#net migration rate

[oldblogger]

“Demography is Destiny”…

… and Europe’s Destiny Dwindles. The quotation is borrowed from Auguste Comte (1798 – 1857), the reputed originator of the study of ‘sociology’, after having experienced the French Revolution. The polities of the defined continent of Europe (excluding Russia, which lies in two continents) contain 7.6% of the world’s population in 2023, as estimated by the World Factbook of the CIA. And the…

[ayeforscotland]

How much do you think rich people threatening to leave and basically holding their 'business' hostage actually affect taxes on the rich? I always see this coming up whenever it's even suggested that rich people pay taxes. Seems to make as much sense to me as the ol' 'the tourism the royal family brings in is totally worth their outrageous wealth hording' thing, an excuse to not do anything about it

When Scotland introduced a progressive tax rate, we had wall to wall press coverage about how this would result in a ‘brain drain’ and all the wealthy people would move just over the border and commute to Edinburgh simply because they could.

That didn’t happen. In fact, there’s been net migration into Scotland from elsewhere in the UK.

Funny how increasing taxes to spend on services makes the country a bit more liveable for everyone.

Austerity is genuinely a fool’s game. Labour are just continuing Tory austerity because they have a flawed view of the economy.

[read-marx-and-lenin]

Fuck off commie, anyway people in droves have fled places like the Soviet Union, The Eastern Bloc,Cuba, North Korea and the POS PRC. So communism being successful is a farce. That being said I also hat communism because I don't want to be "equal" to those inferior to me.

I already knew you were a bigot, you made that clear in your last ask.

If you want to talk about "fleeing in droves", we can also talk about how the US and West Germany literally bribed people to cross over with the direct intent to cause economic instability and decline.

A persecuted American political dissident left the US to seek asylum in Cuba, Assata Shakur, and she's still living there today. She prefers it to the US. Donald Trump undid Obama's efforts to thaw relations with Cuba using their refusal to return her to the US for trial as one of his excuses.

When exactly were people fleeing the USSR or China outside of wartime or famine early on in their history? By the time the nations had stabilized and recovered, living conditions had vastly improved. The USSR from the 50s onward had a similar net migration rate to the United Kingdom or Denmark at the time, with a net positive NMR from the 70s all the way up to 1991 when emigration jumped massively due to the collapse of the USSR.

China has also had a very stable NMR outside of the period of famine, and most of the people who left during the famine returned to the country once the famine ended.

As for North Korea, you might want to watch this video:

If the DPRK is hell on earth, why would anyone who left be fighting for so many years to return to their home? Why would the ROK need to trick people into leaving and bribe them to spout lies about the country? Why would the ROK work to censor "defectors" who don't parrot the government's narrative regarding the DPRK? If the DPRK government is incompetent, why would the West need to sabotage them?

[vague-humanoid]

In 2023, the hottest year ever recorded, preliminary findings by an international team of researchers show the amount of carbon absorbed by land has temporarily collapsed. The final result was that forest, plants and soil – as a net category – absorbed almost no carbon.

There are warning signs at sea, too. Greenland’s glaciers and Arctic ice sheets are melting faster than expected, which is disrupting the Gulf Stream ocean current and slows the rate at which oceans absorb carbon. For the algae-eating zooplankton, melting sea ice is exposing them to more sunlight – a shift scientists say could keep them in the depths for longer, disrupting the vertical migration that stores carbon on the ocean floor.

[southernsolarpunk]

Hey what the fuck is this news story?

“ But the world’s largest economies are already there: The total fertility rate among the OECD’s 38 member countries dropped to just 1.5 children per woman in 2022 from 3.3 children in 1960. That’s well below the “replacement level” of 2.1 children per woman needed to keep populations constant.

That means the supply of workers in many countries is quickly diminishing.

In the 1960s, there were six people of working age for every retired person, according to the World Economic Forum. Today, the ratio is closer to three-to-one. By 2035, it’s expected to be two-to-one.

Top executives at publicly traded US companies mentioned labor shortages nearly 7,000 times in earnings calls over the last decade, according to an analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis last week.

“A reduction in the share of workers can lead to labor shortages, which may raise the bargaining power of employees and lift wages — all of which is ultimately inflationary,” Simona Paravani-Mellinghoff, managing director at BlackRock, wrote in an analysis last year. “

Is this seriously how normal people think? Improving the bargaining power of workers and increased wages are bad?

“ And while net immigration has helped offset demographic problems facing rich countries in the past, the shrinking population is now a global phenomenon. “This is critical because it implies advanced economies may start to struggle to ‘import’ labour from such places either via migration or sourcing goods,” wrote Paravani-Mellinghoff.

By 2100, only six countries are expected to be having enough children to keep their populations stable: Africa’s Chad, Niger and Somalia, the Pacific islands of Samoa and Tonga, and Tajikistan, according to research published by the Lancet, a medical journal.

BlackRock’s expert advises her clients to invest in inflation-linked bonds, as well as inflation-hedging commodities like energy, industrial metals and agriculture and livestock.

Import labor via migration or sourcing goods? My brother in Christ they are modern day slaves!! I feel like I’m in backwards town reading this what the fuck?!

