#Agriculture Law 2020

[reasonsforhope]

"When Francois Beyers first pitched the concept of 3D ocean farming to the Welsh regulators, he had to sketch it on napkins. 

Today the seafood farm is much more than a drawing, but if you walked along the Welsh coastal path near St David’s, all you’d see is a line of buoys. As Beyers puts it: “It’s what’s below that’s important.”

Thick tussles of lustrous seaweed suspend from the buoys, mussels cling to its furry connective ropes and dangling Chinese lantern-esque nets are filled with oysters and scallops. 

“It’s like an underwater garden,” says Beyers, co-founder of the community-owned regenerative ocean farm, Câr-y-Môr. The 3-hectare site is part of a fledgling sector, one of 12 farms in the UK, which key players believe could boost ocean biodiversity, produce sustainable agricultural fertiliser and provide year-round employment in areas that have traditionally been dependent on tourism. 

Created in 2020 by Beyers and six family members, including his father-in-law – an ex-shellfish farmer – the motivation is apparent in the name, which is Welsh for “for the love of the sea”. ...

Pictured: Drone shot of Câr-y-Môr, which is on the site of abandoned mussel farms. Image: Scott Chalmers

Ocean farming comes from the technical term ‘integrated multi-trophic aquaculture’, which means a mixture of different seaweed and shellfish species growing together to mutually benefit each other. But it’s not just a way of growing food with little human input, it also creates ocean habitat. 

“You’re creating a breeding ground for marine animals,” explains Beyers who adds that the site has seen more gannets diving, porpoises and seals – to name a few – since before the farm was established.

Ocean farms like Câr-y-Môr, notes Ross Brown – environmental research fellow at the University of Exeter – have substantial conservation benefits.

“Setting up a seaweed farm creates an exclusion zone so fishermen can’t trawl it,” explains Brown, who has been conducting experiments on the impacts of seaweed and shellfish farms across the UK. 

Brown believes a thriving ocean farming industry could provide solutions to the UK’s fish stock, which is in “a deeply troubling state” according to a report that found half of the key populations to be overfished. “It would create stepping stones where we have safe havens for fish and other organisms,” he adds. 

But UK regulators have adopted a cautious approach, note Brown and Beyers, making it difficult for businesses like Câr-y-Môr to obtain licenses. “It’s been a tough old slog,” says Beyers, whose aim is to change the legislation to make it easier for others to start ocean farms. 

Despite navigating uncharted territories, the business now has 14 full-time employees, and 300 community members, of which nearly 100 have invested in the community-benefit society. For member and funding manager Tracey Gilbert-Falconer, the model brings expertise but most importantly, buy-in from the tight-knit local community. 

“You need to work with the community than forcing yourself in,” she observes. 

And Câr-y-Môr is poised to double its workforce in 2024 thanks to a Defra grant of £1.1 million to promote and develop the Welsh seafood industry as part of the UK Seafood Fund Infrastructure Scheme. This will go towards building a processing hub, set to be operational in April, to produce agricultural fertiliser from seaweed. 

Full of mineral nutrients and phosphorous from the ocean, seaweed use in farming is nothing new, as Gilbert-Falconer notes: “Farmers in Pembrokeshire talk about their grandad going down to the sea and throwing [seaweed] on their farms.” 

But as the war in Ukraine has caused the price of chemical fertiliser to soar, and the sector tries to reduce its environmental impact – of which synthetic fertiliser contributes 5% of total UK emissions – farmers and government are increasingly looking to seaweed. 

The new hub will have capacity to make 65,000 litres of sustainable fertiliser annually with the potential to cover 13,000 acres of farmland. 

But to feed the processing hub, generate profit and reduce their dependency on grants, the co-op needs to increase the ocean farm size from three to 13 hectares. If they obtain licences, Beyers says they should break even in 18 months. 

For now, Beyers reflects on a “humbling” three years but revels in the potential uses of seaweed, from construction material to clothing.  

“I haven’t seen the limit yet,” he smiles."

-via Positive.News, February 19, 2024

[batboyblog]

The Biden-⁠Harris Administration Advances Equity and Opportunity for Black Americans

Growing Economic Opportunity for Black Families and Communities Through the President’s legislative victories, including the American Rescue Plan (ARP), the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)—as well as the President’s historic executive orders on racial equity—the Biden-Harris Administration is ensuring that federal investments through the President’s landmark Investing in America agenda are equitably flowing to communities to address longstanding economic inequities that impact people’s economic security, health, and safety. And this vision is already delivering results. The Biden-Harris Administration has:

Powered a historic economic recovery that created 2.6 million jobs for Black workers—and achieved both the lowest Black unemployment rate on record and the lowest gap between Black and White unemployment on record.

Helped Black working families build wealth. Black wealth is up by 60% relative to pre-pandemic—the largest increase on record.

Cut in half the number of Black children living in poverty in 2021 through ARP’s Child Tax Credit expansion. This expansion provided breathing room to the families of over 9 million Black children.

Began reversing decades of infrastructure disinvestment, including with $4 billion to reconnect communities that were previously cut off from economic opportunities by building needed transportation infrastructure in underserved communities, including Black communities.

Connected an estimated 5.5 million Black households to affordable high-speed internet through the Affordable Connectivity Program, closing the digital divide for millions of Black families.

Helping Black-Owned Businesses Grow and Thrive Since the President entered office, a record 16 million new business applications have been filed, and the share of Black households owning a business has more than doubled. Building on this momentum, the Biden-Harris Administration has:

Achieved the fastest creation rate of Black-owned businesses in more than 30 years—and more than doubled the share of Black business owners from 2019 to 2022.

Improved the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) flagship loan guarantee programs to expand the availability of capital to underserved communities. Since 2020, the number and dollar value of SBA-backed loans to Black-owned businesses have more than doubled.

Launched a whole-of-government effort to expand access to federal contracts for small businesses, awarding a record $69.9 billion to small disadvantaged businesses in 2022.

Through Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative, invested $10 billion to expand access to capital and invest in early-stage businesses in all 50 states—including $2.5 billion in funding and incentive allocations dedicated to support the provision of capital to underserved businesses with $1 billion of these funds to be awarded to the jurisdictions that are most successful in reaching underserved businesses.

Helped more than 37,000 farmers and ranchers who were in financial distress, including Black farmers and ranchers, stay on their farms and keep farming, thanks to resources provided through IRA. The IRA allocated $3.1 billion for the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide relief for distressed borrowers with at-risk agricultural operations with outstanding direct or guaranteed Farm Service Agency loans. USDA has provided over $2 billion and counting in timely assistance.

Supported small and disadvantaged businesses through CHIPS Act funding by requiring funding applicants to develop a workforce plan to create equitable pathways for economically disadvantaged individuals in their region, as well as a plan to support procurement from small, minority-owned, veteran-owned, and women-owned businesses.

Created the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund that will invest in clean energy projects in low-income and disadvantaged communities.

Increasing Access to Housing and Rooting Out Discrimination in the Housing Market for Black Communities To increase access to housing and root out discrimination in the housing market, including for Black families and communities, the Biden-Harris Administration has:

Set up the first-ever national infrastructure to stop evictions, scaling up the ARP-funded Emergency Rental Assistance program in over 400 communities across the country, helping 8 million renters and their families stay in their homes. Over 40% of all renters helped are Black—and this support prevented millions of evictions, with the largest effects seen in majority-Black neighborhoods.

Published a proposed “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” rule through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which will help overcome patterns of segregation and hold states, localities, and public housing agencies that receive federal funds accountable for ensuring that underserved communities have equitable access to affordable housing opportunities.

Created the Interagency Task Force on Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity, or PAVE, a first-of-its-kind interagency effort to root out bias in the home appraisal process, which is taking sweeping action to advance equity and remove racial and ethnic bias in home valuations, including cracking down on algorithmic bias and empowering consumers to take action against misvaluation.

Taken additional steps through HUD to support wealth-generation activities for prospective and current homeowners by expanding access to credit by incorporating a borrower’s positive rental payment history into the mortgage underwriting process. HUD estimates this policy change will enable an additional 5,000 borrowers per year to qualify for an FHA-insured loan.

Ensuring Equitable Educational Opportunity for Black Students To expand educational opportunity for the Black community in early childhood and beyond, the Biden-Harris Administration has:

Approved more than $136 billion in student loan debt cancellation for 3.7 million Americans through various actions and launched a new student loan repayment plan—the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan—to help many students and families cut in half their total lifetime payments per dollar borrowed.

Championed the largest increase to Pell Grants in the last decade—a combined increase of $900 to the maximum award over the past two years, affecting the over 60% of Black undergraduates who rely on Pell grants.

Fixed the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, so all qualified borrowers get the debt relief to which they are entitled. More than 790,000 public servants have received more than $56 billion in loan forgiveness since October 2021. Prior to these fixes, only 7,000 people had ever received forgiveness through PSLF.

Delivered a historic investment of over $7 billion to support HBCUs.

Reestablished the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Black Americans.

Through ARP, secured $130 billion—the largest investment in public education in history—to help students get back to school, recover academically in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and address student mental health.

Secured a 30% increase in child care assistance funding last year. Black families comprise 38% of families benefiting from federal child care assistance. Additionally, the President secured an additional $1 billion for Head Start, a program where more than 28% of children and pregnant women who benefit identify as Black.

Improving Health Outcomes for Black Families and Communities To improve health outcomes for the Black community, the Biden-Harris Administration has:

Increased Black enrollment in health care coverage through the Affordable Care Act by 49%—or by around 400,000—from 2020 to 2022, helping more Black families gain health insurance than ever before.

