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  • Meek: Jim Harbaugh promised a ‘gold standard.’ Instead, Michigan got more trouble.

    Meek: Jim Harbaugh promised a ‘gold standard.’ Instead, Michigan got more trouble.

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    ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Five weeks ago, Jim Harbaugh stood in front of reporters and talked about setting a “gold standard” for rules compliance.

    Harbaugh had just returned from a three-game suspension Michigan self-imposed tied to alleged NCAA violations that occurred on his watch. Though he considered Michigan’s compliance to be exemplary, he talked about implementing new policies to “make sure I don’t ever get sidelined again.”

    “We’ve done an incredible job,” Harbaugh said then. “We’ve gone to the nth degree to follow every rule.”

    That rings hollow now, doesn’t it? A little more than a month later, Michigan is facing another NCAA investigation, this one for alleged violations of the in-person scouting rule. Michigan suspended staffer Connor Stalions with pay after he was identified as a central figure in the NCAA investigation. Monday, The Athletic reported that Stalions purchased tickets under his own name for games involving at least five of Michigan’s opponents during the past three seasons.

    A staffer buying tickets to Big Ten football games isn’t a violation of NCAA rules. Forwarding those tickets to other people isn’t, either. It’s possible Stalions, a former student volunteer who joined Michigan’s recruiting department in 2022, is just a college football superfan who is used to digging into his own pockets to buy and sell tickets on the secondary market.

    But using those tickets to scout other teams would be a violation.

    Looking at Stalions’ purchases, people around the Big Ten noticed a troubling pattern: seats near midfield, clear view of the sideline, sometimes on both sides of the stadium. The Athletic and other outlets reported one school has security footage of an individual sitting in a seat purchased by Stalions filming the team’s sideline with a smartphone.

    Whatever that is, it’s not a gold standard of rules compliance. The NCAA forbids “off-campus, in-person scouting of future opponents” and the NCAA football playing rules prohibit taping signals. Technical arguments can be made about what constitutes scouting and who, exactly, falls under the jurisdiction of these rules. But the spirit is clear: Schools aren’t supposed to be sending people to other stadiums and taping other teams’ signals.

    If that’s what was happening here, Michigan has a problem on its hands. How big or small depends on many factors, chief among them: Did Harbaugh or any members of his coaching staff know this was going on?

    Harbaugh released a statement last week saying he didn’t direct anyone to participate in an off-campus scouting assignment and had “no awareness of anyone on our staff having done that or having directed that action.” No evidence has emerged to contradict that statement. But the investigation is just getting started, and the NCAA will be keen to determine if Stalions paid for the tickets out of his own pocket or had help from other sources.


    Jim Harbaugh started the season with a self-imposed three-game suspension. (Dylan Widger / USA Today)

    The evidence presented so far isn’t conclusive, but it’s certainly suspicious. Other Big Ten schools saw what Stalions was doing and realized it could be a problem for Michigan. Why didn’t Michigan see that?

    The least charitable interpretation is that Harbaugh knew about and sanctioned Stalions’ alleged actions. In the most charitable interpretation, Harbaugh had bigger things to worry about. A Big Ten football program is a sprawling operation, and the head coach can’t possibly police the actions of 100 players, 10 assistant coaches and every low-level staffer in the building.

    But that’s all the more reason to have people looking out for potential problems. Michigan, of all programs, should know that. If Michigan had done what Harbaugh said it would, the Wolverines might not be in this position.

    Michigan had every reason to examine its policies and procedures after landing in hot water with the NCAA over alleged violations that occurred during the COVID-19 dead period, including impermissible contact with recruits and analysts performing coach duties in practice. Everyone should have been on their best behavior after Harbaugh’s three-game suspension, knowing how it would look if the program slipped up again.

    Even if the facts are less damning than they appear, somebody — Harbaugh, his coordinators, Michigan’s compliance department or Stalions’ supervisor — should have been looking out for red flags. It’s unclear when these tickets were purchased, but they involve games played this season, including Saturday’s clash between Penn State and Ohio State, according to ESPN. That’s brazen stuff for a program already under the microscope.

    Stalions didn’t play college football but gained a reputation around the Michigan program for his ability to decode other teams’ signals. As a former U.S. Marine and Naval Academy graduate, he seemed eager to apply his military background by “identifying and exploiting critical vulnerabilities,” as he wrote in a now-deleted LinkedIn bio.

    The shame of it all is that Michigan is good enough to win without any of this. Of Michigan’s 20 consecutive Big Ten victories, only three have been decided by single digits. The Wolverines owe their success to Aidan Hutchinson, Blake Corum, J.J. McCarthy and a bunch of other talented players, not to a staffer who may have been good at decoding signs.

    This isn’t the first time Harbaugh’s program has run into controversy. In addition to the previous NCAA investigation, Michigan fired co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss in January amid a police investigation of suspicious computer activity at Schembechler Hall. That investigation remains open, and university police have refused to discuss it.

    A program that cares about following the rules to the nth degree would want to make sure a sign-deciphering operation is fully legal, especially in light of past missteps. Even if Harbaugh had no idea what was going on, NCAA rules hold head coaches accountable for what happens in their programs. Harbaugh seemed to acknowledge as much when he talked about implementing policies to protect himself and his staff after returning from his suspension.

    Asked for details of those policies, Harbaugh offered very few. It sounded more like a spur-of-the-moment proclamation than a coordinated directive. Harbaugh or someone close to him should have taken those words to heart and made sure Michigan got its house in order, knowing the NCAA would be looking for any excuse to add to Harbaugh’s three-game school-imposed suspension.

    The investigation still has to play out, but on the surface, this is exactly the kind of thing that could compound Michigan’s NCAA troubles and land Harbaugh on the sideline again. Anyone who looked hard at what Stalions was doing could have seen the potential for scandal and controversy, the last thing Michigan needs as it chases a national championship.

    In trying so hard to spot an opponent’s vulnerabilities, Michigan missed a big one of its own.

    (Photo: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)

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    The New York Times

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  • It’s True – Final Fantasy VII is a Tough Sell in 2023

    It’s True – Final Fantasy VII is a Tough Sell in 2023

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    Once upon a time, you’d be hard-pressed to find anybody with anything close to a serious love of games who hadn’t played Final Fantasy VII. Flash forward 26 years though, and that isn’t quite the case.

    Still, you’ll frequently see it hailed as one of the best games of all time even today. For many, Final Fantasy VII is a lifelong love affair. So long as these folks are still around touting the game’s many virtues there will always be a younger generation of gamers who’ll want to see what all the fuss is about.

    But how do you go about introducing them to a game that looks and plays so remarkedly different from those they’d be used to playing?

    If you were to ask Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Director Naoki Hamaguchi, he’d probably tell you to just wait for this upcoming game — the second in a proposed trilogy that began with 2020’s Final Fantasy VII Remake.

    Image Source: Square Enix

    In a recent interview with GadgetMatch at the Thailand Game Show 2023, Hamaguchi explained how he wants to make a game that’s accessible precisely for those people whose experience with the world of Final Fantasy VII might extend only so far as knowing the names of its main characters.

    Hamguchi recognizes that “FF7 is a difficult title to get into today”. And, as much as it might pain those who still hold the game in such (deservedly) high esteem, he’s right.

    In a way, I’m one of those people. As an impressionable youth, I was a dyed-in-the-wool Nintendo fanboy. None of that spiky-haired guy on the motorcycle thanks, I’m with the fairy kid on the horse. By the time I finally tried FFVII out for myself, it was already several years old, and even then I remember it feeling too slow and graphically dated compared to the games I was playing on GameCube.

    As a far more tribally-averse adult, I regret missing out on PlayStation classics like the Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid series. So, after picking up the game for next to nothing in a Steam sale, I finally played through Final Fantasy VII to completion during lockdown.

    Cloud and Barret boss fight in Final Fantasy VII
    Image Source: Square Enix via Twinfinite

    Truth be told, it was an underwhelming experience. The cinematic splendor that was so highly touted upon release is obviously not going to be anywhere near as impressive by modern standards. The party mechanics are still solid JRPG fare, but I’m otherwise in the camp who would argue that the age of turn-based, randomized battle encounters is largely best left in the past.

    And look, I grew up loving exactly this kind of game. But the world has moved on. Our expectations have changed. The pace of life has changed. Demands on our attention have changed. Ain’t nobody got time for drawn-out encounters with the same enemies over and over and again while trying to figure out where to go next.

    Yet, as somebody who has the capability of putting the game into some kind of historical context, I was still able to get plenty out of the experience. There’s still loads to love, least of all the immaculate vibes conjured by the game’s polygonal early 3D, the lived-in environments shot through with cyberpunk neon-lighting, and of course the all-timer Nobuo Uematsu score. I don’t regret playing it at all.

    But would a younger gamer raised on Roblox, Fortnite, Minecraft, and the like be able — let alone willing — to stick with the game to extract these more timeless aspects? Unlikely.

    Cloud and Tifa boss battle in Final Fantasy VII Remake
    Image Source: Square Enix

    This isn’t some old man shouting at clouds thing either; it’s just a fact. Any young gamer who is curious enough to seek out and try games a quarter of a century old deserves kudos. But let’s be real: we’ve all sat ourselves down to watch an old ‘classic’ film and come away with a sense of “Was that it?”

    Few pieces of media are truly timeless in a manner that doesn’t require some kind of contextualisation. Those interested in cinema or the novel might enroll in a film studies or literature course to learn more about the medium, its techniques, and its history. As a much younger medium, we still haven’t quite established a similar framework for video games.

    Naturally, we can’t, nor do we want to, just shrug our shoulders and let the great games of yesteryear become ever more out of reach. One solution is to rerelease the games on modern hardware, which Square Enix has at least done quite admirably in recent years. For quite a few years, if you wanted to play FF7, you’d have to scour eBay for an overpriced copy. But now, you can pick up the game on every modern platform at a very reasonable cost.

    There are also a plethora of options you can tweak to make the game more palatable by modern standards. However, there’s a strong argument to be made that doing such things as turning off random encounters and enabling faster-paced battles somewhat radically alters the game’s specific magic sauce, and not necessarily for the better.

    That, though, is an argument that you can take to any number of extremes. Are you really properly experiencing Final Fantasy VII unless you’re playing it on the original hardware on a CRT television?

    Final Fantasy VII Remake key art
    Image Source: Square Enix

    Yes, Final Fantasy VII had enjoyable gameplay for its time, but what people really fell in love with was its world and the characters that inhabited it. If that’s the most important thing, then how could it not be argued that a full remake offers the best way to introduce new players to it?

    A couple of years after I finished my playthrough of the original Final Fantasy VII, I’ve just polished off Remake in time for the February 2024 release of Rebirth. It was everything I wanted but didn’t get from my years-after-the-fact playthrough of the original. I gasped at the stunning views of Midgar, felt my heart sink as Shinra executed its evil plans, and welled up at the sight of Aerith handing Cloud a flower.

    After all these years, I can finally say that Final Fantasy VII is in my greatest games of all time list; maybe not for the original game itself, but definitely for its masterfully crafted world, characters, and story. At this point, does it matter that it’s not the exact same one that so many others put in theirs?

    About the author

    James Crosby

    James is a freelance writer for Twinfinite, typically covering new releases and live service titles. He has been writing about MMOs since 2015, and has published a book about Star Wars Galaxies.

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    James Crosby

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  • Director’s Statement: The Hamas-Israel Conflict

    Director’s Statement: The Hamas-Israel Conflict

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    • Opinion by Kevin P. Clements (tokyo, japan)
    • Inter Press Service

    TOKYO, Japan, Oct 25 (IPS) – The world and the Middle East do not need another violent conflict. This is a region that has experienced far too much violence over the years. Hamas’ desperate attacks on innocent civilians was intended to provoke an Israeli overreaction that would, among other things, jeopardise Israeli diplomatic negotiations with the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia and create generalised anxiety within Israel. It was also aimed at demonstrating Hamas’ military capacity and vengeance for years of a humiliating blockade of Gaza. Kidnapping Israeli civilians was callous and brutal but part of a plan to use hostages as bargaining chips around the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

    The ferocity of the Hamas violence against innocent Israelis was appalling and many war crimes were committed in the first 24 hours of the invasion. After the initial shock, Israeli military vengeance has been swift in coming.

    Since the events of the weekend, a gigantic humanitarian catastrophe and many other war crimes are unfolding in Gaza itself. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised “Vengeance”. He stated that there would be no “restraint on the military” and that the newly formed coalition government would crush Hamas, whose fighters he called “wild animals” and “barbarians.”

    “We are fighting a cruel enemy, an enemy that is worse than ISIS,” he said, adding “and we will crush and eliminate it, like the world crushed and eliminated ISIS.” While the swift military response is understandable, an unencumbered Israeli military operation to extract vengeance for the 1,200 Israeli’s killed is likely to generate many more casualties and new martyrs especially since Israel has “laid siege” to Gaza, cutting off water, power, electricity and food supplies. Medical and health facilities are overstretched and supplies running out.

    There are two wars currently in play. The first has to do with the battle on the ground. Initially Hamas’s unrestrained militia had the upper hand but now the formidable Israeli military machine is moving into action with terrifying consequences for the 2.3 million inhabitants of Gaza, not all of whom are Hamas supporters. One million are under the age of 19. The Israeli air force has been dropping hundreds of bombs on Gaza including strikes throughout the day and night. Over 263,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in the Gaza Strip, as heavy bombardments from the air, land and sea continue to hit the Palestinian enclave. There is nowhere for these displaced persons to go. Over 2,000 Palestinians have been killed since the blockade and bombing of Gaza began.

