that is fairly standard for us, and so the information was provided,” Tisch added.</p><p>Up until her detention last month, Kordia, from the West Bank, was living with her mother in Paterson, N.J. She was detained by ICE in the days after student activist Mahmoud Khalil, her arrest briefly noted at the time in <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/03/14/video-columbia-university-student-whose-visa-was-revoked-supporting-hamas-and" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">a Homeland Security press release</a> along with a Columbia student protester, Ranjani Srinivasan, who left the country after her visa was revoked. </p><p>While Kordia was never a student at Columbia, she joined dozens of others outside the university campus on the night of April 30, 2024, to mourn dozens of relatives killed in Israel’s war in Gaza and to voice support for Palestinian human rights, her attorneys said. She was arrested as the <a href="https://www.thecity.nyc/2024/04/30/nypd-palestine-israel-protests-columbia-cuny-city-college/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">NYPD cleared</a> the area around campus and the remaining encampment, in a case that the department <a href="https://www.thecity.nyc/2024/05/22/nypd-college-protest-charges-dropped-columba-city-college-nyu/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">dropped</a> in a matter of weeks. </p><figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left">
  63. <blockquote>
  64. <p>The illegal sharing of sealed records by the NYPD is commonplace, advocates say. </p>
  65. </blockquote>
  66. </figure><p>Attorneys for Kordia, who has never been charged with money laundering or any other crime, say the circumstances of her arrest suggest federal authorities were looking for any excuse to justify her arrest. They note that the NYPD arrest record was prepared for the federal agents on March 14 — a day after Kordia had been detained by ICE.</p><p>“The allegation comes as a complete surprise, is entirely unfounded, and we categorically deny it,” said Arthur Ago of the Southern Poverty Law Center, who is one of the attorneys representing Kordia. “Ms. Kordia has never engaged in money laundering, and any insinuation otherwise is false, unsupported by any facts or evidence, and we are prepared to fight this allegation in court.”</p><p>Meghna Philip, the special litigation attorney for the criminal defense practice of the Legal Aid Society, called the situation troubling, arguing the NYPD and other city agencies are obligated to take care that information shared with federal agencies isn’t subsequently used for civil immigration enforcement. </p><p>The situation “suggests a total lack of transparency and potential for wide-scale violations of the sanctuary laws by the NYPD,” Philip said. “The burden is on the NYPD to comply with New York’s laws.”</p><div id="ad_slot_wrapper_22724432281_1" class="max-w-td m-auto p-6 ad-slot--wrapper ad-slot--wrapper--article-hrec-2">
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  71. <p>The NYPD didn’t respond to a request for comment from The City.</p><p>Tisch said the department had launched an internal investigation into one aspect of the transaction: why Kordia’s arrest in the dropped case, which was sealed under state law, had been shared with federal authorities. </p><p>The illegal sharing of sealed records by the NYPD — whether to the media, federal agencies, or other parties — is commonplace, advocates say. </p><p>The Bronx Defenders sued over the issue and secured a <a href="https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/ViewDocument?docIndex=8H2w12SCxx_PLUS_NQGVGR2MJNQ==" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">preliminary injunction</a> in 2021 that is supposed to bar the NYPD from accessing sealed records.</p><p>But as litigation continues in that case, virtually any police officer has access to sealed arrest records in any number of internal NYPD databases, noted Anne Venhuizen, a senior staff attorney at the Bronx Defenders.</p><p>“This is the latest example of how their complete disregard for the sealing statute is weaponized both by themselves and by third parties,” she said. </p><p>DHS also obtained information about Srinivasan’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/15/nyregion/columbia-student-kristi-noem-video.html" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">arrest</a>, which happened the <a href="https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2025/03/25/columbia-doctoral-candidate-ranjani-srinivasan-forced-to-flee-united-states-following-threats-from-ice-she-writes-in-statement/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">same night</a> as Kordia’s. But Srinivasan left the country before DHS had a chance to present evidence to a court to argue for her deportation. It remains unclear how the department obtained that information. </p><h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-followed-and-detained">Followed and detained</h3><p>Court filings <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/presscenter/leqaa-kordia-challenges-unlawful-confinement-federal-court/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">shared by her attorneys</a> at Southern Poverty Law Center reveal more about Kordia’s nearly two months in an ICE detention center in Texas. </p><p>She hasn’t had access to halal meals and has lost nearly 50 pounds, according to her lawyers. She has been sleeping on a thin mattress on the concrete floor of the overcrowded detention center. She developed a skin rash so bad it bled and was offered only Vaseline when she sought medical attention, according to the court papers.</p><figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left">
  72. <blockquote>
  73. <p>“There is still no evidence that agents found any indication of ‘national security violations.’”</p>
  74. </blockquote>
  75. </figure><p>In the April 30 writ of habeas corpus seeking her release from detention, her attorneys describe how Kordia initially had a student visa but moved to have it terminated, after she mistakenly thought she had secured legal status after being approved for a family-based visa petition through her mother. She only learned her visa status had lapsed when she was detained by ICE.</p><p>In an eight-day span ahead of her detention, Kordia’s attorneys said, she was trailed by federal agents, similar to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/24/nyregion/columbia-student-ice-suit-yunseo-chung.html" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">targeting described by Columbia student Yunseo Chung</a>.</p><p>“HSI agents spoke with multiple people associated with Ms. Kordia, including her mother, uncle, a clothing store owner, and tenants of an apartment she briefly rented,” the court filing reads. </p><p>They subpoenaed records from MoneyGram, established a trace on her WhatsApp messaging account and requested records from the NYPD.</p><p>Puzzled and worried, Kordia hired a lawyer and set up an appointment to visit ICE’s Newark Field Office, where she was taken into custody on March 13. She was transferred to an immigration detention center more than a thousand miles away in Texas the same day.</p><p>“There is still no evidence that agents found any indication of ‘national security violations,’” her attorneys wrote. “Instead, this in-depth investigation only revealed a single wire transfer from February 2022 in which Ms. Kordia sent $1,000 to a family member still living in Palestine.”</p>
  76. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/criminal-probe-pretext-for-nypd-ice-cooperation-alarms-immigrant-advocates/">Criminal-Probe Pretext for NYPD ICE Cooperation Alarms Immigrant Advocates</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  77. ]]></content:encoded>
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  87. <title>Don’t Abandon the WHO, Reform It</title>
  88. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/dont-abandon-the-who-reform-it/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=dont-abandon-the-who-reform-it</link>
  89. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/dont-abandon-the-who-reform-it/#respond</comments>
  91. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ramin Skibba /  Undark ]]></dc:creator>
  92. <pubDate>Thu, 08 May 2025 15:52:38 +0000</pubDate>
  93. <category><![CDATA[Activism]]></category>
  94. <category><![CDATA[Health & Wellness]]></category>
  95. <category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
  96. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  97. <category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>
  98. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  99. <category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
  100. <category><![CDATA[covid-19]]></category>
  101. <category><![CDATA[ebola]]></category>
  102. <category><![CDATA[gates foundation]]></category>
  103. <category><![CDATA[pandemic]]></category>
  104. <category><![CDATA[world health organization]]></category>
  105. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=307701</guid>
  106.  
  107. <description><![CDATA[<p>Even critics of the global health organization say that the United States’ withdrawal is a bad move for everyone.</p>
  108. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/dont-abandon-the-who-reform-it/">Don’t Abandon the WHO, Reform It</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  109. ]]></description>
  110. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  111. <p><strong>When Ebola swept through West Africa</strong> in the mid-2010s, Ashish Jha joined a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/22/experts-criticise-world-health-organisation-who-delay-ebola-outbreak" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">chorus of</a> <a href="https://www.cfr.org/event/who-and-state-global-health-governance" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">health experts</a> criticizing the World Health Organization’s response. The global health agency, these critics said, was slow to declare a public health emergency and to coordinate the responses needed to contain the deadly outbreak. The disease killed more than <a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/situations/ebola-outbreak-2014-2016-West-Africa" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">11,000 people, mainly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea</a>.</p>
  112.  
  113.  
  114.  
  115. <p>“The most egregious failure was by WHO in the delay in sounding the alarm,” Jha said at the time, after he co-authored a 2015 <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(15)00946-0/fulltext" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">report</a> laying out “essential reforms.”</p>
  116.  
  117.  
  118.  
  119. <p>Such critiques weren’t new then, and they <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2025/01/18/world-health-organization-who-reform-leadership-funding-trump-exit/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">continue today</a>. But Jha and other longtime WHO observers say that the latest pushback against the agency has gone too far. On Jan. 20, President <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/donald-trump/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="4" title="Donald Trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a>’s first day back in office, the United States <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/withdrawing-the-united-states-from-the-worldhealth-organization/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">withdrew</a> from the global agency, citing in part what Trump described as a “failure to adopt urgently needed reforms” and a “mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic.” The administration also noted the “inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states.”</p>
  120.  
  121.  
  122.  
  123. <p>While the abrupt withdrawal has revived calls for reform at WHO that have accumulated over the years — proposals for term limits and political independence for the leadership, a narrower scope and a greater commitment to equity — it also highlights a precarious future for the agency, which for more than 70 years has responded to disease outbreaks, coordinated treatments and vaccines, and proposed public health measures. With <a href="https://undark.org/2024/07/22/avian-flu-actual-mortality-rate/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">bird flu</a> and other global health threats looming, it is particularly pressing to have a functional global health organization.</p>
  124.  
  125.  
  126.  
  127. <p>“The fight we have set up is like, ‘Do we need WHO or not?’ I think that is the wrong question,” Jha, the former <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/joe-biden/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="5" title="Joe Biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden</a> administration’s White House COVID-19 response coordinator, told Undark. “The world is way worse off without WHO. But the world needs an effective WHO, and we should be able to talk about how to make WHO better without giving in to the temptation to destroy WHO.”</p>
  128.  
  129.  
  130.  
  131. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“The world is way worse off without WHO. But the world needs an effective WHO.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  132.  
  133.  
  134.  
  135. <p>The first Trump administration previously left WHO in mid-2020, early in the COVID-19 pandemic. (The withdrawal never went into effect; by the time a required 1-year notice period had expired, <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/joe-biden/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="5" title="Joe Biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a> was in office and reversed the decision.) And some of Trump’s critiques at that time were not untrue, said Joanne Liu, a Canadian physician and former international president of Doctors Without Borders. That includes WHO’s role in COVID-19, how and when it officially announced a public health emergency, and how the WHO didn’t put much pressure on China for an independent investigation “that never happened, really,” she said.</p>
  136.  
  137.  
  138.  
  139. <p>But, she said: “We need a strong WHO. We cannot imagine a world without WHO.” It’s the only international health platform where each member country has a voice, she added.</p>
  140.  
  141.  
  142.  
  143. <p>With the more recent withdrawal, there likely won’t be a chance for a reversal until 2029 at the earliest. As such, the U.S. has removed a primary source of WHO’s funding, and experts say the move threatens the agency’s global legitimacy and clamps down on communications between the U.S. medical establishment and WHO authorities. There have been other repercussions, too: the Argentine government, led by Trump ally President Javier Milei, has already <a href="https://apnews.com/article/argentina-withdraw-who-world-health-organization-eab97eba3fefa1cce79d6deabc257e88" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">said it would also withdraw</a>, citing COVID-related concerns. If other countries follow, Jha argues, there’s a risk WHO will not survive.</p>
  144.  
  145.  
  146.  
  147. <p>A day after Trump’s announced departure, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus <a href="https://x.com/DrTedros/status/1881641683277742528" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">posted on X</a>, saying the agency regretted that decision and that “WHO plays a crucial role in protecting the health and security of the world’s people, including Americans.” Two weeks later, at a speech to WHO’s executive board, <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/02/1159711" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Tedros said</a>: “We hope the U.S. will reconsider.”</p>
  148.  
  149.  
  150.  
  151. <p>At this time, as the fallout from the Trump administration’s withdrawal continues, health experts and officials outside the U.S. have been thrust into a defensive political climate, expressing commitments to work with the organization, said Jesse Bump, a global health researcher at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. WHO criticisms haven’t fallen by the wayside exactly, but covering the hole in the budget and instituting a hiring freeze have taken priority. Bump hopes discussions shift toward potential reforms, but that hasn’t happened yet, he wrote in an email: “There’s a lot of rudderless discussion without the U.S., even though it’s a tremendous opportunity to make progress.”</p>
  152.  
  153.  
  154.  
  155. <p class="has-text-align-center"><strong>*&nbsp;&nbsp; *&nbsp;&nbsp; *</strong></p>
  156.  
  157.  
  158.  
  159. <p>Leaders of WHO&nbsp;have reformed the organization’s policies in the past. In the early 2000s, for instance, after the SARS and avian flu outbreaks spread through Asia and beyond, killing or forcing the slaughter of tens of millions of chickens, WHO officials renegotiated a code of conduct called the International Health Regulations. In particular, they revised a set of contentious rules for countries’ rights and obligations when handling and communicating such cross-border public health emergencies.</p>
  160.  
  161.  
  162.  
  163. <p>But countries haven’t always followed those or other WHO rules, including during COVID, Bump said, and there’s no enforcement mechanism.</p>
  164.  
  165.  
  166.  
  167. <p>Even after the experience of COVID and its post mortems, WHO still hasn’t adequately addressed problems in how it declares international disease emergencies, said Michelle Amri, a global health ethics researcher at the University of British Columbia. In a <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-025-22056-0" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">new study</a>, Amri and her colleagues found that in COVID and subsequent outbreaks like mpox, the <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/emergencies-international-health-regulations-and-emergency-committees" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">criteria</a> for such declarations haven’t been applied consistently, and they have appeared to some to be politicized. With each outbreak, WHO assesses the situation and declares an emergency based on several criteria: it must be an extraordinary event, a public health threat to multiple countries and require a coordinated international response. These formal declarations may come with additional consequences, too, like travel and trade restrictions.</p>
  168.  
  169.  
  170.  
  171. <p>Following the West African Ebola emergency that gained so many critiques from public health experts as a slow and limited response, WHO seemed to take note: In 2016, the agency quickly responded to concerns around the connection between Zika and birth defects, declaring a public health emergency just a few months after the reporting of those links (though the disease had already spread to more than 20 countries and territories).&nbsp;</p>
  172.  
  173.  
  174.  
  175. <p>But then, after Ebola returned to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2018, WHO made the declaration the following year after multiple times deciding not to do so.</p>
  176.  
  177.  
  178.  
  179. <p>Despite inconsistencies in WHO’s applications of its public health emergency criteria, these cases seemed to mark an improvement over the West Africa Ebola outbreak. Nevertheless, some critics still saw flaws in those responses. Liu, for instance, was at the time the international president of Doctors Without Borders, and she said that WHO overcorrected when Ebola hit the DRC: The agency deployed a massive amount of financial resources, “to a point that they were not able to follow up that deployment,” citing an estimate of unaccountable expenses that may have been as much as half a billion dollars, she said. The agency set a precedent, too, growing to become not just a standard-setting institution but a medical humanitarian organization.</p>
  180.  
  181.  
  182.  
  183. <p>Because of WHO’s growing role in that capacity, even before COVID, the organization had an expanding scope, some experts say, encompassing both a normative mission — setting health guidelines and coordinating responses — as well as an emergency and humanitarian mission, alongside groups like Doctors Without Borders and the Red Cross. Now, according to <a href="https://www.who.int/about/what-we-do" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">WHO’s website</a>, its mandate includes not just responding to health emergencies but also promoting universal health coverage and addressing inequalities affecting health, like housing, education, and food insecurity. The mandate also includes issues like mental health promotion, “human capital across the life-course,” and climate change in small island developing states. </p>
  184.  
  185.  
  186.  
  187. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>WHO still hasn’t adequately addressed problems in how it declares international disease emergencies.</p></blockquote></figure>
  188.  
  189.  
  190.  
  191. <p>“It has an overly broad mandate,” Jha said. “For the size of the organization, its financing, its technical capability, it is not able to execute on that broad set of missions as effectively.”</p>
  192.  
  193.  
  194.  
  195. <p>The agency sometimes adds new issues to its mandate, he added, and when that happens, it has to then follow those issues to ensure its authority on them. For example, WHO now has people monitoring the health risks of excessive screen use, but it’s not clear whether they bring anything unique to the table on this topic, compared to other public health organizations. “Every organization should know what they&nbsp;<em>don’t</em>&nbsp;do,” Jha said.</p>
  196.  
  197.  
  198.  
  199. <p>Els Torreele, an independent global health researcher and adviser who previously worked at Doctors Without Borders, agrees that WHO is spread too thin, given its budget, and that it should be more narrowly focused. The agency’s members keep expanding the scope, she said, but “there is no sense of prioritization.” It should be focused on where it’s needed most — norm setting — rather than its own humanitarian operations and clinical trials, Torreele said, which in some cases has it duplicating what other groups are doing, creating confusion.</p>
  200.  
  201.  
  202.  
  203. <p>It is chaotic when outbreaks emerge, Torreele said. “It’s important that there is some coordination and clarity about what the priorities are in terms of health,” she added. “But going in and opening a treatment center or setting up a clinical trial — no, that shouldn’t be their role.”</p>
  204.  
  205.  
  206.  
  207. <p class="has-text-align-center"><strong>*&nbsp;&nbsp; *&nbsp;&nbsp; *</strong></p>
  208.  
  209.  
  210.  
  211. <p>Wrangling such a large organization isn’t exactly straightforward. The WHO must bring together 194 member states — now 193 with the U.S.’s withdrawal — from all over the world to address evolving global health concerns. That geographical breadth inevitably spurs geopolitical questions at the organization. First, WHO’s executive board, responsible for setting WHO agendas and nominating the director-general, has considerable influence. It includes health representatives with three-year terms from 34 countries, including many wealthier, more influential ones, such as China, South Korea, Australia, Canada, and until recently, the U.S.</p>
  212.  
  213.  
  214.  
  215. <p>Some of these same countries influence the priorities of WHO through their funding of the organization. The U.S., one of WHO’s founding members, has delivered the biggest source of funding, and before its withdrawal it was on track to provide about $260 million during the 2024-2025 biennium, while China is spending about $180 million in that period. Germany, the United Kingdom, the Gates Foundation and Rotary International are also large backers.</p>
  216.  
  217.  
  218.  
  219. <p>During the first years of COVID, WHO faced a difficult balance between its member states, Amri said, and critics have had valid concerns, including some related to China. For one, if WHO were to investigate the <a href="https://undark.org/2024/11/25/podcast-is-it-likely-that-covid-19-came-from-a-lab/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">COVID lab-leak</a> origin theory, it could have only done so with cooperation from the Chinese government, which wasn’t always forthcoming. Secondly, since 2016, when tensions increased between China and Taiwan, the latter has been excluded from WHO, even as an observer. In 2020, a senior WHO official was <a href="https://youtu.be/UlCYFh8U2xM?si=Gw9_UG50PX0_dvig" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">caught on video</a> in an interview, seemingly dodging questions about the situation. That widely shared video only reinforces broader concerns about WHO, Amri said.</p>
  220.  
  221.  
  222.  
  223. <p>WHO’s sometimes slow response to crises isn’t just a structural problem in the organization, said Bump, the Harvard health researcher. If WHO says or does something that a country’s government doesn’t like, it can lose access or funding. “They’re like a shell-shocked bureaucracy, where they don’t have courage because they don’t have power, and they’ve been punished for using it,” he said. This is a common tradeoff in the health world, Bump said, and that’s why the Red Cross never says anything about, say, a country’s dictatorship or human rights violations, so that it continues to have access to patients there.</p>
  224.  
  225.  
  226.  
  227. <p>In a related issue, some other global health experts suggest that the senior WHO leaders lack courage partly because they seek reelection, and annoying WHO member states can imperil that goal. That’s why some experts are advocating for WHO leaders to be term-limited, to ensure their political independence. However, such reforms might not be sufficient, Bump said.</p>
  228.  
  229.  
  230.  
  231. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>&#8220;They don’t have courage because they don’t have power, and they’ve been punished for using it.”</p></blockquote></figure>
  232.  
  233.  
  234.  
  235. <p>Ultimately, member countries need to be able to collaborate and give WHO some enforcement authority, such as to coordinate the sharing of vaccines and vaccine technologies. But that’s something governments haven’t yet done.</p>
  236.  
  237.  
  238.  
  239. <p>Administering such an organization with members with disparate priorities and unequal power also makes another of WHO’s many goals difficult: health inequities, often defined as differences that are avoidable, unnecessary and unjust. Here, critics say, the agency’s efforts have also often fallen flat. For example, a few years after World War II, WHO failed to follow its own committee’s recommendation to “encourage production of penicillin and to ensure its equitable distribution to all countries,” according to a <a href="https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0003940" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">2024 paper</a> in PLOS Global Public Health.</p>
  240.  
  241.  
  242.  
  243. <p>In her research, Amri and her colleagues&nbsp;<a href="https://bmcglobalpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s44263-024-00106-w" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">studied</a>&nbsp;WHO texts between 2008 and 2016, only to find inconsistencies in how the organization approaches health inequity. It’s an inherently challenging problem, she told Undark, because “health equity is really a complex and nebulous term, it has so many values inherent within it, it’s a moral concept, so it’s not so clear-cut.” Sometimes health equity can mean reducing health gaps or seeking a baseline level of health for all, and other times it can involve a perspective that considers structural issues like poverty and politics.</p>
  244.  
  245.  
  246.  
  247. <p>During the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO didn’t meet its own equity goals, at least in terms of vaccine equity. Many critics perceived the U.S. and other wealthy nations as hoarding vaccines when they first became available, for instance, which amounted to a “shared failure,” according to Stephanie Psaki, the U.S.’s first coordinator for global health security, a position created by the Biden administration that is now vacant. Leaders in Africa, Central America, South America and elsewhere <a href="https://press.un.org/en/2021/ga12367.doc.htm" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">decried</a> the persistent vaccine gap. </p>
  248.  
  249.  
  250.  
  251. <p>“Globally, we did not do a great job, especially in terms of the speed with which we were able to get vaccines and other countermeasures to low- and middle-income countries,” Psaki said. “We got them there eventually.” The U.S. government donated hundreds of millions of vaccine doses, she said, “but there was too long of a delay.”</p>
  252.  
  253.  
  254.  
  255. <p>Wealthy countries with major pharmaceutical companies also resisted calls to waive patent rights and share vaccine technologies. The result was that people in rich countries received 16 times more vaccines than poorer ones per capita, a 2021&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/0e240929-033a-457f-a735-ec7cf93b2f3c" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Financial Times</a>&nbsp;analysis showed.</p>
  256.  
  257.  
  258.  
  259. <p>Meanwhile, the WHO-backed&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/initiatives/act-accelerator/covax" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">COVAX program</a>&nbsp;was designed to accelerate the development of vaccines and guarantee equitable access to every country. It was intended to provide 2 billion doses worldwide by the end of 2021 and 1.8 billion doses to poorer countries by early 2022, but it did not meet those targets. “The U.S. opted out, China didn’t join, and then the rich countries hogged all the stuff for themselves,” Bump said. WHO had a plan, he added, but “didn’t follow it.”</p>
  260.  
  261.  
  262.  
  263. <p class="has-text-align-center"><strong>*&nbsp;&nbsp; *&nbsp;&nbsp; *</strong></p>
  264.  
  265.  
  266.  
  267. <p>For WHO,&nbsp;a challenging road lies ahead, as it now has a substantial budget gap left by the U.S.’s exit. The agency has been working to “diversify its donor base to reduce reliance on the few traditional donors,” according to a statement that WHO spokesperson Carla Drysdale asked be attributed to the organization. The WHO is “going through a prioritization process” and it has instituted a raft of other measures, like limiting hiring and travel, the statement continued.</p>
  268.  
  269.  
  270.  
  271. <p>At the same time, the organization has much to address, including the ongoing mpox outbreak in Central Africa, bird flu in the U.S. and a mysterious disease emerging in Congo. Now the Trump administration has directed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to cease communication with WHO, which means that American officials likely aren’t sharing bird flu information with international authorities, and the CDC is in the dark about the spread of mpox, of which there have been <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mpox/situation-summary/index.html" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">four known cases</a> in the United States so far, and which are not linked to each other but involved people who had traveled to Central or East Africa. The U.S. funding cuts have also disrupted <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2025/03/17/world-health-organization-director-says-us-must-manage-usaid-cuts-responsibly/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">measles vaccination campaigns</a>, even as an outbreak spreads in West Texas, New Mexico and neighboring states.</p>
  272.  
  273.  
  274.  
  275. <p>Over the past several years, WHO members have been negotiating a <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/20-09-2024-governments-progress-on-negotiations-for-a-pandemic-agreement-to-boost-global-preparedness-for-future-emergencies" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">pandemic agreement</a>, which would ensure that in future pandemics, a fraction of vaccines, tests and personal protective equipment would be equitably shared. However, the original deadline for the treaty passed in 2024. That has been extended, but the agreement is unlikely to move forward, especially without support from major players like the U.S., Bump said. Furthermore, he points out that language addressing inequities have been significantly watered down regarding the sharing of research and technology.</p>
  276.  
  277.  
  278.  
  279. <p>In the short term, WHO will presumably try to mitigate damage from the U.S.’s withdrawal, Torreele said. In the longer term, she hopes the shock of the situation will have a silver lining, encouraging WHO to reform and focus on its core mission.</p>
  280.  
  281.  
  282.  
  283. <p>“If we are in this time of crisis and big geopolitical shifts, can we grab that opportunity to bring back health as a human right, as a collective, solidarity-based thing?” Torreele asked. “That would be fantastic.”</p>
  284. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/dont-abandon-the-who-reform-it/">Don’t Abandon the WHO, Reform It</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  285. ]]></content:encoded>
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  293. </item>
  294. <item>
  295. <title>Time to Start Thinking About the Midterms</title>
  296. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/time-to-start-thinking-about-the-midterms/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=time-to-start-thinking-about-the-midterms</link>
  297. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/time-to-start-thinking-about-the-midterms/#respond</comments>
  299. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Bill Blum]]></dc:creator>
  300. <pubDate>Thu, 08 May 2025 15:34:59 +0000</pubDate>
  301. <category><![CDATA[Activism]]></category>
  302. <category><![CDATA[Column]]></category>
  303. <category><![CDATA[Courts & Law]]></category>
  304. <category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
  305. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  306. <category><![CDATA[TD Column]]></category>
  307. <category><![CDATA[TD Original]]></category>
  308. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  309. <category><![CDATA[election assistance commission]]></category>
  310. <category><![CDATA[filibuster]]></category>
  311. <category><![CDATA[midterm elections]]></category>
  312. <category><![CDATA[SAVE Act]]></category>
  313. <category><![CDATA[scotus]]></category>
  314. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=307681</guid>
  315.  
  316. <description><![CDATA[<p>The Republican Party is attacking the right to vote with a raft of new election laws — and criminal penalties for breaking them.</p>
  317. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/time-to-start-thinking-about-the-midterms/">Time to Start Thinking About the Midterms</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  318. ]]></description>
  319. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  320. <p class="has-drop-cap">If you’re counting on the 2026 midterm elections to wrest control of Congress from <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/republican-party/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="11" title="republican party" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the GOP</a>, be forewarned. The party is taking no chances on the upcoming plebiscite and has hatched a plan to rig all future federal elections with the goal of transforming the United States into a one-party state. </p>
  321.  
  322.  
  323.  
  324. <p>At the center of the plan is the <a href="https://roy.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-roy-reintroduces-bill-protect-integrity-and-sanctity-american-elections" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act</a>, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/house-passes-republican-bill-requiring-voters-provide-proof-of-u-s-citizenship" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">passed on April 10 by the House</a> and pending before the Senate, and an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/preserving-and-protecting-the-integrity-of-american-elections/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">executive order issued by President Donald Trump on March 25</a> with the Orwellian title of “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections.” And looming in the background, with the final word on either measure’s constitutionality, is the Supreme Court, packed with three <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/donald-trump/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="4" title="Donald Trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump</a> appointees and holding a long and sorry record of hostility to voting rights. </p>
  325.  
  326.  
  327.  
  328. <p>The <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/22/text" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">SAVE Act</a> would require all Americans to provide a birth certificate, passport or some other documentary proof of citizenship in person every time they register or re-register to vote; require each state to take affirmative steps on an ongoing basis to ensure that only U.S. citizens are registered to vote; and remove noncitizens from their official voter lists. It would also create a private right of action, after the fashion of the Texas anti-abortion law, to allow disgruntled individuals to sue election officials who register voters without obtaining proof of citizenship and establish criminal penalties of up to five years in prison for election officials who violate the act. </p>
  329.  
  330.  
  331.  
  332. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>The dangers posed by the SAVE Act cannot be understated.</p></blockquote></figure>
  333.  
  334.  
  335.  
  336. <p><a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/donald-trump/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="4" title="Donald Trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump</a>’s executive order is no less extreme. Among its directives is a mandate for the Election Assistance Commission, an independent nonpartisan agency created by Congress, to require voters to submit documentary proof of their citizenship when using national voter registration forms. It would also stop states from counting mailed-in ballots votes that are sent in by Election Day but are delivered afterward, require recertification of all state voting systems to meet new security standards set by the EAC and halt election assistance funding to states that do not comply with the terms of the order within 180 days. Perhaps most alarming, the order would allow the <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/doge/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="18" title="DOGE">Department of Government Efficiency</a> and the Department of Homeland Security to subpoena state records and use federal databases to review state voter registration lists.</p>
  337.  
  338.  
  339.  
  340. <p>There is some good news amid the darkness. On April 24, federal district court judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, a Clinton appointee who sits in Washington, D.C., issued a <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69823792/104/league-of-united-latin-american-citizens-v-executive-office-of-the/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">120-page opinion</a> and preliminary injunction, blocking the EAC from adding documentary proof of citizenship to the national voter registration form. &#8220;Our Constitution entrusts Congress and the states — not the president — with the authority to regulate federal elections,&#8221; Kollar-Kotelly wrote, holding that Trump’s order violated the separation of powers and referring <a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artI-S4-C1-2/ALDE_00013577/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">to Article I, Section 4, Clause 1 of the Constitution</a>, which states:</p>
  341.  
  342.  
  343.  
  344. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  345. <p>The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing [original text] Senators.</p>
  346. </blockquote>
  347.  
  348.  
  349.  
  350. <p>But while <a href="https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/judge-halts-trumps-anti-voting-executive-order/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">voting-rights groups have praised Kollar-Kotelly’s opinion</a>, the judge left the rest of the executive order in place. More concerning, the ruling did nothing to derail the SAVE Act. As the judge noted, “Consistent with [the separation of powers doctrine], Congress is currently debating legislation that would effect many of the changes the president purports to order.”&nbsp;</p>
  351.  
  352.  
  353.  
  354. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“Congress has never passed a voter-suppression law like this before.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  355.  
  356.  
  357.  
  358. <p>The dangers posed by the SAVE Act cannot be understated. According to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/millions-americans-dont-have-documents-proving-their-citizenship-readily" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">survey</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/save-act-would-undermine-voter-registration-all-americans" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">conducted by the Brennan Center</a> and affiliated organizations, more than 9% of American voting-age citizens, or 21.3 million people, don’t have a passport, birth certificate, naturalization papers or other proof&nbsp;of citizenship readily available. “Voters of color, voters who change their names (most notably,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/354176622/The-Effects-of-Requiring-Documentary-Proof-of-Citizenship#fullscreen&amp;from_embed" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">married women</a>), and&nbsp;<a href="https://today.yougov.com/travel/articles/35414-only-one-third-americans-have-valid-us-passport" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">younger</a>&nbsp;voters would be most significantly affected,” the <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/save-act-would-undermine-voter-registration-all-americans" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Brennan Center has warned</a>.&nbsp;</p>
  359.  
  360.  
  361.  
  362. <p>In an <a href="https://www.democracydocket.com/analysis/the-most-extraordinary-attack-on-voting-rights-in-american-history-how-the-save-act-upends-over-a-century-and-a-half-of-protecting-voting/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">article</a> posted after the House approved the act, <a href="https://www.democracydocket.com/about-us/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Democracy Docket</a>, the digital election news platform founded by attorney <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Elias" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Marc Elias</a>, featured the views of a group of distinguished historians and voting experts on the act. </p>
  363.  
  364.  
  365.  
  366. <p>“There’s never been an attack on voting rights out of Congress like this,” Alexander Keyssar, a professor of history and social policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, told the Docket. “It’s always been the federal government trying to keep states in check on voting rights, for the most part.”</p>
  367.  
  368.  
  369.  
  370. <p>“Congress has never passed a voter-suppression law like this before,” Sean Morales-Doyle, the director of the Brennan Center’s voting-rights program, said. “When it has exercised its power to regulate federal elections, Congress has usually done so to protect the freedom to vote. If this becomes law, it will be a new low for Congress.”</p>
  371.  
  372.  
  373.  
  374. <p>Princeton professor Sean Wilentz also weighed in with a dire assessment. “It’s the most extraordinary attack on voting rights in American history,” Wilentz said, characterizing the act as “the latest attempt to gut voting-rights advances that were made in the 1960s,” one more dangerous than the Jim Crow-era laws used in the South, because it is national in scope. “This is an attempt to destroy American democracy as we know it.” </p>
  375.  
  376.  
  377.  
  378. <p>All eyes now turn to the Senate, where Democrats have the power to filibuster the SAVE Act to prevent its passage unless 60 members vote to invoke cloture. Thus far, the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/03/13/1238102501/noncitizen-voting-immigration-conspiracy-theory" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Democrats seem to be holding the line</a>, even in the face of persistent propaganda spewed by Trump, <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/elon-musk/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="19" title="Elon Musk">Elon Musk</a> and other Republicans that election fraud is rampant and that Democrats are “importing [undocumented] voters” to swing elections. In truth, of course, election fraud in the U.S. is miniscule, with <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/analysis/Briefing_Memo_Debunking_Voter_Fraud_Myth.pdf" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">some long-range state-by-state studies finding</a> it occurs at rates between 0.0003% and 0.0025% of total votes cast.&nbsp;</p>
  379.  
  380.  
  381.  
  382. <p>Should any part of the SAVE Act pass and be signed into law, it will likely come before the Supreme Court, where its fate may turn on Chief Justice John Roberts, who along with Amy Coney Barrett, sometimes aligns with the panel’s liberals in big cases.</p>
  383.  
  384.  
  385.  
  386. <p>Roberts, however, has a long history of undermining voting rights that stretches back to <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/06/john-roberts-brett-kavanaugh-save-voting-rights-act.html" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">his stint as a young lawyer in the Reagan administration</a> and his role as a <a href="https://bellaciao.org/en/Roberts-had-larger-2000-recount-role" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">behind-the-scenes</a> GOP consultant, lawsuit editor and prep coach for oral arguments before the Supreme Court in the run-up to <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2000/00-949" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank"><em>Bush v. Gore</em></a>, the case that decided the 2000 presidential election. </p>
  387.  
  388.  
  389.  
  390. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“This is an attempt to destroy American democracy as we know it.”</p></blockquote></figure>
  391.  
  392.  
  393.  
