Webinar explores media, Covid-19, and peace
It’s difficult to assess the impact of Covid-19 on news media since the pandemic is ongoing. However, several key trends are emerging.

I discussed these pandemic media impacts during today’s “Building Peace and Covid” webinar sponsored by the World Forum for Peace, the Schengen Peace Foundation, and the Luxembourg Peace Prize. A recording of the event will be posted soon at the LPP's website.

Building Peace and Covid webinar

I highlighted three Covid-19 impacts: the economic blow the pandemic has inflicted on the media; how Covid-19 is being used by authoritarian regimes as an excuse to censor and control media; and the way the pandemic has highlighted and perhaps stoked partisan media in the U.S.

Economically, the New York Times estimates that 38,000 news media jobs have been lost due to advertising revenue lost as a result of the pandemic. Examples of layoffs and furloughs include the Cleveland Plain Dealer, The New Orleans Times-Picayune, The Denver Post, Buzzfeed, Conde Naste, Gannett, and so on. In an article in the Guardian, Penny Abernathy, the Knight chair in journalism and digital media economics at the University of North Carolina, predicted “there’ll be hundreds, not dozens” of media closures in what she calls  “an extinction-level event.” 

For my second point, I discussed how journalists in Russia, Niger, Egypt, Venezuela, Iran, and elsewhere have been threatened and detained for reporting that challenged official narratives and statistics on Covid-19. Further, the pandemic has been used as an excuse by authoritarian regimes in Bosnia, Hungary, Russia, and elsewhere to crack down on journalism organizations for spreading “fake news,” which in most instances means reporting anything the government dislikes.

Finally, I discussed how Covid-19 has fueled already-roaring partisan flames in the U.S. media. The chart pictured shows just a few examples of how the pandemic has been covered in dramatically different ways by pro and anti-Trump media. I went on to show research that demonstrates the impact of this coverage on the public. Republicans surveyed tend to believe the crisis has been exaggerated, and are more comfortable with going to the barber or sending their kids to daycare than their Democratic counterparts. One example: Seventy percent of Republicans compared to just five percent of Democrats believe it’s safe to dine out, according to a poll from CNBC and Change Research released earlier this month.

Other webinar presenters included Steve Killelea, founder and director of the Institute of Economics and Peace. He discussed via a submitted video the economics of the crisis, and predicted a full  economic recovery won’t happen until 2022. Killelea also expressed his concern about the pandemic’s impact on the developing world, where countries will have to take on more debt, or perhaps default on the debt they have. He’s also concerned about richer countries re-directing international development aid to domestic purposes.

Steve Killelea, Inst. of Economics and Peace

Libby Liu, CEO of the Open Technology Fund, spoke about “Open and Free Internet, Our Lifeline.” She talked about crackdowns on Internet free speech, citing the statistic that of the 3.8 billion people with Internet access worldwide, 71% live in countries where citizens have been arrested for posting materials online. Liu discussed how her initiative, the Open Technology Fund, is designed to promote Internet access, privacy, awareness of threats, and security from online dangers.

Other speakers included Dr. Scilla Elworthy, Founder and Peace Direct and author of “Business Plan for Peace” and “The Mighty Heart,” Francois Carbon, Transatlantic Dialogue conference chair, and Helmy Abouleish, CEO of SEKEM, a sustainable development NGO in  Egypt, who discussed, “The Economy of Love.”

Four of the webinar presenters are 2020 Luxembourg Peace Prize laureates--Carbon (and the Transatlantic Dialogue conference he organizes), Elworthy, Lui, and myself. Abouleish and Killelea were former LPP winners. It was an honor to present alongside these outstanding peacebuilders.

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Agriculture needs an economic stimulus

After listing a host of measures that have been taken in the past, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her series of press conferences has come up with 11 specific measures on Friday, besides two measures she had spelt out a day earlier, to provide help to farmers as part of the Rs 20-lakh crore economic package for Covid-19. But it did not contain any special measure to provide direct cash transfer into the hands of farmers reeling under distress.   

While most of these measures have already been listed in the budget proposals in the past, Sitharam also announced three measures to ease up agricultural marketing and remove the stock limits under the Essential Commodity Act, a move that will help processing industry and wholesale trade. Except for exceptional times when a disaster strikes or when the prices for perishables go up beyond 100 per cent or 50 per cent in case of cereal crops, traders have now been allowed to hoard. A central law to provide farmers with various options to market their produce and laws to facilitate contract farming will soon be formulated.  

A fund of Rs 1-lakh crore to be created for strengthening post harvesting infrastructure like cold chains, storage was provided. Similarly there were proposals for developing marine and inland fisheries for which an allocation of Rs 20,000-cr was announced; another Rs 15,000-crore for dairy infrastructure, a continuing scheme; Rs 13,343-crore for control of animal diseases like foot and mouth disease, 100 per vaccination for all animals, which was approved by the Cabinet in may 2019; schemes for medicinal plants, honey bees, micro-food enterprises engaged in nutritional food, health and wellness etc. While I agree that these are important measures and are required to boost the rural economy, and help farmers, fishermen and dairy farmers but are steps that are part of a continuing process to improve agriculture activities in the long term.  