    There are no exits to Egypt and certainly none to Israel. The presence of thousands of Israeli self-defence forces in tanks and on foot all around Gaza suggest that an invasion of the strip is highly likely with 2.3 million Palestinians unable to escape Israeli “vengeance” .

    The second battle is for control of the narrative. Israel immediately moved into a victim narrative, comparing the Hamas assault to 9/11, Pearl Harbour and the Holocaust. President Biden called the Hamas attacks “pure evil”. All of these comparisons are intended to evoke memories of swift and “legitimate” military action and “vengeance”. Hamas, on the other hand claims that its actions are justified by years of blockade, oppression and humiliation. Gaza, for example, is often referred to as the largest open-air prison in the world. The world’s media (led by the United States) promotes the first narrative while pro-Palestinian states and free Arab media the second. Neither narrative, however, can be used to demonise, and justify unrestrained bloodshed against, the other.

    Despite years of occupation and humiliation by Israel, Hamas gains nothing by killing and kidnapping Israeli civilians and randomly terrorizing the Israeli population.

    On the other side, nothing is gained by Israel declaring “vengeance” against Hamas, bombing civilians and now blockading Gaza.

    All victims will and must be grieved and mourned by friends and families. There are no winners in this war. It’s a disaster for everyone.

    As the SG of the United Nations put it. This most recent violence “does not come in a vacuum” but “grows out of a long-standing conflict, with a 56-year long occupation and no political end in sight.”

    Antonio Gutteres appealed for an end to “the vicious cycle of bloodshed, hatred and polarization”:

    Israel must see its legitimate needs for security materialized – and Palestinians must see a clear perspective for the establishment of their own state realized. Only a negotiated peace that fulfils the legitimate national aspirations of Palestinians and Israelis, together with their security alike – the long-held vision of a two-State solution, in line with United Nations resolutions, international law and previous agreements – can bring long-term stability to the people of this land and the wider Middle East region.

    In the meantime, we are witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe unfold before our eyes. We cannot remain mute in the face of violence on both sides. There can be no military solution to the Palestinian conflict. It’s critical that there be swift negotiations to generate some humanitarian corridors to let those that wish to leave Gaza do so and to enable the UN and other humanitarian organisations bring in water, power, food and medical supplies to serve the needs of a besieged population. It’s also important (even as the Israeli army prepares for an invasion) that both sides are reminded of and are willing to fight according to long established rules of war. Proposing that Israel will fight “without restraint” is a recipe for multiple human rights violations in response to those already perpetrated by Hamas.

    Let’s hope and work for a return of hostages, and reinforce all Turkish and UN moves for a ceasefire and negotiations to end the war. Without imagination and courage there will be no end to Palestinian hopelessness, humiliation, death and destruction. Without imagination and creativity on the Israeli side there will be no real security, and cycles of vengeance and violence will be deepened and normalised. The challenge is to draw on all the rich Jewish traditions of forgiveness and reconciliation to ensure that the responses to Hamas’s appalling slaughter are proportionate and restrained. There is no room for Gaza to become another Warsaw Ghetto with Israel responsible for vengeful death and destruction.

    Kevin P. Clements is the Director of the Toda Peace Institute.

    IPS UN Bureau


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    © Inter Press Service (2023) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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  • Action Delayed, Justice Denied by Voluntary ESG Approach

    Action Delayed, Justice Denied by Voluntary ESG Approach

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    • Opinion by Jomo Kwame Sundaram, Siti Sarah Abdul Razak (kuala lumpur, malaysia)
    • Inter Press Service

    KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Oct 25 (IPS) – Policy approaches relying solely on voluntary actions to address urgent needs are unlikely to succeed. Depending on optional compliance to address global warming will not fix things in time.

    Regulation for transformation
    Tariq Fancy, former Chief Investment Officer for Sustainable Investing at BlackRock, had created a storm with his criticisms of ESG (environmental and social governance) ‘greenwashing’, remaining wary of voluntary corporate-led reforms.

    Jomo Kwame SundaramNevertheless, judicious and effective regulation based on ESG principles, combined with changing incentives and increased public awareness, can incentivize companies to do better.

    Fancy believes changing rules for better regulation is essential for better outcomes. Limiting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is essential to ensure responsible governance aligned with the long-term public interest.

    Investment managers have several responsibilities – including fiduciary duties, legal obligations, and financial incentives – requiring them to prioritize short-term profitability rather than sustainability.

    Fancy believes imposing financial costs will provide stronger incentives for corporations to pursue greener alternatives. After all, voluntary measures are rarely enough to ensure sufficient adoption of sustainable practices.

    Changing regulations to incorporate sustainability considerations should require portfolio managers to prioritize social and environmental concerns, and make choices supporting long-term sustainability goals.

    Profits not aligned with public interest
    Fiduciary duties oblige company managers to always act in the best interest of shareholder profits. This means ESG initiatives will only happen if they help, or at least do not hurt, profitability.

    Fancy noted managers are not allowed, by law, to sacrifice potential profits from shareholder investments. They are legally obliged to never sacrifice shareholder interests, especially profitability, for anything else.

    Social, cultural and media shifts in the West have undoubtedly influenced transnational business behaviour. The popularization of ESG discourses reflects these trends, but there is no strong evidence of their efficacy and positive impact.

    Fleeting episodes of public attention cannot even ensure long-term protection of the public interest. With managers constrained by their fiduciary duties, relying on corporations to do the right thing is neither reliable nor sufficient.

    Relying on corporate social or environmental responsibility may well become a distraction, delaying urgent and much-needed efforts. This failure underscores the need for government regulation and corporate compliance to achieve vital social and environmental goals.

    Quick fixes delay progress
    Fancy found many people believe safeguarding investment portfolios from climate risks prevents global warming. But safeguarding finance from climate risks is not the same as mitigating climate change.

    De-risking finance means protecting the financial value of an investment portfolio. This includes protecting against asset damage, or reducing the risk of lower investment returns, but certainly not climate change mitigation.

    Mitigating climate change requires proactive measures to reduce GHG emissions. This includes measures to generate and use clean, especially renewable energy.

    Financial protection is important for financial asset owners, but it cannot replace the efforts needed to fight climate change. Worse, believing such measures address the climate crisis serves to delay government interventions and other changes needed to do so.

    Climate inequity
    Climate change exacerbates inequality, which in turn delays progress. The intergenerational distribution of the burden of climate risks disproportionately affects younger and future generations.

    This deters proactive measures, as older generations are less inclined to spend more now for future generations who will suffer more from global warming. Instead, they may prefer measures to better adapt to its contemporary effects.

    Aside from younger and future generations, the more vulnerable will also bear its worst effects. Thus, for example, small farmers in developing nations will have to cope with increased droughts, floods and crop failures.

    Thus, further progress on climate change is delayed due to financial short-termist thinking, business interests, limited contemporary accountability for future consequences, as well as political and cost considerations.

    Developing nations, with much smaller per capita carbon footprints, typically lack resources, leaving them more vulnerable. Meanwhile, developed countries, the major historical greenhouse gas emitters, have more resources to slow and adapt to climate change.

    Can ESG principles help?
    Will businesses maintain commitments to ESG ‘principles’ over the long term? They are legally obliged to maximize shareholder interests, especially profits, and also know public interest, attention, sentiment and priorities are always changing.

    Business leaders may only commit to ESG principles in the long term if compelled to embrace them owing to the pecuniary costs of ignoring them. Obligations to other stakeholders – including investors, customers and employees – can also help sustain ESG commitments.

    Establishing clear governance arrangements for ESG oversight, setting measurable and achievable goals, reporting regularly, and ensuring comprehensive organizational accountability should also help.

    But ultimately, regulation should appropriately advance social and environmental responsibility, with such commitments sustained despite shifting public attention, fads and profit concerns.

    Are voluntary efforts enough?
    The COVID-19 experience has also taught us to prioritize proactive, systemic and mandatory measures, rather than rely solely on voluntary efforts. While voluntary efforts can advance sustainability efforts, the pandemic experience suggests they will not be sufficient to achieve needed changes soon enough.

    A systemic approach can induce businesses and individuals to do the needed. Policy interventions, especially regulation, are essential to drive systemic changes on a large scale, and to align businesses and individuals with ESG principles.

    Clear communications, transparency and collaboration – among governments, businesses and civil society – are crucial for achieving long-term sustainability and progressive social change.

    To control the pandemic, governments adopted ‘all of government’ and ‘whole of society’ approaches, imposing strict mandatory lockdowns, but also providing vaccinations to all, and support to the vulnerable.

    Similar top-down approaches may be needed to effectively address social and sustainability challenges. This could involve implementing regulations, standards and incentives promoting, even requiring, sustainable practices.

    IPS UN Bureau


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    © Inter Press Service (2023) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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  • Brazil: A Step Forward for Indigenous Peoples Rights

    Brazil: A Step Forward for Indigenous Peoples Rights

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    • Opinion by Ines M Pousadela (montevideo, uruguay)
    • Inter Press Service

    MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Oct 24 (IPS) – Brazil’s Supreme Court has delivered a long-awaited ruling upholding Brazilian Indigenous peoples’ claims to their traditional land. It did so by rejecting the ‘Temporal Framework’ principle, which only allowed for the demarcation and titling of lands physically occupied by the Indigenous groups who claimed them by 5 October 1988, when the current constitution was adopted. This excluded the numerous Indigenous communities who’d been violently expelled from their ancestral lands before then, including under military dictatorship between 1964 and 1985.

    The case was brought in relation to a land dispute in the state of Santa Catarina, but the ruling applies to hundreds of similar situations throughout Brazil.

    This was also good news for the climate. Brazil is home to 60 per cent of the Amazon rainforest, a key climate stabiliser due to the enormous amount of carbon it stores and the water it releases into the atmosphere. Most of Brazil’s roughly 800 Indigenous territories – over 300 of which are yet to be officially demarcated – are in the Amazon. And there are no better guardians of the rainforest than Indigenous peoples: when they fend off deforestation, they protect their livelihoods and ways of life. The best-preserved areas of the Amazon are those legally recognised and protected as Indigenous lands.

    But there’s been a sting in the tale: politicians backed by the powerful agribusiness lobby have passed legislation to enshrine the Temporal Framework, blatantly ignoring the court ruling.

    A tug of war

    The Supreme Court victory came after a long struggle. Hundreds of Indigenous mobilisations over several years called for the rejection of the Temporal Framework.

    Powerful agribusiness interests presented the Temporal Framework as the proper way of regulating article 231 of the constitution in a way that provides the legal security rural producers need to continue to operate. Indigenous rights groups denounced it as a clear attempt to make theft of Indigenous lands legal. Regional and international human rights mechanisms sided with them: the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples warned that the framework contradicted universal and Inter-American human rights standards.

    In their 21 September decision, nine of the Supreme Court’s 11 members ruled the Temporal Framework to be unconstitutional. With a track record of agribusiness-friendly rulings, the two judges who backed it had been appointed by former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, and one of them had also been Bolsonaro’s justice minister.

    As the Supreme Court held its hearings and deliberations, political change took hold. Bolsonaro had vowed ‘not to cede one centimetre more of land’ to Indigenous peoples, and the process of land demarcation had remained stalled for years. But in April 2023, President Lula da Silva, in power since January, signed decrees recognising six new Indigenous territories and promised to approve all pending cases before the end of his term in 2026, a promise consistent with the commitment to achieve zero deforestation by 2030. The recognition of two additional reserves in September came alongside news that deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon had fallen by 66 per cent in August compared to the same month in 2022.

    Agribusiness fights back

    But the agribusiness lobby didn’t simply accept its fate. The powerful ruralist congressional caucus introduced a bill to enshrine the Temporal Framework principle into law, which the Chamber of Deputies quickly passed on 30 May. The vote was accompanied by protests, with Indigenous groups blocking a major highway. They faced the police with their ceremonial bows and arrows and were dispersed with water cannon and teargas.

    The Temporal Framework bill continued its course through Congress even after the Supreme Court’s decision. On 27 September, with 43 votes for and 21 against, the Senate approved it as a matter of ‘urgency’, rejecting the substance of the Supreme Court ruling and claiming that in issuing it the court had ‘usurped’ legislative powers.

    The Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil’s (APIB) assessment was that, as well as upholding the Temporal Framework, the bill sought to open the door to commodity production and infrastructure construction in Indigenous lands, among other serious violations of Indigenous rights. For these reasons, Indigenous groups called this the ‘Indigenous Genocide Bill’.

    The struggle goes on

    As the 20 October deadline for President Lula to either sign or veto the bill approached, a campaign led by Indigenous congresswoman Célia Xakriabá collected almost a million signatures backing her call for a total veto. Along with other civil society groups, APIB sent an urgent appeal to the UN requesting support to urge Lula to veto the bill.

    On 19 October the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office said Lula should veto the bill on the basis that it’s unconstitutional. On the same day, however, senior government sources informed that there wouldn’t be a total veto, but a ‘very large’ partial one. And indeed, the next day it was announced that Lula had partially vetoed the bill. According to a government spokesperson, all the clauses that constituted attacks on Indigenous rights and went against the Constitution were vetoed, while the ones that remained would serve to improve the land demarcation process, making it more transparent.

    Even if the part of the bill that wasn’t vetoed doesn’t undermine the Supreme Court ruling, the issue is far from settled. The veto now needs to be analysed at a congressional session on a date yet to be determined. And the agribusiness lobby won’t back down easily. Many politicians own land overlapping Indigenous territories, and many more received campaigns funding from farmers who occupy Indigenous lands.