  394. <p>In 2013, as chief justice, he composed the disastrous majority opinion in <a href="https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep570/usrep570529/usrep570529.pdf" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank"><em>Shelby County v. Holder,</em></a> which gutted the Voting Rights Act. In 2019, he continued his anti-voting-rights crusade, writing the majority opinion <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2018/18-422" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank"><em>Rucho v. Common Cause</em></a>, which removed the issue of political gerrymandering (the practice of designing voting maps to benefit the party in power) from the jurisdiction of federal courts. And in 2021, <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/19-1257_g204.pdf" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">he joined</a> a 5-to-4 majority ruling penned by Justice Samuel Alito that upheld <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/court-cases/brnovich-v-democratic-national-committee" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Arizona laws</a> prohibiting out-of-precinct voting and criminalizing the collection of mail-in ballots by third parties. </p>
  395.  
  396.  
  397.  
  398. <p>In the meantime, hundreds of lawyers have resigned from the Justice Department, repelled by Trump’s reactionary policies. As the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/28/us/politics/trump-doj-civil-rights.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">New York Times has reported</a>, the exodus has been especially felt hard at the department’s civil rights division, whose mission Trump has transformed from one of opposing voter suppression to stamping out phony claims of rampant election fraud.</p>
  399.  
  400.  
  401.  
  402. <p class="is-td-marked">All of this is happening step by step, setting the stage for what could turn out to be the final chapter for American democracy. Not only is it not too early to start thinking about the midterms, it may already be too late.</p>
  403. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/time-to-start-thinking-about-the-midterms/">Time to Start Thinking About the Midterms</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  404. ]]></content:encoded>
  406. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/time-to-start-thinking-about-the-midterms/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  407. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  410. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">307681</post-id> <enclosure url="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/GOPSAVEAct-878x585.png" length="1299554" type="image/png" />
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  412. </item>
  413. <item>
  414. <title>India Launches &#8216;Unprovoked&#8217; Attacks in Pakistani Territory</title>
  415. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/india-launches-unprovoked-attacks-in-pakistani-territory/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=india-launches-unprovoked-attacks-in-pakistani-territory</link>
  416. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/india-launches-unprovoked-attacks-in-pakistani-territory/#respond</comments>
  418. <dc:creator><![CDATA[ Peoples Dispatch ]]></dc:creator>
  419. <pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2025 15:54:57 +0000</pubDate>
  420. <category><![CDATA[Asia Pacific]]></category>
  421. <category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
  422. <category><![CDATA[Military]]></category>
  423. <category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
  424. <category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
  425. <category><![CDATA[india]]></category>
  426. <category><![CDATA[indus waters treaty]]></category>
  427. <category><![CDATA[kashmir]]></category>
  428. <category><![CDATA[operation sindoor]]></category>
  429. <category><![CDATA[pakistan]]></category>
  430. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=307669</guid>
  431.  
  432. <description><![CDATA[<p>The attack has stoked fears that the simmering tensions between the two nuclear-armed powers could escalate.</p>
  433. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/india-launches-unprovoked-attacks-in-pakistani-territory/">India Launches &#8216;Unprovoked&#8217; Attacks in Pakistani Territory</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  434. ]]></description>
  435. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  436. <p><strong>The growing tensions</strong> between India and Pakistan reached a boiling point in the early hours of May 7 when India launched several attacks inside Pakistani territory. Eight Pakistanis were killed and 35 were injured in the “tri-service” early morning attacks by India, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the director general of Pakistan&#8217;s Inter-Services Public Relations, said <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTMVY005Jxc" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">in a press conference</a>. Chaudhry added that one of the victims was a 3-year-old girl.</p>
  437.  
  438.  
  439.  
  440. <p>The <a href="https://x.com/adgpi/status/1919850036596199492" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Indian Army launched the attacks</a> as part of <a href="https://x.com/SpokespersonMoD/status/1919857186655944825" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">“Operation Sindoor”</a> and targeted nine locations in the cities of Kotli, Muzaffarabad and Bagh in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and Bahawalpur and Muridke in the Punjab province.</p>
  441.  
  442.  
  443.  
  444. <p>The Pakistani military reportedly shot down five Indian jets in retaliation for India’s airstrikes.</p>
  445.  
  446.  
  447.  
  448. <p>Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a <a href="https://mofa.gov.pk/press-releases/pakistan-strongly-condemns-indias-blatant-aggression" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">statement</a> calling the attacks an “unprovoked and blatant act of war” and condemning the targeting of the civilian population. “We strongly condemn India’s cowardly action, which is a flagrant violation of the UN Charter, international law, and established norms of inter-state relations,” the statement reads.</p>
  449.  
  450.  
  451.  
  452. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Tensions climb</h3>
  453.  
  454.  
  455.  
  456. <p>In the <a href="https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2127370" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">press release</a> regarding Operation Sindoor, the Indian Army claimed that the attacks were “focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature” emphasizing that “No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted.” India has claimed that the attacks were launched in retaliation for the <a href="https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/04/24/progressive-forces-in-south-asia-condemn-rising-regional-tensions-and-communalism-in-wake-of-pahalgam-attack/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">attack which took place on April 22 in Pahalgam, in the Jammu and Kashmir province,</a> where gunmen killed 26 unarmed civilians. India has claimed that Operation Sindoor targeted the groups responsible for that attack.</p>
  457.  
  458.  
  459.  
  460. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Pakistan has vehemently condemned India’s accusations.</p></blockquote></figure>
  461.  
  462.  
  463.  
  464. <p>In the immediate wake of the Pahalgam attack, India began to lodge accusations that Pakistan was responsible and implemented a series of retaliatory measures against its neighbor. These include the suspension of the decades-old Indus Waters Treaty, a lifeline for <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/world/pakistan-foreign-minister-promises-appropriate-steps-to-protect-its-right-under-indus-waters-treaty-3514941" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">over 240 million Pakistanis</a>, and the closure of the Indian border with Pakistan and ordering all Pakistani nationals visiting India to leave within 48 hours.</p>
  465.  
  466.  
  467.  
  468. <p>India also reiterated that it would take all measures to investigate the attack and that those responsible would be “served with the harshest response”, vowing “revenge.” In the Operation Sindoor statement, the Army declared it was “living up to the commitment that those responsible for this attack will be held accountable.”</p>
  469.  
  470.  
  471.  
  472. <p>Meanwhile, since the attack took place, Pakistan has vehemently condemned India’s accusations and highlighted that no evidence connecting it to the attacks has been presented.</p>
  473.  
  474.  
  475.  
  476. <p>Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said last week in a&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/TararAttaullah/status/1917332896110555500" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">televised speech</a>&nbsp;that Pakistan rejects “Indian self-assured hubristic role of judge, jury and executioner in the region” calling its moves so far “reckless” and demanding evidence to prove its allegations.</p>
  477.  
  478.  
  479.  
  480. <p>In that address, Tarar stated: “Pakistan has credible intelligence that India intends to carry out military action against Pakistan … on the pretext of baseless and concocted allegations of involvement in the Pahalgam incident.” Tarar warned against such a “dangerous path of irrationality and confrontation” and asserted that such an escalation could have “catastrophic consequences.”</p>
  481.  
  482.  
  483.  
  484. <p>In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement released following India’s attack, it stated: “In the wake of Pahalgam attack, the Indian leadership has once again used the bogey of terrorism to advance its sham narrative of victimhood, jeopardizing regional peace and security. India’s reckless action has brought the two nuclear-armed states closer to a major conflict.”</p>
  485.  
  486.  
  487.  
  488. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Calls for calm and de-escalation grow</h3>
  489.  
  490.  
  491.  
  492. <p>Ever since the Pahalgam attack, progressives from both Pakistan and India have urged for sanity and restraint on behalf of both nations, with many citing that any military conflict between the two nuclear-armed powers will not benefit anyone.</p>
  493.  
  494.  
  495.  
  496. <p>Now that the retaliatory military attacks have begun, such calls have become more urgent, and more voices have joined in to call for de-escalation.</p>
  497.  
  498.  
  499.  
  500. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>&#8220;Escalation to full-scale war between India and Pakistan helps nobody.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  501.  
  502.  
  503.  
  504. <p>The spokesperson of U.N. Secretary General António Guterres stated, “The secretary-general is very concerned about the Indian military operations across the Line of Control and international border. He calls for maximum military restraint from both countries.”</p>
  505.  
  506.  
  507.  
  508. <p><a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/05/1162986" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">In a note on May 6</a> Guterres had emphasized, “The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan,” and urged restraint by both countries. A day prior, <a href="https://x.com/antonioguterres/status/1919423995511742743" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">the secretary general had said</a>, “It is essential — especially at this critical hour — that India and Pakistan avoid a military confrontation that could easily spin out of control. Make no mistake: A military solution is no solution.”</p>
  509.  
  510.  
  511.  
  512. <p><a href="https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xw/fyrbt/202505/t20250507_11616523.html" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said</a> that China found India’s military operation “regrettable” and stated it was “concerned about the ongoing situation.”</p>
  513.  
  514.  
  515.  
  516. <p>“India and Pakistan are and will always be each other’s neighbors. They’re both China’s neighbors as well. China opposes all forms of terrorism. We urge both sides to act in the larger interest of peace and stability, remain calm, exercise restraint and refrain from taking actions that may further complicate the situation,” the spokesperson said.</p>
  517.  
  518.  
  519.  
  520. <p>U.S. President <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/donald-trump/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="4" title="Donald Trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a>, a close ally of far-right Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the press regarding India’s attacks, “It’s a shame” and “I just hope it ends very quickly.” Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio <a href="https://x.com/SecRubio/status/1919902403999965441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1919902403999965441%7Ctwgr%5E554e208870b588183c854e85db593681b983652f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2Fliveblog%2F2025%2F5%2F6%2Findia-pakistan-fighting-live-india-fires-missiles-into-pakistan" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">wrote on X</a>: “I am monitoring the situation between India and Pakistan closely. I echo POTUS’s comments earlier today that this hopefully ends quickly and will continue to engage both Indian and Pakistani leadership towards a peaceful resolution.”</p>
  521.  
  522.  
  523.  
  524. <p>Meanwhile, progressive voices from the subcontinent continue to clamor for peace.</p>
  525.  
  526.  
  527.  
  528. <p>Indian historian and writer Vijay Prashad&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/vijayprashad/status/1919878982037553474" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">wrote</a>, “1. With its airstrikes on Pakistani cities, India followed the US War on Terror playbook, with the entire language of ‘precision strikes’ – nothing good comes from this kind of approach. 2. There should be an absolute stoppage of more firing that endangers and kills civilians. 3. Escalation to full-scale war between India and Pakistan helps nobody, least of all the Kashmiris.”</p>
  529. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/india-launches-unprovoked-attacks-in-pakistani-territory/">India Launches &#8216;Unprovoked&#8217; Attacks in Pakistani Territory</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  530. ]]></content:encoded>
  532. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/india-launches-unprovoked-attacks-in-pakistani-territory/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  533. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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  538. </item>
  539. <item>
  540. <title>Supreme Court Lets Trump Ban Transgender Americans From the Military</title>
  541. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/supreme-court-lets-trump-ban-transgender-americans-from-the-military/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=supreme-court-lets-trump-ban-transgender-americans-from-the-military</link>
  542. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/supreme-court-lets-trump-ban-transgender-americans-from-the-military/#respond</comments>
  544. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ashley Murray /  States Newsroom ]]></dc:creator>
  545. <pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2025 15:26:24 +0000</pubDate>
  546. <category><![CDATA[Courts & Law]]></category>
  547. <category><![CDATA[LGBTQIA+]]></category>
  548. <category><![CDATA[Military]]></category>
  549. <category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
  550. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  551. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  552. <category><![CDATA[9th u.s. circuit court of appeals]]></category>
  553. <category><![CDATA[discrimination]]></category>
  554. <category><![CDATA[pete hegseth]]></category>
  555. <category><![CDATA[supreme court]]></category>
  556. <category><![CDATA[transgender ban]]></category>
  557. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=307665</guid>
  558.  
  559. <description><![CDATA[<p>The court ruled that the ban can temporarily remain in place while a lower court reviews the case.</p>
  560. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/supreme-court-lets-trump-ban-transgender-americans-from-the-military/">Supreme Court Lets Trump Ban Transgender Americans From the Military</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  561. ]]></description>
  562. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  563. <p><strong>WASHINGTON </strong>— The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/donald-trump/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="4" title="Donald Trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump</a> administration’s ban on transgender military service members to temporarily remain in place while a lower court reviews the policy that advocates and some service members contend illegally targets a group of people.</p>
  564.  
  565.  
  566.  
  567. <p>A text entry on the high court’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/24a1030.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">docket</a>&nbsp;stayed a Washington state district court order preventing President <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/donald-trump/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="4" title="Donald Trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a> and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth from enforcing an executive order effectively banning all transgender troops.</p>
  568.  
  569.  
  570.  
  571. <p>The unsigned order, which was opposed by the court’s liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, permits the administration’s ban while the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit deliberates. The Department of Defense also could ask the Supreme Court to take up the question.</p>
  572.  
  573.  
  574.  
  575. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>The Supreme Court’s ruling is &#8220;a devastating blow to transgender servicemembers.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  576.  
  577.  
  578.  
  579. <p>The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69617888/shilling-v-united-states-of-america/?filed_after=&amp;filed_before=&amp;entry_gte=&amp;entry_lte=&amp;order_by=desc" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">case</a>&nbsp;centers on a lawsuit filed by seven transgender service members who openly serve in the military, and one transgender individual who was poised to enlist. The plaintiffs&nbsp;<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.wawd.344431/gov.uscourts.wawd.344431.1.0_6.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">allege</a>&nbsp;the administration violated their equal protection and free speech rights as well as denied them due process when Trump signed his executive order a week after entering office.</p>
  580.  
  581.  
  582.  
  583. <p>Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, organizations representing the plaintiffs, said in a joint statement Tuesday that the Supreme Court’s ruling is “a devastating blow to transgender servicemembers who have demonstrated their capabilities and commitment to our nation&#8217;s defense.”</p>
  584.  
  585.  
  586.  
  587. <p>“By allowing this discriminatory ban to take effect while our challenge continues, the Court has temporarily sanctioned a policy that has nothing to do with military readiness and everything to do with prejudice. Transgender individuals meet the same standards and demonstrate the same values as all who serve. We remain steadfast in our belief that this ban violates constitutional guarantees of equal protection and will ultimately be struck down,” the statement continued.</p>
  588.  
  589.  
  590.  
  591. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Immediate appeal</h3>
  592.  
  593.  
  594.  
  595. <p>A lower court in Washington state granted the plaintiffs a preliminary injunction in late March that allowed them to continue service.</p>
  596.  
  597.  
  598.  
  599. <p>The Trump administration immediately appealed the decision to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which on April 18 denied an emergency request to block the lower court’s order. Days later, the administration&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-doj-asks-us-supreme-court-reverse-ruling-allowing-transgender-troops" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">asked</a>&nbsp;the Supreme Court to intervene.</p>
  600.  
  601.  
  602.  
  603. <p>Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 27, asserting the “adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual&#8217;s sex conflicts with a soldier&#8217;s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one&#8217;s personal life.”</p>
  604.  
  605.  
  606.  
  607. <p>Further, the order said that being transgender is “not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member.”</p>
  608.  
  609.  
  610.  
  611. <p>Hegseth issued the new policy a month later, reversing former <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/joe-biden/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="5" title="Joe Biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">President Joe Biden</a>’s order allowing service members to transition and serve openly under their preferred gender identity.</p>
  612.  
  613.  
  614.  
  615. <p>Trump’s order immediately drew court challenges, including a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/transgender-troops-ban-nationwide-freeze-argued-us-appeals-court" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">separate case</a>&nbsp;now in the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia.</p>
  616. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/supreme-court-lets-trump-ban-transgender-americans-from-the-military/">Supreme Court Lets Trump Ban Transgender Americans From the Military</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  617. ]]></content:encoded>
  619. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/supreme-court-lets-trump-ban-transgender-americans-from-the-military/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  620. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  623. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">307665</post-id> <enclosure url="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AP25052543446432-874x585.jpg" length="718932" type="image/jpeg" />
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  625. </item>
  626. <item>
  627. <title>Discipline and Punish</title>
  628. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/discipline-and-punish/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=discipline-and-punish</link>
  629. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/discipline-and-punish/#respond</comments>
  631. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Victoria Livingstone]]></dc:creator>
  632. <pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2025 15:20:39 +0000</pubDate>
  633. <category><![CDATA[Activism]]></category>
  634. <category><![CDATA[Column]]></category>
  635. <category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
  636. <category><![CDATA[Immigration]]></category>
  637. <category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
  638. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  639. <category><![CDATA[Race]]></category>
  640. <category><![CDATA[Social Justice]]></category>
  641. <category><![CDATA[TD Column]]></category>
  642. <category><![CDATA[TD Original]]></category>
  643. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  644. <category><![CDATA[freedom of speech]]></category>
  645. <category><![CDATA[gaza]]></category>
  646. <category><![CDATA[james baldwin]]></category>
  647. <category><![CDATA[marco rubio]]></category>
  648. <category><![CDATA[Rumeysa Ozturk]]></category>
  649. <category><![CDATA[student visa]]></category>
  650. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=307656</guid>
  651.  
  652. <description><![CDATA[<p>Attacks on international students are part of a bigger project to suppress critical thought and demand obedience from universities.</p>
  653. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/discipline-and-punish/">Discipline and Punish</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  654. ]]></description>
  655. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  656. <p class="has-drop-cap">The <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/donald-trump/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="4" title="Donald Trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump</a> administration recently moved to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-administration-backs-down-student-visa-records/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">reinstate visas</a> for thousands of international students in the United States. The reprieve, however, is temporary, and many of the visas were revoked without clear justification. Many international students therefore <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/26/us/politics/trump-student-visas.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&amp;referringSource=articleShare" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">continue to worry</a> about their legal statuses and feel the need to self-censor to avoid detention or deportation. Because of this, they no longer enjoy the freedom of expression and critical thinking that underlies all academic endeavors.</p>
  657.  
  658.  
  659.  
  660. <p>The reasons for the visa revocations in the U.S. are <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mahmoud-khalil-columbia-university-trump-c60738368171289ae43177660def8d34" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">ideological</a> as well as race-based, with the administration <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/04/08/trump-immigration-international-student-visas-deport/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">targeting non-white students</a>, in particular those from Muslim-majority countries. A recent high-profile example is the detention of Turkish doctoral student and former Fulbright scholar Rümeysa Öztürk, who was detained by ICE on March 25 and is being held in Louisiana. Last year, Öztürk co-authored an <a href="https://www.tuftsdaily.com/article/2024/03/4ftk27sm6jkj" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">op-ed</a> for the student-run newspaper, the Tufts Daily, in which she called on Tufts to “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide … and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.” Although the article did not mention Hamas, a spokesperson for Homeland Security claimed — without evidence — that Öztürk supported the group. </p>
  661.  
  662.  
  663.  
  664. <p>In their op-ed, Öztürk and her co-authors argue that a core principle of education is to promote independent thought. They cite the following passage from James Baldwin’s 1963 lecture, <a href="https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/baldwin-talk-to-teachers" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">“A Talk to Teachers”</a>: “The paradox of education is precisely this: that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which [they are] being educated.” In this famous lecture, Baldwin argued that when one segment of a population is fed misinformation or silenced, the entire society suffers.</p>
  665.  
  666.  
  667.  
  668. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  669. <p>If you are compelled to lie about one aspect of anybody’s history, you must lie about it all. If you have to lie about my real role here, if you have to pretend that I hoed all that cotton just because I loved you, then you have done something to yourself. You are mad.</p>
  670. </blockquote>
  671.  
  672.  
  673.  
  674. <p>I am a U.S. citizen who completed part of a graduate degree in Brazil, where I spent a year conducting research with the support of a Fulbright grant. In Brazil, I was granted intellectual freedom that international students in the U.S. are now being denied. I recognize that as a white, English-speaking U.S. citizen, I was in an immensely privileged position in São Paulo to observe the society closely and critically. That privilege and freedom were key to my education there.</p>
  675.  
  676.  
  677.  
  678. <p>I lived in Brazil in 2014, the year the country last hosted the World Cup. In the run-up to the start of the games, hundreds of demonstrators were <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-27423404" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">arrested</a> for protesting the government’s heavy investment in infrastructure to support FIFA rather than spending that money on schools, housing, or public services. While in São Paulo, I wrote and published an <a href="https://www.fairobserver.com/region/latin_america/social-in-inequality-brazil-the-people-politics-and-the-world-cup-66971/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">op-ed</a> that was explicitly critical of the Brazilian government. At no point did I fear the Brazilian government would revoke my visa nor that I would lose my grant funding.&nbsp;</p>
  679.  
  680.  
  681.  
  682. <p>I was awarded a Fulbright grant to read <a href="https://www.ieb.usp.br/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">archival material</a> and write about literature. I was not there to get involved in politics. My learning, however, was not limited to classrooms and reading rooms. In my op-ed, I reflected on protests and on the social inequality that the Brazilian government “would rather hide.” That is, I was directly critical of the country that was hosting me and partly funding my doctoral research.</p>
  683.  
  684.  
  685.  
  686. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Criticism requires both curiosity and research.</p></blockquote></figure>
  687.  
  688.  
  689.  
  690. <p>Criticism requires both curiosity and research. It builds on these pillars of learning, and it is only possible when students do not fear censorship. To draft my 2014 op-ed, I looked up data on teacher salaries, crime, average commuting times and the condition of hospitals in Brazil. I interviewed Brazilians to better understand their perspectives. That research gave me a broader understanding of Brazil, an understanding that was only possible because I did not fear retaliation from the Brazilian government or from the University of São Paulo, the public university where I was conducting research.</p>
  691.  
  692.  
  693.  
  694. <p>Similarly, Öztürk’s op-ed reflects an understanding of her host country. To write the article, she and her co-authors had to study the organizational structure of Tufts University and gain a familiarity with U.S. history and culture. That understanding is evidenced by their article, which points, for example, to historical examples such as protests that led to Tuft’s eventual divestment from apartheid South Africa.</p>
  695.  
  696.  
  697.  
  698. <p>The decision to detain students like Öztürk stifles not just expression but also the critical thinking and engagement that makes that expression possible. Days after Öztürk’s detention, Secretary of State Marco Rubio <a href="https://www.state.gov/secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-remarks-to-the-press-3/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">argued</a> that the U.S. can revoke student visas at any time because international students are “here to study. They’re here to go to class. They’re not here to lead activist movements that are disruptive and undermine the — our universities. I think it’s lunacy to continue to allow that.”</p>
  699.  
  700.  
  701.  
  702. <p>In the eyes of the <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/donald-trump/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="4" title="Donald Trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump</a> administration, international students should be passive observers. Learning, however, is an active undertaking; it is a process that takes place when we observe critically. Rubio’s argument that international students attend class but avoid activism strips these students of the intellectual autonomy that makes holistic learning possible.&nbsp;</p>
  703.  
  704.  
  705.  
  706. <p>The research I conducted in São Paulo — in and out of the classroom — gave me a solid foundation on which I have continued to build. I still follow news from Brazil, speak Portuguese and am working on a special issue of the journal where I am an editor that will be devoted to a canonical Brazilian writer. That engagement is one of the goals of the Fulbright program, which now faces an <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fulbright-scholars-stipends-frozen-indefinitely-9da042b5e0bda70fb1c76105564c71f4" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">uncertain future</a>. </p>
  707.  
  708.  
  709.  
  710. <p>It is doubtful that Öztürk will wish to remain tied to a country where a group of plainclothes ICE agents <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/oRiQz7mOY6A" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">surrounded her</a> as she screamed, and the detention of more students for ideological reasons will certainly have a chilling effect. By stripping international students of the freedom to criticize, the Trump administration prevents them from substantial engagement with U.S. culture, history and core values.</p>
  711.  
  712.  
  713.  
  714. <p>The decisions to revoke student visas have occurred within the context of other attacks on education such as cuts to agencies such the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00703-1" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">National Institutes of Health</a> and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/04/04/nx-s1-5352422/neh-staff-administrative-leave" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">National Endowment for the Humanities</a>, the <a href="https://pen.org/banned-words-list/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">policing of language</a> in research, the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-education-department-shutdown-b1d25a2e1bdcd24cfde8ad8b655b9843" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">dismantling</a> of the Department of Education and major <a href="https://apnews.com/article/college-federal-funding-trump-a236cc302fa773e5ddd91661f61593a9" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">cuts</a> to federal funding for universities. My employer, Johns Hopkins University, is seeking ways to address the financial fallout after <a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/2025/04/28/johns-hopkins-new-research-investments-pivot-bridge/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">over 100 of its federal grants</a> were cancelled.</p>
  715.  
  716.  
  717.  
  718. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>In the eyes of the Trump administration, international students should be passive observers.</p></blockquote></figure>
  719.  
  720.  
  721.  
  722. <p>Given this context, it is clear that the detention of international students is part of a larger movement to hamper learning and restrict the space for reflection. Rubio maintains that international scholars are here to study, that it is “lunacy” to allow them to be activists. It seems more likely, however, that the goal is to stifle independent thought.</p>
  723.  
  724.  
  725.  
  726. <p>In his 1963 lecture, Baldwin wrote that “the purpose of education, finally, is to create in a person the ability to look at the world for himself, to make his own decisions, to say to himself this is black or this is white, to decide for himself whether there is a God in heaven or not. &#8230; But no society is really anxious to have that kind of person around. What societies really, ideally, want is a citizenry which will simply obey the rules of society.”  </p>
  727.  
  728.  
  729.  
  730. <p>A government that demands obedience fears an educated populace; for society to flourish we must educate citizens in a way that encourages critical, independent thinking.</p>
  731.  
  732.  
  733.  
  734. <p>Many U.S. colleges and universities rely heavily on <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/19/us/losing-international-students-could-devastate-many-colleges.html" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">tuition paid by international students</a>, which often subsidizes the education of U.S. citizens. Discouraging new international students from coming to the U.S. will have a devastating financial impact. But beyond the economic effects, the censorship of international students undermines the core principles of education. When we silence one group, we all get further from the pursuit of truth. We must therefore protect the true function of education, and encourage all students to be curious, critical and engaged.</p>
  735.  
  736.  
  737.  
  738. <p class="is-td-marked">As Baldwin argued 62 years ago, a civilization that stifles freedom of thought and expression is a society that will collapse. This is the danger we face when we censor students. Silencing our brightest and most engaged students is lunacy.</p>
  739. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/discipline-and-punish/">Discipline and Punish</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  740. ]]></content:encoded>
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  749. <item>
  750. <title>HIV Testing and Outreach Falter As Funding Cuts Hit the South</title>
  751. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/hiv-testing-and-outreach-falter-as-funding-cuts-hit-the-south/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=hiv-testing-and-outreach-falter-as-funding-cuts-hit-the-south</link>
  752. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/hiv-testing-and-outreach-falter-as-funding-cuts-hit-the-south/#respond</comments>
  754. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Amy Maxmen /  KFF Health News ]]></dc:creator>
  755. <pubDate>Tue, 06 May 2025 16:46:38 +0000</pubDate>
  756. <category><![CDATA[Activism]]></category>
  757. <category><![CDATA[Economic Justice]]></category>
  758. <category><![CDATA[Health & Wellness]]></category>
  759. <category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
  760. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  761. <category><![CDATA[Social Justice]]></category>
  762. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  763. <category><![CDATA[aids]]></category>
  764. <category><![CDATA[health clinics]]></category>
  765. <category><![CDATA[hearts for the homeless]]></category>
  766. <category><![CDATA[hiv]]></category>
  767. <category><![CDATA[my brother's keeper]]></category>
  768. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=307627</guid>
  769.  
  770. <description><![CDATA[<p>A disruption in federal funds has jeopardized HIV testing and outreach in Mississippi, and researchers warn of a resurgence of the epidemic in the South.</p>
  771. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/hiv-testing-and-outreach-falter-as-funding-cuts-hit-the-south/">HIV Testing and Outreach Falter As Funding Cuts Hit the South</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  772. ]]></description>
  773. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  774. <p><strong>JACKSON, Miss.</strong> — Storm clouds hung low above a community center in Jackson, where pastor Andre Devine invited people inside for lunch. Hoagies with smoked turkey and ham drew the crowd, but several people lingered for free preventive health care: tests for HIV and other diseases, flu shots, and blood pressure and glucose monitoring.</p>
  775.  
  776.  
  777.  
  778. <p>Between greetings, Devine, executive director of the nonprofit group&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hearts4thehomeless.org/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Hearts for the Homeless</a>, commiserated with his colleagues about the hundreds of thousands of dollars their groups had lost within a couple of weeks, swept up in the <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/donald-trump/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="4" title="Donald Trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump</a> administration’s termination of research dollars and clawback of more than $11 billion from health departments across the country.</p>
  779.  
  780.  
  781.  
  782. <p>Devine would have to scale back food distribution for people in need. And his colleagues at the nonprofit health care group <a href="https://www.mbkinc.org/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">My Brother’s Keeper</a> were worried they would have to shutter the group’s mobile clinic, an RV offering HIV tests that was parked beside the community center that morning. Several employees had already been furloughed, and the cuts kept coming, said June Gipson, CEO of My Brother’s Keeper.</p>
  783.  
  784.  
  785.  
  786. <p>“People can’t work without being paid,” she said.</p>
  787.  
  788.  
  789.  
  790. <p>The directors of other community-based groups in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Tennessee told KFF Health News they too had reduced their spending on HIV testing and outreach because of delayed or slashed federal funds — or they were making plans to do so, anticipating cuts to come.</p>
  791.  
  792.  
  793.  
  794. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Several employees had already been furloughed, and the cuts kept coming.</p></blockquote></figure>
  795.  
  796.  
  797.  
  798. <p>Scaling back these efforts could prove tragic, Gipson said. Without an extra boost of support to get tested or stay on treatment, many people living with HIV will grow sicker and stand a greater chance of infecting others.</p>
  799.  
  800.  
  801.  
  802. <p>President <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/donald-trump/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="4" title="Donald Trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a>, in his first term, promised to end America’s HIV epidemic — and he put the resources of the federal government behind the effort. This time, he has deployed the powers of his office to gut funding, abandoning those communities at highest risk of HIV.</p>
  803.  
  804.  
  805.  
  806. <p>Trump’s earlier efforts targeted seven Southern states, including Mississippi, where funds went to community groups and health departments that tailor interventions to historically <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0140-6736%2821%2901236-8" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">underserved communities</a> that face discrimination and have <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8297699/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">less access</a> to quality education, health care, stable income and generational wealth. Such factors help explain why Black people accounted for <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/hiv-data/nhss/hiv-diagnoses-deaths-and-prevalence-2025.html" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">38% of HIV diagnoses</a> in the United States in 2023, despite representing only 14% of the population, <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0140-6736%2821%2901236-8" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">and also why</a> half of the country’s new HIV infections occur in the South.</p>
  807.  
  808.  
  809.  
  810. <p>Now, Trump is undermining HIV efforts by barring funds from programs built around diversity, equity and inclusion. A Day One executive order said they represent “immense public waste and shameful discrimination.”</p>
  811.  
  812.  
  813.  
  814. <p>Since then, his administration has <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25906192-20250418-hhs-grants-terminated/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">cut millions of dollars in federal grants</a> to health departments, universities and nonprofit organizations that do HIV work. And in April, it eliminated half of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 10 HIV branch offices, according to an email to grant recipients, reviewed by KFF Health News, from the director of the CDC’s Division of HIV Prevention. The layoffs included staff who had overseen the rollout of HIV grants to health departments and community-based groups, such as My Brother’s Keeper.</p>
  815.  
  816.  
  817.  
  818. <p>The CDC provides&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kff.org/hivaids/fact-sheet/u-s-federal-funding-for-hivaids-trends-over-time/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">more than 90%</a>&nbsp;of all federal funding for HIV prevention — about $1 billion annually. The Trump administration’s May 2 budget proposal for fiscal 2026 takes aim at DEI initiatives, including in its explanation for cutting $3.59 billion from the CDC. Although the proposal doesn’t mention HIV prevention specifically, the administration’s drafted plan for HHS, released mid-April, eliminates all prevention funding at the CDC, as well as funding for Trump’s initiative to end the epidemic.</p>
  819.  
  820.  
  821.  
  822. <p>Eliminating federal funds for HIV prevention would lead to more than 143,000 additional people in the U.S. becoming infected with HIV within five years, and about 127,000 additional people who die of AIDS-related causes, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amfar.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Cuts-to-CDCs-Division-of-HIV-Prevention.pdf" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">estimates from the Foundation for AIDS Research</a>, a nonprofit known as amfAR. Excess medical costs would exceed $60 billion, it said.</p>
  823.  
  824.  
  825.  
  826. <p>Eldridge Dwayne Ellis, the coordinator of the mobile testing clinic at My Brother’s Keeper, said curbing the group’s services goes beyond HIV.</p>
  827.  
  828.  
  829.  
  830. <p>“People see us as their only outlet; not just for testing but for confidential conversations, for a shoulder to cry on,” he said. “I don’t understand how someone, with the stroke of a pen, could just haphazardly write off the health of millions.”</p>
  831.  
  832.  
  833.  
  834. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Quiet tears</h3>
  835.  
  836.  
  837.  
  838. <p>Haphazardly also describes how Ellis came into his role in the mobile clinic, when he worked as a construction worker. Suddenly dizzy and unwell on a job, a co-worker suggested he visit the organization’s bricks-and-mortar clinic nearby. He later applied for a position with My Brother’s Keeper, inspired by its efforts to give people support to help themselves.</p>
  839.  
  840.  
  841.  
  842. <p>Ellis described a young man who visited the mobile clinic recently who had been kicked out of his home and was sleeping on couches or on the street. Ellis thought of friends he had known in similar situations that put them at risk of HIV by increasing the likelihood of transactional sex or substance use disorders.</p>
  843.  
  844.  
  845.  
  846. <p>When a rapid test revealed HIV, the young man fell silent. “The quiet tears hurt worse — it’s the dread of mortality,” Ellis said. “I tried to be as strong as possible to let him know his life is not over, that this wasn’t a death sentence.”</p>
  847.  
  848.  
  849.  
  850. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Only a third of people living with HIV in Mississippi were virally suppressed in 2022.</p></blockquote></figure>
  851.  
  852.  
  853.  
  854. <p>Ellis and his team enrolled the man into HIV care that day and stayed in touch. Otherwise, Ellis said, he might not have had the means or fortitude to seek treatment on his own and adhere to daily HIV pills. Not only is that deadly for people with HIV, it’s bad for public health. HIV experts use the phrase “treatment as prevention” because most new infections derive from people who aren’t adhering to treatment well enough to be considered virally suppressed — which keeps the disease from spreading.</p>
  855.  
  856.  
  857.  
  858. <p>Only&nbsp;<a href="https://ahead.hiv.gov/mississippi/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">a third of people</a>&nbsp;living with HIV in Mississippi were virally suppressed in 2022. Nationally, that number is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/hiv-data/nhss/national-hiv-prevention-and-care-outcomes.html" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">about 65%</a>. That’s worse than in eastern and southern Africa, where&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_asset/2024-unaids-global-aids-update-eastern-southern-africa_en.pdf" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">78% of people</a>&nbsp;with HIV aren’t spreading the virus because they’re on steady treatment.</p>
  859.  
  860.  
  861.  
  862. <p>My Brother’s Keeper is one of many groups improving such numbers by helping people get tested and stay on medication. But the funding cuts in Washington have curtailed their work. The first loss was a $12 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, not even two years into a 10-year project. “Programs based primarily on artificial and non-scientific categories, including amorphous equity objectives, are antithetical to the scientific inquiry,” the NIH said in a letter reviewed by KFF Health News.</p>
  863.  
  864.  
  865.  