Through IRA, locked in lower monthly premiums for health insurance, capped the cost of insulin at $35 per covered insulin product for Medicare beneficiaries, and helped further close the gap in access to medication by improving prescription drug coverage and lowering drug costs in Medicare. 

Through ARP, expanded postpartum coverage from 60 days to 12 months in 43 states and Washington, D.C., covering 700,000 more women in the year after childbirth. Medicaid covers approximately 65% of births for Black mothers, and this investment is a critical step to address maternal health disparities.

Financed projects that will replace hundreds of thousands of lead pipes, helping protect against lead poisoning that disproportionately affects Black communities.

Provided 264 grants with $1 billion in Bipartisan Safer Communities Act funds to more than 40 states to increase the supply of school-based mental health professionals in communities with high rates of poverty.

Launched An Unprecedented Whole-Of-Government Equity Agenda to Ensure the Promise of America for All Communities, including Black Communities President Biden believes that advancing equity, civil rights, racial justice, and equal opportunity is the responsibility of the whole of our government, which will require sustained leadership and partnership with all communities. To make the promise of America real for every American, including for the Black Community, the President has:

Signed two Executive Orders directing the Federal Government to advance an ambitious whole-of-government equity agenda that matches the scale of the challenges we face as a country and the opportunities we have to build a more perfect union.

Nominated the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court and more Black women to federal circuit courts than every President combined.

Countered hateful attempts to rewrite history including: the signing of the Emmett Till Antilynching Act; establishing Juneteenth as a national holiday; and designating the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument in Mississippi and Illinois. The Department of the Interior has invested more than $295 million in infrastructure funding and historic preservation grants to protect and restore places significant to Black history.

Created the Justice40 Initiative, which is delivering 40% of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments in clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing, clean water, and other programs to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution as part of the most ambitious climate, conservation, and environmental justice agenda in history.

Protecting the Sacred Right to Vote for Black Families and Communities Since their first days in office, President Biden and Vice President Harris have prioritized strengthening our democracy and protecting the sacred right to vote in free, fair, and secure elections. To do so, the President has:

Signed an Executive Order to leverage the resources of the Federal Government to provide nonpartisan information about the election process and increase access to voter registration. Agencies across the Federal Government are taking action to respond to the President’s call for an all-of-government effort to enhance the ability of all eligible Americans to participate in our democracy.

Repeatedly and forcefully called on Congress to pass essential legislation, including the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, including calling for an exception to the filibuster to pass voting rights legislation.

Increased funding for the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, which has more than doubled the number of voting rights enforcement attorneys. The Justice Department also created the Election Threats Task Force to assess allegations and reports of threats against election workers, and investigate and prosecute these matters where appropriate.

Signed into law the bipartisan Electoral Reform Count Act, which establishes clear guidelines for our system of certifying and counting electoral votes for President and Vice President, to preserve the will of the people and to protect against the type of attempts to overturn our elections that led to the January 6 insurrection.

Addressing the Crisis of Gun Violence in Black Communities Gun violence has become the leading cause of death for all youth and Black men in America, as well as the second leading cause of death for Black women. To address this national crisis, the President has:

Launched the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, and taken more executive action on gun violence than any President in history, including investments in violence reduction strategies that address the root causes of gun violence and address emerging threats like ghost guns. In 2022, the Administration’s investments in evidence-based, lifesaving programs combined with aggressive action to stop the flow of illegal guns and hold shooters accountable yielded a 12.4% reduction in homicides across the United States.

Signed into the law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most significant gun violence reduction legislation enacted in nearly 30 years, including investments in violence reduction strategies and historic policy changes to enhance background checks for individuals under age 21, narrow the dating partner loophole in the gun background check system, and provide law enforcement with tools to crack down on gun trafficking.

Secured the first-ever dedicated federal funding stream for community violence intervention programs, which have been shown to reduce violence by as much as 60%. These programs are effective because they leverage trusted messengers who work directly with individuals most likely to commit gun violence, intervene in conflicts, and connect people to social, health and wellness, and economic services to reduce the likelihood of violence as an answer to conflict.

Enhancing Public Trust and Strengthening Public Safety for Black Communities Our criminal justice system must protect the public and ensure fair and impartial justice for all. These are mutually reinforcing goals. To enhance equal justice and public safety for all communities, including the Black community, the President has:

Signed a historic Executive Order to put federal policing on the path to becoming the gold standard of effectiveness and accountability by requiring federal law enforcement agencies to ban chokeholds; restrict no-knock warrants; mandate the use of body-worn cameras; implement stronger use-of-force policies; provide de-escalation training; submit use-of-force data; submit officer misconduct records into a new national accountability database; and restrict the sale or transfer of military equipment to local law enforcement agencies, among other things. 

Taken steps to right the wrongs stemming from our Nation’s failed approach to marijuana by directing the Departments of Health and Human Services and Justice to expeditiously review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law and in October 2022 issued categorical pardons of prior federal and D.C. offenses of simple possession of marijuana and in December 2023 pardoned additional offenses of simple possession and use of marijuana under federal and D.C. law. While white, Black, and brown people use marijuana at similar rates, Black and brown people have been arrested, prosecuted, and convicted at disproportionately higher rates.

Announced over 100 concrete policy actions as part of a White House evidence-informed, multi-year Alternatives, Rehabilitation, and Reentry Strategic Plan to safely reduce unnecessary criminal justice system interactions so police officers can focus on fighting crime; supporting rehabilitation during incarceration; and facilitating successful reentry.

FACT SHEET

[thoughtportal]

It sounds weird to say that carrots are having a moment, but social media has catapulted the humble root to a status resembling stardom. Anecdotal evidence suggests online carrot recipes trail in popularity only those for potatoes and brussels sprouts among vegetables, and Pinterest numbers support that: recipe searches for honey balsamic carrots on the platform are up 75% this year, while queries for roasted parmesan carrots skyrocketed 700%. Fresh carrots are an expanding $1.4 billion U.S. market, andAmericans are expected to consume 100 million pounds this Thanksgiving — roughly five ounces for every human being in the country.

At least 60% of those carrots are produced by just two companies, Bolthouse and Grimmway, both of which were acquired by buyout firms, in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

“There’s only two sources,” Adam Waglay, cofounder and co-CEO of Bolthouse owner Butterfly Equity, told Forbes. “We joke around — it’s kind of like the OPEC of carrots.”

Cartels are less funny for neighbors of the two producers in Southern California’s Cuyama Valley, who are calling for a boycott of Big Carrot over the amount of water their farms are sucking out of the ground. In 2022, Bolthouse and Grimmway together were responsible for 67%, or 9.6 billion gallons, of the area’s total water use. Local residents said they expect their wells to dry up if the carrot farms continue to use as much water as they do — Grimmway CEO Jeff Huckaby told Forbes his company has already reduced the amount of acreage it farms — and the two carrot producers have joined forces to defend their thirst in court. That worries local residents, who say they lack the deep pockets needed to wage a prolonged legal battle.

Cattle rancher Jake Furstenfeld places a boycott sign in New Cuyama, California in September.Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Photo

Water fights like this can take years to resolve, and often become a way to delay cutbacks, Karrigan Bork, a professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law, told Forbes. “You see these rights again and again get trimmed back by the state or by courts,” Bork said. “In some cases, your savvy water users recognize that, and for them, just delaying that trimming back is a success, and the longer they can do that, the happier they will be.”

Price Concerns

Waglay uses the word “duopoly” to describe the two companies. Such market consolidationoften leads to higher prices, and the government has for years used increased consumer prices as an indicator of possible unfair competition. The U.S. Department of Agriculture declined to comment on any antitrust issues.

Since 2019, carrot producer prices have increased more than 40%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, outpacing the 22% inflation in the U.S. economy.

Carrot Top

Prices are near their highest since 2019, when Bolthouse was acquired by a private equity firm. Grimmway changed hands a year later.

Huckaby, the Grimmway CEO, told Forbes that the costs of a number of inputs have gone up, too. Packaging, fertilizer and fuel prices have all risen at a higher rate than inflation, he said, and California’s minimum wage has increased 27% since 2018. At $15 an hour, it’s the second-highest in the country.

Still, the carrot business has been a lucrative play. Total U.S. production value has increased 34% since 2019.

Duopoly Origins

Bolthouse, founded in 1915 in Grant, Michigan, started selling carrots packed in cellophane bags in 1959. In the 1970s and 1980s, production was centered around Bakersfield, California. After Bakersfield farmer Mike Yurosek invented “baby carrots” in 1986, consumption soared.

In the 1990s, Bolthouse ballooned into the largest carrot operator, reportedly shipping some 80% of California’s carrots. It amounted to half the U.S. carrot market in 1992, followed by Grimmway, founded by brothers Bob and Rod Grimm in 1969, and Yurosek’s family-owned outfit. Grimmway eventually bought out Mike Yurosek & Son. The carrot crop is now the tenth-biggest commodity in California, where one-third of America’s vegetables are grown.

Today, the industry’s growth could be limited by dwindling water supplies in the drought-prone Cuyama Valley, 150 miles northwest of Los Angeles and 90 miles west of Bakersfield. But the companies behind the duopoly aren’t giving up without a fight.

Both businesses, which own their own manufacturing, are hitting a similar point in their ownership lifecycles. Private equity-backed businesses typically change hands every three to five years. In 2019, Butterfly Equity acquired Bolthouse from publicly traded Campbell Soup for $510 million in cash. A year later, Grimmway was acquired by Teays River Investments, a Zionsville, Indiana-based investment firm, for an undisclosed amount. That means both businesses are in the sweet spot of what most investors consider the hot time to unload an investment or take it public.