    While further moves by the right-leaning Congress can’t be ruled out, the Supreme Court ruling also has some problems. The most blatant concerns the acknowledgment that there must be ‘fair compensation’ for non-Indigenous people occupying Indigenous lands they acquired ‘in good faith’ before the state considered them to be Indigenous territory. Indigenous groups contend that, while there might be a very small number of such cases, in a context of increasing violence against Indigenous communities, the compensation proposal would reward and further incentivise illegal invasions.

    But beneath the surface of political squabbles, deeper changes are taking place that point to a movement that is growing stronger and better equipped to defend Indigenous peoples’ rights.

    The 2022 census showed a 90-per-cent increase, from 896,917 to 1.69 million, in the number of Brazilians identifying as Indigenous compared to the census 12 years before. There was no demographic boom behind these numbers – just longstanding work by the Indigenous movement to increase visibility and respect for Indigenous identities. People who’d long ignored and denied their heritage to protect themselves from racism are now reclaiming their Indigenous identities. Not even the violent anti-Indigenous stance of the Bolsonaro administration could reverse this.

    Today the Brazilian Indigenous movement is stronger than ever. President Lula owes his election to positioning himself as an alternative to his anti-rights, climate-denying predecessor. He now has the opportunity to reaffirm his commitment to respecting Indigenous peoples’ rights while tackling the climate crisis.

    Inés M. Pousadela is CIVICUS Senior Research Specialist, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.


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    © Inter Press Service (2023) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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  • OPINION: We need targeted funding for racial equity in our public schools. California may have some lessons for all of us

    OPINION: We need targeted funding for racial equity in our public schools. California may have some lessons for all of us

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    House Republicans recently returned to one of their favorite targets for spending cuts: the country’s most vulnerable youth and the schools that serve them. Their plan would represent a major setback to efforts to achieve racial equity in our nation’s public schools.

    During the latest battle over preventing a government shutdown, Republicans called for cutting Title 1 education grants earmarked for low-income students by 80 percent, which would mean a loss of nearly $15 billion in funding for schools with sizeable populations of these students, disproportionately affecting schools that serve more children of color.

    We already see this racial logic playing out in the efforts of red states to use school funding as a political football. In Tennessee, the house speaker and lieutenant governor have teamed up to explore rejecting federal education funds altogether. They hope to shirk federal oversight on matters related to inequality, including civil rights protections based on race.

    Given the patterns in funding schemes across the country, it is clear that we need to set aside targeted school funding on both the state and local levels with the express purpose of remedying injustices inflicted upon particular groups of students.

    Yet the reality is that government funding decisions about education have long been a way to install and preserve racial inequality in our society. And since these inequalities have origins in funding malpractice, to remedy them, the government must use targeted funding for racial equity going forward.

    Related: ‘Kids who have less, need more’: The fight over school funding

    School funding stems from three major sources: federal, state and local. Looking at average breakdowns from recent data, we see that U.S. schools receive about 47 percent of their funds from their state government, 45 percent from local and 8 percent from federal.

    This means that states and districts can counteract any proposed federal cuts with concerted efforts to reinvest in vulnerable youth. But even states with Democratic leadership have struggled to do so.

    For example, in Pennsylvania, where I call home, the state’s funding scheme has been found unconstitutional for providing inadequate and unequal funding. Recent investigations have revealed how damaging the effects of this system have been on districts where a majority of students are students of color; one study, from the advocacy group The Education Trust, found that “districts with the most students of color on average receive substantially less (16 percent) state and local revenue than districts with the fewest students of color, equating to approximately $13.5 million for a 5,000-student district.”

    Related: OPINION: Pennsylvania’s school funding is a case study in the future of inequality

    The state of California, and its largest city, Los Angeles, however, have initiated thoughtful and large-scale efforts to right the wrongs of governments past. California’s funding formula and Los Angeles’ program to holistically support Black students are both concrete efforts to tinker with school funding to move towardequity, rather than away from it. In a nutshell, these programs exemplify meaningful, targeted investments in marginalized populations and represent a significant course reversal from much of United States history.

    Though these two programs in California have flaws, which I detail below, there are real lessons that leaders across the country can glean from them in order to make real, lasting change in their own locales.

    I spent the previous five years in California training teachers and studying school improvement. This year, we are arriving at the 10th anniversary of the state’s Local Control Funding Formula, which changed how schools were funded and allows for greater flexibility in how local education agencies meet the needs of three targeted student populations: low-income, foster youth and English learners.

    These programs exemplify meaningful, targeted investments in marginalized populations and represent a significant course reversal from much of United States history.

    Results so far include a demonstrable gain in test scores for these “high-need” students, including a 13 percentage point increase in the number of students meeting or exceeding standards on state tests in districts where 95 percent of students are high-need.

    These numbers could have been even higher, however, had there been greater compliance at the district level. The same report noted that roughly 60 percent of districts reported spending “less money on high-need students than they were allocated for these students. Nearly 20 percent spent about half or less.”

    Further, advocates argue that California’s funding formula does not do enough to target the needs of Black students in the state, who continue to face an accumulation of disadvantages both in and out of school. This was one impetus for even more targeted funding in California’s largest district: Los Angeles Unified.

    In February 2021, Los Angeles approved a reform initiative known as the Black Student Achievement Plan. This plan set out to address rampant racial disparities in the district, pulling together $36.5 million in funds from the school police department budget and the district’s general fund.

    The money went toward many important endeavors, including reforms of school discipline and curriculums and hiring support staff such as counselors, school climate coaches and nurses.

    Additional resources were provided according to need, with schools serving the highest number of Black students also receiving psychiatric social workers, attendance counselors and funding for restorative justice programs.

    Early data found some notable gains, including increases in graduation rates, completion of courses required for admission to California State universities, enrollment in Advanced Placement courses and attendance. These successes, while modest, provide evidence that targeted funding for Black students can improve how schools serve them.

    But the problems with LA’s program are also instructive. An April report found that, similar to the deployment of the state funding formula, nearly 40 percent of the allocated funds were not used after the first year of the program, while the rollout and follow-through varied greatly across school campuses.

    Those findings were later corroborated by an ongoing evaluation study, which noted that several LA schools dealt with unfilled positions related to the Black Student Achievement Plan while others tended to overwhelm program staff with responsibilities beyond their job descriptions.

    These struggles show how, to fulfill their promise, programs like California’s targeted funding formula and Los Angeles’ plan for Black students must: (1) hire appropriate numbers of staff with clear job responsibilities, (2) communicate actively with communities about the purpose of the funds, (3) check-in regularly with schools to keep track of the funds they have left to spend and (4) consistently support the educators making use of the funds.

    While there will certainly be differences in state policies, school district size and budgets, more states and districts should heed the lessons, both good and bad, from California.

    Given how much pressure we collectively put on schools to improve society, setting aside specific funds for programs to support the most systematically disadvantaged students constitutes an educational imperative. These important California models can pave a path forward with more explicit commitments to racial justice.

     Julio Ángel Alicea is an assistant professor of sociology at Rutgers University-Camden. A former public school teacher, his research interests include race, urban education and organizational change.

    This story about equitable school funding was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Hechinger’s newsletter.

    The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.

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  • To Attain the SDGs, We Must End Female Genital Mutilation

    To Attain the SDGs, We Must End Female Genital Mutilation

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    In Africa, an estimated 55 million girls under the age of 15 have experienced – or are at risk of experiencing – FGM. Credit: Shutterstock
    • Opinion by Stephanie Musho, Esther M Passaris (nairobi)
    • Inter Press Service

    NAIROBI, Oct 20 (IPS) – The tips of our fingers have densely packed nerve endings. That is why a miniscule paper cut activates our pain receptors and causes stubborn pain for a day or two. Now consider that a clitoris has over 10,000 nerve endings. It is the human female’s most sensitive erogenous zone, explaining the sexual pleasure it elicits at the slightest touch. A paper cut on your clitoris would be agonizing yet does not compare to the pain of female genital mutilation – or FGM.

    The consequences are devastating and far-reaching, permeating social, political and economic facets of daily life. Consider that the current and future financial cost of health care alone for women living with conditions caused by FGM is USD 1.4 billion   annually.  Yet,  over 4 million women and girls remain at risk of undergoing this violation.

    Unlike male circumcision that has been found to reduce transmission rates of HIV and sexually transmitted infections, FGM has no medical benefits. It is simply a function of patriarchy meant to sexually control women.  The consequences of FGM are dreadful.

    Survivors have spoken out on what sex is like after this heinous mutilation:  they feel no sexual pleasure, only excruciating pain. Childbirth is even worse as they are more susceptible to complications, increasing the prevalence of maternal mortality and morbidity by way of obstructed labor, fistula, post-partum hemorrhage, sepsis and ultimately death. The psychological effects are extensive too, resulting in, among other things, depression, crippling anxiety, and even suicide.

    Worse still is that the repercussions extend beyond physiology. FGM is often a precursor to child marriage, cutting off the prospects of a girl or young woman actualizing themselves. It is further compounded by conflict and climate crises. In such contexts, bride price is deemed to be an ‘easy escape’ from economic hardships. This false perception makes an already bad situation worse.

    In Africa, an estimated 55 million girls under the age of 15 have experienced – or are at risk of experiencing – FGM. This is despite the existence of robust laws and policies that criminalize this violation in at least 28 countries on the continent. For example  50% of these 55 million girls are found in three countries – Egypt, Ethiopia and Nigeria, and all three countries have criminalized the practice. This disregard of the rule of law can be attributed to deeply entrenched cultural dogma, founded on patriarchy that perpetuates the clashing of harmful culture with the legal code.

    Additionally, African women and girls in the diaspora, such as those among the 11 million Africans in Europe and 2 million in the U.S., continue to suffer, with little to no legal protections in place. Aggravating this is that undocumented migrants have little recourse, as seeking protection from FGM would expose them to detention and deportation.

    Besides, an emerging trend in the fight against FGM is the contention with cross border FGM. This is where communities travel outside of territories with stringent laws that criminalize the practice to carry out the violation elsewhere to avoid prosecution. This is termed ‘vacation cutting’. It is consequently imperative that FGM is criminalized everywhere, for there to be progress towards our shared global sustainable goals.

    The fight to end this scourge is made harder by the medicalization of FGM where health professionals conduct the practice in place of traditional ‘cutters’; in a fallacious and inadequate attempt to mitigate the damaging impacts of FGM.  In fact, a qualified medical doctor recently filed an application in the High Court challenging the prohibition of FGM, citing criminalization of the practice as a violation of bodily autonomy and an infringement of a woman’s right to uphold her culture. This is a reiteration of the need to double down efforts to eradicate the practice as there are those among us that remain committed to the continued relegation of women and girls, and their entrapment in vicious dependency and poverty cycles in the name of culture.

    It is then evident that ending FGM requires an armory of varied strategies. This begins with the understanding that when a country becomes party to an international legal instrument, it consents to limitations to its sovereignty and must therefore fulfil its obligations under international law.

    This includes those under African Charter on People’s and Human Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa – commonly known as the Maputo Protocol, for African States; and the United Nations Convention on the Elimination on all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), among others. These are important tools towards much needed universal criminalization of and ending FGM.

    The world is currently at the midpoint of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) set to elapse in 2030, and all indications point to a completely off-track trajectory – if not regression. If the current rate of progress continues, it could take nearly 300 years to attain gender equality.

    While some could argue that it is unrealistic to succeed in 7 years, it is certainly possible to accelerate action and shorten this depressing forecast. We must therefore accelerate action and truly leave no one behind. This means protecting those at risk of this horrendous violation of women and girls. Additionally, a needed increase in financial investments; and it makes financial sense to make them since ending FGM saves economies the costs of the attendant consequence.

    The time is now to focus on FGM because while there are ongoing efforts to reform the global financial architecture towards financing for development, these have been heavily centered on climate action.  Whilst this is indeed important, the relegation of other goals in this pursuit runs the risk of pushing them – including those on women and girls further to the periphery. These spaces must be expanded towards intersectional collaboration towards financing and meeting our people and planetary goals.

    Additionally, there are at least 40 general and presidential elections slated for next year. Fifteen elections are in Africa; 7 in the Americas; 8 in Asia; another 8 in Europe and 2 in Oceania. It is an opportune time for the electorate to demand the inclusion of gender and health rights like ending FGM in manifestos as a start.

    People can appraise track records and thereafter hold elected leaders accountable to their commitments including on increased budgetary allocations and transparency in expenditure. Good governance is indeed central to these efforts.

    Ultimately, ending FGM requires a concerted effort, a global push with full solidarity where everyone has a responsibility to act. If the rights of women and girls are not prioritized and intersectionality leveraged, as deliberated on at the just concluded International Conference on FGM, we will ultimately fail to achieve Agenda 2030 in its entirety and possibly even our health and gender goals in our lifetime.

     

    Stephanie Musho is a human rights lawyer and campaigner; and an Aspen New Voices Senior Fellow

    Hon. Esther Passaris is a Member of Parliament in the Republic of Kenya and a member of the Pan African Parliament 

    © Inter Press Service (2023) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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  • Crisis Resilient Urban Futures: The Future of Asian and Pacific Cities 2023

    Crisis Resilient Urban Futures: The Future of Asian and Pacific Cities 2023

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    • Opinion by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana (bangkok, thailand)
    • Inter Press Service

    BANGKOK, Thailand, Oct 20 (IPS) – Cities have always been dynamic hubs of culture, education, economic growth and opportunity, and most importantly, centres of social interaction attracting residents and visitors alike.

    It is no surprise then, that Asia and the Pacific has in recent years become predominantly urban as people seek greater opportunities and services in cities of all sizes, from coastal communities in the Pacific to mega-cities such as Bangkok, Hong Kong and Tokyo, and in smaller towns and emerging urban centres, each with unique characteristics reflecting our region’s diversity.