  866. <p>My Brother’s Keeper then lost a CDC award to reduce health disparities — a grant channeled through the Mississippi state health department — that began with the group’s work during the COVID pandemic but had broadened to screening and care for HIV, heart disease and diabetes. These are some of the maladies that account for why low-income Black people in the Deep South <a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/growing-disparity-life-expectancy-racial-ethnic-groups-study/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">die sooner</a>, on average, than those who are white. According to a <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01495-8/fulltext" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">recent study</a>, the former’s life expectancy was just 68 years in 2021, on par with the average in impoverished nations like Rwanda and Myanmar.</p>
  867.  
  868.  
  869. <div class="wp-block-image">
  870. <figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="822" height="1024" src="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/life-expectancy-varies-by-income-and-geography-in-the-us-822x1024.png" alt="" class="wp-image-307628" style="width:662px;height:auto" srcset="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/life-expectancy-varies-by-income-and-geography-in-the-us-822x1024.png 822w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/life-expectancy-varies-by-income-and-geography-in-the-us-241x300.png 241w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/life-expectancy-varies-by-income-and-geography-in-the-us-768x957.png 768w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/life-expectancy-varies-by-income-and-geography-in-the-us-144x180.png 144w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/life-expectancy-varies-by-income-and-geography-in-the-us-217x270.png 217w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/life-expectancy-varies-by-income-and-geography-in-the-us-325x405.png 325w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/life-expectancy-varies-by-income-and-geography-in-the-us-470x585.png 470w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/life-expectancy-varies-by-income-and-geography-in-the-us.png 1220w" sizes="(max-width: 822px) 100vw, 822px" /></figure></div>
  871.  
  872.  
  873. <p>The group then lost CDC funding that covered the cost of laboratory work to detect HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis in patients’ blood samples. Mississippi has the <a href="https://www.universaldrugstore.com/health-news/sexual-health-index/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">highest rate</a> of sexually transmitted diseases among states, in part because people spread infections when they aren’t tested and treated.</p>
  874.  
  875.  
  876.  
  877. <p>“The labs are $200 to $600 per person,” Gipson said. “So now we can’t do that without passing the cost to the patient, and some can’t pay.”</p>
  878.  
  879.  
  880.  
  881. <p>Two other CDC grants on HIV prevention, together worth $841,000, were unusually delayed.</p>
  882.  
  883.  
  884.  
  885. <p>Public health specialists close to the CDC, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they fear retaliation, said they were aware of delays in HIV prevention funding, despite court orders to unfreeze payments for federal grants in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-pause-federal-grants-aid-lawsuit-6790d4983f9205b23b6fb67d99fcd46b" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">January</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://fortune.com/2025/02/11/federal-judge-trump-administration-unfreeze-funding-disobeyed-previous-order/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">February</a>. “The faucet was being turned off at a higher level than at the CDC,” one specialist said. The delays have now been compounded, they said, by the gutting of that agency’s HIV workforce in April.</p>
  886.  
  887.  
  888.  
  889. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“We’re seeing an about-face of what it means to truly work towards ending HIV in this country.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  890.  
  891.  
  892.  
  893. <p>“I know of many organizations reliant on subcontracted federal funds who have not been paid for the work they’ve done, or whose funding has been terminated,” said Dafina Ward, executive director of the Southern AIDS Coalition.</p>
  894.  
  895.  
  896.  
  897. <p>To reach the underserved, these groups offer food, housing assistance, bus passes, disease screening and a sense of community. A network of the groups was fostered, in part, by Trump’s initiative to end the epidemic. And it showed promise: From 2017 to 2022, new HIV infections <a href="https://www.kff.org/quick-take/cutting-hiv-prevention-funding-at-cdc-what-would-it-mean/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">decreased by 21%</a> in the cities and the Southern states it targeted.</p>
  898.  
  899.  
  900.  
  901. <p>Disparities in infections were still massive, with the rate of HIV diagnoses about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kff.org/hivaids/fact-sheet/the-impact-of-hiv-on-black-people-in-the-united-states/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">eight times as high</a>&nbsp;for Black people as white people, and the South remained hardest hit. Ward was hopeful at the start of this year, however, as testing became more widespread and HIV prevention drugs — called preexposure prophylaxis, or PrEP — slowly gained popularity. But her outlook has shifted and she fears that grassroots organizations might not weather the funding turmoil.</p>
  902.  
  903.  
  904.  
  905. <p>“We’re seeing an about-face of what it means to truly work towards ending HIV in this country,” she said.</p>
  906.  
  907.  
  908.  
  909. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">A closed clinic</h3>
  910.  
  911.  
  912.  
  913. <p>Southeast of Jackson, in Hattiesburg, Sean Fortenberry tears up as he walks into a small room used until recently for HIV testing. He has kept his job at Mississippi’s&nbsp;<a href="https://ascms.net/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">AIDS Services Coalition</a>&nbsp;by shifting his role but agonizes about the outcome. When Fortenberry tested positive for HIV in 2007, he said, his family and doctor saved his life.</p>
  914.  
  915.  
  916.  
  917. <p>“I never felt that I was alone, and that was really, really important,” he said. “Other people don’t have that, so when I came across this position, I was gung-ho. I wanted to help.”</p>
  918.  
  919.  
  920.  
  921. <p>But the coalition froze its HIV testing clinic and paused mobile testing at homeless shelters, colleges and churches late last year. Kathy Garner, the group’s executive director, said the Mississippi health department — which funds the coalition with CDC’s HIV prevention dollars — told her to pause outreach in October before the state renewed the group’s annual HIV prevention contract.</p>
  922.  
  923.  
  924.  
  925. <p>Kendra Johnson, communicable diseases director at Mississippi’s health department, said that delays in HIV prevention funds were initially on the department’s end because it was short on administrative staff. Then Trump took office. “We were working with our federal partners to ensure that our new objectives were in line with new HIV prevention activities,” Johnson said. “And we ran into additional delays due to paused communications at the federal level.”</p>
  926.  
  927.  
  928.  
  929. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“If most of these federal dollars are cut, we would have to close.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  930.  
  931.  
  932.  
  933. <p>The AIDS coalition remains afloat largely because of federal money from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program for treatment and from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. “If most of these federal dollars are cut, we would have to close,” Garner said.</p>
  934.  
  935.  
  936.  
  937. <p>The group provides housing or housing assistance to roughly 400 people each year. Research shows that people in stable housing adhere&nbsp;<a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5850870/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">much better</a>&nbsp;to HIV treatment and are far&nbsp;<a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6663574/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">less likely</a>&nbsp;to die than unhoused people with HIV.</p>
  938.  
  939.  
  940.  
  941. <p>Funding cuts have shaken every state, but the South is acutely vulnerable when it comes to HIV, said Gregorio Millett, director of public policy at amfAR. Southern states have the highest level of poverty and a severe shortage of rural clinics, and several haven’t expanded Medicaid so that more low-income adults have health insurance.</p>
  942.  
  943.  
  944.  
  945. <p>Further, Southern states aren’t poised to make up the difference. Alabama, Louisiana, Kentucky, Mississippi and Missouri put zero state funds into HIV prevention last year, according to NASTAD, an association of public health officials who administer HIV and hepatitis programs. In contrast, about 40% of Michigan’s HIV prevention budget is provided by the state, 50% of Colorado’s HIV prevention budget, and 88% of New York’s.</p>
  946.  
  947.  
  948.  
  949. <p>“When you are in the South, you need the federal government,” Gipson said. “When we had slavery, we needed the federal government. When we had the push for civil rights, we needed the federal government. And we still need the federal government for health care. The red states are going to suffer, and we’re going to start suffering sooner than anyone else.”</p>
  950.  
  951.  
  952.  
  953. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">‘So goes Mississippi’</h3>
  954.  
  955.  
  956.  
  957. <p>When asked about cuts and delays to HIV prevention funding, the CDC directed queries to HHS. The department’s director of communications, Andrew Nixon, replied in an email: “Critical HIV/AIDS programs will continue under the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA) as a part of Secretary [Robert F.] Kennedy’s vision to streamline HHS to better serve the American people.”</p>
  958.  
  959.  
  960.  
  961. <p>Nixon did not reply to a follow-up question on whether the Trump administration considers HIV prevention critical.</p>
  962.  
  963.  
  964.  
  965. <p>On April 4, Gipson received a fraction of her delayed HIV prevention funds from the CDC. But she said she was afraid to hire back staff amid the turmoil.</p>
  966.  
  967.  
  968.  
  969. <p>Like the directors of many other community organizations, Gipson is going after grants from foundations and companies. Pharmaceutical firms such as Gilead and GSK that produce HIV drugs are among the largest contributors of non-governmental funds for HIV testing, prevention and care, but private funding for HIV has never come close to the roughly <a href="https://www.kff.org/hivaids/fact-sheet/u-s-federal-funding-for-hivaids-trends-over-time/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">$40 billion</a> that the federal government allocated to HIV annually.</p>
  970.  
  971.  
  972.  
  973. <p>“If the federal government withdraws some or all of its support, the whole thing will collapse,” said Alice Riener, CEO of the community-based organization CrescentCare in Louisiana. “What you see in Mississippi is the beginning of that, and what’s so concerning is the infrastructure we’ve built will collapse quickly but take decades to rebuild.”</p>
  974.  
  975.  
  976.  
  977. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“If the federal government withdraws some or all of its support, the whole thing will collapse.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  978.  
  979.  
  980.  
  981. <p>Southern health officials are reeling from cuts because state budgets are already tight. Mississippi’s state health officer, Daniel Edney, spoke with KFF Health News on the day the Trump administration terminated $11 billion in COVID-era funds intended to help states improve their public health operations. “There’s not a lot of fat, and we’re cutting it to the bone right now,” Edney said.</p>
  982.  
  983.  
  984.  
  985. <p>Mississippi needed this boost, Edney said, because the state ranks among <a href="https://assets.americashealthrankings.org/allstatesummaries-ahr24.pdf" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">the lowest</a> in health metrics including premature death, access to clinical care and teen births. But Edney noted hopeful trends: The state had recently moved from 50th to 49th worst in health rankings, and its rate of new HIV cases was dropping.</p>
  986.  
  987.  
  988.  
  989. <p>“The science tells us what we need to do to identify and care for patients, and we’re improving,” he said. “But trends can change very quickly on us, so we can’t take our foot off the gas pedal.”</p>
  990.  
  991.  
  992.  
  993. <p>If that happens, researchers say, the comeback of HIV will go unnoticed at first, as people at the margins of society are infected silently before they’re hospitalized. As untreated infections spread, the rise will eventually grow large enough to make a dent in national statistics, a resurgence that will cost lives and take years, if not decades, to reverse.</p>
  994.  
  995.  
  996.  
  997. <p>Outside the community center on that stormy March morning, Devine lamented not just the loss of his grant from the health department, but a $1 billion cut to food distribution programs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He rattled off consequences he feared: People relying on food assistance would be forced to decide between buying groceries, paying bills or seeing a doctor, driving them further into poverty, into emergency rooms, into crime.</p>
  998.  
  999.  
  1000.  
  1001. <p>Deja Abdul-Haqq, a program director at My Brother’s Keeper, nodded along as he spoke. “So goes Mississippi, so goes the rest of the United States,” Abdul-Haqq said. “Struggles may start here, but they spread.”<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-end-hiv-in-america-funding-cuts/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank"></a></p>
  1002.  
  1003.  
  1004.  
  1005. <p class="has-small-font-size"><em><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">KFF</a> — the independent source for health policy research, polling and journalism.</em></p>
  1006.  
  1007.  
  1008.  
  1009. <p></p>
  1010. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/hiv-testing-and-outreach-falter-as-funding-cuts-hit-the-south/">HIV Testing and Outreach Falter As Funding Cuts Hit the South</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
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  1020. <item>
  1021. <title>Report: As Climate Disasters Kill in Pakistan, the True Scale Is Unknown</title>
  1022. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/report-as-climate-disasters-kill-in-pakistan-the-true-scale-is-unknown/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=report-as-climate-disasters-kill-in-pakistan-the-true-scale-is-unknown</link>
  1023. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/report-as-climate-disasters-kill-in-pakistan-the-true-scale-is-unknown/#respond</comments>
  1025. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Keerti Gopal /  Inside Climate News ]]></dc:creator>
  1026. <pubDate>Tue, 06 May 2025 15:54:02 +0000</pubDate>
  1027. <category><![CDATA[Activism]]></category>
  1028. <category><![CDATA[Asia Pacific]]></category>
  1029. <category><![CDATA[Economic Justice]]></category>
  1030. <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
  1031. <category><![CDATA[Health & Wellness]]></category>
  1032. <category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
  1033. <category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
  1034. <category><![CDATA[Social Justice]]></category>
  1035. <category><![CDATA[amnesty international]]></category>
  1036. <category><![CDATA[climate change]]></category>
  1037. <category><![CDATA[floods]]></category>
  1038. <category><![CDATA[india]]></category>
  1039. <category><![CDATA[pakistan]]></category>
  1040. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=307612</guid>
  1041.  
  1042. <description><![CDATA[<p>Climate change deaths are largely underreported as the crisis impacts millions and strains an already overburdened health care system.</p>
  1043. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/report-as-climate-disasters-kill-in-pakistan-the-true-scale-is-unknown/">Report: As Climate Disasters Kill in Pakistan, the True Scale Is Unknown</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  1044. ]]></description>
  1045. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  1046. <p><strong>When torrential rain</strong> in 2022 flooded Abdul Latif’s village in Badin, Pakistan, his roof caved in and he and his six children were forced to live on a road for a month without shelter, clean water or other basic necessities.&nbsp;</p>
  1047.  
  1048.  
  1049.  
  1050. <p>Soon, his 3-year-old son fell sick with vomiting, diarrhea and a swollen abdomen. A government hospital in the nearest city said it didn’t have the resources to take him, so Latif brought him to a private clinic and paid for temporary treatment. A few days later, at a nonprofit facility, the toddler died of acute gastroenteritis.</p>
  1051.  
  1052.  
  1053.  
  1054. <p>Latif and his family were among the more than 8 million people in Pakistan displaced by that year’s catastrophic floods, and he was one of 210 people interviewed by human rights nonprofit Amnesty International for a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amnestyusa.org/reports/uncounted-invisible-deaths-of-older-people-and-children-during-climate-disasters-in-pakistan/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">report</a>&nbsp;released Monday that outlines how insufficient health care, disaster response and data collection exacerbate the devastating risks of climate death and disease in a country on the frontlines of the global crisis.</p>
  1055.  
  1056.  
  1057. <span id="block_fe52f3cecda6f3e3eebf147d6f83870c" class="td-article-related-box-block block md:inline md:float-right w-[350px] max-w-full border-4 border-black p-6 md:ml-5 !my-12 !md:my-6">
  1058. <span class="text-red block font-proxima-nova absolute -translate-y-11 pt-2 pb-1.5 px-3 bg-white font-semibold uppercase tracking-widest text-lg leading-none">Related</span>
  1059. <span class="flex flex-col gap-2 font-semibold font-news-gothic-std">
  1060. <span class="block">
  1061. <span class="block">
  1062. <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/letter-from-pakistan-flooding-accounts/" class="!border-0">
  1063. Karachi Dispatch: After the Deluge </a>
  1064. </span>
  1065. <span class="block mt-2">
  1066. <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/letter-from-pakistan-flooding-accounts/"><img decoding="async" width="425" height="270" src="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/AP22278347110891-Pakistan-Flood-Relief-425x270.jpeg" class="attachment-16:9-medium size-16:9-medium wp-post-image" alt="Five people wade through knee-deep water toward the shoreline carrying packages above their heads" srcset="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/AP22278347110891-Pakistan-Flood-Relief-425x270.jpeg 425w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/AP22278347110891-Pakistan-Flood-Relief-300x191.jpeg 300w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/AP22278347110891-Pakistan-Flood-Relief-1024x651.jpeg 1024w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/AP22278347110891-Pakistan-Flood-Relief-768x488.jpeg 768w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/AP22278347110891-Pakistan-Flood-Relief-283x180.jpeg 283w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/AP22278347110891-Pakistan-Flood-Relief-637x405.jpeg 637w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/AP22278347110891-Pakistan-Flood-Relief-921x585.jpeg 921w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/AP22278347110891-Pakistan-Flood-Relief-1133x720.jpeg 1133w" sizes="(max-width: 425px) 100vw, 425px" /></a>
  1067. </span>
  1068. </span>
  1069. </span>
  1070. </span>
  1071.  
  1072.  
  1073.  
  1074. <p>“We asked the government to please provide us at least a tent so we can save our families,” Latif said, according to the report. “I had only one son, and he died.”&nbsp;</p>
  1075.  
  1076.  
  1077.  
  1078. <p>Climate disasters — including floods and extreme heat — have killed thousands in Pakistan in the past several years. This year, temperatures of more than 120 degrees Fahrenheit <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/30/india-and-pakistan-already-sweltering-in-new-normal-heatwave-conditions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">came early</a> and threaten to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2025/04/29/pakistan-heat-temperature-record-south-asia/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">break</a> spring<strong> </strong>heat records. </p>
  1079.  
  1080.  
  1081.  
  1082. <p>By the government’s own <a href="https://www.pc.gov.pk/uploads/crvs_reports/National_Framework_on_CRVS_reform.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">estimation</a>, more than 95 percent of all deaths in Pakistan go unregistered. That means that the already severe, documented impacts of climate change are likely just scratching the surface of the true scale of harm. </p>
  1083.  
  1084.  
  1085.  
  1086. <p>“It’s really important [to understand] how little we see of the real impacts of the climate crisis in Pakistan,” said Laura Mills, a crisis response researcher at Amnesty International and one of the report’s authors. “We’re only seeing part of the story.”</p>
  1087.  
  1088.  
  1089.  
  1090. <p>Rising floods and extreme heat in Pakistan are straining an already under-resourced health care system, with elders and children most vulnerable to growing dangers of disease and death, the report says.&nbsp;</p>
  1091.  
  1092.  
  1093.  
  1094. <p>Despite being the fifth-largest country in the world, Pakistan contributes only about 1 percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions. The nonprofit Germanwatch&nbsp;<a href="https://www.germanwatch.org/en/cri" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">named</a>&nbsp;Pakistan as the most affected country in the world by climate change in 2022.</p>
  1095.  
  1096.  
  1097. <div class="wp-block-image">
  1098. <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img decoding="async" width="700" height="698" src="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Pakistan2022HeatFloods700px.png" alt="" class="wp-image-307613" srcset="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Pakistan2022HeatFloods700px.png 700w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Pakistan2022HeatFloods700px-300x300.png 300w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Pakistan2022HeatFloods700px-150x150.png 150w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Pakistan2022HeatFloods700px-181x180.png 181w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Pakistan2022HeatFloods700px-271x270.png 271w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Pakistan2022HeatFloods700px-406x405.png 406w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Pakistan2022HeatFloods700px-587x585.png 587w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" /></figure></div>
  1099.  
  1100.  
  1101. <p>Around the world, those least culpable for climate change are often suffering its worst consequences. Meanwhile, wealthy countries like the United States — the world’s largest economy, the highest historic emitter of greenhouse gases and the current second-highest emitter after China — are backing out of global emissions reduction initiatives, loss and damage fund <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/united-states-quits-board-un-climate-damage-fund-letter-shows-2025-03-07/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">efforts</a>, foreign aid, and crucial data and research on climate and global health. </p>
  1102.  
  1103.  
  1104.  
  1105. <p>Monday’s report, which includes research from Amnesty International and the Indus Hospital &amp; Health Network, a nonprofit health care network in Pakistan, emphasizes this global imbalance. It calls on wealthy and high-emitting countries like the United States to step up, while also saying Pakistan’s own government must fulfill its human rights obligations to protect its citizens’ health.</p>
  1106.  
  1107.  
  1108.  
  1109. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Tracking the human cost of climate change</h3>
  1110.  
  1111.  
  1112.  
  1113. <p>The Indus Hospital &amp; Health Network analyzed deaths in three of its rural hospitals in areas affected by floods or heat waves in 2022: the Badin district in southern Sindh and Muzaffargarh and Bhong in the Punjab province. The Badin district was heavily impacted by flooding, while Punjab has been hit hard by flooding and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/climate-change-made-devastating-early-heat-in-india-and-pakistan-30-times-more-likely/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">climate change-fueled</a>&nbsp;heat waves.</p>
  1114.  
  1115.  
  1116.  
  1117. <p>Amnesty International conducted interviews with relatives of people who died in 2022 and 2024 floods and heat waves, both in the three IHHN facilities and in Karachi, the country’s most populated city. The group also interviewed health care workers, humanitarian response workers and government officials.</p>
  1118.  
  1119.  
  1120.  
  1121. <p>The 2022 floods — spurred by rain made <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/09/19/1123798981/climate-change-likely-helped-cause-deadly-pakistan-floods-scientists-find" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">75 percent worse by climate change</a> — put one-third of the country underwater, impacting 33 million people and displacing 8 million. The official death count was 1,739, likely a massive undercount. </p>
  1122.  
  1123.  
  1124.  
  1125. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>The official death count from the 2022 floods was 1,739, likely a massive undercount.</p></blockquote></figure>
  1126.  
  1127.  
  1128.  
  1129. <p>The World Health Organization found that 2,000 health facilities in Pakistan were destroyed or damaged in the 2022 floods, accounting for 13 percent of the country’s facilities. Roads and infrastructure in flooded areas were also decimated for weeks or months afterward, preventing many from accessing health care for chronic conditions or emergencies. In 2024, extreme flooding hit Pakistan again, displacing more than 140,000 people, many of whom had also lost their homes just two years prior.</p>
  1130.  
  1131.  
  1132.  
  1133. <p>Death certificates are not automatically issued in Pakistan, even when a person dies in a hospital, as Latif’s son did. A family has to apply specifically and pay for a death certificate to ensure that their relative’s death is counted in official tallies. According to the report, many families don’t obtain a death certificate unless the deceased owned property or land that needed to be passed down, which means that the deaths of women and children are less likely to be reported.</p>
  1134.  
  1135.  
  1136.  
  1137. <p>One of the estimated 95 percent of unreported deaths was that of Latif’s son. Latif, like many of Amnesty International’s interviewees, did not apply for a certificate.&nbsp;</p>
  1138.  
  1139.  
  1140.  
  1141. <p>Even if that death had been recorded, it probably would not have been counted as a flood death, Amnesty International said. Official flood death counts in Pakistan only account for immediate deaths — like drownings. But the majority of deaths from floods come in the aftermath. Displaced communities living without resources, in often unsanitary conditions, are cut off from health care. Usually treatable health conditions as well as diseases exacerbated by flood conditions can easily become fatal.</p>
  1142.  
  1143.  
  1144.  
  1145. <p>Globally, floods worsened by climate change are contributing to a rise in vector-borne diseases like cholera, typhoid, dengue and malaria and can cause deadly diarrhea. In 2016, when diarrhea caused 1.6 million deaths worldwide, more than half were in South Asia. After the 2022 floods, impacted areas of Pakistan saw spikes in malaria, dengue, diarrhea and other health complications.</p>
  1146.  
  1147.  
  1148.  
  1149. <p>The result of not tracking these deaths in connection to the floods is an “overall chasm of actual mortality data,” said Mills. </p>
  1150.  
  1151.  
  1152.  
  1153. <p>“You’re only getting a tiny piece of the picture of who’s dying,” Mills said. “You don’t even actually know who are the most vulnerable if you’re not capturing disease.”</p>
  1154.  
  1155.  
  1156.  
  1157. <p>That’s also true with heat waves, increasingly ubiquitous and deadly in Pakistan and across South Asia. Extreme heat can cause heat exhaustion and heat stroke and can exacerbate chronic conditions like respiratory or cardiovascular disease, but deaths from heat are notoriously underreported. A 2022 heat wave across both Pakistan and India was made&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/climate-change-made-devastating-early-heat-in-india-and-pakistan-30-times-more-likely/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">30 times more likely because of climate change</a>.&nbsp;</p>
  1158.  
  1159.  
  1160.  
  1161. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ASA3390072025EN_Web-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-307615" srcset="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ASA3390072025EN_Web-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ASA3390072025EN_Web-300x200.jpg 300w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ASA3390072025EN_Web-768x512.jpg 768w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ASA3390072025EN_Web-270x180.jpg 270w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ASA3390072025EN_Web-405x270.jpg 405w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ASA3390072025EN_Web-608x405.jpg 608w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ASA3390072025EN_Web-878x585.jpg 878w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ASA3390072025EN_Web.jpg 1881w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">An older man receives a medical checkup after being affected by a flood-related illness in 2024. (Shakil Adil/Amnesty International)</figcaption></figure>
  1162.  
  1163.  
  1164.  
  1165. <p>Among Amnesty International’s interviewees was<strong>&nbsp;</strong>the brother of Ibrahim Sanif Abdul, a 55-year-old security guard who worked 12-hour shifts outdoors, seven days a week, until his death during a heat wave on June 26, 2024.</p>
  1166.  
  1167.  
  1168.  
  1169. <p>Abdul’s death was attributed to a heart attack. But it’s well documented that exposure to extreme heat puts strain on the cardiovascular system, and it’s likely that Abdul’s death was at least a partial result of the heat. His death, however — like many others — would not be counted as a “heat death,” Amnesty International said. </p>
  1170.  
  1171.  
  1172.  
  1173. <p>Climate health risks are most acute for socially vulnerable groups, including the elderly, children, women and people with disabilities, the report found.</p>
  1174.  
  1175.  
  1176.  
  1177. <p>Both elders and young children are more biologically vulnerable to dehydration and heat-related illnesses, and face higher risks of the mosquito-borne, water-borne and respiratory diseases that global warming and subsequent flooding make more likely.&nbsp;</p>
  1178.  
  1179.  
  1180.  
  1181. <p>Farah Waseem, a medical intern in a government hospital in Lahore, said she often sees pollution drive patients into the hospital with acute breathing problems and exacerbated chronic diseases. Air pollution is worsened by extreme heat and reached <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/07/world/asia/pakistan-air-pollution-punjab.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">record highs</a> last year in Pakistan. During peak smog season, Waseem was sometimes unable to see the car in front of her as she drove to work. </p>
  1182.  
  1183.  
  1184.  
  1185. <p>“It gets worse, year by year,” said Waseem, who is also a climate activist and is working with Amnesty International to get the word out about the report.&nbsp;</p>
  1186.  
  1187.  
  1188.  
  1189. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="700" height="661" src="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/IndiaStatesHeatCold700bpx.png" alt="" class="wp-image-307614" srcset="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/IndiaStatesHeatCold700bpx.png 700w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/IndiaStatesHeatCold700bpx-300x283.png 300w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/IndiaStatesHeatCold700bpx-191x180.png 191w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/IndiaStatesHeatCold700bpx-286x270.png 286w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/IndiaStatesHeatCold700bpx-429x405.png 429w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/IndiaStatesHeatCold700bpx-620x585.png 620w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" /></figure>
  1190.  
  1191.  
  1192.  
  1193. <p>Climate death and disease are an acute problem across South Asia. A mortality <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23328940.2025.2475420#graphical-abstract" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">study</a>&nbsp;set in India and published last week found that deaths from both extreme heat and cold are rising. The authors, with O. P. Jindal Global University, called for greater government support for outdoor and low-wage workers most exposed to extreme temperature dangers.&nbsp;</p>
  1194.  
  1195.  
  1196.  
  1197. <p>Waseem’s hospital in Lahore is overburdened with needs that health care workers can’t keep up with, like overcrowding and lack of subsidized medications for patients experiencing poverty. Pakistan has roughly one <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.MED.PHYS.ZS?locations=PK" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">physician</a> for every 1,000 people — the U.S. has a rate more than three times that — and one <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.MED.NUMW.P3?locations=PK" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">nurse or midwife</a> for every 2,000 people, one of the lowest rates in the world.</p>
  1198.  
  1199.  
  1200.  
  1201. <p>“Working as a doctor, this is the hardest thing that I have to do: … To say, ‘I’m sorry, we cannot accommodate you,’” Waseem said, fresh off a 31-hour shift. “It is the biggest human rights violation, in my own personal opinion, that I think that we can do as individuals, as doctors, as physicians, because we’re supposed to take care of other people.” </p>
  1202.  
  1203.  
  1204.  
  1205. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Need for global support amid rollbacks</h3>
  1206.  
  1207.  
  1208.  
  1209. <p>Pakistan has joined global&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/18/cop29-were-here-for-life-and-death-reasons-says-ex-climate-minister-of-pakistan" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">calls</a>&nbsp;for the&nbsp;<a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/tags/loss-and-damage/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">loss and damage fund</a>, an initiative that aims to provide financial assistance to countries most vulnerable to climate change. The fund has been called a necessity for equitably addressing the crisis, but it is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/06/700m-pledged-to-loss-and-damage-fund-cop28-covers-less-than-02-percent-needed" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">severely underfunded</a>.<strong>&nbsp;</strong></p>
  1210.  
  1211.  
  1212.  
  1213. <p>The 2022 floods caused about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2022/10/28/pakistan-flood-damages-and-economic-losses-over-usd-30-billion-and-reconstruction-needs-over-usd-16-billion-new-assessme" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">$30 billion</a>&nbsp;in damages and economic losses, and much of the international support the country received was in the form of loans, not grants, adding to its serious financial challenges.</p>
  1214.  
  1215.  
  1216.  
  1217. <p>Amnesty International’s report called on Pakistan’s government to step up its disaster response, data collection and health care efforts, particularly for vulnerable populations, but also emphasized that the country on its own cannot address climate change and global resource gaps.&nbsp;</p>
  1218.  
  1219.  
  1220.  
  1221. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“Instead of more support, what we’re seeing is a real rollback.”</p></blockquote></figure>
  1222.  
  1223.  
  1224.  
  1225. <p>The trend in the U.S. and elsewhere to move away from climate action and global health initiatives is worrying, Mills said.</p>
  1226.  
  1227.  
  1228.  
  1229. <p>“The U.S., the EU, these are sort of the big, historic emitters who are very much the most to blame for the climate crisis,” Mills said. “And instead of more support, what we’re seeing is a real rollback in support.”</p>
  1230.  
  1231.  
  1232.  
  1233. <p>Mills said that USAID’s <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/an-ode-to-the-demographic-and-health-survey-program/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Demographic Health Surveys Program</a> — a project launched in 1984 to provide comprehensive open-source data on global health — is one of the only data collection programs that government officials in Pakistan can use to track domestic health issues, including those related to climate. It’s currently “on <a href="https://dhsprogram.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">pause</a>,” frozen by the <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/donald-trump/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="4" title="Donald Trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump</a> administration along with <a href="https://www.eenews.net/articles/trump-killed-us-climate-aid-heres-what-it-means-for-the-world/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">foreign assistance programs</a> addressing climate change and public health around the world.</p>
  1234.  
  1235.  
  1236.  
  1237. <p>Waseem hopes that Amnesty International’s report will raise global awareness that climate change is already a crisis in Pakistan and spark action from countries with the power to help.</p>
  1238.  
  1239.  
  1240.  
  1241. <p>“It’s not just that my own country needs to step up,” Waseem said. “Other countries also need to step up.”&nbsp;</p>
  1242. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/report-as-climate-disasters-kill-in-pakistan-the-true-scale-is-unknown/">Report: As Climate Disasters Kill in Pakistan, the True Scale Is Unknown</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  1243. ]]></content:encoded>
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  1246. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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  1251. </item>
  1252. <item>
  1253. <title>Coders Want In on the Kill Chain</title>
  1254. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/coders-want-in-on-the-kill-chain/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=coders-want-in-on-the-kill-chain</link>
  1255. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/coders-want-in-on-the-kill-chain/#respond</comments>
  1257. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Nick Cleveland-Stout /  Responsible Statecraft ]]></dc:creator>
  1258. <pubDate>Tue, 06 May 2025 15:33:03 +0000</pubDate>
  1259. <category><![CDATA[Business & Economy]]></category>
  1260. <category><![CDATA[Column]]></category>
  1261. <category><![CDATA[Military]]></category>
  1262. <category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
  1263. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  1264. <category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
  1265. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  1266. <category><![CDATA[artificial intelligence]]></category>
  1267. <category><![CDATA[autonomous weapons]]></category>
  1268. <category><![CDATA[hill and valley forum]]></category>
  1269. <category><![CDATA[palantir]]></category>
  1270. <category><![CDATA[silicon valley]]></category>
  1271. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=307607</guid>
  1272.  
  1273. <description><![CDATA[<p>At a confab on Capitol Hill last week, Silicon Valley titans concluded they need to lobby like Lockheed.</p>
  1274. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/coders-want-in-on-the-kill-chain/">Coders Want In on the Kill Chain</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  1275. ]]></description>
  1276. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  1277. <p><strong>Silicon Valley’s elite</strong> traded hoodies for Hill passes last week and planted their flag in Washington.</p>
  1278.  
  1279.  
  1280.  
  1281. <p>During a nearly 12-hour marathon Hill and Valley Forum in the Capitol, star-studded venture capitalists, defense technologists, and allied policymakers congratulated themselves on the promising start to the military application of artificial intelligence and autonomous weapons in the era of <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/donald-trump/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="4" title="Donald Trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump</a> 2.</p>
  1282.  
  1283.  
  1284.  
  1285. <p>Jacob Helberg, co-founder of the annual forum and President <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/donald-trump/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="4" title="Donald Trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a>’s pick for undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment, laid out the success story of Silicon Valley’s David-to-Goliath arc in his opening remarks.</p>
  1286.  
  1287.  
  1288.  
  1289. <p>“We have the best leader in the world. President Trump is objectively and truly a sample of one. … The stars have aligned. We have the builders, we have the innovators, the policymakers and leaders for a reindustrialization revolution in this country to seize this American moment,” he declared.</p>
  1290.  
  1291.  
  1292.  
  1293. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Venture capitalists are only now beginning to hire lobbyists.</p></blockquote></figure>
  1294.  
  1295.  
  1296.  
  1297. <p>Helberg forgot to credit one important group: the lobbyists. During coffee breaks outside the auditorium — where old friends caught up and West Coasters complained about the early start time — attendees explained that lobbyist insiders have been crucial in closing the daylight between would-be skeptics in government and Silicon Valley’s startups.</p>
  1298.  
  1299.  
  1300.  
  1301. <p>“It’s no mistake that there’s been an infusion of Silicon Valley acolytes in Washington D.C. the last six months,” said one founder of a venture capital firm invested in defense technology companies. “Silicon Valley is recognizing that lobbying is a key conduit to get things done and sell its message to three letter agencies.”</p>
  1302.  
  1303.  
  1304.  
  1305. <p>Venture capitalists are only now beginning to hire lobbyists. Since Trump’s victory in November, Andreessen Horowitz has snapped up contracts with&nbsp;<a href="https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/c44178b9-f606-41ea-b030-655bcb60d224/print/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">BGR Government Affairs</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/52af18bf-30a7-44c6-b1b9-6841e4616d2b/print/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Cornerstone Government Affairs</a> and Trump-connected&nbsp;<a href="https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/938893ae-1c72-49ec-869b-58f52f27e785/print/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Miller Strategies</a>&nbsp;to advocate on “issues related to AI,” among other items. Other major venture capital firms, such as General Catalyst and Sequoia Capital, registered lobbyists for the first time last year.</p>
  1306.  
  1307.  
  1308.  
  1309. <p>Meanwhile, major defense technology firms such Palantir, Anduril and Shield AI have doubled down on lobbying efforts in recent years.</p>
  1310.  