Los Angeles, California-based Butterfly has sold only one of its investments, an organic protein company called Orgain, acquired by Nestle Health Science in February 2022 after two years of Butterfly ownership. Grimmway is Teays River’s only current investment after exiting two others in 2019 and 2013. Teays River held those investments for eight years and one year, respectively.

Grimmway’s owner, which according to Pitchbook has $1.38 billion in assets under management, is backed by pension funds including the public employees of the states of Maine and Oregon, Texas teachers, the New York state Teamsters union and the Producer-Writers Guild of America.

Butterfly Equity, by comparison, has $4 billion in assets under management and is backed byexecutives of private equity giant KKR, where Waglay worked for eight years. The firm has done eight deals in the eight years since it launched. Butterfly also owns America’s largest striped bass farm, the largest free-range egg company, an avocado oil maker that controls 60% of the market, and a large whey protein manufacturer.

Water Rights

Bolthouse and Grimmway started working with each other in a way that competitors rarely do. They filed a lawsuit together in 2021 in Kern County, California to ask a court to decide how to split up the water of New Cuyama, where they farm.

What’s happening in Cuyama Valley is an example of the kinds of water fights that are surfacing across California. Farmers of a variety of crops there have depended on irrigation for decades. Those years of pumping water and spraying it over crops through sprinklers or complex drip irrigation systems have had drastic implications, including threats of land sinking, a receding water table that makes it tougher to dig wells and the threat of some of them drying out.

That’s why water use around New Cuyama could get reduced by two-thirds over the next two decades. To bring the region back to a sustainable level by 2040, water cuts of 5% started this year and will continue each year going forward. The Cuyama basin currently has an annual water deficit of more than 8 billion gallons, and much of the area’s carrot farmland may have to be taken out of production. Some experts say Bolthouse and Grimmway would have to reduce their water consumption by about double what the city of Santa Barbara, California uses annually.

But water-efficient sprinklers can only save so much. The carrot companies’ lawsuit has forced area farmers, ranchers, residents and even the area’s public school to rack up legal bills. In response, a coalition of locals launched a boycott of carrots in July. The boycott’s goals: for the companies to drop the lawsuit, pay all legal fees and to reduce the amount of water they pump. One flyer the boycotters distributed suggests a Thanksgiving recipe for brussels sprouts instead.

Both Bolthouse and Grimmway lease farmland rather than own it. They recently withdrew from the lawsuit, though the companies that own the farmland are still in it, and what the judge decides will dictate how much the companies are able to farm there in the future.

Expanding Elsewhere

Huckaby said the carrot boycott has taken aim at Grimmway and Bolthouse because they’re easy targets. Only 3,700 of the 13,000 acres that Grimmway leases in the Cuyama Valley are being farmed, according to Huckaby. “We cut way back and we cut way back and we cut back and no one else did,” he said.

The companies may have to find new farmland to grow carrots. The average American now eats roughly seven pounds of the fresh vegetable every year, with consumption up 2% so far in 2023, according to NielsenIQ.

Grimmway has already expanded its farming operations outside of California with facilities in Florida, Washington and other states.

Butterfly’s Waglay doesn’t deny that water is one of the biggest barriers that his investment in Bolthouse faces. “Water challenges,” he said with a sigh. “This asset has great access to water, but it’s going to get worse and worse, and you need to be planning for that and trying to work on ways to minimize that. That’ll be a long-term challenge.”

California water fights often result in residents and smaller business owners getting “outgunned in the courts by large commercial actors,” Pomona College environmental analysis and politics professor Heather Williams, an expert on water issues, told Forbes. The lawsuit is among the first of many, she said.

“It’s put into motion a race to the basin — pumping as much as you can, and putting that into production,” Williams said. “Water is property in California. It’s what a rational actor acting on behalf of investors is going to do. If they’re playing this game, they’ve got to play hard.”

Grimmway and Bolthouse can move on, said Williams, unlike most of the residents in New Cuyama. “These are their homes, their small farms. If the well goes dry, it’s worth basically nothing,” she said. “They can’t pay lawyers for ten years of litigation.”

[elvisomar]

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Let's Win This!

I like Kamala Harris a lot. I'm excited she is going to be the Democratic nominee, and I want her as my President. She was initially my preferred candidate in 2020, before she withdrew her name. I was delighted when she was chosen to run as Vice President.

Tim Walz? He's a great choice. He's my governor, and he's the real deal. I know people who have met him and spent time with him, and all reports are that he is a very genuine, honest man. He is exactly what he seems to be. The midwestern dad energy is not artifice, it's sincere. He knows how to fix his car, and he knows how to make legislation happen in a legislature.

If you know nothing about him, know this:

He was a teacher and he supports strong funding for schools and early education. He has the endorsement from the NEA.

While serving as a high school geography teacher in Mankato, Minnesota, Walz was the faculty advisor of the school's first student gay-straight alliance organization.

Also at Mankato West High School, Walz was the coach of the boys Football team, which he coached to the school's first State Championship in 1999, winning first among class AAAA schools.

He has been a strong union man, and he supports the rights of workers to organize and negotiate. He has enthusiastic AFL-CIO support and endorsement.

He is a hunter and gun owner that supports reasonable gun control and licensure.

He is the father of teenaged children who are well-adjusted, and he spends time with them in a genuine and supportive way.

Walz advocated for, and signed into law, the legalization of recreational cannabis use in Minnesota.

He was in the U.S. Army National Guard where he rose to the highest possible non-commissioned rank in any battalion: Command Sergeant Major. Those are among the most important and respected members of the military, and the senior enlisted advisor to a battalion commander. You don't even get close to that job unless you are as reliable and competent as they come.

As a member of the Nebraska National Guard, Walz was selected as Nebraska Citizen-Soldier of the year in 1989.

He is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, serving Minnesota's First District from 2007 to 2019, when he took the office of Governor. While in Washington he served on the Agriculture, Veteran's Affairs, Transportation & Infrastructure, and Armed Forces committees.

His Lieutenant Governor, Peggy Flanagan, is a Native American activist and community organizer, and a member of the White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. If Harris-Walz win the presidential election, Flanagan would become the first Native American to serve as U.S. State Governor, and I'd be thrilled to see her in the Governor's mansion.

There is even more about the guy to like, but I hope this helps to get to know him.

[darkmaga-returns]

Feds Target Prominent SW Florida Conservative Businessman and Activist Alfie Oakes

Dr. Joseph Sansone

Nov 07, 2024

Apparent rogue federal agencies raided the home and farm of Alfie Oakes a SW Florida conservative activist. Reportedly, federal agents used a battering ram to enter Alfie Oakes home while his wife and daughter were home.

NBC Local News

Law enforcement, including federal officials, were seen going in and out of the home of Alfie Oakes on Santa Cruz Court in the Villages of Monterey community in North Naples and an agricultural packing plant in Immokalee. Federal agents from the Defense Criminal Investigative Service were seen at the packing plant. The DCIS investigates cases of fraud, bribery, and corruption, including cyber crimes and computer intrusions.

WINK News

Several law enforcement departments were also seen at Oakes Farm packing house, including the Secret Service, the IRS and the U.S. Department of Defense Office of Inspector General on the scene.

Alfie Oakes gained notoriety by refusing to engage in Nuremberg Crimes and force face masks on his employees or customers during the COVID madness. The product of a vertical marketing business model, Oakes’s Seed to Table grocery store is a destination with an on site restaurant and often features conservative speakers. Alfie Oakes has been interviewed by Alex Jones and Tucker Carlson and is a prominent local businessman and Collier County Republican State Committeeman.

The purpose of the alleged investigation is a mystery. It appears that Alfie Oakes is being targeted for being a Trump supporter and being outspoken about the fraudulent 2020 presidential election as well as openly resisting COVID tyranny.

In a tyranny, truth is treason….

[mariacallous]

In July, the local government of the Italian region of Sardinia suspended the construction of hundreds of new wind turbines, claiming that it would destroy the island’s beautiful landscape. In October, the government then announced its intention to stop the construction of new wind farms altogether, also adding solar panels to the ban.

These decisions followed mounting protests by large groups of activists who opposed these renewable energy developments, advocating instead for the use of natural gas to produce electricity. In August, unknown people set fire to two wind farms that were due to be installed in the north of the island. Similar attacks destroyed solar panels destined to be constructed on local farmland.

Under its new plans, Sardinia is betting instead on developing its natural gas infrastructure while delaying the shutdown of its coal-fired power plants, which now produce more than 60 percent of the electricity needed by the island of 1.6 million people.

The opposition to renewables in Sardinia is a blow not only to other Italian local governments, which are facing tough decisions on how to curb greenhouse gas emissions. It is also a major setback for the central government in Rome and especially for the European Union and its European Green Deal, the ambitious climate plan for the entire continent.

The ongoing battle in Sardinia is the latest example of the struggle European countries are facing in reaching their ambitious decarbonization plans in the continent. Countries such as France, Germany, and Spain have been facing opposition to these projects over the past few years, raising questions about the attainability of a central element of the EU’s green strategy.

The ability and political will of each European country to translate Europe’s plans and goals into actual national laws and policies will be crucial in reaching the continent’s ambitious climate targets. But the risk that a two-speed—or even multispeed—Europe could ultimately derail the overall plans is growing, and it will test the new European Commission’s determination to achieve sufficient progress during its upcoming mandate.

“The commission’s legacy will depend on its ability to push forward vital green policies within a maelstrom of political and domestic discontent,” said Mats Engström, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. “The climate team’s members must also bridge political divides within the commission to deliver on its Green Deal promises. Whether it succeeds in this task will be closely scrutinized over the upcoming five-year term.”

The European Green Deal, a policy framework to achieve climate neutrality—meaning full decarbonization—by 2050, was approved in 2020. Subsequent legislation set a 55 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. EU institutions are currently assessing the feasibility of an intermediate goal of a reduction of 90 percent by 2040, which has also been proposed by the commission.