    The megatrend of urbanization, however, has not been free of difficulties, with many of the global crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the increasing effects of climate change, biodiversity loss and various forms of pollution, all converging in our cities. These challenges have made more visible long-standing issues such as inequalities and urban poverty, access to affordable housing and an infrastructure gap.

    Our most vulnerable communities often are those most affected. This is clear in our cities where climate-related disasters disproportionately impact the poor, and women and children are unable to access essential urban services.

    Meanwhile, a lack of affordable housing hinders the poor and middle classes alike, and inadequate infrastructure too frequently results in persons with disabilities being left behind. Collectively, these challenges not only can harm cities and their residents but will hinder progress toward the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its goals, many of which intersect in cities.

    When cities shuttered during the pandemic, economic activity, tourism, education and urban services all suffered seemingly irreparable harm. Yet, in the aftermath of the global pandemic, we realize that a sustainable future for Asia and the Pacific runs through our cities, and we must take the necessary steps to address existing urban challenges and plan urbanization to be inclusive and resilient to future shocks and crises.

    And we know how to get there. ESCAP, UN-Habitat and partners have developed a new flagship report, Crisis Resilient Urban Futures: The Future of Asian & Pacific Cities 2023. Through analysis of the crises and their effects, the report offers practical guidance across four key thematic areas for inclusive urban policies, partnerships, and innovations:

    First, urban and territorial planning remains the foundation of how all cities manage their growth and plan urban services. Having seen how crises can disrupt these systems, we know that holistic urban planning that prioritizes multi-use, compact development, low-carbon transportation and mobility, affordable housing and efficient delivery of services are essential for creating safe, sustainable and livable cities for all citizens.

    Next, as we are all too frequently reminded by the number of climate-induced disasters in our region, effectively responding to the climate emergency must be a priority, and cities are well positioned to lead innovation and new practices for low-carbon and resilient pathways. A resilient city engages all stakeholders, from the most vulnerable communities to civil society and policy makers from the local to national level, all working to co-develop solutions.

    We also live in a more digitally connected world, where urban digital transformations and smart city technologies, if managed effectively, can improve operational efficiencies, bridge the digital divide and ensure access for all. The pandemic underlined the need to include everyone in shaping our digitally transformed future.

    Finally, the multiple crises highlighted the urgency to safeguard urban finances. Expanding, diversifying, and increasing municipal revenue should be a key strategy for cities to stimulate local economic recoveries. And as no city can go it alone, robust multi-level governance, supported by transparent public frameworks for intergovernmental transfers, is needed, while more stable policies and incentives can open doors to private sector investment.

    Recovery from any shock or crisis takes time and collective action. We must ensure that our urban areas guard against future risks while building safe, sustainable and livable communities and putting us back on track to achieve the 2030 Agenda.

    The eighth Asia-Pacific Urban Forum (APUF-8), which is being held next week (23-25 October) in Suwon, Republic of Korea, is a key platform to share urban solutions and enhance partnerships to address the multitude of challenges. Though the task is formidable, with the right policies, innovations, cooperation and the engagement of citizens, we can ensure that our region’s cities remain vibrant hubs.

    Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

    IPS UN Bureau


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    © Inter Press Service (2023) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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  • Israel-Hamas war cuts deep into Germany’s soul

    Israel-Hamas war cuts deep into Germany’s soul

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    Voiced by artificial intelligence.

    It’s as if one front in the Israel-Hamas war is playing out on the streets of Berlin.

    The main battleground has been an avenue lined with chicken and kebab restaurants in Neukölln, a neighborhood in the south-east of the city that’s home to many Middle Eastern immigrants. Some pro-Palestinian activists have called for demonstrators to turn out almost nightly, and, as one post put it, turn the area “into Gaza.”

    On October 18, hundreds of people, many of them teenagers, answered the call.

    “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” chanted many in the crowd as a phalanx of riot police closed in on them. Berlin public prosecutors say the slogan is a call for the erasure of Israel, and have moved to make its utterance a criminal offense.

    While similar scenes have played out across much of the world, for Germany’s leaders, they are profoundly embarrassing and strike at the heart of the nation’s identity, on account of the country’s Nazi past. 

    Germany’s “history and our responsibility arising from the Holocaust make it our duty to stand up for the existence and security of the State of Israel,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz said during a visit to Israel on October 17 intended to illustrate Germany’s solidarity.

    The difficulty for Scholz is that far from everyone in Germany sees it his way.

    German leaders across the political spectrum expressed outrage when, after the Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attack on Israeli civilians, dozens of people assembled in Neukölln to celebrate. One 23-year-old man, a Palestinian flag draped over his shoulders, handed out sweets.

    A community on edge

    Since then, tensions in Berlin and in other German cities have rapidly escalated. A surge in antisemitic incidents has left many in the country’s Jewish community on edge and German police have stepped up security at cultural institutions and houses of worship.

    At the same time, German police have moved to ban many pro-Palestinian demonstrations, saying there is a high risk of “incitement to hatred” and a threat to public safety. Demonstrators have come out anyway, leading to violent clashes with police.

    Some in Germany, particularly on the political left, have questioned whether the bans on pro-Palestinian protests are an overreach of the state, arguing that they stifle legitimate concerns about civilian casualties in Gaza stemming from Israel’s retaliatory strikes.

    But Berlin authorities say, based on past experience, the likelihood of antisemitic rhetoric — even violence — at prohibited pro-Palestinian demonstrations is too high.

    Protesters demanding a peaceful resolution to the current conflict in Israel and Gaza demonstrate under the slogan “Not in my name!” in Berlin | Maja Hitij/Getty Images

    Many on the far-left have joined those protests that do take place.

    On Wednesday night, around the same time demonstrators assembled in Neukölln, a group of a few hundred leftist activists showed up at a planned vigil for peace outside the foreign ministry.

    “Free Palestine from German guilt,” they chanted in English. Germany, the argument went, should get over its Holocaust history, at least when it comes to support for Israel. The irony is that there is much sympathy for this view on the far right.

    One recent poll showed that 78 percent of supporters of the far-right Alternative for Germany disagreed with the idea that the country has a “special obligation towards Israel.” Extreme-right politicians have also called on Germany to get over its “cult of guilt.”

    For many in the country’s Jewish community — which in recent years has grown to an estimated 200,000 people, including many Israelis — the conflagration in the Middle East has made fear part of daily life.

    Molotov cocktails

    In the pre-dawn hours on Wednesday, two people wearing masks threw Molotov cocktails at a Berlin Jewish community hub that houses a synagogue. The incendiary devices hit the sidewalk, and no one was hurt. But the attack stoked profound alarm.

    “Hamas’ ideology of extermination against everything Jewish is also having an effect in Germany,” said the Central Council of Jews in Germany, the country’s largest umbrella Jewish organization.

    Since the Israel-Hamas war broke out, several homes in Berlin where Jews are thought to live have been marked with the Star of David.

    “My first thought was: ‘It’s like the Nazi time,’” said Sigmount Königsberg, the antisemitism commissioner for Berlin’s Jewish Community, an organization that oversees local synagogues and other parts of Jewish life in the city. “Many Jews are hiding their Jewishness,” he added — in other words, concealing skullcaps or religious insignia out of fear of being attacked.

    It remains unclear who perpetrated the firebombing attack and Star of David graffiti. But historical data shows a clear correlation between upsurges in Middle East violence and increased antisemitic incidents in Europe, according to academic researchers.

    In the eight days following Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, there were 202 antisemitic incidents connected to the war, mostly motivated by “anti-Israel activism,” according to data compiled by the Anti-Semitism Research and Information Center. 

    Fears within the Jewish community were particularly prevalent after a former Hamas leader called for worldwide demonstrations in a “day of rage.” Many students at a Jewish school in Berlin stayed home. Two teachers wrote a letter to Berlin’s mayor to express their dismay that, as they put it, the school was nearly empty.

    A pro-Palestinian demonstrator displays a placard during a protest against the bombing in Gaza outside the Foreign Ministry in Berlin on October 18, 2023 | John Macdougall/AFP via Getty Images

    “This means de facto that Jew-haters have usurped the decision-making authority over Jewish life in Berlin,” they wrote. The teachers then blamed Germany’s willingness to take in refugees from war-torn places like Syria and Lebanon. “Germany has taken in and continues to take in hundreds of thousands of people whose socialization includes antisemitism and hatred of Israel,” they wrote.

    Day of rage

    Surveys show that Muslims in Germany are more likely to hold antisemitic views than the general population. Politicians often refer this phenomenon as “imported antisemitism,” brought into the country through immigration from Muslim-majority nations.

    At the same time, it was a far-right attacker who perpetrated some of the worst antisemitic violence in Germany’s recent history. That came in 2019, when a gunmen tried to massacre 51 people celebrating Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, in a synagogue in the eastern German city of Halle. Two people were killed.

    German neo-Nazis have praised Hamas’s October 7 attacks in Israel. One group calling itself the “Young Nationalists” posted a picture of a bloodstained Star of David on social media next to the slogan “Israel murders and the world watches.” 

    During the Neukölln demonstration, officers arrested individual protestors one by one, picking them out from the crowd and dragging them off by force.

    The atmosphere grew increasingly tense. Demonstrators lobbed fireworks and bottles at the police. Dumpsters and tires were set alight. By the end of the night, police made 174 arrests, including 29 minors. Police said 65 officers were injured in the clashes.

    At one point amid the chaos, a 15-year-old girl with a Palestinian keffiyeh — a black and white scarf — wrapped around most of her face emerged amid the smoke and explosions to pose for a selfie in front of a row of riot police.

    She said she was there to demonstrate for “peace.” When asked how peace would be achieved, she replied: “When the Israeli side pisses off our land, there will be peace. Won’t there?”

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  • Big Changes Coming to the World BankBut its Not Enough

    Big Changes Coming to the World BankBut its Not Enough

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    Credit: European Press Agency for Glasgow Actions Team
    • Opinion by Andrew Nazdin (london)
    • Inter Press Service

    LONDON, Oct 19 (IPS) – It’s official: The World Bank officially has a mission to combat climate change. At least on paper.

    This week, the World Bank governing body approved a new vision statement that clarifies that the Bank can tackle climate change as part of its mission to alleviate global poverty on “a livable planet.” Also this week, the new World Bank President Ajay Banga suggested that he’ll be consider redirecting subsidies away from fossil fuels and towards climate action.

    This is not nearly enough. The World Bank is still funneling billions of dollars to the fossil fuel industry each year, through direct and indirect finance mechanisms. Urgewald estimates that they funded $3.7 billion towards oil and gas last year.

    This is despite the fact that they’ve made a commitment to align with the Paris Climate Agreement and do what it takes to keep global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius. In order to do so, experts with the International Energy Agency warned that there is ‘no room’ for new fossil fuel development if we’re going to reach this goal.

    The IEA also said that fossil fuel subsidies are an inefficient way to help consumers. Yet despite this, Banga admitted he didn’t plan to “get rid of all” fossil fuel subsidies. Just that the topic “needs discussion.”

    Still – it’s hard to imagine this new vision statement coming out one year ago, under the helm of former climate change-denying president David Malpass. After his climate change denial caused public outrage–and protests around the world–he stepped down, and US President Joe Biden appointed a new president.

    Credit: European Press Agency for Glasgow Actions Team

    Banga started with a clear societal mandate to accelerate climate action at the World Bank. He was given a 100-day plan to end fossil fuel finance, fund a just and green transition, and promote transparency.

    Last week, Banga’s opportunity arrived during the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings in Marrakech. The first meetings run by Banga after months of him talking up his climate change credentials.

    Organizations from around the world teamed up with local Moroccan activists to put on the pressure. It started before the meetings began, with billboards blanketing the city. They had two key demands: End Fossil Finance and Drop the Debt.

    Why end fossil finance?

    Because the World Bank, despite its commitments to the Paris Climate Agreement, has continued funneling billions of dollars to fossil fuel projects through direct and indirect mechanisms.

    And why drop the debt?

    Because global debt is at a decades-long high, with people in 54 countries currently living in debt crisis, and unless these colonial debt deals can be fixed, many developing countries can’t afford to invest in the climate solutions they so desperately need.

    The action continued all week long. On the first day of the meetings, we stood outside the meeting venue to greet every World Bank delegate on their way inside. Many groups joined the meetings and delivered a petition to Banga himself, with 40,000 people calling on him to end fossil finance.

    Last Thursday, hundreds marched through the streets of Marrakech. And on the final day of the conference, activists returned to the conference venue for one last rousing rally and day of action.

    Meanwhile, the Bank must consider the intertwined relationship between debt relief for developing nations and environmental sustainability. Offering debt relief can free up resources, enabling these nations to explore and invest in green technologies.

    This would not only aid in their fight against climate change but also propel them toward a sustainable economic trajectory. Banga has outlined a few steps to greatly increase funding that can flow through the World Bank.

    But we must make sure such increased funding doesn’t continue to force developing countries into deals they can never get out of. It’s true that the world needs vastly more funding into clean energy industries if we are to transition to a sustainable economy. We need funding that helps those in need, not harms.

    The World Bank acknowledging that it must do its job on a “livable planet” is the absolute bare minimum. It’s like an employee setting his printer on fire but telling his manager, “At least I didn’t burn the whole office down.”

    Decades after the world’s top scientists have agreed that climate change is an existential threat, the Bank has a place for climate change in its vision statement. But what is a vision without a plan? And what is a plan on a dead planet?