  1311.  
  1312.  
  1313. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="712" src="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-06-112439.png" alt="" class="wp-image-307608" srcset="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-06-112439.png 820w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-06-112439-300x260.png 300w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-06-112439-768x667.png 768w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-06-112439-207x180.png 207w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-06-112439-311x270.png 311w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-06-112439-466x405.png 466w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-06-112439-674x585.png 674w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">(Created with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.datawrapper.de/_/0wo6d" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Datawrapper</a>)</figcaption></figure>
  1314.  
  1315.  
  1316.  
  1317. <p>Another founder of a defense technology firm said that by lobbying up, Silicon Valley is following in the footsteps of the “game” played by prime contractors like Lockheed Martin and Boeing. “It’s all marketing. It’s about creating a message that sells well,” they said.</p>
  1318.  
  1319.  
  1320.  
  1321. <p>And that message is resonating. Trump has signed a series of executive orders that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.firstbreakfast.com/p/trump-transforms-the-government-with" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">favor</a>&nbsp;some of Silicon Valley’s longtime stated goals, such as ordering the Pentagon to find commercial solutions rather than custom ones, emphasizing speed over testing and slashing acquisition regulations. Trump also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/the-iron-dome-for-america/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">ordered</a>&nbsp;the creation of a “Golden Dome” missile defense system, with three defense technology heavy hitters — Palantir, Anduril and SpaceX — reportedly&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/palantir-anduril-join-forces-with-tech-groups-bid-pentagon-contracts-ft-reports-2024-12-22/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">eager</a>&nbsp;to cash in.</p>
  1322.  
  1323.  
  1324.  
  1325. <p>If the forum was any indication, Silicon Valley is also getting buy-in from Congress. Key lawmakers such as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La) and Senate Armed Services Committee members Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.), all made appearances and sung the firms’ praises. “What you’re doing here is so critically important. … You always have a welcome mat here at the Capitol. I hope you come by the Speaker’s office when you come individually or with your family; we’ll roll out the red carpet for you,” said Johnson.</p>
  1326.  
  1327.  
  1328.  
  1329. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>If the forum was any indication, Silicon Valley is also getting buy-in from Congress.</p></blockquote></figure>
  1330.  
  1331.  
  1332.  
  1333. <p>Aided by K Street’s most high-powered firms, such as Invariant, Cornerstone Government Affairs, Akin Gump and Brownstein Hyatt, Palantir’s rise in particular has been nothing short of meteoric. An investigation by the Tech Transparency Project&nbsp;<a href="https://www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/inside-palantirs-expanding-influence-operation" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">found</a>&nbsp;that Palantir has “hired a slew of well-connected players from Congress and federal agencies, ramped up lobbying activity, and created a foundation to bankroll policy-shaping research, conferences, and public commentary,” all of which is taking place mostly below the radar.</p>
  1334.  
  1335.  
  1336.  
  1337. <p>One of the bills that Palantir’s lobbyists worked to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/palantir-technologies/lobbying?id=D000055177" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">pass</a>&nbsp;was the $14 billion aid package to&nbsp;<a href="https://responsiblestatecraft.org/tag/israel/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Israel</a>. It’s not hard to see why; last year, the military software company&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/markets" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">agreed</a>&nbsp;to a strategic partnership with Israel to supply “advanced technology in support of war-related missions” and even&nbsp;<a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-tech-giant-palantir-decides-to-hold-first-board-meeting-of-new-year-in-tel-aviv/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">organized</a>&nbsp;its annual board meeting in Tel Aviv.</p>
  1338.  
  1339.  
  1340.  
  1341. <p>Palantir’s full-throated support of Israel has not been without controversy. Palantir CEO Alex Karp was among the speakers at the Hill and Valley Forum, but his panel was quickly interrupted by two protestors.</p>
  1342.  
  1343.  
  1344.  
  1345. <p>“Your AI technology for Palantir kills Palestinians,” shouted the first protestor from the Capitol Auditorium balcony.</p>
  1346.  
  1347.  
  1348.  
  1349. <p>“Mostly terrorists, that’s true,” Karp replied.</p>
  1350.  
  1351.  
  1352.  
  1353. <p>“You say mostly, so it’s okay to kill other innocent civilians?” The protestor quipped back, before security escorted her out.</p>
  1354.  
  1355.  
  1356.  
  1357. <figure class="wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
  1358. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Palantir CEO Alex Karp admits that his technology is used to kill innocent people.<br><br>Karp tells protestor that Palantir kills “mostly terrorists.”<br><br>“If you say mostly so it’s okay to kill other innocent civilians?” <a href="https://t.co/5h0tw8M2vn" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">pic.twitter.com/5h0tw8M2vn</a></p>&mdash; Nick Cleveland-Stout (@nick_clevelands) <a href="https://twitter.com/nick_clevelands/status/1917640922403061939?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">April 30, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
  1359. </div></figure>
  1360.  
  1361.  
  1362.  
  1363. <p>Karp ended his remarks by noting that Silicon Valley firms are no longer the underdogs they used to be. “You&#8217;re still shooting uphill, but shooting uphill and shooting to Mount Everest while they&#8217;re dropping grenades on you is a different story,” he said.</p>
  1364.  
  1365.  
  1366.  
  1367. <p>As of this writing, the military software company has a market capitalization equal to Lockheed Martin and RTX combined. Firms like Palantir and Anduril still have some way to go in competing for top defense contracts, but, backed by an army of K Street lobbyists, they might find more and more offices rolling out the red carpet. Grenades will certainly continue to drop — but Palantir and Co. want to be the ones throwing them.</p>
  1368. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/coders-want-in-on-the-kill-chain/">Coders Want In on the Kill Chain</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  1369. ]]></content:encoded>
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  1372. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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  1378. <item>
  1379. <title>On Climate, Governors Enter &#8216;Trench Warfare Mode&#8217;</title>
  1380. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/on-climate-governors-enter-trench-warfare-mode/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=on-climate-governors-enter-trench-warfare-mode</link>
  1381. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/on-climate-governors-enter-trench-warfare-mode/#respond</comments>
  1383. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Dana Drugmand]]></dc:creator>
  1384. <pubDate>Mon, 05 May 2025 16:27:58 +0000</pubDate>
  1385. <category><![CDATA[Activism]]></category>
  1386. <category><![CDATA[Courts & Law]]></category>
  1387. <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
  1388. <category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
  1389. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  1390. <category><![CDATA[TD Original]]></category>
  1391. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  1392. <category><![CDATA[climate change]]></category>
  1393. <category><![CDATA[climate policy]]></category>
  1394. <category><![CDATA[department of justice]]></category>
  1395. <category><![CDATA[donald trump]]></category>
  1396. <category><![CDATA[states rights]]></category>
  1397. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=307572</guid>
  1398.  
  1399. <description><![CDATA[<p>Inside the battle to advance state-level climate action under Trump 2.0.</p>
  1400. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/on-climate-governors-enter-trench-warfare-mode/">On Climate, Governors Enter &#8216;Trench Warfare Mode&#8217;</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  1401. ]]></description>
  1402. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  1403. <p class="has-drop-cap">With the U.S. federal government once again abandoning all efforts to confront the climate crisis, any domestic advances in reducing emissions and accelerating clean energy in the near future will have to come from the state and local levels. And while some states continue to make strides on this front, they do so in the face of a <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/donald-trump/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="4" title="Donald Trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump</a> administration that is blocking federal climate-related funding and threatening to go after states for their efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and hold fossil fuel companies accountable.</p>
  1404.  
  1405.  
  1406.  
  1407. <p>On April 8, President <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/donald-trump/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="4" title="Donald Trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a> signed a sweeping <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/protecting-american-energy-from-state-overreach/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">executive order</a> that seemingly put all state and local climate policies in the crosshairs. Titled “Protecting American Energy from State Overreach,” the order directs the U.S. attorney general to identify all state laws, policies, regulations and actions that burden fossil fuel development or otherwise address climate change; greenhouse gas emissions; environmental, social and governance initiatives; or environmental justice, and to “expeditiously take all appropriate action” to stop them. Although the order identifies a number of state programs — California’s cap-and-trade program, “polluter pays” climate superfund laws passed by Vermont and New York — the language is broad enough to implicate virtually any state climate or environmental policies that might hinder the administration’s “energy dominance” agenda. </p>
  1408.  
  1409.  
  1410.  
  1411. <p>Now, the attorney general has started to implement Trump’s command by taking legal action directly against states. On May 1, the Department of Justice announced it had filed lawsuits against Hawaii, Michigan, New York and Vermont over their efforts to hold fossil fuel polluters liable for climate damages. The lawsuits against Hawaii and Michigan were preemptive strikes, as these states had not yet sued any energy companies at the time of the Trump administration’s filings. Hawaii, however, did announce a climate deception lawsuit against major oil companies and the American Petroleum Institute later Thursday. In its announcement, Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez condemned the Trump administration’s “illegal attempt to interfere” with its lawsuit. “The state of Hawaiʻi will not be deterred from moving forward with our climate deception lawsuit,” Lopez said. “My department will vigorously oppose this gross federal overreach.”</p>
  1412.  
  1413.  
  1414.  
  1415. <p>Other state and local leaders have similarly rebuked Trump’s directive as an unlawful attack on their sovereignty and have said they will not back down from their efforts to advance climate action.</p>
  1416.  
  1417.  
  1418.  
  1419. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“The state of Hawaiʻi will not be deterred from moving forward with our climate deception lawsuit.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  1420.  
  1421.  
  1422.  
  1423. <p>“The federal government cannot unilaterally strip states’ independent constitutional authority,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, co-chairs of the U.S. Climate Alliance and both Democrats, <a href="https://usclimatealliance.org/press-releases/alliance-statement-on-executive-order-targeting-state-authority-apr-2025/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">said in a statement</a>. “We are a nation of states — and laws — and we will not be deterred. We will keep advancing solutions to the climate crisis that safeguard Americans’ fundamental right to clean air and water, create good-paying jobs, grow the clean energy economy, and make our future healthier and safer.” </p>
  1424.  
  1425.  
  1426.  
  1427. <p>The Climate Alliance, which launched during Trump’s first term, is a coalition of U.S. states and territories committed to pursuing climate leadership. Several governors whose states belong to this coalition have referenced their commitments to <a href="https://usclimatealliance.org/press-releases/alliance-governors-continue-climate-fight-mar-2025/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">continue making progress</a> during their annual addresses. “Colorado will continue to lead the way to tackle climate change and pollution, with or without federal help,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, D, said in his <a href="https://www.colorado.gov/governor/news/governor-polis-state-our-state-strong" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">state of the state remarks</a> in January. </p>
  1428.  
  1429.  
  1430.  
  1431. <p>At the local level, commissioners in Boulder County, Colorado, a jurisdiction that filed <a href="https://climatecasechart.com/case/board-of-county-commissioners-of-boulder-county-v-suncor-energy-usa-inc/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">suit</a> in 2018 against oil companies ExxonMobil and Suncor seeking to recover damage costs associated with climate impacts, issued a <a href="https://bouldercounty.gov/news/local-climate-action-is-more-important-than-ever-before/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">statement</a> pushing back against Trump’s executive order. “We stand firm in our belief that the State of Colorado and Boulder County are within our legal rights to take action locally to address climate change and that the federal government does not have the authority through Executive Orders to block state laws and lawsuits,” the county officials said.&nbsp;</p>
  1432.  
  1433.  
  1434.  
  1435. <p>California Gov. Gavin Newsom, D, also spoke out against Trump’s directive, <a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/04/09/glorified-press-release-governor-newsom-responds-to-latest-trump-order-turning-back-the-clock-on-climate/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">calling</a> it a “glorified press release masquerading as an executive order.” Newsom added that “California’s efforts to cut harmful pollution won’t be derailed.” Just a week after Trump signed the order, the governor and leaders in the state legislature <a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/04/15/governor-newsom-legislature-double-down-on-states-critical-cap-and-trade-program-in-face-of-federal-threats/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">announced</a> they plan to “double down” on California’s cap-and-trade program, which is set to expire in 2030 absent legislative action to extend it. </p>
  1436.  
  1437.  
  1438.  
  1439. <p>State officials in Vermont have likewise struck a defiant tone in the face of Trump’s threats to their climate initiatives, including a first-of-its-kind law that requires big fossil fuel polluters to help pay for some of the costs of responding and adapting to damaging climate impacts. During a recent <a href="https://vnrc.org/vnrc-vpirg-host-earth-day-press-conference/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Earth Day press conference</a> at the Vermont Statehouse, Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark slammed Trump’s executive order as “yet another attempt to undermine state sovereignty.” She vowed to continue working to protect and defend Vermont’s actions to address the climate crisis.&nbsp;</p>
  1440.  
  1441.  
  1442.  
  1443. <p>“Vermont is not going to back down or be intimidated by threats like Trump&#8217;s recent executive order,” Vermont state Sen. Anne Watson, a Democrat who was a lead sponsor of the state’s Climate Superfund Act, said in an emailed statement. “We have an obligation to protect our constituents, and that&#8217;s what we will continue to do.”  </p>
  1444.  
  1445.  
  1446.  
  1447. <p class="has-drop-cap">Blue states like Vermont have also seen halting moves by local Republicans to undermine climate and clean energy goals.&nbsp;</p>
  1448.  
  1449.  
  1450.  
  1451. <p>During a March 7 webinar discussing federal and state attacks on climate action, Watson pointed to <a href="https://vtdigger.org/2025/02/20/advocates-criticize-scotts-climate-omnibus-bill-as-a-policy-rollback/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">proposed legislation</a> backed by Republican Gov. Phil Scott and state Republican lawmakers that would amount to “mostly rollbacks.” Climate advocates say this bill would gut the state’s signature climate law and make other ill-advised changes to the state’s renewable energy policy and energy efficiency fund. Now, with just a few weeks left in the state’s legislative session, that bill and other attempted rollbacks do not appear to be moving forward. “Republicans here in Vermont don’t necessarily want to be associated with that wholesale attack on the environment,” Vermont Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth, D, said during the Earth Day press conference. </p>
  1452.  
  1453.  
  1454.  
  1455. <p>Still, Vermont climate advocates say they are not letting their guard down. “We’re trying to be vigilant,” said Lauren Hierl, executive director of the Vermont Natural Resource Council. In addition to any late-session attempted rollbacks from state lawmakers, she said advocates are “watching closely for what federal actions might make it harder for us to even implement the laws that we have on the books.” Ending clean energy incentives and blocking climate-related Inflation Reduction Act funding, for example, threatens to stymie state progress in reducing emissions and moving away from fossil fuels. </p>
  1456.  
  1457.  
  1458.  
  1459. <p>“When we’re trying to meet our state climate law’s pollution reduction targets, it becomes a lot more difficult when you’ve got a federal administration making it harder to build the infrastructure or making it more expensive for families to transition to heat pumps or electric vehicles,” Hierl said. “That’s a big concern right now.”&nbsp;</p>
  1460.  
  1461.  
  1462.  
  1463. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“We’re trying to be vigilant.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  1464.  
  1465.  
  1466.  
  1467. <p>Justin Balik, who focuses on state climate policy at the national climate advocacy group Evergreen Action, said that IRA funding is important for helping states accelerate the clean energy transition and drive down costs. “States are confronting real concerns about affordability,” he explained. But even in the absence of federal support, he said there are signs that states are trying to move forward, though progress may be slower than advocates would like to see.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  1468.  
  1469.  
  1470.  
  1471. <p>“It’s kind of like a trench warfare mode for state climate policy,” Balik said. “We are in knife fights in sector-by-sector and issue-by-issue and statute-by-statute to make sure we are defending the progress we’ve already made and then making new progress wherever we can against the federal headwinds.”&nbsp;</p>
  1472.  
  1473.  
  1474.  
  1475. <p>In New York, Hochul is reportedly facing pressure from Trump to revive a major fracked gas pipeline, and her administration already approved another gas pipeline expansion project in February. The <a href="https://grist.org/energy/new-york-approved-a-major-gas-pipeline-expansion-what-does-it-mean-for-its-climate-goals/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">approval could hamper</a> the state’s efforts to achieve its climate goals, enshrined into law under the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). New York is falling behind on its targets under that statute, including an ambition to achieve 70% renewable electricity by 2030. </p>
  1476.  
  1477.  
  1478.  
  1479. <p>Several environmental groups are now suing the New York Department of Environmental Conservation to compel it to issue regulations implementing the state’s landmark climate law. “In general, the Hochul administration has been slow-walking implementation of the CLCPA,” Food and Water Watch’s Alex Beauchamp, who is not involved in the lawsuit, explained. He said the administration led advocates to believe a cap-and-invest program to reduce carbon pollution in line with statutory targets would be rolled out, but then announced at the beginning of this year that it would be delayed.&nbsp;</p>
  1480.  
  1481.  
  1482.  
  1483. <p>“Six years after passing groundbreaking, nation-leading climate legislation, our leaders continue to drag their feet, leaving us dangerously behind where we need to be,” <a href="https://earthjustice.org/press/2025/first-of-its-kind-lawsuit-filed-urging-new-york-to-release-overdue-climate-law-regulations" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">said</a> Dawn Wells-Clyburn, executive director of PUSH Buffalo, one of the groups suing the state.&nbsp;</p>
  1484.  
  1485.  
  1486.  
  1487. <p>Some environmental activists in Maryland are similarly concerned that their state leaders are not acting boldly enough to meet their climate and clean energy ambitions. “For years, [Democratic Gov. Wes] Moore has spoken of his commitment to clean energy goals, but his administration has done little to match his climate rhetoric,” <a href="https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2025/04/08/md-legislative-session-concludes-with-disappointing-energy-legislation-and-unkept-promises/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">said</a> Jorge Aguilar, southern regional director with Food and Water Watch. </p>
  1488.  
  1489.  
  1490.  
  1491. <p>Aguilar’s hope coming into the start of this year’s legislative session that state lawmakers would advance progress toward the 100 clean electricity goal was soon dashed, he explained. “The leadership in Maryland really took a turn toward supporting what we consider to be dirty power plants.” </p>
  1492.  
  1493.  
  1494.  
  1495. <p>Maryland lawmakers passed an energy bill that Aguilar said opens the door to potentially fast-tracking new methane gas and nuclear power plants in the state. He argued that while nuclear energy does not emit carbon pollution, it does have other safety and contamination concerns.&nbsp;</p>
  1496.  
  1497.  
  1498.  
  1499. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“It’s kind of like a trench warfare mode for state climate policy.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  1500.  
  1501.  
  1502.  
  1503. <p>The energy bill, called the Next Generation Energy Act, is expected to be signed into law by Moore. Aguilar said its passage reflects lawmakers’ “failure to address some of the state’s most pressing energy and climate concerns.”</p>
  1504.  
  1505.  
  1506.  
  1507. <p>“State leaders are fully walking back promises of enacting a 100% clean energy program,” he <a href="https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2025/04/08/md-legislative-session-concludes-with-disappointing-energy-legislation-and-unkept-promises/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">said</a>.&nbsp;</p>
  1508.  
  1509.  
  1510.  
  1511. <p>Maryland Sierra Club chapter director Josh Tulkin also expressed concern about the bill’s support for new gas-powered generation, <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/maryland/blog/2025/04/press-release-maryland-sierra-club-reacts-energy-package-2025-legislative" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">calling</a> it a “mistake that takes us in the wrong direction.”  </p>
  1512.  
  1513.  
  1514.  
  1515. <p>Brittany Baker, Maryland director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network Action Fund, took a more positive view of the legislation, <a href="https://ccanactionfund.org/md-general-assembly-passes-next-generation-energy-act-minimizing-support-for-gas-plants-while-advancing-battery-storage-data-center-reform-pipeline-reform-trash-incineration-reform-and-more/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">saying</a> the final bill was significantly improved over the initial version. “But we will still have to be vigilant,” she said, noting that language around new gas generation remained in the bill.&nbsp;</p>
  1516.  
  1517.  
  1518.  
  1519. <p>Maryland lawmakers also recently passed a <a href="https://legiscan.com/MD/text/HB128/2025" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">version</a> of climate superfund legislation that commits the state first to doing a comprehensive study assessing its climate-related costs. Once a dollar figure is determined, lawmakers will need to pass another bill to assign payment responsibility to fossil fuel polluters. “We’re the third state to take legislative action on climate superfund,” Baker said. “That’s another exciting development that shows Maryland’s continuing commitment to climate action.” </p>
  1520.  
  1521.  
  1522.  
  1523. <p class="is-td-marked">“I think across the board there are places where governors and legislators and states are stepping up,” Balik said. “Whether it’s the California clean transportation waivers, or state cap-and-invest programs, or state clean electricity standards, all of those tools in the toolbox are critical for driving forward progress, and we’re seeing states and others step up to defend the authority to move forward with these initiatives.”</p>
  1524. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/on-climate-governors-enter-trench-warfare-mode/">On Climate, Governors Enter &#8216;Trench Warfare Mode&#8217;</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  1525. ]]></content:encoded>
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  1534. <item>
  1535. <title>&#8216;Without Maize There Is No Country&#8217;</title>
  1536. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/without-maize-there-is-no-country/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=without-maize-there-is-no-country</link>
  1537. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/without-maize-there-is-no-country/#respond</comments>
  1539. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Timothy A. Wise]]></dc:creator>
  1540. <pubDate>Mon, 05 May 2025 16:11:52 +0000</pubDate>
  1541. <category><![CDATA[Activism]]></category>
  1542. <category><![CDATA[Americas]]></category>
  1543. <category><![CDATA[Business & Economy]]></category>
  1544. <category><![CDATA[Column]]></category>
  1545. <category><![CDATA[Courts & Law]]></category>
  1546. <category><![CDATA[Economic Justice]]></category>
  1547. <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
  1548. <category><![CDATA[Health & Wellness]]></category>
  1549. <category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
  1550. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  1551. <category><![CDATA[TD Column]]></category>
  1552. <category><![CDATA[TD Original]]></category>
  1553. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  1554. <category><![CDATA[corn]]></category>
  1555. <category><![CDATA[gmo]]></category>
  1556. <category><![CDATA[mexico]]></category>
  1557. <category><![CDATA[seed sharing]]></category>
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  1559. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=307563</guid>
  1560.  
  1561. <description><![CDATA[<p>Mexico continues to resist U.S. bullying on the cultivation of genetically modified corn.</p>
  1562. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/without-maize-there-is-no-country/">&#8216;Without Maize There Is No Country&#8217;</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  1563. ]]></description>
  1564. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  1565. <p class="has-drop-cap">On March 17, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum signed into law <a href="https://foodtank.com/news/2025/04/mexico-amends-constitution-to-prohibit-gm-corn-seeds/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">a constitutional reform</a> banning the cultivation of genetically modified corn. The action followed a <a href="https://www.ipsnews.net/2024/12/u-s-wins-controversial-ruling-gm-corn-dispute-mexico/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">December ruling</a> by a trade tribunal, under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, in favor of a U.S. complaint that <a href="https://www.iatp.org/sites/default/files/2024-01/Decree%20on%20GE%20Corn-%2013%20february%202023%20Courtesy%20Translation.pdf" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Mexico&#8217;s 2023 presidential decree</a>, with broader restrictions on the consumption of GM corn, constituted an unfair trade practice by prohibiting the use of GM corn in tortillas.</p>
  1566.  
  1567.  
  1568.  
  1569. <p>The Mexican government <a href="https://www.gob.mx/se/prensa/panel-del-t-mec-distribuye-informe-final-en-el-caso-mexico-medidas-relacionadas-con-el-maiz-geneticamente-modificado-mex-usa-2023-31-01?state=published" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">publicly disagreed with the ruling</a>, claiming that the three arbitrators had failed to consider the scientific evidence Mexico presented in the yearlong case. But the government chose to comply, <a href="https://dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.php?codigo=5748489&amp;fecha=05/02/2025#gsc.tab=0" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">rescinding the three specific parts of the decree</a> deemed by the panel to limit future GM corn imports. Still, the government left intact the decree’s measures phasing out the use of the herbicide glyphosate, establishing a protocol for tracking GM corn imports into the country and banning the cultivation of GM corn in the country.</p>
  1570.  
  1571.  
  1572.  
  1573. <p>The constitutional amendment enshrines that last measure in a more permanent manner. While GM corn has faced planting restrictions for more than a decade, the constitutional ban represents an important act of resistance and sovereignty, particularly in light of the flawed decision by the tribunal.</p>
  1574.  
  1575.  
  1576.  
  1577. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Trade panel fails to consider evidence</h3>
  1578.  
  1579.  
  1580.  
  1581. <p>Corn is central to Mexico&#8217;s agriculture, cuisine, nutrition and culture. Mexico is the center of origin for corn, where the crop was domesticated thousands of years ago. It remains at the core of the country’s farming, diet and culture. As Sheinbaum acknowledged in approving the constitutional ban on GM corn cultivation, “Sin maiz no hay pais” — without corn there is no country.</p>
  1582.  
  1583.  
  1584.  
  1585. <p>Mexico presented strong evidence that <a href="https://ljz.mx/07/02/2014/se-ha-encontrado-maiz-transgenico-en-14-estados-del-pais-acusan/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">GM corn has cross-pollinated native corn</a> varieties, gene flow that threatens to undermine the genetic integrity of the country’s 64 “landraces” and more than 22,000 varieties adapted by farmers over millennia to different soils, altitudes, climates, foods and customs.&nbsp;</p>
  1586.  
  1587.  
  1588.  
  1589. <p>In defense of Mexico’s 2023 decree, the <a href="https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/Final%20Report%20ENG.pdf" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">panel acknowledged</a> that the government presented scientific evidence from qualified and reputable sources of “risks to human health arising from the direct consumption of GM corn grain in Mexico, and risks to native corn of transgenic contamination arising from the unintentional, unauthorized, and uncontrolled spread of GM corn in Mexico.” (That evidence is summarized in <a href="https://usrtk.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/DOSSIER-MAIZ-2024-ENGfinal-5.pdf" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">an extensive publication</a> from Mexico’s national science agency, CONAHCYT.)</p>
  1590.  
  1591.  
  1592.  
  1593. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>In effect, the tribunal gave itself a pass on reviewing the scientific evidence of risks to human health.</p></blockquote></figure>
  1594.  
  1595.  
  1596.  
  1597. <p>The trade tribunal dismissed concerns about such risks in its ruling, in the process repeating several fallacies about the robust scientific evidence presented by the Mexican government. In effect, the tribunal gave itself a pass on reviewing the scientific evidence of risks to human health by ruling that Mexico had not conducted an approved risk assessment “based on relevant scientific principles,” a reference to prevailing international codes for such processes.&nbsp;</p>
  1598.  
  1599.  
  1600.  
  1601. <p>The panel also failed to evaluate the evidence of risks to native corn. The tribunal argued that no special protection from GM corn was needed because gene flow already takes place from non-GM hybrid varieties of corn, and GM contamination is no different from non-GM gene flow. “Mexico has not demonstrated how the threat to the traditions and livelihoods of indigenous and farming communities from GM corn is greater than the threat posed by non-native, non-GM corn,” the panel wrote.&nbsp;</p>
  1602.  
  1603.  
  1604.  
  1605. <p>This lazy logic flows easily from biotech industry talking points, and it makes no sense at all in the birthplace of corn. In effect, the tribunal claimed that cross-pollination from hybrid corn, “could equally threaten the genetic integrity of native corn.” The discredited notion of “substantial equivalence” between GM crops and their conventionally bred hybrid counterparts has been further undermined by new research techniques that show distinct gene expressions in the cells of GM plants. Those techniques were explained in some detail in <a href="https://usrtk.org/expert-report-on-toxicity-of-genetically-engineered-corn/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">expert testimony</a> submitted by molecular geneticist Michael Antoniou, but the panel never got his testimony translated, nor those of three other experts. Not surprisingly, the ruling had no mention of Antoniou’s contribution.</p>
  1606.  
  1607.  
  1608.  
  1609. <p>Equating contamination from GM corn with that of hybrid corn is a serious misreading of the science and of Mexico’s culture. GM by definition — and by explicit definitions in the constitutional amendment — involves crossing species boundaries, introducing, for example, a gene from a bacterium into a corn plant to repel insects. In contrast, hybrid corn is produced by cross-breeding different corn varieties, the resulting hybridized offspring remaining pure corn, with no non-corn genes in its DNA.&nbsp;</p>
  1610.  
  1611.  
  1612.  
  1613. <p>Mexican farmers have a long history of developing some of their own cross-pollinated varieties, intentionally combining a native variety with a hybrid that has properties the farmer desires. Mexican agronomists sometimes call these criollo varieties, which continue to be open-pollinating, by design, so farmers can propagate them themselves.&nbsp;</p>
  1614.  
  1615.  
  1616.  
  1617. <p>Such cross-pollination has nothing in common with unwanted contamination from GM corn. Gene-flow from GM corn, imposed on farmers without their informed consent, is an entirely undesired outcome offering no benefits for the farmer. They call it “genetic pollution.” It can pose a long-term risk to native landraces. Transgenic traits do not necessarily reveal themselves after contamination. That means farmers can unknowingly spread such contamination from their pollen year after year to other corn plants.&nbsp;</p>
  1618.  
  1619.  
  1620.  
  1621. <p>Mexican researchers discovered such contamination in their <a href="https://www.biodiversidad.gob.mx/diversidad/proyectoMaices" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">2013 survey of native corn</a> varieties. Biotechnologist Antonio Serratos contributed to that survey, discovering an impressive number of native corn varieties growing in the small plots of agricultural land within the sprawl of Mexico City. While he was encouraged by the corn diversity he found, <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e0a3c609e9c070f246c7788/t/5e651d83a29cd069c4d165e5/1583685015890/Mexico+and+Monsanto%3A+Taking+Precaution+in+the+Face+of+Genetic+Contamination" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">he reported</a> that some of the native varieties he tested had transgenic traits in their DNA.&nbsp;</p>
  1622.  
  1623.  
  1624.  
  1625. <p>“In Mexican fields, transgenic native maize is being created,” he told me at the time. ”If [GM] maize seeds are sold or exchanged, the contamination will grow exponentially. That is the point of no return.”&nbsp;</p>
  1626.  
  1627.  
  1628.  
  1629. <p>The tribunal’s misguided reasoning has particular importance for Indigenous communities that value the integrity of native corn as part of their cultural heritage. In fact, Mexico argued in the dispute with the U.S. that respect for Indigenous cultural rights, guaranteed in the USMCA, should include protection from contamination of both crops and foods. The panel gave itself a pass on that one as well, ruling that if Mexico wasn’t going to protect native corn from hybrids, its measures would not serve to protect native corn from GMOs.&nbsp;</p>
  1630.  
  1631.  
  1632.  
  1633. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Seed-sharing under threat</h3>
  1634.  
  1635.  
  1636.  
  1637. <p>Calling Mexico’s GM corn restrictions excessive and ineffective in protecting native varieties, the tribunal&#8217;s alternative recommendation for controlling such unwanted gene flow was even more misguided. It suggested that “the informal seed exchange practices of indigenous and farming communities” was one of the “underlying issues” Mexico should address to prevent contamination.&nbsp;</p>
  1638.  
  1639.  
  1640.  
  1641. <p>Limiting seed sharing is entirely at odds with the science of seed diversity and evolution, said researcher Erica Hagman, who helped prepare Mexico’s defense in the USMCA dispute. Mexico’s rich corn diversity is the direct result of millennia of adaptive practices by farmers in their fields. That is how Mexico produced the 22,000-plus distinct varieties of native corn identified in the 2013 survey: Farmers saved, exchanged and experimented with different varieties to create corn better adapted to the local environment and the nutritional and cultural preferences of their communities. The tribunal’s suggestion that Mexico should limit such seed sharing to prevent GM corn contamination runs completely counter to the practices of in situ conservation of agricultural biodiversity.</p>
  1642.  
  1643.  
  1644.  
  1645. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>&#8220;This is rooted in free trade agreements, which subordinate public to private interests.”</p></blockquote></figure>
  1646.  
  1647.  
  1648.  
  1649. <p>“The attempt to limit the free exchange of seeds is dangerous for the processes of constant diversification that Indigenous peoples have carried out,” Hagman said. ”The approach also shows a serious lack of commitment to respect and protect human rights, particularly those of Indigenous peoples and peasant communities. This is rooted in free trade agreements, which subordinate public to private interests.”</p>
  1650.  
  1651.  
  1652.  
  1653. <p>Mexico’s constitutional ban on GM corn cultivation ensures that such misguided reasoning will not guide public policy. The amendment was strengthened by proposals from civil society that <a href="https://www.ofimagazine.com/news/mexico-bans-domestic-cultivation-of-gm-corn" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">extended the ban to new genetically engineered seeds</a> by banning any crops “produced with techniques that overcome the natural barriers of reproduction or recombination, such as transgenics.” This limits some of the new generations of genetically engineered crops, putting Mexico ahead of Europe in its limits on such technologies.&nbsp;</p>
  1654.  
  1655.  
  1656.  
  1657. <p>While the constitutional reform does not include some of the original language restricting GM corn consumption, no doubt in deference to the trade ruling, the final version shows a clear preference for non-GM crops, leaving the door open to tighter regulation.</p>
  1658.  
  1659.  
  1660.  
  1661. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Ignoring evidence of GM health risks</h3>
  1662.  
  1663.  
  1664.  
  1665. <p>On the risks of GM corn and its associated herbicides to public health, the panel was equally sloppy, ignoring the <a href="https://usrtk.org/gmo/new-scientific-analyses-mexicos-restrictions-on-gm-corn-glyphosate-health-risks/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">reams of scientific evidence</a> Mexico presented in its defense. The tribunal rejected Mexico’s argument that existing risk-assessment procedures failed to meet Mexico’s own standard of zero tolerance for GM corn in tortillas, given Mexicans’ exponentially higher exposure due to their corn-based diets.&nbsp;</p>
  1666.  
  1667.  
  1668.  
  1669. <p>Far from ruling that Mexico failed to present adequate scientific evidence to justify its policies, the tribunal simply declined to address that disturbing evidence, for example:</p>
  1670.  
  1671.  
  1672.  
  1673. <ul class="wp-block-list">
  1674. <li>That GM corn varieties, particularly insecticidal Bt corn, are associated with a range of health effects including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.academia.edu/3405345/Histopathological_Changes_in_Some_Organs_of_Male_Rats_F%20ed_on_Genetically_Modified_Corn_Ajeeb_YG_" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">effects on male fertility</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19007233/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">immunological alterations</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20011136" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">kidney and liver toxicity</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18191319/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">damage to the digestive system, liver and pancreas</a>;</li>
  1675. </ul>
  1676.  
  1677.  
  1678.  
  1679. <p></p>
  1680.  
  1681.  
  1682.  
  1683. <ul class="wp-block-list">
  1684. <li>The prevalence of multiple genetic modifications for both insects and herbicide tolerance, which have dramatically increased the toxic load of the average exported corn kernel, as explained in <a href="https://www.iatp.org/sites/default/files/2024-04/Written%20Views%20FOE.pdf" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">expert comments from Friends of the Earth</a>;</li>
  1685. </ul>
  1686.  
  1687.  
  1688.  
  1689. <p></p>
  1690.  
  1691.  
  1692.  
  1693. <ul class="wp-block-list">
  1694. <li>The failure of U.S. regulatory authorities to test for the combined toxicity of these so-called stacked-trait varieties, despite clear evidence that the combination of such genetic modifications poses greater risks than any one of the U.S.-approved varieties;</li>
  1695. </ul>
  1696.  