“ Elon Musk, father of 12 children, has remarked that falling birthrates will lead to “a civilization that ends not with a bang but a whimper, in adult diapers.”

While his words are incendiary, they’re not entirely wrong

P&G and Kimberly-Clark, which together make up more than half of the US diaper market, have seen baby diaper sales decline over the past few years. But adult diapers sales, they say, are a bright spot in their portfolios. “

Oh now the guy with a breeding kink is going to lecture us. Great. /s

“ The AI solution: Some business leaders and technologists see the boom in productivity through artificial intelligence as a potential solution.

“Here are the facts. We are not having enough children, and we have not been having enough children for long enough that there is a demographic crisis, former Google CEO and executive chairman Eric Schmidt said at the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit in London last year.

“In aggregate, all the demographics say there’s going to be shortage of humans for jobs. Literally too many jobs and not enough people for at least the next 30 years,” Schmidt said.

Oh god not the AI tech bros coming into this shit too. Wasn’t the purpose of improving tech to give people more free time? So they can relax and spend time with family more and actually enjoy life? Isn’t our economy already bloated with useless pencil-pushing number-crunching desk jobs that ultimately don’t serve a purpose?

I’m not going to post the entire article but give it a read. It’s… certainly something. Anyway degrowth is the way of the future.

[rabiesofficial]

In 2023, the hottest year ever recorded, preliminary findings by an international team of researchers show the amount of carbon absorbed by land has temporarily collapsed. The final result was that forest, plants and soil – as a net category – absorbed almost no carbon. There are warning signs at sea, too. Greenland’s glaciers and Arctic ice sheets are melting faster than expected, which is disrupting the Gulf Stream ocean current and slows the rate at which oceans absorb carbon. For the algae-eating zooplankton, melting sea ice is exposing them to more sunlight – a shift scientists say could keep them in the depths for longer, disrupting the vertical migration that stores carbon on the ocean floor. “We’re seeing cracks in the resilience of the Earth’s systems. We’re seeing massive cracks on land – terrestrial ecosystems are losing their carbon store and carbon uptake capacity, but the oceans are also showing signs of instability,” Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, told an event at New York Climate Week in September. “Nature has so far balanced our abuse. This is coming to an end,” he said.

....

“None of these models have factored in losses like extreme factors which have been observed, such as the wildfires in Canada last year that amounted to six months of US fossil emissions. Two years before, we wrote a paper that found that Siberia also lost the same amount of carbon,” says Ciais. “Another process which is absent from the climate models is the basic fact that trees die from drought. This is observed and none of the models have drought-induced mortality in their representation of the land sink,” he says. “The fact that the models are lacking these factors probably makes them too optimistic.”

...

“We shouldn’t rely on natural forests to do the job. We really, really have to tackle the big issue: fossil fuel emissions across all sectors,” says Prof Pierre Friedlingstein of Exeter University, who oversees the annual Global Carbon Budget calculations. “We can’t just assume that we have forests and the forest will remove some CO2, because it’s not going to work in the long term.”

When I first heard about this I saw that scientists didn't know if this would be temporary or not, this article states it "could" be temporary so... well...

[argumate]

"immigrants are taking our houses" seems equally common messaging in here in Canada than "immigrants are taking our jobs" perhaps more

"we're not building enough houses to keep up with our immigration rate" is a slightly politer and more helpful take but yeah.

let's see what the AI says on houses:

According to recent data, Australia builds around 170,000 new homes each year, though this number is considered significantly below the required amount to meet the current housing demand, with targets set closer to 240,000 new homes annually.

and what is says on immigration:

Australia's net overseas migration (NOM) for the year ending June 30, 2024 was 446,000 people, which was a decrease from the previous year's record of 536,000

and population growth as a whole:

According to the latest data, Australia's population grew by approximately 2.1% in 2024, with a net increase of around 552,000 people, reaching a total population of roughly 27.2 million as of June 30, 2024.

so 3.2 new people for each new home; I wonder what the breakdown is on how many of those new homes were one or two bedroom apartments.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Thanks to immigrants, Canada was likely one of the fastest growing countries in the world between July 2022 and July 2023, according to a new Statistics Canada report.

Canada's population surpassed 40 million on June 16 and grew to 40,097,761 by July 1, an increase of 1,158,705 people – or 2.9 per cent – from July 1, 2022. In a demographic report released on Tuesday, StatCan said this rate of growth places Canada ahead of all other G7 countries and among the top 20 fastest growing countries in the world during that period.

While the difference between births and deaths accounts for two per cent of this growth, the agency said 98 per cent came from net international migration. In fact, Canada's fertility rate reached a record low in 2022, with 1.33 children born per woman, compared with 1.44 in 2021. [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada, @vague-humanoid

[gwendolynlerman]

Discovering the world

Lebanon 🇱🇧

Basic facts

Official name: الجمهورية اللبنانية (al-Jumhūrīyah al-Lubnānīyah) (Republic of Lebanon)

Capital city: Beirut

Population: 5.3 million (2023)

Demonym: Lebanese

Type of government: unitary parliamentary republic

Head of state: vacant (President)

Head of government: Najib Mikati (Prime Minister)

Gross domestic product (purchasing power parity): $78.23 billion (2022)

Gini coefficient of wealth inequality: 31.8% (medium) (2011)

Human Development Index: 0.723 (high) (2022)

Currency: pound (LBP)

Fun fact: It hosts the highest number of refugees per capita and per square kilometer.

