Fears of human trafficking

Outbound travel: increases, but “uneven”

policy

More than 75 Nobel Prize winners have done it signed a letter Calls on senators not to verify President-elect Donald Trump's selection of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to go the Department of Health and Human Services.

According to Richard Roberts, the 1993 Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine who helped draft the letter, the letter, obtained by The New York Times, marks the primary time in recent memory that Nobel Prize winners have united against a Cabinet decision have. The group tries to remain out of politics each time possible, he said.

But the confirmation of Kennedy, a staunch critic of conventional medicine who was hostile to the scientists and agencies he would oversee, was a threat that the Nobel laureates couldn’t ignore, Roberts said.

“These political attacks on science are very damaging,” he said. “You have to stand up and protect it.”

The honorees questioned whether Kennedy, who they said had “lack of qualifications” in medicine, science and administration, was suitable to steer the department answerable for protecting public health and funding biomedical research.

“Mr. Putting Kennedy in charge of DHHS would endanger public health and undermine America’s global leadership in the health sciences,” the letter warned.

If confirmed, Kennedy's opposition to established public health tools comparable to vaccines and drinking water fluoridation would pose a risk to the country's well-being, the letter said.

The laureates condemned Kennedy's sponsorship Conspiracy theories. Kennedy has falsely linked vaccinations to autism, rejected established science showing that HIV causes AIDS, and suggested, without evidencethat the coronavirus has targeted and spared certain ethnic groups.

The honorees also noted that Kennedy was a “belligerent critic” of the agencies under his purview, including the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.

Kennedy threatened to fireplace employees of the FDA, which he says has waged and promised a “war on public health.” Replace a whole lot of NIH employees the day after Trump's inauguration.

More broadly, he said vaccine researchers “should be in jail and the key should be thrown away.” in accordance with NBC News.

“The head of DHHS should continue to promote and improve – not threaten – these important and highly respected institutions and their employees,” the letter said.

In an announcement Monday evening, a spokesman for the Trump transition team said: “Americans are tired of elites telling them what to do and how to do it.” Our health care system on this country is broken. Mr. Kennedy will implement President Trump’s agenda to revive the integrity of our health care system and make America healthy again.”

77 award winners – from medicine, chemistry, business and physics – signed the letter. They included Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine this 12 months for the invention of microRNA, and Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson, who won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his or her research on global inequality.

Dr. Harold Varmus, a 1989 Nobel laureate who signed the letter, said scientific research – which is determined by federal funding and contributes to the country's economic growth – can’t be divorced from the political climate.

“Science depends on the political structures of this country, he said. “I don’t think we should bury our heads in the sand just because we are scientists.”

For most of the signatories, that is the second political campaign they’ve participated on this 12 months. Dozens of Nobel laureates signed an open letter in October endorsing Kamala Harris for president.

Roberts hoped that this letter would achieve success. Even if the letter influenced a small variety of senators, it may very well be enough to dam Kennedy's nomination.

“Maybe there are some who read this and think, well, we really want to protect the health of our citizens,” he said. “They didn’t elect us so we could kill them.”

Ballot Measure 309which sought to ban slaughterhouses in town and county of Denver, failed on November 5, 2024. The measure can be accomplished Superior farms within the Globeville neighborhood north of Denver.

I’m an associate professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University. My research explores solutions to meat and food system challenges similar to food safety, market stability and sustainability. I'm a part of a research team that investigated this possible effects Ballot Measure 309 on the local, state, national and global meat supply chain.

Denver's only slaughterhouse

Superior Farms' lamb processing facility employs roughly 160 people and accounts for 15% to twenty% of production Total lamb slaughter capability within the U.S. Our study reports that the sheep harvested on the Denver facility come primarily from Colorado and the Mountain West region.

Colorado has rugged rangelands which can be well suited to raising sheep. It is currently the third largest sheep producing state within the nation, to Texas and California.

Colorado is home to a different big one Lamb processing plant within the northeastern plains and 21 much smaller facilities across the state.

The ability of those processing plants to market meat to consumers is much lower than that of Superior Farms attributable to capability or inspection limitations. Our report found that closing the Denver facility would require many of the sheep harvested there to be harvested in other states as an alternative.

More likely, sheep farmers who’ve historically sent their lambs to Denver for harvest can be unable or unwilling to ship them to other states because of this increased costs And Concerns about impacts on animal welfare.