Replacing fossil fuel energy production with renewables is just one aspect of the bloc’s goals. Others include recovering Europe’s biodiversity, making its food system more sustainable, and creating a well-functioning circular economy, all while making its industries greener.

These policies will affect all sectors of the bloc’s economy—households, industry, services, and agriculture—with the aim of also making it more competitive globally.

Analysts at Brussels-based think tank Bruegel published a report in October that identified four areas of risk that may derail the achievement of the EU’s climate goals, which also appear to be intertwined: geoeconomic instability, technological progress, exacerbated inequality, and policy credibility.

“A global economy with more trade disputes and greater risk of conflict endangers the massive capital investment needed for the transition, while the cost of clean technologies is a primary determinant of the economic viability of decarbonisation,” the analysts wrote. They added: “Climate policies will affect people’s everyday lives in disruptive ways, meaning that regressive outcomes must be guarded against, balanced with a concrete commitment to the established climate policy pillars.”

In a September report, the European Commission—the executive arm of the EU—listed a number of key achievements already reached. EU’s greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by 32.5 percent from the 1990 baseline, while the European economy has grown by 67 percent over the same period, demonstrating the decoupling of growth from emissions.

However, the commission warned that although the installation of renewable power plants has been at a record high over the past few years, the pace toward EU energy efficiency and renewable targets must be further increased to ensure their achievement.

The bloc’s executive also warned about the significant challenge to the continent’s competitiveness due to rising competition with China, high energy price differentials compared to industrial competitors such as the United States, and potential strategic dependencies on clean energy technologies.

At the same time, European citizens still face high energy bills, which—combined with the rising cost of living—further reduce their purchasing power.

“The sectors in which it goes pretty well are the sectors where the economic case is there,” said Linda Kalcher, the executive director at Strategic Perspectives, another Brussels-based think-tank. “For instance, as long as there are schemes that actually support households to buy heat pumps or electric vehicles, we see that there is high uptake on them. The areas where it’s still not economically beneficial, like renovating the building stock, are obviously very slow.”

This September’s Eurobarometer, a survey conducted over the previous few months on behalf of European institutions, found that 81 percent of the sample agree that implementing a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions target will contribute to Europe’s fight against climate change and to the protection of the environment.

Yet, 53 percent said the EU should encourage member states to make their first or second energy priority enacting measures to support households in energy poverty, while 50 percent said that member states should prioritize focusing on measures to reduce energy consumption or that help citizens to produce or consume energy from renewable sources.

Conall Heussaff, a research analyst at Bruegel, said the biggest risk that could hamper the achievement of the EU’s 2030 decarbonization targets is what the think tank called the “policy credibility risk.”

“There’s a danger for divisive politics to use the energy transition as a wedge, as a way to divide the public and push against the sort of ‘elite imposition’ on people’s lives,” he said.

Political disputes about climate policy were evident in the run-up to European Parliament elections in June in relation to several policy measures, including the phaseout of internal combustion engines, the so-called nature restoration law, and gas boiler sales bans in Germany. These laid bare the divisive nature of policies with a direct impact on households, businesses, and agriculture.

Experience suggests the European Green Deal policies will likely face postponements and even rollbacks in the coming years, analysts warn. These rollbacks, in turn, could stall planned investments and trigger a rise in cost for businesses and citizens that have already made investments in clean technologies.

Achieving the intermediate 90 percent emission reduction target by 2040 largely relies on replacing the current expenditure on fossil fuel with capital investments in clean technologies. According to the European Commission, the annual investment required would be around 700 billion euros ($760 billion) from 2031 to 2040.

But geoeconomic risk looms large on these plans. The disruption of clean technology supply chains potentially emerging from simmering trade tensions between the major trading blocs could derail the continent’s energy transition. So too could broader economic shocks, which might destabilize the macroeconomic situation by driving up interest rates or limiting fiscal space of European countries.

Trade tensions—particularly with China, which dominates the market for critical raw materials and many green technologies, such as solar panels and batteries—could slow down the energy transition and increase its costs.

At the same time, the initial capital investment for technologies such as wind, solar, and batteries comprises the largest share of the total cost of their implementation. Rising interest rates could therefore slow down such investments.

Increased geopolitical instability—and the possible reelection of former U.S. President Donald Trump, some argue—could also trigger higher defense spending by European countries, limiting their fiscal space to finance the energy transition. The slower development of technologies could also have a negative impact. All pathways to a net-zero economy partially rely on technologies which are so far unproven on a large scale.

In particular, progress on carbon removal technologies will be key, because if it proved to be insufficient, other sectors such as agriculture or industry could be required to reduce emissions more quickly. “To succeed, the 2040 climate and energy policy framework needs to be designed to be resilient to such risks,” Bruegel’s analysts said in their October report.

The green transition envisaged by the EU will need to have the buy-in of all the bloc’s governments as well as its citizens to overcome the risks to its success. It will require European leaders to ensure the timely and thorough implementation of existing EU legislation, while limiting political concessions to the many different groups opposing the changes needed.

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

‘If it’s dangerous for one population, it will be for the other’: the Brazilian farmers poisoned by a banned pesticide exported from Britain

When Brazil banned the notorious weedkiller paraquat, farmers switched to diquat, a close chemical cousin. But now diquat – banned in the UK, but still manufactured and exported from here – is causing problems of its own

When one side of his body seized up after working the fields of his small-holding, Valdemar Postanovicz feared he was having a stroke. “All the right side of my body was paralysed. I couldn’t feel my foot and my hand. My mouth twisted to the right,” he says. 

In fact, he was experiencing symptoms of acute pesticide poisoning. Postanovicz had accidentally absorbed Reglone, a powerful herbicide based on the chemical diquat, while clearing weeds from his land in an isolated village in southern Brazil, in 2021. 

“It was only one time in my life, but I felt so sick that I never used it again,” he tells Unearthed and Public Eye. These days, he weeds his fields of beans and tobacco by hand. 

Postanovicz is one of a growing number of farmers who have been poisoned with diquat in Paraná, Brazil’s agricultural heartland and its largest consumer of the herbicide. Since a ban on the notorious weedkiller paraquat took effect in Brazil in 2020, the country’s usage of diquat – a close chemical cousin – has soared. Between 2019 and 2022, annual diquat sales in Brazil rocketed from around 1,400 to 24,000 tonnes – an increase of more than 1,600%. 

One popular brand of this weedkiller in Brazil is Reglone, a solution containing 20% diquat that is manufactured in Huddersfield, in the north of England, by the Swiss-headquartered agrochemical giant Syngenta. Diquat has been banned from use on both British and Swiss farms since 2020, after EU experts concluded it posed a ‘high risk’ to people living near fields where it was sprayed. However, British law allows Syngenta to keep making the weedkiller in the UK, for export to countries with weaker regulations.

Diquat usage in Paraná has risen even more sharply than in Brazil as a whole; now the state has begun to see a rise in reported diquat poisoning cases. Between 2018 and 2021, the state recorded just one to three cases annually. This jumped to six in 2022 and again to nine in 2023. Experts say these official numbers are likely the tip of the iceberg. Many incidents of pesticide poisoning go unreported, due to lack of access to healthcare in remote areas, or fear of reprisals from employers. 

“Those numbers reflect a small parcel of reality… According to the World Health Organisation, for each poisoning registered, there will be 50 missed,” said Marcelo de Souza Furtado, a specialist at the Paraná state health department, who is responsible for tracking poisonings in the western region of the state. The Paraná authorities don’t know the real scale of the state’s pesticide poisoning problem, he adds, but “the problem is big”. 

Continue reading.

[rjzimmerman]

Bayer lobbies Congress to help fight lawsuits tying Roundup to cancer. (Washington Post)

The biotech giant Bayer has lobbied Congress over the past year to advancelegislation that could shield the company from billions of dollars in lawsuits, part of a national campaign to defeat claims that its weedkiller Roundup causes cancer in people who use it frequently.

The measure threatens to make it harder for farmers and groundskeepers to argue that they were not fully informed about some health and safety risks posed by the popular herbicide. By erecting new legal barriers to bringing those cases, Bayer seeks to prevent sizable payouts to plaintiffs while sparing itself from a financial crisis.

At the heart of the lobbying push is glyphosate, the active ingredient in certain formulations of Roundup. Some health and environmental authorities contend it is a carcinogen, but the federal government — which previously conducted its own review — does not. Under local laws, thousands of plaintiffs have filed lawsuits targeting Roundup over the past decade, claiming at times they were never warned that regular exposure could cause them to develop debilitating or deadly diseases, such as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Throughout the legal wrangling, Bayer has maintained that its popular weedkiller is safe, though it agreed to pay roughly $10 billion in a landmark settlement that concluded thousands of cases in 2020 without any admission of wrongdoing. Yet tens of thousands of additional claims remain unresolved, prompting Bayer to mount a nationwide lobbying campaign in hopes of reducing its risk of future liability.

In Washington, the company recently has set its sights on the sweeping legislation known as the farm bill, which Congress must adopt every five years to sustain federal agriculture and nutrition programs. The approximately 1,000-page House version of the measure contains a single section — drafted with the aid of Bayer — that could halt some lawsuits against Roundup, according to documents viewed by The Washington Post and seven people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

The provision builds on an earlier proposal introduced by Reps. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and Jim Costa (D-Calif.), two members of the House Agriculture Committee. Bayer helped craft that measure, then circulated it among lawmakers to rally support before later pushing the House to add it to the farm bill, the people familiar with the effort said. The House doesn’t yet have a vote scheduled on that package, which expires Sept. 30.

