ESG investments are increasingly in demand

As one of the leading ESG consultant in Dubai that ESG Reporting is quickly emerging as a cutting-edge investment technique with a range of advantages for all types of investors. What benefits does using a sustainable investment strategy offer? We outline the top five advantages of ESG investment.

We as an ESG Consultant which relative performance is used to quantify outperformance. Compared to a benchmark fund or standard index, it can indicate more significant gains and fewer losses. Investee businesses with deeper ESG integration are typically viewed as having superior governance, which enhances financial performance.

Companies that place a strong emphasis on ESG Reporting tend to have sustainability plans, better operational effectiveness, cost savings, decreased employee turnover, innovation, talent retention, lower compliance costs, and risk management, all of which may contribute to higher shareholder value.

In our role as ESG Consultant in Dubai that institutions and the wealthiest people in society have typically contributed the most to charitable endeavors. ESG investment now provides additional possibilities for investors who want a good social impact.

Beyond financial gains, investing in ESG-focused organizations emphasizes social benefits, including ensuring employee wellbeing and establishing linkages between corporations, shareholders, and communities.

Being an ESG Strategy consultant in Dubai, studies demonstrate that promoting "prosocial" behavior among employees is associated with greater job satisfaction and productivity (factors that influence mental health) a 2022 McKinsey study indicated that organizations with executive teams that were 30 percent more likely to have above-average profitability than those with less varied representation were in the top quartile for gender or racial diversity.

Over a long-time horizon the advantages of ESG Reporting are more likely to be realized. The adverse effects of unsustainable practices on financial returns and ESG concerns are thus more likely to manifest themselves over extended periods.

In our understanding as ESG Strategy consultant in Dubai that companies are typically vulnerable to assets that lose value over time due to modifications in the legislation, societal norms, disruptive technologies, or environmental factors. In this sense, companies with sustainability plans may be better equipped to foresee and adjust to ESG-related changes. For instance, a fossil fuel corporation might have to stop projects, write down assets, and replace them with renewable energy initiatives.

Suppose a beverage company has insufficient CSR procedures. In that case, it may be held accountable for a city's water shortage, suffer related legal risks, reputational harm, punitive penalties, and loss of public trust.

As one of the leading ESG Consultant that people worldwide are starting to recognize the advantages of ESG Strategy, from novice retail investors to seasoned professionals to those nearing retirement. ESG is quickly gaining popularity as a long-term investment approach that can assist investors in balancing their financial objectives with their values and creating a more sustainable and better environment.

Though there have been in the past various communities and individuals who were known to have lived a bisexual lifestyle (for example the Bloomsbury artists community, the Harlem Renaissance community, and Frida Kahlo [1907-1954] and her circle), the 1970s marked the beginning of the modern bisexual movement. The bi movement of the 1990s consists of social, support and political groups throughout the United States and other parts of the world.

The Early Years

The earliest bisexual organizations in the United States grew out of the sexual liberation movement or “sexual revolution,” which was, in turn, fueled by the women’s liberation movement, the gay liberation movement, and the legalization of, and increased access to, birth control. A number of bisexuals were active in the formation of various chapters of the Sexual Freedom League. The National Bisexual Liberation Group was founded in 1972 in New York City. The Bi Forum, also in New York City, began in 1975. The Bisexual Center in San Francisco, California, formed in 1976, and Bi Ways in Chicago, Illinois, began in 1978.

These years spanned the era of “bisexual chic,” in which popular media publicized the bisexuality of rock stars and artists. The earliest bisexual groups were primarily social in focus, although some included a political element as well. The 1970s also saw the publications of several books about bisexuality. Janet Bode’s View From Another Closet (1976) was perhaps the first, followed [among others] by Charlotte Wolf’s Bisexuality: A Study (1977), and Fritz Klein’s The Bisexual Option: A Concept of One Hundred Percent Intimacy (1978).

The Second Wave

Many bisexuals were active within the gay liberation, and later the lesbian and gay, movement. However, several factors, including an increased focus on identity politics and hostility and rejection by some lesbians and gay men, led some bisexuals to create separate bisexual organizations.

The “second wave” of bisexual organizing, beginning in the early 1980s, was largely women led, and was strongly influenced by feminism. Many of the women involved in bisexual organizing in the 1980s had been, and were still, active in the gay, lesbian feminist, and women’s movements. Feminist bisexual women’s organizations were formed in Boston, Massachusetts (1983); Chicago (1984); New York City (1983); and Seattle, Washington (1986). While in the 1970s most groups were of mixed gender, in the 1980s a number of women-only bi groups and a smaller number of bisexual men’s groups formed.

The bisexual groups of the 1980s focused on providing support and social opportunities, and a number became increasingly involved in political organizing as well, especially in the wake of the AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s. The number of bi groups continued to grow throughout the 1980s in the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Scandinavia, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The mid-1980s saw the first bisexual groups devoted to political activism (San Francisco’s BiPol, and Boston’s Bisexual Committee Engaging in Politics [BiCEP], and the first regional bisexual networks (the East Coast Bisexual Network and the Bay Area Bisexual Network).

While some bisexuals focused on the creation of organizations for and by bisexual people, others were organizing within lesbian and gay communities. A major focus of the bi movement in the 1980s was to seek inclusion and recognition for bisexuals within lesbian and gay groups. Some formerly “lesbian and gay” organizations changed their titles or their statements of purpose to include bisexual people, while others chose not to. This was especially evident on college campuses, as many campus groups, which had in the 1970s had changed their names to add “lesbian,” did the same in the 1980s with “bisexual” (and increasingly in the 1990s, with”transgender”). In some areas of the country, inter-community relationships, particularly between some lesbians and bisexual women, remained tense; in other areas, bisexuals were more readily welcomed.

Bis Organize More Widely

In June 1990, San Francisco’s BiPol organized the first national conference on bisexuality, with a focus on consolidating a nationwide bi organization, then known as the North American Multicultural Bisexual Network. In 1991, at a meeting in Seattle, the organization was renamed BiNet (Bisexual Network of the USA). The second U.S. national conference took place in 1993 in conjunction with the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation, the first national march to mention bisexuals by name.

The first U.S. regional conference on bisexuality was held in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1984. By the early 1990s, there were regional conferences taking place annually in the Northwest, the Southwest, Southern California, the Midwest, and the Northeast. The first International Conference on Bisexuality was held in Amsterdam in 1991. Other international conferences have been held in London (1992), New York City (1994), and Berlin (1996), and Boston (1998).

Bisexuality in Literature and Academia

The 1990s saw an increase in the participation of college students in the bi movement and greater bisexual visibility in literature and academia. There was another wave of books about bisexuality, this time including anthologies that focused on personal experiences, such as the influential Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out (1990).

The record-setting year was 1995, which saw the publication of numerous studies and anthologies by both mainstream and alternative presses, including the Bisexual Resource Guide (Bisexual Resource Center). The first national bisexual magazine, Anything that Moves: Beyond the Myths of Bisexuality, had begun publication in 1991. Computer newsgroups, electronic mailing lists and chat lines helped connect bisexuals across geographic lines. The first college course focusing on bisexuality was taught at the University of California at Berkeley in 1990, followed by a course the next year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and several more in subsequent years at Tufts University.

Conclusion

Not unlike lesbian and gay organizations, bisexual organizations have developed in a number of different directions. Some bisexual people focus on organizing for, and with, other bisexual people. Others focus on working within “lesbian and gay,””lesbian, gay and bisexual,””lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender,” or “queer” organizations to educate heterosexuals, fight homophobia, advocate for civil rights legislation, and build community. Still others are interested in creating a broad sex and gender liberation movement that is not as focused on identity politics. And like many lesbians and gay men, many bisexual people are not involved in any organizations or movements at all, choosing instead to focus their energies on their individual lives.

Bibliography

Bisexual Anthology Collective, ed. Plural Desires: Writing Bisexual Women’s Realities. Toronto: Sister Visiohn, 1995.

Hutchins, Loraine and Lani Ka’ahumanu, eds. Bi Any Other Name: Bisexuals Speak Out. Boston: Alyson, 1990.

Off Pink Collective, Bisexual Lives. London: Off Pink Publishing, 1988.

Rose, Sharon, et al., eds. Bisexual Horizons: Politics, Histories, Lives. London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1996.

Tucker, Naomi, ed. Bisexual Politics: Theories, Queries, & Visions. Binghamton, NY: Haworth, 1995.

Shifting Gears

Shifting Gears

Supply line issues appear to be waning earlier than we thought; therefore, we are raising our forecasts for economic growth and earnings for the remainder of 2021 and 2022. Our market outlook remains favorable as coronavirus cases and deaths continue to decline while vaccinations increase dramatically worldwide; monetary bodies maintain their overly accommodative stances at least through mid-`2022, and additional fiscal stimulus is expected both here and abroad. Liquidity trends will remain unusually favorable at least through mid-2022 supporting risk assets… stocks, bonds, and hard assets. The yield curve will steepen as economic activity picks up steam but not as quickly as we initially envisioned as financial institutions, corporations, and individuals are awash with excess liquidity searching for yield. Remember, rates are still negative in Europe and Japan.  Finally, we remain confident that inflation will calm back down as shortages end, supply line issues are alleviated, additional capacity comes on stream, global competition increases, higher productivity kicks in, and disruptors continue to pop up in more and more areas.  

News on getting our arms around the coronavirus gets better each week as the global number of cases/deaths continue to decline; vaccinations worldwide are increasing significantly with over 1.78 billion shots given to date; 291 million doses have been given in the U.S such that we will reach herd immunity before the end of the summer; openings are accelerating in the U.S and the Eurozone, and finally, billions of doses will be available next year if needed. We remain confident that the coronavirus will be in the rearview mirror as we enter 2022, giving us confidence in the sustainability of a synchronous global economic expansion we have not seen in years.

The Fed is entering a quiet period when no governors speak as it is within two weeks of the next Fed meeting. The message from all Fed governors is consistent with Chairman Powell’s view that the recovery is ahead of expectations; inflation will run hot over the next few months due to shortages, supply line issues, and year over year comparisons, but it will subside down the road for reasons discussed before. Any policy change will be data-driven and will be communicated well before any policy change occurs. Since the economy is shifting gears earlier than we previously thought, we now feel that the Fed will share with us in the fall that a policy change is on the horizon. We expect them to begin tapering early in 2022 by reducing their monthly purchases to $80 billion. A few months later, reduced to $40 billion, if supported by the data points, and then ending all bond purchases by the summer of 2022. The Fed may decide to emphasize buying longer-dated bonds as they reduce their monthly purchases to suppress the long end of the curve.  We do not expect them to hike the federal funds rate until later in 2022 if the economy is on a firm footing, which is good news.  It is interesting to note that with all the recent robust economic data, the yield curve has not steepened much over the last few months, and inflationary expectations have come down.  Maybe the Fed is correct, and higher inflation near term is just transitory. We agree!

Negotiations on a trillion-dollar infrastructure bill have picked up steam as the President revised his initial plan down to $1.7 trillion while the Republicans lifted their proposal to $928 billion. We continue to believe that the moderate Democrats hold the key to the final deal, which we still believe will come in closer to $1.4 trillion spent over eight years financed with a boost in the corporate tax rate to 25%, user fees, project financing, increased collections and use of money already allocated for stimulus. It is interesting to note that the Senate passed a $195 billion bill last week to bolster competitiveness with China. The legislation supports research in many areas, including manufacturing, semis, and bringing back the supply lines for essential materials to America. Finally, Biden’s administration proposed a $6 trillion budget which would take spending to record levels while running deficits above $1.3 trillion through the next decade. It projects that the debt would begin to shrink in 2030. Yeah? It is our opinion that the Dems are running a massive risk in next year’s election supporting a far-left social agenda without real fiscal discipline.  Regardless, we will have stimulative budgetary policies for years to come that will bolster secular economic growth on top of the cyclical recovery as we put the coronavirus in the rearview mirror.

Domestic economic data points continue to be off the charts as we start to put the coronavirus in the rearview mirror: unemployment claims fell to a new post-pandemic low of 406,000; core capital goods orders rose 2.3%, the most in a year; the house price index increased  1.4% and is up nearly 14% over the last year(consider wealth effect); the Richmond Fed survey hit a multiyear high; consumer confidence index was a robust 117.2; assessment of current conditions increased to 144.4; durable goods orders ex-transportation rose 1.0%, shipments increased 0.6%, and unfilled orders were up 0.2%; the Chicago PMI was a robust 75.2 up from 72.1 last month; PCE increased 0.5% while the PCE price index rose 0.7% and is up 3.1% over the previous year excluding food and energy. First-quarter earnings reports are ending and were nothing short of sensational, with over 85% of companies reporting beating prior estimates while increasing their forecasts for 2021. Many companies increased their dividends and initiated stock buybacks once again too. Our margin thesis is alive and well. We continue to forecast an increase in the operating margin above 12% in 2021 and over 12.5% in 2022, up over 100 basis points from levels achieved in 2019 before the pandemic. S & P earnings may hit $200/per share in 2021 and over $215/share in 2022, up from $140/share in 2020 and $163/share in 2019. We have raised our forecasts as shortages decrease, so we lifted our second half 2021 forecasts accordingly. For instance, GM is restarting four plants next week, and MMM mentioned that supply line issues would be ending as they enter the third quarter, six months earlier than previously forecasted. All good news!