  1697.  
  1698.  
  1699. <p></p>
  1700.  
  1701.  
  1702.  
  1703. <ul class="wp-block-list">
  1704. <li>That <a href="https://usrtk.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Informe-Toxicidad-Michael-Antoniou-Escrito-de-Replica-Mexico-ENG.pdf" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">new research tools</a> show that U.S. and industry assertions of “substantial equivalence” between GM crops and their conventionally bred counterparts are false, ignoring evidence of unintended expressions in the genomes of GM crops;</li>
  1705. </ul>
  1706.  
  1707.  
  1708.  
  1709. <p></p>
  1710.  
  1711.  
  1712.  
  1713. <ul class="wp-block-list">
  1714. <li>Residues from glyphosate-based herbicides remain in substantial quantities on GM corn and other food crops, and studies link higher exposure to glyphosate in early life to&nbsp;<a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10086635/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">cancer</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935124000185" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">adverse early neurodevelopment</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-022-00906-3" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">lower birth weight</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0269749121005844" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">reproductive birth effects</a>&nbsp;— effects that also show up in&nbsp;<a href="https://hh-ra.org/2023/11/06/new-study-in-rats-establishes-strong-link-between-roundup-exposure-and-early-onset-leukemia/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">lab animals</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://latinoshare.gwu.edu/study-documents-endocrine-effects-linked-exposure-levels-roundup-herbicides-considered-be-safe" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">exposed to</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/23/10/5583" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">glyphosate.</a>&nbsp;</li>
  1715. </ul>
  1716.  
  1717.  
  1718.  
  1719. <p>At every opportunity to assess such evidence, the tribunal shrank from responsibility, hiding behind its prior determination that without a valid risk assessment no such evidence could be considered. In so doing, the panel failed to resolve any of the important scientific questions raised by the case. At no point did the tribunal demand that the U.S. demonstrate that its GM corn is safe for Mexicans to eat. Nor did it ask for evidence that cross-pollination from GM corn poses no greater risk than gene flow from non-GM varieties.</p>
  1720.  
  1721.  
  1722.  
  1723. <p>It is no wonder the Mexican government proceeded with its constitutional amendment to ban the cultivation of GM corn. This is “a major step forward for the defense of native corn varieties, the health of the Mexican population and the protection of Mexico&#8217;s biocultural heritage associated with corn,” said Tania Monserrat Téllez from the Sin Maíz No Hay País coalition.</p>
  1724.  
  1725.  
  1726.  
  1727. <p>While Mexico chose to comply with the flawed USMCA ruling, there is little evidence that Mexicans will stop fighting to keep GM corn out of their tortillas. <a href="https://heraldodemexico.com.mx/nacional/2025/3/25/mexicanos-favor-de-la-reforma-de-maices-transgenicos-685921.html?25/3/2025%2002:44:41" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Recent polls showed</a> that more than 80% of Mexicans want tortillas free of GM corn. A <a href="https://expansion.mx/empresas/2025/04/04/millfoods-lidera-con-molienda-en-seco-de-maiz-no-transgenico" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">new mill is now open</a>, dedicated to handling only non-GM corn, and the government is redoubling efforts to increase domestic production of non-GM corn for the sector. The original presidential decree still calls for the phaseout of glyphosate-based herbicides and mandates procedures for tracking GM corn coming into Mexico. A “Right to Food” law passed last year calls for labeling all foods that contain GM ingredients. That process could take time to implement, but don’t be surprised if consumer and tortilla industry groups act sooner to agree on a voluntary label for GM-free tortillas.&nbsp;</p>
  1728.  
  1729.  
  1730.  
  1731. <p class="is-td-marked">It&#8217;s time to give Mexicans what they want: GM-free fields and tortillas, and food sovereignty.</p>
  1732.  
  1733.  
  1734.  
  1735. <p><em>This article was published in Spanish by Contralinea. </em><a href="https://www.ipsnews.net/2025/04/mexico-bans-gm-corn-cultivation-constitutional-reform-action-follows-trade-ruling-ignored-evidence-genetic-contamination/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><em>A shorter version</em></a><em> of this article was cross-published by InterPress Service.</em></p>
  1736. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/without-maize-there-is-no-country/">&#8216;Without Maize There Is No Country&#8217;</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  1737. ]]></content:encoded>
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  1745. </item>
  1746. <item>
  1747. <title>A Gutted Education Department’s New Agenda</title>
  1748. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/a-gutted-education-departments-new-agenda/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=a-gutted-education-departments-new-agenda</link>
  1749. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/a-gutted-education-departments-new-agenda/#respond</comments>
  1751. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jennifer Smith Richards, Jodi S. Cohen /  ProPublica  ]]></dc:creator>
  1752. <pubDate>Mon, 05 May 2025 15:58:16 +0000</pubDate>
  1753. <category><![CDATA[Courts & Law]]></category>
  1754. <category><![CDATA[DEIB]]></category>
  1755. <category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
  1756. <category><![CDATA[LGBTQIA+]]></category>
  1757. <category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
  1758. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  1759. <category><![CDATA[Race]]></category>
  1760. <category><![CDATA[Social Justice]]></category>
  1761. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  1762. <category><![CDATA[civil rights]]></category>
  1763. <category><![CDATA[department of education]]></category>
  1764. <category><![CDATA[discrimination]]></category>
  1765. <category><![CDATA[linda mcmahon]]></category>
  1766. <category><![CDATA[Office for Civil Rights]]></category>
  1767. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=307555</guid>
  1768.  
  1769. <description><![CDATA[<p>The department’s decimated civil rights office is enforcing its anti-diversity campaign while making discrimination investigations practically impossible.</p>
  1770. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/a-gutted-education-departments-new-agenda/">A Gutted Education Department’s New Agenda</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  1771. ]]></description>
  1772. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  1773. <p class="has-small-font-size">This story was originally published by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/education-department-civil-rights-donald-trump-discrimination" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">ProPublica</a>.</p>
  1774.  
  1775.  
  1776.  
  1777. <p><strong>In California,</strong> the federal government was deep into an investigation of alleged racial discrimination at a school district where, a parent said, students called a Black peer racial slurs and played whipping sounds from their cellphones during a lesson about slavery. Then the U.S. Department of Education in March suddenly closed the California regional outpost of its Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and fired all its employees there. That investigation and others went silent.</p>
  1778.  
  1779.  
  1780.  
  1781. <p>In South Dakota, the OCR abruptly terminated its work with a school district that had agreed to take steps to end discrimination against its Native American students. The same office that helped craft the agreement to treat Indigenous students equally made a stunning about-face and decided in March that helping Native American students would discriminate against white students.</p>
  1782.  
  1783.  
  1784.  
  1785. <p>During its first 100 days, as the <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/donald-trump/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="4" title="Donald Trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump</a> administration has dismantled the Education Department, one of its biggest targets has been the civil rights arm. Now, Education Secretary Linda McMahon is “reorienting” what’s left of it.</p>
  1786.  
  1787.  
  1788.  
  1789. <p>Part of that shift has been ordering investigations related to the administration’s priorities, such as ending the participation of transgender girls and women in girls’ and women’s sports. After hearing that a transgender woman from Wagner College in New York competed in a women’s fencing tournament at the University of Maryland last month, the head of the OCR launched a special investigation into both schools and threatened their access to federal funding.</p>
  1790.  
  1791.  
  1792.  
  1793. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>In March, 91% of cases closed by the office were dismissed without an investigation.</p></blockquote></figure>
  1794.  
  1795.  
  1796.  
  1797. <p>Through internal memos and case data, interviews with more than a dozen current agency attorneys, and public records requests to school districts and other targets of investigations across the country, ProPublica has documented how the <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/donald-trump/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="4" title="Donald Trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump</a> administration has radically reshaped the OCR.</p>
  1798.  
  1799.  
  1800.  
  1801. <p>Only 57 investigations that found a civil rights violation and led to change at a school or college were completed in March, ProPublica has learned. Only 51 were resolved by finding violations in April. The <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/joe-biden/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="5" title="Joe Biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden</a> administration completed as many as 200 investigations a month.</p>
  1802.  
  1803.  
  1804.  
  1805. <p>Leadership under President Donald Trump also has made it easier for the OCR to drop discrimination complaints quickly. In March, 91% of cases closed by the office were dismissed without an investigation, and 89% were dismissed outright in April, according to internal case data obtained by ProPublica. Typically, 70% of cases are dismissed because they don’t meet criteria to warrant an investigation.</p>
  1806.  
  1807.  
  1808.  
  1809. <p>With more than half of the Education Department’s civil rights offices closed and the division reduced to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/education-department-civil-rights-division-eroded-by-massive-layoffs" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">fraction of its former staff</a>, families’ pleas for updates and action have gone unheard. One OCR attorney, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation, told ProPublica that their caseload went from 60 to 380 as they absorbed cases previously handled by employees who worked in offices that had been closed. Some remaining employees have not been able to access documents, voicemail and email of fired employees.</p>
  1810.  
  1811.  
  1812.  
  1813. <p>As with civil rights divisions in other federal agencies that the Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/homeland-security-crcl-civil-rights-immigration-border-patrol-trump-kristi-noem" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">administration has fundamentally altered</a>, the OCR has worked for decades to uphold constitutional rights against discrimination based on disability, race and gender.</p>
  1814.  
  1815.  
  1816.  
  1817. <p>“OCR is the most useless it’s ever been, and it’s the most dangerous it’s ever been. And by useless, I mean unavailable. Unable to do the work,” said Michael Pillera, who until recently was an OCR attorney in Washington, D.C. He is now with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.</p>
  1818.  
  1819.  
  1820.  
  1821. <p>Investigating cases that allege racism, discrimination based on sexual orientation or mistreatment of students with disabilities now requires permission from Trump appointees, according to a memo from OCR leadership. As a result, thousands of discrimination investigations are idled, even ones that were nearing a resolution when Trump took office again.</p>
  1822.  
  1823.  
  1824.  
  1825. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>&#8220;We’re doing all we can. But it isn’t enough, and it keeps us up at night.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  1826.  
  1827.  
  1828.  
  1829. <p>“I thought we were somewhere, and now we are back to square one, because they are closed,” said K.D., the mother of the Black California student who said her daughter has been called racial epithets by her classmates. She emailed the agency more than a month ago to try to get an update on the investigation, but said the agency has not responded. ProPublica is identifying her by initials to protect her child’s privacy. “I never would have imagined that something so essential would go away,” she said.</p>
  1830.  
  1831.  
  1832.  
  1833. <p>Education Department spokespeople did not respond to questions and requests for comment sent over several weeks about changes in the civil rights division.</p>
  1834.  
  1835.  
  1836.  
  1837. <p>The OCR attorney who said they are working through 380 cases said the job is now “impossible.”</p>
  1838.  
  1839.  
  1840.  
  1841. <p>“The people who remain are doing all they can. We’re doing all we can. But it isn’t enough, and it keeps us up at night,” they said.</p>
  1842.  
  1843.  
  1844.  
  1845. <p>Another OCR attorney who, like others, asked not to be named for fear of retaliation, said the administration’s new vision for civil rights enforcement has harmed families.</p>
  1846.  
  1847.  
  1848.  
  1849. <p>“We were sort of the last bit of hope for them,” he said, “and now they’re calling and emailing and saying, ‘Hey, I thought you all were going to help me.’”</p>
  1850.  
  1851.  
  1852.  
  1853. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">A shadow division</h3>
  1854.  
  1855.  
  1856.  
  1857. <p>The arduous, grinding work undertaken by OCR attorneys is starkly different from the high-speed investigations that the Education Department announces in press releases every few days.</p>
  1858.  
  1859.  
  1860.  
  1861. <p>The OCR, historically one of the government’s largest enforcers of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, has been known for being a neutral fact-finder. Its investigators followed a process to determine whether complaints from the public met legal criteria for a civil rights claim, then carried out investigations methodically.</p>
  1862.  
  1863.  
  1864.  
  1865. <p>The vast majority of investigations were based on discrimination complaints from students and families, and a large share of those were related to disability discrimination. The inquiries typically took months and, in complex cases, years. The lengthy investigations sometimes were a source of criticism. The agency didn’t share details of the investigations until they were completed, and the agreements often involved federal oversight going forward.</p>
  1866.  
  1867.  
  1868.  
  1869. <p>Investigations being publicized now have largely bypassed the agency’s civil rights attorneys, according to Education Department employees. McMahon and OCR head Craig Trainor created what amounts to a shadow division.</p>
  1870.  
  1871.  
  1872.  
  1873. <p>The Trump administration has ordered more than a dozen investigations in the past three months, not initiated by an outside complainant. These “directed investigations” are typically rare; there were none during <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/joe-biden/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="5" title="Joe Biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">President Joe Biden</a>’s administration.</p>
  1874.  
  1875.  
  1876.  
  1877. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Investigations being publicized now have largely bypassed the agency’s civil rights attorneys.</p></blockquote></figure>
  1878.  
  1879.  
  1880.  
  1881. <p>The investigations have targeted schools with transgender athletes, gender-neutral bathrooms and initiatives that the administration views as discriminatory to white students. OCR attorneys told ProPublica they’ve been given prewritten letters, which they’ve reluctantly signed, to send to targets of these investigations. Some letters describe transgender girls as “biological males,” which is ideologically pointed language that OCR attorneys say they’ve never used before.</p>
  1882.  
  1883.  
  1884.  
  1885. <p>“They’re blowing through past precedents, past practices, best practices,” said Catherine Lhamon, who led OCR under former presidents Barack Obama and Biden and departed the office in January. “And they’re not even attempting to appear like neutral arbiters of the law.”</p>
  1886.  
  1887.  
  1888.  
  1889. <p>In a first, McMahon and Trainor created ways to divert complaints and investigations away from the OCR’s legal experts entirely. The administration made an “End DEI” portal that bypasses the traditional online complaint system and seeks only grievances about diversity, equity and inclusion in schools. Unlike the regular complaint system, the diversity portal submissions are not routed to OCR staff.</p>
  1890.  
  1891.  
  1892.  
  1893. <p>“We have no idea where that portal goes, who it goes to, how they review the cases. No idea,” said the attorney, who said he struggles with being unable to help families. “That avoids us interfering with the games they’re trying to play, if they silo off the real civil rights lawyers.”</p>
  1894.  
  1895.  
  1896.  
  1897. <p>McMahon then announced a “Title IX Special Investigations Team” last month to work with the Department of Justice and appointed Trainor to it. It launches its own investigations into schools that include transgender girls in athletics.</p>
  1898.  
  1899.  
  1900.  
  1901. <p>In an internal memo to the new team that was obtained by ProPublica, Trainor defined the special team’s purpose: “To effectively and efficiently address the increasing volume of Title IX single-sex sports/spaces cases, expedite those investigations and resolutions, and collaborate seamlessly with DOJ to conclude investigations that go to DOJ for enforcement.”</p>
  1902.  
  1903.  
  1904.  
  1905. <p>There’s no indication that more complaints related to transgender students are coming from the public, according to internal case data. Last month, in what appears to be the first case assigned to the Title IX team, the group notified the University of Maryland and Wagner College that it would investigate each school. The investigation began after Fox News and other media reported about a fencing tournament at the University of Maryland in which a transgender player from Wagner competed. Trainor signed the notification letters himself, a departure from Lhamon’s practice.</p>
  1906.  
  1907.  
  1908.  
  1909. <p>A Wagner College spokesperson declined to comment. A University of Maryland spokesperson declined to comment about the investigation but said the tournament, while on the university’s campus, was run by USA Fencing.</p>
  1910.  
  1911.  
  1912.  
  1913. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p> &#8220;They’re not even attempting to appear like neutral arbiters of the law.”</p></blockquote></figure>
  1914.  
  1915.  
  1916.  
  1917. <p>The public used to be able to see what the OCR was investigating. But an online database that is supposed to list all investigations underway hasn’t been updated since Trump took office.</p>
  1918.  
  1919.  
  1920.  
  1921. <p>At that time, about 12,000 pending investigations were listed. Among them were two related to a family’s complaints that their California school district discriminated against students with disabilities, including by barricading them inside what it called a “reset” room. But then the OCR closed its California office and fired its employees.</p>
  1922.  
  1923.  
  1924.  
  1925. <p>“All work came to a halt. They stopped responding. Nothing was being done to stop the practice and protect kids,” Genevieve Goldstone, the parent of the Del Mar Union School District student who filed the disability discrimination complaint, said in an interview. “My federal complaints were meant to protect more kids and stop the abuses in the district.”</p>
  1926.  
  1927.  
  1928.  
  1929. <p>The district said it could not comment on the pending investigation but said it participated in more than a dozen interviews with an OCR attorney. It also said it conducted its own review of the allegations and determined that they were unsubstantiated.</p>
  1930.  
  1931.  
  1932.  
  1933. <p>OCR attorneys say they have been repeatedly blindsided by public announcements about policy changes and investigations. To find out what Trainor and McMahon have launched on their behalf, they check the Education Department’s website daily for press releases.</p>
  1934.  
  1935.  
  1936.  
  1937. <p>Those statements sometimes quote Trainor preemptively saying a school “appears to violate” civil rights law. The attorneys worry they will have no choice, despite what their investigations uncover, but to find against schools that have already been excoriated by the department publicly.</p>
  1938.  
  1939.  
  1940.  
  1941. <p>For example, in a press release announcing an investigation into a transgender athlete participating in girls’ track and field in Portland Public Schools in Oregon, Trainor said, “We will not allow the Portland Public Schools District or any other educational entity that receives federal funds to trample on the antidiscrimination protections that women and girls are guaranteed under law.”</p>
  1942.  
  1943.  
  1944.  
  1945. <p>A third current OCR attorney, who asked not to be named for fear of losing her job, said the administration is misinterpreting civil rights law. “It’s subverting our office, or weaponizing it in these ways, without following our process,” she said.</p>
  1946.  
  1947.  
  1948.  
  1949. <p>Conservative groups with complaints about diversity or transgender students have been able to file complaints directly with Trainor and get quick results — another norm-breaking way to operate outside of the OCR’s protocol.</p>
  1950.  
  1951.  
  1952.  
  1953. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“My federal complaints were meant to protect more kids and stop the abuses in the district.”</p></blockquote></figure>
  1954.  
  1955.  
  1956.  
  1957. <p>America First Legal, a group founded by Trump deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller that considers itself the “answer to the ACLU,” emailed Trainor a few days after Trump’s “<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-indoctrination-in-k-12-schooling/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling</a>” executive order. The order directs schools to stop teaching about or supporting diversity, equity and gender identity.</p>
  1958.  
  1959.  
  1960.  
  1961. <p>“AFL respectfully requests that the Department of Education open investigations into the following public-school districts in Northern Virginia for continuing violations of Title IX,” the letter read, listing five districts that have policies welcoming to transgender students.</p>
  1962.  
  1963.  
  1964.  
  1965. <p>Senior leadership in Washington opened the cases the following week. America First issued a press release headlined “VICTORY.” The group declined to comment further.</p>
  1966.  
  1967.  
  1968. <div class="wp-block-image">
  1969. <figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="764" height="1024" src="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Letter-1_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95-764x1024.webp" alt="" class="wp-image-307556" style="width:773px;height:auto" srcset="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Letter-1_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95-764x1024.webp 764w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Letter-1_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95-224x300.webp 224w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Letter-1_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95-768x1029.webp 768w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Letter-1_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95-134x180.webp 134w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Letter-1_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95-201x270.webp 201w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Letter-1_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95-302x405.webp 302w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Letter-1_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95-437x585.webp 437w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Letter-1_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.webp 800w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 764px) 100vw, 764px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A letter from Craig Trainor, the Education Department’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights, claims that American educational institutions have discriminated against white and Asian students. (Obtained and highlighted by ProPublica)</figcaption></figure></div>
  1970.  
  1971.  
  1972. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Backtracking on civil rights</h3>
  1973.  
  1974.  
  1975.  
  1976. <p>Remaking the OCR isn’t just about increasing caseloads and reordering political priorities. The Trump administration now is taking steps to roll back OCR’s previous civil rights work.</p>
  1977.  
  1978.  
  1979.  
  1980. <p>Last month, Trump issued an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/restoring-equality-of-opportunity-and-meritocracy/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">executive order</a>&nbsp;that directs all federal agencies, including the Education Department, to stop enforcing cases involving policies that disproportionately affect certain groups — for example, when Black students are disciplined more harshly than white students for the same infractions or when students with disabilities are suspended more than any other group even though they represent a small percentage of student enrollment.</p>
  1981.  
  1982.  
  1983.  
  1984. <p>Trump’s order&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-signs-landmark-order-to-restore-equality-of-opportunity-and-meritocracy/#:~:text=Disparate%2Dimpact%20liability%20is%20a,by%20requiring%20race%2Doriented%20policies" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">requires</a>&nbsp;the agencies to “assess all pending investigations, lawsuits, and consent judgements” that consider disproportionate discipline and “take appropriate action.” Complaints made to the OCR that students were unfairly disciplined could be thrown out; existing enforcement actions or monitoring of schools that had disciplined students disproportionately could be revoked.</p>
  1985.  
  1986.  
  1987.  
  1988. <p>The OCR under Trainor did this in Rapid City, South Dakota — even before the executive order. About a year ago, the office had signed an agreement with Rapid City Area Schools after an investigation found that the district’s Native American students were disciplined far more harshly than white ones. They also were kept from enrolling in advanced courses.</p>
  1989.  
  1990.  
  1991.  
  1992. <p>The OCR said that when speaking with an investigator, the superintendent of schools at the time said that Native American students in her district had higher truancy rates because they operated on what she termed “Indian time.” She said, too, that they don’t value education, according to the investigation’s findings.</p>
  1993.  
  1994.  
  1995.  
  1996. <p>The former superintendent, Nicole Swigart, denied saying any of that.</p>
  1997.  
  1998.  
  1999.  
  2000. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“Native students are still being pushed out of classrooms and denied opportunities.”</p></blockquote></figure>
  2001.  
  2002.  
  2003.  
  2004. <p>“I recognize those comments are horrendous,” Swigart said in an interview with ProPublica. She noted that the OCR investigation was opened in 2010 and that she first spoke to an investigator in 2022. “I’m not lying when I say I didn’t say it. I didn’t say it, and I don’t know where it came from.”</p>
  2005.  
  2006.  
  2007.  
  2008. <p>In the agreement with the OCR, the district promised to examine its practices and make things right; the OCR would monitor its progress. The district also brought in a new superintendent.</p>
  2009.  
  2010.  
  2011.  
  2012. <p>But last month, the OCR abruptly terminated that agreement, based on its differing interpretation of civil rights law. The OCR’s new view is that equity and diversity efforts discriminate against white students. It was, in the view of agency attorneys, the most severe breach of the OCR’s mission and methods to date. There was no public announcement.</p>
  2013.  
  2014.  
  2015.  
  2016. <p>“Native students in Rapid City just lost a layer of protection,” the Lakota People’s Law Project announced on Facebook. “Native students are still being pushed out of classrooms and denied opportunities.”</p>
  2017.  
  2018.  
  2019.  
  2020. <p>Darren Thompson, who is Ojibwe, said the OCR’s decision to abandon the agreement was “another cycle of the federal government failing to uphold its promises.”</p>
  2021.  
  2022.  
  2023.  
  2024. <p>“And this time, they are partisan, political,” said Thompson, who works for the nonprofit Sacred Defense Fund affiliated with the Lakota group in Rapid City.</p>
  2025.  
  2026.  
  2027.  
  2028. <p>In response to questions from ProPublica, the school district said it has completed much of the work — including broader access to educational opportunities and an improved behavior tracking process — and plans to continue it even without federal oversight. But it also said this week that under the OCR’s new directives, “we must shift our approach.” The district did not elaborate on what will change.</p>
  2029.  
  2030.  
  2031.  
  2032. <p>It’s unclear whether the OCR has ended agreements with other districts or colleges. Education Department spokespeople did not respond to questions from ProPublica.</p>
  2033.  
  2034.  
  2035.  
  2036. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Pushing back</h3>
  2037.  
  2038.  
  2039.  
  2040. <p>Some subjects of the OCR’s new directives and investigations have capitulated. A school district in Tumwater, Washington, that Trainor targeted for allowing a transgender basketball player from an opposing team to compete responded by voting to support the state athletic association excluding trans players altogether.</p>
  2041.  
  2042.  
  2043.  
  2044. <p>But some are pushing back.</p>
  2045.  
  2046.  
  2047.  
  2048. <p>Denver Public Schools was the first target of one of Trainor’s “directed investigations” in late January — over the existence of one all-gender, multistall bathroom on one floor of a Denver high school. According to communication obtained by ProPublica through public records requests, the district called out the OCR for “continuing to take a different approach with this case without explanation, a case with no complainant who is awaiting any form of relief or remedy.”</p>
  2049.  
  2050.  
  2051.  
  2052. <p>Kristin Bailey, a Denver Public Schools attorney, wrote to an OCR supervisor that the way the investigation is being handled “appears to be retaliatory.”</p>
  2053.  
  2054.  
  2055. <div class="wp-block-image">
  2056. <figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="764" height="1024" src="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Letter-2_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95-764x1024.webp" alt="" class="wp-image-307558" srcset="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Letter-2_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95-764x1024.webp 764w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Letter-2_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95-224x300.webp 224w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Letter-2_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95-768x1029.webp 768w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Letter-2_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95-134x180.webp 134w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Letter-2_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95-201x270.webp 201w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Letter-2_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95-302x405.webp 302w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Letter-2_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95-437x585.webp 437w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Letter-2_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.webp 800w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 764px) 100vw, 764px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A letter addressed to the superintendent of the Denver Public Schools announces a Title IX investigation into a gender-neutral bathroom. (Obtained and highlighted by ProPublica)</figcaption></figure></div>
  2057.  
  2058.  
  2059. <p>Since February, at least half a dozen lawsuits have been filed to try to stop the dismantling of the Education Department and its civil rights functions — among them, suits by Democratic state attorneys general and from the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers. A recent suit by the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates on behalf of children and their parents — all of whom have pending complaints alleging discrimination — claims they’re suffering from the OCR’s “abandonment” of its core mission.</p>
  2060.  
  2061.  
  2062.  
  2063. <p>The NAACP also sued the department, McMahon and Trainor, citing the “End DEI” portal and seeking a halt to such anti-diversity efforts. And the Victim Rights Law Center, representing students and parents, sued to try to restore what has been cut from the OCR so the agency can fulfill its mandate. It noted that under McMahon and Trainor, “cherry-picked investigations appear to be the only matters the Department is currently pursuing.” Those lawsuits are pending. The government has argued in the NAACP lawsuit that the group lacks standing; In the other, it has not filed a response.</p>
  2064.  
  2065.  
  2066.  
  2067. <p>Several OCR attorneys told ProPublica that they hope these groups and school districts continue to push back. In the meantime, they said, they will continue to try to work on behalf of the public to uphold the nation’s civil rights laws.</p>
  2068.  
  2069.  
  2070.  
  2071. <p>“I have to keep putting one foot in front of the other, helping the people I can help, and keep my eye on the long game,” said a fourth OCR attorney. “Hopefully we’re still here and can help rebuild in the future.”</p>
  2072. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/a-gutted-education-departments-new-agenda/">A Gutted Education Department’s New Agenda</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  2073. ]]></content:encoded>
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  2082. <item>
  2083. <title>Suffocating Foams and Child Labor</title>
  2084. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/suffocating-foams-and-child-labor/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=suffocating-foams-and-child-labor</link>
  2085. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/suffocating-foams-and-child-labor/#respond</comments>
  2087. <dc:creator><![CDATA[John McCracken /  Investigate Midwest  ]]></dc:creator>
  2088. <pubDate>Mon, 05 May 2025 15:42:15 +0000</pubDate>
  2089. <category><![CDATA[Business & Economy]]></category>
  2090. <category><![CDATA[Courts & Law]]></category>
  2091. <category><![CDATA[Health & Wellness]]></category>
  2092. <category><![CDATA[Labor]]></category>
  2093. <category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
  2094. <category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>
  2095. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  2096. <category><![CDATA[agriculture]]></category>
  2097. <category><![CDATA[bird flu]]></category>
  2098. <category><![CDATA[child labor]]></category>
  2099. <category><![CDATA[eggs]]></category>
  2100. <category><![CDATA[poultry]]></category>
  2101. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=307542</guid>
  2102.  
  2103. <description><![CDATA[<p>Inside the business of killing millions of chickens in response to bird flu.</p>
  2104. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/suffocating-foams-and-child-labor/">Suffocating Foams and Child Labor</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  2105. ]]></description>
  2106. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  2107. <p><strong>When a poultry farm tests positive</strong> for bird flu, the clock starts.</p>
  2108.  
  2109.  
  2110.  
  2111. <p>Within the first 72 hours, farmers start depopulating, an industry term for killing contaminated flocks.</p>
  2112.  
  2113.  
  2114.  
  2115. <p>Despite the sweltering heat inside the barns, hired workers wear gloves, masks and other protective equipment and repetitively pick up flailing, sick chickens and place them into a metal container filled with carbon dioxide. In a few minutes, the chickens are dead.</p>
  2116.  
  2117.  
  2118.  
  2119. <p>In other cases, workers seal the barn doors and crank up the temperature, causing the birds to die from heat stroke, or flood the barn with a suffocating foam. In a few hours, most of the chickens are dead and workers begin to haul thousands, if not millions, of lifeless caracasses out to dump trucks.</p>
  2120.  
  2121.  
  2122.  
  2123. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“The biggest factor in agricultural safety is the urgency.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  2124.  
  2125.  
  2126.  
  2127. <p>The stench of death seeps into workers’ clothes, sweat and even the water they’re supposed to shower in.</p>
  2128.  
  2129.  
  2130.  
  2131. <p>This is the business of killing chickens during the ongoing bird flu epidemic. And business is booming.</p>
  2132.  
  2133.  
  2134.  
  2135. <p>As the virus spreads and drives up grocery prices by shrinking the nation’s supply of eggs and meat, bird disposal companies, environmental waste businesses and large poultry producers have received millions of federal dollars to kill flocks, compost their bodies and clean barns across the country.</p>
  2136.  
  2137.  
  2138.  
  2139. <p>However, the scale and urgency of these recent depopulation events have left room for worker protections to fall through the cracks, Investigate Midwest has found.</p>
  2140.  
  2141.  
  2142.  
  2143. <p>A review of thousands of pages of state depopulation inspection records and conversations with dozens of people who work behind the scenes has revealed:</p>
  2144.  
  2145.  
  2146.  
  2147. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  2148. <ul class="wp-block-list">
  2149. <li>Underage workers, in some cases, have been hired to kill poultry flocks, handle dead carcasses and clean industrial poultry farms.</li>
  2150.  
  2151.  
  2152.  
  2153. <li>Workers sometimes lack personal protective equipment or receive damaged gear, despite the risk of the virus jumping from animals to people.</li>
  2154.  
  2155.  
  2156.  
  2157. <li>Dealing with a federal backlog, some farms have used killing methods considered inhumane, because it can be quicker and cheaper.</li>
  2158. </ul>
  2159. </blockquote>
  2160.  
  2161.  
  2162.  
  2163. <p>“The biggest factor in agricultural safety is the urgency,” said Bethany Alcauter, director of research and public health for the National Center for Farmworker Health, a Texas-based nonprofit that advocates for worker safety and health. “Everything has to get done in a short amount of time, and that really can be problematic because there’s not the same amount of time to adequately train workers.”</p>
  2164.  
  2165.  
  2166.  
  2167. <p>The current bird flu outbreak is also the first time in the nation’s history that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has put a single federal contractor in charge of responding to outbreaks when a business or state agriculture department can’t handle a farm’s depopulation request.</p>
  2168.  
  2169.  
  2170.  
  2171. <p>In the past, the USDA would train emergency response contractors across the country to deal with outbreaks in their state and region.</p>
  2172.  
  2173.  
  2174.  
  2175. <p>This practice changed with the most recent outbreak, when the USDA awarded a contract to Patriot Environmental Services to be the single provider of federal depopulation services.</p>
  2176.  
  2177.  
  2178.  
  2179. <p>The use of a single federal contractor has caused delays when a farm requests assistance from the federal government to depopulate a flock, according to depopulation consultants, veterinarians and state agriculture agencies interviewed.</p>
  2180.  
  2181.  
  2182.  
  2183. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/mccrackenemail-edited-state-83-1746363798-1024x576.webp" alt="" class="wp-image-307543" srcset="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/mccrackenemail-edited-state-83-1746363798-1024x576.webp 1024w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/mccrackenemail-edited-state-83-1746363798-300x169.webp 300w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/mccrackenemail-edited-state-83-1746363798-768x432.webp 768w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/mccrackenemail-edited-state-83-1746363798-320x180.webp 320w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/mccrackenemail-edited-state-83-1746363798-480x270.webp 480w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/mccrackenemail-edited-state-83-1746363798-720x405.webp 720w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/mccrackenemail-edited-state-83-1746363798-1040x585.webp 1040w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/mccrackenemail-edited-state-83-1746363798.webp 1080w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">An excerpt of an email exchange between reporter John McCracken and CDPHE spokesperson David Ellenberger regarding the results of a CDPHE farmworker survey.</figcaption></figure>
  2184.  
  2185.  
  2186.  
  2187. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">No interpreters. No PPE. Just blood stains and feathers.</h3>
  2188.  
  2189.  
  2190.  
  2191. <p>In July 2024, hundreds of workers descended on two poultry farms in rural Colorado, an hour northeast of Denver, to kill over 3 million egg-laying chickens.</p>
  2192.  
  2193.  
  2194.  
  2195. <p>Two of the state’s largest egg companies had tested positive for bird flu and their flocks needed to be destroyed.</p>
  2196.  
  2197.  
  2198.  
  2199. <p>Officials with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), the USDA and the Centers for Disease Control were onsite at both outbreaks to monitor for symptoms of human exposure to the virus and to spot behavioral health concerns — that is, the psychological impact of performing high-volume animal killings in hazardous, often distressing conditions.</p>
  2200.  
  2201.  
  2202.  
  2203. <p>CDPHE forms obtained by Investigate Midwest through public records requests show agency workers interviewing primarily Spanish-speaking workers. A behavioral health worker wrote in a daily report that USDA staff approached farm management and asked if they could meet with full-time farm employees to discuss working conditions, to which management said “absolutely not.”</p>
  2204.  
  2205.  
  2206.  
  2207. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="768" src="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/dailylog3-1-edited-state-83-1746363801-1024x768.webp" alt="" class="wp-image-307544" srcset="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/dailylog3-1-edited-state-83-1746363801-1024x768.webp 1024w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/dailylog3-1-edited-state-83-1746363801-300x225.webp 300w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/dailylog3-1-edited-state-83-1746363801-768x576.webp 768w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/dailylog3-1-edited-state-83-1746363801-240x180.webp 240w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/dailylog3-1-edited-state-83-1746363801-360x270.webp 360w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/dailylog3-1-edited-state-83-1746363801-540x405.webp 540w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/dailylog3-1-edited-state-83-1746363801-780x585.webp 780w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/dailylog3-1-edited-state-83-1746363801.webp 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>
  2208.  
  2209.  
  2210.  
  2211. <p>“They did not have the ability to go to the workers with us and did not have anyone who could be an interpreter for us,” the behavioral health worker wrote in a report, referring to USDA employees onsite.</p>
  2212.  
  2213.  
  2214.  