[thespacebetweenworlds]

Spotlight Yuletide 2024 - NASA "Visions of the Future" Posters - Fic Rec

This fandom is what is lovingly referred to as a "5 Minute Fandom" - it means that the source material, the canon that all transformative fanwork is based upon, is learnable in ~5 minutes. For the fandom and AO3 tag NASA "Visions of the Future" Posters that is true. If you google it, you will find an official NASA website that shows 19 fictional illustrations published in 2020. They are presented as posters advertising space tourism. True to NASA's PR campaign of the 21st century, the eye-catching red centerpiece is a minimalist depiction of Mars, with words talking about "historic sites", "robotic pioneers", "arts & culture", and "architecture & agriculture". These illustrations are speculative fiction, and due to the nature of the Yuletide Fic Exchange, the 19 "posters" become an attractive fandom to request as a gift and offer to write, toeing the line to become original fiction.

There are 3 works tagged with the fandom in the main collection, and all of them have a lot in common.

Easy as Breathing by Anonymous, 6.3k, complete, rated G.

an epistolary narrative, satirical comment and a critique of capitalism, the commercialisation of space travel, and of class. The narrative turns serious and terrifying before it ends on a gentle and hopeful note.

A to Z (of the Universe) by Anonymous, 8.7k, complete, rated G.

an epistolary narrative of letters, postcards, transmissions and more, social criticism and also a critique of capitalism, AI, space travel, and class structures. There are serious undertones from the start, and a F/F romance that sneaks up on the reader. The ending is romantic, in a very sweet and hopeful way.

I know places by Anonymous, 5.3k, complete, rated T.

this one is not epistolary, it's prose from the pov of an agent (compared to James Bond in the text). The love interest is a con woman who operates outside of the law. The underlying social issues and critiques are more hinted at than explicitly said, but the ending is as the two works above: a sense of love, of gentleness, of change and most importantly: hope.

Science fiction is despite its name and many famous works implying otherwise, in no way a prediction of the future. Science fiction is a depiction, a critique, a lament, and a celebration of the present.

All 3 of these Yuletide works work within the fandom of NASA "Visions of the Future" Posters, and as such contain references to the illustrations and the text on them. All 3 of them are works of speculative fiction that challenge the norms of what a reader expects a short story to be, or what a reader expects a fanfiction to be.

All three were written near the end of the year 2024 in ignorance of each other, yet intertextual connections appear in the way they get serious, in the way corruption and class issues come up in all three of these works. And all 3 of these works have characters that take action, who choose to act in kindness, who embrace change, and who live on in hope.

Happy Yuletide.

[aurianneor]

Useful Ecology

We’re hearing about a whole range of ecological measures.

We need to buy eco-friendly cleaning products, insulate our homes, change our boilers and have a Canadian well, buy less plastic, sort our waste, drive eco-friendly cars, limit our speed on the roads, limit our water consumption when we shower or flush the toilet, limit your consumption of concrete, have a compost in our garden, limit our consumption of meat, use Aleppo soap and limit our consumption of sun creams, use a solar oven, invest in ecological energy (wind turbines, photovoltaic panels, hydroelectric plants), buy second-hand. Electricity, oil and food prices are rising under the pretext of ecology.

Mining, lithium extraction, nuclear power plant waste, large factories, construction, petroleum, intensive agriculture (soil pollution, exorbitant water consumption). Multinationals pollute far more than private individuals, and are not subject to any ecological measures to limit their pollution. The world’s richest people, especially via multinationals, are responsible for the world’s biggest ecocides: they destroy forests such as the Amazon rainforest, pollute rivers, destroy the seabed, impose conditions on farmers such that they destroy the land, which is in danger of becoming sterile due to the use of chemicals, and mistreat animals. What’s more, chemicals such as pesticides are causing the extinction of entire animal species. They should be judged internationally, not according to the laws they decide at national level in each country.

Some sectors, such as agriculture and construction, are even subsidized. Others even receive the Legion of Honor (e.g. Total).

Revealed: the 20 firms behind a third of all carbon emissions – The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/09/revealed-20-firms-third-carbon-emissions

90% of industrial pollution comes from manufacturing things: housing, vehicles and clothing. Obsolescence, changing standards that force people to equip themselves, and the use of consumption as a status object are all very harmful.

How Buying Stuff Drives Climate Change – Columbia University – Columbia Climate School: https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2020/12/16/buying-stuff-drives-climate-change/

The measures mentioned at the beginning are useful for preserving the environment and limiting consumption, but they are minor measures compared to those that should be taken on a global scale.

How companies blame you for climate change – BBC: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220504-why-the-wrong-people-are-blamed-for-climate-change

But most of the pollution is still to come. Developing countries want factories, energy, cars and meat. If we don’t help them, this will happen with highly polluting coal-fired plants, petroleum and intensive agriculture (sometimes carried out in deserts, which sucks up all the water the population needs). We need to look at ecology on a global scale, and not just take measures in developed countries, otherwise the ozone layer will suffer and the air will become unbreathable.

“If left unchecked, climate change will cause average global temperatures to increase beyond 3°C, and will adversely affect every ecosystem. Already, we are seeing how climate change can exacerbate storms and disasters, and threats such as food and water scarcity, which can lead to conflict. Doing nothing will end up costing us a lot more than if we take action now.” Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts – ONU: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/climate-change/

We must help developing countries to develop in a way that is healthy for humanity.

This is difficult. It’s not a question of sending money, because experience shows that the money would be diverted to corrupted individuals. It means that having people on the ground to check that the ecological work is being done is necessary. People need to be educated about ecology and given the means to put ecological measures in place. For developing countries to become low-emission countries like those in Europe, $2,400 billion a year would be needed. At present, fossil fuel subsidies total $5,000 billion a year. Switching to renewable energies would cost half as much as maintaining fossil fuels. António Guterres, attacked the use of subsidies in May 2024, declaring, “What we are doing is using taxpayers’ money – which means our money – to boost hurricanes, to spread droughts, to melt glaciers, to bleach corals. In one word – to destroy the world”. Taxes subsidize the destruction of the planet instead of saving it. This is one of the topics to be discussed at COP 29 from November 11 to 22, 2024.

Money, money, money: Financing plans for the climate transition – i4ce: https://www.i4ce.org/en/publication/financing-transition-multi-scale-challenge-climate/

After Bonn and towards COP 29: the battle on finance and the role of financing plans for the transition – i4ce: https://www.i4ce.org/en/after-bonn-towards-cop29-battle-finance-role-financing-plans-transition-climate/

How do we rein in the fossil fuel industry? Here are eight ideas – The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/14/how-rein-in-fossil-fuel-industry-eight-ideas

Global Fossil Fuel Subsidies Remain Large: An Update Based on Country-Level Estimates – IMF: https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2019/05/02/Global-Fossil-Fuel-Subsidies-Remain-Large-An-Update-Based-on-Country-Level-Estimates-46509

China and Russia invest in developing countries without any ecological conscience. We need to be diplomatic with these countries to get them to take ecology into account.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Ecologie efficace: https://www.aurianneor.org/ecologie-efficace/

Eficiencia ecológica: https://www.aurianneor.org/eficiencia-ecologica/

Fund: https://www.aurianneor.org/fund-according-to-the-latest-international/

Juste une question de culture; et de politique…: https://www.aurianneor.org/juste-une-question-de-culture-et-de-politique/

Ecoterrorism: https://www.aurianneor.org/ecoterrorism/

The richest 1% are at war with the rest of the world: https://www.aurianneor.org/the-richest-1-are-at-war-with-the-rest-of-the-world/

My hormones want admiration: https://www.aurianneor.org/my-hormones-want-admiration-i-want-to-shine-im/

Protecting water: https://www.aurianneor.org/protecting-water/

Peru, biodiversity in danger: https://www.aurianneor.org/peru-biodiversity-in-danger/

Consumption: Dream & Reality: https://www.aurianneor.org/consumption-dream-realitymore-love/

Bright idea of the century: https://www.aurianneor.org/bright-idea-of-the-century-the-light-bulb/

Stop the all-concrete approach: https://www.aurianneor.org/stop-the-all-concrete-approach/

Tomorrow – Chap 2: L’énergie: https://www.aurianneor.org/tomorrow-chap-2-lenergie-demainlefilm/

40 ans, un risque maîtrisé?: https://www.aurianneor.org/40-ans-un-risque-maitrise-votez-pour-defendre/

Tomorrow – Chap 1: Agriculture: https://www.aurianneor.org/tomorrow-chap-1-agriculture/

Nano Confiance: https://www.aurianneor.org/nano-confiance-affaire-des-oeufs-contamines-les/

Meat and environment, is that possible?: https://www.aurianneor.org/meat-and-environment-is-that-possible-no-if/

Solar Oven: https://www.aurianneor.org/solar-oven/

Clean Clothes: https://www.aurianneor.org/clean-clothes-shirt-on-your-back/

The eco comfort, a way of life: https://www.aurianneor.org/the-eco-comfort-a-way-of-life-how-to-use/

Hydrogen-powered aircraft: https://www.aurianneor.org/hydrogen-powered-aircraft/

Healthy Road: https://www.aurianneor.org/healthy-road-be-healthier-with-fewer-traffic/

Piste scooter / Moto: https://www.aurianneor.org/piste-scooter-moto-healthy/

Le Paon Scooter: https://www.aurianneor.org/le-paon-scooter-good-for-your-budget-compared/

The artistic blur of ecological cars: https://www.aurianneor.org/the-artistic-blur-of-ecological-cars-i-what-this/

Zero emission transport: https://www.aurianneor.org/zero-emission-transport/

Free public transport: https://www.aurianneor.org/free-public-transport/

Healthy Hair, The advice of a Wookie for hair: https://www.aurianneor.org/healthy-hair-the-advice-of-a-wookie-for-hair-and/

Healthy Skin: https://www.aurianneor.org/healthy-skin-wikipedia-aleppo/

Le savon: https://www.aurianneor.org/le-savon-le-meilleur-desinfectant-le-meilleur/

Healthy Tan: https://www.aurianneor.org/environment-health-perspective-sunscreens-damage/

Sun Cream: https://www.aurianneor.org/sun-cream-differences-entre-ecran-solaire-mineral/

[jothishi]

How do you study career in a birth chart?