Economic data is improving overseas, too, as the coronavirus comes under control. Demand for goods and services in the Eurozone is growing at the sharpest rate in 15 years, as evidenced by an increase in the May PMI composite to 56.9, with the new orders index rising to 58.4. Companies are struggling to keep up with demand to a level not seen in over 20 years. This supports our thesis to emphasize investments in producers as they benefit from the imbalances between supply and demand, which gives them pricing power. We think China’s effort to reduce purchases of commodities, hoping to pressure pricing, may backfire on them as worldwide demand increases while supply is limited. China may end up pushing prices higher beyond current levels as their inventories drop too much while their demand increases too.

Investment Conclusion

While volatility has continued to increase over the last few weeks, we are gaining more confidence in our overall investment thesis: the coronavirus is coming under control; monetary authorities worldwide will remain overly accommodative for at least another year; excess liquidity trends will exist for at least another year favoring risk assets;  inflationary pressures will decrease as additional capacity comes online and supply lines are improved; additional fiscal stimulus is coming which will only add to the cyclical recovery; operating margins are in a secular uptrend as productivity gains accelerate; inventories are woefully low which favors producers; higher dividends and buybacks are on the horizon, and we see a shift in the political winds in 2022 away from the far left.

We continue to invest where both cyclical and secular winds are on our backs. We have increased our near-term outlook as we see shortages abating earlier than anticipated as additional capacity comes online sooner while supply lines improve. Areas of emphasis include global industrials, machinery, and capital goods companies; industrial and agricultural commodities; financials; transportation; technology at a fair price; and special situations. Continue to avoid bonds, SPACs, and highfliers.

The investment webinar will be held on Monday, May 31st, at 8:30, am EST. You can join the webinar by entering https://zoom.us/j/9179217852 in your browser or dialing +646-558-8656 and entering the password 9179217852.

Remember to review all the facts; pause, reflect, and consider mindset shifts; look at your asset mix with risk controls; turn off cable news; do independent research and…

Invest Accordingly!

Bill Ehrman

Paix et Prosperite LLC

917-951-4139

Wide area of specialisations and opportunities

Study of law is one of the most sought-after career choices that students make after completing 10+2 or after degree. Professional law degree leading to BA., LLB is a 5-year course that is pursued after 10+2 school, while the 3-year law course is pursued by students after having completed their 3-year degree course, as stipulated by the respective university. Symbiosis Law School, (SLS, Noida) is one of the most reputed law colleges in India offering a 5-year law degree programme. The strategic location of the college close to the national capital has a number of advantages for students pursuing undergraduate and LLM course in Delhi NCR. Proximity to the courts of all hierarchy, placement facility, among others. SLS Noida, should be on the top of the mind for students seeking LLB admission in Delhi NCR. Read on, to know more about the college, infrastructure, the course content among others:

 Wide area of specialisations and opportunities

 The one advantage of being situated at the NCR region is the proximity to the hierarchy of courts situated in Delhi. Tribunals, forums, lower courts, district courts, High Courts, Supreme Court-its opportunities abound for students who show interest for acquiring legal skills at a young age. SLS Noida has the right infrastructure in place for disseminating professional education. Regular lectures by lawyers, corporates are a part of the curriculum and internship at law firms during the academic years of LLB and LLM course in Delhi NCR, that aim to nurture the future for law students.

 Students completing 5 years law at Symbiosis Law School, Noida assists students and guides them for future career prospects in chosen area of career. Internship, facilitate the connect between the legal sector, while final placements will assist them for the road ahead. With a strong alumni network, the institute has been instrumental in assisting students for jobs and career after college, whether after LLB or LLM course in Delhi NCR.

 Academics and beyond

The 5-year law course is academic-intensive study for students opting for LLB Admission in Delhi NCR. Projects, legal research, moot courts, mock trials, guest lectures are the quintessential part of the curriculum. The programme structure for students seeking admission for the present batch includes general elective courses group and core subjects. Information Technology law, Jurisprudence, Energy law are introduced during the first semester itself, while as students’ progress in the coming years, there are a host of subjects and practice areas that are introduced. Keeping up with the ever-changing legal landscape is on the top of the priority for the college. Law is dynamic and ever-changing, and so is the curriculum at Symbiosis Law School, Noida that seeks to introduce several newer areas of legislations and policy at the early years itself.

 World-class infrastructure

Symbiosis Law School, Noida is well known for inculcating world-class academics and study methodologies. Its not just this, as the college encompasses the best of infrastructure and facilities within its campuses. From good hostel facility, recreation facilities, hobby classes, library facilities, the college is known for good infrastructure facilities. The following are some of the highlights of the program for students opting for LLB Admission in Delhi NCR.

-Legal Aid Cell for enabling students provide free legal aid to the needy

-Well furnished seminar hall for student meets, personality development workshops, and presentations

-Amphitheatre as a cultural and artistic venue

-Training and research Cell

-International cell to streamline processes for international collaboration and participation in international moot courts, seminars, conferences, among others

 With the ever-changing legal landscape, it becomes imperative for colleges to provide the right education that is prescient and dynamic to suit the needs and necessities of the society. In their attempt to do so,

Symbiosis Law School

Noida aims to impart rational thinking knowledge to students and expand horizon and provide better meaning for a fulfilling law education

Superior quality Over Quantity - Why USA Online Casinos Will be Superior

Back in 1996, the explosion of online traditional casino gambling swept the world. The United States had been a large part of the, and many gamblers had turned to online casinos for all of these gaming. For many years, these casinos continued to be played unabated. The fact is that, back in 2006, legislation was passed that made it to some degree difficult for online casinos to continue to operate. This law, sneaked in by piggyback through the Safe Port Respond, would be named the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Conduct yourself, and it became a thorn in the side of the on the net gambler, the online casino, and all payment processors right now there in. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act for 2006, or the UIGEA, had, in a nutshell, prohibited banking institutions and payment processors from processing transactions that would correlate to online gambling. This has not only complicated loading company accounts, but also withdrawing. While USA online casinos have on going to operate, they have had to use payment processors that would circumvent these restrictions. Sadly, the UIGEA was not even place to go into effect until December of 2009, believed the implications of the legislation had fall out that would be almost nothing short of catastrophic for many online gambling companies, especially those who relied heavily on the United States market. The UIGEA found hamstrung many of the operations around the world that utilized the American market in order to stay ahead in profits, all the while staying losses to a low. The implications ran deep, endangering many companies operating these casinos. Not only had a few of the larger, publicly traded online casinos taken a major click to the price per share, which in turn hurt the investors of those companies, but also cost the companies profits from the United States Market. PartyGaming comes to mind specifically, though other substantial gambling firms had taken a hit. Additionally , many executives in charge of several of the online casinos, including Anurag Dikshit, among the many early founders of PartyGaming, had been indicted and fined for their involvement in online gambling - despite the fact that they then had been based outside of the United States. Payment processors had been significantly impacted, as many of these financial companies had ingested a blow from federal persecution, which, in some cases, amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars in seizures. Sadly, the particular UIGEA had not even been invoked in many of these seizures. Rather, the Wire Act of 1961, a legal requirement that had been passed years before the Internet was even start to develop into what we see today. Despite the laws that got begun to inhibit online casino gambling, many over the internet casinos continued to accept USA players. While several of the larger brands of online casino had been stripped from the Nation market, many others had remained steadfast in their dedication towards delivering casino gaming to the American market. Though you can get online casinos still operating in the USA, the choice has become constrained. In order to focus on a marginal market, online casinos agreeing American players had to provide a service of higher quality. Who having been said, those online casinos have had in order to outclass the older forms of casino software that received removed themselves from the American market. There are currently three or more major brands of casino software that have yet to make sure you cease operating within the United States. These brands have no intention on leaving the American market, and still out do the job those that have already left USA players high and dry out. Real Time Gaming, or RTG, Rival Gaming, or simply Equivalent, and Odds On, also known as Vegas Technology, are the two to three types of casino software still accepting Americans. Each brings its own unique features, though they universally out execute those who have left the United states behind, including Microgaming, Playtech, and others. While some of the individual casinos operating under these makes have decided not to content with the contention of the United States administration, nearly all of them continue to supply USA players with premium quality casino gaming. Casinos powered by RTG are the superior three. Real Time gaming has brought high quality gaming for you to players throughout the United States. Their superiority comes through the electronic eloquence of their games. Rather than delivering tired, bland rooms games and slots, they have taken steps to ensure that each one player will enjoy the smooth graphics and game play in their casino. Real Time Gaming casinos supply their players through enough diversity to remain entertaining, as well as huge bonuses with regards to players. Casinos outside of the United States, particularly Microgaming casinos, should almost always fall short in terms of bonuses. Through integrated security, all these casinos under the RTG brand also remain the most risk-free. The second brand of casino gaming comes through Rival Video games. Rival Gaming has created and subsequently distributed a unique a list of games. These games, the Interactive Slots, have added a whole new level of entertainment to slot games. As opposed to the standard spinning of the reels, Rival has raised typically the bar to the pinnacle of casino gaming. Their desk games have also been a huge hit, bringing in players who search out simply to play cards, dice, or other table based upon casino games. Though players outside of the United States may experience the Interactive Slot, there is no international online casino that hinders American IP addresses that offers anything remotely similar to the energy and variety of the I-Slot. Finally we come to Odds On. With Odds On Casinos, players are entitled to utilize one of the original types of online casino software. Odds In has revolutionized the way games are played, particularly plug-ins. The Odds On bonus slots have brought hundreds of thousands in dollars to their winners. Additionally , these bonus slots will be backed by the large, multiplayer slot tournaments that have become a staple for many gamers around the world. The size and worldwide recognition of these tournaments are almost exclusive to Odds Regarding. Slot tournaments provide players with the ability to enjoy slot video games without an overwhelming financial risk, while providing easier admittance to large winnings. Though other types of casino software will probably periodically provide players with the chance to enjoy slot tourneys, non-e will be as versatile or commonplace as the found through Odds On - proving once again web based casinos accepting USA players are superior to those discovered open only to European players. Though casinos accepting Individuals have had a bumpy road, particularly in 2009, hope dependes on the horizon. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which will held a deadline of December of 2009, has long been delayed. This delay bought time, six months to be precise, that would enable legislators to reconsider the law's death. Several legislators, particularly Congressman Barney Frank, have been forcing for a change in legislation. In order to aid in the force for regulated Internet casino gambling, any individual may call their senators and representatives in order to express their judgment. There are also political action committees, such as the Poker Player's Connections, that are trying to bring casino gaming into the homes regarding players throughout the United States. Despite these laws, the casinos still operating for American players are ranked much above those who have decided against continued operation Stateside.

JACOBIN MAGAZINE

As socialists prepare for the long campaign to elect Bernie Sanders president, we should be thinking about the confrontations to come if we actually get what we want. We’ve been losing for a very long time. There have been some green shoots recently, but we still face immense challenges in simply overcoming neoliberal capitalism, let alone moving beyond social democracy and into a democratic-socialist society.

One possible outcome of a Sanders presidency involves the administration bowing to “political reality,” abandoning most of its program, and finding one or two symbolic measures it can pass. Its supporters are told to be happy with what they can get. Think of this as the “Bill de Blasio” scenario.

The other scenario involves a working-class movement and its president going to war with Congress (not just the Republicans but most of the Democrats as well), the Supreme Court, and recalcitrant state legislatures; adopting a strategy of dissensus rather than consensus; and demanding that undemocratic obstacles to necessary social change are swept out of the way. Think of this as the “Salvador Allende” scenario.

This necessarily means imagining our agenda on a federal level as involving more than just parliamentary action, and more than one electoral cycle. One key tool must be the use of appointments to federal positions and executive action to enable labor and social movement assertiveness. The Trump administration has showed that an executive branch alone can quickly reverse key policies of its predecessor. The incoming administration should do the same, while appointing radically pro-labor nominees to the National Labor Relations Board and Department of Labor, and similarly ambitious environmentalists to departments dealing with energy and climate change issues. The administration should immediately take all possible actions to regularize the status of undocumented immigrants and dismantle the internal enforcement machine.

Sanders should also use the bully pulpit of the presidency to support primary challengers against obstructionist Democrats. Many representatives are merely careerists who will acquiesce to a leftist program if it is a choice between that or irrelevance. But a core of ideological centrists should be dislodged entirely — if only to set an example for the rest that they would pay a higher price for obstructing progress than they will for upsetting their former corporate masters.

Inside Congress, caucuses of committed socialists must be established, and will be required to exert their influence to ensure that legislation is not watered down. We have already seen the beginnings of this with representatives like Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but many more are needed — and existing members of the Progressive Caucus must get more serious about opposing the political establishment rather than acting as intermediaries between the Democratic leadership and a progressive base.

But while breaking down opposition to the minimum program of a Sanders administration, we must also think about how to push forward in the event that we’re successful, ensuring that we do not simply declare “job done” upon reaching a social democracy and give capital time to regroup. In a world where we have twelve years to mitigate the impact of climate change, there is no such thing as a partial victory.