But in these extraordinary times when the lockdown has severely restricted economic activity, it is only agriculture which served as a lifeline. Agriculture, in true sense, reinforced its image as the mainstay of the Indian economy. With urban demand collapsing, with hotels, restaurants and dhabas closed for almost 50 days now, agriculture took the brunt of the lockdown, and still continued to keep the supplies moving. Reports of farmers spilling milk on the streets, poultry birds being buried alive, flowers being re-ploughed, fish rotting in the markets, and agitated farmers throwing away vegetables before cattle and with prices of almost all crops crashing in the market because of supply chain constraints have regularly poured in. Several estimates have put the losses suffered by vegetable growers alone at Rs 25,000-crore; dairy farmers at Rs 10,000-crores; poultry loss at Rs 15,000-crores besides there were huge losses suffered by flower growers, plantation crop, fruit growers and a massive hit suffered by fishermen. In other words, across the country, farmers have suffered a huge loss.

Despite all odds, farmers have also harvested nearly 106 million tonnes of wheat, and have already sown more area under kharif crops and are also getting ready for paddy transplantings in the weeks to come. Adhering to the safety norms, which meant staggering of dates to bring produce into the mandis, procurement of wheat is heading towards a record. Agriculture being already in distress, the expectation was for an immediate relief package to partly offset the losses they have suffered, and provide an incentive for the sowing operations to be undertaken. Here was an opportunity for the government to stand with farmers in distress, and provide a stimulating economic stimulus package. Farmers are in need of an immediate relief package, and providing more cash in their hands would have also helped create more demand.

Even earlier, when the Finance Minister had announced a package of Rs 1.70- lakh crore for farmers and other marginalised sections of the society, the only commitment for farmers was to frontload an instalment of Rs 2,000 under the PM-Kisan scheme, benefitting 8.19-crore farmers, which in any case was due to them. Under the PM-Kisan farmers get a direct transfer of Rs 6,000 per year, in three instalments. The first instalment was in any case due for April-June quarter. In other words, farmers have so far been deprived of any direct support. My proposal therefore is to provide a direct income transfer of Rs 10,000 per farmer, including the tenant farmers, without disturbing the PM-Kisan scheme allocations. In addition, considering the enormous difficulties farmers faced at the time of wheat harvest and procurement, they need to be given a bonus of Rs 100 per quintal over and above the minimum support price (MSP) for wheat procurement. Considering that several lakh migrant workers have returned to their villages, agriculture needs to be strengthened so as to absorb the additional workforce.

The pandemic provides immense opportunities to realise the Prime Minister’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. Revitalising agriculture and turning farming into an economically viable proposition forms the basis of the campaign. The additional allocation of Rs 40,000-crore for MNREGA is a welcome step.

It’s also time to learn from other countries. The US has provided a support of $ 3 billion to purchase vegetables, fruits and milk directly from the farmers and supply it to consumers. A similar strategy can be worked out for perishable crops in India, wherein the government provides at least a support of Rs 10,000-crores (like it is providing for the purchase for pulses/oilseeds) to the state governments directing them to make purchases directly from farmers by using the official machinery, cooperative agency outlets, Mother Dairy outlets, FPOs, organised retailers and also activating the supply chain. Extra-ordinary crisis needs out of box solutions, and it is time the government ushers in steps that are beneficial to farmers. After all, farmers have demonstrated that at this difficult time, they are the real backbone of the economy. #

READ MORE - Agriculture needs an economic stimulus

The solutions to the continuing distress in agriculture lie outside the crop fields, in economics --A brief interview

A brief interview in Kannada. I am sharing the English version. This interview was conducted by Nagesh Kn for One World Kannada. 

1. What is the approximate loss incurred by Indian farmers in this Lock down? volume of Agriculture produce and the cost of it...

A: A farmers from Kerala wrote. He said he has unsold stock of 49 drums of latex (approximately 10,000 kg) valued at Rs 3.25 lakh. His question is what should he do with this produce that is going waste. This is not an exceptional case. We have already read reports of farmers spilling milk on the streets, poultry birds being buried alive, flowers being re-ploughed, fish rotting in the markets, and agitated farmers throwing away vegetables before cattle and with prices of almost all crops crashing in the market because of supply chain constraints have regularly poured in. Several estimates have put the losses suffered by vegetable growers alone at Rs 25,000-crore; dairy farmers at Rs 10,000-crores; poultry loss at Rs 20,000-crores, sugarcane arrears at Rs 18,000-crore besides there were huge losses suffered by flower growers, plantation crop, fruit growers and a massive hit suffered by fishermen. In other words, across the country, farmers have suffered a huge loss. Even now farmers continue to incur losses. It will take some time to compute the total loss that farmers have suffered.  

2. What in your opinion is the best possible solution to be given to farming sector by respective govt's and Center in the present crisis?

A: In these extraordinary times when the lockdown severely restricted economic activity, it is only agriculture which served as a lifeline. Agriculture, in true sense, reinforced its image as the mainstay of the Indian economy. With urban demand collapsing, with hotels, restaurants and dhabas closed for almost 50 days now, agriculture took the brunt of the lockdown, and still continued to keep the supplies moving. At this difficult time, farmers needed immediate relief. They needed direct income support, more cash in their hands. My proposal therefore is to provide a direct income transfer of Rs 10,000 per farmer, including the tenant farmers, without disturbing the PM-Kisan scheme allocations. In addition, considering the enormous difficulties farmers faced at the time of wheat harvest and procurement, they need to be given a bonus of Rs 100 per quintal over and above the minimum support price (MSP) for wheat procurement. In addition, for a year at least they should not be hauled up for any default on bank loans, and the interest rate on bank loans be written off for the same period of one year. Considering that several lakh migrant workers have returned to their villages, agriculture needs to be strengthened so as to absorb the additional workforce. While the additional financial allocation of Rs 40,000-crore is welcome, but I think there is also an urgent need to extend the minimum guaranteed employment period to 200 days. 