    The protestors have done their part, articulating a vision for a greener, fairer world economy. The ball now lies firmly in the court of institutions like the World Bank. As the drums of activism fade and the placards are put away, the world awaits their next move.

    What will it be?

    Andrew Nazdin is Director of Glasgow Actions Team

    The Glasgow Actions Team formed around the UN Climate Conference in 2021 in Glasgow, which led to a landmark deal putting the world on the trajectory to ending financing for fossil fuels. The organization is committed to pushing the world’s climate champions to go farther, calling out the blockers, and exposing the deniers. Throughout the 2023 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group, they ran several actions calling on the World Bank to get in line with the Paris Climate Goals — to stop funding fossil fuels, invest in renewables, and become a more transparent and democratic institution.

    To learn more, follow Glasgow Actions Team on Twitter, Instagram, , or check out the website.

    IPS UN Bureau


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    © Inter Press Service (2023) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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  • Ghiroli: Kim Ng was a reluctant trailblazer. Her Marlins exit makes her even more impressive

    Ghiroli: Kim Ng was a reluctant trailblazer. Her Marlins exit makes her even more impressive

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    ARLINGTON, Texas — When Kim Ng was hired to lead the Miami Marlins in November 2020, it made national news. She was on “Today” and got a text message from former first lady Michelle Obama. The weight of being the first woman and the first person of East Asian descent to serve as general manager of an MLB team meant everything she did was a headline.

    Women in the industry, and some outside of it, texted me at the time about the gravity of the moment — how it was about time, and why did it take so long, and would this open the door for more women in sports, particularly baseball?

    Privately, we all hoped the most you can hope for when a woman from an underrepresented group enters a high-profile position in a male-dominated world: Please be good enough to keep your job.

    But it was how that job ended that truly speaks volumes.

    Kim Ng was a reluctant trailblazer. Now, she’s a certified badass.

    There are only 30 MLB teams. Only 30 people who truly lead a baseball operations staff. And Ng — who declined her part of a mutual option for 2024 — walked away the minute it was apparent she was no longer going to be one of them. She did it without (to our knowledge) another job in hand. She did it matter-of-factly, telling The Athletic’s Tyler Kepner that she and owner Bruce Sherman were “not completely aligned on what (baseball operations) should look like and I felt it best to step away.”

    And in doing so, Ng did more in minutes for women in sports — many of whom still constantly feel, subconsciously or otherwise, that we’re lucky to have our jobs and shouldn’t rock the boat by asking for the pay or power of our male counterparts — than she did the three years before that.

    Know your worth. Ng knows hers.

    The Marlins lapped up the positive press that came with hiring Derek Jeter to a CEO position and his decision to hire Ng, who he said at the time was simply the best person for the job. (What a novel concept!)

    Jeter departed less than two years ago, saying that the organization wasn’t going to do what he’d been told they would from a competitive (and spending) standpoint. He had his critics, both outside and within the Marlins organization.

    Ng, who was informed last week in speaking to Sherman that the organization wanted to hire a president above her, also had her critics. Though she was lauded by a majority of the organization for turning around the culture and getting the Marlins to their first full-season playoff appearance since 2003, there wasn’t universal support. Detractors say she can be abrasive, she’s tough to work for, that she put holdovers from previous Marlins regimes who weren’t pulling their weight on notice. In other words, she’s a woman in a position of power not content to smile glibly and say, “I’m just happy to be here,” about a role she’s been qualified for for years. (Never mind that people often laud men for that same brashness and anoint them as strong leaders.)

    Ng wanted to make changes, to restructure baseball operations to have people who echoed her vision all pulling on the same rope. Manager Skip Schumaker and assistant general manager Oz Ocampo were among those who recently sung her praises to The Athletic. Instead, she was essentially told: Nice job, but we’re hiring someone to really be in charge now.

    It’s likely Ng was already one of the lowest-paid general managers in baseball, as Miami is a smaller MLB market and Sherman isn’t exactly known for lavish spending. (At least, not on the team he owns. He treated his boat better than the person most responsible for the team’s success.)

    One step forward, two steps back. That’s how it feels women move in sports sometimes. The same week Alyssa Nakken interviewed for the Giants’ managerial position, Ng felt disrespected enough to step down from a job it took three decades for her to get.

    At a time when women are increasingly being hired for traditionally male roles, we throw around firsts and talk about the shattering of glass ceilings more than ever. Ng is a reminder that merely getting the job shouldn’t be the end game. It’s having success in the role, fighting to do it your way, and making it easier for other women and people from underrepresented groups to follow your path.

    Women are not just happy to be here. We’re not bright, shiny objects to put atop your press release like lawn decorations.

    Ng sure as hell isn’t.

    (Photo: Al Diaz / Miami Herald / Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

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  • Insider Expos頯f ESG Greenwashing

    Insider Expos頯f ESG Greenwashing

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    • Opinion by Jomo Kwame Sundaram (kuala lumpur, malaysia)
    • Inter Press Service

    KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Oct 18 (IPS) – A senior manager of the world’s largest investment firm has ‘blown the whistle’ on ESG (environment, social and governance) ‘greenwashing’, especially on supposed climate finance.

    Wall Street whistle-blowerTariq Fancy was Chief Investment Officer (CIO) for Sustainable Investing at BlackRock, managing over $9 trillion in assets. Founded in 1988, headquartered in New York City, and with the world’s largest investment portfolio, BlackRock can move financial markets.

    Jomo Kwame SundaramHence, Fancy’s insider critique of corporate ESG pretensions – often associated with ‘responsible’ and ‘impact investing’ – has had a major impact. It has been seen as confirming and even elaborating on longstanding criticisms of ESG ‘greenwashing’.

    Rejecting ‘stakeholder capitalism’, shareholder capitalism guru Milton Friedman long emphasized that a corporation’s primary and sole duty is to maximize profits for shareholders.

    Managers are legally required to prioritize shareholder financial interests above all else. This means corporations must never sacrifice profits or their funds, however noble the cause.

    Ethical or responsible actions can only be justified if they enhance ‘shareholder value’. Thus, companies can take morally desirable actions to improve their ESG ratings only if and when they enhance profitability.

    As Friedman emphasized, corporate executives have strict fiduciary responsibilities under the law in ‘shareholder capitalism’ in the US, UK and elsewhere. Their managerial obligations and conduct thus limit potentially positive ESG impacts.

    Prioritizing their corporate fiduciary duties above all else, they cannot enhance social or environmental benefits without maximizing returns for shareholders. By law, social, community or national ethical duties or moral values must always be secondary.

    Is green financing progressive?
    Corporate practices respond to changing understandings of profit-maximization in the medium to long-term. With changing national and international requirements, companies may be able to maximize long-term financial gains by investing in sustainability.

    Thus, investing in green transitions – e.g., renewable energy or re-afforestation – can become profitable in the longer-term if the regulatory environment changes soon enough to sufficiently change incentives for long-term investments.

    So, long-term profitability can be enhanced at the expense of short-term gains if conducive regulations, incentives and deterrents are introduced early enough.

    Companies changing to more environmentally sustainable practices – like adopting solar panels, investing in re-afforestation, or other green initiatives – may thus become more profitable over the longer-term.

    But ‘business-as-usual’ investments are still likely to yield more short-term gains in the near-term. And stock markets are more interested in short-term corporate performance, undermining longer-term profitability considerations. Thus, short-termist corporate governance norms deter green transitions.

    Do green bonds accelerate green transitions?Larry Lohmann has shown how difficult it is to confirm that finance raised by companies issuing ‘green bonds’ is actually additional. It is often difficult to verify such bonds are funding new projects that would not have happened anyway.

    Sometimes, companies had already planned to make certain investments using conventional financing. With ready access to such finance, they would not have issued green bonds if not for the pecuniary advantages of doing so.

    In such circumstances, green bonds have the same results as conventional finance if not for the incentives to claim otherwise. Hence, green bonds cannot claim credit for green investments and transitions if they would have happened anyway by other means.

    This raises larger questions about the supposedly transformative impact of green bonds. Companies may even obscure environmentally unsustainable or even harmful practices by bundling them together with ostensibly ‘green’ investments.

    Thus, green bonds may finance certain genuinely sustainable or environment-friendly projects without changing the rest of their investment portfolios and business practices.

    Stock market discipline?
    Despite lacking strong supportive empirical evidence, advocates claim ESG-compliant stocks outperform non-compliant ones in the share market. Similarly, they claim such compliance improves overall ESG indicators and contributes significantly to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

    But there is no strong evidence that ESG-inspired stock market or corporate strategies have improved the environment, society or governance. After all, shareholders and companies prioritize short-term financial goals over longer-term considerations, including ESG and long-term profitability.

    Divestment of shares in companies which are not ESG-compliant may only have limited impact if others buy non-compliant stocks, especially after their prices have fallen.

    Also, even if some investors sell their shares in companies which are not ESG-compliant, it is unlikely the stock market will ‘green’ corporate behaviour more broadly.

    Such stocks are mere drops in the ocean of wealth and finance, and one cannot realistically expect the tail to ‘wag the dog’. In 2021, the world economy had $360 trillion worth of wealth, with nearly $6 trillion in private equity.

    Disciplining companies
    Divestment means selling shares and thus losing ‘voice’ in company governance. But for shareholder engagement, it is necessary to retain stock ownership. Holding stock gives shareholders voice which can be used to try to pressure companies to be more ESG-compliant.

    Without financially damaging effects for its reputation and share price, a company would not be compelled to become more ESG-compliant. Only significant stock price collapses – following massive share divestment due to reputational damage – are likely to motivate companies to become ESG compliant.

    Undoubtedly, adverse publicity for particular companies hurts their stock prices, at least temporarily. And this may force companies to improve their behaviour. But such success implies a ‘name and shame’ approach – not ESG-compliance – can be effective.

    And while some share prices may be more sensitive to adverse ESG publicity in some societies, there is no strong evidence this is true everywhere. Nor is there any strong evidence that systematic ESG reporting has generated desirable outcomes in most societies.

    Divestment may not strongly affect company profitability or share prices. But actions such as consumer boycotts directly influence company revenue and financial performance. This may prompt strong corporate responses due to their impacts on companies’ ‘bottom lines’.

    IPS UN Bureau


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    © Inter Press Service (2023) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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  • AI stole the show this year, but earnings will drag Wall Street back to reality

    AI stole the show this year, but earnings will drag Wall Street back to reality

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    Nearly a year ago, OpenAI released ChatGPT 3 into the world, and investors got visions of dollar signs in their heads as they imagined the ways that artificial intelligence could make big money for businesses.

    Wall Street’s now coming to terms with the fact that those sorts of paydays are going to take time. As investors have already seen from the past two quarters of earnings, AI has only really delivered financial benefits for a select few hardware companies so far — while spurring new costs for many others.

    “The AI boom has already bifurcated into the contenders and pretenders,” said Daniel Newman, chief executive and principal analyst of Futurum Research. And while Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Intel Corp. and Arm Holdings PLC
    ARM,
    +0.38%
    have stirred up interest, Nvidia Corp.
    NVDA,
    -4.68%
    has established itself as far and away the greatest “contender,” with AI driving strong demand for its chips tuned for AI training.

    Nvidia last quarter reported record earnings, including a 141% jump in revenue for its graphics chips used in AI infrastructure building up data centers. Nvidia, which reports near the end of earnings season on Nov. 21, posted record revenue of $13.5 billion last quarter and is expected to easily top that with $16 billion in the most recent quarter, a surge of 170% versus a year ago. Those estimates include $12.3 billion of revenue coming from data-center sales.

    Other chip companies could post gains from AI as well, but to far lesser extents. Candidates include Broadcom Corp.
    AVGO,
    -2.01%
    and system maker Super Micro Computer Inc.
    SMCI,
    +2.35%    ,
    as well as Marvell Technology Inc.
    MRVL,
    -0.91%    ,
    which last quarter told analysts that it expects to end the year at a revenue run rate of about $800 million this year from cloud/data-center chips related to AI.

    “This is well above what we had outlined last quarter. Put this in perspective: This would put us at the run rate we had previously communicated for all of next year,” Marvel Chief Executive Matthew Murphy told analysts.

    Super Micro is also riding the AI wave with its customized data-center servers that are designed to consume less power. But revenue in the September quarter is forecast to rise just 15% from a year ago and drop on a sequential basis, as supply constraints from Nvidia likely hampered Super Micro’s ability to meet all its demand.

    Much as Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
    AMD,
    -1.24%
    and Intel Corp.
    INTC,
    -1.37%
    want to be in the AI conversations with the graphics chips they hope will be used for AI data-center applications, they won’t see much of an impact yet from AI revenue. Plus, those companies are experiencing a slowdown in PC sales that may overshadow any small benefit from AI chips.

    The AI boom in chips is clearly not providing enough of a boost to lift finances for the overall semiconductor sector, which is forecast to see earnings fall 3.3% in the third quarter and post a revenue decline of 0.6%, according to FactSet. The industry is being dragged down in part by Micron Technology Inc.
    MU,
    -0.12%    ,
    which reported a 40% drop in revenue and a whopping fiscal fourth-quarter loss in late September for the quarter ended Aug. 31, which is included in FactSet’s third-quarter data. Even so, the company called a bottom to the memory-chip downturn.

    Read also: Micron’s AI focused chip won’t help financial results anytime soon.