Etymology

The country’s name comes from Mount Lebanon, whose name derives from the Phoenician root lbn, meaning “white”.

Geography

Lebanon is located in West Asia and borders Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west.

There are two main climates: Mediterranean-influenced humid continental in the center and east and hot-summer Mediterranean in the rest. Temperatures range from 11 °C (51.8 °F) in winter to 30 °C (86 °F) in summer. The average annual temperature is 20.9 °C (69.6 °F).

The country is divided into nine governorates (muḥāfaẓāt), which are further divided into twenty-five districts (aqdyah). The largest cities in Lebanon are Beirut, Tripoli, Jounieh, Zahlé, and Sidon.

History

2500-64 BCE: Phoenicia

1650-1180 BCE: Hittite Empire

1550-1069 BCE: New Kingdom of Egypt

550-332 BCE: Achaemenid Empire

332-64 BCE: Seleucid Empire

64 BCE-394 CE: Roman Empire

394-635: Byzantine Empire

619-629 CE: Sasanian Empire

636-661: Rashidun Caliphate

661-750: Umayyad Caliphate

750-1517: Abbasid Caliphate

1099-1291: Kingdom of Jerusalem

1102-1289: County of Tripoli

1250-1516: Mamluk Sultanate

1516-1842: Emirate of Mount Lebanon

1516-1918: Ottoman Empire

1843-1861: Double Qaim-Maqamate of Mount Lebanon

1860: civil conflict in Mount Lebanon and Damascus

1915-1918: Great Famine of Mount Lebanon

1920-1926: State of Greater Lebanon

1923-1946: Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon

1926-1943: Lebanese Republic

1943-present: Republic of Lebanon

1948: Arab-Israeli War

1975-1990: Lebanese Civil War

1976-2005: Syrian occupation

1985-2000: South Lebanon conflict

2005: Cedar Revolution

2006: Lebanon War

2006-2008: protests

2007: Lebanon conflict

2011: Intifada of Dignity

2019: 17 October Revolution

2020: Beirut explosion

2021: Beirut clashes

Economy

Lebanon mainly imports from the European Union, Türkiye, and China and exports to the European Union, the United Arab Emirates, and Switzerland. Its top exports are diamonds, polyacetals, and gold.

It has natural gas, limestone, oil, and salt reserves. Services represent 83% of the GDP, followed by industry (13.1%) and agriculture (3.9%).

Lebanon is a member of the Arab League, la Francophonie, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

Demographics

95% of the population is Arab, while Armenians make up 4%. The main religion is Islam, practiced by 55% of the population, 27.6% of which is Sunni.

It has a negative net migration rate and a fertility rate of 1.7 children per woman. 89% of the population lives in urban areas. Life expectancy is 78.3 years and the median age is 31.3 years. The literacy rate is 96.7%.

Languages

The official language of the country is Arabic. French is spoken by 40% of the population.

Culture

Lebanese culture has Persian, Greek, Roman, Arab, Ottoman, and French influences. Lebanese people are very gregarious.

Men traditionally wear a shirt, a dark vest, baggy pants (sherwal), a belt, and a headdress. Women wear a shiny dress (gambaz), a wide belt, and a conical hat with a long piece of silk (tantur).

Architecture

Traditional houses in Lebanon are made of stone and wood and have flat roofs and terraces.

Cuisine

The Lebanese diet is based on fish, meat, pulses, and vegetables. Typical dishes include bamieh bi-zeit (okra and tomato stew), kibbeh (fried balls made of spiced meat and bulgur), sayadieh (seasoned fish and rice), sfouf (an almond-semolina cake), and tabbouleh (a salad of bulgur, onion, tomatoes, and parsley).

Holidays and festivals

Like other Christian and Muslim countries, Lebanon celebrates Epiphany, Armenian Christmas, St. Maroun Day, Feast of the Annunciation Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Assumption, Christmas Day, Islamic New Year, Ashura, Mawlid, Eid al-Fitr, and Eid al-Adha. It also commemorates New Year’s Day and Labor Day.

Specific Lebanese holidays include Rafic Hariri Memorial Day on February 14, Liberation and Resistance Day on May 25, and Lebanese Independence Day on November 22.

Independence Day

Other celebrations include the Aerial and Circus Arts Festival, the Baalbeck International Festival, which features dance and music performances, and the Beiteddine Art Festival.

Baalbeck International Festival

Landmarks

There are six UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Anjar, Baalbek, Byblos, Ouadi Qadish (the Holy Valley) and the Forest of the Cedars of God (Horsh Arz el-Rab), Rachid Karami International Fair-Tripoli, and Tyre.

Ouadi Qadish and the Forest of the Cedars of God

Other landmarks include Jabal Moussa, the Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque, the Moussa Castle, Our Lady of Lebanon, and the Tripoli Citadel.