  2215. <p>A separate behavioral health official wrote that they witnessed workers with torn or missing PPE, PPE not being utilized, and saw “animal matter, including blood stains and feathers” on workers’ torn PPE.</p>
  2216.  
  2217.  
  2218.  
  2219. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/dailylog1-1024x683-state-83-1746363805.png" alt="" class="wp-image-307545" srcset="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/dailylog1-1024x683-state-83-1746363805.png 1024w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/dailylog1-1024x683-state-83-1746363805-300x200.png 300w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/dailylog1-1024x683-state-83-1746363805-768x512.png 768w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/dailylog1-1024x683-state-83-1746363805-270x180.png 270w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/dailylog1-1024x683-state-83-1746363805-405x270.png 405w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/dailylog1-1024x683-state-83-1746363805-607x405.png 607w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/dailylog1-1024x683-state-83-1746363805-877x585.png 877w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>
  2220.  
  2221.  
  2222.  
  2223. <p>The same behavioral health official noted that culling and disposal workers were required to shower at the entrance and exit of the barn, but workers said several people were not showering because the “water has a dead chicken smell” and “the horrible smell stays on the skin.”</p>
  2224.  
  2225.  
  2226.  
  2227. <p>One of the July 2024 outbreaks was at an Opal Foods commercial egg facility in Roggen, Colorado, where 1.8 million egg-laying hens were killed. Opal is a private company headquartered in Neosho, Missouri, and partially owned by Indiana-based Rose Acre Farms, the nation’s second-largest egg production company.</p>
  2228.  
  2229.  
  2230.  
  2231. <p>Opal Foods has received $24 million in payments from the USDA to cover the cost of the lost flocks since 2022, a federal response known as “indemnity payments.”</p>
  2232.  
  2233.  
  2234.  
  2235. <p>The other outbreak occurred at Morning Fresh Farms, half an hour away in Platteville, Colorado, where 1.2 million egg-laying chickens were killed. Morning Fresh is a subsidiary of Versova Holding, the nation’s fifth-largest egg-production company, which employs more than 2,000 people and purchased Morning Fresh in 2023.</p>
  2236.  
  2237.  
  2238.  
  2239. <p>Morning Fresh received nearly $7 million in indemnity payments in 2022 and 2023, but federal data does not list them or their parent company as a recipient of funds in 2024.</p>
  2240.  
  2241.  
  2242.  
  2243. <p>Depopulation workers on both farms spent hours each day picking up chickens, putting them in metal rolling carts and filling the carts with carbon dioxide.</p>
  2244.  
  2245.  
  2246.  
  2247. <p>This process subdues and kills the birds in a few minutes but poses a danger to workers because of the repeated exposure chicken handlers have to sick birds, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association, a nonprofit that set guidelines for depopulation methods with the USDA in 2019.</p>
  2248.  
  2249.  
  2250.  
  2251. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Underage labor flagged during bird flu response in Colorado</h3>
  2252.  
  2253.  
  2254.  
  2255. <p>Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment employees surveyed contract workers at both Colorado facilities to monitor for symptoms of bird flu, and in a subsequent report, the Centers for Diseases Control showed workers self-identifying as young as 15.</p>
  2256.  
  2257.  
  2258.  
  2259. <p>The Colorado Youth Employment Opportunity Act prevents workers under 18 from performing hazardous work such as euthanasia and disposal of animal carcasses unless performed in certain programs, such as student-learning initiatives, agricultural education opportunities like 4-H, and work apprenticeship training, according to a department spokesperson.</p>
  2260.  
  2261.  
  2262.  
  2263. <p>The Colorado health agency confirmed with Investigate Midwest that workers under the age of 18 were present based on self-reported answers to survey questions and conversations with farm staff. The department did not provide the specific ages of workers, citing state privacy records laws.</p>
  2264.  
  2265.  
  2266.  
  2267. <p>Investigate Midwest also received records through the Freedom of Information Act for Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) inspections done at both facilities in July and August 2024.</p>
  2268.  
  2269.  
  2270.  
  2271. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>The Colorado health agency confirmed with Investigate Midwest that workers under the age of 18 were present.</p></blockquote></figure>
  2272.  
  2273.  
  2274.  
  2275. <p>The records included the names of four contract labor companies interviewed by OSHA, two of which matched company names provided by the Colorado Department of Public Health.</p>
  2276.  
  2277.  
  2278.  
  2279. <p>All four contract labor companies denied using employees under the age of 18.</p>
  2280.  
  2281.  
  2282.  
  2283. <p>Aaron Garcia, owner of Atlas Labor and Staffing Solutions, which was hired during the Colorado outbreak, said his company and other contractors were working at both egg farms around the same time, given their proximity to each other and similar outbreak timeframes.</p>
  2284.  
  2285.  
  2286.  
  2287. <p>Garcia said he has heard of agriculture contract companies hiring underage workers throughout the bird flu epidemic, but his company has not done so.</p>
  2288.  
  2289.  
  2290.  
  2291. <p>He said his company, based in Iowa, was paid to provide laborers who cleaned and disinfected barns and provide laundry services for workers’ uniforms. For a few days, his crew picked up dead birds and placed them in disposal trucks. He said all of his workers’ ages were verified through federal E-Verify services.</p>
  2292.  
  2293.  
  2294.  
  2295. <p>“It’s illegal, in the first place, and it does affect the reputation of the guys that are actually trying to do it right and follow the laws,” he said.</p>
  2296.  
  2297.  
  2298.  
  2299. <p>Brian Mouw, a manager with D&amp;H Poultry Services based in Sibley, Iowa, who <a href="https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/DH-Poultry-Service_1761995_Redacted-1.pdf" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">was contracted to work at Opal Foods during the July 2024 outbreak</a>, said all of their employees’ ages are verified before being hired.</p>
  2300.  
  2301.  
  2302.  
  2303. <p>“The other 200-275 people were with three other contractors hired by Opal, it could’ve been them,” he said in an email to Investigate Midwest. “They didn’t work under us.”</p>
  2304.  
  2305.  
  2306.  
  2307. <p>Khali Depardo, chief operating officer at 5280 Staffing, a Colorado-based <a href="https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/5280-Productions-LLC_1773083_Redacted.pdf" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">staffing agency listed on OSHA documents as a contractor for Morning Fresh Farms</a>, said his company “does not hire anyone under the age of 18, at any time.”</p>
  2308.  
  2309.  
  2310.  
  2311. <p>A spokesperson for Express Employment Professionals, an Oklahoma-based staffing agency also listed as a contractor in OSHA documents, said its Greeley, Colorado, office does contract work with Morning Fresh Farms but was not contracted to provide labor related to bird flu depopulation.<br><br>“Express Employment Professionals of Greeley, CO., has not employed individuals under 18 years old at Morning Fresh Farms,” the staffing agency spokesperson said in an email.&nbsp;</p>
  2312.  
  2313.  
  2314.  
  2315. <p>Investigate Midwest provided its findings of potential underage workers and their tasks to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. An agency spokesperson said it was unaware of any underage labor working on commercial egg farms.&nbsp;</p>
  2316.  
  2317.  
  2318.  
  2319. <p>“Without a full investigation, we are unable to definitively determine whether the work at issue was ‘hazardous’ under Colorado law, and if so was otherwise permissible, and we cannot opine on federal law as that is outside of our authority,” the spokesperson said.</p>
  2320.  
  2321.  
  2322.  
  2323. <p>Asked about the Colorado case, a U.S. Department of Labor spokesperson said it “is not clear” whether the specific case violates federal laws.&nbsp;</p>
  2324.  
  2325.  
  2326. <div class="wp-block-image">
  2327. <figure class="alignright size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="443" height="527" src="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/workers-clean-truck-minn.webp" alt="" class="wp-image-307548" style="width:381px;height:auto" srcset="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/workers-clean-truck-minn.webp 443w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/workers-clean-truck-minn-252x300.webp 252w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/workers-clean-truck-minn-151x180.webp 151w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/workers-clean-truck-minn-227x270.webp 227w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/workers-clean-truck-minn-340x405.webp 340w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 443px) 100vw, 443px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Workers clean a truck at the site of Minnesota poultry depopulation event in 2015. (Dan Hougentogler / Investigate Midwest)</figcaption></figure></div>
  2328.  
  2329.  
  2330. <p>Federal child labor regulations prohibit workers under the age of 16 from conducting certain hazardous tasks while working on farms, such as working with pesticides and chemicals, but makes no mention of the gases and tactics used to kill poultry during depopulation.</p>
  2331.  
  2332.  
  2333.  
  2334. <p>The commercial egg companies behind culling events in July 2024 denied the use of child labor as well as the hiring of contractors who used child labor.<br><br>“Morning Fresh Farms holds the highest standards for ensuring all employees are eligible to work,” a company spokesperson said in a statement provided to Investigate Midwest. “Our company has no awareness of any underage labor issues by contracting companies working on our farm during our response to highly pathogenic avian influenza.”</p>
  2335.  
  2336.  
  2337.  
  2338. <p>Versova Holdings, parent company to Morning Fresh Farms, did not respond to repeated requests for comment.</p>
  2339.  
  2340.  
  2341.  
  2342. <p>“Opal Foods, LLC is a separate, independent company in which Rose Acre Farms has partial ownership,” said a spokesperson for Rose Acre Farms, parent company of Opal Foods. “We do not know all the details nor can we speak to Opal Foods’ internal operations, but Rose Acre Farms is not aware of any instances of underage hiring at Opal Foods, LLC. You should however direct your questions regarding this issue to Opal Foods.”</p>
  2343.  
  2344.  
  2345.  
  2346. <p>Opal Foods did not respond to repeated requests for comment.</p>
  2347.  
  2348.  
  2349.  
  2350. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">The USDA’s one-contractor system. Efficient or overloaded?</h3>
  2351.  
  2352.  
  2353.  
  2354. <p>Over 168 million birds have been depopulated in the U.S. since early 2022, the majority of which have been at commercial operations. When a flock is killed, the USDA can compensate producers for the loss of revenue and the cost to depopulate.</p>
  2355.  
  2356.  
  2357.  
  2358. <p>Currently, operators are paid a flat fee for depopulation and disposal fees, regardless of whether the farm handles the killing on their own or hires a contractor. Producers are reimbursed $1.62 per bird for egg-laying chickens, $2.95 per meat chickens, $4.50 for turkeys and just over $5 per duck, as of February, according to USDA documents. </p>
  2359.  
  2360.  
  2361.  
  2362. <p>When a farm doesn’t have the resources or money to kill a flock on its own, the state’s agriculture department is contacted. If the state does not have access to equipment or labor, a USDA-approved contract company steps in and kills the birds.</p>
  2363.  
  2364.  
  2365.  
  2366. <p>Patriot Environmental Services is the nation’s only federal contractor able to provide depopulation services when requested by the USDA.&nbsp;</p>
  2367.  
  2368.  
  2369.  
  2370. <p>The company is a subsidiary of the national environmental cleanup company Crystal-Clean and is headquartered in Los Angeles, with 18 locations across the country. </p>
  2371.  
  2372.  
  2373.  
  2374. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="768" src="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/1-15-24-culling-2-1024x768-state-83-1746363810.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-307550" srcset="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/1-15-24-culling-2-1024x768-state-83-1746363810.jpeg 1024w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/1-15-24-culling-2-1024x768-state-83-1746363810-300x225.jpeg 300w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/1-15-24-culling-2-1024x768-state-83-1746363810-768x576.jpeg 768w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/1-15-24-culling-2-1024x768-state-83-1746363810-240x180.jpeg 240w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/1-15-24-culling-2-1024x768-state-83-1746363810-360x270.jpeg 360w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/1-15-24-culling-2-1024x768-state-83-1746363810-540x405.jpeg 540w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/1-15-24-culling-2-1024x768-state-83-1746363810-780x585.jpeg 780w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Workers at a depopulation site in Maryland manage biosecurity by decontaminating incoming and outgoing vehicles and equipment. (Dan Hougentogler / Investigate Midwest)</figcaption></figure>
  2375.  
  2376.  
  2377.  
  2378. <p>Parent company Crystal-Clean works with oil spills and waste management and is owned by the private equity firm J.F. Lehman &amp; Company. Crystal-Clean was fined $1.1 million in 2023 by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failure to have proper permitting and handling of hazardous waste materials.</p>
  2379.  
  2380.  
  2381.  
  2382. <p>Patriot Environmental Services has received more than $18 million in USDA poultry depopulation contracts since the beginning of the most recent outbreak, a figure that accounts for nearly a quarter of all depopulation contracts, technical assistance payments, research and grant funding related to bird flu funded by the federal government.</p>
  2383.  
  2384.  
  2385.  
  2386. <p>That money has been paid to private companies, state agencies, universities and research groups related to poultry depopulation.</p>
  2387.  
  2388.  
  2389.  
  2390. <p>Federal contracts and grants related to poultry depopulation during the ongoing outbreak have exceeded the amount spent during the 2014-2015 outbreak of bird flu, from $68 million to $73 million and counting.</p>
  2391.  
  2392.  
  2393.  
  2394. <p>In some states, poultry producers receive technical training from the state department of agriculture on proper depopulation methods. Previously, the USDA would train emergency response companies across the country to handle outbreaks, according to Dan Hougentogler, an emergency response and depopulation consultant with nearly two decades of experience in the animal disease outbreak and research industry.</p>
  2395.  
  2396.  
  2397.  
  2398. <p>This practice changed with the most recent outbreak when the USDA awarded a contract to Patriot Environmental Services to be the single provider of federal depopulation services.</p>
  2399.  
  2400.  
  2401.  
  2402. <p>Hougentogler said this switch has caused a bottleneck when multiple farms need access to the federal services at the same time.</p>
  2403.  
  2404.  
  2405.  
  2406. <p>A common depopulation tactic is to fill barns with suffocating foam, and Patriot Environmental Services is the only company that can access the federal foaming equipment, he said. </p>
  2407.  
  2408.  
  2409.  
  2410. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1023" height="504" src="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/4-15-25-culling-1-1-1024x504-state-83-1746363812.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-307552" srcset="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/4-15-25-culling-1-1-1024x504-state-83-1746363812.jpg 1023w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/4-15-25-culling-1-1-1024x504-state-83-1746363812-300x148.jpg 300w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/4-15-25-culling-1-1-1024x504-state-83-1746363812-768x378.jpg 768w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/4-15-25-culling-1-1-1024x504-state-83-1746363812-320x158.jpg 320w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/4-15-25-culling-1-1-1024x504-state-83-1746363812-480x236.jpg 480w, https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/4-15-25-culling-1-1-1024x504-state-83-1746363812-720x355.jpg 720w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1023px) 100vw, 1023px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Workers demonstrate the use of a water-based foam depopulation method at an empty broiler farm in Pennsylvania. (Dan Hougentogler / Investigate Midwest)</figcaption></figure>
  2411.  
  2412.  
  2413.  
  2414. <p>A state agency located in the same area as the national equipment has to wait for Patriot Environmental Services to deploy a team and use the equipment, even if they have staff trained to operate the equipment, he continued.</p>
  2415.  
  2416.  
  2417.  
  2418. <p>“Not having an expansive, trained network to operate this federal equipment, or allowing states to utilize the equipment that’s just sitting here with minimal people to use it, does cause some concern,” Hougentogler said.&nbsp;</p>
  2419.  
  2420.  
  2421.  
  2422. <p>The nation’s largest poultry companies do not typically use a third party for depopulation services, according to a spokesperson for the National Chicken Council, an industry advocacy group whose board members include executive leaders of several major poultry processors.</p>
  2423.  
  2424.  
  2425.  
  2426. <p>The U.S. Poultry &amp; Egg Association, whose members include leadership at Rose Acre Foods, Versova and Cal-Maine Foods, said its members follow all guidelines set by the American Veterinary Medical Association and referred questions to the USDA.</p>
  2427.  
  2428.  
  2429.  
  2430. <p>The USDA, Patriot Environmental Services and Crystal-Clean did not respond to repeated requests for comment.&nbsp;</p>
  2431.  
  2432.  
  2433.  
  2434. <p>In some cases, the backlog has caused companies to use more controversial methods of depopulation because they do not have the equipment or labor on hand to complete the killings in the needed time frame.</p>
  2435.  
  2436.  
  2437.  
  2438. <p>Hougentogler said he was aware of turkey farms that used “less appropriate methods” when they couldn’t access the federal contracts in time. He noted an example where a turkey farm used ventilation shutdown and heat, referred to in the industry as VSD+, to depopulate a flock of commercial poultry.</p>
  2439.  
  2440.  
  2441.  
  2442. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Hougentogler said he was aware of turkey farms that used “less appropriate methods.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  2443.  
  2444.  
  2445.  
  2446. <p><br><br>VSD+ is a controversial method of killing animals, but is accepted by industry standards set by the American Veterinary Medical Association.</p>
  2447.  
  2448.  
  2449.  
  2450. <p>The USDA and the AVMA note that VSD+ is to be used only in “constrained circumstances,” but the majority of birds killed during the ongoing outbreak have been killed using ventilation shutdown.</p>
  2451.  
  2452.  
  2453.  
  2454. <p>Workers close off the circulation of air and seal entrances to barns with ventilation shutdown, oftentimes adding extra heating units to increase the temperature.</p>
  2455.  
  2456.  
  2457.  
  2458. <p>“Ultimately, the goal is to have the production system and the state veterinarian agree on what is best for both the production system and animal welfare,” Hougentogler said. “We are depopulating the animal regardless, but until they are unconscious, we should still take as much care for them as possible.”&nbsp;</p>
  2459.  
  2460.  
  2461.  
  2462. <p>Utah state veterinarian Amanda Price told Investigate Midwest that the state was able to receive help from the federal contractor Patriot Environmental Services when requested, but some instances were delayed by a few days. This resulted in farms using ventilation shutdown in an effort to stay within target time frames meant to prevent virus spread.</p>
  2463.  
  2464.  
  2465.  
  2466. <p>Crystal Heath, a California-based veterinarian and co-founder of Our Honor, a nonprofit group of veterinarian members that advocate against using ventilation shutdowns in the U.S., said that ventilation shutdown is a cruel method to kill flocks.</p>
  2467.  
  2468.  
  2469.  
  2470. <p>The practice is banned in the European Union and has been criticized for its cruelty to animals in both commercial pork and poultry depopulation.&nbsp;</p>
  2471.  
  2472.  
  2473.  
  2474. <p>“If [producers] are going to get bailout money, they should put plans in place to depopulate with less cruel methods,” Heath said.</p>
  2475.  
  2476.  
  2477.  
  2478. <p>The American Veterinary Medical Association is reviewing proposals to update its depopulation guidance and is expected to announce changes this year. The AVMA did not respond to a request for comment.</p>
  2479.  
  2480.  
  2481.  
  2482. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">McDonald’s egg supplier kills millions of birds in Michigan with VSD+</h3>
  2483.  
  2484.  
  2485.  
  2486. <p>Once a farm has depopulated its flock, the work isn’t over.&nbsp;</p>
  2487.  
  2488.  
  2489.  
  2490. <p>Carcasses, feed, eggs, manure and other organic materials are gathered and composted or disposed of, a process that requires a fleet of equipment and workers.</p>
  2491.  
  2492.  
  2493.  
  2494. <p>Michigan, a state with 31 confirmed cases of bird flu in dairy cattle herds, has had 16 commercial poultry farms infected with bird flu since 2022, with more than 7 million birds killed.</p>
  2495.  
  2496.  
  2497.  
  2498. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Once a farm has depopulated its flock, the work isn’t over.</p></blockquote></figure>
  2499.  
  2500.  
  2501.  
  2502. <p>Most birds killed in Michigan were at egg-laying commercial farms using the ventilation shutdown method, according to USDA data.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  2503.  
  2504.  
  2505.  
  2506. <p>“Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) isn’t going to discuss details about the responses done on individual farms as most of that information is protected by Michigan law,” MDARD Director Tim Boring said in a statement provided to Investigate Midwest in response to questions about the use of ventilation shutdown.<br><br>“At every facility, we are balancing multiple priorities; including, but not limited to, stopping the spread of the disease, animal welfare, practicality given the structure, and of course safety of the people involved,” the statement continued.&nbsp;</p>
  2507.  
  2508.  
  2509.  
  2510. <p><a href="https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/MI_HPAI_2022_214_Site-Manager_Watson_20240417.pdf" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Documents obtained through records requests </a>from the Michigan Department of Agriculture show Herbruck’s Poultry Ranch, the state’s largest egg-producer and supplier of eggs to McDonald’s, disposing of dozens of dump trucks filled with chickens by the day during a depopulation that occurred in April 2024.</p>
  2511.  
  2512.  
  2513.  
  2514. <p><a href="https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/MI_HPAI_2022_214_Site-Manager_Laboy_20240423-1.pdf" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Records referred to Herbruck trucks</a> hauling caracasses to be composted at an outbreak site named “IO 02,” which is a reference to “Ionia 02.” This was the site of an April 2022 depopulation event that killed 2.1 million egg-laying chickens. </p>
  2515.  
  2516.  
  2517.  
  2518. <p>Herbruck used ventilation shutdown to kill the flock, based on USDA depopulation data and references to renting and using “heaters” made in the daily logs filled out by staff on site. </p>
  2519.  
  2520.  
  2521.  
  2522. <p>Daily worker logs describe days where 55 loads of dead chickens and other material were hauled off the farms to be composted or sent to a landfill.&nbsp;</p>
  2523.  
  2524.  
  2525.  
  2526. <p>Contracted environmental waste companies, composting companies, labor and disinfecting crews hauled dead birds and contaminated materials to nearby landfills as well as composted the dead carcasses.&nbsp;</p>
  2527.  
  2528.  
  2529.  
  2530. <p>Composting the bodies of birds infected with bird flu is a common practice in disposal and requires all organic material to reach an internal temperature of at least 130 degrees Fahrenheit for three days in order to kill the virus and other pathogens.&nbsp;</p>
  2531.  
  2532.  
  2533.  
  2534. <p>Contaminated feed, manure, bodies, eggs and other waste are stacked into large mounds, monitored for internal temperatures and eventually spread back onto land as fertilization.</p>
  2535.  
  2536.  
  2537.  
  2538. <p>Herbruck, which received $89 million in indemnity payments for the flocks killed by VSD+, was part of fast-food giant McDonald’s push for cage-free eggs and the decision to “prioritize the health and welfare of the animals,” according to a 2024 company press release.</p>
  2539.  
  2540.  
  2541.  
  2542. <p>Herbruck announced it was laying off hundreds of workers in Michigan a month after its 2024 bird flu outbreak.&nbsp;</p>
  2543.  
  2544.  
  2545.  
  2546. <p>Mohamed Mousa, Herbruck vice president, declined to answer questions about the company’s depopulation events and bird flu outbreaks. In an email, Mousa said the company does not have a media contact and is trying to “move on.”</p>
  2547. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/suffocating-foams-and-child-labor/">Suffocating Foams and Child Labor</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  2548. ]]></content:encoded>
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  2551. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  2554. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">307542</post-id> <enclosure url="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/turkey-flock-killed-using-foam-scaled-dan-hougentogler-via-investigate-midwest-do-not-reuse-e174611746363796.jpg" length="325121" type="image/jpeg" />
  2555. <media:thumbnail url="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/turkey-flock-killed-using-foam-scaled-dan-hougentogler-via-investigate-midwest-do-not-reuse-e174611746363796.jpg" />
  2556. </item>
  2557. <item>
  2558. <title>Curb the Skyrocketing Cost of Nuclear Modernization</title>
  2559. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/curb-the-skyrocketing-cost-of-nuclear-modernization/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=curb-the-skyrocketing-cost-of-nuclear-modernization</link>
  2560. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/curb-the-skyrocketing-cost-of-nuclear-modernization/#respond</comments>
  2562. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Daryl G. Kimball /  Arms Control Today  ]]></dc:creator>
  2563. <pubDate>Fri, 02 May 2025 13:56:06 +0000</pubDate>
  2564. <category><![CDATA[Activism]]></category>
  2565. <category><![CDATA[Column]]></category>
  2566. <category><![CDATA[Military]]></category>
  2567. <category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
  2568. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  2569. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  2570. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=307525</guid>
  2571.  
  2572. <description><![CDATA[<p>The U.S. nuclear program is siphoning resources from more pressing human needs.</p>
  2573. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/curb-the-skyrocketing-cost-of-nuclear-modernization/">Curb the Skyrocketing Cost of Nuclear Modernization</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  2574. ]]></description>
  2575. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  2576. <p><strong>Since Russia and the United States</strong> agreed 15 years ago to modest nuclear reductions under the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), they also have embarked on extraordinarily expensive campaigns to replace and modernize every component of their respective nuclear arsenals to maintain force levels and provide the option to build up.</p>
  2577.  
  2578.  
  2579.  
  2580. <p>At the same time, their leaders have failed to resolve disputes about existing treaties or launch new negotiations to limit or further cut their deadly arsenals below the New START ceiling of 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 strategic missiles and bombers each.</p>
  2581.  
  2582.  
  2583.  
  2584. <p>In 2018, shortly after he withdrew the United States from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, U.S. President <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/donald-trump/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="4" title="Donald Trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a> foolishly bragged about the nuclear stockpile that “until people come to their senses, we will build it up. It’s a threat to whoever you want, and it includes China, and it includes Russia, and it includes anybody else that wants to play that game.”</p>
  2585.  
  2586.  
  2587.  
  2588. <p>China has responded to U.S. nuclear and conventional military plans by pursuing a buildup of its historically “minimal” nuclear force to ensure that it retains an assured “second strike” capability. Russia has continued to develop new types of intermediate range missiles, as well as some new and exotic strategic systems designed to bypass U.S. missile defense capabilities.</p>
  2589.  
  2590.  
  2591.  
  2592. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Russian and U.S. leaders have failed to resolve disputes about existing treaties or launch new negotiations.</p></blockquote></figure>
  2593.  
  2594.  
  2595.  
  2596. <p>Successive presidential administrations and congresses have failed to seriously consider alternatives that would have reduced costs and maintained a devastating nuclear force.</p>
  2597.  
  2598.  
  2599.  
  2600. <p>Now, the cost of the U.S. nuclear modernization program is skyrocketing even further, siphoning resources from other more pressing human needs and national security priorities.</p>
  2601.  
  2602.  
  2603.  
  2604. <p>In April, the Congressional Budget Office issued its latest 10-year cost projection of the departments of Defense and Energy plans to operate, sustain and modernize existing U.S. nuclear forces and purchase new forces: a total of $946 billion in the 2025-2034 period, or about $95 billion per year.</p>
  2605.  
  2606.  
  2607.  
  2608. <p>This new estimate is 25 percent, or $190 billion, greater than the last CBO estimate of $756 billion, which covered the 2023-2032 period. Incredibly, the $946 billion estimate does not include all of the likely cost growth of the new Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program, which the Pentagon acknowledged in July 2024 would cost 81 percent, or $63 billion, more than the program’s baseline estimate of $78 billion, generated in 2020.</p>
  2609.  
  2610.  
  2611.  
  2612. <p>A decade ago, Air Force leaders ignored the results of a 2014 RAND study, commissioned by the service itself, which found that “incremental modernization and sustainment of the current Minuteman III force is a cost-effective alternative that should be considered.” In 2021, the Pentagon decided to ignore a request from 20 Democrats in Congress for an in-depth analysis of whether the existing Minuteman III force, which the Sentinel would replace, could be fielded further into the future.</p>
  2613.  
  2614.  
  2615.  
  2616. <p>In the wake of the Sentinel program fiasco, the Pentagon is now looking into extending portions of the Minuteman III force for another decade to 2050 while it restructures the Sentinel program, making the full extent of the cost growth unclear.</p>
  2617.  
  2618.  
  2619.  
  2620. <p>What is clear: Building up the U.S. nuclear force beyond New START levels — as Trump threatened in his first term and as some nuclear weapons boosters are advising now — would not only be unnecessary to deter a Russian or Chinese nuclear attack, it would be even more costly. It also would further strain the ability of the U.S. nuclear enterprise to maintain the existing force on schedule and on budget.</p>
  2621.  
  2622.  
  2623.  
  2624. <p>Yet, absent a new U.S.-Russia deal to maintain current limits on their strategic nuclear arsenals, a dangerous three-way arms race looms. Perhaps this is why Trump has spoken three times since his January inauguration about the massive costs of nuclear weapons, the catastrophic effects of their use, and his interest in talks with China and Russia to “denuclearize.”</p>
  2625.  
  2626.  
  2627.  
  2628. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>A dangerous three-way arms race looms.</p></blockquote></figure>
  2629.  
  2630.  
  2631.  
  2632. <p>But with New START due to expire in less than a year, there are still no talks underway on whether or how to replace the treaty. Although Russian officials say they are ready to engage, Trump has not outlined a strategy for getting the job done.</p>
  2633.  
  2634.  
  2635.  
  2636. <p>U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control negotiations always have been difficult. Achieving a new comprehensive framework could require sustained talks over many months, if not longer.</p>
  2637.  
  2638.  
  2639.  
  2640. <p>The smartest approach would be for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump to strike a simple, informal deal to maintain the existing caps set by New START as long as the other side also does so. They could agree to resume data exchanges and inspections, or should that not be feasible, monitor compliance through national technical means of intelligence.</p>
  2641.  
  2642.  
  2643.  
  2644. <p>Such a deal would reduce tensions, forestall a costly arms race on&nbsp;long-range nuclear missiles that no one can win, and buy time for&nbsp;talks on a broader, more durable, framework deal while also forgoing&nbsp;calls in Congress to throw away billions of dollars more on the already unaffordable and excessive U.S. nuclear arsenal.</p>
  2645. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/curb-the-skyrocketing-cost-of-nuclear-modernization/">Curb the Skyrocketing Cost of Nuclear Modernization</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  2646. ]]></content:encoded>
  2648. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/curb-the-skyrocketing-cost-of-nuclear-modernization/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  2649. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  2652. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">307525</post-id> <enclosure url="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AP24166494525094-877x585.jpg" length="750236" type="image/jpeg" />
  2653. <media:thumbnail url="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AP24166494525094-877x585.jpg" />
  2654. </item>
  2655. <item>
  2656. <title>Biding Time in Jena</title>
  2657. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/biding-time-in-jena/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=biding-time-in-jena</link>
  2658. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/biding-time-in-jena/#respond</comments>
  2660. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Shayoni Mitra /  n+1 ]]></dc:creator>
  2661. <pubDate>Fri, 02 May 2025 13:55:21 +0000</pubDate>
  2662. <category><![CDATA[Activism]]></category>
  2663. <category><![CDATA[Column]]></category>
  2664. <category><![CDATA[Courts & Law]]></category>
  2665. <category><![CDATA[Immigration]]></category>
  2666. <category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
  2667. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  2668. <category><![CDATA[Social Justice]]></category>
  2669. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  2670. <category><![CDATA[columbia university]]></category>
  2671. <category><![CDATA[freedom of speech]]></category>
  2672. <category><![CDATA[gaza]]></category>
  2673. <category><![CDATA[immigration and customs enforcement]]></category>
  2674. <category><![CDATA[mahmoud khalil]]></category>
  2675. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=307516</guid>
  2676.  
  2677. <description><![CDATA[<p>A visit to the Louisiana prison holding Mahmoud Khali, the first of the ongoing spate of extrajudicial ICE kidnappings.</p>
  2678. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/biding-time-in-jena/">Biding Time in Jena</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  2679. ]]></description>
  2680. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  2681. <p class="has-small-font-size"><em>Editor’s note: On April 29, a U.S. District Court in New Jersey ruled that Mahmoud Khalil could move forward with his lawsuit alleging that he has been unlawfully detained for his political views. Khalil’s legal team also has pending motions before the court to grant a preliminary injunction and compel his release on bail. </em></p>
  2682.  
  2683.  
  2684.  
  2685. <p><strong>He sat silent</strong> for most of the two-hour hearing, in standard-issue navy shirt, navy trousers and rubber slippers, thumbing a short string of beads, asking to speak on the record at the very end, after an immigration judge had already ruled him removable “to Syria or Algeria or somewhere.” Then Mahmoud Khalil delivered a short statement making forcefully the following points: that there had been neither due process rights nor fundamental fairness in his case, that he was sent 1,000 miles away from his family as a specific target of the <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/donald-trump/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="4" title="Donald Trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump</a> administration, and that his case was being handled with greater urgency than the hundreds of others awaiting a hearing at the same facility. As a small group of supporters, many known and dear to him, streamed out sniffling loudly and visibly wiping tears, he mouthed to them, smiling reassuringly, “It will be OK.”</p>
  2686.  
  2687.  
  2688.  
  2689. <p>After Khalil was abducted by plainclothes ICE agents from the lobby of his Columbia-owned apartment building on March 8, returning from an iftar with his eight-months-pregnant wife, for about 24 hours he was untraceable. Noor, his wife, had gone to Elizabeth, New Jersey, the closest detention facility to Manhattan, and was told he was no longer there. Eventually news trickled in that he had been whisked away to Jena, Louisiana, to the infamous LaSalle detention center.</p>
  2690.  
  2691.  
  2692.  
  2693. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Countless people were turned away at Khalil’s hearing.</p></blockquote></figure>
  2694.  
  2695.  
  2696.  
  2697. <p>LaSalle is in the minority of detention facilities with a courtroom adjacent. Because immigration court is an administrative proceeding and not a criminal one, there is no right to counsel, so most hearings have no one in attendance except the respondent. Pro bono immigration services put in an appearance remotely when they can, but funding sources for those are shrinking catastrophically across the board. Frequently, there is a language barrier. The facilities’ locations are remote by design, making it very hard for family to travel to them. Government identification is checked at any number of entry points, ruling out the possibility of visits by undocumented people. In any case, a guard could turn you away with no reason given; I heard stories of people coming from as far as California and not being allowed in. This is a well-oiled system, spanning across administrations, meant to process and deport thousands of people a month.</p>
  2698.  
  2699.  
  2700.  
  2701. <p>Countless people were turned away at Khalil’s hearing on April 11. At a hearing earlier in the week, 600 people had tried to log into the court’s remote room. The judge had called it most unusual and denied online court observers. (The only time Khalil had spoken at the earlier hearing had been to request that his wife be allowed to log in.) By Friday, a scrum of reporters local and national, community organizers from New Orleans, faith leaders and friends had arrived on Pinehill Road, flying and driving through many hours of the night and early morning. Cars lined up on a steep, sunbaked bank littered with yellow spring blooms, as folks negotiated who would get in. This time the judge announced that she would be allowing only 22 people into the small courtroom, with no remote access except for some of Khalil’s lawyers.</p>
  2702.  
  2703.  
  2704.  
  2705. <p>Coordinators tried to devise an honor system of first-arrived-first-in. People moved from one vehicle to the next, hoping to leap-frog their positions in the final count. Cars revved and skidded to get through the gates, sounding more like a drag race than like witnesses to a somber proceeding to decide a man’s fate. In the end, 22 people sat in the wooden benches before the judge, the front row almost entirely empty, with only reporters allowed to take notes. When proceedings began, the lead immigration counsel tried to enter into the record a petition from the ACLU about court access, but the judge was firm: I am here today only to decide removability.</p>
  2706.  
  2707.  
  2708.  
  2709. <p class="has-text-align-center"><strong>*&nbsp;&nbsp; *&nbsp;&nbsp; *</strong></p>
  2710.  
  2711.  
  2712.  