Beyond Social Democracy

This means we need to review the legislative component of our path to socialism — how government policy can be shaped to enable changes in political economy that reflect and promote class struggle. One of these mechanisms should be legislation that mandates a ratcheting increase in worker ownership and control of major companies.

“What is important, however, is to maintain an ambitious horizon. We do not simply seek to change the boundaries between the public and private sector; as socialists it is our position that profit extracted by capitalists should not exist.”

There are a number of models that the US left can look to — the most well-known being the Meidner Plan, the 1970s Swedish scheme to use a share levy on profitable companies to build up union-controlled funds that would have eventually controlled all significant firms in the economy. The plan failed due to strong opposition from capitalists, right-wing parties, and the lukewarm attitude of the Social Democratic leadership — it was reduced to a shadow of its former self in its eventual implementation before being dissolved entirely in the early 1990s.

However, similar ideas have recently been revived in the United Kingdom, where Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has proposed a system of “Inclusive Ownership Funds” (IOF) that would underline Labour’s other economic policies on living wages, union rights, democratic ownership, codetermination, and public banking.

Going beyond this, the party now proposes that 1 percent of companies’ shares be given to workers through an inclusive ownership fund each year, up to a cap of 10 percent (this is of only moderate relevance, since Labour could stand in future elections on a platform of raising the cap). The funds would, in many firms, make the workers the largest single shareholder, and instead of vesting the powers in a distant pension fund they have little control over, they would directly elect their own trustees.

If we are thinking about how a Sanders administration might introduce a democratic heartbeat which gradually increases the level of economic democracy around the country on an automatic basis, even if one or more of the institutions of power falls to opponents, a law of this sort could be an incredibly important tool for resetting the default state of economic development, away from greater privatization and towards greater socialization.

What we are considering here are residual policies which aim to introduce a rising baseline of economic democracy in those parts of the economy that are not covered by our specific policies that aim to rapidly socialize or eliminate key sectors or firms.

There is certainly, for example, a compelling need to dismantle the health insurance industry by creating a single-payer national health care program. Companies like Aetna and Blue Cross Blue Shield will not be brought under workers’ control through a gradual transition mediated through an IOF; they will instead be eliminated entirely, with displaced workers assisted through a transitional program.

(Continue Reading)

This is the fact sheet and FAQ posted on the morning of February 7, 2019 (and then quickly taken down) from the official Congressional website of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her Green New Deal.

[Editor: Read the Green New Deal resolution filed with Congress here.]

LAUNCH: Thursday, February 7, at 8:30 AM.

Overview

We will begin work immediately on Green New Deal bills to put the nuts and bolts on the plan described in this resolution (important to say so someone else can’t claim this mantle).

This is a massive transformation of our society with clear goals and a timeline.

The Green New Deal resolution a 10-year plan to mobilize every aspect of American society at a scale not seen since World War 2 to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and create economic prosperity for all. It will:

§ Move America to 100% clean and renewable energy

§ Create millions of family supporting-wage, union jobs

§ Ensure a just transition for all communities and workers to ensure economic security for people and communities that have historically relied on fossil fuel industries

§ Ensure justice and equity for frontline communities by prioritizing investment, training, climate and community resiliency, economic and environmental benefits in these communities. § Build on FDR’s second bill of rights by guaranteeing:

· A job with a family-sustaining wage, family and medical leave, vacations, and retirement security

· High-quality education, including higher education and trade schools

· Clean air and water and access to nature

· Healthy food

· High-quality health care

· Safe, affordable, adequate housing

· Economic environment free of monopolies

· Economic security for all who are unable or unwilling to work

There is no time to waste.

o IPCC Report said global emissions must be cut by by 40-60% by 2030. US is 20% of total emissions. We must get to 0 by 2030 and lead the world in a global Green New Deal.

Americans love a challenge. This is our moonshot.

o When JFK said we’d go to the by the end of the decade, people said impossible.

o If Eisenhower wanted to build the interstate highway system today, people would ask how we’d pay for it. o When FDR called on America to build 185,000 planes to fight World War 2, every business leader, CEO, and general laughed at him. At the time, the U.S. had produced 3,000 planes in the last year. By the end of the war, we produced 300,000 planes. That’s what we are capable of if we have real leadership

This is massive investment in our economy and society, not expenditure.

o We invested 40-50% of GDP into our economy during World War 2 and created the greatest middle class the US has seen.

o The interstate highway system has returned more than $6 in economic productivity for every $1 it cost

o This is massively expanding existing and building new industries at a rapid pace – growing our economy

The Green New Deal has momentum.

o 92 percent of Democrats and 64 percent of Republicans support the Green New Deal

o Nearly every major Democratic Presidential contender say they back the Green New deal including: Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Jeff Merkeley, Julian Castro, Kirsten Gillibrand, Bernie Sanders, Tulsi Gabbard, and Jay Inslee.

o 45 House Reps and 330+ groups backed the original resolution for a select committee

o Over 300 local and state politicians have called for a federal Green New Deal

o New Resolution has 20 co-sponsors, about 30 groups (numbers will change by Thursday).

FAQ

Why 100% clean and renewable and not just 100% renewable? Are you saying we won’t transition off fossil fuels?

Yes, we are calling for a full transition off fossil fuels and zero greenhouse gases. Anyone who has read the resolution sees that we spell this out through a plan that calls for eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from every sector of the economy. Simply banning fossil fuels immediately won’t build the new economy to replace it – this is the plan to build that new economy and spells out how to do it technically. We do this through a huge mobilization to create the renewable energy economy as fast as possible. We set a goal to get to net-zero, rather than zero emissions, in 10 years because we aren’t sure that we’ll be able to fully get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast, but we think we can ramp up renewable manufacturing and power production, retrofit every building in America, build the smart grid, overhaul transportation and agriculture, plant lots of trees and restore our ecosystem to get to net-zero.

Is nuclear a part of this?

A Green New Deal is a massive investment in renewable energy production and would not include creating new nuclear plants. It’s unclear if we will be able to decommission every nuclear plant within 10 years, but the plan is to transition off of nuclear and all fossil fuels as soon as possible. No one has put the full 10-year plan together yet, and if it is possible to get to fully 100% renewable in 10 years, we will do that.

Does this include a carbon tax?

The Green New Deal is a massive investment in the production of renewable energy industries and infrastructure. We cannot simply tax gas and expect workers to figure out another way to get to work unless we’ve first created a better, more affordable option. So we’re not ruling a carbon tax out, but a carbon tax would be a tiny part of a Green New Deal in the face of the gigantic expansion of our productive economy and would have to be preceded by first creating the solutions necessary so that workers and working class communities are not affected. While a carbon tax may be a part of the Green New Deal, it misses the point and would be off the table unless we create the clean, affordable options first.

Does this include cap and trade?

The Green New Deal is about creating the renewable energy economy through a massive investment in our society and economy. Cap and trade assumes the existing market will solve this problem for us, and that’s simply not true. While cap and trade may be a tiny part of the larger Green New Deal plan to mobilize our economy, any cap and trade legislation will pale in comparison to the size of the mobilization and must recognize that existing legislation can incentivize companies to create toxic hotspots in frontline communities, so anything here must ensure that frontline communities are prioritized.

Does a GND ban all new fossil fuel infrastructure or nuclear power plants?

The Green New Deal makes new fossil fuel infrastructure or nuclear plants unnecessary. This is a massive mobilization of all our resources into renewable energies. It would simply not make sense to build new fossil fuel infrastructure because we will be creating a plan to reorient our entire economy to work off renewable energy. Simply banning fossil fuels and nuclear plants immediately won’t build the new economy to replace it – this is the plan to build that new economy and spells out how to do it technically.

Are you for CCUS [Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage]?

We believe the right way to capture carbon is to plant trees and restore our natural ecosystems. CCUS technology to date has not proven effective. How will you pay for it? The same way we paid for the New Deal, the 2008 bank bailout and extended quantitative easing programs. The same way we paid for World War II and all our current wars. The Federal Reserve can extend credit to power these projects and investments and new public banks can be created to extend credit. There is also space for the government to take an equity stake in projects to get a return on investment. At the end of the day, this is an investment in our economy that should grow our wealth as a nation, so the question isn’t how will we pay for it, but what will we do with our new shared prosperity.

Why do we need a sweeping Green New Deal investment program? Why can’t we just rely on regulations and taxes and the private sector to invest alone such as a carbon tax or a ban on fossil fuels?

· The level of investment required is massive. Even if every billionaire and company came together and were willing to pour all the resources at their disposal into this investment, the aggregate value of the investments they could make would not be sufficient.

· The speed of investment required will be massive. Even if all the billionaires and companies could make the investments required, they would not be able to pull together a coordinated response in the narrow window of time required to jump-start major new projects and major new economic sectors. Also, private companies are wary of making massive investments in unproven research and technologies; the government, however, has the time horizon to be able to patiently make investments in new tech and R&D, without necessarily having a commercial outcome or application in mind at the time the investment is made. Major examples of government investments in “new” tech that subsequently spurred a boom in the private section include DARPA projects, the creation of the internet - and, perhaps most recently, the government’s investment in Tesla.

· Simply put, we don’t need to just stop doing some things we are doing (like using fossil fuels for energy needs); we also need to start doing new things (like overhauling whole industries or retrofitting all buildings to be energy efficient). Starting to do new things requires some upfront investment. In the same way that a company that is trying to change how it does business may need to make big upfront capital investments today in order to reap future benefits (for e.g., building a new factory to increase production or buying new hardware and software to totally modernize its IT system), a country that is trying to change how its economy works will need to make big investments today to jump-start and develop new projects and sectors to power the new economy.

· Merely incentivizing the private sector doesn’t work - e.g. the tax incentives and subsidies given to wind and solar projects have been a valuable spur to growth in the US renewables industry but, even with such investment promotion subsidies, the present level of such projects is simply inadequate to transition to a fully greenhouse gas neutral economy as quickly as needed.

· Once again, we’re not saying that there isn’t a role for private sector investments; we’re just saying that the level of investment required will need every actor to pitch in and that the government is best placed to be the prime driver.

Resolution Summary

Created in consultation with multiple groups from environmental community, environmental justice community, and labor community. 5 goals in 10 years:

o Net-zero greenhouse gas emissions through a fair and just transition for all communities and workers o Create millions of high-wage jobs and ensure prosperity and economic security for all

o Invest in infrastructure and industry to sustainably meet the challenges of the 21st century o Clean air and water, climate and community resiliency, healthy food, access to nature, and a sustainable environment for all

o Promote justice and equity by stopping current, preventing future, and repairing historic oppression of frontline and vulnerable communities

National mobilization our economy through 14 infrastructure and industrial projects. Every project strives to remove greenhouse gas emissions and pollution from every sector of our economy:

o Build infrastructure to create resiliency against climate change-related disasters

o Repair and upgrade U.S. infrastructure. ASCE estimates this is $4.6 trillion at minimum.

o Meet 100% of power demand through clean and renewable energy sources

o Build energy-efficient, distributed smart grids and ensure affordable access to electricity

o Upgrade or replace every building in US for state-of-the-art energy efficiency

o Massively expand clean manufacturing (like solar panel factories, wind turbine factories, battery and storage manufacturing, energy efficient manufacturing components) and remove pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from manufacturing

o Work with farmers and ranchers to create a sustainable, pollution and greenhouse gas free, food system that ensures universal access to healthy food and expands independent family farming

o Totally overhaul transportation by massively expanding electric vehicle manufacturing, build charging stations everywhere, build out highspeed rail at a scale where air travel stops becoming necessary, create affordable public transit available to all, with goal to replace every combustion-engine vehicle

o Mitigate long-term health effects of climate change and pollution

o Remove greenhouse gases from our atmosphere and pollution through afforestation, preservation, and other methods of restoring our natural ecosystems

o Restore all our damaged and threatened ecosystems

o Clean up all the existing hazardous waste sites and abandoned sites

o Identify new emission sources and create solutions to eliminate those emissions

o Make the US the leader in addressing climate change and share our technology, expertise and products with the rest of the world to bring about a global Green New Deal

Social and economic justice and security through 15 requirements:

o Massive federal investments and assistance to organizations and businesses participating in the green new deal and ensuring the public gets a return on that investment

o Ensure the environmental and social costs of emissions are taken into account

o Provide job training and education to all

o Invest in R&D of new clean and renewable energy technologies

o Doing direct investments in frontline and deindustrialized communities that would otherwise be hurt by the transition to prioritize economic benefits there

o Use democratic and participatory processes led by frontline and vulnerable communities to implement GND projects locally

o Ensure that all GND jobs are union jobs that pay prevailing wages and hire local

o Guarantee a job with family-sustaining wages

o Protect right of all workers to unionize and organize

o Strengthen and enforce labor, workplace health and safety, antidiscrimination, and wage and hour standards

o Enact and enforce trade rules to stop the transfer of jobs and pollution overseas and grow domestic manufacturing

o Ensure public lands, waters, and oceans are protected and eminent domain is not abused

o Obtain free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous peoples

o Ensure an economic environment free of monopolies and unfair competition

o Provide high-quality health care, housing, economic security, and clean air, clean water, healthy food, and nature to all

END

Phroyd

The Wealth Of Nations and 21st Century Socialism

If we were to seriously consider the socialist prerogatives suggested by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her supporters in New York City, we would stand on Adam Smth's Wealth of Nations as a platform in refuting and ridiculing the notion that a capitalist nation such as America could change its historic course as a paradigm of free trade, division of labor and national productivity. Ocasio-Cortez supports progressive policies such as a government-controlled medical industry, tuition-free public college and trade school, federal job guarantees, guaranteed family leave, the abolition of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the privatization of prisons. They would also be a revision of gun control statutes, and an energy policy relying on 100% renewables. She also plans to use Modern Monetary Theory as an economic strategy to provide funding and enable implementation of these goals. In this discussion we shall examine the absurdity of these goals and the historic and economic precedents that condemn these notions to futility.