How To Study Career In A Birth Chart

September 25, 2020 by Team Jothishi

A birth chart is a very useful source of information about every single aspect of a person’s life. It can also give great insight into the career path and the many aspects of the profession or daily work that a person chooses to do. Read on to know more about Vedic astrology careers and profession indicators.

Business Vs Employment

The million-dollar question with regard to career is how a person will fare in business versus working in a job, in other words as a self-employed person vs being an employee. The chart must be studied for both aspects and the one that shows itself to be stronger and more favourable is an indicator. In a birth chart, the 10th house is the Karmasthana or the house of one’s profession/career.

10th House and 6th House: To study what sort of a profession a person will take up, the astrologer studies the 10th house both from Lagna and the Moon. One also studies the Sun and the lord of the Navamsa Rashi that the 10th lord is placed in. For service, the 6th house also comes into the picture. Being one’s own boss requires that the person be a self-starter and highly motivated. The strength of the Lagna, strength of the 6th house, Mercury, Sun, Saturn and Mars reveal the person’s ability to be self-employed.

The Planets and Profession

Planets have their own definition of characteristics and tendencies. They also have a significance that indicates the kinds of profession a person is drawn to.

Sun

The Sun can indicate government, owner, promoter, boss, doctor, commission agent, politician, banker, teacher, administrator, manager, magistrate etc.

Moon

The Moon is the significator of the mind and water-related things. In terms of profession, this is mental work, work that is very changeable or unsteady, dairy, liquids, navy, a traveller, sailor, salt, sea, pearls, white coloured goods, merchants etc.

Mars

Mars is the action-oriented planet. So it indicates soldier, army, police, engineer, lawyer, surgeon, metalwork, wrestler, guard, security personnel, dentist, weapons as well as medicine.

Mercury

Mercury primarily signifies reasoning and logical thinking, trade, languages and communication. So Mercury relates to careers that relate to these areas such as auditors, accountants, teachers, translators, tradesmen, business, travelling, writing, journalism, stenography, sales etc

Jupiter

This planet governs wisdom, intelligence, dignity and prosperity. So, Jupiter indicates careers in banking, law, treasury departments, income tax, counselling, teaching or even being a scholar, editor, priest, researcher as well as being in the advertising field.

Venus

Venus is the planet that deals with pleasure, luxury and the finer things in life. So Venus represents careers in fashion, arts, poetry, jewellery, cinema, hotels, transport, automobiles, video, wealth, pleasure, amusement parks, perfumes, cosmetics, furniture as well as interior decoration etc.

Saturn

Saturn denotes long and hard work. It is a planet of non-glamorous and steady work. The careers signified by Saturn are government, service, coal, agriculture, justice, mining, brick making, iron as well as hair.

Rahu

If Rahu is well placed it indicates jobs in research, law, speculation, medicine, pharmacy, electricity, teeth, poisonous chemicals as well as drugs etc.

Ketu

Ketu indicates careers in intoxicating substances, secret services, war, poisonous substances, occult, religion and jobs that are generally unpredictable or out of the way.

House Significations for ProfessionHouses One to Six

The first house denotes self-employment or careers that deal with the public. The second house is food and beverages, catering, investments, banking, law and teaching. The third house indicates brokerage, commission agents, writing, publishing, sales and anything to do with communication. The fourth house is the house of education, water, real estate, mining, agriculture as well as geology.

The fifth house is very prominent in actors and people in the entertainment industry. It also shows speculators as well as a job in any field that requires both inspiration and intelligence. The sixth house denotes lawyers, arbitrators, armed forces, jailors, hospitals, wood, timber as well as stone merchants.

Houses Seven To Nine

The seventh house indicates a career in trade as well as in dispute resolution. This includes courts of law as well as other areas of arbitration. Partnership, export and import as well as flesh trade are also the seventh house professions. The eighth house indicates jobs in insurance, inheritances, forensics, research as well as the occult. The ninth house shows professions in counselling, consulting, law, education, being a judge or jurist as well as careers in religion.

Houses Ten To Twelve

The tenth house is the main house of profession. It also signifies the government, public sector, industries as well as higher levels of management. The eleventh house is the house of gains. It indicates careers in finance, gain, trace as well as NGOs as well as other charities. The twelfth house indicates careers in hospitals, travel, secret services, jail and those careers require one to spend a lot.

The Rashis And CareersAries, Taurus and Gemini

In the same way that houses indicate careers, the Rashis also add their indications to a career reading. The fiery and passionate sign of Aries (Mesha) points to careers in the armed forces, police, athletics, industries, security companies, boxing, wrestling, mechanical engineering and iron and steelwork. The Venusian sign of Taurus (Rishaba) fosters careers in jewellery, luxury items, fashion, music, dance, performing arts, perfume, cosmetics, banking, tailoring, automotive (especially high end and luxury cars) as well as real estate. The Rashi of Gemini (Mithuna) indicates Mercury related careers such as writing, journalism, trade, healing, sales, diplomacy, personal assistants, stenographers, linguistics, bookkeepers as well as law.

Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra and Scorpio

The Moon-ruled Cancer (Kartaka) Rashi indicates careers in water-related fields. This includes the navy, fishing, shipping as well as interior decoration, catering, food and beverages, exploration and the petroleum industry. It is also a nurturing Rashi and could signify a career in health care and nursing. Leo (Simha) shows a career in government, authority, politics, soldiers, higher management, speculation and even magic. The Higher octave of Mercury makes Virgo (Kanya) the Rashi for careers in teaching, IT, astrology, journalists, healers and astrologers. Libra (Tula) makes excellent judges, beauty industry personnel, models, fashion designers as well as air hostesses and receptionists. Scorpio (Vrischik) makes careers in the navy, medicine, doctors, police, the army as well as liquids and drugs as well as chemicals.

Saggitarius, Capricorn, Aquarius And Pisces

Sagittarius (Dhanus) is the Rashi of sportsmen, lawyers, judges, preachers, finance, judges, capitalists, wool, and shoe traders. Wood and timber, geologists, mineralogists, real estate agents and forest department staff are Capricorn (Makara) careers. Aquarius (Kumbha) indicates careers in astrology, counselling, NGOs, philosophy, computers and engineering. Pisces (Meena) indicates oil, chemicals, perfume, navy, sailors, surgeons, doctors, jailors, secret services, hospitals and prisons.

Analysing Profession In The Chart

The tenth house of the birth chart is the primary house of profession. The Dashamsha is the divisional chart that is studied for career-related matters. One must check the Lagna lord of the Dashamsha. Then one studies the lord of the Navamsha Rashi that the 10th lord is placed in. Of them, the strongest planet shows a clear indication of career. Jaimini astrologers also study the sign in which the Atmakaraka is placed in the Navamsa. If this is the Sun it indicates government or public sector job. Moon indicates teaching, Mars army, police or electrical, Mercury politics, business or social services. Jupiter or Saturn indicate the same profession as the father, Venus is a politician.

The Varga Chart – Dashamsha Or D10

The Dashamsha chart is the Varga chart that is formed by dividing all the Rashis into tenths, i.e., the 30 degrees of a Rashi into 3-degree sections. It is the most important divisional chart for career and profession. It also shows the impact that the person will make on society at large. Every indication that is seen in the birth chart has to be confirmed in the Navamsa and the Dashamsha. An inclination toward a particular profession must be confirmed only after seeing patterns repeat in all the aspects that are being studied. Merely one placement should not be used to give a definitive conclusion. The tenth house of the D10 is a good indicator of a person’s profession. The Lagna of the D10 is also studied for auspiciousness. The signification of the Dashamsha is very similar to the 10th house of the birth chart.

D10 Lagna

The Rashi in which the Lagna of the Dashamsha falls is important. If the D10 Lagna falls in a Dusthana the Dashamsha will not play too much of a part in the profession of the person. If the Lagna of the D10 is strong we can take the indications of the D10 as significant. The next step is to study the lord of the 10th house of D1 and where it falls in the D10 as well as where the lord of the 10th house in the D10 falls. Planets that influence these houses by placement or aspect add flavour to the profession indication. Repeated patterns that keep confirming one indication add more and more emphasis.

In the same way, an astrologer also studies the placement of the Lagnesh of the D10, the planets that are in it as well as the planets that are aspecting it. As in any chart, the planets in Kendras and Trikonas are more auspicious than those in or associated with the Dusthanas. Planets that are aspected by or placed with the Lagnesh of the D10 are good for the person’s profession.

Additional Career And Profession Indicators

The number of career options that are available to a person is expanding exponentially. The astrologer must use the significations of the planets, houses and Rashis together and intelligently relate them to modern concepts of different careers. For example, the classical texts do not define a career in cinema or journalism. The astrologer intelligently relates the classical definitions of the basics of professions to modern ways of working and earning a living. Some examples of careers and their planets described below will help understand how the significations of the planets relate to each profession.

Communication, Aviation And Metallurgy

The Air signs of Gemini, Libra and Aquarius when prominent indicate a career in aviation. Careers in communication are closely linked to Gemini and the planet Mercury. Mars as well as the Mars-ruled Aries and Scorpio are engineering planets. The process of extracting metals and ores from the ground are Saturn ruled. Metallurgy is ruled by the Sun, Mercury and Mars.