Our study suggested a possible impact of two% concerning the statewide animal production industry if Ballot Measure 309 were successful in closing Superior Farms.

The Effectsobserved following closures of meat processing plants in other regions, would have resulted in lower sheep production and a decline within the economic value of live sheep. In addition, the closure would have resulted in a lack of employment opportunities within the livestock industry and a transition away from sheep production towards other operations.

It's not only Superior Farms' size that makes it necessary to the provision chain, but its ability to succeed in consumers in a wide range of markets is critical to the sheep industry.

Federal inspection for market access essential

Only 33 of Colorado's 120 meat processing plants are inspected by the agency U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service. The remaining facilities are considered exempt from federal inspection and are as an alternative subject to regulation State of Colorado.

These two designations control the flexibility of sheep farmers and meat processors to get their products to consumers.

The Federal law on meat inspection was passed in 1906 to make sure the protection and quality of meat products for human consumption. It also sets standards for animal welfare on the time of harvest. The laws has led to widespread improvements within the meat industry, including Establishment of the Food Safety and Inspection Service Mid Eighties.

Today, the Food Safety and Inspection Service is the federal agency answerable for implementing inspection and labeling standards in meat processing. This is essentially achieved through ongoing on-site inspections by trained inspectors and a sturdy permitting and record-keeping structure.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service grants exemptions from federal inspection to smaller meat processors, however the exempt meat products aren’t approved for resale – meaning these products can’t be purchased on the local food market, farmers market or downtown restaurant. Instead, they’re intended for consumption by the animal's owner.

While this exemption is permissible for a producer with five or ten sheep, it’s untenable for a producer with lots of or 1000’s of sheep. For this producer, access to government-controlled meat processing facilities similar to Superior Farms and the market access provided by these facilities is the linchpin of profitability, sustainability and provide chain integrity.

Farm-to-plate just isn’t that easy

The ballot measure highlighted the complexity of the meat supply chain and the challenges sheep farmers face in getting lamb to consumers.

The variety of sheep farmers within the United States has steadily declined over the past 4 a long time attributable to Consumer trends, increasing production costs and difficult environmental conditions similar to drought. As sheep and lamb supplies decline, U.S. restaurants and retailers have needed to look elsewhere to satisfy their customers' low but relatively stable demand for lamb products.

On the opposite side of the world, Australia and New Zealand have found markets for his or her lamb amongst U.S. consumers. Their competitiveness in lamb production has made them a desirable trading partner for the United States – and far of the lamb consumed within the United States is imported from these two countries. Our study suggests an additional decline in lamb meat production within the United States will increase U.S. dependence on imported lamb from Australia and New Zealand.

Meat production is a worldwide enterprise

The meat industry is global – and the success of the U.S. meat industry is closely tied to its relationships with other meat-eating countries.

Lamb meat is offal and other less commonly consumed lamb products produced on the Denver Superior Farms facility are sometimes exported to Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean.

Maintaining these trade relationships is a fragile balance with significant financial implications.

This export market increases the typical value of U.S. sheep and is critical to the profitability of sheep producers.

The balance between the worth of the export market and imports from other countries strengthens the profitability of livestock and meat producers world wide.

Although Americans often view the food system and meat supply chain within the context of their local markets, it’s a worldwide industry with extremely complex and interconnected relationships. Changes in a single a part of the provision chain can have a noticeable and, in some cases, irreversible impact on other components of the provision chain.

State lawmakers have rejected a bill introduced by a Santa Clara County senator that may have given some inmates serving life sentences without the potential for parole for murder a likelihood at release.

Senator Dave Cortese, a Democrat from San Jose, authored SB 94 in 2022 in hopes of allowing inmates convicted of murder committed before June 5, 1990, and who’ve already served no less than 25 years of their sentence, to be eligible for parole.

“After two years of negotiations and over a dozen amendments considered, I am incredibly disappointed that SB 94 was not given the opportunity to be heard and the amendments were not brought to a vote by the full House,” Cortese said in an announcement. “The bill was not brought to court like those it would have helped.”

The bill faced opposition from victims' rights and law enforcement groups in addition to Republican lawmakers.