    “Most of the consumer-based tech is still struggling, [including] PCs, laptops and to a certain extent smartphones,” said Daniel Morgan, senior portfolio manager at Synovus Trust Co. Wall Street has tempered expectations related to the impact of Apple Inc.’s
    AAPL,
    -0.88%
    iPhone 15 launch on the quarter, as estimates call for an overall 1% drop in September-quarter revenue. Last quarter, Apple executives forecast that both Mac and iPad sales would be down by double-digits and that revenue performance would be similar to its June quarter, when revenue fell 1.3%

    In addition, when asked about AI, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company views AI and machine learning “as core fundamental technologies that are integral to virtually every product that we build.” Those comments, though, can also apply to the bulk of tech companies, where AI is built into software as another layer to improve a product. Internet companies such as Meta Platforms Inc.
    META,
    +0.89%
    and Alphabet Inc.
    GOOG,
    +0.36%

    GOOGL,
    +0.45%
    incorporate AI into their software and algorithms but don’t treat it as a specific, revenue-generating product.

    Other software companies are building AI into their products as separate features or add-ons, but they are still in the early stages of seeing whether or not customers will pay more for them. Take Microsoft Corp.,
    MSFT,
    -0.17%
    which has showed off Copilot, an extra AI feature for customers of Microsoft 365.

    “[Microsoft] can distinguish itself by providing more details around its AI revenue
    ramp since we don’t expect much information from Google, who really doesn’t seem
    to have the monetization plan for Bard and AI-assisted search (SGE) ready to
    articulate yet,” Melius Research analyst Ben Reitzes said in a note to clients this week. He also noted that the cost of offering AI products to consumers is steep, and requires lots of investment.

    “There are sophisticated issues to contend with for Microsoft, including balancing the potential for higher revenue from Copilots with the high costs per query and much-needed investment,” Reitzes said. “The balance of AI adoption vs. cost was implied when Microsoft guided to flat operating margins year over year for fiscal 2024.”

    Earlier this year, the Information reported that OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT and recipient of a hefty investment from Microsoft, has costs of up to $700,000 a day, because the massive amounts of computing power needed to run queries. In February, OpenAI launched ChatGPT Plus, for $20 a month, a service that will give subscribers access to its AI during peak times and faster response times.

    Another example is Adobe Inc.
    ADBE,
    +1.70%    ,
    which has a few AI offerings, including a subscription service called Generative Credits, tokens that let customers turn text-based prompts into images. Another is Firefly, a generative AI service for images, and an AI option in Photoshop, currently called Photoshop Beta AI, to help users fill in images and other collaborative tools. Adobe did not provide any forecasts on potential revenue generation during its analyst day earlier this month.

    Toni Sacconaghi, a Bernstein Research analyst, said AI could drive a massive increase in enterprise productivity, and companies could dramatically increase IT spending on servers in order to invest in productivity-enhancing AI. “However, we note that enterprise adoption appears to be in early stages,” he said in a recent note to clients, adding that it was feasible that spending on AI infrastructure could take money away from other IT projects in process. “We do worry that projected AI infrastructure build out may be occurring too quickly, necessitating a digestion period, which could result in a commensurate stock pullback in AI-related names.”

    Overall, the information-technology sector itself is expected to see anemic revenue growth this quarter. The consensus on FactSet forecasts a meager 1.35% revenue uptick in the third quarter, with earnings growth of 4.65%. FactSet’s estimates for IT companies exclude internet companies like Meta and Alphabet, which are under the category of communications/interactive media services. That sector is expected to see sales growth of 12%, and earnings growth of 51%, thanks to a 116% boost in Meta’s net income, after it hit a low point in the year-ago quarter.

    Amazon.com Inc.
    AMZN,
    -0.81%    ,
    in the category of consumer discretionary/broadline retail, is forecast to see earnings growth of 109%, and revenue growth of 11%. Amazon’s cloud services business, AWS, is expected to also see a potential uplift from customers spending money on AI projects, according to a TD Cowen & Co. survey, in which 41% of respondents said they were “highly considering” allocating a budget for generative AI.

    “This trend could bode well for Amazon’s AWS,” TD Cowen analyst John Blackledge said in a recent report, adding that he expects AWS revenue growth to reaccelerate in the second half of this year and in 2024, boosted by the move of additional workloads to the cloud, possibly including generative AI.

    As companies build up their infrastructure, or their spending on cloud computing to add or improve AI capabilities, they are seeing higher costs, which is affecting margins — especially if revenue has slowed down, as it has in some sectors. Across both the broader S&P 500
    SPX,
    and the IT sector, earnings are lower than a year ago.

    As Newman of Futurum pointed out, “AI stole the budget this year.” And that is a mixed bag for tech.

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  • Israel Must Remember Its Moral Values in Its Quest to Crush Hamas

    Israel Must Remember Its Moral Values in Its Quest to Crush Hamas

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    • Opinion by Alon Ben-Meir (new york)
    • Inter Press Service

    NEW YORK, Oct 17 (IPS) – Israel will recover over time from its colossal intelligence failure and its tardiness in responding militarily to Hamas’ massacre. But it cannot do so unless it upholds its moral values and makes every effort to spare the lives of innocent Palestinians as it pursues Hamas’ destruction

    The unfathomable massacre of Israeli Jews by Hamas and its insatiable thirst for Jewish blood has rightfully evoked the most virulent condemnation from many corners of the world, including many Arab states. The call for revenge and retribution by many Israelis was an instinctive human reaction that can be justified in a moment of incomparable rage and devastation.

    The Israeli decision to crush Hamas and decapitate its leaders must indeed be pursued with determination and vigor by the Israeli army. That said, the pursuit of destroying Hamas and preventing it from being reconstituted so that it can never threaten Israel again should under no circumstances justify any acts of revenge against innocent Palestinian men, women, and children who have nothing to do with Hamas’ evil act.

    In fact, most of the Palestinians in Gaza have been victimized by Hamas itself, which has subjected them to a life of destitute and despair while they are frequently imperiled due to a lack of basic necessities like fuel, electricity, medicine, and drinking water.

    Meanwhile, Hamas has been concentrating on battling Israel and using the people of Gaza as human shields as it invested much of its financial resources in buying and manufacturing weapons, training its warriors, building tunnels, and preparing to waging yet another destructive battle against Israel.

    Hamas blames the plight of its people on Israel, using the 17-year-old blockade as a justification, which allows it to sow hatred and unrelenting enmity among the people against the Jewish state.

    That said, Israel’s indiscriminate bombing of Gaza that has already leveled entire neighborhoods, killed, as of this writing, in excess of 2,300 Gazans, one-quarter of whom are children, and injured nearly 10,000 with little or no access to medical care, only affirms rather than refutes Hamas’ claims against Israel.

    None of the dead or injured were asked by Hamas’s leaders whether they should go and massacre innocent Israelis at an unprecedented scale, but Hamas knew full well the unimaginable price these ordinary Palestinians, who just want to live, would end up paying.

    Hamas’ unprecedent onslaught against Israeli civilians and soldiers put a significant dent in Israel’s military invincibility that could have hardly been imagined only two weeks ago. And whereby the colossal failure of Israeli intelligence to detect what Hamas was planning may well be rectified over time, the carnage that Israel is inflicting on Gazans severely damages the high moral ground the Israeli army has proudly claimed.

    As the death toll and destruction rise in Gaza by the minute, the initial overwhelming sympathy toward Israel’s tragic losses is waning even among many of its friends. Indeed, once Israel loses its moral compass in dealing with the crisis, it will no longer be seen as the victim who rose from the ashes of the Holocaust and has every right to defend itself, but the victimizer whose survival rests on the ashes of its real or perceived enemies.

    Prime Minister Netanyahu, who has been busy trying to dismantle Israel’s democracy, will stop short of nothing to try to redeem himself by exploiting these tragic events, hoping to emerge as a “war hero” and save his political skin.

    How adversely his public call for revenge might impact Israel’s standing and its future relationship with the Palestinians is of no concern to him. Imposing a total siege on Gaza and depriving more than two million Palestinians of receiving basic necessities and demanding that over a million Gazans evacuate their homes and go south while bombing them to smithereens is a collective punishment that defies morality (and legality) by any measure.

    Netanyahu is justifying this collective punishment by dehumanizing the Palestinians, deeming them unworthy of humane treatment. Whereas he rightfully condemned the unimaginable evil act of Hamas that killed over 1,400 innocent Israelis, he is waging a merciless campaign against innocent Palestinians who had nothing to do with Hamas’ acts of terror.

    For Netanyahu, there is simply no moral equivalence. For him and many of his followers, the Palestinians are sub-humans and their lives are unequal to those of Israeli Jews.

    The dehumanization of Palestinians will come back to haunt the Israelis simply because the Palestinians have no other place to go. And whether they are ordinary human beings with hopes and aspirations, or subhuman, Israel is stuck with them. And regardless of how the war will end, Israel will have to address the conflict with the Palestinians. The depth of the scars of the war will define the relationship for years to come.

    Former Defense Minister and Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Benny Gantz, who has just joined the government along with the current Defense Minister Yoav Galant, must resist Netanyahu’s call for vengeance. Yes, they will fight with their military might to crush Hamas, but they must also fight to safeguard Israel’s democracy and Jewish values, which forbid the indiscriminate killing of innocent people.

    Israel will win this war; the question is, will it win it while adhering to these moral values, or win it by leaving behind deep moral wounds that will be etched in memory and in history books as one of Israel’s darkest chapters?

    They must remember that just about every Arab country will quietly (and some even overtly) cheer the demise of Hamas, but they will be loud and clear about their objection to the killing of innocent Palestinians, especially women and children, and scuttle further any prospect of normalization of relations with other Arab countries.

    The imminent invasion of Gaza will result in the destruction of this enclave, the likes of which we have never seen before. However, as long as the invasion is not driven by revenge and retribution and instead seeks, as the war comes to an end, to create a new paradigm to bring an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, then all the sacrifices made by all sides will not have been in vain.

    This unprecedented breakdown in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could lead to a historic breakthrough, if only the moderate Israeli, Arab, and Palestinian leaders grasp the unparalleled moment this crisis presents.

    Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University (NYU). He teaches courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies.

    IPS UN Bureau


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  • OPINION: Here’s why a costly college education should not be the only path to career success – The Hechinger Report

    OPINION: Here’s why a costly college education should not be the only path to career success – The Hechinger Report

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    More than 40 million Americans — roughly one out of every seven adults — have earned college credit but have no degree to show for their time and money.

    Florida native Alix Petkov is one of them. He enrolled in college right after high school with the idea of becoming a psychiatrist. Unaware that this career choice required medical school — and unable to afford college, much less a graduate education — Petkov changed majors twice and found himself making only halting progress toward a bachelor’s degree.

    An on-campus job in information technology rekindled his interest in computers, but the gig paid just $10 per hour, and his computer science classes covered the same things he had already picked up at work.

    So Petkov quit college roughly 30 credits short of a degree, with $16,000 in student loans and a credit card balance of $4,000 from paying living expenses.

    He burnished his tech portfolio with freelance computer work, applied for IT jobs, worked in restaurants and stewed over his frustrating experience, later saying that “College only destroyed me.”

    It doesn’t have to be this way. Like millions of other learners, Petkov was forced into an outdated and bureaucratic model of higher education that’s not designed for how people navigate learning and work today.

    Far too many learners are pausing their education long before they earn a credential because they run out of money, time or patience. Or they wind up in a program that lacks the support and structure to meet their individualized needs and goals.

    Related: The college degree gap between Black and white Americans was always bad. It’s getting worse

    Learners need better access to lower-cost, shorter-term programs that help them achieve their career goals.

    Federal and state governments and postsecondary institutions can and should adopt policies and practices that will help students build career pathways and make alternatives to a college degree more accessible, affordable and practical.

    To achieve this, federal and state policymakers must ease some of the guardrails meant to protect learners from making “bad” decisions — after all, some of these guardrails have stifled postsecondary innovation and limited competition between college and noncollege options, ultimately restricting learners’ choices. Students must also receive better information about college and noncollege pathways and outcomes both before they begin a program and while they are enrolled.

    College isn’t always the best option for every learner.

    Petkov said he received little — and often incorrect — information in high school and college about higher education and potential alternatives. No one advised him, for example, that he could save thousands of dollars by completing university-required general education classes at a local community college.

    Looking back, Petkov admits he would have pursued a different path altogether if he had a better up-front understanding of the costs and courses required to complete a degree.

    His story, which he shared with me this summer over a video call after I requested an introduction, illustrates why students need more transparent financial counseling and more options for using financial aid beyond the limited college options currently afforded by student aid programs.

    Giving high school students information about program costs and financial aid well before they apply to college will aid their decision-making. Students should be able to use Pell Grants for noncollege alternative programs that have proven track records of moving students into jobs that pay family-sustaining wages.

    Petkov said it didn’t become apparent until later that his financial aid and campus job wouldn’t cover all of his college expenses. Because he was awarded Pell Grants, he borrowed less than other students.

    But Pell Grants can be used in just one setting: college. Had Petkov been allowed to use the federal subsidy to pursue a college alternative — like an accelerated tech or healthcare upskilling program from a noncollege provider — he would have done that instead.

    Related: OPINION: Often overlooked vocational-tech schools provide great solutions to student debt, labor shortages

    Because of time and expense, college isn’t always the best option for every learner. Mounting evidence on program-level outcomes shows that far too many of the options that the government deems “safe” simply because they are accredited have failed learners and left them no better off than if they had not pursued college at all.

    Petkov didn’t find his true path until more than a year after he quit college. While searching online for IT jobs, he stumbled on information about Merit America, a nonprofit offering low-cost programs that prepare people for tech careers. (Merit America is a grantee of the Charles Koch Foundation, part of the Stand Together philanthropic community, where the author is a senior fellow.)