3. Do you endorse the opinion of few organic farming promoters " People lost resistance to diseases and lost immunity due to the food they eat grown using chemicals (pesticides, fungicides, weedicides  etc)

A: While the Finance Minister has also announced Rs 10,000-crore fund for formulation of micro-food enterprises -- mostly for nutritional foods, organic foods, health and wellness and also building cluster approaches for makhana in Bihar, Kesar in Kashmir, Ragi in Karnataka and some others, the realisation that healthy, nutritious organic foods builds natural immunity and provides resistance against diseases is being articulated for quite some time. Intensive farming techniques have pulled down the nutritious contents, including minerals and vitamins, from the foods we normally eat. When we breed crop varieties for still higher productivity, we underplay a harsh reality -- yield is inversely proportionate to plant nutrition. In addition, by adding chemicals and hormones, we actually produce foods which are nutritionally hollow. It is therefore an appropriate time to re-imagine the food system, to pause and reflect whether the food we eat is primarily responsible for weakening our immune system against the diseases. The Coronavirus epidemic has given a knock at the proper time, now whether we hear the loud knock and make radical changes in the way we grow food, and the diets we consume, is something that depends on us. Instead of blaming the governments and policy makers, it is high time we as consumers raise our voice. 

4. When we talk about crisis we have three things Pre Corona Agri crisis, Corona time agri crisis and Post corona agri crisis ? What governments need to do to bring hope in farming sector, instead of keeping agriculture sector deliberately impoverished (your most frequent statement)

A: Whether before the coronavirus pandemic struck or after the lockdown eases, the stark reality that has emerged is that agriculture has been a victim of policies that have primarily kept farming impoverished. The basic objective of keeping farmers deprived of their rightful income was to create enabling conditions for the rural poor to migrate to the cities, which were needing cheaper labour. Estimates show that some 14-crore people work as urorganised workers in the cities, and I have always referred to them as Agricultural Refugees. These are the people who were in reality pushed out of the villages in the past few decades. By denying them their rightful income, they were left with little choice but to migrate to the cities looking for menial jobs. 

When do I mean by saying denying them their rightful income? Well, to illustrate, an OECD-ICRIER study shows that in the 17-year period, between 2000 and 2017, India farmers incurred a loss of Rs 45-lakh crores. Imagine the magnitude of loss the farmers were inflicted with. This was an extraordinary crisis, but the nation didn't even blink an eye. Imagine of the farmers had earned Rs 45-lakh crore more in 17 years (or Rs 2.64 lakh crore ever year), I am sure the number of people who migrated would have been far far less. The reverse migration that we now see actually provides us a visual of the agricultural refugees, who came to the cities looking for better options, now returning back after being disowned by the urban class. The long traumatised walk these millions have taken back to their villages clearly shows that the immediate need is to rebuild the village economy, make agriculture economically viable, which is only possible if we provide farmers with the rightful income. It is therefore high time to overhaul the economic design that pushed the poor from the villages to the cities, and instead replace it with an economic system that make farming viable, restores the lost pride in agriculture, and turn agriculture into the mainstay of the economy. 

This is possible only if you, my dear reader, wakes up to accept this harsh reality. Unless you too raise your voice, ask for policy course correction, and use social media to build up the voice of the voiceless, I don't think this can we done. Your silence is no longer a virtue, but a reflection of your failure to stand up and be counted. 

  

5. Whats your advise to farmers?  for self sustainable farming and life?

A: To my fellow farmers, my advise is to stop being greedy. In the race to achieve higher production, you have been misled to believe that higher the productivity, higher would be your income. You know very well that the chemical fertiliser you use or the pesticides you spray are harmful for the environment. You know that despite investing heavily in intensive farming techniques your incomes have fallen. A majority of farmers live in debt, and I know living in debt all through your life is hell. With every passing year, you are being pushed deeper and deeper into a debt trap. farm suicide rate constinues to be soaring, and you know of many farmers in your own neighbourhood who have ended their life unable to carry the burden of debt anymore. Take the case of Punjab. It has 98 per cent area under assured irrigation, which means every crop filed is irrigated. It has the highest productivity of cereal crops -- wheat, rice and maize -- in the world. every State is trying to emulate the example of Punjab. But what is little known is that Punjab, despite the bountiful harvests, has turned into a hotbed of farmer suicides. Between 2000 and 2015, the total number of suicides by farmers and farm workers stood at 16,600. 

It is time you learnt your lessons. Don't be in a mad race to compete with your neighbouring farmer who uses excessive doses of fertiliser and pesticides. Move away from these chemicals. Produce food safely, which can be consumed safely. And in addition, shift your focus to know how you have been deprived of your rightful income over he past few decades. Educate yourself, and also educate your fellow farmers. Your focus should shift to getting the right price for your produce, which means getting the rightful income. You may have heard me before giving an example of how the basic salary of government employees has gone by 120 to 150 times in the 45 years period, between 1970 and 2015. The basic salary of college teachers and professors has gone up by 150 to 170 times in the same period. But the wheat MSP in the same 45 years period has been increased by only 19 times. I am sure you will agree that if the basic salary of the government employees and college/university professors has gone in the same proportion many of them would have quit their jobs, and many would have committed suicide. What you need to learn now is that the distress you face is not because you don't know how to do farming but how your income was deliberately kept low to provide cheaper food for the consumers.