Tripoli Citadel

Famous people

Amin Maalouf - writer

Elie Saab - fashion designer

Fares Fares - actor

Jackie Chamoun - skier

Khalil Beschir - racing driver

May Ziade - poet and writer

Nadine Labaki - actress

Najwa Karam - singer

Ragheb Alama - singer

Rima Fakih - model

Rima Fakih

You can find out more about life in Lebanon in this post and this video.

[sniperct]

In 2023, the hottest year ever recorded, preliminary findings by an international team of researchers show the amount of carbon absorbed by land has temporarily collapsed. The final result was that forest, plants and soil – as a net category – absorbed almost no carbon. There are warning signs at sea, too. Greenland’s glaciers and Arctic ice sheets are melting faster than expected, which is disrupting the Gulf Stream ocean current and slows the rate at which oceans absorb carbon. For the algae-eating zooplankton, melting sea ice is exposing them to more sunlight – a shift scientists say could keep them in the depths for longer, disrupting the vertical migration that stores carbon on the ocean floor.

The report found habitat degradation and loss was the biggest threat to wildlife, followed by overexploitation, invasive species, disease, climate change and pollution. Lead author and WWF chief scientific adviser Mike Barrett said through human action, "particularly the way that we produce and consume our food, we are increasingly losing natural habitat”. The report also warns nature loss and climate change are fast pushing the world towards irreversible tipping points, including the potential "collapse" of the Amazon rainforest, whereby it can no longer lock away planet-warming carbon and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

[strictlyfavorites]

At least 59.4 percent of illegal immigrant-led homes use one or more welfare programs, compared with 39 percent of households headed by people born in the United States, according to the Dec. 19 report.

High rates of welfare use among illegal immigrants “primarily reflect their generally lower education levels and their resulting low-incomes, coupled with the large share who have U.S.-born children who are eligible for all welfare programs from birth,” the report reads.

“More than half of all illegal immigrant households have one or more U.S.-born children.”

Children born to illegal immigrants in the United States, also known as “anchor babies,‘ are considered to have automatic birthright citizenship even though the U.S. Supreme Court hasn’t explicitly ruled on the matter. Illegal immigrants can’t access most welfare programs, a restriction that eases for their children who are born in the country.

“The American welfare system is designed in large part to help low-income families with children, which describes a large share of immigrants,” CIS states in the report.

A dozen states offer Medicaid to all low-income children regardless of immigration status. Such children also have access to various government food and meal programs.

Programs such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program, free or subsidized lunch and breakfast for students, and Medicaid for children (Children’s Health Insurance Program) were “explicitly created for minors,” the report states.

The CIS report is based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP).

“The reality is that illegal immigrants are included in the SIPP, a large share of them are poor, and they or their U.S.-born children have welfare eligibility; and many take advantage of this eligibility,” CIS stated.

“A very large share of immigrants come to America, have children, struggle to provide for them, and so turn to taxpayers for support. This can be seen as especially problematic given that there is already a large number of Americans who are also struggling to provide for their children.”

According to data from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the total number of U.S.-born children of illegal aliens in the United States as of June stood at 5.78 million, a population more than two times that of Chicago.

FAIR estimates that “illegal aliens and their U.S.-born children impose a net annual cost of $150.6 billion on American taxpayers as of the beginning of 2023.” Over the past five years, the annual cost has risen by almost $35 billion.

“This burden will only continue to grow as a result of the Biden administration’s open-borders policies,” the organization warns.

Ending Birthright Citizenship

Multiple GOP members have taken a strong stance against birthright citizenship. In 2018, former President Donald Trump said he would remove birthright citizenship via executive order, which didn’t happen.

In his 2024 campaign, President Trump has reiterated his position on the matter. In a May video, President Trump promised to sign an executive order on day one of his second term to solve the issue.

Such an order would end the “unfair practice known as birth tourism, where hundreds of thousands of people from all over the planet squat in hotels for their last few weeks of pregnancy to illegitimately and illegally obtain U.S. citizenship for the child, often to later exploit chain migration to jump the line and get green cards for themselves and their family members.”

“At least one parent will have to be a citizen or a legal resident in order to qualify,” President Trump stated.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy called for an end to birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants during the second GOP debate, in September.

“Now, the left will howl about the Constitution and the 14th Amendment. The difference between me and them is I’ve actually read the 14th Amendment. And what it says is that all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the laws and jurisdiction thereof are citizens,” Mr. Ramaswamy said.

“So nobody believes that the kid of a Mexican diplomat in this country enjoys birthright citizenship—not a judge or legal scholar in this country will disagree with me on that. Well, if the kid of a Mexican diplomat doesn’t enjoy birthright citizenship, then neither does the kid of an illegal migrant who broke the law to come here.”

In July, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) introduced a proposal called “End Birthright Citizenship Fraud Act of 2023,” which aims to abolish automatic birthright citizenship for U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants.

Under the legislation, at least one parent of the child must be a U.S. national or a refugee, have lawful permanent citizenship, or be an active member of the military.

“My legislation recognizes that American citizenship is a privilege—not an automatic right to be co-opted by illegal aliens,” Mr. Gaetz said in a statement.