“Far too often here in Sacramento we hear about the rights of criminals while the rights of victims are trampled upon,” said Rep. Juan Alanis, a Modesto Republican and former sheriff's sergeant, in an announcement. “I am proud that we were able to help prevent the wounds of victims and their families from being reopened for such gruesome crimes as murder and rape by releasing criminals who were rightly sentenced to life in prison.”

The bill was supported by the Oakland-based Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, which called it “a modest reform that allows judges to reconsider rulings that are at least 25 years old.”

Had the law been passed and enacted, the convicted murderers would have been in a position to ask a judge to scale back their sentence to 25 years or life, with consideration for parole. The law wouldn’t have applied to people convicted of premeditated murder of a police officer on duty or certain sex offenses at the side of manslaughter.

This quickly caused a stir amongst victims' rights activists like Vanetta Perdue. The woman from North Carolina almost lost her life in 1982 when her violent husband, who was separated from her mother, broke into their house near Monterey, doused Perdue's mother with gasoline and set her on fire. She died and left her children to die together with her within the flames. A 12 months ago, she spoke out against the law on the State Capitol in Sacramento, saying: “Life without parole is exactly what it should be.”

During the legislative session that ended on Saturday, the bill didn’t receive the vital variety of votes and was placed on the “inactive” file.

Cortese was unavailable for comment Monday. But in his statement late last week, he said he remained concerned about inconsistencies in the prevailing law, which supplies some notorious inmates the chance to use for parole while others who were minorly involved in a deadly crime don't get the possibility. SB 94 followed a series of criminal justice reform measures pushed by the state's Democrats in recent times.

“We must continue the conversation and re-engage with the racist, inconsistent and harmful sentencing that has disproportionately impacted Californians for over twenty years and will continue to wreak havoc until it is fixed,” Cortese said in an announcement.

But Sen. Kelly Seyarto, a Republican from Murrieta and vice chair of the Senate Public Safety Committee, said the bill “would have been devastating to public safety and victims' rights,” and lots of of Cortese's fellow Democrats, who’ve overwhelming majorities within the House, agreed. “We know that when voters come together and demand to be heard, even the overwhelming majority must take it seriously and listen to the will of the people.”

Originally published: September 2, 2024 at 3:40 p.m.

CHICAGO — Kamala Harris urged Americans on Thursday to reject political division and as an alternative forge what she called a “new path forward” as she accepted her party's nomination, mixing her biography with warnings against re-electing Donald Trump to the White House.

As she took the stage to a standing ovation on the conclusion of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the vp argued that her personal history and background as a prosecutor made her uniquely suited to defend the interests of Americans against a former president whom she accused of only having his own interests in mind.

“With this election, our nation has a precious, fleeting opportunity to put the bitterness, cynicism and divisive struggles of the past behind us,” Harris said. “A chance to forge a new path forward. Not as members of a party or faction, but as Americans.”

The daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, Harris was the primary black woman and person of South Asian descent to just accept a significant party's presidential nomination, and if elected, she could be the primary female president. Harris didn’t explicitly seek advice from the historic firsts she would set in her 40-minute speech, mentioning the words “Democrat” or “Republican” only within the context of discussing a bipartisan border bill that Trump killed earlier this 12 months and that she hoped to sign if elected.

Her address – and the Democratic convention as an entire – was intended to appeal to a broad swath of Americans, not only partisans already energized by Harris's rise after President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid. She made several implicit appeals to the big swath of voters who just a number of weeks ago were unhappy with either option for the White House, especially those unhappy with Trump. This was underscored by the looks of several individuals who have broken with the forty fifth president while supporting the policies and approach of Biden, the forty sixth.

She accompanied a big blended and mixed-race family throughout the traditional balloon toss. Beforehand, two of her great-nieces had taught people within the packed United Center easy methods to pronounce her name, which suggests lotus in Sanskrit.

“America, the path that has brought me here in the last few weeks has certainly been unexpected,” said Harris. “But I am no stranger to unusual travel.”

Harris introduces himself again

After her parents divorced, Harris was raised primarily by her mother in a small apartment in San Francisco's East Bay. She described how she was also raised by friends and caregivers who were “family out of love.” She also detailed a crucial a part of her political origin story, when Wanda, her best friend from highschool, confided in her that she was being abused by her stepfather and got here to live with Harris' family.

“That's one of the reasons I became a prosecutor. To protect people like Wanda,” Harris said.