The arguments against a government-controlled medical industry are overwhelming. For starters we must ask why the best and brightest scholars from around the planet come to America to realize their destinies. In most cases it is not the aesthetics of our modernized nation or its bill of rights. Rather it is the opportunity to be rewarded for their genius and the opportunity to find a rewarding career. A lifetime of contribution in socialist nations such as China and Russia provide little more than improved housing, extended social privileges and exponential material rewards. The State sets ages and rewards according to its need, and anything sought by the applicant exceeding the standard will be arbitrarily rejected by the bureaucracy. Once Cortez's State controls are in place, the engineers, technicians and physicians will head to greener pastures, in all likelihood the European Union or Israel.

Once the American medical industry has become lobotomized, the socialist government will join those at the international auction block seeking the cheapest prices for products and services. No longer will American citizens benefit from state-of-the-art equipment, the world's best facilities or the latest pharmaceutical discoveries or medical treatments. Those who have devoted their lives to research and development will not seek compensation according to a socialist pay scale.

Skeptics will do well to consider the medical industry in Canada or the government-controlled Veterans' Administration in America. Canadian patients find themselves shortchanged by voucher systems, unable to schedule appointments at overbooked facilities, or obtain needed products and supplies at local facilities. American military veterans find themselves in similar predicaments in the majority of cases. Legislation in certain states has provided out-of-network services for veterans that allow them to seek medical aid outside of the government system. Otherwise they find themselves victimized by identical State-run institutions on both sides of the border.

Tuition-free public college and trade school are also a socialist pipe dream. All scholars know that the upper-level paper trail starts with the thesis essay. At this juncture they know that their success is precipitated by their writing skills. On the doctorate level, they are required to submit an essay that is deemed worthy of publication. From thereon, their acceptance as an associate professor at a college or university will require them to publish on a regular basis. Here they realize that their work can earn money on the open market. Only in America can a scholar hope to bring his credentials from his homeland and possibly receive a million-dollar signing bonus.

Obviously every scholar coming to the USA cannot expect a major score just by accepting a position at a major university. Yet he can continue to publish and hope that his dreams will be realized. During that time, his track record at his workplace gives him the authenticity he needs in order to pursue his goals. This allows American colleges to reap the benefits as these unsung innovators await discovery. If these opportunities were not available, these pedants would seek broader horizons. An entry-level socialist wage would never attract the kind of scholar that American colleges do now.

            Let us digress to the dawn of man when primitive tribes of neanderthals were bartering as their villages expanded to where their proximity became too close to ignore. A tribal chief bringing a sack of potatoes to the border would expect his counterpart to bring him a bag of carrots of the same size. When a third tribe makes its presence known, they will accept his offering of wheat. Only the day comes when his offer shifts, and this is where socialism fails.

          The wheat offerer brings loaves of baked bread, and here is where the discourse changes. We now have the labor cost of the bakers who produced the bread. It is doubtful that the chiefs will reject the offer of bread, so now the bread chief will have the opportunity to name his price. And so it goes. The only option for a socialist system will be for the villages to join together to make the bread as equal a trading option as the produce. The bread chief would be a fool to agree. And only by violence could he be forced to submit.

As Adam Smith pontificates, there is no point where a sovereign body will acquiesce to their detriment. They will demand reciprocation for their contribution. Paradoxically, this is the opposite of what America has done since the turn of the century. We have given excruciatingly more in building empires and propagating democracy than any nation in history. The only reciprocations have been political: we expect our allies to vote our way at the United Nations and provide access to trade routes or staging areas for military operations. Only we have gotten less and less in return over the decades. Finally Donald Trump has come to collect some old debts. Cortez wishes to maintain the status quo for everyone but Americans.

Federal job guarantees will do nothing more than assure Americans of greater sub-standard government agency service than ever. Since the end of World War II, Federal and State agencies have been increasingly filled by those seeking job security and, in many cases, permanency. It has long been a standard maxim that, once acquiring a government job, one is set for life. The benefits are guaranteed for as long as the government exists. The starting pay is competitive; however, the annual raises leave much to be desired. As a result, most move on to the private sector in time. Those who remain do so for lasting job stability.

This results in an overabundance of workers unable or unwilling to achieve higher stations in life. Added to such ranks are unemployed workers conveyed directly into the application process. Many have failed in previous endeavors and were expecting to receive benefits before being siphoned back into the workforce. In both cases, their attitudes are reflected in their level of customer service. Most citizens needing government assistance will minimize their contact with such personnel, leading to a lighter burden for the agencies to bear.

This endemic philosophy of the bureaucracy has plagued the greater socialist nations such as Russia and China. Their citizens grow desperate in seeking government assistance only to find little or none forthcoming. It is little wonder why the black market thrives in such conditions, or unlicensed providers are able to flourish. We can also invoke Adam Smith's principles in citing the need for overachievement in the private sector. An enterprise that does not seek to compete or improve the quality of its products or services is doomed to failure. Workers who have no tangible interest in the success or failure of their employer soon become disenthused. Soon they grow mechanical in satisfactorily completing their daily assignments. If Americans are dissatisfied with government bureaucracy at this point, under Cortez it may well become far worse.

          Guaranteed family leave is a Pandora's Box that, included with socialist policies including pro-choice agendas, might well result in profligation by way of the most sinister of ulterior motives. It is well known that socialists in the US are advocating the most extreme policies, including the abortion option at any point up to the time of delivery. This disregard for the sanctity of human life is further reflected by discussion as to whether or not a mother and her physician could agree to withhold life sustaining treatment. In essence, this means leaving the newborn alone to die. This can be legitimized by any possibility of risk to the mother's health, either physical or mental. A woman fearing post-partum depression can exercise the right at will.

We cannot rule out the possibility of recipients taking advantage of this system. A female could well plan a pregnancy to be termed in advance, filing a claim for paid leave of absence. Most doctors will agree to recommend extended time off for the patient to recuperate. This conveniently allows one to carry the fetus up to a planned time, in which they can have the abortion before taking leave. 

The abolition of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement seems to be in conjunction with the New World Order's objective of establishing a globalist system. Without a Federal enforcement agency in place to prosecute immigration law offenders, it overburdens an already overwhelmed bureaucracy. In essence, it creates a porous border system that has already been proven relatively ineffective in preventing the ongoing alien invasion. Repeat offenders routinely include drug smugglers, human traffickers and career criminals. According to Adam Smith, our inability to protect our workers and our industries of these hazards will inevitably result in unsustainable loss.

One of the greatest dilemmas facing agriculturalists is that of illegal immigration. For over a half century, farmers have been able to employ undocumented workers en masse to meet market demand and lower their operating costs. One factor is the reluctance of Americans to accept arduous labor jobs for minimum wage. Another is the economy of paying workers off the books in cash for a set price. Most workers are glad to receive enough cash to provide for their families, and the employer is relieved of having to comply with legal obligation. If the socialists succeed in disrupting the system, it may prove disastrous to the entire agriculture industry.

What Cortez and her associates fail to realize is one of Adam Smith's basic concepts. The merchant must always factor in his overhead costs in order to generate a reasonable market price. The labor costs, material costs and all other opportunity costs are taken into consideration. When the merchant is able to compete on the open market, it is reasonable to assume that his costs and prices are similar to those of his competitors. If his prices exceed those on the market, his options are extremely limited. He may find a remote area free of competition. He may rely on his reputation and customer allegiance for a short time. Other than that, he may well be forced out of business.

When the floodgates are open and aliens are granted citizenship status, they will be able to rely on equal opportunity laws to improve their wages. This will force agriculturalists into compliance, greatly increasing their labor costs. This would result in a reciprocal increase in prices, which is eventually passed on to consumers. If the farmer experiences a 25% rise in overhead, the cost of a basket of peppers may go from a dollar to $1.25. This may cause griping but little ado among customers. However, when the cost of a gallon of milk goes from $3 to $4, there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth across America.

Needless to say, it will be impossible for merchants to provide health insurance for field workers. This places an incalculable strain on the government-controlled health insurance system being promoted by Cortez. Millions of aliens may well apply within the first year of a socialist takeover. The impact on lower-class families depending on health care might well be catastrophic.

Regardless of the health care scenario, the spike in agricultural costs would have a ripple effect across the American economy. A rise in crop prices would create a surge in the livestock industry. Although cattle ranchers would not be immediately affected, the cost of pork and poultry would escalate along with the cost of feeding the animals. Even the fuel industry would feel the pinch as the increasing use of ethanol would be affected by a sharp rise in corn prices.

Abolishing the use of privatized prisons would have a seismic effect on the government budget as well. It is estimated that nearly 15% of US prisons are privatized, representing a 50% increase since the turn of the century. The number of unemployed workers would be the least of Cortez' problems. Of greater concern would be the number of prisoners that would be injected into the Federal and State penal systems. A recent estimate shows as many as 125,000 inmates would be displaced. 

The immediate problem would be the overcrowding effect as the prisoners are redistributed to facilities across the country. Most penologists would concur that overcrowding is one of the main contributing factors to prison violence. The quick fix solution offered by leftist State administrations over the decades has been an early release for inmates to reduce the prison population. Often this has been granted to violent felons who have demonstrated a pattern of good behavior. If this policy was extended to those showing borderline behavior, the possible consequences of releasing recividists could be grievous at best.

The revision of gun control statutes would pose a significant challenge to citizens' Constitutional rights. In cities such as Chicago and New York where regulations are among the strictest, it has been said that the only ones bearing arms are the cops and the criminals. For decades NYC had a law that provided for residents to possess rifles in their homes. The thought of a person having to bring a rifle to bear in the event of a home invasion is as comedic as it is pathetic. Gun permits are available, but the requirements are so stringent and the process so tedious that few even bother to apply. The bottom line is that the socialists want to remove as many firearms from citizens' possession as possible. 

What is perceived as ambiguity in the Second Amendment has been debated by pro-gun and anti-gun activists for decades. It seems inconceivable that no amendment has been made or a ruling by the Supreme Court to clarify the law.  The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution reads: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." Polemicists have been dissecting this poorly-worded sentence for over a century. To most, it seems clear that 'the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed'. To others, the 'well-regulated militia' is the key phrase, providing for those active in the militia to be scrutinized by authorities. 

Therein lies the conundrum. For National Rifle Association advocates, the right of all citizens to bear arms is inalienable. For anti-gun lobbyists, 'regulation' opens the door for arbitrary restrictions as determined by State (and eventually Federal) governments. Convicted felons and mental defectives have already been prohibited from owning firearms in many states. If the socialists ever seize power, there will assuredly be more categories and situations to follow.

When we view this from Adam Smith's perspective on a microcosmic scale, we see the inherent risks and perils with the socialist line of thinking. If a merchant, or a community of merchants, is subject to robbery and burglary that threatens his merchandise, his lives or property, there is an obligation by one and all to resist the predatory force. In the case of the American colonies being victimized by authorities, the option to resist becomes a matter of survival. It is hard to imagine Adam Smith standing alongside socialists in restricting the rights of merchants to defend their property.

This brings us back to a previous argument concerning socialists' position on open borders. Ranchers along the southern border have dealt with rampant trespassing issues as aliens have violated their perimeters and crossed their property. For these citizens, they may well have their lives and those of their family and their animals placed at risk by Cortez socialists. Do we doubt that traffickers facing lengthy jail time (until further alterations are made by Cortez) would not use deadly force to avoid capture? If these criminals sought to use private property as a shortcut to their inland destinations, the land would be repeatedly violated with no chance by the homeowner to interfere. They might reach out to ICE, but under Cortez, that option would no longer exist.

The energy policy relying on 100% renewables is something Adam Smith could not foresee. One of the major battlegrounds is West Virginia, where an area the size of Manhattan is being cleared for a solar energy plant. Thousands of acres of woodland are being chopped down to make room for this project. The elimination of refuge for wildlife is the least of the socialists' concerns. They feel it will create a milestone for other states on their path to clean energy. As for West Virginians, they are already being impacted by the streams and other bodies of water that are being polluted, diverted or dried up. Once the actual construction begins, they can only expect things to worsen. We know of the nihilistic maxim: one must destroy in order to create. Adam Smith would ask: what is it that the State has the right to destroy at the expense of society?