“This is an important step in preserving the sanctity of American citizenship and ensures that citizenship is not treated as a loophole to be exploited but rather a privilege to be earned when legally migrating to our country.”

[newstfionline]

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

The ‘double haters’ (Washington Post) Ask voters here in far western Wisconsin what they think of their two main presidential choices in November—the same two choices they had four years ago—and the answers, even tinged with Midwest nice, come out hard and blunt. “Absolute trash.” “Three hundred-and-some-odd-million people and that’s all we can get?” “Terrifying.” “Both options suck. And it’s going to, I think, boil down to what sucks less.” With Election Day less than five months away, voters here in Hudson are increasingly preoccupied with just which option—President Biden, 81, or former president Donald Trump, 78—is “the evil we’ve got to vote for,” in the words of Gregory Wold, 57, a retired corrections department employee from North Hudson, Wis. These and other “double haters”—voters who are dissatisfied with both major party choices—are again pondering the same two options, and again are coming up largely disappointed. These double haters are likely to prove a critical voting bloc in November. They are a group that could help determine the outcome in a close election, especially in critical swing states like Wisconsin, and one that has become the focus of considerable attention and outreach from both campaigns.

Venezuelan migrants (NPR) Over the past two years, the city of Chicago has struggled to care for destitute migrants arriving from the southern border. The majority, around 30,000, are from Venezuela, a South American country whose economy has collapsed. But the number of Venezuelans in Chicago hardly compares to how many have migrated over the past decade to neighboring Colombia. Bogotá alone, the capital, has received more than 600,000. Colombia initially rolled out the welcome mat and, by many measures, absorbed this population with little harm and many benefits. Nearly 1.9 million Venezuelans gained paths to formal employment as well as Colombia’s education and health care systems. More recently, however, Colombia’s migrant integration has begun to falter due to the indifference of a new president, waning interest among international donors and a wave of xenophobia rippling through the public. Still, Colombia—a decade into a muddled but essentially humane response to a migrant crisis—holds many lessons for Chicago.

Sweden: Youth homes and gun violence (Reuters) The killer was only 14 and had lived in youth homes as a ward of the authorities since he was eight. A year ago, a gang helped the boy escape, put him up in a hotel and gave him cannabis, food and new clothes. Six days later, gang members told him it was time to repay them for their kindness. They had a job for him. Together with another youth, the boy, who as a juvenile cannot be identified, shot dead a 33-year-old Hells Angels biker. He was convicted by a court which described the case as a gangland contract killing. As he was too young to be sentenced, he was handed back to social services and sent to another youth home. Sweden has long prided itself on one of the world's most generous social safety nets, with a state that looks after vulnerable people at all stages of life. But these days it also has another distinction: by far the highest per capita rate of gun violence in the EU. Last year 55 people were shot dead in 363 separate shootings in a country of just 10 million people. By comparison, there were just six fatal shootings in the three other Nordic countries—Norway, Finland and Denmark—combined. In an increasing number of cases, courts have found the epidemic of violence emerging from Sweden's archipelago of youth homes, built to serve the dual purpose of looking after children in state care and punishing youth offenders.

Costly election pledges in France stoke fears of splurges that risk pushing country deeper into debt (AP) The promises are appealing—and expensive. Vying to oust the centrist government of President Emmanuel Macron in an upcoming two-round parliamentary election June 30 and July 7, French political parties of both the far right and far left are vowing to cut gasoline taxes, let workers retire earlier and raise wages. Their campaign pledges threaten to bust an already-swollen government budget, push up French interest rates and strain France’s relations with the European Union. “The snap election could well replace Macron’s limping centrist government with one led by parties whose campaigns have abandoned any pretense of fiscal discipline,” economist Brigitte Granville of Queen Mary University of London wrote Thursday on the Project Syndicate website.

Gunmen Attack Synagogues and Churches in Russian Republic (NYT) Gunmen attacked synagogues and churches in two cities in southern Russia on Sunday, killing multiple police officers and a priest, in an apparently coordinated assault that underscored Russia’s vulnerability to extremist violence. Officials said six of the gunmen were killed after shootouts in the two cities, Makhachkala and Derbent, in the predominantly Muslim region of Dagestan on the Caspian Sea. Wielding rifles and Molotov cocktails, they attacked a synagogue and a church in each of the two cities. The precise death toll was not immediately clear. Sergei Melikov, Dagestan’s governor, said that “more than 15 police officers fell victim to today’s terrorist attack,” without specifying how many of them were killed and how many were wounded. Dagestan, one of Russia's poorest provinces, is predominantly Muslim and has in the past been the scene of Islamist attacks.

Russia threatens ‘consequences’ for US over Crimea missile strikes (Politico) Moscow on Monday warned of "consequences" for America, as it accused Washington of being involved in deadly strikes on Russian-occupied Crimea using U.S.-made rockets. According to Russia's state-owned RIA Novosti, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said "time would tell" what the response would be to the use of what Moscow claims were five Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles donated to Ukraine by the U.S. “Of course, the involvement of the United States of America in hostilities, direct involvement in hostilities that result in the death of Russian civilians, this, of course, cannot but have consequences," Peskov said. "What exactly—time will tell.” While Russia's defense ministry claims to have intercepted four of the missiles, fragments of a fifth detonated in mid-air after being struck by air defenses, killing four people and injuring 151 on the ground, according to the RIA Novosti report.