  2713. <p>To anyone who knows Khalil, his brief closing statement is not a surprise. His stoic optimism, his care for others before self, his uncanny ability to identify the source of a problem and unwavering courage to name it, and always his solidarity with more marginalized groups of people — these are the qualities that made him an excellent student mediator on Columbia’s campus. They are also wholly at odds with the claims of the undated two-page memorandum that Secretary of State Marco Rubio submitted, and which Judge Jamee Comans ruled was sufficient grounds for removability under Section 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (a)(4)(C), claiming Khalil to be adverse to foreign policy interests of the United States. The memo specifically cites Khalil’s role and participation in “antisemitic protests and disruptive activities, which fosters a hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States.”</p>
  2714.  
  2715.  
  2716.  
  2717. <p>It didn’t matter that immigration attorney Marc Van Der Hout argued that this statute had been written for the removal of the Shah of Iran from the United States. Nor did it matter that Rubio had failed to meet the standard set by the 1999 Ruiz-Massieu judgment, according to which the Department of Homeland Security had to prove “by clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence that the Secretary of State has made a facially reasonable and bona fide determination that an alien’s presence or activities in the United States would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.” It certainly didn’t matter that most of the community members in the courtroom in Jena were Jewish, and had travelled over 1,000 miles to be present for their friend. Now a legal permanent resident can be deemed “antisemitic,” and therefore deportable, simply because the secretary of state says so.</p>
  2718.  
  2719.  
  2720.  
  2721. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Khalil was the first of a current spate of ICE kidnappings of students.</p></blockquote></figure>
  2722.  
  2723.  
  2724.  
  2725. <p>Khalil was the first of a current spate of ICE kidnappings of students — escalated and abetted by an administration that appears to be increasingly comfortable with extrajudicial proceedings. The ICE agents who apprehended him thought he was on an F1 visa to the United States; when told he was a legal permanent resident, they were flummoxed enough mid-operation to call their supervisor. The agents were instructed to pick him up anyway. At the hearing, amongst the many motions, Khalil’s legal team filed for termination of detention based on his wrongful detention. (DHS, they argued, had produced a warrant to justify the arrest, but that warrant was signed five hours after Khalil had been detained.) Comans was unmoved. She read her judgment, after the long hearing, from a pre-typed statement. He was removable.<sup data-fn="cd6314b2-07fd-4ded-b431-410a3f25e6c3" class="fn"><a id="cd6314b2-07fd-4ded-b431-410a3f25e6c3-link" href="#cd6314b2-07fd-4ded-b431-410a3f25e6c3" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">1</a></sup></p>
  2726.  
  2727.  
  2728.  
  2729. <p class="has-text-align-center"><strong>*&nbsp;&nbsp; *&nbsp;&nbsp; *</strong></p>
  2730.  
  2731.  
  2732.  
  2733. <p>Louisiana has nine ICE detention facilities, eight of which are privately run, making it the second-largest detention state in the country. The GEO Group owns four of them, including LaSalle. On Nov. 8, 2024, after news of <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/donald-trump/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="4" title="Donald Trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a>’s presidential win, the company’s stocks increased by 41 percent; days before that, a top ICE official had left his government job and started working for the GEO Group, according to an ethics complaint. In February, the group signed a deal worth $1 billion to reopen a detention center near New York. There are talks of its ability to scale its monitoring from 175,000 migrants to 7 million under the administration’s projected deportation plans.</p>
  2734.  
  2735.  
  2736.  
  2737. <p>At the press conference after the hearing, representatives of the Southeast Dignity Not Detention Coalition addressed the detention industry’s extensive presence in Louisiana:</p>
  2738.  
  2739.  
  2740.  
  2741. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  2742. <p>Today and every day we call for to the abolition of this country’s inhumane detention system starting with the eleven centers in our region, the majority of which are run by for-profit prison corporations. We denounce the conversion of the Louisiana prisons, like the one behind us, into ICE jails, continuing a legacy of racialized control and dehumanization in this state. We know that these southern prisons, built specifically for the enslavement and torture of black people were valiantly shut down by organizers in black liberation struggle in order to end mass incarceration. Not to become a cage for other bodies.</p>
  2743. </blockquote>
  2744.  
  2745.  
  2746.  
  2747. <p>They added:</p>
  2748.  
  2749.  
  2750.  
  2751. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  2752. <p>We stand in solidarity with Mahmoud Khalil, Rumeysa Ozturk, Badar Khan Suri, Alireza Doroudi, and all others trapped in this system. They are political prisoners among many others fighting the struggle to be free while isolated far from legal support, family, and community. Our struggles are deeply interconnected. The tools of border militarization used against immigrants here were first tested on Palestinians abroad. And long before the ICE detention industry came to us, the first detention center in Louisiana popped up an hour and a half away from here in Oakdale, Louisiana, out of a plan to detain Arab and Muslim non-citizens in secret. A plan that was exposed during the LA Eight trials of Palestinian student protestors in 1987.</p>
  2753. </blockquote>
  2754.  
  2755.  
  2756.  
  2757. <p>Over 1,000 students are known to have had their visas revoked in the past month. Unprecedentedly, some of those have been revoked through DHS, which has manually terminated students’ legal status in the United States without notifying the students or their universities. (On April 22, a federal judge ordered the reinstatement of 133 canceled visas for international students.)</p>
  2758.  
  2759.  
  2760.  
  2761. <p>Ozturk, Suri and Doroudi were three of the early cases and were all taken into ICE detention through what lawyers have called “late-night hopscotch” to get students to the South’s “detention alley.” Suri is being held in Texas. Ozturk is nearby in Basile, Louisiana, at an all-women’s facility also run by GEO, where she has had at least three asthma attacks with no access to medication. Doroudi is said to be in LaSalle, though Khalil has not met him yet.<sup data-fn="2d5966d6-8f09-47c5-86a2-d45d3e948938" class="fn"><a id="2d5966d6-8f09-47c5-86a2-d45d3e948938-link" href="#2d5966d6-8f09-47c5-86a2-d45d3e948938" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">2</a></sup></p>
  2762.  
  2763.  
  2764.  
  2765. <p>Three days after Khalil’s hearing, on April 14, another Palestinian Columbia SIPA student, Mohsen Mahdawi, was detained by ICE. This time it was at a USCIS facility in Vermont, where Mahdawi had gone for a naturalization appointment. He had lived in the United States for 10 years and was also a legal permanent resident. That he could be apprehended, on the brink of his citizenship, in broad daylight shows how emboldened the Trump-Rubio deportation plan has become. His lawyers, having learned from Khalil’s case, filed a case against him being moved across state lines fast enough. Khalil’s detention was the stress test for the administration instrumentalizing its immigration policy to come after pro-Palestinian students.</p>
  2766.  
  2767.  
  2768.  
  2769. <p>Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., visited Mahdawi in detention on April 21. On April 22, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Massachusetts representatives Ayanna Pressley and Jim McGovern visited Khalil and Ozturk in detention. As of this writing, no politicians from New York have visited their constituent.</p>
  2770.  
  2771.  
  2772.  
  2773. <p class="has-text-align-center"><strong>*&nbsp;&nbsp; *&nbsp;&nbsp; *</strong></p>
  2774.  
  2775.  
  2776.  
  2777. <p>At LaSalle, every entry point is marked by tall double gates. One set must audibly click shut before the second is buzzed open. As the press conference unfolded outside, some of us waited for visitation with Khalil.</p>
  2778.  
  2779.  
  2780.  
  2781. <p>A wooden bench outside the entrance to the facility’s visitation center was emblazoned with the slogan Brilliant @ the basics. Inside, we saw framed posters — Outdoor Recreation, Legal Resources, Library, Phone System — illustrated with stock images. Past the double doors, there were several plaques for employee of the month and an array of pamphlets with information about retirement and investment planning. I was reminded of a public school hallway, with its spirit of forced cheer — except here, the morale in question was that of employees in a detention center. Employees entered and left the facility with clear plastic backpacks and purses, their contents visible to the world. Some wore maroon T-shirts illustrated with large, gray handcuffs and the slogan &#8220;The only three certainties in life are 1. Death 2. Taxes 3. Count Time.&#8221;</p>
  2782.  
  2783.  
  2784.  
  2785. <p>It was after 5 p.m., and a woman waiting with us went up to quietly talk to the receptionist at the main desk. She had been waiting several hours already. How much longer would it take, since she had to get back to work? &#8220;You work tonight?&#8221; the receptionist asked. &#8220;Yes, my shift starts at 10 p.m.&#8221; She had driven in from New Orleans, nearly five hours away. Later, I saw her inside, talking to her son through the plexiglass, each holding old-school pay phone-style telephones. He looked very young, maybe 16.</p>
  2786.  
  2787.  
  2788.  
  2789. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>This is the everyday pace of a detention center — indignities big and small for everyone.</p></blockquote></figure>
  2790.  
  2791.  
  2792.  
  2793. <p>As we waited, a young child came out, dazed and dragging her feet. She looked crestfallen. Next to me I heard convulsing sobs. Khalil’s friend, who had held it together for so long, was now shaking. “I was thinking this will be like Mahmoud’s child now, born and not knowing his father in the first months of his life,” she confided later.</p>
  2794.  
  2795.  
  2796.  
  2797. <p>This is the everyday pace of a detention center — indignities big and small for everyone. When we were at last let in to see Khalil, he was gracious and wanted to meet everyone — people had come from so far away! But the reality was that the extended visitations meant he would miss his yard time. It’s OK, he tried to reassure us, it’s getting so hot nowadays. I thought back to his first statement from detention and his descriptions of being made to sleep on the floor, being denied a blanket even when he was freezing. In that the same statement he wrote that “justice escapes the contours of this nation’s immigration facilities.”</p>
  2798.  
  2799.  
  2800.  
  2801. <p>Between calls with his lawyers, Khalil brushed aside worries about his meals. He had eaten a bagel right before the hearing, he said. He did miss fruit. They got about an apple a week. There was TV, and a tablet for news, although you could only look at the stories loaded on it and not search for anything. You could watch a movie, too, or take a PlayStation to your room. His cheerful bluffing belied the steep prison economy where the smallest privilege costs money. The GEO Group, worth billions, had just been in the news for fighting to pay its detainees as little as $1 for a day’s work.</p>
  2802.  
  2803.  
  2804.  
  2805. <p>Khalil said he tried to write a little each day. He was able to receive letters and books sent directly from the publisher or Amazon. He was reading two that Noor had sent him. He wanted to talk about arrangements for Noor as she inched closer to her due date. For this was the immutable reality behind the verdict of the day: even as appeals were scheduled and heard, even as the more important habeas case moved through federal court in New Jersey under Judge Michael Farbiarz, who ruled that his court has jurisdiction to hear the case even though the writ was filed in a Manhattan court, even as immigration lawyers and others mounted challenges to Trump’s immigration policies — Khalil would now miss the birth of his first child.</p>
  2806.  
  2807.  
  2808.  
  2809. <p class="has-text-align-center"><strong>*&nbsp;&nbsp; *&nbsp;&nbsp; *</strong></p>
  2810.  
  2811.  
  2812.  
  2813. <p class="has-text-align-left">DHS submitted dozens of pages of evidence that included reports in what his lawyers described as “tabloids.” Most were third-person accounts in the New York Post. Comans paused to clarify that hearsay was permissible in immigration court. To which Johnny Sinodis, a member of Khalil&#8217;s legal team, retorted, “only if it is probative and fundamentally fair.”<sup data-fn="e3356093-cc9d-481c-b172-3588a903a74c" class="fn"><a id="e3356093-cc9d-481c-b172-3588a903a74c-link" href="#e3356093-cc9d-481c-b172-3588a903a74c" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">3</a></sup></p>
  2814.  
  2815.  
  2816.  
  2817. <p>As proof of Khalil’s disruptive antisemitic campus activities, the federal government’s attorney said that “he participated in dance circles wearing a scarf.” Khalil cracked a small smile at this accusation. Marc Van Der Hout objected first chance he got. “Frankly the reference to a wearing a scarf is disgusting and racist, your honor,” he said. “I am Jewish. Does that mean I cannot &#8230;” Comans was not interested in the substance of the accusations against him.</p>
  2818.  
  2819.  
  2820.  
  2821. <p>But for the rest of us, especially those on campuses that have erupted with protests over the past 18 months, the material weight of those allegations has reoriented our world. Some will argue that they have fundamentally reconfigured the university, and at Columbia at least seem to be precipitating its demise. After the past year and a half, it is unsurprising that among the demands the Trump administration presented to Columbia was a push to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism. Columbia’s preemptive capitulation to these demands — including, in a move gutting academic freedom, offering up oversight of the Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies department, Middle East Institute and the Center for Palestinian Studies — led my colleague Rashid Khalidi to refer to the university as Vichy on the Hudson. (Columbia has not named Khalil or Mahdawi in any of their communications.)</p>
  2822.  
  2823.  
  2824.  
  2825. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>The material weight of the allegations has reoriented our world.</p></blockquote></figure>
  2826.  
  2827.  
  2828.  
  2829. <p>No doubt antisemitism is on the rise in the United States and on our campuses, aided in large part by right-wing, neo-Nazi ideologues, including the richest man on earth’s ghastly public flirtation with a Nazi salute. But task forces, congressional hearings, executive orders and all manner of policy have pinned the blame on campus protesters marching against the world’s most mediatized genocide. These students have been labeled terrorist sympathizers and prima facie antisemites — the result of months’ long, well-coordinated campaign, both within the university and outside it. Relentless harassment, doxing, cyberbullying: since Trump’s inauguration, these strategies have been extended to their logical conclusion — deportation lists and denaturalization lists aggregated by the likes of Canary Mission and Betar.</p>
  2830.  
  2831.  
  2832.  
  2833. <p>My institution, Barnard College, plays a particular role in Khalil’s detention. On March 5, there was a sit-in in the lobby of Milstein Hall, which houses Barnard’s library, archives, and teaching and learning centers. A similar sit-in had taken place a week earlier, in protest of three recent student expulsions. (Barnard hadn’t expelled a student for political protest since 1968, when Liz LeClair was kicked out for living with her boyfriend off-campus.) At the first sit-in, at Milbank Hall, students dispersed after being promised a meeting with the dean of the college. But after the sides could not agree on the conditions for those meetings, the student protesters returned. (Crucially, one of the preconditions of the meeting set by the college was that the students be unmasked. After a year of the college administration disciplining, unhousing, suspending and expelling students through a contentious disciplinary process, protesters were wary of this provision.)</p>
  2834.  
  2835.  
  2836.  
  2837. <p>I had class in the first floor of the Milstein that day, and after three shelter-in-place orders, emerged from the classroom to see if my students could find safe ways to leave. The lobby was engulfed in chaos. Khalil was there, notably unmasked, once again mediating between the student protesters and the administration. A one-time executive of Betar happened to be on Capitol Hill that day watching live-streamed images of the sit-in and recognized the only unmasked face in the crowd as the lead negotiator for the Gaza Solidarity encampments a year prior. “The guy is making it too easy for us,” he told the Forward. Khalil intuited the gravity of the escalating online campaign against him well enough to write to Columbia two days later, on Friday. He was worried for his safety, he said. ICE agents showed up on his doorstep the next day.</p>
  2838.  
  2839.  
  2840.  
  2841. <p class="has-text-align-center"><strong>*&nbsp;&nbsp; *&nbsp;&nbsp; *</strong></p>
  2842.  
  2843.  
  2844.  
  2845. <p>I think about Khalil smiling at the mention of the dance circles. The government attorney was referring, of course, to the dabke, the line dance which is a staple of any Palestinian celebration. I have seen Khalil dancing the dabke, including most recently at an event I convened in February called Records of Presence, which included presentations on archives of Palestinian photography, art and music. At the end of the evening, as a DJ played lost and recovered songs, Khalil linked arms with his fellow students and circumambulated the room, dancing. For me, the dabke serves as a capacious metaphor for what makes Khalil a leader — skill, exuberance, rhythm, the willingness to take artistic risk at the front of the line, to lead by holding hands with other joyful dancers. In the proliferation of public art and images of Khalil around campus and New York City, I saw a sticker that said &#8220;Dabke to Free All Political Prisoners.&#8221; In it was a line of dancers dancing the dabke, with a likeness of Khalil at the center, and a building that looked like Columbia in the background.</p>
  2846.  
  2847.  
  2848.  
  2849. <p>At a December 2024 gathering of Palestinian writers convened to remember Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, killed in an airstrike in 2023, Khalil read the words of Hiba Abu Nada, a diarist, who wrote movingly of her final days, and the steep toll of war on human lives, family and friendship around her. He read the diary entries in their original Arabic, while another student read the English translation. Khalil’s rendition was haunting, and even though majority in the room did not understand the words he was speaking, they intuitively grasped the controlled emotion and immense loss behind his words. The day before Abu Nada died, she wrote: “My friend list is shrinking, turning into little coffins scattered here and there. I cannot catch my friends after the missiles, as they fly off, I cannot bring them back again nor can I pay my condolences nor can I cry, I don’t know what to do. Every day it shrinks further, these are not just names, these are us only with different faces, different names.”</p>
  2850.  
  2851.  
  2852.  
  2853. <p>The same websites and social media accounts that have taken aim at Khalil have named thousands of others, including me. While they provide no evidence of hate speech or antisemitism or inciting violence in anything I’ve done, written or said, I was intrigued to find the following complaints against my work: it turns “Palestinian nationalism into a work of art”; “Who knew performance studies was just another term for radical propaganda?” The parallels between this logic and the one presented at court are clear — cultural expression and analysis itself are the problem.</p>
  2854.  
  2855.  
  2856.  
  2857. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“He did nothing wrong. If they can get him, they can get any of us.”</p></blockquote></figure>
  2858.  
  2859.  
  2860.  
  2861. <p>After a long day, people staggered into a local restaurant in Jena called Lisa’s Louisiana Cuisine. Waves of people had come from the courthouse to eat here. Some Jewish students said the reporters who came in after them took photos of them dining, too. As we ate our gumbo and étoufée, the owner came by to chat. </p>
  2862.  
  2863.  
  2864.  
  2865. <p>“I know why you all are here. It’s not right that they have him in there,” he said. “He did nothing wrong. If they can get him, they can get any of us.” The owner knows Jena well, having lived there most of his life. “It will take generations to undo, what is being done now,” he said. His wife, closing up for the day, handed us jars upon jars of pickled watermelon and satsuma and mayhaws, and refused payment for them all.</p>
  2866.  
  2867.  
  2868.  
  2869. <p>We keep each other safe. Students say this to one another all the time, at rallies and protests. Despite the distance between rural Louisiana and New York, we found a bit of community at that restaurant a few minutes’ drive from the prison. We told the owner and his wife that we would tell Khalil about them, that they were there just outside the gates.</p>
  2870.  
  2871.  
  2872.  
  2873. <p>Khalil, for all his trials, has found deep community inside the gates too. When we heard the early anecdotes about him helping his peers fill out forms and access legal help, we had to laugh. Of course he is! That’s who he is. One can only imagine the intricate barter of care and camaraderie behind those doubled gates. In a facility that prides itself on the basics of bare life, people bide their time each in their own way. When we went to see him, he was wearing a slender, bright, blue-beaded bracelet that said Noor, which another detainee had made for him.</p>
  2874.  
  2875.  
  2876.  
  2877. <p>On April 21, Noor delivered her son alone, after another Louisiana immigration judge denied Khalil’s appeal for monitored release an hour after his lawyers filed a request, when Noor had already gone into labor. Khalil was able to speak to her briefly during labor and delivery. Perhaps he was thumbing the tasbih, or prayer beads, he held at his hearing. After all, those were made for him, too. With toothpaste and bread, shaped as perfect beads in the microwave.</p>
  2878.  
  2879.  
  2880. <ol class="wp-block-footnotes"><li id="cd6314b2-07fd-4ded-b431-410a3f25e6c3">Comans did not rule on the 212(a)(6)(C)(i) also brought against Khalil for improperly filling out his legal residency form as grounds for deportation. Here co-counsel Johnny Sinodis argued the state’s allegations easily fell apart under scrutiny — Khalil was on a Columbia-sanctioned internship with UNWRA and not in fact employed by them, the dates he was employed by the British Embassy in Beirut were confirmed by a letter from the embassy, and he had been a mediator in the Columbia encampment in April 2024, after he had filled his paperwork in March of that year. <a href="#cd6314b2-07fd-4ded-b431-410a3f25e6c3-link" aria-label="Jump to footnote reference 1" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank"><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/15.0.3/72x72/21a9.png" alt="↩" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />︎</a></li><li id="2d5966d6-8f09-47c5-86a2-d45d3e948938">See “<a href="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/66324b38260b26fc98b4f52f/66c77c4848f4fc74670650f5_Inside%20the%20Black%20Hole_Systemic%20Human%20Rights%20Abuses%20Against%20Immigrants%20Detained.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Inside the Black Hole</a>,” a 2024 report on human rights abuses in Louisiana’s ICE facilities. <a href="#2d5966d6-8f09-47c5-86a2-d45d3e948938-link" aria-label="Jump to footnote reference 2" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank"><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/15.0.3/72x72/21a9.png" alt="↩" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />︎</a></li><li id="e3356093-cc9d-481c-b172-3588a903a74c">Also cited was an article from the Times of India, filed by its world desk, inaccurately reporting Khalil’s work history. We don’t know whether this inaccuracy in factual reporting was an error or a misdirection. But it’s worth reflecting on the resonances between Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agendas, which make Indian sources just serviceable enough to be used by the state in immigration courts in Louisiana. After all, it was not so long ago that the Modi government was trying to pass the Citizenship Amendment Bill and word spread of the construction of large-scale detention facilities being built in Assam. Gulfisha Fatima, Umar Khalid and other Muslim student leaders have been detained five years without trial in Indian jails. <a href="#e3356093-cc9d-481c-b172-3588a903a74c-link" aria-label="Jump to footnote reference 3" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank"><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/15.0.3/72x72/21a9.png" alt="↩" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />︎</a></li></ol>
  2881.  
  2882.  
  2883. <p></p>
  2884. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/biding-time-in-jena/">Biding Time in Jena</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
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  2894. <item>
  2895. <title>(Don’t Fear) Thomas Pynchon</title>
  2896. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/dont-fear-thomas-pynchon/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=dont-fear-thomas-pynchon</link>
  2897. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/dont-fear-thomas-pynchon/#respond</comments>
  2899. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jim Knipfel]]></dc:creator>
  2900. <pubDate>Fri, 02 May 2025 13:54:51 +0000</pubDate>
  2901. <category><![CDATA[Arts & Culture]]></category>
  2902. <category><![CDATA[Books]]></category>
  2903. <category><![CDATA[Column]]></category>
  2904. <category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
  2905. <category><![CDATA[TD Original]]></category>
  2906. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  2907. <category><![CDATA[fiction]]></category>
  2908. <category><![CDATA[huntington library]]></category>
  2909. <category><![CDATA[national book award]]></category>
  2910. <category><![CDATA[penguin]]></category>
  2911. <category><![CDATA[random house]]></category>
  2912. <category><![CDATA[thomas pynchon]]></category>
  2913. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=307511</guid>
  2914.  
  2915. <description><![CDATA[<p>The legendary author of “Gravity’s Rainbow” turns 88 this week, but we’re the ones getting the presents.</p>
  2916. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/dont-fear-thomas-pynchon/">(Don’t Fear) Thomas Pynchon</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  2917. ]]></description>
  2918. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  2919. <p class="has-drop-cap">Yes yes yes, the prevailing mindset the world over these days seems to oscillate between the “utterly apocalyptic” and the “merely cataclysmic.” But with Thomas Pynchon marking his 88th birthday on May 8, and with a new novel and an all-star film adaptation promising some Pynchon-riffic days ahead, it’s still a fine time to be alive. In literary terms, anyway.</p>
  2920.  
  2921.  
  2922.  
  2923. <p>By way of introduction for the unfamiliar, Mr. Pynchon’s debut novel, “V.”, was released in 1963. To date he has published eight novels, a short story collection, a smattering of essays and some book introductions. He won a National Book Award for 1973’s “Gravity’s Rainbow.” His often uncannily prescient novels are known for their dense interwoven strands of plot, conspiracy and character, often peppered with musical numbers. Blinkered knuckleheads have unfairly branded him “mysterious” and “reclusive” because he opted out of the celebrity machine in order to let the work stand on its own. Some consider him America’s Greatest Living Writer, while others consider him The Greatest Writer America Has Ever Produced. He’s our Dostoevsky, our Joyce, our Homer, but, y’know, funnier. (By way of full disclosure, Mr. Pynchon has been kind, if arguably misguided enough to provide wondrous blurbs for two of my books.)</p>
  2924.  
  2925.  
  2926.  
  2927. <p>In December of 2022, it was announced Mr. Pynchon had sold his literary archives to the esteemed Huntington Library in San Marino, California. For fans, this was not necessarily good news. He was 85 at the time, and tucking his archives safely away in a research library might signal things were slowing down. His books had never come out on a strict schedule like bestselling thriller series, but it had been nearly a decade since his last novel, “Bleeding Edge.” The way the world was going, and going fast, to maintain our fleeting sanity we were in dire need of a fresh injection of his wisdom, perspective, his deep understanding of history and his bad jokes.</p>
  2928.  
  2929.  
  2930.  
  2931. <p>Well, Pynchon news tends to blink into the world in the form of an impish surprise and, true to form, as his 88th birthday approached, the surprises began popping up.</p>
  2932.  
  2933.  
  2934.  
  2935. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>He’s our Dostoevsky, our Joyce, our Homer, but, y’know, funnier.</p></blockquote></figure>
  2936.  
  2937.  
  2938.  
  2939. <p>Although it has long been maintained that Mr. Pynchon’s books were as unfilmable as Joyce’s or Faulkner’s, in 2014 Oscar-nominated director Paul Thomas Anderson (“Boogie Nights,” “There Will Be Blood” and other swell pictures) released “Inherent Vice,” his reasonably faithful adaptation of Mr. Pynchon’s 2009 shaggy dog stoner hippie noir comedy. When Anderson announced in 2022 he was getting down to work on a new project, the rumors began swirling that it would be an adaptation of Mr. Pynchon’s 1990 novel “Vineland,” about a collective of late-’60s radicals who, 20 years later, find themselves confronted with their old nemesis, a malevolent Drug Enforcement Administration agent. Anderson had been talking about adapting “Vineland” since the release of “Inherent Vice,” so maybe this was it.</p>
  2940.  
  2941.  
  2942.  
  2943. <p>When the Sept. 26 release date for “One Battle After Another” was confirmed,&nbsp; however, something seemed amiss. Not only had the title been changed, but so had all the character names, with the setting updated from the Reagan Era to the <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/donald-trump/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="4" title="Donald Trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump</a> Era. Hmm. The big-budget all-star Leonardo DiCaprio vehicle was being touted as an action thriller, and the trailer didn’t exactly exude that Pynchonian vibe. Still, even though neither Mr. Pynchon nor “Vineland” were mentioned in the film’s press materials, the vague familial resemblance was inescapable.&nbsp;</p>
  2944.  
  2945.  
  2946.  
  2947. <p>The rumors were finally confirmed in March when Anderson’s Writer’s Guild of America filing clarified the film was “inspired by” and “loosely based on” “Vineland,” so it seems we really do have a new kinda, sorta Pynchon adaptation to look forward to this fall.</p>
  2948.  
  2949.  
  2950.  
  2951. <p>More exciting still, in early April Penguin-Random House announced that “Shadow Ticket,” Mr. Pynchon’s ninth novel and his first in 12 years, would be released on Oct. 7, about a week and a half after the film. It was no surprise that literary websites went all abuzz; but so too did mainstream news outlets. Can you name another living novelist for whom the announcement of a new book makes national news six months before the book’s release?&nbsp;</p>
  2952.  
  2953.  
  2954.  
  2955. <p>Now, trying to guess what a Pynchon novel might concern this far in advance is a fool’s errand, but as he’s done since 1997’s “Mason &amp; Dixon,” Mr. Pynchon offered a helping hand by penning the press release himself. “Milwaukee 1932,” it begins:</p>
  2956.  
  2957.  
  2958.  
  2959. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  2960. <p>the Great Depression going full blast, repeal of Prohibition just around the corner, Al Capone in the federal pen, the private investigation business shifting from labor-management relations to the more domestic kind. Hicks McTaggart, a one-time strikebreaker turned private eye, thinks he’s found job security until he gets sent out on what should be a routine case, locating and bringing back the heiress of a Wisconsin cheese fortune who’s taken a mind to go wandering. Before he knows it, he’s been shanghaied onto a transoceanic liner, ending up eventually in Hungary where there’s no shoreline, a language from some other planet, and enough pastry to see any cop well into retirement — and of course no sign of the runaway heiress he’s supposed to be chasing. By the time Hicks catches up with her he will find himself also entangled with Nazis, Soviet agents, British counterspies, swing musicians, practitioners of the paranormal, outlaw motorcyclists, and the troubles that come with each of them, none of which Hicks is qualified, forget about being paid, to deal with. Surrounded by history he has no grasp on and can’t see his way around in or out of, the only bright side for Hicks is it’s the dawn of the Big Band Era and as it happens he’s a pretty good dancer. Whether this will be enough to allow him somehow to lindy-hop his way back again to Milwaukee and the normal world, which may no longer exist, is another question.</p>
  2961. </blockquote>
  2962.  
  2963.  
  2964.  
  2965. <p>News of a new Pynchon novel is always cause for jubilation, and clocking in at a comparatively snappy 384 pages, “Shadow Ticket” is less intimidating a prospect than many of his others. But if you’re a Wisconsinite like me, the novel’s Milwaukee setting nudges that jubilation deep into delirium territory, with the very term “cheese heiress” eliciting potentially dangerous heart palpitations.</p>
  2966.  
  2967.  
  2968.  
  2969. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>You can never read a Pynchon novel too many times.</p></blockquote></figure>
  2970.  
  2971.  
  2972.  
  2973. <p>At the moment I’m two-thirds of the way through a rereading of his 2006 novel “Against the Day.” You can never read a Pynchon novel too many times. Published roughly 35 years after “Gravity’s Rainbow,” and too often overlooked thanks to its imposing 1,100-page heft, “Against the Day” is the work of a mature maestro I’m convinced will one day be recognized as his true magnum opus. I don’t read Mr. Pynchon’s novels, as many seem to, with a mind toward dissecting every conjunction and contraction in order to churn out turgid journal articles about his use of time metaphors or what have you. I also don’t read his novels in order to show everyone within earshot what a big smarty-pants I am. No, I’m a Neanderthal and read Mr. Pynchon’s novels because I like them. The popular perception holds that his books are impregnable fortresses accessible only to super-geniuses. Yeah, and Bob’s your uncle, I say. It’s a myth propped up by insufferable types who want to hold Mr. Pynchon’s work hostage the way the church holds the Bible hostage. Truth is, his novels are perfectly accessible even to Neanderthals like me. They’re literary thrill rides, intellectually exciting on a gut level, outrageous, hilarious — in a word, fun. They’re as lowbrow as they are highbrow, the dumb jokes and slapstick splashing around the room all willy-nilly amid the obscure cultural references, history and science, a singular literary species unto themselves. Mr. Pynchon has an unerring knack for choosing the perfect word, his comic timing is impeccable, and both are on luminous display in a deceptively effortless flow of prose that reveals in every sentence a staggering, almost otherworldly brilliance and imagination that feels downright casual.&nbsp;</p>
  2974.  
  2975.  
  2976.  
  2977. <p class="is-td-marked">It’s an honest privilege to be living in the same world at the same time as Thomas Pynchon, and to still be receiving gifts from an author who, whether he knows it or not, doesn’t have a damn thing left to prove.</p>
  2978. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/dont-fear-thomas-pynchon/">(Don’t Fear) Thomas Pynchon</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  2979. ]]></content:encoded>
  2981. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/dont-fear-thomas-pynchon/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  2982. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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  2987. </item>
  2988. <item>
  2989. <title>The Battle of Sunset Park</title>
  2990. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/emergent-city-review-the-battle-of-sunset-park/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=emergent-city-review-the-battle-of-sunset-park</link>
  2991. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/emergent-city-review-the-battle-of-sunset-park/#respond</comments>
  2993. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Siddhant Adlakha]]></dc:creator>
  2994. <pubDate>Thu, 01 May 2025 16:06:52 +0000</pubDate>
  2995. <category><![CDATA[Arts & Culture]]></category>
  2996. <category><![CDATA[Economic Justice]]></category>
  2997. <category><![CDATA[Film]]></category>
  2998. <category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
  2999. <category><![CDATA[TD Original]]></category>
  3000. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  3001. <category><![CDATA[emergent city]]></category>
  3002. <category><![CDATA[gentrification]]></category>
  3003. <category><![CDATA[industry city]]></category>
  3004. <category><![CDATA[new york city]]></category>
  3005. <category><![CDATA[real estate]]></category>
  3006. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=307486</guid>
  3007.  
  3008. <description><![CDATA[<p>A documentary about zoning politics stars the everyday people of a storied Brooklyn neighborhood.</p>
  3009. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/emergent-city-review-the-battle-of-sunset-park/">The Battle of Sunset Park</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  3010. ]]></description>
  3011. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  3012. <p class="has-drop-cap">Sunset Park in Brooklyn is suffering. <a href="https://datausa.io/profile/geo/nyc-brooklyn-community-district-7-sunset-park-windsor-terrace-puma-ny#:~:text=Poverty%20%26%20Diversity&amp;text=18.7%25%20of%20the%20population%20for,the%20national%20average%20of%2012.4%25." rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Nearly 20%</a> of its population lives in poverty, rents are steadily rising and the neighborhood’s would-be saviors — private developers promising to transform its abandoned warehouses into thriving businesses — have proven to be wolves in sheep’s clothing. <a href="https://www.emergentcitydoc.com/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">“Emergent City,”</a> directed by Kelly Anderson and Jay Arthur Sterrenberg, follows the step-by-step process of rezoning that allows for such an outcome as well as the community opposition to it.</p>
  3013.  
  3014.  
  3015.  
  3016. <p>The movie captures local, street-level democracy in action. As concerned residents and climate justice groups demand more rigorous scrutiny of the developers’ plans, well-meaning politicians are caught between constituencies and forced to balance the competing pressures of public and private interests. A drawn-out local zoning war may seem like cinematically dry ground, but Anderson and Sterrenberg take an elliptical visual approach that invigorates their tale of bureaucratic process, bringing Sunset Park to life as a lengthy series of<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACN3dw-ywAU" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank"> establishing shots</a> across its 99 minutes. The filmmakers use techniques normally meant to transition between scenes, but they hold on these shots instead of cutting away, turning them into a central focus.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  3017.  
  3018.  
  3019.  
  3020. <p>We’ve seen Anderson and Sterrenberg’s preferred mode of establishing connective tissue in film and TV before — the<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFZcXJ3-BZo" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank"> apartment buildings</a> on “Seinfeld,” a<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woXYTMLQuCQ&amp;list=PLqYoiTryxh2MKxzlCPl1-OXFD885sgNio" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank"> Chris Nolan skyline</a>, the maps in<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CijNl7SjEM" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank"> “Indiana Jones”</a> — but “Emergent City” employs them as the lingua franca, building an entire story out of intermediate moments. This frames Sunset Park as a liminal space in a constant state of physical (and metaphysical) change, while also ensuring that the neighborhood remains a primary character. Even when the movie focuses on speeches and conversations, its human beings are often framed closer to the corners of the screen or as fixtures of the background and foreground in wider group shots, as though they were part and parcel of the environment. In the movie’s purview, Sunset Park and its residents are up against the specter of change and uncertainty, trapped in a constant state of transition with little recourse. The film presents them through a temporal prism, never quite specifying exactly when each town hall or public debate takes place — which yields a constant state of <em>present-ness</em>, as though everything were unfolding urgently, in the now. </p>
  3021.  