The bottom line as regards Cortez's Modern Monetary Theory is simple. The State's budget is dictated by the amount it invests in the public sector as opposed to the money it receives by means of taxation. If it spends more than it taxes, there is a deficit as is common for Republican administrations. This indicates that more money has gone to bank accounts in the private sector than to the Treasury. If it taxes more than it spends, a surplus is created. This is common among Democratic administrations as we last saw under the Clinton regime. Cortez has already announced plans to increase taxes in her New York dominion up to 70%. This may work well for NYC millionaires, of which only a small percentage of their income is taxable. But what of the rest of America that may disagree with socialist policy. Adam Smith may point to a quote from the American Revolution: taxation without representation is tyranny.

           In summation, history shows that a socialist government had never achieved a noteworthy stage of security and solvency. If millenials and illegal voters are able to carry Cortez down that slope, Christian Americans will be the ones to blame for the consequences. Let us hope that the Moral Majority will be able to save the day. Otherwise, Wealth Of Nations by Adam Smith may, like the Bible, be another prophetic book we chose to ignore.   

Corporate social responsibility commitments: All talk, no action

On this April 2013 photograph, Bangladeshis collect as rescuers search for survivors and victims on the website of the Rana Plaza constructing that collapsed a day earlier, in Savar, Bangladesh. (AP Picture/A.M.Ahad)

In April 2013 in Bangladesh, the Savar constructing collapsed, killing an estimated 1,300 garment employees and injuring one other 2,500 in what turned often known as the Rana Plaza collapse.

The story intrigued me as a tutorial and international citizen wanting to search out solutions.

There’s a lengthy historical past of commercial accidents in Bangladesh factories, and there proceed to be points within the aftermath of those accidents.

That is regardless of a long time of activism, together with universities corresponding to my very own vowing to take accountability for his or her provide chains. After Rana Plaza, North American and European clothes retailers, from Benetton to Joe Recent, all claimed that this time was totally different.

They created two formidable techniques of auditing and supply-chain tracing, together with employee grievance strains, to reassure clients that their garments had been made safely and that main firms had been taking accountability.

Within the aftermath of the accident, I labored with Maureen Benson-Rea, a enterprise professor on the College of Auckland, to look at this supposedly game-changing set of agreements. The outcomes, which got here out in a collected quantity, weren’t promising.

Amongst different issues, we discovered an nearly whole lack of native labour enforcement by the Bangladeshi authorities, and an nearly full lack of follow-through on failed audits of multinational companies (on this case, clothes manufacturers), together with remedial actions. Seven years later, nothing has actually modified for Bangladeshi employees.

Fashionable enterprise mannequin

Company social accountability, or CSR, is a burgeoning enterprise mannequin. Spurred by a collection of scandals, it has grow to be a mainstay of our enterprise colleges.

Nevertheless, CSR efforts haven’t stopped the continuous parade of scandals, from Boeing’s 737 Max failures to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the well-known gaming of economic markets by funding homes, as depicted in books and movies that embrace The Wolf of Wall Avenue and The Large Brief.

Learn extra: Boeing crashes and Uber collision present passenger security depends on company guarantees, not regulators’ assessments

As an alternative of progress in the direction of decency in labour and environmental requirements, we discover ourselves in a seamless maelstrom of company social irresponsibility.

When matched with rising inequality, it’s no marvel we’re in a brand new age of populism and protest, with a reflexive response in opposition to large companies. Removed from being accountable residents, massive companies are more and more dodging paying even primary taxes.

There are three apparent sources of failure in CSR.

First supply of failure: Neoliberalism

The primary is the overall transfer in the direction of neoliberalism, or the religion in markets to create self-regulation by permitting firms and funding homes to make their very own bets and supposedly endure the results. Anybody with frequent sense is aware of that firms are wired in the direction of revenue and, within the absence of public coverage, will put it above all else.

Learn extra: What precisely is neoliberalism?

We shouldn’t overlook that western labour and environmental requirements had been the results of authorities coverage, not markets. In reality, the minute markets fail, firms constantly cry for presidency bailouts, as we noticed within the 1980s-‘90s savings-and-loan disaster within the U.S., the 2008 monetary disaster and the continued COVID-19 pandemic — all whereas monetary companies lobbyists block reforms to stop future crises.

This has been enabled extra typically as a result of firms have been in a position to affect regulation, undoing any actual reform efforts, and in lots of instances push false counter-narratives, corresponding to local weather change denial. Within the World South, the place governments lack rule of legislation and institutional capability, firms have an extended historical past of feeding corruption and influencing governments to chop “sweetheart offers” to profit them financially. CSR is vital for advertising, not for the underside line.

Second supply of failure: Globalized manufacturing

The second supply of failure is said to the globalization of manufacturing. Governments within the World South have constantly voiced their opposition to rigorous labour or environmental requirements on the grounds that firms will merely transfer their factories elsewhere.

The struggle for jobs, constant funding and the determined want for entry to multinational company’s stores explains why espresso farmers, for instance, take pennies on the greenback in comparison with massive espresso retail chains like Starbucks.

A lady carries harvested espresso beans on her head at a espresso plantation in Mozambique in August 2019. (AP Picture/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Merely put, governments and employees within the World South have restricted bargaining leverage in the case of massive transnationals, and employees and native communities have even much less. Clearly, a world system is required to higher steadiness the scales.

CSR advocates would level to the plethora of worldwide initiatives, from the World Reporting Indicators to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, coming within the wake of The World Compact, an settlement championed by the United Nations. These initiatives had been ostensibly geared toward setting pointers and demonstrating accountable behaviour.

Corporations are spending an estimated US$20 billion per 12 months on CSR to adjust to these requirements, and pay a military of consultants and NGO auditors to confirm such. As I argue in a latest article in World Affairs and in a particular version of the Journal of Growing Societies, such efforts are vacuous and simpler at public relations than at altering real-life outcomes.

Learn extra: Public relations is dangerous information

Third supply of failure: No transparency

In reality, there’s a persevering with lack of transparency in CSR initiatives — most of them largely depending on companies self-reporting their efforts — that socially accountable funding indices depend on. Audits are specious and stuffed with conflicts of curiosity as a result of firms truly make use of auditors to confirm their compliance. Many of the funding indicators don’t even dispatch personnel to websites to confirm what firms are claiming.

Governments that obtain tens of millions in royalties from multinational companies for the fitting to mine, as an illustration, don’t report what they do with the revenues, and so corruption is obvious. Briefly, there is no such thing as a actual accountability or enforcement of CSR requirements.

The underside line is that firms are by no means taking accountability for altering something concretely. Their CSR studies delve into taxes paid, one-off initiatives and associated expenditures, not on modifications in real-life outcomes.

In assessing mining websites over the previous 4 years, I’ve seen communities with out primary companies — no working water, electrical energy or roads — positioned subsequent to worldwide mines which were rewarded or lauded for his or her CSR initiatives.

A authorities accepted by a world transparency physique even censored my survey of neighborhood sentiments about mining, and questions on the usage of revenues, although it couldn’t deny the veracity of my findings. After I requested the worldwide transparency physique to intervene, they mentioned that there was nothing they may do.

It’s no shock subsequently that international mining continues to be suffering from continuous battle. Till there are international requirements for outcomes, transparency via the availability and income chains, conflict-free auditing, enforced labour rights and environmental requirements, we are going to proceed to see native impoverishment, hazardous waste and tragic labour accidents as sources within the World South are exploited by firms within the West.

Make our voices heard

A handful of well-meaning activists can’t make any actual distinction on this struggle.

Shoppers could make their voices heard by pushing politicians to leverage entry to western markets to arrange a world system that issues, with requirements that may be verified.

Simply as we don’t enable our firms to promote merchandise that use little one labour, pollute the atmosphere or bypass communities the place sources are exploited in our personal nations, we will merely apply the identical ideas for merchandise made wherever.

Extending this primary precept — already the usual for home merchandise — would instantly power firms and host governments to alter their practices, making a stage taking part in subject for organizations that need to do the fitting factor, which might then grow to be routine.

Such a coverage shift would change the world in a single day, elevating the dwelling requirements for tens of millions and saving capitalism from itself.

Andy Hira obtained funding from CIRDI for CSR mining analysis.

from Growth News https://growthnews.in/corporate-social-responsibility-commitments-all-talk-no-action/ via https://growthnews.in

It Is What You Know: Education

It Is What You Know f you only read one chapter in this book, read this one. It is critical. I’ve referenced ‘being prepared for this journey’. Education is the vital aspect of preparation because it involves the development of your mind, your most prized possession in this world.

The importance of an education cannot be overstated. Education may be the key, fundamental experience that enables you to elevate and transform your life. It matters not what your skin color is, what religion you practice, how old you are, or where you live in the world—the effects of education are universal.

Education is your way up. It is your way out. It is your weapon. It is your shield. It is your light. It is your fire. Get it and use it. Education is yours forever. Once you have it, it can never be taken away.

Education may be described as the process by which you are introduced to new information and ideas through experience and instruction. It is also the manner in which you understand and apply new knowledge. When we refer to ‘education’ in this book, we will most often refer to the formal, structured system of classroom education that takes place in schools and universities. Education is often provided by teachers in a classroom. Learning is what you do for yourself throughout your lifetime.

In the United States, education is often taken for granted because of the easy access to public schools. However, in less developed regions around the world, parents work long hours in horrendous conditions doing miserable jobs in order to scrape together the money to send their children to school. They do this in India, where many families live on sixty dollars a week. Think about that. They do this in China, where a multigenerational family of six may be living in a two bedroom apartment. Think about that. They do this in Africa, where children study by kerosene lamps at night, after working all day. Think about that.

They do this because they often live in a world of crushing poverty that can be deadly. The difference between starvation and a living wage is often the margin between ignorance and education: the acquisition of basic skills and applied knowledge. The skills and knowledge that lift people out of poverty and into the middle class are almost always developed through education. The fact that people most hard-pressed to survive prioritize education should tell you something about its importance.

To fully appreciate the value of an education today—and where it can take you tomorrow—it might be good to remember where women were in the not too distant past. Throughout history, men have been able to maintain power over women because women have not been able to be self-sufficient. Generations of women have been denied an education, treated like property, unable to own property, excluded from financial decisions, and generally oppressed and cloistered by ‘men-made’ traditions.

Women have lived with legislation they did not help draft and that they did not vote into law. They have been marginalized, silenced, and relegated to being the bearer of children and performer of household chores, an object of beauty and a source of pleasure, and put on a pedestal that soon resembles a cage.

Women have had to fight and fight hard to be able to vote, to be allowed to attend schools, to work outside the home and in decent conditions, to be paid a fair (but rarely equal) wage, and to be in sole possession of their own fortunes, personal and financial.

What we call the modern world is, for you as a woman, largely a product of that fight. It is a fight that is not completely won, but society is a much-improved place. In the United States, many of the obstacles that faced previous generations of women are gone. In other countries, the rights and privileges of women still vary considerably. Wherever you live, know that today, at this moment, so much is yours for the taking.

It is imperative that you discover, embrace, and honor the past work of heroic women by making the most of your life. It is imperative that you get an education, first and foremost. Don’t squander this gift.

Remember this: the scariest thing in the world for some men is a woman with her own mind and her own money. That’s exactly what you want to be. Education is the quickest way to get, and keep, both.

WALL STREET OR MAIN STREET—THE BIG BENEFITS OF EDUCATION

Whether you’re going to work at a brokerage firm on Wall Street or a hardware store on Main Street, an education is going to serve you well throughout your life. So, if there’s any way possible, take the opportunity to be a student if you can, when you can, where you can.

Wouldn’t your life be richer if you exposed yourself to just a small part of the knowledge that has been articulated, preserved, and handed down over the past few thousand years? Consider and digest the wisdom of the ages. Marvel at the latest technological developments, innovations, and inventions that so often burst forth on college campuses. How could you change your life and world if you had the chance to build your skill set for employment and entrepreneurial opportunities? How might you enhance your understanding of current events if you had the chance to learn about history from a different, more nuanced perspective?

Study the mechanics of politics and money in order to make sure you aren’t manipulated or victimized. Expand your mind. Deepen your understanding. Broaden your horizons.

Take advantage of what I call the Big Benefits of Education.

Big Benefit Number 1: Knowledge for Its Own Sake. This enriches your life as you explore math, science, literature, art, politics, and history. You may not be an actor, but reading and appreciating Shakespeare or contemplating Rumi will deepen your understanding of the world.

Big Benefit Number 2: Better Quality of Life. (Notice I didn’t say ‘standard of living’.) Quality of life requires a sufficient income to meet your material needs, but also includes an understanding of how best to manage your career, business and investment opportunities, personal life, financial assets, and leisure. You can make a great deal of money, but without an education to learn how to manage and enjoy your wealth, you may have a very low quality of life.

Big Benefit Number 3: Maximizing Opportunities. Give yourself the ability to identify and act upon opportunities to make this world a better place to live, for you and other people, for generations to come. This means volunteering, giving to charity, or going into public service. If you don’t get a sufficient education or a quality education, you may spend all of your time and all of your energy simply surviving. You can’t help anyone else if you can barely take care of yourself. And you can’t really understand and address problems that affect others if you’re unable to digest information and see things in context.

Big Benefit Number 4: Creating Generational Wealth. Increase your ability to leave something to your children or to the world in the form of an inheritance or a legacy. Leaving a legacy gives other people more than money: it offers them options. That can be life-changing for them, and emotionally rewarding for you. You can facilitate social change. You can leave your mark. Consider the impact that Warren Buffet, Bill and Melinda Gates, and Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter have had on the world. Follow their lead.