    Merit America built on Petkov’s existing IT knowledge to give him new tech skills that allowed him to push past self-doubt and launch a successful career. After completing the program, Petkov landed a tech coordinator’s job at a nonprofit in Washington, D.C., that started him at $45,000 — more than twice what he was making in food service.

    Two jobs later, he’s currently the IT director of an executive coaching firm and makes a little more than $100,000 per year. A University of Virginia analysis shows that Merit America completers see an average annual wage increase of $24,000 three or more months after finishing the program.

    Merit America is among the growing number of providers preparing students for placement into high-demand tech and healthcare careers. Yet students from low-income backgrounds who rely on financial aid and loans often get little guidance about such college alternatives and may instead be advised to pursue a college degree.

    It’s time to open more doors to short-term, noncollege options, so that students like Petkov can access more personalized options to help them thrive.

    Steven Taylor is a senior fellow on postsecondary education at Stand Together Trust. He leads the postsecondary education and workforce policy portfolio and partnership strategy.

    This story about debt but no degree was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Hechinger’s newsletter.

    The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.

    Join us today.

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  • These are the biggest money mistakes we make in our 20s, 30s and 40s

    These are the biggest money mistakes we make in our 20s, 30s and 40s

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    Financial literacy peaks at age 54, according to a 2022 study. That’s around the time you’ve gained enough knowledge and experience to make sound money decisions — and before your cognitive ability might start to ebb.

    “As we get older, we seem to rely more on past experience, rules of thumb, and intuitive knowledge about which products and strategies are better,” said Rafal Chomik, an economist in Australia who led the study.

    If people in their mid-50s tend to make smart financial moves, where does that leave younger generations?

    Advisers often educate clients at different stages of life to avoid money mistakes. While those in their 50s usually demonstrate optimal prudence  in navigating investments and savings, advisers keep busy helping others — from twentysomethings to mid-career professionals — avoid costly financial blunders:

    Navigate your 20s

    Perhaps the biggest blunder for young earners is spending too much and saving too little. They may also lack the long-term perspective that encourages long-range planning.

    “The mistake is not establishing the saving habit early, and not appreciating the power of compounding” over time, said Mark Kravietz, a certified financial planner in Melville, N.Y.

    Similarly, it’s common for young workers to delay enrolling in an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Not participating from the get-go comes with a steep long-term cost.

    “ Better to prioritize debt with the highest interest rate, which can result in paying less interest over the long run. ”

    People in their 20s process incoming information quickly. But their high level of fluid intelligence can work against them. Cursory research into a consumer trend or hot sector of the stock market can spur them to make rash investments. Such impulsive moves might backfire.

    “It’s important to resist the hype,” Kravietz said. “Don’t chase fads or try to make fast money” by timing the market.

    Many young adults with student debt juggle multiple loans. Eager to chip away at their debt, they fall into the trap of choosing the wrong loan to tackle first, says Megan Kowalski, an adviser in Boca Raton, Fla.

    Rather than pay off the highest-interest rate loan first (so-called avalanche debt), they mistakenly focus on the smallest loan (a.k.a. snowball debt). It’s better to prioritize debt with the highest interest rate, which can result in paying less interest over the long run.

    Navigate your 30s

    “ Resist the temptation to lower your 401(k) contribution to boost your take-home pay. ”

    By your 30s, insurance grows in importance. You want to protect what you have — now and in the future. But many people in this age group neglect their insurance needs. Or they misunderstand which coverages matter most.

    “If you have a life partner and kids, get the proper life insurance while in your 30s,” Kravietz said. 

    It’s easy to get caught up in your career and assume you can put off life insurance. But even low odds of your untimely death doesn’t mean you can ignore the risk of leaving your loved ones without a cash cushion.

    Another common blunder involves disability insurance. If your employer offers short-term disability insurance as an employee perk, you may think you’re all set.

    However, the real risk is how you’d earn income if you suffer a serious and lasting illness or injury. Don’t confuse short-term disability insurance (which might cover you for as long as one year) with long-term disability coverage that pays benefits for many years.

    Assuming you were wise enough to enroll in your employer-sponsored retirement plan from the outset, don’t slough off in your 30s. Resist the temptation to lower your 401(k) contribution to boost your take-home pay.

    “You want to give till it hurts,” Kravietz said. “Keep putting money away” in your 401(k) or other tax-advantaged plan until you feel a sting. Weigh the minor pain you feel now against the major relief of having a much bigger nest egg decades from now.

    Navigate your 40s

    “ ‘The 40s are often the most expensive in anyone’s life. Life is getting more complicated.’”

    For Kravietz, the 40s represent a decade of heavy spending pressures. Mid-career professionals face a mortgage and mounting tuition bills for their children.

    “The 40s are often the most expensive in anyone’s life,” he said. “Life is getting more complicated.”

    As a result, it’s easy to overlook seemingly minor financial matters like updating beneficiaries on your 401(k) plan or completing all the appropriate estate documents such as a will.

    “People in their 40s sometimes fail to update beneficiaries,” Kravietz said. For example, a new marriage might mean changing the beneficiary from a prior partner or current parent to the new spouse.

    It’s also easy to get complacent about your investments, especially if you’re the conservative type who favors a set-it-and-forget-it strategy. Instead, think in terms of tax optimization.

    “In your 40s, you want to take advantage of what the government gives you,” Kravietz said. “If you have a lot of money in a bank money market account and you’re in a top tax bracket, shifting some of that money into municipal bonds can make sense” depending on your state of residence and other factors.

    If you’re saving for a child’s college tuition using a 529 plan — and you have parents who also want to chip in — work together to strategize. Don’t make assumptions about how much (or how little) your parents might contribute to your kid’s education.

    “Rather than assume you’ll have to pay a certain amount for educational expenses, coordinate between generations of parents and grandparents” on how much they intend to give, Kowalski said. “That way, you’re not duplicating efforts and you won’t put extra funds in a 529 plan.”

    More: 7 more ways to save that you may not have considered

    Also read: ‘We live a rather lavish lifestyle’: My wife and I are 33, live in New York City and earn $270,000. Can we retire at 55?

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  • UN Chief Urged to Create Civil Society Envoy

    UN Chief Urged to Create Civil Society Envoy

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    Credit: United Nations
    • Opinion by Thalif Deen (united nations)
    • Inter Press Service

    UNITED NATIONS, Oct 16 (IPS) – When the United Nations commemorated the 75th anniversary of the UN Charter back in 2020, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres paid a supreme compliment to Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).

    The CSOs, he pointed out, were a vital voice in the San Francisco Conference (where the UN was inaugurated). “You have been with us across the decades, in refugee camps, in conference rooms, and in mobilizing communities in streets and town squares across the world.”

    “You are our allies in upholding human rights and battling racism. You are indispensable partners in forging peace, pushing for climate action, advancing gender equality, delivering life-saving humanitarian aid and controlling the spread of deadly weapons”.

    And the world’s framework for shared progress, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is unthinkable without you’, he declared.

    But in reality, CSOs are occasionally treated as second class citizens, with hundreds of CSOs armed with U.N. credentials, routinely barred from the United Nations, specifically when world leaders arrive to address the high-level segment of the General Assembly sessions in September.

    The annual ritual where civil society is treated as political and social outcasts has always triggered strong protests. The United Nations justifies the restriction primarily for “security reasons”.

    A coalition of CSOs– including Access Now, Action for Sustainable Development, Amnesty International, CIVICUS, Civil Society in Development (CISU), Democracy Without Borders, Forus, Global Focus, Greenpeace International, Human Rights Watch, Oxfam International, TAP Network, and UNA-UK— is now proposing the creation of a Special UN Civil Society Envoy to protect, advance and represent the interests of these Organizations.

    Credit: United Nations

    In a letter to Guterres, the coalition points out the disparity in access for civil society delegates viz. UN staff and members of government delegations who face no such restrictions stand as a critical reminder of the hurdles faced by accredited civil society representatives who travel great distances to contribute their perspectives at the UN.

    “It is also a missed opportunity for civil society delegates to engage in key negotiations inside the UN headquarters and for policymakers to benefit from their critical and expert voices buttressed by lived experience in advancing the principles enshrined in the UN Charter,” the letter says.

    Considering this recurring disparity, the letter adds, “we believe it’s vital to correct this injustice promptly to ensure opportunities for all stakeholders to contribute to discussions of global consequences”.

    “This issue once again underscores the necessity for civil society to have a dedicated champion within the UN system, in the form of a Civil Society Envoy, who can help promote best practices in civil society participation across the UN and foster outreach by the UN to civil society groups worldwide, particularly those facing challenges in accessing the UN.”

    “We would also like to express our support for the revision of modalities to ensure meaningful civil society participation at all stages of UN meetings and processes as well as Unmute Civil Society recommendations supported by 52 states and over 300 civil society organizations from around the world”.

    “We believe that addressing the above concerns could lead to significant strides in advancing the ideal of a more inclusive, equitable, and effective UN in the spirit of ‘We the Peoples.’ “

    Mandeep Tiwana, Chief Officer, Evidence and Engagement, at CIVICUS told IPS civil society representatives have long complained about asymmetries across UN agencies and offices in engaging civil society and have called for a champion within the UN system to drive best practices and harmonise efforts.

    One such medium, he said, could be the appointment of a Civil Society Envoy along the lines of the UN Youth Envoy and Tech Envoy to drive key engagements.

    Notably, a Civil Society Envoy could foster better inclusion of civil society and people’s voices in UN decision-making at the time when the UN is having to grapple with multiple crises and assertion of national interests by states to the detriment of international agreements and standards, he pointed out.

    Five reasons why it’s time for a Civil Society Envoy:

      1. Without stronger civil society participation, the SDGs will not get back on track. The UN’s own assessment laments the lack of progress on the SDGs. We desperately need stronger civil society involvement to drive innovations in public policy, effectively deliver services that ‘leave no one behind’ and to spur transparency, accountability and participation. A Civil Society Envoy can catalyse crucial partnerships between the UN, civil society and governments.

      2. Civil society can help rebalance narratives that undermine the rules based international order. With conflicts, human rights abuses, economic inequality, nationalist populism and authoritarianism rife, the spirit of multilateralism enshrined in the UN Charter is at breaking point. Civil society representatives with their focus on finding global solutions grounded in human rights values and the needs of the excluded can help resolve impasses caused by governments pursuing narrow self-interests.

      3. A civil society envoy can help overcome UNGA restrictions on citizen participation and create better pathways to engage the UN. As it does every year, this September the UN suspended annual and temporary passes issued to accredited NGOs during UNGA effectively barring most civil society representatives from participating. Further, civil society access to the UN agencies and offices remains inconsistent. Reform minded UN leaders and states that support civil society can prioritise the appointment of an envoy for improved access.

      4. More equitable representation. The few civil society organizations who enjoy access to UNGA heavily skew toward groups based in the Global North who have the resources to invest in staff representation in New York, or the right passports to enter key UN locations easily. A UN civil society envoy would lead the UN’s outreach to civil society across the globe and particularly in underserved regions. Moreover, a civil society envoy could help ensure more diverse and equitable representation of civil society at UN meetings where decisions are taken.

      5. A civil society envoy is possible. Getting anything done at the UN requires adhering to what is politically feasible. A civil society special envoy is within reach. The Unmute Civil Society initiative to enable meaningful participation at the UN is supported by 52 states and over 300 civil society organizations. It includes among other things a call for civil society day at the UN and the appointment of a UN envoy.

    Recent UN Special Envoys include:

    IPS UN Bureau Report


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    © Inter Press Service (2023) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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  • UNRWA Warns of Unprecedented Humanitarian Catastrophe in Gaza

    UNRWA Warns of Unprecedented Humanitarian Catastrophe in Gaza

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    • Opinion by Philippe Lazzarini (east jerusalem)
    • Inter Press Service

    EAST JERUSALEM, Oct 16 (IPS) – As of today, my UNRWA colleagues in Gaza are no longer able to provide humanitarian assistance.

    As I speak with you, Gaza is running out of water and electricity. In fact, Gaza is being strangled and it seems that the world right now has lost its humanity.

    If we look at the issue of water – we all know water is life – Gaza is running out of water, and Gaza is running out of life.?Soon, I believe, with this there will be no food or medicine either. ?

    There is not one drop of water, not one grain of wheat, not a litre of fuel that has been allowed into the Gaza Strip for the last eight days. ?

    The number of people seeking shelter in our schools and other UNRWA facilities in the south is absolutely overwhelming, and we do not have any more the capacity to deal with them.

    My team, who relocated to Rafah to sustain operations following the Israeli ultimatum, is working in the same building as thousands of desperate displaced people rationing also their food and water.

    In fact, an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding under our eyes.

    And already – and we should always remember that – before the war, Gaza was under a blockade for 16 years, and basically, more than 60 per cent of the population was already relying on international food assistance. It was already before the war a humanitarian welfare society.

    Every hour, we receive more and more desperate calls for help from people across the Strip. ? ?

    We, as UNRWA, have already lost 14 staff members. They were teachers, engineers, guards and psychologists, an engineer and a gynecologist. Most of our 13,000 UNRWA staff in the Gaza Strip are now displaced or out of their homes.?

    My colleague Kamal lost his cousin and her entire family.? My colleague Helen and her children were pulled out of the rubble. I was so relieved to learn that they were still alive.?

    My colleague Inas fears that Gaza will no longer exist.?Every story coming out of Gaza is about survival, despair and loss.?

    Thousands of people have been killed, including children and women. ?Gaza is now even running out of body bags. Entire families are being ripped apart.??

    At least 1 million people were forced to flee their homes in one week alone. A river of people continues to flow south. No place is safe in Gaza.

