Intention | Jotup

Biden's answer to Mexican border crisis might slow crossings but is not winning support

Retrieved on:

Friday, August 4, 2023

President Joe Biden has been negotiating a new deal with Mexico in the hope of mediating the long-running immigration crisis on the US southern border.

Key Points:

President Joe Biden has been negotiating a new deal with Mexico in the hope of mediating the long-running immigration crisis on the US southern border.
According to Customs and Border Protection, border crossings from Mexico to the United States have recently fallen from 10,000 a day to approximately 3,500 a day.

Mexico’s role

Alex Miller, director of the advocacy group Immigration Justice Campaign, called the changes “a stark reversal of the administration’s stated commitment to restoring access to asylum”.
Former Democrat Representative for Texas 16th congressional district Beto O’Rourke tweeted that the ruling was “the right decision”.
Both immigration advocates and those calling for stricter guidelines have attacked the Biden administration’s immigration policy since the president took office.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who was tasked with finding a solution to the border crisis, has been the subject of much Republican criticism.
Whether the supreme court upholds the San Francisco ruling or not, the White House seems to be in a no-win position.

Immigration attitudes

Recent polls show that significantly more Americans that identified as Republicans (70%) felt that immigration was a major problem than Democrats (25%).
Inflation (65%), affordable healthcare (64%) and partisanship (61%) are thought by all parties as the top national problems and outweigh illegal immigration (47%).
The border crisis is unlikely to cost Biden the election, but it will remain a thorn in the administration’s side beyond 2024.

Science shows the severe climate consequences of new fossil fuel extraction

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, August 2, 2023

Climate Change Committee, Heat, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate, Hydrogen, Record, Climate change, Temperature, Carbon, Government, Science, Coal, Intention, Investment, Just Stop Oil, Heat wave, Natural gas, Renewable energy

So it’s extremely concerning that the UK government has announced its intention to grant hundreds of licences for new North Sea oil and gas extraction.

Key Points:

So it’s extremely concerning that the UK government has announced its intention to grant hundreds of licences for new North Sea oil and gas extraction.
Although burning fossil fuels to generate power and heat has enabled society to develop and flourish, we are now experiencing the unintended side effects.
This warming will continue, with worsening climatic consequences, until we reduce global carbon dioxide emissions to “net zero”.
New fossil fuel extraction projects will make it even harder to stop further global warming.

Trump faces additional charges – 4 essential reads to understand the case against him for hoarding classified documents

Retrieved on:

Friday, July 28, 2023

That worker, named in the indictment as Carlos De Oliveira, also faces charges now of obstruction in the new indictment.

Key Points:

That worker, named in the indictment as Carlos De Oliveira, also faces charges now of obstruction in the new indictment.
The Conversation has published stories by experts on various aspects of the documents case and the unprecedented indictment of a former president.
Here are a selection of them to provide background on the newly filed charges.

1. What are classified documents, anyway?

“Documents related to nuclear weapons will have different classification levels depending on the sensitivity of the information contained.
Fields helps you understand the different classification levels, and who gets to determine what levels each document is assigned.
Read more:
DOJ probes Biden document handling – what is classified information, anyway?

2. Why is Trump being charged under the Espionage Act?

The documents case rests on provisions of the Espionage Act, which, despite its name, covers a lot more crimes than just spying.
Read more:
Trump charged under Espionage Act – which covers a lot more crimes than just spying

3. No president is above the law

Trump has attacked the head of the Department of Justice investigations into his conduct, Special Counsel Jack Smith, as “deranged.” He’s declared that the previous indictment represented “weaponized” politics.
“Trump and his allies have argued that it is completely inappropriate for the former president to be charged,” writes Rudesill.
“Trump is right that his is inevitably a sensitive case because of his continued presence in the political arena,” Rudesill writes.