Nearly 2 million people stranded as second wave of devastating floods hits Bangladesh in less than a month (CNN) Bangladesh’s unusually wet rainy season has caused a second flooding disaster within a month, stranding over 1.8 million people in the country’s northeastern regions. After weeks of heavy rains fed rivers upstream near Bangladesh’s border with India until they grew past their danger marks, the floodwaters submerged homes and farmland across the region. Villagers have been forced to wade through waist-deep water to recover items from their homes, and some parts of the northeast will likely face food and clean water shortages, according to officials. The South Asian country is expected to be disproportionately impacted by climate change in the near future—the World Bank estimates that about 13 million Bangladeshi citizens could become climate migrants by 2050, causing a 9% dip in the country’s GDP.

The Philippines needs rice—but young people don’t want to farm it (Washington Post) In the Philippines, people say, “Bigas ay buhay”: “Rice is life.” It’s a neutral canvas for every meal. Other foods are often served as “ulam,” the topping or side dish for rice. Rather than unlimited soda, fast-food chains serve “unli-rice.” Rice missing from a meal is almost an accusation: You’re committing papak. Some 2.4 million Filipinos work as rice farmers, toiling on lush paddies that blanket the country, some on ancient terraces that cut through steep hills. But for young people, the grueling, volatile and often impoverished life of a rice farmer holds dwindling appeal. With fewer young people willing to farm, the average age of a Filipino rice farmer is 56—and climbing. The shift away from farming could mean food shortages in the Philippines, which already imports more rice than any other country.

‘Hamster’ crypto craze has taken Iran (AP) Cab drivers and bikers tap away furiously on their mobile phones as they wait at red lights in the Iranian capital during an early June heatwave. Some pedestrians in Tehran are doing the same. They all believe they could get rich. The object of their rapt attention? The “Hamster Kombat” app. A wider crypto craze aside, the app’s rise in Iran highlights a harsher truth facing the Islamic Republic ahead of Friday’s presidential election to replace late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May: an economy hobbled by Western sanctions, stubbornly high inflation and a lack of jobs. Even as presidential candidates make promises about restoring the country’s economy, Iranians, who have been hearing for years about bitcoin, are now piling into this app out of sheer hope it might one day pay off. “It’s a sign of being desperate, honestly,” said Amir Rashidi, the director of digital rights and security at the Miaan Group who is an expert on Iran. It’s about “trying to hang on to anything you have a tiny hope that might some day turn to something valuable.”

Netanyahu says Israel is winding down its Gaza operations. But he warns a Lebanon war could be next (AP) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the current phase of fighting against Hamas in Gaza is winding down, setting the stage for Israel to send more troops to its northern border to confront the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The comments threatened to further heighten the tensions between Israel and Hezbollah at a time when they appear to be moving closer to war. Netanyahu also signaled that there is no end in sight for the grinding war in Gaza. The Israeli leader said in a lengthy TV interview that while the army is close to completing its current ground offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, that would not mean the war against Hamas is over. But he said fewer troops would be needed in Gaza, freeing up forces to battle Hezbollah.

Israeli Military Says Troops Tied a Wounded Palestinian to a Vehicle (NYT) Israeli troops tied a wounded Palestinian to the top of a military vehicle on Saturday morning during an operation in the occupied West Bank, a scene that was captured on video and quickly went viral, prompting outrage and the promise of an investigation by Israel’s military. Although the Israeli military said it would investigate, human rights groups have regularly criticized the country’s military-justice system, which they say rarely indicts or convicts those accused of inappropriate violence against Palestinians. The troops handed over the wounded man to the Palestinian Red Crescent for medical care, the Israeli military said. Mr. Ballas had been shot in the leg and arm, and his skin had burns from lying on the vehicle’s hood in the scorching sun, said his father, Raed Ballas. Mujahid Ballas was visiting his uncle’s house to play cards during his weekend holiday, his father said. He denied his son was involved in any militant activity, pointing to the fact that the Israeli security services had ultimately released him after the raid.

400-meter runner goes from locked in a porta-potty straight to the Olympics (AP) It was a classic case of going from the outhouse to the penthouse. Less than an hour before her semifinal at U.S. track trials, 400-meter runner Kendall Ellis was trapped in a porta-potty, banging on the door, screaming for someone to let her out. Thankfully, somebody did. She won that race in a personal-best time, then came back Sunday to top that mark and win the final, along with the national championship and the spot in the Olympics that comes with it. “Crazy things happen right before something great is about to occur, so maybe I needed that to get all the nerves and adrenaline out,” she said.

[ausetkmt]

Al Jazeera English: ‘The only way for us to survive’: The life of a New York City candy seller

New York City, United States – A clock on the electronic display flickers to noon above the bustling Times Square subway station in New York City. Amid the lunchtime crowd of commuters and tourists stands María, a 31-year-old single mother from Ecuador whose daily life revolves around this transit hub.

