From Twatterbaas to WhatsApp: How viral claims distort white farmers' role in SA agriculture
Be among those who shape the future with knowledge. Uncover exclusive stories that captivate your mind and heart with our FREE 14-day subscription trial. Dive into a world of inspiration, learning, and empowerment. You can only trial once.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
12 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Judge and lawmakers question the Trump administration's plan to gut Job Corps centers
Members of Congress and a federal judge are questioning the Trump administration's plan to shut down Job Corps centers nationwide and halt a residential career training program for low-income youth that was established more than 50 years ago. The Department of Labor last week announced a nationwide 'pause of operations' for dozens of Job Corps centers run by private contractors. The department cited an internal review that concluded the program was costly and had a low success rate. The review also identified safety issues at the residential campuses. The Department of Labor said it would transition students and staff out of the locations by June 30. The program was designed for teenagers and young adults who struggled to finish high school in traditional school settings and then go on to obtain training and find jobs. Participants received tuition-free housing, meals and health care. Critics have argued that closing the campuses would leave young people homeless and deprive them of opportunities and hope. They also maintained the Trump administration did not have legal authority to suspend Job Corps because it was created by Congress. Lawmakers asked Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer about the decision when she appeared before the House Education and Workforce Committee on Thursday. 'Job Corps, which you know has bipartisan support in Congress, trains young, low-income people, and helps them find good-paying jobs and provides housing for a population that might otherwise be without a home,' U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott said. Scott, a Virginia Democrat, read from a letter Chavez-DeRemer wrote in support of Job Corps last year. The letter said the program increased participants' employment and wages, and decreased their reliance on public benefits. 'You've made a starkly abrupt shift from a champion to a destroyer of this important program,' said Democratic Rep. Suzanne Bonamici of Oregon, adding that students in her district were distraught. In response, Chavez-DeRemer said she recognized that only an act of Congress could eliminate Job Corps. She said the Labor Department had instead used its authority to halt the program's operations but planned to comply with a federal court order that temporarily blocked the action. U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter of New York issued a temporary restraining order on Wednesday that prohibited the Labor Department from terminating jobs, removing students from the 99 contractor-run centers or eliminating the Job Corps program without congressional authorization. The order was sought as part of a lawsuit filed Tuesday by the National Job Corps Association, a trade group which includes business, labor, volunteer and community organizations. The group alleged the Labor Department's decision would have disastrous consequences, including displacing tens of thousands of vulnerable young people and forcing mass layoffs. During Thursday's House committee hearing, Scott asked several Job Corps students in attendance to stand. 'These students were on their way to getting a good job and earning a living wage. On behalf of them, I urge you to immediately reverse the decision to effectively shut down all Job Corps centers,' Scott said. Chavez-DeRemer responded that the Trump administration wanted to eliminate ineffective training interventions. The report released in April by the Labor Department's Employment and Training Administration said Job Corps operated at a $140 million deficit during the last fiscal year and had an average graduation rate of under 39%. 'Our recently released Job Corps transparency report showed that in 2023 alone, more than 14,000 serious incidents were reported at the Job Corps centers, including cases of sexual assault, physical violence, and drug use,' Chavez-DeRemer said. 'This program is failing to deliver safe and successful outcomes our young people deserve.' The National Job Corps Association maintained the statistics were misleading. It said the 14,000 serious incidents included power outages, inclement weather, athletic injuries that required treatment and adult students leaving campus without prior approva. The group also said that Job Corps' graduation rates have historically been above 60%, but were depressed by COVID-19 policies during the year the Labor Department reviewed. Seth Harris, senior fellow at the Burnes Center for Social Change at Northeastern University, said in an interview that Job Corps is wildly popular on Capitol Hill. He recalled having to slow down Job Corps due to funding challenges when he served as acting secretary of labor during former President Barack Obama's administration. 'I got angry calls from elected members of the House and Senate on both sides of the aisle,' Harris said. The Job Corps program was designed to help young people who were not succeeding in school or who had left school without a place to go, placing them in a residential setting outside their community and providing them with vocational training, he said. The Labor Department shutting down Job Corps would be illegal because there's a process outlined for closing down the centers which includes publishing performance data, justifying the closure and allowing time for public comment and remediation, he said. 'This is plainly illegal,' Harris said. 'But it is entirely on brand for Donald Trump to beat up on poor kids, largely kids of color, who are trying to make their lives better.'