    At least 400,000 displaced (persons) are now in UNRWA schools and buildings, and most are not equipped as emergency shelters.

    Sanitary conditions are just appalling, and we have reports in our logistics base, for example, where hundreds of people are just sharing one toilet.

    Old people, children, pregnant women, people with disabilities are just being deprived of their basic human dignity, and this is a total disgrace! Unless we bring now supplies into Gaza, UNRWA and aid workers will not, be able to continue humanitarian operations. ?

    The UNRWA operations is the largest United Nations footprint in the Gaza Strip, and we are on the verge of collapse.

    This is absolutely unprecedented. ?

    We keep reminding that International Humanitarian Law has now to be at the center of our concerns. Wars, all wars, even this war, have laws. ?

    International humanitarian law is the law of any armed conflict. ?It explicitly sets the minimum standards that must prevail at any, any time. ??

    The protection of the wounded and civilians, including humanitarian workers, is non-negotiable under humanitarian law.? Last week’s attack on Israel was horrendous – devastating images and testimonies continue to come out. ??

    The attack and the taking of hostages are a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. ?But the answer to killing civilians cannot be to kill more civilians. ?

    Imposing a siege and bombarding civilian infrastructure in a densely populated area will not bring peace and security to the region. ?

    The siege in Gaza, the way it is imposed, is nothing else than collective punishment. So, before it is too late, the siege must be lifted and aid agencies must be able to safely bring in essential supplies such as fuel, water, food and medicine. And we need this NOW.

    Over the last few days, we have advocated for fuel to come in because we need fuel for the water station and the desalination plant in the south of Gaza. Unfortunately, we still have no fuel.

    All parties must facilitate a humanitarian corridor so we can reach all those in need of support. ??

    UNRWA and aid agencies must be able to do their work and save lives. And we must do so safely, without risking our own lives.?

    Finally, we are also calling for a suspension of hostilities for humanitarian reasons, and this needs to take place without any delay if we want to spare loss of more lives.

    Philippe Lazzarini is Commissioner-General, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)

    IPS UN Bureau


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    © Inter Press Service (2023) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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  • Stark: Stop whining about MLB’s playoff system. Phillies, Astros show way to October success

    Stark: Stop whining about MLB’s playoff system. Phillies, Astros show way to October success

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    “We feel like we’re built for these moments.” — Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto

    PHILADELPHIA — He was puffing on a cigar that looked to be about the size of the Walt Whitman Bridge. The party beverages were still dripping off every crevice of his clubhouse and its occupants. And on the gigundous scoreboard just behind him, six words said it all:

    THE PHILLIES — ON TO THE NLCS.

    But as Realmuto roamed the infield of Citizens Bank Park, hugging a procession of family and friends Thursday night, he knew the big baseball story across America was not: THE PHILLIES — ON TO THE NLCS. No, what America seemed way more focused on was this:

    THE BRAVES — NOT ON TO THE NLCS.

    And …

    THE DODGERS — ALSO NOT ON TO THE NLCS.

    Not to mention …

    THE ORIOLES AND RAYS — NO LONGER SCHEDULED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ALCS

    So here’s our question — and his: Why are we so obsessed with who’s not still playing in the postseason when there’s such an obvious reason that teams like Realmuto’s October behemoths, the Phillies, are still playing?

    And that reason goes like this:

    Surely, you must have noticed by now that October baseball is practically a whole different sport than April-to-September baseball.

    So here’s an idea: Maybe we should stop looking for excuses for the teams that are heading home. Instead, let’s take a closer look at why teams such as the Phillies — and their partners in World Series crime last fall, the Astros — keep finding ways to survive and advance.

    “I think there’s something special about October baseball,” Realmuto said, still wearing the glow of the Phillies’ NLDS-clinching 3-1 victory over the 104-win Braves. “And to see the teams that thrive in this environment and thrive with this much pressure, when the games mean so much, there’s so much more focus involved in the postseason.

    “It’s hard to get that focus for a 162-game regular season. So to see, in my opinion, the teams that thrive here and play well in this situation, I mean, that’s what baseball is all about. That’s what you play for.”


    Spencer Strider has dominated the Phillies in the regular season. But the postseason has been a different story. (Eric Hartline / USA Today)

    But even as he was uttering those words, there was a whole different conversation going on just a few hundred yards away, in the dejected clubhouse of the winningest team in baseball (April-September division), the Braves. You can probably guess how that one went.

    It’s normal to ask what went wrong in losing clubhouses at this time of year. What never used to be normal was hopping on board with the conspiracy theory that this was somehow baseball’s fault, for devising a playoff system designed to “sabotage” the chances of the best teams in the sport (April-September division).

    Well, you know who wasn’t interested in that conspiracy theory? The losing pitcher for the Braves — their ace, Spencer Strider. And good for him.

    “We’re not a group that makes excuses,” Strider said. “I’m not a person that makes excuses. I’m sure there’s a lot of Braves fans out there that are not happy, and they have every right to be that way. We’ve got nobody to blame but ourselves. Me personally, I wasn’t good enough.”

    Nevertheless, Strider was asked, wouldn’t a different postseason format be more fair — maybe a best-of-seven Division Series instead of best-of-five, for instance?

    “No,” he replied. “I think that the people (who are) trying to use the playoff format to make an excuse for the results they don’t like are not confronting the real issue. You’re in control of your focus, your competitiveness, your energy. And if having five days off (means) you can’t make that adjustment, you’ve got nobody to blame but yourself.”

    So as we begin to contemplate the lessons of October (thus far), we need to start with the team America loves to hate but the team that puts every one of these conspiracy theories to rest …

    THE ASTROS — So if it’s The System’s fault that the best teams lose every October, how do we explain the Astros? If those five days off that the top two seeds earn before the Division Series is such a buzz-killer (and season-killer), shouldn’t someone tell the Astros?

    They got the same five days off as everyone else last October … and went out and swept their first two series anyway, and never lost a postseason game until the World Series.

    Then once again this year, they won the American League West on the final day of the season, again took the same five days off as everyone else … and went out and beat the Twins in four games. So apparently, it is possible to dig into that first-round bye and still go on to bigger and better things? Huh. What do you know? That doesn’t fit everyone else’s narrative at all.


    The first-round bye hasn’t stopped this Astros juggernaut. (Jesse Johnson / USA Today)

    “Everyone can talk about the week off, but look at a team like Houston,” the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber said. “They’re … back in the ALCS. So I think there’s something to be said about teams that might not have had so much success throughout the season, but when they get into moments like that, they’re finding ways to win.”

    And by that, of course, he also means … his team. So let’s look at some of the October baseball lessons the Phillies teach us.

    SOMETIMES THE RECORD DOESN’T REFLECT THE TALENT — The man who built the Phillies, Dave Dombrowski, has done this before. Again and again and again, in fact. He built World Series teams in Florida, Detroit and Boston, and now a fourth in Philadelphia. So he apparently knows exactly what it takes.

    “Well, first of all, we have a good team,” he said Thursday night, a Champagne-sopped baseball cap turned backward on his head. “And we actually have played well for a long time. Once we got past that 25-32 start, we’ve basically been playing at a 100-win pace, and our team has kind of come together.”

    Dombrowski’s team-building M.O. is no secret. He has assembled a roster led by stars, a pitching staff full of high-velocity arms and a clubhouse occupied by baseball nuts who love to play as much as they love being around each other. But when Dombrowski, the Phillies’ president of baseball operations, was asked how much of this was by design, the product of constantly searching for players who are ready for moments like this, he laughed.

    “Well, I mean, it’s hard to identify, specifically,” he said, “because if it was easy, everybody would do it.”

    But it’s amazing how often, through the years, Dombrowski has used the phrase, “championship-quality player,” to define what attracted him to the latest star he’d signed or traded for. So he has spent a four-decade career proving he knows that quality when he sees it. And the 2022-23 Phillies have now spent the last two Octobers proving it.

    On that note, let’s take a quick intermission to remind you of some of the things this group has done:

    • It has now beaten Strider three times since last October. No other team in the sport has even handed him more than one loss in those 12 months.

    • The Phillies have fed off their stadium-rocking fan base to go 10-2 at home in these last two postseasons — and an incredible 9-and-0 against the other National League playoff teams they’ve faced.

    • The Braves just hit more home runs (307) this season than any lineup in the history of the NL. Then the Phillies went and outhomered them in this series, 11-3. Only once all season (in mid-September) did the Braves give up 11 runs over any four-game span.

    • And that also means the Braves hit fewer home runs in this series as a team than Nick Castellanos — a man who didn’t hit a single home run for the Phillies all last postseason — pounded this week by himself, in a span of six at-bats.

    • Then again, that Phillies long-ball barrage didn’t merely start this week. The Phillies have now mashed 24 home runs over their past 10 postseason home games dating back to last year. And how many other teams have bombed that many long balls over a 10-game span in postseason history? That would be none, according to our friends from STATS Perform.

    • Which means, finally, that the Phillies hit more home runs in this Braves series (11) than they allowed runs (eight). And that’s the perfect transition to the next October lesson they have taught us …

    COLLECT POWER ARMS (AND KEEP THEM HEALTHY) — Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and Ranger Suárez have started all six games the Phillies have played in this postseason. They’ve allowed a total of six earned runs — in six starts. That’s a 1.54 ERA. That’s how you win in October.

    Meanwhile, the Phillies have rolled out their assembly line of relievers pumping upper-90s heat over those six games — and given up a total of two runs, both of them on Austin Riley’s game-winning two-run homer off Jeff Hoffman in Game 2 of the NLDS. That’s a 1.26 ERA. That, too, is how you win at this time of year.

    In Game 1 of the NLDS, Phillies manager Rob Thomson orchestrated the first nine-inning, seven-pitcher shutout in franchise history. In Game 4, he waved for his two most trusted bullpen weapons, José Alvarado and Craig Kimbrel, in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively — and still had enough depth behind them to navigate to the finish line. And yes, that is how you win in October.

    “You know, early in the season,” Realmuto said, “we struggled a little bit … but when you have stuff like that, like we have on our staff, once they figured it out later in the season, they started rolling. So I trust our guys’ stuff against any team in baseball. That’s an incredible lineup we just faced for four games.”

    But one more thing: The Phillies also managed health and workloads so effectively this year that they somehow arrived in October with — miracle of miracles — every significant arm on their staff healthy. Compare that with the health (or lack thereof) of the Dodgers’ staff, or the Braves’ staff — and isn’t it obvious that this, too, is how you win in October?


    Zack Wheeler (pictured), Aaron Nola and Ranger Suárez have given the Phillies strong outings this postseason. (Dale Zanine / USA Today)

    COLLECT GUYS WHO LOVE THE MOMENT — October is a parade of game-defining, team-defining moments. Isn’t it hard to recall a roster as stuffed with hitters who feed off those moments as the group the Phillies roll out there every game?

    “You look at everyone on this team, and I think everyone wants the quote/unquote ‘moment,’” Schwarber said. “But when we get put in that moment, that’s a quality that’s hard to have, where everyone’s able to calm down within the craziness and really lock into the at-bat.”

    So where does that calm emanate from in those moments? Well, it’s always helpful to …

    BUILD AROUND A SUPERSTAR — I’ve already written one column this postseason laying out Bryce Harper’s special ability to rise to meet any moment. And Schwarber’s theory is that watching a teammate melt the pressure the way Harper does can have a powerful ripple effect on any team.

    “Bryce is a great example for everyone,” Schwarber said, “to look at and watch when the moment may be the biggest and the brightest it can be. And when you look at him in the box, there’s no giddiness. You look at the (pitches he) takes. There’s nothing that’s outlandish, where you’re trying to go get something.

    “You’re staying within yourself. And that’s what this team does really well is staying within themselves. And when you stay within yourselves, explosive things can happen.”


    Bryce Harper sets the tone for the Phillies. (Bill Streicher / USA Today)

    SO IT’S NOT APRIL, MAY, JUNE, JULY, AUGUST OR SEPTEMBER ANYMORE — The season is a marathon — a test of day-to-day grit, roster depth, system reinforcements, health and luck. It takes a village to survive the season. But it takes all the qualities we’ve just highlighted — very different qualities — to separate yourselves in October.

    As Dombrowski said, if it were easy to find those qualities, every team would do it. But by now, we should know them when we see them. And Braves manager Brian Snitker was the first to admit he saw them in the Phillies.

    “We got beat by a really good club,” he said Thursday night, “that has a penchant for this time of year.”

    So how should we define that penchant? “There’s no magic formula,” Realmuto said. But we’re down to four teams left in our October Madness tournament. So doesn’t it make more sense to study those teams and what got them here than it does to grasp for who’s to blame that eight other teams never made it this far?

    The blame game may be rattling away, off in the distance. But the Phillies? They can tune out that talk — because they’re on to the NLCS, to play a Diamondbacks team that may be as perfectly built for new-rules baseball as any offense in the sport. But now those D-Backs become the latest team to have every reason to fear the Phillies, because as we’ve mentioned, this is their time of year.

    “This team just feels like we’re built for October,” Realmuto said. “Look, obviously we would love to win 100 games in the regular season. We would love to run away with the division like the Braves got to do the last six years. But at the end of the day, our goal is to win a World Series. It’s not necessarily to beat the Braves. It’s not necessarily to win the division. It’s to win a World Series.

    “So now,” he said, “we know we’ve got two series down — and two more to go reach our goal.”

    The Athletic’s Tyler Kepner contributed to this story.

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    Schultz: The Braves’ two playoff flops can’t be coincidence. This group needs to change

    (Top photo of Kyle Schwarber, left, and J.T. Realmuto celebrating after the Phillies advanced to the NLCS: Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images)

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