The Navy And Marine Careers

Since the Navy and sailing are to do with oceans as well as long journeys, the signs of Sagittarius, Scorpio and Pisces are prominent in sailor’s charts. Moon and Venus are also watery planets and influence careers that have to do with the ocean. However, the engineering aspect of ship design and building and other marine engineering careers link to Mars and Mercury. Virgo with such combinations suggests the merchant navy and other commercial and trade aspects of shipping.

Landscape And Gardens

Those in the profession of landscape design and other plant-related jobs have the involvement of Mercury as well as the 4th house. Venus could enhance the ornamental aspect of the job. When the person does garden and forest-related work while also owning extensive land for it, Mars the significator of land is the indicator.

Careers In Writing, Art And Drama

Mercury is a major planet of writing, journalism, reporting and writing. To be an editor, Jupiter must also be involved. Mercury controls drawing and Venus artistic inclination. Venus and Rahu are the main planets for the fields of theatre and cinema. Rahu rules anything that is filmed or is an illusion such as photography and movies. The Sun and Jupiter control the traditional methods of photography that require the use of chemicals for development.

Mars Careers In Electricity, Real Estate, Arms And Ammunition

Mars signifies land holdings and directly relates to real estate careers. It is a warrior planet and signifies career paths in arms and ammunition. Mars is also a significator of electricity. While Aries (Mesha) is electricity, Scorpio (Vrischik) is a water sign of Mars and signifies hydroelectricity.

Career And Gain: The 9

th

Lord Or 11

th

Lord In The 10

th

House

The placement of either the 9th lord of fortune or the 11th lord of gain in the 10th house of career is a very auspicious placement. The 9th lord in the 10th that makes an association of the Kendra and Trikona is a Raj Yoga. The 11th lord of gain in the 10th house of profession is also a very beneficial placement that shows great gain, growth and authority in career

So, in a similar fashion one can effectively read a birth chart and assess the career options available to the person using the basic significations of the Rashis and planets.

[beardedmrbean]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives is poised to pass on Thursday Republican legislation intended to stop immigrants and illegal drugs crossing the nation's southwestern border with Mexico through tough new law enforcement steps.

The package, which Democrats have warned will be blocked in the Senate, would require asylum seekers to apply for U.S. protection outside the country. It also would resume construction of a wall along the border and expand federal law enforcement efforts.

While the bill is not expected to get to President Joe Biden's desk for signing into law, there are hopes in the Senate that it will spark negotiations for a bipartisan, comprehensive border security and immigration reform measure in coming months.

Debate on the House legislation was scheduled in anticipation of the Thursday midnight expiration of the "Title 42" immigration restriction that began under former President Donald Trump in 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has allowed U.S. authorities to expel migrants to Mexico without the chance to seek asylum, citing health concerns.

On Wednesday, House Republican leaders had to delay debate on their bill while scurrying to nail down enough votes for passage.

At the last minute, provisions for the U.S. agriculture industry to comply with "E-Verify" requirements to confirm U.S. employment eligibility were scaled back because some lawmakers thought they would make hiring immigrant farm workers too cumbersome.

Republican Representative Chip Roy argued the legislation will close loopholes in U.S. asylum and immigrant detention procedures by requiring the Department of Homeland Security to "detain, remove or place in a secure third country" those seeking asylum while awaiting a decision from immigration authorities.

Democratic Representative Mary Gay Scanlon countered that it "does nothing more than sow chaos, anger and fear about this important humanitarian system" and "puts the blame on our broken immigration system on the backs of those fleeing violence" in their home countries.

Democrats want to couple different border security measures with legislation to broadly reform immigration laws, including providing pathways to citizenship for some unauthorized immigrants living in the United States.

The House voted 215-209 on Wednesday night to clear the bill for a separate vote on passage on Thursday, with no Democrats supporting the move.

[moralomnivore]

If you've eaten pig in the last month, and/or intend to do so again, you owe it to the animals to see how they're being killed.

...slaughterhouses have become warier of activists, improving their physical security, tightening their access controls, and searching out hidden surveillance devices. In an earlier attempt in 2020, in fact, Deerbrook hid cameras without remote connectivity in a slaughterhouse gas chamber, but those were discovered before she could retrieve any footage.

When WIRED reached out to Smithfield Foods and shared DxE’s videos with the company, it responded in a statement that “Smithfield is committed to the safety, health, and comfort of our animals and strictly follows approved laws, regulations and best practices for humane animal stunning prior to harvest. We adhere to all humane handling and stunning regulations for livestock with the oversight of the United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service.” The company pointed out that organizations like the USDA and the American Veterinary Medicine Association have recognized carbon dioxide gas chambers as complying with humane slaughter laws for years. It argued that “carbon dioxide stunning quickly renders hogs into a state of analgesia,” adding that its programs were “created in consultation with two of the world’s foremost experts in animal behavior and handling.” Gas chamber manufacturing firm Marel didn’t respond to WIRED’s request for comment.

Watch the video, read the official comment on the comfort of the animals involved, and please understand that this is what they mean when they say "humane," with legal backing. And they are actively blocking out any attempts at transparency and legally hogtying activists. Because they want their words to be the only thing on your mind when you consider buying their products, not recordings of what they actually do.

[africapublichealth]

THE IMPACT OF MODERN POLLUTION ON PUBLIC HEALTH IN AfRICA

In recent years, air and water pollution have become increasingly problematic in many African countries. Pollution has had a significant impact on public health in Africa, as the sources of pollution such as industrial and agricultural waste, burning of fossil fuels, and inadequate waste management result in environmental degradation. Pollution in African countries has caused a wide range of health issues that include poor air quality, water and soil contamination, and the spread of disease. This essay has examined the impacts of modern pollution on public health, the potential consequences for Africans, and how African countries are attempting to reduce its effects.

For example, in South Africa, air pollution from coal-fired power plants has led to a high incidence of respiratory diseases in nearby communities (Routledge, 2021). In Nigeria, oil spills and gas flaring have contaminated soil and water sources, leading to health problems such as skin diseases and respiratory issues (Adewuyi, 2019). In Kenya, plastic pollution has led to the deaths of wildlife and contamination of water sources, leading to health problems such as cholera and typhoid (Gakii, 2018).

In order to further prevent and mitigate the impact of pollution on public health in Africa, there are several steps that can be taken. One approach is to implement stricter regulations and laws related to pollution control and monitoring, such as setting emissions standards for industrial facilities and enforcing penalties for non-compliance (“The Role of Government," 2017). Another approach is to invest in clean energy sources such as solar, wind, and hydro power to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and decrease air pollution (Santos et al., 2020).

Another step is to improve waste management and increase recycling efforts, this will help to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills and pollutes the environment (Makgato, 2018). In addition, promoting sustainable agricultural practices and implementing regulations to control the use of pesticides and fertilizers can help to reduce water pollution and improve soil health (Githinji et al., 2019).

Another important step is to raise awareness and educate the public about the impacts of pollution on health and the environment. By providing information and resources on how to reduce pollution and protect health, individuals can take action to reduce their own environmental footprint and advocate for change at a larger scale (“The Role of Education," 2017).

The impact of modern pollution on public health in Africa is huge and has disproportionately affected the most vulnerable communities. The lack of access to clean water, air pollution, and other environmental hazards have caused serious health problems amongst African people, including increasing mortality, respiratory issues, and other serious bodily maladies. Governments and NGOs must continue to work together to address these issues and ensure that all citizens have access to clean and safe environments free from the threats of modern pollution.

In conclusion, modern pollution in Africa has had a significant impact on public health, causing a wide range of health issues such as poor air quality, water and soil contamination, and the spread of disease. To further prevent and mitigate the impact of pollution on public health in Africa, stricter regulations and laws related to pollution control and monitoring, investing in clean energy, improving waste management, promoting sustainable agricultural practices, raising awareness and educating the public are important steps that can be taken. Governments and NGOs must continue to work together to address these issues and ensure that all citizens have access to clean and safe environments free from the threats of modern pollution.

[reasonsforhope]

Woah!! The potential long-term implications of this are huge, not just in general, but because state-wide universal free school lunch programs were literally not a thing before 2020 - but in just the past 3 years, the idea has gained HUGE momentum.

-via Pennsylvania Capital-Star, May 30, 2023

That’s kind of ridiculously fast for any new type of legislation. Especially since universal free school lunch programs are, by nature of our education system and structure, potentially very logistically complicated programs to arrange, to my understanding!

Seriously:

There were NO states that offered free school lunches to everyone before spring of 2020

There are now (June 2023) SIX STATES that have ACTIVE universal free school lunch programs. Three of those programs are permanent

Six states!! In less than 3 years!! For a statewide school program!! That’s really impressive!!

The six states: California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada and Vermont. Permanent programs: California, Maine, Colorado.

(Technically Colorado’s program isn’t (yet) mandatory, currently school districts have to opt in)

Nevada and Vermont’s programs have been extended through the end of the 2023 - 2024 school year, and could still be extended further or made permanent

The Massachusetts program expires this year (2022 - 2023 school year) but lawmakers are trying to make it permanent. I’m still counting the total as six active states even though this program basically expires this month because:

Minnesota just passed a universal free school lunch program that starts this year, in Fall 2023! And it’s also permanent!