Wall Street Journal
13 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
Hear, Hear, Sotomayor and Jackson
The Supreme Court issued four unanimous opinions Thursday, including in two cases touching on the culture wars. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote one, ending an unfair legal bar to lawsuits alleging so-called reverse discrimination. Justice Sonia Sotomayor had the other one, saying Wisconsin was wrong to deny a tax exemption to a Catholic Charities nonprofit. That first outcome isn't a surprise, given the tone at oral arguments. Marlean Ames claims that while working under a gay boss, she was passed over for less-qualified gay competitors. Her employer, the state of Ohio, denies wrongdoing. But the lower courts threw out the case essentially because Ms. Ames, who is straight, is a member of a majority group. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that, under its legal test, Ms. Ames needed to substantiate 'the suspicion that the defendant is that unusual employer who discriminates against the majority.' Yes, a higher legal standard that applies in only some discrimination cases, based on the plaintiff's race or sex. Justice Jackson's opinion in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services cites the text of the 1964 Civil Rights Act: 'By establishing the same protections for every 'individual'—without regard to that individual's membership in a minority or majority group—Congress left no room for courts to impose special requirements on majority-group plaintiffs alone.'
CBS News
13 minutes ago
- CBS News
Push in Congress seeks to overturn California farm animal welfare law
A push is underway among some members of Congress that could overturn a measure approved by California voters aimed at improving the treatment of farm animals. At issue: Proposition 12, which mandated minimum cage sizes for animals raised for meat. California voters passed the proposition in 2018 by a margin of 2 to 1. It said that pork sold in the state must come from pigs that had at least enough space to turn around. A recent survey from the nonprofit World Animal Protection found that 80% of consumers felt concerned when they learned about the treatment of factory-farmed pigs. An estimated two-thirds of factory farms house sows in gestation crates with barely enough space to move back and forth. They aren't able to turn around, surrounded by metal bars where they're artificially inseminated and standing over their own waste. Under Prop 12, meat from these conditions is banned from being sold in California. Now, two new federal bills could allow meat from crated animals to be sold here again as long as they're raised elsewhere. Lawmakers that represent the highest pig-producing states are pushing for the law. Senator Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) sent CBS News Bay Area a statement, saying, "Midwest farmers and ranchers who produce our nation's food supply should not be hamstrung by coastal activist agendas that dictate production standards from hundreds of miles away." Some pig farmers, including Brent Hershey in Pennsylvania, already changed his operations to comply with California's rules. "As that all evolved, I started to see that we can't defend this," said Hershey. Now he's left wondering where his business stands because he says he's made the change and spent capital to satisfy those markets. "We would say that that's very disruptive," said Hershey. At a farm in the Sonoma County community of Windsor, the sows and boars have much more than room to turn around. They have sunshine and mud. "I figure these animals are giving us so much, we might as well give them as good a life as they can," said farmer Jeffrey Kent. He's been raising pigs for as long as he can remember. For the approximately 100 pigs on his farm, it's a life of free range. "It creates a much more natural life and creates a much happier pig which in the end creates a much better product," said Kent, "To be honest, I don't think I really compete with (factory farmers) at all because the customers that I have aren't interested in buying that kind of meat." Kent says that when you get to spend some time with his pigs, you see that they all have different personalities and are really quite smart. He referred to a new litter of pigs and how their mother treats them. "She talks to them. You can hear the storing back and forth. It's pretty great to see the community and the mothering instincts that they have," said Kent. Of course, those babies will eventually end up slaughtered when Kent deems the time is right. During their time growing up at his farm, though, they're guaranteed the simple things in life: fresh air, mud, and a little room to roam. CBS News Bay Area reached out to the National Pork Producers Council, the American Farm Bureau, and the Iowa Pork Producers Association. They have all opposed Prop. 12 they all support the newly proposed laws, but no one wanted to go on camera to discuss it. Senator Adam Schiff (D-California) strongly supports Prop 12, saying in a statement, "Any attempt to overturn it will face strong opposition. Congress should continue to respect the decision of California voters — as it would the voters in any state — and I will push back on any efforts to undermine their voices."