The solutions to the continuing distress in agriculture lie outside the crop fields, in economics.  #

ಕೃಷಿ ಬಿಕ್ಕಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಪರಿಹಾರ ರೈತರ ಹೊಲದಲ್ಲಿಲ್ಲ, ಬದಲಿಗೆ... OneWorld Kannada. May 18, 

https://kannada.oneindia.com/agriculture/devinder-sharma-on-how-to-handle-agriculture-crisis-192276.html?utm_source=article&utm_medium=tweet-button&utm_campaign=article-tweet

READ MORE - The solutions to the continuing distress in agriculture lie outside the crop fields, in economics --A brief interview

From Growth Economics to Economics of Well-Being

These are cars lined up before a food bank in America 

Pic courtesy -- MotherJones

At the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, the World Economic Forum shared on Twitter a study 

conducted by Statista, a German online portal for statistics. It listed the top ten countries where people are 

losing faith in capitalism, where people agree “capitalism as it exists today does more harm than good in the world.” Interestingly, India tops the chart with 74 per cent respondents agreeing, followed by France (69 per cent), China (63 per cent), and Brazil (57 per cent). Germany trails with 55 per cent, UK (53 per cent) and with Canada and United States at 47 per cent each.

The declining faith in capitalism comes at a time when Oxfam International in its annual presentation, timed a few days before the World Economic Forum meeting in January at Davos in Switzerland, presents the shocking report on income inequality. Accordingly, India’s richest 1 per cent carries four times more wealth than the combined wealth of bottom 70 per cent. Internationally, the report says 2,153 billionaires have more wealth than 60 per cent of the global population. Ironically, the same wealthy corporations are once again on the forefront seeking massive Covid-19 bailouts. Such economic bailouts over the period have helped shape the popular thinking that global economic system in reality supports ‘socialism for corporate, and capitalism for the poor’. The worsening income inequality, which is increasingly coming under the scanner, is enough to fuel growing dissatisfaction with capitalism. As if this was not enough, the pandemic has further widened the social and economic gulf with the poor certainly faced with a much greater risk. With massive job losses, the challenge to stay safe and at the same time the struggle to provide food for the family has further deepened the gap between haves and have-nots.

Despite market reforms being pursued aggressively over the past four decades, one better way to understand how the social and economic disparities have only widened, comes from an insightful analysis of growing food insecurity and that too at a time of plenty. Writing in the New York Times, Patricia Cohen compares the long queues for food in America at the time of the Great Depression in the 1930s with the still longer queues of cars, stretching to several miles, before food banks during the 2020 pandemic. Separated by a time gap of almost 80 to 90 years, a memorable picture taken by photographer Margaret Bourke-White (of Time Life Pictures) shows a long line of poor citizens waiting for relief below a signboard showing a happy family in a car, with the banner claiming: ‘World’s highest standard of living’.

Nothing much seems to have changed. The economic model of growth has only made the rich richer, and the poor have been driven against the wall. In a country, which is known to be the world’s richest economy, pictures of cars lined up for an average of 2 miles or so before a food bank, is only a stark reflection of ‘profound, longstanding vulnerabilities in the economic system’. Not only in America, the distressing visuals of a traumatised migrant workers in India, with children in laps and carrying family belongings on head, trudging on foot to reach their homes several hundred kilometres away, will continue to haunt the nation for quite some time. Whether it is the long queues of cars in America or the long march in India, the pandemic has laid bare the inequalities perpetuated over the decades. A serious rethink is now required to radically overhaul the economic system bringing in equity and justice at the centre of human development.

It doesn’t end here. Four decades of neoliberal economics has also unleashed an environmental havoc. With temperatures soaring, ice caps melting and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) rising, climate change in no longer a distant reality. Many believe that the destruction of prime natural resources, forests and biodiversity hotspots has lead to the emergence of deadly diseases. A complex web of relationship exists between industrial farming, factory farms and bushmeat markets calling for an immediate fixing of the broken food systems so as to avoid the next pandemic. Whether it is the resulting environment destruction or the rampaging economic inequalities, the Covid crisis should act as an urgent wake-up call for governments to seriously move towards an economic system where the majority population is not deprived of basic necessities, where the emphasis shifts from economic growth to economics of well-being, where Gandhi’s talisman becomes the new development mantra. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently said the biggest take away from the global crisis “is to become self-reliant.” Although several newspapers editorials as well as lead articles have warned against returning to self-reliance and that too at a time when the world needs to quickly move into a trajectory of high growth, I think what the Prime Minister said is exactly what the country needs. Not only making villages self-reliant, where agriculture becomes the pivot for rebooting the Indian economy, the policy imperative has to swing to creating adequate farm, public health and education infrastructure thereby revitalising the rural economy. This has to be accompanied by a renewed emphasis on ‘Make in India’ programme – especially by revitalising the MSME sector -- given that too much dependence on global value chains is now coming under the radar.

The principle of self-reliance is based on according dignity to labour and living in harmony with nature. These two underlying principles for economic well-being come in direct conflict with traditional economics which continues to harp on productivity and growth, in short pushing for more aggressive market reforms. The bumpy road ahead however will need a clear cut change in policy direction where first providing a generous social security net for the unskilled as well as skilled industrial workers becomes an immediate necessity. Secondly, and more importantly, the focus has to shift from destroying nature in the quest for economic growth.