How we got here so fast

That’s when California made a huge leap by passing a first-of-its-kind law to provide free school lunch to every student, even though the schools were all shut down because of COVID

The program was so successful that California made it permanent starting with the school year that just ended (2022 - 2023)

Maine also now provides free school meals to all students starting with this past school year (2022 - 2023)

Colorado voters passed a ballot initiative (basically, a law passed by popular vote) that gives all school districts the ability and funding to offer free school meals to all of their students starting this year (2023 - 2024 school year)

Massachusetts, Nevada, and Vermont have all extended their pandemic-era free school lunch through at least the 2023 - 2024 school year, and could definitely make them permanent. (And Massachusetts and Vermont are actively trying)

Minnesota passed a law in March 2023 to create universal free school meals. The program starts later this year, with all students getting free school meals starting in Fall 2023

New York City offers universal free school lunch now. New York state couldn’t quite make it statewide, but they did pass a compromise measure that covers free school lunch for about 81% of students

The New York program is under a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) rule that school districts in which 40% or more of students are eligible for free and reduced-priced meals can expand that eligibility to cover all kids in the district. USDA is currently collecting comments on a proposed rule that would take the qualifying percentage for school districts down to 25%. This could be a big deal, and btw if you’re in the US you can submit a comment!

And as of February 2023, TWENTY-ONE OTHER STATES AND D.C. are "currently planning, drafting, discussing, or negotiating universal free school Meal legislation."

(And one of them, Minnesota, has already passed it!)

There's a state-by-state break-down of the status of free school meals legislation in each state here:

-via Hunter College's New York City Food Policy Center. Data from February 2023

Other sources for this post:

Colorado passes free lunch ballot initiative, November 10, 2022

Massachusetts free lunch policy status/details, January 27, 2023

Minnesota governor signs universal free lunch into law, March 17, 2023

Honestly, at this rate, I think there's a very real chance that at least half of US states will have universal free school lunch by the end of the decade

And a lot of these programs (almost all?? couldn't find a breakdown) actually offer TWO free meals a day to each student: breakfast AND lunch

With universal free lunch legislation being discussed in so many states, if you're in the US, you can call your state representatives and tell them to vote for these bills! Or to introduce them, in one of the states that hasn't! Find your representatives here!

-This post is current as of June 18, 2023

When schools offer free meals for everyone, local families reduce grocery spending. Large chains respond by dropping prices, amplifying benefits to the broader community.

Education and nutrition depend on each other.

[mariacallous]

Five years since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its autonomous status, the central government’s iron-fisted approach to the region has left it more vulnerable to regional and geopolitical threats.

While Kashmir Valley, which has withstood the brunt of armed insurgency since 1989, continues to simmer with militancy-related violence, the theater of terrorism has now extended into the otherwise peaceful province of Jammu. Since 2019, at least 262 soldiers and 171 civilians have died in more than 690 incidents, including the February 2019 Pulwama terrorist attack. The unsustainable and disproportionate loss of lives underscores the risks to both regional stability and India’s national security.

In 2019, the Modi government revoked Article 370 of the Indian constitution, which granted the state of Jammu and Kashmir its special status, annihilating the contested region’s symbolic autonomy. Concurrently, the central government also imposed an indefinite curfew in the region and used internet shutdowns and arrests to control and suppress the local population. The result was a transformed landscape. Already scarred by militarization, Kashmir became enmeshed in barbed wire.

This undemocratic exercise, though later stamped and endorsed by India’s Supreme Court, has since spurred further legal changes. For example, the local population no longer has access to exclusive protections that previously allowed only permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir to apply for government jobs and buy property in the state.

In March 2020, the government repealed 12 and amended 14 land-related laws, introducing a clause that paved the way for a development authority to confiscate land and another that allowed high-ranking army officials to declare a local area as strategically important.

Local residents are appalled at the ease with which government agencies can now seize both residential and agricultural lands in the name of development and security—enabling mass evictions and the bulldozing of houses that are disproportionately affecting Muslim communities and small landowners.

Meanwhile, the ecological fallout from introducing massive road and railway networks, coupled with the addition of mega hydroelectricity projects, is polluting riverbeds and causing villages to sink. Since 2019, there has been a lack of local representation which could act as a buffer against massive development projects, most of which now fall under New Delhi’s governance. Meanwhile, the region’s unemployment rate, as of 2023, remains high at above 18 percent, as compared to the national average of 8 percent.

Over the last few years, the Modi government has also squashed dissent in the region by redirecting the military to maintain surveillance and control of the civilian population. According to the Forum for Human Rights in Jammu and Kashmir, over 2,700 people were arrested in the region between 2020 and 2023 under India’s contentious Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Public Safety Act. Those arrested include journalists like Fahad Shah and Sajad Gul, human rights defenders like Khurram Pervez, and prominent lawyers like Mian Qayoom and Nazir Ronga.

Modi’s repressive policies have deepened the trust deficit between Kashmiris and the Indian government. The top-down administration has further sidelined local bureaucrats and police officers, further widening the gap between the central government and local ground realities.

All of this has not only pushed the local population into distress, but also jeopardized India’s already fragile relations with its two nuclear neighbors, Pakistan and China.

The Kashmir conflict, rooted in the 1947 partition of India, has led to three major wars and several military skirmishes between India, Pakistan, and China. And though the region has always been contentious—India controls more than half of the total land, while Pakistan controls 30 percent, and China holds the remaining 15 percent in the northeast region near Ladakh—Modi’s aggressive handling has further provoked its neighbors.

Following the revocation of Article 370, the region was split into two separate union territories—Jammu and Kashmir forming one and Ladakh forming another, with both falling under the central government’s control.

This redrawing of the region’s internal borders, which signaled New Delhi’s assertions of reclaiming the Chinese-occupied territory near Ladakh—as well as India’s increasing tilt towards the United States—resulted in a deadly clash between India and China in 2020 and another one in 2022. Despite diplomatic efforts to resolve tensions over the disputed Himalayan border, New Delhi has accused Beijing of carrying out “inch by inch” land grabs in Ladakh since 2020.

Meanwhile, Pakistan-administered Kashmir has been rocked by mass protests of its own this year, owing to the country’s political and economic crisis, exacerbated in part by the abrogation of Article 370. Those living in Pakistan-administered Kashmir fear that Pakistan may similarly try to dilute the autonomy of the region.

With refugees flooding in from Afghanistan on its west amidst Imran Khan’s standoff with the Pakistani Army, Islamabad has been on edge and looking for diversionary tactics. The deepening of Pakistani-Chinese relations, including military ties, has contributed to a volatile mix.

But Kashmir’s vulnerability has worsened partly because of India’s own tactical blunders, too. The last decade witnessed a spurt in home-grown militancy, but since 2019 the landscape has been dominated by well-trained militants from across the Pakistani border who have access to sophisticated weapons and technology.

Indian security forces, including paramilitaries and the local police, have turned a blind eye to these emerging threats, especially in the twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch along the border with Pakistan. It is in this area that the impact of terror attacks has been most felt.

The region is home to the nomadic Gujjar-Bakerwal communities and the ethnolinguistic Paharis. These groups are parts of divided families straddling the India-Pakistan border, and this shared cultural linkage between the Indian and Pakistani sides has been weaponized in the past by intelligence networks of both countries.

The Indian armed forces have historically relied on the Gujjar-Bakerwal communities for intelligence gathering in part because of their nomadic lives and deep knowledge of the region’s topography. However, since 2019, the evictions of nomads from forest lands, following the amendment of several land-related laws, as well as affirmative actions for Paharis, a rival ethnic group, have led to the disenchantment of the Gujjar-Bakerwals—and an eventual loss of traditional intelligence assets for India.

Another blunder has been the redeployment of troops from Jammu to the border with China in the northeast, following China’s incursions in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley in 2020. This has left Jammu dangerously exposed to militants who have been infiltrating the region from across the line of control on the western side and carrying out their operations with a fair degree of success.

In 2024 alone, Jammu has witnessed numerous attacks which have resulted in the deaths of 16 soldiers and 12 civilians. In June, for example, the region experienced one of its deadliest attacks when militants opened fire on a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims, killing nine and injuring over 30.

Kashmir’s internal politics has the potential to spill over and push the region into disaster. While India has made some significant strides in international diplomacy under Modi, it tends to neglect the neighborhood where the risks to India’s national security remain the highest. Its diplomatic engagement with China comes in fits and starts but diplomacy with Pakistan remains nonexistent, despite the resumption of a ceasefire in 2021. And while India considers the removal of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status an internal matter, Pakistan sees it as a provocation. All in all, there is a dangerous lack of engagement between the two nuclear rivals in South Asia.

In theory, the ongoing regional elections in Jammu and Kashmir provide a glimmer of opportunity for the people to choose their own local government for the first time in a decade. However, irrespective of who wins the elections, the local leaders will lack the power to enact meaningful change, given that the region remains under the control of New Delhi following its demotion from a state to two union territories.

For instance, Ladakh does not have a legislative assembly, and while Jammu and Kashmir have an elected assembly, the real powers are vested in the hands of a governor, who was appointed to lead the region by the Modi-led central government. As recently as July, the Indian government ruled to further expand the governor’s oversight powers, delivering a blow to local politicians and voters.

Much more needs to be done to change the status quo. Though it remains unlikely, New Delhi must consider meaningful solutions that could assuage some of the political wounds inflicted by the complete erosion of Jammu and Kashmir’s autonomy, including, for example, the restoration of statehood to the region. In order to win back the trust of Kashmiris, the Indian government must reinstate civil liberties and deliver on its promise to provide economic development and jobs.

To improve the region’s safety, Indian agencies must acknowledge their security lapses and repair their broken intelligence networks. And while the Indian security forces must not lower their guard against terrorist activities, terrorism should not be proffered as an excuse when it comes to the normalization of relations in the neighborhood.

Neither Pakistan, nor India can afford the war which is looming over their heads. Diplomatic negotiations, including over Kashmir, must begin with a sense of urgency.