It is here, in the tunnels underneath the city, that María earns the money she needs to survive.

On her back is her two-year-old daughter, and in her hands is a colourful tray of candy, crammed with packages of M&Ms and Kit Kat chocolates and sticks of Trident gum.

From the Times Square station, María can hop on and off the Number 7 train, a popular link to the borough of Queens. As she walks from one carriage to the next, she repeats “candy” and “dollar” — two of the few words she knows in English — hoping to make a sale.

New York City is in the midst of an immigration crisis, with more than 113,300 asylum seekers arriving since 2022 — and too few shelters to house them. With the city’s immigration policies in the spotlight, María’s interactions with the public can be tense.

“People insult us or record us without authorisation, accusing us of importing bad habits and poverty from home,” María said. “They don’t understand our situation.”

María — who is using a pseudonym to protect her privacy — is part of a population of largely Ecuadorian candy sellers who make a living on the New York City subway system.

Peddling sweets is familiar work for María: It is the same job she used to do in her hometown in the province of Cotopaxi. But it is also a necessity. Without legal papers authorising her stay in the US, finding steady employment is difficult, seemingly impossible.

“It’s what my cousin and other women from Ecuador I know do because there are no job opportunities. It’s the only way for us to survive,” María explained.

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But each sale only nets her one dollar, maybe two. After working 13 hours straight, from 7am to 8pm, she might come home with $50 on a good day, $10 on a bad one.

A ‘third wave’ of Ecuadorian migration

By the end of September, the US Border Patrol had apprehended 117,487 Ecuadorians for the fiscal year 2023 — more than four times the previous year’s total.

Anthropologist Soledad Alvarez, a professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, considers this spike part of Ecuador’s third major “wave” of emigration since the 1980s.

She told Al Jazeera the current exodus began in 2014, “caused by the decline in oil prices”.

“Then the pandemic came and hit Ecuador severely,” she said. “Since then, this crisis has deepened under the administrations of Lenin Moreno and Guillermo Lasso, leading to substantial migration in recent years.”

The National Institute of Statistics and Censuses in Ecuador (INEC) reports that income poverty — defined as earnings of less than $89.29 per month — reached 27 percent in June. Extreme poverty, meanwhile, hit 10.8 percent.

Alvarez also points to the deteriorating security situation in Ecuador as a motivation for leaving.

Last year was the worst for criminal violence, with 25 homicides per 100,000 people. And in 2023, the situation escalated. The homicide rate in Ecuador is now the fourth highest in Latin America.

María witnessed many of her neighbours and acquaintances leaving as a result of the violence.

The tipping point for her was when the father of her child passed away during the COVID-19 pandemic. She was alone, racking up debt, and what little she earned was sometimes stolen as the country’s crime rates ticked upwards.

“It’s not just jobs and food that we’re lacking. Ecuador has become extremely dangerous. We now live in constant fear,” María said.

She left Ecuador in the first week of April, travelling north through the Darién Gap, a dangerous stretch of jungle that connects South America to Central America. For two months, she walked and caught buses, spending $3,000 in expenses for the journey.

Risks to selling candy

Back home in Ecuador, María said selling candy was primarily women’s work. But in New York, she competes with men and even children on the subway platforms, hawking candy she bought at a wholesale store.

The presence of young children has sparked particular concern among the public. Some subway riders have taken to social media to vent their frustration.

“This is child exploitation and should be banned,” one user on TikTok said. Another called on law enforcement to intervene.

Under New York state law, child labour under age 14 is largely prohibited and can be regarded as abuse. But Alvarez, the anthropologist, said many new arrivals from Ecuador are unaware of the local laws.

Additionally, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) prohibits unauthorised commercial activity in the subway. Police can fine the candy sellers $50 if they catch them, so María is constantly on the lookout for their uniforms.

“We run away from the police when we see them. A ticket can cost what we earn in a day. Police also tell us that we can lose the custody of our children,” she said.

Gustavo Espinoza, a community organiser, explained to Al Jazeera that there are services and organisations working to educate new immigrants about the resources available to them.

However, those without legal immigration papers are often reluctant to seek assistance due to their fear of deportation, Espinoza said. They “live in constant fear”.

“There is evidently a barrier,” he explained. “There are organisations that want to help but they don’t reach the immigrants who need assistance but are afraid to ask or seek help.”

In August, New York City Mayor Eric Adams estimated the city could end up paying up to $12bn to support migrants over the next three years.

But advocates say those efforts are not enough to help migrants and asylum seekers like María, who rarely goes anywhere without her child.

Some are pushing for the New York State Senate to pass a 2023 bill that would offer universal childcare to all parents, regardless of immigration status. But that legislation is still pending.

For María and others, though, there seems to be no alternative but to carry on with their daily routines, children in tow.

María’s daughter rides on her back throughout the day: She only ever sets the two-year-old down briefly, keeping a watchful eye on the child. On top of her cargo of candy to sell, María carries around cookies and a bottle of milk to feed her child, who often dozes as her mother works.

“I can’t leave my daughter alone at home. Nobody will care for her,” María said.

Life, at least for the time being, means balancing both childcare and selling candy in the subway: “There’s no other option.”