Staying indoors for several weeks has made people realise the importance of conserving and protecting environment. They now need appropriate policies that make it possible. Economic well-being is an idea whose time has come.#

Losing faith in capitalism. The Tribune. May 16, 2020

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/comment/losing-faith-in-capitalism-83920?fbclid=IwAR1Zbq6RJImJNDIMvp6CK8g8M_PC5QVrqEJpi_7-ouZSY8pp2wejbVD3-P0

READ MORE - From Growth Economics to Economics of Well-Being

Will Lack of Social Distancing Or Threats To Touch Someone Be Suspendable and Expellable Offenses When Students Return To School?

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995

Schools and students are in turmoil in California, with all pushed to distance education for fear of  the "invisible enemy" aka Coronavirus.  But what about the upcoming fall and the 2020-21 schoolyear?  How will students return to school in the Coronavirus "new normal" and how will school restrictions be enforced?  Imagine kids prior normal actions at school (running, hanging out, talking, high-fiving, texting, laughing, playing sports together, walking through crowded hallways) and now imagine those actions 6 feet apart.  How will schools stop kids from interacting and how will they be punished if they do not socially distance?  I am not looking forward to finding out.

It is hard to imagine kids playing on a playground and social distancing, isn't it?  Let's take a 5, 10 or even a 16 year old and try to keep them 6 feet away from their friends.  How will this work?  What about in physical education (PE)?  Will they just jog alone or play tennis?  There are innumerable questions and serious concerns on how this will be managed.  It is not hard to envision a heavy type of authoritarianism will exist in schools to enforce the new standards.  In this new "normal" what will schools do to stop kids who run within 6 feet of someone or who shake someone's hand?  Will they be suspended, or even expelled for placing someone in theorized danger?  I hope not, but I am not sure.

California students will have to navigate severe restrictions and face a new class of offenses that at this time can only be imagined, such as:

-  Being within 6 feet of another.
-  Not sanitizing properly
-  Threatening others with touching, spitting or breathing on them
-  Lying that they have Coronavirus to intimidate and scare others
-  Threatening to bring Coronavirus to school
-  Touching a friend, teacher or staff member (e.g. high-fiving, hugging, poking, bumping into someone)
-  Touching things around campus
-  Not sanitizing their desk or seat, etc. when they change classes
-  Playing in groups
-  Playing contact sports
-  Using someone else's stuff
-  Going to the bathroom when someone else is using it
-  Sitting in the wrong seat, spot or being in a place not marked with a taped "X" 

-  Not wearing a mask (if required)
-  Whispering to each other
-  Coughing or sneezing and not covering up the cough/sneeze
-  Coming to school with a fever or sick
-  Not reporting when a family member is sick
-  Posting on social media related to Coronavirus in a way that threatens students or creates a school disruption

There are no direct provisions in the California Education Code for suspension or expulsion for failure to social distance, or for students not waiting their turn, YET, but there are provisions in the Education Code for suspension or expulsion for other things that I fear may be used against kids.  

Education Code §48900:

This code section allows suspension or expulsion for many things, including threatening someone, disruption/defiance, and bullying:

A pupil shall not be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion, unless the superintendent of the school district or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has committed an act as defined pursuant to any of subdivisions (a) to (r), inclusive:

(a)(1) Caused, attempted to cause, or threatened to cause physical injury to another person...

(k) Disrupted school activities or otherwise willfully defied the valid authority of supervisors, teachers, administrators, school officials, or other school personnel engaged in the performance of their duties. [expulsion and suspension may be limited depending on grade level]...

(r) Engaged in an act of bullying. For purposes of this subdivision, the following terms have the following meanings:

(1) “Bullying” means any severe or pervasive physical or verbal act or conduct, including communications made in writing or by means of an electronic act, and including one or more acts committed by a pupil or group of pupils as defined in Section 48900.2, 48900.3, or 48900.4, directed toward one or more pupils that has or can be reasonably predicted to have the effect of one or more of the following:

(A) Placing a reasonable pupil or pupils in fear of harm to that pupil’s or those pupils’ person or property.

(B) Causing a reasonable pupil to experience a substantially detrimental effect on the pupil’s physical or mental health.

(C) Causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial interference with the pupil’s academic performance.

(D) Causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial interference with the pupil’s ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school.

So, if a student threatens another student with coming close to a friend and "getting" them, will this mean they are threatening them with harm?  What if a student purposefully intimidates a student who is very fearful of Coronavirus?  Will this be bullying?  If a student refuses to stand apart from friends trying to play, will they be sent to the office?  What if they want to run around separately, but accidentally run into each other- will they be expelled for endangering someone?  Is this even far-fetched in the current climate of California?  Not necessarily.  This is just one more minefield they will have to navigate.

Another code section which could conceivably be twisted into a tool to punish during the Coronavirus panic is Education Code §48900.4, which states:

...a pupil enrolled in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive, may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has intentionally engaged in harassment, threats, or intimidation, directed against school district personnel or pupils, that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, and invading the rights of either school personnel or pupils by creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment.

The student who threatens another daily with touching them, with being next to them on the bus, with breathing on them, could conceivably have this code thrown at them to punish.

What about Education §48900.7?  This section allows suspension or expulsion for making threats of grave harm which can be immediately carried out:

(a) ... a pupil may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has made terroristic threats against school officials or school property, or both.