4. The campaign will go on

Why B.C. has ended letter grades for students in kindergarten to Grade 9

Retrieved on:

Thursday, July 27, 2023

In British Columbia, the province’s move away from letter grades for students between kindergarten and Grade 9 has produced anxiety or has been opposed by some parents and teachers.

Key Points:

In British Columbia, the province’s move away from letter grades for students between kindergarten and Grade 9 has produced anxiety or has been opposed by some parents and teachers.
In lieu of a letter grade system, the province will use a proficiency scale to assess students up to Grade 9.
The proficiency scale model was first piloted in 2016-17, and for the first time this fall all B.C.

Curriculum overhaul

British Columbia’s kindergarten to Grade 12 education system has been undergoing an overhaul since 2010.
Adoption of the new curriculum occurred in phases, beginning in 2015 for kindergarten to Grade 9, and in 2019 for grades 10 through 12.

The rationale

Teachers will use the scale to assess how students are doing in developing these competencies.
The scale operates from a strengths-based perspective that views all students as coming to school with inherent skills.

Letter grades: highlighting students’ deficits

Letter grades and percentages position some students (with As or Bs) as having strengths, while other students (with Cs or Ds) are regarded as not even being on the continuum of learning.
Letter grades highlight the deficits of underperforming students, thereby perpetuating a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts.
Although letter grades had the appearance of being definitive, they were ambiguous: students received the very visible stamp of a letter grade or percentage but had little understanding of how that grade came to be.

Process of learning

Particular criticisms, questions

To this end, all forms of assessment and reporting are subjective to some degree.
Scale-based assessment, through its use of descriptive feedback, hopes to clarify the basis of assessment.
They’re also concerned that the proficiency scale may cause students to lose their competitive edge, given that it values independent learning over competition.

Face-to-face conversations needed

I have a helpful tip for the Ministry and schools, and this relates to communication.
The anxieties of stakeholders largely relate to people not understanding the rationale behind this change or how to interpret it.
The ministry, school district leaders, principals and educators need to do a better job communicating the intentions of this change.

Indian women's struggle against sexual violence has had little support from the men in power

Retrieved on:

Thursday, July 27, 2023

The footage went viral on social media prompting a strong response from the prime minister, Narendra Modi.

Key Points:

The footage went viral on social media prompting a strong response from the prime minister, Narendra Modi.
Referring to the women as the “daughters of Manipur”, Modi said that what happened can “never be forgiven”.
Meanwhile, reports of another complaint lodged with state police concern the alleged abduction, rape and murder of two Kuki-Zomi women.
There has been escalating violence in recent months between as the state government has forced the eviction of Kuki villagers from their homes.

Identity-based sexual violence

But these efforts have met with limited success, and impunity for sexual violence in conflicts continues to be all-too common.
Shame and stigma continues to discourage women from talking openly about sexual violence while intimidation and the barriers to access the justice system remain a disincentive for complainants.
Only where there’s a clear political motive for politicians to get involved, have there been moments of success in recognising and responding to sexual violence against women.

Efforts to overcome impunity

The public response was significant and successfully pressured the then government to introduce guidelines surrounding sexual harassment at work.
In 2002, during the Gujarat riots 20,000 homes were destroyed, and around 150,000 people were displaced, with the majority being local Muslims.
In 2019, in another caste-motivated attack, a lower-caste Dalit woman was gang-raped, assaulted and paraded naked in Rajasthan’s Alwar district.
But once the news broke, politicians lined up to show sympathy with the survivor – presumably to secure lower-caste votes in the state.

'A weather-map of popular feeling': how Mass-Observation was born

Retrieved on:

Thursday, July 27, 2023

What if some people, even lots of people, were tensely watching “the racing news and daily horoscope”?

Key Points:

What if some people, even lots of people, were tensely watching “the racing news and daily horoscope”?
This is the question posed by Mass-Observation at the start of the 1939 book, Britain.
I first came across Mass-Observation while doing my doctoral research in the 1990s and became a trustee in 2022.
But unlike social media, Mass-Observers – as the project’s voluntary contributors are known – write with posterity in mind, and write at length, anonymously and with candour.