You may be artistically or technically inclined. That’s fine. I still encourage you to seek out a college education. Here are some of the differences a college education can make in your life:

College graduates have more income earning potential;

College graduates have more options in their careers;

College graduates are less likely to divorce;

College graduates enjoy better health;

College graduates live longer.

Once again: the college experience is invaluable. Often, you enroll as an insecure teenager with no idea about the world. More often than not, you graduate as a young adult with a certain amount of perspective, knowledge, and skills under your belt to face the world with a degree of confidence and competence. Hopefully, you will also possess a heightened awareness of what is expected of you as a global citizen.

THE CHALLENGES AND THE REWARDS

The challenges in getting an education are many. On the financial front there is the expense of tuition and often room and board. Student debt is daunting, even for middle-class families. If you have to work part-time or full-time, you’ll need the commitment and discipline to push through early mornings at class and late nights at the job.

You’ll need to look past friends your age who have ‘good jobs’ and spending money right now. You’ll need to hold focus on your goals and postpone gratification. You’ll need to ignore those in the media who tell you a college education may not be worth the effort and expense. Remember, most of these articles are written by pundits who have a college education and are published by executives with a college education.

The truth is that as you pursue and obtain an education, you will have set a worthwhile goal and accomplished it, which is key for your self-esteem. You will have something that cannot be taken away. It will last a lifetime. Its effects will bleed into every aspect of your life and nourish you in ways you can’t imagine.

You will have documented certification of a certain level of competence and  understanding. If your career path requires technical expertise, you will have verifiable proof of possessing that expertise. You will have a network of alumni to draw upon as you go forward into the workplace. You will be qualified for many more jobs, even if your field of study does not apply directly to your work.

Again, you will have entered an institution of higher learning as a teenager, with limited understanding, and graduated as a young adult, full of promise. You will be more empathetic, more mature, more prepared. These are just a few of the rewards of getting an education. If you did not have the opportunity to get an education immediately after high school, fear not. You can go to school or go back to school at any age. You can take classes online. You can take classes at night.

There is an abundance of resources to help you get an education. People of all ages, all over the world, know the value of an education and desperately want to learn.

A world of support and assistance is waiting. Loans and grants are available. Online courses are constantly on offer. Professional guidance about where and how to start, continue, or finish your education is there for anyone who wants it.

A word of caution about for-profit colleges: research their programs, prices, and promises carefully before putting your future in the hands of a company that is in business to make money. Private, state, and community colleges are your most reliable sources for getting the education, qualifications, and skills you need to succeed.

Business owners and public officials support and believe in education because there is a constant need for skilled workers and a preference for an educated populace. One ensures a society’s prosperity. The other ensures its democracy. Each student’s reasons are their own, but the blessings of education are universal: a better you, a better family, a better world.

FCC considers wireless future with high-spectrum bands, auction outlook

The Federal Communications Commission voted Feb. 22 to initiate a proceeding focused on opening up certain high-spectrum bands for commercial use that have long been considered the outermost horizon of the usable spectrum range.

The commission voted unanimously to move forward on a notice of proposed rulemaking that aims to expand access to spectrum above 95 GHz, though some also expressed reservations about the FCC's current approach to opening up more spectrum. The FCC's proposal seeks comment on making a total of 102.2 gigahertz of spectrum available for licensed point-to-point services. These bands would be licensed on a nationwide, nonexclusive basis, and a database manager would be established to keep track of licensees. The proposal also seeks comment on making a total of 15.2 gigahertz of spectrum available for unlicensed devices.

Republican FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly said he worried the FCC might be acting too soon on spectrum above 95 GHz given that the technology for these bands is "nascent, to put it gently." He added that creating rules around this spectrum "feels like designing zoning laws for the moon."

Meanwhile, Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, said that while the FCC has done a lot in recent months to open up new bands for exploration, it needs to turn more attention to how to get this spectrum into operators' hands.

"What we need now is not more studying and rulemaking. We need action," she said, calling on the commission to announce a spectrum auction and put it on the calendar.

During a press conference after the FCC's Feb. 22 open meeting, Chairman Ajit Pai reiterated that a key hurdle to holding any auction is a requirement in the Communications Act stipulating that the FCC deposit any upfront payments from bidders in spectrum auctions in "an interest bearing account at a financial institution." Private institutions have expressed less interest in holding these upfront payments in recent years, and public institutions have declined to set up the special purpose accounts necessary to offer such services. Pai has urged Congress to change the law so that deposits from spectrum auctions bidders can be sent to the Treasury Department.

"We need a Congressional fix in order to solve that problem," Pai said Feb. 22, noting that the House Energy and Commerce Committee recently moved forward on a bill that would address this issue. That bill would still need to pass the full House, the Senate and get approved by the president before it can become law.

Rosenworcel suggested during the press conference that the FCC does not necessarily need to wait for a legislative solution, however. "We clearly found a way around [this issue] in last year's 600 MHz auction. We just need to be creative here, and our unwillingness to be creative is a choice to cede our leadership to the rest of the world," she said.

She noted that South Korea has a midband spectrum auction scheduled for June while "a handful of other countries" are also planning auctions in 2018.

Rosenworcel suggested reaching out to the banks that worked with the FCC on the recent broadcast incentive auction and placing deposits in multiple banks rather than just one as a potential strategy.

Also during the meeting, the FCC adopted a notice of proposed rulemaking that looks to implement rules around the commission's review of petitions or applications for new technologies. The rules aim to speed up the review process to comply with Section 7 of the Communications Act, which requires the commission to determine whether a newly proposed technology is in the public interest within one year of its petition or application being filed.

The commission also moved forward on its effort to streamline outdated rules, voting to eliminate rules around payphone data collection and also adopting a notice of proposed rulemaking that aims to eliminate the Broadcast Mid-Term Report for TV and radio stations. The midterm report, also known as Form 397, contains information about stations' Equal Employment Opportunity practices. According to the FCC, this form is duplicative because the information is already provided in FCC-maintained online public files.

Finally, the FCC also unveiled Feb. 22 its new national broadband map. The map is based on the data collected for the FCC's "2018 Broadband Deployment Report," published earlier this month. In the report, the FCC found that as of year-end 2016, 92.3% of all Americans have access to fixed terrestrial broadband at speeds of 25 Mbps/3 Mbps, up from 89.4% in 2014 and 81.2% in 2012.

https://www.broadbandmap.gov/technology

https://www.broadbandmap.gov/number-of-providers

These maps are fun to mess with

Ms. Marvel #22 Review

spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers

The topical ‘Mecca’ story-arc comes to an unexpected conclusion in this latest issue of Ms. Marvel from the creative team of  G. Willow Wilson, Marco Falla and Ian Herring.  Full recap and review following the jump.

The story so far has seen the municipal government of Jersey City taken over by the dastardly Chuck Worthy.  Worthy, a villain who has had ties to Hydra, has weaseled his way into the mayoral office, riding a wave of xenophobia and demagoguery.  Jersey City is right across the Hudson from New York; in the Marvel Universe New York is filled with all manner if super powered beings, heroes and villain, Mutants and Inhumans.  Worthy has proposed to make Jersey City free of such weirdness, a place where only normal, non-powered humans are allowed.  And through the power of fear and some tricky back-door political shenanigans, Worthy has replaced the mayor and instituted his normies-only agenda.  And to enforce this agenda, Worthy’s office has deputized a force of baseball hat-clad goons to round up and deport anyone who doesn’t fit in with their idea of what constitutes normalcy, led by the chief lieutenants, Lockdown and Discord (two teenagers empowered by specialized suits).  

The xenophobic fever has spread through Jersey City, with neighbor rating out neighbor and Worthy’s goon squad roving the streets, apprehending anyone they see as not belonging.  Among these detainees has been Ms. Marvel’s brother, Aamir, who possessed superpowers for a short while during the Last Days story-arc.  

Of course Ms. Marvel (Jersey City’s very own super hero) is the one ‘freak’ Worthy’s forces is most interested in detaining and deporting - seeing her as the main source of what has brought Manhattan-style super powered mayhem to the peaceful confines of Jersey City.  

Ms. Marvel had helped Aamir and many of the others escape, but was overpowered and were forced to flee, taking refuge the Masjib (a local Muslim community center).  Yet the villains tracked them down for a final confrontation.  Discord’s suit enables him electricity powers and it turns out this is a substantial weakness for her.  Te electrical volts appeared to have a weakening effect on Ms. Marvel, draining her energies and making it all but impossible for her to use her powers.  

In their final battle, Ms. Marvel unmasked Discord, only to discover his true identity as Josh, one of Kamal’s classmates and longtime friend.  In turn, Kamla removed her own mask and Josh was shocked to discover this enemy he had fought so hard against was actually someone he grew up with.   Their true identities doesn’t change the predicament they find themselves in.  This is whop Josh has decided to be.  It doesn’t matter that that he can be better, that he’s shown himself to be a better person in the past.  Putting back on his mask, Josh states that he will let Kamala go, and keep her identity a secret, but from here on out, they are enemies.   Ms. Marvel departs, ingloriously by flopping out of a window and Discord covers her escape.  

Meanwhile, a large group of citizens have gathered to march in opposition to the unconstitutional actions of the Worthy Administration.  Front and center of this march is Kamala’s sister-in-law, Tyesha and her best friend, Nakia.  Making their way to the Masjib, Tyesha and Nakia have a very interesting discussion of the modernized and more traditional usages of the hijab.   

Armed with a bullhorn. Tyesha demands that Worthy’s forces disperse and release all of the individuals they have illegally detained.  When the head goon asks on whose authority Tyesha can make these demands, she produces a piece of paper and replies: ‘The Third Circuit Court of Appeals.’   Boom

A quick civics lesson.  The American government is split into three separate but equal branches: the executive branch (made up of the president and their cabinet), the legislative branch (composed of congress, the senate and house of representatives) and the judicial branch (which includes the supreme court and state based federal courts).  This divide into three branches is designed so that no one face can try to impose laws that defy the basic tenets of the American Constitution.  

For example, when the trump Administration instituted a travel ban on Muslim majority countries it was unconstitutional in that the constitution stipulates that individuals cannot have laws forced against them on the basis of their religious faith.  The legislation originally came from the executive branch, but was stopped by the judicial branch (namely the ninth circuit court of appeals).  This is how it is supposed to work, with the three branches keeping each other in check and ensuring that no one branch oversteps its authority.    

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals serves New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the Virgin Islands.  The Worthy administration’s institution of a ban on Mutants and Inhumans was a vast overstep of its authority and the Third Circuit Court has issued a judgement that the act was unconstitutional.   Of course, Worthy’s goons are armed and think their cause is righteous.  They not going to give in to the mob’s demands.  This all changes, however, when the state police arrive to enforce the decision of the Third Circuit Court.

Elsewhere, Ms. Marvel stumbles down the street thoroughly exausted.  She wants to help, but is just too tired and depleted.  It’s hard for her not to feel forlorn.  She’s tired, has just discovered that a boy she’s known since childhood has turned into a super villain; plus she’s still reeling from the fact that Bruno hates her and half of Jersey City wants her gone.  It feels like everyone and everything has abandoned her.  And it is just then that help arrives in an unexpected form.  

As shown in a recent issue of Black Bolt, Lockjaw seems to possess a sixth sense that enables him to know when his friends are most in need.  He teleports onto the scene and takes Ms. Marvel to a local Mediterranean restaurant where the manager sets her up with a deluxe combo and an extra large coffee.  

Ms. Marvel’s embiggining powers use up a huge amount of calories, and gorging herself on an extra large wrap of lamb and vegetables with a bunch of fries is just what she needs to recalibrate her powers.  As she eats, the waiters and patrons comment on how Jersey City has seemed to have lost its mind; that it needs Ms. Marvel now more than ever.  These comments offer Kamala just as much sustenance as the food.  Not all of Jersey City has turned its back on her, just a part of it… the world isn’t black and white, all good or all bad.  Different people have different views and Kamala was naive to think that she could have everybody like her.  She has to stick with what she thinks is right and just and make peace with the fact that everybody is not going to agree with it… but there will always be plenty of folks out there who do agree and Kamala is going to have to fight extra hard for them.  

Invigorated by the food and pep talk, Ms. Marvel and Lockjaw teleport to the Masjib to take on Lockdown and Discord before they can attack the protestors.  Lockjaw tackles Discord before he can use his electrical attack on Ms. Marvel while Ms. Marvel slams Lockdown with a well-deserved embiggoned-fist punch.  Seeing her forces as overwhelmed, Lockdown calls in an airstrike.  Discord argues against such an action, noting that civilians (and themselves) would be caught in the ensuring carnage.  Yet Lockdown is too blinded by rage to listen.  Before she can initiate the airstrike, however, Ms, Marvel uses her powers in a new fashion, reforming her malleable body into a blanket like form, swooping over and completely covering Lockdow.  It’s kind of icky, but nonetheless effective.  