(b) For the purposes of this section, “terroristic threat” shall include any statement, whether written or oral, by a person who willfully threatens to commit a crime which will result in death, great bodily injury to another person, or property damage in excess of one thousand dollars ($1,000), with the specific intent that the statement is to be taken as a threat, even if there is no intent of actually carrying it out, which, on its face and under the circumstances in which it is made, is so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to convey to the person threatened, a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of execution of the threat, and thereby causes that person reasonably to be in sustained fear for his or her own safety or for his or her immediate family’s safety, or for the protection of school district property, or the personal property of the person threatened or his or her immediate family

One can only imagine a student saying he spit on his hands and rubbed all the doors and handles, or who did not wash his hands (or gloves if required) before he came to class, or who tells many people he has Coronavirus and will purposefully make the school sick (despite not having it), being accused of terroristic threats. 

As I frequently see kids unfairly suspended and expelled, this is just one more concern I have when kids return to school under California's strict Coronavirus control measures.  Ultimately, it will be up to the reasoned application of discipline rules to students by school administrators and the strong advocacy of parents.  Let's hope schools use their discretion to discipline wisely in the "new normal."  We shall see.

Best,

Michelle Ball

Education Law Attorney 

LAW OFFICE OF MICHELLE BALL 

717 K Street, Suite 228 

Sacramento, CA 95814 

Phone: 916-444-9064 

Email:help@edlaw4students.com 

Fax: 916-444-1209

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Please see my disclaimer on the bottom of my blog page. This is legal information, not legal advice and no attorney-client relationship is formed by this posting, etc. etc.!  This blog may not be reproduced without permission from the author and proper attribution of authorship.

READ MORE - Will Lack of Social Distancing Or Threats To Touch Someone Be Suspendable and Expellable Offenses When Students Return To School?

Diluting the APMC, MSP regimes isn't a good idea

A general impression has been created by mainline economists that the main reason behind agrarian distress is the denial of freedom to farmers to sell to anyone, anywhere. This is essentially an argument seeking to demolish the massive procurement operations being undertaken for crops like wheat and paddy in regulated APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committees) mandis. Minimum Support Price (MSP) too has been touted as a monopolistic price which deprives farmers of what the economists call as price discovery. Markets alone are being projected as the way forward to provide farmers with a better price.

For almost a decade now, serious attempts have been made to systematically dismantle the procurement structures, built assiduously over the years to achieve food security. Former Chief Minister of Punjab, Prakash Singh Badal, had a number of times said how in the name of liberalising farmer markets he was increasingly coming under pressure from economists and policy makers to dismantle the APMC market network. Capt Amarinder Singh’s government too has time and again appealed to the Centre not to phase out the one-ended crop procurement system which has provided farmers with income security. A high-powered committee had earlier recommended splitting the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and shifting its focus to food exports and commodity trading. Like the story of camel and tent, allowing private players in the APMC regulated markets is now being suggested by free-market evangelists to bring in competition.

Five weeks into the lockdown and all promises of markets being the saviour have come crashing down. It is only the surplus food reserves that have come in handy at these difficult times. Imagine, if the food reserves had been curtailed to meet the demand of only 20 per cent population as some economists had envisaged. Would the markets have stood up to meet the challenge? Also, take a look at the dairy industry, which has a sizeable private sector presence. At a time when the dairy prices have slumped following a crash in demand, and with private dairies refusing to buy any extra milk, it is only the cooperative milk dairies that are buying surplus milk to be converted into milk powder and cheese. Amul alone is procuring 50 lakh litres a day. So are state cooperatives like Verka in Punjab and Vita in Haryana. Maharashtra has been procuring 10 lakh litres of surplus milk every day at an assured price of Rs 25 per litres to offset the losses farmers are suffering. Kerala Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation is providing free milk to migrants as a solution to reduce the glut in procurement. Wonder why the private dairies couldn’t do the same.

Coming back to normal times, the idea of encouraging competition by liberalising the agricultural markets is the underlying objective of market reforms. But what remains unexplained is that why the private players should be only eyeing the well-laid out market infrastructure of the regulated APMC markets? Considering that only 6 per cent farmers receive MSP (as per the Shanta Kumar high-powdered committee) the remaining 94 per cent of India’s farmers are in any case dependent on markets. Instead of forcing amendments to the APMC Act seeking entry of private players, the best way to upset the strong cartels that operate in the APMC markets is to set up parallel private market networks in the areas where the regulated mandis do not exist. After all, 94 per cent farmers do not have access to regulated markets. Take the case of Bihar, which had revoked the APMC Act in 2006. The idea was to attract private sector investments in marketing infrastructure where efficient markets were expected to provide for better price discovery. Unfortunately, nothing like that happened. So much so that unscrupulous traders are illegally transporting quite a sizeable quantity of wheat and paddy after every harvest to Punjab and Haryana, which at least provide an assured MSP.  

In any case, there are less than 7,000 regulated APMC markets in India. What India needs is vast network of 42,000 markets if a mandi has to be provided in 5 kilometres radius. The opportunity therefore is huge, all it requires is the ability to take up the challenge and chart a promising direction by first investing in essential infrastructure like cold chains, storage, grading, transportation etc.

Now comes the issue of price discovery. If markets were so efficient, there is no reason why farmers should be committing suicide in such a large number. After all, as said earlier, since 94 per cent farmers are dependent on free markets, their economic conditions should have improved over the years. However, Economic Survey 2016 tells us that the average income of a farm family in 17 states of India, which means half the country, is less than Rs 20,000 a year. Even in America, from where we borrow the failed economic prescriptions for agriculture, markets have left farmers in the lurch. According to the Chief Economist of US Department of Agriculture real farm incomes have been on a decline since 1960s. What had saved farming all these years was the economic support through massive subsidies. Further, despite commodity trading and the dominance of multi-brand retail, the American Farm Bureau Federation in 2019 said that 91 per cent US farmers are bankrupt and 87 per cent farmers say they are left with no other alternative but to abandon farming.