Candour and idiosyncrasies

To this end, people were invited to volunteer to answer directives, to write diaries on specific days and to observe and describe the world around them.
The first Mass-Observation material I worked on, in the 1990s, was a microfiche file entitled Bad Dreams and Nightmares.
These accounts had been collated a few months before the start of the second world war, in an attempt to gauge social anxiety.
Reading the 66 reports that observers had sent in, however, had a cumulative effect of gnawing unease.

Archive of feelings

By the mid-1950s, it had stopped using a national panel of voluntary writers and slowly shut up shop.
Mass-Observation found a new lease of life in the mid-1970s when Harrisson bequeathed the archive to the University of Sussex, for safekeeping and public use.
It represents an invaluable archive for future historians.
Mass-Observation is a growing archive of feelings.

Chris Barrett has a formidable job ahead as the new Productivity Commission chief

Retrieved on:

Thursday, July 27, 2023

Remarkably, the Commission used the review to target one of the key policies on which the Albanese government was elected.

Key Points:

Remarkably, the Commission used the review to target one of the key policies on which the Albanese government was elected.
With Chalmers signalling plans for a “new focus”, it might turn out to have been one of the last chances for the “old” Productivity Commission to say (again) what it thinks.

Climate change and energy sticking points

How disappointing it must have been to have nothing as ambitious to scrutinise under the previous government.
Except of course for the $7.9 billion a year diesel fuel tax rebate, primarily for mining companies, which the Commission’s review studiously omits to treat as support.
Australia has fallen to 91 out of 133 countries in the Harvard economic complexity ranking, which measures the diversity and research intensity of a nation’s export mix, just ahead of Namibia.

Australia’s economic complexity is sinking

This is what’s known as “Dutch disease”, a term coined to represent the impact of North Sea gas on Dutch manufacturing in the 1970s, and later, the impact of the UK’s discovery of North Sea oil.
Australia’s de-industrialisation is not as much a case of “market failure”, a possibility the Productivity Commission occasionally acknowledges, as one of abject policy failure.

Norway did things differently

In contrast, Norway took a public stake in its North Sea oil and gas, imposed a 76% resource rent tax and created the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund.
Norway is now able to take part in global manufacturing supply chains in a way Australia is not, and is able to build a net zero emissions economy using world-leading research and innovation.

Battery manuafcture is worth investing in

Batteries are an example of how to turn a comparative advantage based on natural endowments into a “competitive advantage”, based on knowledge and ingenuity.
As it is, the Productivity Commission is ill-equipped for the challenges Australia is about to face.

Mali crisis: UN peacekeepers are leaving after 10 years – what's needed for a smooth transition

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, July 26, 2023

Over 11,000 military personnel from 53 countries are expected to leave the country by 31 December 2023.

Key Points:

Over 11,000 military personnel from 53 countries are expected to leave the country by 31 December 2023.
Minusma was first deployed in Mali in April 2013 to support the country’s political process and help restore peace and stability.
In mid-2012, the north of the country was under the control of terrorist groups.
In my view, for Mali to make a peaceful transition to democracy, two key elements are needed.

What’s needed

Mali has had measures in place for the withdrawal of UN troops since a new government took over after the 2020 coup.
The National Transitional Council approved the creation of a war school in September 2021 to strengthen the national security apparatus and train future army cadres.
The intention was to replace foreign troops with local ones in the event of a withdrawal.
Delivering this requires government measures that restore security throughout the country, foster national reconciliation and promote good governance.

Why this matters

It could also complicate dialogue and negotiation efforts with ex-rebels.
A loss of support and commitment from the international community could lead to a reduction in financial aid and political support in the fight against insecurity.
This would have a direct impact on the country’s – and Sahel region’s – stability.