  3022.  
  3023.  
  3024. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>The movie captures local, street-level democracy in action.</p></blockquote></figure>
  3025.  
  3026.  
  3027.  
  3028. <p>“Emergent City” conveys the neighborhood’s historical backstory, as a once-prominent pier, through deft use of archival footage and contemporary video clips. But it ensures they always support the film’s emotional focus: the people. From Chinese and Hispanic immigrants (documented or otherwise), to residents who have lived there for generations, everyone gets a say in the various political forums. However, they rarely speak in the usual documentarian manner of traditional talking-head interviews. When the film isn’t capturing their public meetings from a fly-on-the-wall perspective, it opts for footage of these Brooklynites going about their daily lives. One scene of elderly Chinese residents gathering in a park to practice dance is particularly gentle. This streamlined depiction of what’s at stake — living a life of normalcy, unburdened by financial hardship — is more potent than anything the movie’s subjects could likely express to the camera in a sanitized studio setting.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  3029.  
  3030.  
  3031.  
  3032. <p>These are not artistic decisions that Anderson and Sterrenberg come to lightly. As people straddling the line between outsider and longstanding community member, their perspectives mirror the political and aesthetic tensions inherent to a film like “Emergent City,” which seeks to subvert cinematic tropes to emphasize the importance of people and spaces that feel familiar. It achieves this by alchemizing well-worn modes and techniques, transforming them in the process. Now-common verhead drone shots of streets and buildings are adorned with digital borders and labels, as though “Emergent City” were forcing various maps and 2D representations of the neighborhood — the kind used by corporate vultures to make financial decisions — to take living, breathing, three-dimensional form. </p>
  3033.  
  3034.  
  3035.  
  3036. <p>The auditory approach also manages to humanize scenes of steel and concrete. Rather than music, “Emergent City” is scored by the ambient noise and chatter of the neighborhood, notably with repeated use of<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyH-a964kAs" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank"> “L” and “J” cuts</a> — transitional techniques in which audio from a prior scene bleeds into the next one (or vice versa) to bring us further into the story. Anderson and Sterrenberg deploy these cuts between both scenes and within them, granting the film a sense of constant momentum and turning political debates into an acoustic fabric that serves the flow of the images, rather than the logic of conversations.</p>
  3037.  
  3038.  
  3039.  
  3040. <p class="is-td-marked">The result feels novel in the realm of the political documentary: a stream-of-consciousness presentation that blurs the lines between journalism and mood-piece, between past and present, and between theoretical and tangible. Harmful resolutions passed decades ago are shown to haunt more contemporary decisions and developments, but the film’s lack of defined timeline beyond “recently” — its refusal to specify exactly when events unfold in relation to one another — yields a powerful and poetic chronicle of how the residents of Sunset Park have been fighting the same fight for recognition and dignity against the same malignant economic forces for far too long.</p>
  3041. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/emergent-city-review-the-battle-of-sunset-park/">The Battle of Sunset Park</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  3042. ]]></content:encoded>
  3044. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/emergent-city-review-the-battle-of-sunset-park/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  3045. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  3048. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">307486</post-id> <enclosure url="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/EmergentCity_Sign_Image_03-1040x585.jpg" length="516607" type="image/jpeg" />
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  3051. <item>
  3052. <title>As Aid Ends, Empire Endures</title>
  3053. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/as-aid-ends-empire-endures/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=as-aid-ends-empire-endures</link>
  3054. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/as-aid-ends-empire-endures/#respond</comments>
  3056. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Marjorie Namara Rugunda /  Africa Is A Country ]]></dc:creator>
  3057. <pubDate>Thu, 01 May 2025 16:00:19 +0000</pubDate>
  3058. <category><![CDATA[Activism]]></category>
  3059. <category><![CDATA[Africa]]></category>
  3060. <category><![CDATA[Column]]></category>
  3061. <category><![CDATA[Economic Justice]]></category>
  3062. <category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
  3063. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  3064. <category><![CDATA[Social Justice]]></category>
  3065. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  3066. <category><![CDATA[development]]></category>
  3067. <category><![CDATA[DOGE]]></category>
  3068. <category><![CDATA[ngo]]></category>
  3069. <category><![CDATA[uganda]]></category>
  3070. <category><![CDATA[usaid]]></category>
  3071. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=307478</guid>
  3072.  
  3073. <description><![CDATA[<p>Western donors cut aid, but the model they built — rooted in control, dependency and depoliticization — still shapes Africa’s development.</p>
  3074. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/as-aid-ends-empire-endures/">As Aid Ends, Empire Endures</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  3075. ]]></description>
  3076. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  3077. <p><strong>In recent months</strong>, Western governments have been loudly rethinking their aid strategies. The <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/reevaluating-and-realigning-united-states-foreign-aid/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">United States</a> announced a dramatic reduction in foreign assistance, claiming that the “foreign aid industry” destabilizes world peace by promoting values “inverse to harmonious and stable relations.” Meanwhile, the <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/uk-to-reduce-aid-to-0-3-of-gross-national-income-from-2027/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">United Kingdom</a> government slashed its aid budget, citing the need to prioritize defense spending. <a href="https://www.devex.com/news/funding-cuts-and-culture-wars-what-the-german-election-means-for-aid-109595" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Germany</a>, the world’s second-largest aid donor, has also signaled reductions in its aid spending following its recent elections. These moves have sparked debate about what these cuts mean for African countries. Some <a href="https://www.africanews.com/2025/03/17/usaid-shutdown-a-wake-up-call-for-africa-or-a-looming-crisis-africanews-debates//" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">commentators</a> frame them as wake-up calls, urging African governments to become self-reliant and finally build sovereign systems without leaning on Western donors.</p>
  3078.  
  3079.  
  3080.  
  3081. <p>However, calls for <a href="https://www.compactmag.com/article/africa-s-quest-for-sovereignty/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">sovereignty</a> cannot be separated from the history of aid and the role of NGOs on the continent. This is not just a moment of budget cuts. It’s a moment that demands a deeper reckoning with how aid and development have functioned as tools of control — how they hollowed out the African state and replaced political struggle with donor-led projects. Aid is more than a line item in a budget. It is a system of power. These cuts, rather than a break from the past, expose the deeper structures of dependency that have long defined African engagement with Western development models.</p>
  3082.  
  3083.  
  3084.  
  3085. <p>The idea that foreign aid is about support or solidarity has always been a carefully constructed illusion. Back in 2002, Firoze Manji and Carl O’Coill, in their article<a href="https://worldhunger.org/articles/africa/pambazuka.htm#:~:text=Entitled%20&#039;The%20Missionary%20Position%3A%20NGOs,independence%20period%20and%20the%20later" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"> &#8220;Missionary Position: NGOs and Development in Africa</a>,&#8221; called out NGOs as “the missionary arm of neoliberalism” — not neutral helpers, but key players in a system that restructured African states under the banner of reform. Their work is still relevant today. What they laid bare was how, especially in the wake of structural adjustment programs (<a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/structural-adjustment.asp#:~:text=A%20structural%20adjustment%20program%20(SAP)%20is%20a%20set%20of%20economic,to%20free%20trade%2C%20among%20others." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">SAPs</a>), introduced by the <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/Home" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">International Monetary Fund</a> and <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/ext/en/home" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">World Bank</a> in the 1980s, SAPs slashed public spending and privatized state functions, gutting local infrastructure and leaving a vacuum that NGOs quickly moved to fill. Non-governmental organizations became the main interface between African people and their governments, except that the state had been replaced by development agencies and international donors.</p>
  3086.  
  3087.  
  3088.  
  3089. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Aid is more than a line item in a budget. It is a system of power.</p></blockquote></figure>
  3090.  
  3091.  
  3092.  
  3093. <p>Importantly, Manji and O’Coill also show that the rise of NGOs was not just a story of soft power, it was a continuation of colonial control by other means. As African countries gained independence in the 1960s and 1970s, former colonial powers didn’t disappear; they rebranded. The overt racial hierarchies of empire gave way to a new language of “development.” NGOs emerged at this moment, filling the vacuum left by retreating colonial administrations. The discourse of development replaced the language of civilizing missions, but the dynamics of domination and paternalism remained. Under the guise of helping, NGOs continued to manage African populations and territories, only now with the moral authority of humanitarianism.</p>
  3094.  
  3095.  
  3096.  
  3097. <p>Non-governmental organizations in Africa, mostly backed by foreign donors, offered schools, clinics, food programs and even roads. But, as Manji and O’Coill show, it wasn’t a neutral or benevolent intervention. The NGOs replaced the political with the technical. They reframed poverty as a problem of skills and resources, not as the outcome of global inequalities or failed economic models. Development, once a political project of liberation and redistribution, became a managerial task outsourced to foreign-funded organizations.</p>
  3098.  
  3099.  
  3100.  
  3101. <p>This shift was not only institutional but also linguistic. As Manji and O’Coill highlight, the very language of development was transformed. Buzzwords like “empowerment,” “capacity-building” and “participation” were stripped of political content and repackaged as apolitical tools of governance. The discourse no longer spoke of justice or structural inequality — it spoke instead of efficiency, best practices and deliverables. In doing so, development became something done to people, rather than something done with or by them. This helped legitimize NGOs as neutral actors, even as they worked within — and helped reproduce — structures of global inequality.</p>
  3102.  
  3103.  
  3104.  
  3105. <p>USAID played a key role in institutionalizing this <a href="https://theconversation.com/usaids-history-shows-decades-of-good-work-on-behalf-of-americas-global-interests-although-not-all-its-projects-succeeded-249337" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">model</a>. It has long been one of the largest funders of NGOs across Africa. Unlike direct support to governments, which comes with expectations of transparency and political engagement, channeling money through NGOs gave donors like the U.S. and U.K. more control, fewer complications and less public scrutiny. It allowed them to shape development priorities and implementation while bypassing state institutions altogether.</p>
  3106.  
  3107.  
  3108.  
  3109. <p>This logic persists today. Even as political relationships between Washington or London and countries such as Uganda, Kenya or Ethiopia become strained, the NGO infrastructure funded by their aid programs remains intact. In <a href="https://www.foreignassistance.gov/cd/uganda/2012/obligations/0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Uganda</a>, for example, USAID has funded hundreds of initiatives in education, agriculture and health. Although some of these efforts have delivered services, they are also emblematic of a development model that sidelines governments and treats African publics as recipients, not agents.</p>
  3110.  
  3111.  
  3112.  
  3113. <p>That is why the current moment feels both urgent and misleading. Yes, African states must build independent systems. But the real issue isn’t just the loss of money, it’s the legacy that money has left behind. For decades, foreign aid has helped shift accountability away from elected governments and toward foreign donors. It depoliticized poverty and institutionalized dependency, all while claiming to promote development.</p>
  3114.  
  3115.  
  3116.  
  3117. <p>What emerges, then, is not a model of sovereignty but of structural dependency. Manji and O’Coill describe NGOs as “instruments of pacification” rather than mobilization. Far from empowering people to demand justice or transformation, they defuse dissent, redirect energy into professionalized service delivery and ultimately protect the very global systems that created underdevelopment in the first place. The withdrawal of USAID or U.K. aid does not undo this reality; it simply reveals it more starkly. </p>
  3118.  
  3119.  
  3120.  
  3121. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>The real issue isn’t just the loss of money, it’s the legacy that money has left behind.</p></blockquote></figure>
  3122.  
  3123.  
  3124.  
  3125. <p>What, then, is to be done? This moment invites not just critique, but a strategy. As aid recedes, the urgent question is not how to replace it, but how to move beyond it. <a href="https://africacenter.org/experts/creeping-loss-african-sovereignty/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Sovereignty</a> cannot mean swapping Western donors for private investors or new geopolitical patrons. It must mean rebuilding public institutions, confronting the neoliberal wreckage of the SAP era and rejecting the NGO-ization of the state. But that vision won’t materialize automatically. It will require political struggle — inside African states, across civil society and in global fora. If aid helped depoliticize development, moving beyond it means re-politicizing it again.</p>
  3126.  
  3127.  
  3128.  
  3129. <p>The NGO model outlasted the aid flows that created it. It lives on in the clinics, schools and community programs scattered across African countries — often doing necessary work, but always within limits defined by donors. Manji and O’Coill warned us not to mistake this for liberation. As aid budgets shrink, the work ahead is not just to survive the cuts, but also to refuse the system that made them matter so much in the first place.</p>
  3130. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/as-aid-ends-empire-endures/">As Aid Ends, Empire Endures</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  3131. ]]></content:encoded>
  3133. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/as-aid-ends-empire-endures/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  3134. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  3137. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">307478</post-id> <enclosure url="https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AP25050359798268-878x585.jpg" length="619245" type="image/jpeg" />
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  3139. </item>
  3140. <item>
  3141. <title>Wikipedia Under Threat After Right-Wing Media Uproar</title>
  3142. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/wikipedia-under-threat-after-right-wing-media-uproar/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=wikipedia-under-threat-after-right-wing-media-uproar</link>
  3143. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/wikipedia-under-threat-after-right-wing-media-uproar/#respond</comments>
  3145. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ari Paul /  FAIR ]]></dc:creator>
  3146. <pubDate>Thu, 01 May 2025 15:54:02 +0000</pubDate>
  3147. <category><![CDATA[Courts & Law]]></category>
  3148. <category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
  3149. <category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
  3150. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  3151. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  3152. <category><![CDATA[donald trump]]></category>
  3153. <category><![CDATA[ed martin]]></category>
  3154. <category><![CDATA[freedom of speech]]></category>
  3155. <category><![CDATA[right wing extremism]]></category>
  3156. <category><![CDATA[wikipedia]]></category>
  3157. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=307472</guid>
  3158.  
  3159. <description><![CDATA[<p>The online encyclopedia is being targeted by an administration that clearly wants to bring all major online media under its ideological watch.</p>
  3160. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/wikipedia-under-threat-after-right-wing-media-uproar/">Wikipedia Under Threat After Right-Wing Media Uproar</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  3161. ]]></description>
  3162. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  3163. <p><strong>The <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/donald-trump/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="4" title="Donald Trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump</a> administration</strong> is very upset with Wikipedia, the collaboratively edited online encyclopedia. Ed Martin, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/documents/3902ac06-7b82-4280-95f7-8cd0fde34abc.pdf?itid=lk_inline_manual_4" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">sent a letter</a> to the Wikimedia Foundation, the site’s parent nonprofit organization, accusing it of “allowing foreign actors to manipulate information and spread propaganda to the American public.”</p>
  3164.  
  3165.  
  3166.  
  3167. <p>The letter said, in part:</p>
  3168.  
  3169.  
  3170.  
  3171. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  3172. <p>Wikipedia&nbsp;is permitting information manipulation on its platform, including the rewriting of key, historical events and biographical information of current and previous American leaders, as well as other matters implicating the national security and the interests of the United States. Masking propaganda that influences public opinion under the guise of providing informational material is antithetical to&nbsp;Wikimedia’s “educational” mission.</p>
  3173. </blockquote>
  3174.  
  3175.  
  3176.  
  3177. <p>The letter threatened the foundation’s tax-exempt status, demanding “detailed information about its editorial process, its trust and safety measures, and how it protects its information from foreign actors,” the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/04/25/wikipedia-nonprofit-ed-martin-letter/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Washington Post reported.</a></p>
  3178.  
  3179.  
  3180.  
  3181. <p>Wikipedia has been attacked before by countries with censorious reputations. Russia threatened to block Wikipedia “because of its entry on the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” <a href="https://www.euractiv.com/section/defence/news/russia-threatens-to-block-access-to-wikipedia/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">reported Euractiv</a>, and the site <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-48269608" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">has been blocked in China</a>. Turkey lifted <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-48269608" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">a three-year ban</a> on Wikipedia in 2020.</p>
  3182.  
  3183.  
  3184.  
  3185. <p>Martin’s letter indicates that the <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/donald-trump/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="4" title="Donald Trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump</a> administration is inclined to join the club.</p>
  3186.  
  3187.  
  3188.  
  3189. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">‘Notice a theme?’</h3>
  3190.  
  3191.  
  3192.  
  3193. <p>Right-wing media in the U.S. have been complaining about Wikipedia for a while, displaying the victim mentality that fuels the conservative drive to punish media out of favor with the MAGA movement. Here are a few headlines from Pirate Wires, a <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/10/mike-solana-pirate-wires/680355/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">right-wing news site</a> that covers technology and culture:</p>
  3194.  
  3195.  
  3196.  
  3197. <ul class="wp-block-list">
  3198. <li>“How&nbsp;Wikipedia’s Pro-Hamas Editors Hijacked the Israel/Palestine Narrative” (<a href="https://www.piratewires.com/p/how-wikipedia-s-pro-hamas-editors-hijacked-the-israel-palestine-narrative" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">10/24/24</a>)</li>
  3199.  
  3200.  
  3201.  
  3202. <li>“How Soros-Backed Operatives Took Over Key Roles at&nbsp;Wikipedia” (<a href="https://www.piratewires.com/p/george-soros-wikipedia" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">1/6/25</a>)</li>
  3203.  
  3204.  
  3205.  
  3206. <li>“Wikipedia&nbsp;Editors Officially Deem Trump a Fascist” (<a href="https://www.piratewires.com/p/donald-trump-fascism-authoritarianism-wikipedia?f=author" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">10/29/24</a>)</li>
  3207. </ul>
  3208.  
  3209.  
  3210.  
  3211. <p>“More than two dozen Wikipedia editors allegedly colluded in a years-long scheme to inject anti-Israel language on topics related to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict,” reported<a href="https://nypost.com/2025/03/18/business/dozens-of-wikipedia-editors-colluded-on-years-long-anti-israel-campaign-bombshell-adl-report-claims/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank"> the New York Post</a>, citing the pro-Israel <a href="https://fair.org/home/adls-stats-twist-israels-critics-into-antisemites/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Anti-Defamation League</a>. “Conservative public figures, as well as right-leaning organizations, regularly fall victim to an ideological bias that persists among Wikipedia editors,” <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/06/25/opinion/wikipedias-lefty-bias-measured-in-study-but-ive-felt-it-firsthand/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Post writer Bethany Mandel</a> alleged, citing research by the right-wing <a href="https://fair.org/home/a-day-in-the-quality-of-life-at-the-manhattan-institute/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Manhattan Institute</a>.</p>
  3212.  
  3213.  
  3214.  
  3215. <p>Under the headline “Big Tech Must Block Wikipedia Until It Stops Censoring and Pushing Disinformation,” <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/02/05/opinion/big-tech-must-block-wikipedia-until-it-stops-censoring-and-pushing-disinformation/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">the Post editorialized</a> that the site “maintains a blacklist compendium of sources that page writers and editors are allowed to cite — and … which will get you in trouble.” The latter category, the Post claims, includes “Daily Caller, the Federalist, the Washington Free Beacon, Fox News and even the Post. Notice a theme?”</p>
  3216.  
  3217.  
  3218.  
  3219. <p>(Wikipedia’s&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reliable_sources/Perennial_sources" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">list</a>&nbsp;of “perennial sources,” which are color-coded by reliability, marks numerous left-wing as well as right-wing sources as “generally unreliable” or “deprecated”; the fact that the&nbsp;Post&nbsp;implies only right-wing sources are listed is an indication that its reputation as “generally unreliable for factual reporting” is well-deserved.)</p>
  3220.  
  3221.  
  3222.  
  3223. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">‘Stop donating to Wokepedia’</h3>
  3224.  
  3225.  
  3226.  
  3227. <p>This hostility is amplified by one of Wikipedia’s founders, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Sanger" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Larry Sanger</a>, who <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/wikipedia-co-founder-larry-sanger-propaganda" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">accused the site</a> of having a left-wing bias <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/video/6264822401001" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">on Fox News</a>, although he <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/jul/16/wikipedia-co-founder-larry-sanger-claims-left-lean/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">has reportedly not been involved</a> with the site since leaving in 2002. He even requested that <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/elon-musk/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="19" title="Elon Musk">Elon Musk</a> and the administration’s <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/doge/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="18" title="DOGE">Department of Government Efficiency</a> <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/wikipedia-co-founder-calls-elon-musk-investigate-government-influence-online-encyclopedia" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">investigate possible government influence</a> at Wikipedia. It’s an Orwellian situation, asking the government to use its muscle against the site on the grounds that it might have previously been influenced by the government.</p>
  3228.  
  3229.  
  3230.  
  3231. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>The conservative Heritage Foundation is also gunning for&nbsp;Wikipedia.</p></blockquote></figure>
  3232.  
  3233.  
  3234.  
  3235. <p><a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/elon-musk/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="19" title="Elon Musk">Musk</a>, the mega-billionaire who bought Twitter, rebranded it as X and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/15/elon-musk-hypocrite-free-speech" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">lurched it</a> <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/elon-musk-turned-x-trump-echo-chamber-rcna174321" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">to the right</a>, also has his problems with Wikipedia. Before he took on a co-presidential role in the Trump White House, Musk  <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1871443771424116954" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">posted</a>, “Stop donating to Wokepedia until they restore balance to their editing authority.”</p>
  3236.  
  3237.  
  3238.  
  3239. <p>The conservative Heritage Foundation is also gunning for Wikipedia. The think tank developed <a href="https://www.project2025.org/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Project 2025</a>, the conservative policy document <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2025/04/project-2025-goals-trump-presidency/682597/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">guiding the Trump administration</a> that has also called for tighter government control of broadcast media. Unsurprisingly, it “plans to ‘identify and target’ volunteer editors on Wikipedia who it says are ‘abusing their position’ by publishing content the group believes to be antisemitic,” <a href="https://forward.com/news/686797/heritage-foundation-wikipedia-antisemitism/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">the Forward reported.</a> The paper speculated that the group was targeting “a series of changes on the website relating to Israel, the war in Gaza and its repercussions.”</p>
  3240.  
  3241.  
  3242.  
  3243. <p>For all the right-wing media agita about Wikipedia‘s alleged pro-Palestinian bias, there is plenty of evidence that Zionists have for years been trying to <a href="https://prospect.org/article/mideast-editing-wars/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">push the site</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/aug/18/wikipedia-editing-zionist-groups" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">into a more</a> <a href="http://archive.today/nEvgH" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">pro-Israel direction</a>.</p>
  3244.  
  3245.  
  3246.  
  3247. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Capturing online media</h3>
  3248.  
  3249.  
  3250.  
  3251. <p>One might ask, “Who cares if Wikipedia is biased?” Lots of media are biased in one direction or another. And the notion that any nonprofit organization’s political leaning requires its status be investigated is ludicrous, considering that three of the organizations hyping Wikipedia’s alleged wrongdoing — the <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/237327730" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Heritage Foundation</a>, the <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/132912529" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Manhattan Institute</a> and the <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/131818723" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">ADL</a> — have the same tax-exempt status. It’s hard to imagine the New York Post accepting a Democratic administration pressuring these groups to change their right-wing positions.</p>
  3252.  
  3253.  
  3254.  
  3255. <p>Wikipedia remains <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1259907/wikipedia-website-traffic/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">popular</a>, with some 4 billion visits a month worldwide. In addition to its lengthy entries, it’s a repository of outside citations that are important for researchers on a wide range of subjects. AI models heavily rely on Wikipedia articles for training — so much so that Wikimedia offers developers a special dataset to help keep the regular site from being <a href="https://www.theverge.com/news/650467/wikipedia-kaggle-partnership-ai-dataset-machine-learning" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">overwhelmed by bots</a>.</p>
  3256.  
  3257.  
  3258.  
  3259. <p>Wikipedia is being targeted by an administration that clearly wants to bring all of Big Tech and major online media under its ideological watch. So far, the right has made progress in capturing the giants in Big Tech and social media. Musk turned the site formerly known as <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/05/elon-musk-ron-desantis-2024-twitter/674149/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Twitter</a> into a <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/elon-musk-twitter-antisemitic-report-1234953165/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">right</a>&#8211;<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/how-elon-musk-uses-his-x-social-media-platform-to-amplify-right-wing-views" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">wing</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/04/elon-musk-x-trump-far-right" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">noise machine</a>.</p>
  3260.  
  3261.  
  3262.  
  3263. <p>“In recent months, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made a series of specific moves to signal that Meta may embrace a more conservative administration,” <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/mark-zuckerberg-pivoted-meta-right-rcna186687" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">reported NBC News</a>. <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/09/google-donates-1-million-to-trumps-inauguration-fund.html" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Google donated $1 million</a> to this year’s inauguration fund. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who owns the Washington Post, has <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/02/27/jeff-bezos-trump-tech-alliance" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">grown closer</a> <a href="https://fair.org/home/to-cozy-up-to-trump-bezos-banishes-dissent-from-wapo/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">to Trump</a>.</p>
  3264.  
  3265.  
  3266.  
  3267. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Trump is not just right-wing, but an authoritarian in a classic sense.</p></blockquote></figure>
  3268.  
  3269.  
  3270.  
  3271. <p>At the same time, the administration <a href="https://fair.org/home/in-return-to-war-on-terror-propaganda-murdoch-cheers-suppression-of-protest/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">is disappearing</a> <a href="https://fair.org/home/tufts-grad-student-targeted-by-dhs-wrote-suspiciously-pro-humanity-op-ed/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">international students</a> who voice disagreement with U.S. policy, seeking to <a href="https://fair.org/home/cuts-to-pbs-npr-part-of-authoritarian-playbook/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">defund public broadcasting</a>, attacking <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/27/universities-oppose-trump-education" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">academic freedom</a> and weaponizing the <a href="https://fair.org/home/fccs-knives-are-out-for-first-amendment/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Federal Communications Commission</a>.</p>
  3272.  
  3273.  
  3274.  
  3275. <p>So it is fitting that this administration also wants to pressure&nbsp;Wikipedia&nbsp;into moving rightward. What differentiates an authoritarian regime from other right-wing administrations is that it doesn’t just establish extreme policies, but it seeks to eradicate any space where free thought and discussion can take place. The Trump administration’s actions against media and academia show he’s not just right-wing, but an authoritarian in a classic sense.</p>
  3276.  
  3277.  
  3278.  
  3279. <p>The efficacy of Martin’s letter remains to be seen, but this is an attack on&nbsp;Wikipedia’s editorial independence. It will undoubtedly cause other websites and media outlets with nonprofit status to wonder if their content will be the next in the government’s crosshairs.</p>
  3280. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/wikipedia-under-threat-after-right-wing-media-uproar/">Wikipedia Under Threat After Right-Wing Media Uproar</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
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  3290. <item>
  3291. <title>America in Chains</title>
  3292. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/america-in-chains/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=america-in-chains</link>
  3293. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/america-in-chains/#respond</comments>
  3295. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Erin Aubry Kaplan]]></dc:creator>
  3296. <pubDate>Thu, 01 May 2025 15:23:25 +0000</pubDate>
  3297. <category><![CDATA[Activism]]></category>
  3298. <category><![CDATA[Column]]></category>
  3299. <category><![CDATA[DEIB]]></category>
  3300. <category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
  3301. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  3302. <category><![CDATA[Race]]></category>
  3303. <category><![CDATA[Social Justice]]></category>
  3304. <category><![CDATA[TD Column]]></category>
  3305. <category><![CDATA[TD Original]]></category>
  3306. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  3307. <category><![CDATA[authoritarianism]]></category>
  3308. <category><![CDATA[donald trump]]></category>
  3309. <category><![CDATA[maga]]></category>
  3310. <category><![CDATA[racism]]></category>
  3311. <category><![CDATA[slavery]]></category>
  3312. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=307449</guid>
  3313.  
  3314. <description><![CDATA[<p>Forget about the 1950s. Trump has dragged us — all of us — back to the time of slavery.</p>
  3315. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/america-in-chains/">America in Chains</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  3316. ]]></description>
  3317. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  3318. <p class="has-drop-cap">Back in 2018, in the middle of <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/donald-trump/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="4" title="Donald Trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a>’s first presidency, I wrote a column for the New York Times titled, “We’re All in the Ghetto Now.” I was talking (mostly) metaphorically about how Trump’s clear disdain for so many of his fellow Americans — i.e., anyone outside the “Make America Great Again” flock — made him see much of the country as a “basket of deplorables” unworthy of political consideration (to borrow Hilary Clinton’s phrase, originally used to describe some of the more recalcitrant MAGA supporters). To Trump, this America — comprising Black people and other people of color — is a “shithole” country as unredeemable as any in Africa or the Caribbean, because Trump sees such demographics as inherently unredeemable. The silver lining, I argued, was that the newly expanded ranks of the oppressed and excluded could now join together, though there’s a catch: white people who opposed Trump — Democrats, progressives and many traditional Republicans — but have long accepted the benefits of white privilege would be forced to rethink those benefits and what it was really costing them. A major white-on-white reckoning about the future of our multicultural republic, which led to the Civil War 164 years ago, would need to happen again (minus, hopefully, another civil war.) <br><br>Yet the reckoning never came. Quite the opposite. As Trump doubled and tripled down on his segregationist view of the country, conscientious white people retreated rather than confronting the MAGA movement, hewing to the liberal edicts that talking about race only magnifies the problem, and that promoting cooperation with the other side while emphasizing commonality among all is often the best strategy — or will at least attract more voters. It didn’t. Three months into Trump 2.0, the ghetto is not only real, it’s moved way past being a ghetto. Trump, the entire <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/republican-party/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="11" title="republican party" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GOP</a> and their billionaire enablers have fused into an autocratic, hydra-headed monster that stands ready to crush any and all dissenters, from citizens to high court judges, out in the open and with no fear of consequences. It’s clear: We don’t have a government for and by the people; we have slaveowners. We are all on the plantation now.</p>
  3319.  
  3320.  
  3321.  
  3322. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>We don’t have a government for and by the people; we have slaveowners.</p></blockquote></figure>
  3323.  
  3324.  
  3325.  
  3326. <p>Shocking, but hardly without precedent. Slaveowners are the country’s original fascists, who held sway for 250 years. They built the country’s social order. On plantations, they had absolute power over the fate of Black slaves — property — from whom they demanded absolute loyalty. Those who didn’t properly exhibit that loyalty could be punished, often violently, at any time and for any reason — or for no reason. Everything turned on the whim of the slaveowner, with retribution always in the air. This is the terror many of us are now living with, as we brace for the next executive order that whittles away more rights or tears more of the social safety net that Trump has deemed expendable. He wields the axe not to trim government waste or otherwise help people, but because he can. Cutting everything from diversity, equity and inclusion to climate research, with no warning or coherent explanation, constantly reminds us that we are living on his terms, the only terms that matter.</p>
  3327.  
  3328.  
  3329.  
  3330. <p>This new American plantation is similar to the old one in that Trump is obsessed with keeping Black people in their place, not just physically but ideologically; recent moves to remove artifacts from the majestic Smithsonian&#8217;s National Museum of African American History and Culture is just the latest way he’s doing that. Immigrants, who have been made into the new Negroes, are being shipped out of the country and off the plantation unannounced and unconstitutionally. (Though, of course, the Constitution never applied to slavery or plantations.) What’s novel is that white folks who oppose or resist Trump in 2025 have also become the new Negroes: those who openly criticize Trump, for example, risk having their characters impugned on social media or being called enemies of state security. Like a slavemaster, Trump whips (metaphorically, for the moment) not just individuals, but institutions like civil rights law firms, libraries, universities and foreign aid groups. Anything and everything that advances the notion of the “public good” poses a direct challenge to Trump’s absolute authority over all he surveys, and so must be quashed.</p>
  3331.  
  3332.  
  3333.  
  3334. <p>Much of this authoritarianism is about profit, of course, just as the business of slavery primarily was. Profit is another obsession of Trump and his billionaire allies like <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/elon-musk/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="19" title="Elon Musk">Elon Musk</a>, who see the country as a fertile plantation they can exploit and leave fallow. Those living on the plantation ultimately don’t matter, especially Black and brown people in the ghetto-cum-plantation of big cities. In this country, profiteering and racial contempt have always gone hand in hand, with each facilitating the other. But the paradox is that the richer America grew, the more it became a beacon of “freedom” for poor and disenfranchised people around the globe, especially people of color. That paradox was an uneasy balance that was not destined to hold. Indeed, it has vanished for the moment, leaving only the naked truth about our country (hint: It’s not a shining city on a hill).</p>
  3335.  
  3336.  
  3337.  
  3338. <p>Even more than profit, treating America like a plantation is about control — specifically, control of our ethnic makeup. Trump’s relentless opposition to diversity is the slaveowner setting the limits on the number of people of color in his sphere, what role they play, what influence they can have. That’s what the decades-long affirmative action debate was all about: underneath the conservative legal and academic arguments about fairness and merit was an insistence that white people call the shots about who is in and who is out, about how much Blackness is enough at a college campus and how much is too much. Contrary to many Americans’ view of diversity as an ever-expanding good, for many white people, including many liberals, there was always an endpoint to diversity — a critical moment at which efforts to expand inclusion would overreach, causing such people to balk at and turn against the idea. This balking has unfolded in degrees, mostly through court rulings over the past several decades. But, in 2025, the deliberation feels like a thing of a past: <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/republican-party/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="11" title="republican party" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the GOP</a>, with Trump at the helm, has dropped the whole charade about diversity and reclaimed a contempt for color and full inclusion that it not only refuses to apologize for, but embraces as authentically American. It turns out that adopting the slavemaster mentality is really what it means to be great again.</p>
  3339.  
  3340.  
  3341.  
  3342. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>The race war is not between white and Black but between rich whites and working-class whites.</p></blockquote></figure>
  3343.  
  3344.  
  3345.  
  3346. <p>None of this surprises Black people, or those who’ve more recently felt this contempt and control almost viscerally, such as trans people and women seeking abortions. The big surprise is how this is going to hit ordinary MAGA followers — those who aren’t supplicant politicians or billionaires (that is, plantation owners). The MAGA faithful, who’ve identified so closely with Trump’s biliousness all along and sided with him no matter what, will soon suffer the real consequences of Trump’s slavemaster mentality, as Trump and <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/tag/elon-musk/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="19" title="Elon Musk">Musk</a> unravel the country and an economy that these people depend on. It will soon dawn on them that the white solidarity they assumed in Trump’s declaration of “we,” which galvanized them the most and promised a new American golden age, is a lie — because most of what Trump says is a lie. They might finally realize that the race war is not between white and Black but between rich whites and working-class whites, and that MAGA supporters have been the foot soldiers of a holy war being waged against them, too. President Lyndon Johnson, a Southerner, called out this bait-and-switch 60 years ago: “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”&nbsp;It’s ironic, but entirely logical, that one of Trump’s first moves in his second presidency was to nullify Johnson’s 1965 executive order that banned hiring discrimination in federal contracting. Rules and limits about how to treat people of color have no place on a plantation.</p>
  3347.  
  3348.  
  3349.  
  3350. <p class="is-td-marked">Increasingly, activists and pundits say that the only way to overcome the aggressive resegregation being perpetrated by our own government is for people to band together and resist such efforts. This is what I said seven years ago: There must emerge a new “we” — the one embedded in the beacon-of-freedom ideal, one that has never existed and is thus yet to be realized. What must happen now, in other words, is nothing short of a revolution. Now means now: in 2025, as Trumpism moves ahead with warp speed, we simply don’t have the luxury of fighting another 250 years.</p>
  3351. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/america-in-chains/">America in Chains</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
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