While India is trying to hook agriculture to commodity futures, I wonder why in the US with the biggest commodity stock exchanges, farmers should be carrying a debt of $ 420 billion. If commodity trading hasn’t worked for US farmers (and for European farmers where direct income support is still in vogue) how it will be a panacea for Indian farmers has never been explained. In any case, at the time of global food crisis in 2007, when 37 countries had faced food riots several experts had pointed to commodity trading for being primarily responsible for food crisis the world encountered. While poor went hungry, agri business companies had made a killing on the exchange.  

The reason why India escaped the global food crisis was (and even now at the time of an ongoing lockdown) is because it had not linked its agriculture to the commodity trading system and at the same it had enough food stocks to tide over the crisis, thanks to APMC. Whether we like it or not, the fact remains that despite MSP not covering the cost of production for most crops, it is the only instrument that provides for price discovery. Dilute the MSP regime, and prices for agricultural commodities would register a fall. Any effort to dismantle the procurement system therefore is fraught with unforeseen dangers. The need is to improve the working of the APMC mandisrather than turning these redundant. #

Diluting the APMC, MSP regimes isn't a good idea. Hindu Business Line. May 12, 2020.
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/diluting-the-apmc-msp-regimes-isnt-a-good-idea/article31556671.ece?fbclid=IwAR2zKSCsIqQ_YTcp1UkkkAsT-f3KHeIRWEHe4Y5YM6ReMCu15u1a3Tk-ZM4 

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Luxembourg Peace Prize: The honor of a professional lifetime
I’ve never much liked awards shows, and have always rolled my eyes at what I saw as ego-soaked, condescending thank-yous from the winners touting the contributions of the “people who made it all possible.”

Well, my mind has changed. Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, and Scarlett Johansson, I owe you and your brethren an apology.  (An aside: Just to set the record straight, no, Brad Pitt and I are not identical twins.)

I have won the honor of my professional life, the 2020 Luxembourg Peace Prize, awarded by the Schengen Peace Foundation and the World Peace Forum. The awards ceremony was scheduled for later this month, but has been postponed an entire year thanks to Covid-19. The peace prize is given to 8-10 “outstanding peacebuilders and activists” each year, as well as organizations prompting peace. A complete list of this year’s winners is below. It is certainly an honor to be included in this august group, and to have my name mentioned alongside former Luxembourg Peace Prize laureates like primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall and organizations like Rotary International. (For more details, see Park University press release).

Winning the Luxembourg Peace Prize is the honor of my professional lifetime. To see your efforts recognized in this way validates all of the work that my colleagues and I have done to spread the word about peace and peace journalism.

As an anti-procrastination neurotic, I’ve already begun mapping out my May, 2021 acceptance speech in my head, and am starting to really understand the meaning of all the acceptance speech thank-yous.

When I finally accept the award in person, I will be doing so with hundreds of my colleagues at my side, at least in spirit. I want to somehow chop the prize into little pieces, and share with those who have supported and promoted me, and collaborated with me on peacebuilding and peace journalism projects around the world.

Peacebuilding and peace journalism, like Brad, Meryl, and Scarlett’s movies, are inherently collaborative efforts. So I will share my award with Park University, which has generously supported my peace work, given me space and time to engage in peacebuilding, and provided a home for the Center for Global Peace Journalism at Park since 2012. My departmental colleagues at Park have been endlessly supportive.

I will also share my award with my many peacebuilding collaborators in Kansas City, and peace journalism colleagues around the world who have taught alongside me, helped me organize seminars and workshops, contributed to the Peace Journalist magazine which I edit, and so on. I won’t name names (except one) since I’ll forget someone. But I will mention my closest and longest tenured colleague, Gloria Laker in Uganda, with whom I’ve shared dozens of seminars since 2008, traversed thousands of miles of bumpy roads, and spent months spent away from loved ones in the service of peace journalism. Gloria, you would be an outstanding recipient of this award in the future.

So Brad, Meryl, and Scarlett, no hard feelings. If you’re in Luxembourg in May 2021, please drop by the Luxembourg Peace Prize ceremony. Brad, you and I should probably avoid wearing matching tuxes, just to avoid confusion.

2020 Luxembourg Peace Prize Laureates

OUTSTANDING PEACE ACTIVISTS Dr. Scilla Elworthy Turns vision into action: Today her full attention is on developing Business Plan for Peace www.thebusinessplanforpeace.org resulting from her 2017 book The Business Plan for Peace: Building a World Without War. Her TED talk on nonviolence has been viewed by over 1,400,000 people on TED and YouTube. Peace Direct goes from strength to strength under brilliant young leadership, founded by Scilla in 2002 to fund, promote and learn from local peace-builders in conflict areas. Scilla was adviser to Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Sir Richard Branson in setting up ‘The Elders’, and was Awarded the Niwano Peace Prize in 2003. She has been nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize for developing effective dialogue between nuclear weapons policy-makers worldwide and their critics, with the Oxford Research Group founded in 1982.

Dr. William Vendley is the Secretary General Emeritus of Religions for Peace International, the world’s largest and most representative multi-religious coalition advancing common action for peace by working to advance multi-religious consensus on positive aspects of peace as well as concrete actions to stop war, help eliminate extreme poverty and protect the earth. He is a pioneer in advancing multi-religious cooperation to help resolve conflict and advance development and has facilitated the establishment of multi-religious councils around the world. He has advanced multi-religious efforts to prevent conflicts, mediate among warring parties and heal societies in the aftermath of violence in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Liberia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Iraq and many other countries. He is convinced that multi-religious efforts for peacemaking provide unique strengths that complement those marshaled by governments and bodies like the United Nations.