Behavioural ‘experts’ quietly shaped robodebt's most devilish details – and their work in government continues

Retrieved on:

Tuesday, July 25, 2023

One of the things still worrying me about robodebt was the attention to detail. By that, I am not referring to the crude system by which hundreds of thousands of Australians on benefits received letters between 2016 and 2019, wrongly demanding they repay Centrelink money they did not owe. I am referring to the care with which the robodebt letters were designed – and the so-called science behind those devastating design decisions. ‘Nudging’ people to pay at all costsThe robodebt royal commission heard that details as specific as the colours of the letters were decided on after receiving advice from “experts in behavioural science”.

Key Points:

One of the things still worrying me about robodebt was the attention to detail. By that, I am not referring to the crude system by which hundreds of thousands of Australians on benefits received letters between 2016 and 2019, wrongly demanding they repay Centrelink money they did not owe. I am referring to the care with which the robodebt letters were designed – and the so-called science behind those devastating design decisions.

‘Nudging’ people to pay at all costs

The robodebt royal commission heard that details as specific as the colours of the letters were decided on after receiving advice from “experts in behavioural science”.
So it made what Royal Commissioner Catherine Holmes found was a “conscious decision” not to include a phone number recipients could use to find out more.
That’s right, the letter didn’t include a phone number – a decision Holmes found was made “with the intention of forcing recipients to respond online”.

The human toll of powerlessness

People left with nowhere to turn and without ready access to, or familiarity with, using the internet felt powerless.
Witnesses told Holmes they wanted to end their lives.

‘Choice architects’ shaping policy

A year before robodebt began, the then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull set up what he called a Behavioural Economics Team Australia (BETA) unit in his department.
It was modelled on the so-called “nudge units” set up by former US president Barack Obama and former UK prime minister David Cameron.
Cass Sunstein helped invent both those terms, coauthored the book Nudge, and headed Obama’s Nudge Unit.

Hollow science

A real science examines not only cause and effect, but also develops a theory of the mechanism by which that effect takes place.
That’s another way of saying a real science examines more than correlations.
Psychology is one such real science; economics is (usually) another.

Blind to empathy

And now, under the Albanese government, there’s another unit.
But if it only does that, without examining how it works, it risks being as blind to the potential costs on real people as the “behavioural insights” that shaped the robodebt letters.

Canada's federal single-use plastics ban: What they got right and what they didn't

Retrieved on:

Monday, July 24, 2023

There is little dispute these days over the need to regulate single-use plastics.

Key Points:

There is little dispute these days over the need to regulate single-use plastics.
But there is ample confusion around what plastics to address and how to do so.

Designing a plastics ban

However, the question remains: is Canada’s single-use plastics ban actually going to make a big difference?
This waste alongside the usefulness of plastics for restaurants would seemingly make the food service industry an essential place to start when addressing plastics waste.

Focus on circularity and reusable alternatives rather than single-use items

However, despite the advantage that many of these alternatives can break down over time, not enough emphasis is put on the remaining essential single-use nature of these items.
Additionally, given the lack of standardization on what is classified as biodegradable, consumers can often be deceived by mislabelled products.
However, as an effective long-term solution, the government needs to offer support for the integration and growth of circular systems.

Challenges and solutions for food service operators

Looking at the way restaurant operators are responding to this challenge, there are a few key solutions we need to be focusing on.
All levels of government can better support restaurants through this transition by providing guidance, funding and advocacy for scaling reusable startups and for integrating them into food service with different communities likely requiring different levels of support.
Some companies have been experimenting with their own reusable schemes, however, relying on corporate drive alone will not be sufficient.

Seeing the plastics ban as an opportunity

Restaurant operators, and other industries that regularly handle single-use plastics need to be more proactive about what they will need from their government to become less reliant on plastics in the future.
In particular, nine additional common single-use plastics were found in the environment but are not being practically addressed.
Canada has the opportunity to be a global leader with the implementation of this single-use plastics ban by supporting reuse and moving towards circular practices.