The villains are defeated and former Mayor Machesi has arrived, noting the the Third Circuit has nullified Worthy’s coup and reinstated her as the rightful Mayor.  Discord manages to escape, but Lockdown and her goons are all rounded up and arrested.  Sheikh Abdullah emerges from the Mosque and notes that the Masjib is open to all, just in time for evening prayers.   It’s a happy ending, yet it is clear that much has changed for Kamala.  

And it is here that the story-arc’s title ‘Mecca’ finally makes sense.   To go to Mecca entails a pilgrimage, a journey of self discovery.  One cannot return from such a journey unchanged, horizons are broadened and perspective becomes more focused.  The enhanced perspective allows one to see things more clearly, a more multidimensional fashion.  What was simple has become complex and the pilgrim has to contend with the fact that world is not as safe and simple and easily discernible and they may have once believed.  

This story arc was something of Kamala’s own pilgrimage to a metaphorical Mecca.  Having returned from the pilgrimage she must now contend with a world that is far more complicated than she had once thought it to be.  Not everyone can be trusted; she cannot hope that everyone will love her.  Sometime those who she thought were good and honorable turn out to be bad and selfish.  And there will be people who hate her not for what she has done, but who she is… leaving it her job to fight on and stay true to her own sense of right and wrong.  

Wow, another really intense story-arc in the pages of Ms. Marvel.  With the Civil Warr II story, followed by the Doc.X story and now this, Ms. Marvel has become a pretty heavy book.  Poor Kamala deserves a break.  Cover art for the next issue promises an adventure alongside The Red Dagger and I’m kind of hoping the tale proves a light-hearted (possibly romantic) romp… it’s make for a welcome change of pace.

At the same time, I don’t at all blame Wilson and company for wanting to put forward such a pertinent and topical tale.  I don’t really know how long it takes to write illustrate and produce a comic, but I would not be surprised to learn that this story was born out of dismaying goings-on when the Muslim Travel ban was first instituted by The trump Administration.  Whether you agree or disagree with the rational behind this ban, it’s impossible not to sympathize with all who are effected and the basic message it puts forth.  Religious freedom has and will always be a central tenet to what America is all about.  The ban defies this tenet, hidden behind the guise of keeping the nation safe.  It’s merely a power play meant to further galvanize those who believe the United States should be a Christian Nation (despite the fact that persecuting others is just about the most non-Christian thing one can do (John 3:16).  

Super hero comics have always been an especially fertile soil for metaphor.  Some such metaphors are heavier handed than others, yet sometimes such heavy handedness is warranted.  Ms. Marvel is one of the only (and certainly the most popular) heroes who is herself a Muslim.  It would be irresponsible to completely sidestep the very pressing real-world issues facing American and would-be American Muslims.  Mayor Worthy’s anti-Inhuman legislation is a metaphorical stand in for President trump’s Muslim Ban.  And just as the third circuit facilitated an injunction against Worthy’s unconstitutional actions so too did the ninth circuit facilitated an injunction against trump’s similarly unconstitutional actions.  The ban is now scheduled to be argued in front of the Supreme Court and there is no way of knowing on what side the Court will ultimately come down on.  It’s all pretty frightening… strike that, it’s terrifying.  Instituting laws on the basis of an individual’s religion is as slippery a slope as it gets and ratification of the ban by the Supreme Court could very well usher dark, dark days here in the states.

Considering how frightening this all is, being able to grapple with the matter in the relatively safe confines of The Marvel Universe makes for a nice respite.  

Definitely recommended.  Four out of Five Lockjaws.

The toxic legacy of old oil wells: California's multibillion-dollar problem

https://sciencespies.com/environment/the-toxic-legacy-of-old-oil-wells-californias-multibillion-dollar-problem/

The toxic legacy of old oil wells: California's multibillion-dollar problem

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Across much of California, fossil fuel companies are leaving thousands of oil and gas wells unplugged and idle, potentially threatening the health of people living nearby and handing taxpayers a multibillion-dollar bill for the environmental cleanup.

From Kern County to Los Angeles, companies haven’t set aside anywhere near enough money to ensure these drilling sites are cleaned up and made safe for future generations, according to a monthslong data analysis and investigation by the Los Angeles Times and the Center for Public Integrity.

Of particular concern are about 35,000 wells sitting idle, with production suspended, half of them for more than a decade. Though California recently toughened its regulations to ensure more cleanup funds are available, those measures don’t go far enough, according to a recent state report and the Times/Public Integrity analysis.

California’s oil industry is in decline, which increases the chances that companies will go out of business. That in turn could leave the state with the costs for cleaning up their drilling sites, which if left unremediated can contaminate water supplies and waft fumes into people’s homes.

Under federal, state and local laws, fossil fuel companies are required to post funds, called bonds, to ensure that wells are ultimately plugged and remediated. These set-aside funds are a response to the oil industry’s history in the United States, in which thousands of companies went out of business without banking enough financial reserves to pay for remediation.

Industry representatives say they are doing their part to pay for cleanup in California, but their bonds are woefully inadequate to meet the expected costs. The Times/Public Integrity investigation found that bonds posted to the state by California’s seven largest drillers, which account for more than 75% of oil and gas wells, amount to about $230, on average, for every well they must decommission. Other bonds held by federal and local regulators don’t significantly raise those amounts.

By contrast, the average per-well cost for capping wells and dismantling associated surface infrastructure in California is between $40,000 and $152,000, depending on whether a well is in a rural or urban area, according to a study released in January by the California Council on Science and Technology.

The result is a yawning gap between what the industry has provided and what ultimately will be needed. Companies have given the state only $110 million to clean up the state’s onshore oil and gas wells, the council found. In actuality, it could cost roughly $6 billion for that cleanup, according to a Times/Public Integrity analysis of state data provided to the science and technology council.

Decommissioning offshore oil wells and platforms, which is not included in those figures, will cost several billion dollars.

“These liabilities are hiding in plain sight,” said Clark Williams-Derry, an energy finance analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. “They’re huge, but somehow they’ve become invisible to us.”

A key question is whether California’s oil industry—once a top-three U.S. producer—has the resources and staying power to pay for future cleanups.

Industry representatives contend that they will be in the state as long as Californians consume fossil fuels. “There are significant projects that are being proposed,” said Rock Zierman, chief executive of the California Independent Petroleum Assn., adding that the state’s oil industry supports roughly 18,000 jobs.

But California oil production has fallen nearly 60% from its peak in 1985, in part because the state’s deposits of heavy crude can’t compete in a world that prefers cheaper natural gas.

As the state extracts less oil, more and more wells sit unused.

If output continues to drop, more communities may be left in the predicament of Arvin, a largely Latino town of 20,000 in Kern County that’s dotted by drill sites. Many of those wells sit idle or produce little.

Until such wells are plugged, they can release toxic emissions and flammable gases from both their casings and the pipes that connect to them. Elvia Garcia knows that all too well.

In 2014, flames shot out of wall sockets in Garcia’s home. Her pregnant daughter suffered from sudden blackouts. Government inspectors drilled test holes in lawns and found explosive levels of gas leaking from a pipe servicing wells at the end of the block.

They gave residents one hour to evacuate. It was nine months before Garcia’s family was allowed to return.

“We smelled strong odors of something decaying, and that smell was coming from the outlets,” she said in Spanish. “We thought there was something in between the walls that had died.”

More than 350,000 Californians live within 600 feet of unplugged wells, a Times/Public Integrity analysis of census data found. That’s the distance at which people are exposed to degraded air quality, according to a 2019 report from the office overseeing oil and gas in Los Angeles.

Oil wells are known to emit likely carcinogens including benzene and formaldehyde. Uncapped, these wells also release a potent greenhouse gas, methane, that helps drive climate change.

The Times/Public Integrity investigation raises questions about the effects of these ongoing emissions if more of the state’s idle wells are deserted without enough money to clean them up.

It has long been industry practice to let wells go temporarily idle—for maintenance purposes, for example, or when commodity prices are low. But according to data maintained by the California Geologic Energy Management Division, or CalGEM, the agency that regulates oil and gas producers, the oil industry since its peak-production days has doubled the instances in which it idles wells for at least two years at a time.

Most cases of oil and gas wells going idle in California are short-term. But once a well has been dormant for just 10 months, there’s a 50-50 chance it will never produce again, a Times/Public Integrity analysis of 40 years of state data found. By the time federal regulators begin raising concern—at five years of inactivity—the chance that a well is ever active again falls to 1 in 4.

Industry critics say lax state regulations are allowing oil companies to walk away from wells and the liability they represent.

“All they want to do is rape the land and leave,” said state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, a Santa Barbara Democrat deeply involved in attempts to regulate the oil and gas industry. “They are taking the resources of California, monetizing them and leaving us with the mess.”

Zierman, of the California Independent Petroleum Assn., rejected such claims, arguing that the use of cleanup bonds and fees on both idling and production means companies bear their share of costs.

Such bonds act like a security deposit on an apartment, with the money returned if a company meets its cleanup obligations and kept by the state if it does not. If a company goes out of business without adequate bonds, the state is on the hook for the difference or, alternately, could leave the site contaminated.

Zierman also disputed the idea that the state’s industry has no future. The problem, he said, is that state and local governments are blocking proposed projects. “Part of it is just a concerted effort to stop oil in California,” he said.

For their part, state regulators say they’re operating under the assumption that California oil and gas is on the way out.

The role of CalGEM “is really to manage that decline,” said Jason Marshall, the Department of Conservation’s chief deputy director and until late 2019 the acting head of its oil and gas division. “To make sure that when the last barrel of oil gets produced, that there are resources available so the well that produced it and all the other wells can be plugged.”

State regulators say they have new tools in place to protect taxpayers and the environment.

In October, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation that gave California more authority to limit the financial liability shouldered by taxpayers. It also mandated companies conduct more thorough reporting of emissions and liability. A month later, Newsom announced the state would study the possibility of a no-drilling buffer zone around communities.

Last April, CalGEM enacted regulations targeting idle wells. Those included increased fees on idle wells to create an incentive for producers to plug them. CalGEM, previously called the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources, collected $4.3 million in such fees in 2018.

Though state officials say these new regulations will better protect the state from liability, they still leave California exposed, experts say.

“The amount of the bonds currently on file is really small compared to the magnitude of the plugging obligations,” said Judson Boomhower, an environmental economist and assistant professor at UC San Diego who was the lead author of the California Council on Science and Technology report.

California’s ability to handle the shrinking size of the industry could soon be tested. One of the state’s largest producers, California Resources Corp., is responsible for the third-most idle wells of any company in the state and faces cleanup costs that far outstrip its total market value. CRC and its subsidiaries operate more than 17,000 unplugged wells, either idle or active, including four artificial islands built to tap offshore reserves.

If CRC were to fold, other companies would probably buy some of those wells, but many could become the state’s problem.

More than 7,600 wells on pause

On many days, there’s no horizon in western Kern County. Dust and pollution thrown up by the area’s twin economic engines, fossil fuel extraction and large-scale agriculture, blend the hazy sky with land that’s been sculpted into miles of straight-lined farms and oil fields hosting three-quarters of the state’s oil and gas wells.

In this part of the county, only a chain-link fence and 1,000 feet of dusty ground separate the fewer than 200 people living in the mobile homes and modest houses of Tupman from the 75-square-mile Elk Hills Field. This oil patch is so contaminated that a flock of sheep, 500 animals by one count, died here in 1960 when they drank from a pool of water tainted with arsenic, historically used to prevent corrosion in wells.

“Here’s a nice place to come out and eat your lunch,” Rosanna Esparza, a gerontologist and Bakersfield-based community activist, said sarcastically during a September visit to the eerily quiet Tupman. She gestured toward two gray picnic tables outside Elk Hills Elementary School, which sits on the oil field’s border.

Elk Hills is the largest gas-producing field in the state and the prize of California Resources Corp.’s portfolio. But this 109-year-old field is home to nearly 1,400 of the more than 7,600 CRC wells that were sitting idle statewide as of mid-January, according to CalGEM data examined by The Times and Public Integrity. The analysis of the most recent idle well inventory, published in September, found that CRC’s idle wells haven’t produced oil or gas, on average, for nearly 14 years.

This field is riddled with contaminants left behind by fossil fuel extraction. The U.S. Navy previously managed Elk Hills, and the federal government is paying the state to remediate 131 areas of concern here that contain arsenic, metals such as chromium and lead, and carcinogenic chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

“This is an example of what’s going to happen in the foreseeable future when other huge oil fields start to lose their glitter,” Esparza said. “This is what happens when the oil industry starts to slip.”

CRC was born in 2014 when Occidental Petroleum Corp. packaged its California assets and spun them off as a new company, shedding millions of dollars in environmental liability for Occidental in the process.

CRC has since faced harsh market forces. Oil production at the wells now owned by the company is down more than 70% since the 1980s. Gas is down more than 50%. CRC’s shares had lost more than four-fifths of their value as of mid-January. The company’s cash generated after expenses—a key financial measure known as net free cash flow—is several hundred million dollars in the red since splitting from Occidental, according to an analysis of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings compiled by the energy analyst Williams-Derry, who has tracked CRC.

And CRC has nearly $5 billion worth of debt that’s maturing by the end of 2022. Its credit rating is CCC+, which Standard & Poor’s describes as “currently vulnerable” and just steps above default.