[skzrpf]

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[beardedmrbean]

Exercise caution! California is unveiling a novel strategy for wealth distribution, prompting concern about its potential replication in other states.

Despite being the most heavily taxed state in the United States, California finds itself grappling with a staggering $68 billion budgetary deficit. Contrary to the metaphorical richness associated with the Gold Rush era, California's fiscal situation resembles Fool's Gold.  

Even Gov. Gavin Newsome couldn’t admit in his recent debate against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that the net migration out of California is reaching epic proportions more often than not over one word… TAXES.

The city of Los Angeles and the legislators responsible for California's financial quagmire have devised a fresh tactic within the confines of the conventional playbook. Their query: How can the affluent be subjected to further taxation? How do we squeeze more out of the top 1%? How do we penalize those that are building wealth and want to buy a more upscale home? 

NEW YORK, CALIFORNIA LOST MORE TAX INCOME THAN EVERY OTHER STATE AS PEOPLE FLED LIBERAL ENCLAVES

Considering that a high-income earner in California already endures a 37% federal tax, 13.3% state tax, and additional burdens like Social Security and Medicare, such individuals essentially toil for the state and federal government for seven to eight months annually.

Enter Los Angeles' latest stratagem, instated on April 1, 2023 – the "mansion tax." This levy imposes an additional 4% tax on homes exceeding $5 million and a 5.5% tax on those surpassing $10 million paid for by the buyer.

To illustrate, a $10 million property sale would incur customary 6% selling fees to a real estate agent. However, the purchaser must contend with the mansion tax, necessitating an additional $550,000 in addition to the sale price of the home. This not only intensifies the tax burden on the affluent but also has the potential to depress property values, making acquisitions financially elusive. 

This double whammy affects not only those capable of affording such opulent residences but could reverberate across states, given the trend of rules being adopted at the $1 million threshold in various regions. With the median price of homes at roughly $400,000 across America, how soon will it be before every buyer pays a redistribution… err… a mansion tax?

EX-CALIFORNIA FAMILIES SAY MOVE TO RED STATES WAS CAUSED BY LEFTIST POLICIES AND TAXES: ‘TIME FOR US TO LEAVE’

What should make you worried is that California isn't alone in this trend, as several states have embraced similar measures to extract more revenue from property owners. Presently, six other states impose a mansion tax:

Connecticut: 2.25% on properties surpassing $2.5 million.

District of Columbia: 1.45% on properties sold for $400,000 or more.

Hawaii: Marginal rates ranging from 10% to 20% for estates valued over $5.49 million.

New Jersey: 1% on real estate transactions exceeding $1 million.

New York: 1% to 3.9% on residential acquisitions of $1 million or more.

Vermont: 16% on properties valued over $5 million.

Washington: Graduated rates starting at 1.28% for properties sold at a minimum of $500,000.

The real question will be whether blue states across the country see this as the next pathway to redistributing wealth from those who own higher than average dollar real estate.

As you strive and accumulate resources to potentially secure your dream home and your financial future, be on alert, particularly in states adhering to a blue political ideology as they may unveil yet another method akin to a Las Vegas casino.  

It’s designed to do one thing and one thing only. Separate you from your hard-earned money. If your state hasn't embraced the mansion tax to date, exercise vigilance, as it may loom on the horizon.

[kgn5-blog]

Social Issues

Social issues are the problems that affect society as a whole, and they have been present throughout human history. From poverty and inequality to discrimination and climate change, these issues are complex and require the collective effort of individuals, communities, and governments to address. In this feature article, we will explore some of the most pressing social issues of our time and what can be done to address them.

One of the most significant social issues facing the world today is poverty. According to the United Nations, more than 700 million people live in extreme poverty, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only worsened the situation. Poverty is not just a lack of material resources; it also has a significant impact on education, health, and social mobility. Addressing poverty requires a comprehensive approach that includes job creation, access to education and healthcare, and social safety nets.

Another pressing social issue is inequality, both within and between countries. The wealth gap between the richest and poorest people in the world is growing, and this has serious implications for social cohesion and stability. Inequality can lead to social unrest, crime, and even conflict. Addressing inequality requires a combination of policies that promote fair taxation, access to education and healthcare, and investment in infrastructure and job creation.

Discrimination is another social issue that affects millions of people around the world. Discrimination can take many forms, from racial and gender discrimination to discrimination based on sexual orientation or disability. Discrimination can lead to social exclusion, reduced opportunities, and even violence. Addressing discrimination requires a combination of legal and social measures that promote equality, tolerance, and diversity.

Climate change is perhaps the most pressing social issue facing the world today. The planet is warming at an alarming rate, and this has significant implications for the environment, economies, and societies. Climate change has the potential to exacerbate existing social issues like poverty, inequality, and migration, and it requires urgent action to mitigate its impact. Addressing climate change requires a combination of policies that promote renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and conservation of natural resources.

Social issues are complex and require a comprehensive approach that addresses the root causes of the problem. Whether it's poverty, inequality, discrimination, or climate change, addressing these issues requires the collective effort of individuals, communities, and governments. By working together, we can create a more just, equitable, and sustainable world for all.