Describing her work as a prosecutor, attorney general, senator and now vp, Harris said, “In my entire career, I have had only one client: the people.” At the identical time, she said Trump has at all times acted within the interests of “the only client he has ever had: himself.”

As she walked onto the stage, she saw a sea of ​​female delegates and Democratic supporters wearing white—the colour of ladies's suffrage, the movement that culminated in 1920 with American women gaining the precise to vote.

Harris' speech was to mark her tenth wedding anniversary along with her husband Doug Emhoff, whom she called “Dougie” on stage and who blew her a kiss from the stands in the beginning of her speech.

She and other speakers appealed on to Republicans

Harris directly called on Republicans who don’t support Trump to place aside their party affiliation and support her as an alternative of Trump, who contested his loss to Biden within the 2020 election that inspired the rebellion on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

“I know there are people watching tonight with different political views, and I want you to know that I promise to be a president for all Americans,” Harris said. “I promise to be a president for all Americans and to uphold America's sacred constitutional principles, the fundamental principles, from the rule of law and fair elections to the peaceful transfer of power.”

At the convention, former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican critic of Trump, gave a keynote speech. He said, “Whatever political views we hold, they pale in comparison to these basic questions of principle. Of decency. Of loyalty to this nation. To my Republican colleagues, if you still pledge allegiance to those principles, then I suspect you're in the right place.”

Harris repeatedly referred to her accuser's past and mentioned Trump's “express intention” to release those that attacked cops within the Capitol, to imprison political opponents and to make use of the military against American residents.

“Think of what he plans to do if we give him power again,” she added.

Trump called Fox News after Harris' speech and responded to the speech by asking, “Why didn't she do the things she complained about?”

“There was a lot of whining. She didn't talk about China. She didn't talk about fracking. She didn't talk about crime,” Trump continued, adding, “Other than that, it was a nice room.”

Harris guarantees to defend coalitions and access to abortion

Harris delivered her most detailed national security remarks since running for president. She pledged to strengthen U.S. ties with NATO allies and said the country must proceed to support Ukraine in its war with Russia. Trump and his running mate JD Vance have repeatedly questioned U.S. support for Ukraine.

“I will never waver in defending America's security and ideals, because in the ongoing struggle between democracy and tyranny, I know where I stand and I know where the United States belongs,” she said.

The Vice President also vowed to work toward an end to Israel's war against Hamas, which may lead to stabilization in the remainder of the region, without hesitation in protecting U.S. forces from aggression by Iran and other adversaries.

While she promised to “always stand up for Israel's right to self-defense” after the October 7 Hamas attack and pushed for the discharge of hostages and the implementation of a ceasefire agreement, she also highlighted the plight of Palestinian civilians. Pro-Palestinian protesters and members of the local “undecided” movement sharply criticized the convention organizers for not inviting a Palestinian American to the stage.

“What has happened in Gaza over the last 10 months is devastating. So many innocent people have lost their lives,” Harris said. “Desperate, hungry people keep fleeing for safety. The scale of the suffering is heartbreaking.”

Harris promised to revive nationwide access to abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and sharply criticized Trump and Republicans for allowing abortion bans in two dozen states and taking other steps in that direction.

“You are out of your mind,” Harris announced.

Harris has come under scrutiny within the month since she replaced Biden on the helm of the Democratic nomination for avoiding making concrete policy statements, making sweeping guarantees on a lot of key policy areas, including expanding voting rights, lowering housing costs, strengthening the center class through tax cuts and incentives, and securing the border.

Harris highlighted her background in law enforcement, including her time as district attorney in San Francisco and attorney general in California. She was later elected to the U.S. Senate and ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.

Her campaign failed this 12 months before a single vote was solid within the primaries, but Biden made her his running mate, catapulting her onto the national stage.

Although Harris initially struggled to realize traction as vp, her standing grew when she became the leading abortion rights advocate within the administration following the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade. Democrats seized on her anger over that call to limit their losses within the last midterm elections.

In a speech to her supporters after her remarks, Harris expressed confidence but encouraged them to proceed campaigning as in the event that they were behind.

“You can party tonight, we have a lot to do in the next 75 days,” she said. “We're going to win this.”

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Associated Press writers Chris Megerian in Washington and Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed.

Originally published: August 22, 2024 at 21:57