“The significant risk of this company is avoiding bankruptcy,” said Paul Sankey, an oil and gas analyst and managing director with financial firm Mizuho.

On top of all this, CRC will eventually need to address its environmental liabilities. The company’s most recent SEC filing lists $511 million in future cleanup costs called “asset retirement obligations.”

After examining the state’s historical costs, The Times and Public Integrity found it could cost more than $1 billion to plug all the wells CRC operates.

In emailed responses, CRC spokeswoman Margita Thompson said the company delivered strong third-quarter 2019 results, with record free cash flow, some debt repayment and stable production. She also said the $1-billion figure is misleading because the state would shoulder the responsibility only if CRC were unable to pay, which she indicated would not be necessary because the company expects to make far more money off its reserves than it needs to address those liabilities. And she contended that the company can plug its own wells at a lower cost than if the state were to take over.

CRC across all its subsidiaries has more than $80 million in cleanup bonds outstanding with various agencies, satisfying its obligations, Thompson said.

She said the company takes its oil well “plugging and abandonment duties seriously,” adding that idle wells are an important part of the company’s inventory because they can eventually be used again to access oil and gas formations.

“Prematurely closing wells would worsen Californians’ dependence on imports from places like Saudi Arabia,” said Thompson, who earlier served as press secretary for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Critics say CRC’s approach to its aging wells raises questions about its long-term commitment to remediation.

Under California law, operators can either pay fees or agree to plug long-idled wells. Of the 10 operators with the most long-idled wells in the state, the only ones that opted for fees instead of cleanup were two CRC subsidiaries, according to data obtained via public records requests.

Holding off on decommissioning minimizes short-term costs, but it comes with uncertain consequences for California if CRC gets into deeper financial difficulties.

“A single bankruptcy among one of these large companies could potentially create a large number of orphan wells,” the recent California Council on Science and Technology report said, specifically mentioning CRC.

Williams-Derry compared CRC’s situation to short-lived coal companies that took on high levels of liability in recent years as they spun off from major producers that were financially hurting. “Those were companies that to all appearances were designed to fail,” he said.

Industry lobbies to limit cleanup obligations

People living near unplugged oil and gas wells face exposure to cancer-causing chemicals, and toxic residue brought up by drilling below Earth’s surface can contaminate aquifers that could become future drinking water supplies.

This year, California lawmakers are considering a bill that would create a 2,500-foot buffer separating wells from homes, schools, hospitals and other public buildings.

According to a Times/Public Integrity analysis, more than 2 million Californians live within that distance of an unplugged oil or gas well, with Latino, black and low-income people living nearby at a slightly higher rate than the California population as a whole. Half of those 2 million people reside in Los Angeles.

A strict buffer requirement faces long odds in the Legislature. It’s opposed by labor and oil industry groups, two of Sacramento’s most well-funded lobbying forces.

In 2016, when lawmakers were considering legislation that ultimately overhauled the management of idle wells, the Western States Petroleum Assn., a trade group representing oil and gas interests, reported spending $7 million to lobby on it and other bills. Over the last five years, the trade group pumped more than $41 million into lobbying in California, by far the most of any organization in the state.

Das Williams, now a Santa Barbara County supervisor and formerly a Democratic member of the Legislature, sponsored the 2016 legislation after it became clear that decommissioning offshore oil infrastructure would be costly for the state. That law also increased state bonding, although not to the level its authors had hoped. Williams said that industry groups occupied an opposing seat at the bargaining table and that the bill’s language was “a product of haggling.”

The resulting changes to how the state manages idle wells have produced some progress on cleanup, according to a study CalGEM released in November. Companies plugged 988 long-term idle wells in 2018, and nine operators decommissioned more wells than the statute required.

“It’s doing what we wanted it to do,” said Marshall, with the Department of Conservation.

But companies continue to put off more expensive cleanup jobs in urban areas such as Los Angeles, instead focusing on rural wells that are easier to decommission, mainly in Kern County. That finding is based on data The Times and Public Integrity obtained for every well-plugging plan that operators submitted and CalGEM approved in 2019.

If these wells are left open, the state will need to step in.

Because the money that defunct companies had set aside for cleanup usually falls short, the state relies on fees on idle wells and production. By law, CalGEM isn’t allowed to spend more than $3 million a year to plug orphan wells, a temporary increase that will drop back to $1 million after 2021. The agency has plugged more than 1,350 such wells since 1977.

From Appalachia to the Mountain West, many other states are in a similar predicament, struggling to address cleanup of old oil wells. Utah acknowledged a funding shortfall in November, for example, and Colorado announced its cleanup would cost 14 times more than what companies set aside.

Boomhower, the California Council on Science and Technology bonding report’s lead author, said oil companies often find it cheaper to forfeit an insufficient bond than to pay for cleanup and capping. “You do have to worry that some of these small and mid-sized operators don’t have incentive to clean up,” he said.

In Arvin, fumes remain near homes and schools

Five years ago, Elvia Garcia returned to her home in Arvin, which she said had been looted while she was gone. Since then, her family has continued to suffer from lingering headaches brought on by occasional odors. State regulators fined the company responsible for the leak, Petro Capital Resources LLC. The company installed machines on homes in the neighborhood, including Garcia’s, to remove gas—and vent it into backyards.

During a September visit to Arvin, various wells near Garcia’s neighborhood hummed as they pulled up a trickle of hydrocarbons. The odor of mercaptan, the compound added to natural gas to give it its distinctive smell, hung in the air. At one site, oil stained a patch of dirt, the leak appearing to originate from another company’s storage tank.

The largely disused wells here are part of a trend. At the industry’s peak, about 2.5 times as many wells produced as sat idle statewide. That ratio has fallen to about 1.5 times as many active as idle wells, the Times/Public Integrity analysis found.

Francisco Gonzalez, who lives down the street from Garcia, moved to Arvin to enjoy a quiet retirement outside Los Angeles. He said his family still smells nauseating levels of gas at certain times, and he worries about the health of children attending the schools across the street from wells.

“What is the company going to do?” he asked in Spanish. “They are not going to do anything.”

Jeff Williams, Petro Capital Resources’ production manager, said there can’t be leaks in homes, because the pipeline hasn’t been used since 2014 and wells are pulling up only enough gas to relieve pressure buildup. He said the company has no near-term plans to plug and abandon the wells because it hopes to one day restart production there.

Two blocks away, next to Arvin High School, 25 unplugged wells owned by a company called Sunray Petroleum Inc. sit deserted, 40 years after some of them last operated. Pump jacks rise above fields of almond saplings like rusting scarecrows.

Sunray, which filed for bankruptcy in 2011 and has racked up numerous violations for unpaid fees and inadequate pollution monitoring, saw its production fall off a cliff in the late 1980s. The last of its wells went quiet in 2015.

A phone number listed for the company has been disconnected, and other attempts to reach Sunray proved futile. The company has posted a cleanup bond for its wells, but it is far less than what the law requires and what will ultimately be needed for cleanup.

In March 2017, CalGEM mailed a notice of violation to the Las Vegas-based company. In a certified letter, the division wrote that Sunray ignored requirements to test its long-idled wells, including those near Arvin High School, for indications of groundwater contamination. The agency said that failure to submit those tests could constitute a crime.

The post office sent the letter back to CalGEM with this stamp: “RETURN TO SENDER. UNCLAIMED. UNABLE TO FORWARD.”

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#Environment

Does Cannabis Have a Shot at Being Federally Legalized?

Andrew Ward of High Times Reports:

At this moment, 11 American states and Washington, D.C. now have adult-use cannabis legislation law on its books. When it comes to medical, 33 states have passed regulations. Additionally, 24 states and the country’s capital decriminalized marijuana in some form or another. 

With over half of the United States passing cannabis legislation, some wonder if federal action could be on the horizon. 

It can be easy to write off the possibility of any change in 2020. A long-held belief posits that little to nothing of significance happens during election years. With politicians off on the campaign trail garnering support, legislation tends to take a back seat. More so, politicians may hold off on casting any votes for fear of upsetting citizens so close to a vote. 

A drop in Congressional attendance during election years does appear to be true. Though, there is a case to be made that finds legislation getting done even while away from Capitol Hill. In addition to history serving as a possible indicator, a flurry of activity in early 2020 may lead to further action concerning cannabis, both marijuana and hemp. 

The MORE and SAFE Acts

With the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, proponents hope to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act. The MORE Act aims to create equity programs to support those most affected by the drug war and expunge low-level cannabis records as well. 

In recent weeks, the measure received a boost of support in the form in two forms when long-time anti-cannabis advocate Joe Kennedy III signed on to the Act as a cosponsor. 

Meanwhile, cannabis businesses and banks have anticipated some change concerning the status of banking for some time now. Under current regulations, companies can’t bank with institutions like other industries. The situation leaves marijuana ventures exposed to theft and other crime as it handles its revenue in an all-cash, unsecured setting. 

The Secure And Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act hopes to resolve this manner. Its solution includes allowing financial institutions to do business with the cannabis industry while not having to fear any federal consequences. Additionally, the Act contains parameters that would protect legalized states’ markets from federal prosecution. 

The SAFE Banking Act has made progress through the House but now finds itself stuck in the Senate Banking Committee, where Idaho Senator Mike Crapo heads the committee. Crapo is currently considering an amended version of the bill, which makes restrictions to the Act, notably a 2% THC potency cap. Recently, the Chair received letters pleading from lawmakers and industry groups that Crapo consider the passed version of the Act. Otherwise, the market could see new rounds of banking and regulatory headaches. 

Current issues aside, lawmakers tell the media they remain optimistic about the SAFE Banking Act, while the MORE Act requires additional steps to be considered realistic at this time. Despite the longer road ahead, the MORE Act seems like a possible passable measure, according to Nebraska-based criminal defense lawyer Seth Morris. Though, the Berry Law Firm lawyer believes that the MORE Act, or any marijuana legalization bill, almost assuredly won’t pass in 2020. 

That said, Morris told High Times that the MORE Act is the direction federal lawmakers are headed. Morris explained the rationale, chalking the decision up to a rights issue. “Removing cannabis from the federal Controlled Substances Act treats marijuana like alcohol, and leaves it up to the states and federal territories to determine whether or not they want this substance to be legal.”

The lack of action on the two bills gives Brandon Wiegand, regional general manager for The+Source dispensaries in Las Vegas, a negative outlook for legalization prospects this year. 

The retail manager touched on another substantial cannabis bill moving through Congress, the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) Act. If passed, cannabis legalization would be recognized on the federal level, as well as those states that have passed such laws. 

“Congressional bills like the STATES Act and SAFE Banking Act that enjoy widespread, bi-partisan support have not been passed, and those are less contentious topics than federal legalization,” Wiegand explained.  

Partisan Friction

Such bipartisan support could possibly erode quickly as well. Tensions between the two ruling parties in America have fractured at a staggering rate in the modern era. Since the Clinton impeachment trial, tensions have boiled and simmered over time through Bush Jr. and Obama. Now in a post-Trump impeachment Congress, no one is quite sure if lawmakers will play ball with anyone across the aisle. 

Even before the impeachment proceedings, cannabis legalization was becoming increasingly partisan, according to Benton B. Bodamer, an attorney with Dickinson Wright’s Cannabis Practice Group. Bodamer called the political ideology divide as “one of the biggest obstacles to a viable federal approach.” 

One issue Bodamer highlighted as a likely point of partisan friction will be social equity. “Social equity is one of the most important and divisive pieces of the national legalization debate,” explained Bodamer. 

The legal professional believes states should be able to choose an appropriate structure for themselves. However, federal inclusions could prove to be a significant stumbling block. Bodamer forecasted, “National legislation will almost certainly fail if a perfect social equity solution is a precondition.”

The attorney also called out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as a pivotal roadblock. “Simply put, 33 states supporting medical cannabis are not enough. Forty-nine states would not be enough until a state called Kentucky has medical cannabis,” Bodamer said of the Senator’s home state. 

“If the Bluegrass State embraces medical cannabis, we will have a national path to legalization within six months from that date. That could be as soon as the end of 2020, or first half of 2021,” the legal professional predicted. 

While McConnell has not endorsed marijuana, the Senator was a crucial component in progressing hemp legislation as part of the 2018 Farm Bill. Regardless of the Majority Leader’s support, cannabis needs to be maintained across the aisle sponsorship. The rise in political infighting could affect scores of other bills in progress at the nation’s capital. They include several measures, including two legalization bills, which were heard in front of a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health. 

Despite any political fighting, the public demands action. If all proved positive for the cannabis community, over 40 states could pass some form of legalization come Election Night 2020. Several candidates have already laid out plans for executive orders and policy agendas. In a recently leaked video, President Trump could be heard saying cannabis banking was “working out” despite spouting tired anti-cannabis health claims. 

Barring a significant change in the air, 2020 won’t be the year federal legalization or substantial progress comes to fruition. That said, the winds of change are blowing strong, and many experts believe that breeze will carry the aroma of legal cannabis with it soon enough.

TO READ MORE OF THIS ARTICLE ON HIGH TIMES, CLICK HERE. 

https://hightimes.com/news/politics/does-cannabis-have-a-shot-at-being-federally-legalized/