OUTSTANDING PEACE EDUCATION Transatlantic Dialogue The Transatlantic Dialogue conference series on global citizens, held in Luxembourg since 2008 as a collaborative effort between Luxembourg University and Miami University in Ohio, explores the significance of culture and liberal education for fostering global citizenship from both the United States and European perspectives. - articulating why intercultural competence and dialogue matters in their own institutional and societal context - considering a philosophy of practice that incorporates arts-based approaches for developing students’ and peers’ capacity for cultural diplomacy, peace and global citizenship - advocating for the principles of cultural diplomacy as a critical component of a university education - in the co-curriculum as well as in the formal curriculum. The challenges our world presents today can seem unprecedented. Profound differences over the complex issues confronting us, manifest themselves in loud and often discouraging public debates over everything from how we best foster human prosperity to how we address each other on an equal foot in its many forms, protect our fundamental freedoms, and care for the most vulnerable and marginalized among us. Bridging differences begins with approaching others with the will to acknowledge and understand their and our own identity and cultural ‘otherness.’ “The more astute awareness we achieve concerning our own and other’s cultures, the more sophisticated we can be as thinkers and actors on a world stage. Therefore, our engagement with diverse forms of cultural expression may enable us to relate to different codes of humanity with confidence, sympathy and growing curiosity towards each other.” Universities have a key role to play in this regard and this interdisciplinary forum explores multiple perspectives on how this can be achieved.

OUTSTANDING YOUTH PEACEMAKER Boniface Mwangi Is one of the most vocal and courageous Kenyans of our generation. Recognized globally for his passion and excellence in photography, this photographer-cum-activist could not resist the call to activism after witnessing, first-hand, the brutality that disadvantaged Kenyans experienced in the wake of the Post- Election Violence of 2008. He then established Picha Mtaani, a traveling photography exhibition showcasing images of the violence. The travelling photo exhibition toured across Kenya and drew more than 2 million visitors. The exhibition tour offered a platform for individual reflection, honest dialogue, interpersonal healing and community reconciliation.

OUTSTANDING PEACE ORGANISATION Words Heal the World Is a non-profit organisation that was set up to empower students to challenge online hate speech and tackle different types of extremism. It is worldwide organisation that puts young people as main actors in the development of messages to tackle different types of extremism and also helps increase the visibility of partner organisations that promote peace worldwide. Its work is based on a tripod, contributing to the work developed by universities, high schools, and dozens of organisations committed with peacebuilding, especially using words to tackle extremism.

OUTSTANDING PEACE TECHNOLOGY Libby Lui Was at the helm of Radio Free Asia (RFA) for 16 years, a non-profit created to provide accurate, timely news to citizens living in closed societies through Asia. Libby’s principles at RFA were enshrined in Human Rights: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” She is committed to restoring human rights to citizens who have been denied them, Libby led RFA to give voice to the voiceless and enable people the ability to make informed decisions about their lives and own their human dignity. In 2019, after using this approach in innovative internet freedom technology and allowing more than 2 billion people around the world to use the internet more safely despite the declining state of internet freedom globally, the Open Technology Fund (OTF) emerged as its own private non-profit. As the CEO of OTF, Libby is committed to expanding the work and impact of OTF by continuing to build coalitions, public-private partnerships and capacity in the communities most at risk. If citizens of humanity can participate openly as part of the global online community freely and without fear, we can be a world that respects all regardless of where they reside. A world built on human dignity would be one aligned with the vision of internet freedom.

OUTSTANDING PEACE JOURNALISM Steve Youngblood Is a Kansas City, USA area professor and Director of the Center for Global Peace Journalism and Associate Professor of Communications at Park University (Parkville, Missouri). He has taught peace journalism to journalists, academics, and students in 27 countries and territories worldwide, including conflict areas like South Sudan, Indian-administered Kashmir, Lebanon, Cameroon, and Turkey. He is also the editor of the semi-annual Peace Journalist magazine, author of the university textbook Peace Journalism Principles and Practices, and writer of the Peace Journalism Insights blog. Youngblood is also a two-time J. William Fulbright Scholar, traveling to Moldova in 2001 and Azerbaijan in 2007. He has been recognized for his service to global peace by the U.S. Department of State, Rotary International and the United Nations Association of Greater Kansas City as its World Citizen of the Year in 2012.

OUTSTANDING ART FOR PEACE Pedro Reyes Is a Mexican artist whose works aim to increase individual or collective agency in social, environmental, political or educational situations. He has won international attention for large-scale projects that address current social and political issues. Through a varied practice utilising sculpture, performance, video, and activism, Reyes explores the power of individual and collective organisation to incite change through communication, creativity, happiness, and humour. A socio-political critique of contemporary gun culture is addressed in Palas por Pistolas (2008), in which the artist worked with local authorities in Culiacán, Mexico, to melt down guns into shovels, intended to plant trees in cities elsewhere in the world. Similarly, in Disarm (2013) the Mexican government donated over 6,700 confiscated firearms for Reyes to transform into mechanical musical instruments, which are automated to play a delightful, if surreal loop, retaining the raw emotion of their origins.

OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENTAL PEACE Water Peace Security Water, Peace and Security (WPS) partnership was founded in 2018 to pioneer the development of innovative tools and services that help identify and address water-related security risks. These tools and services can link hydrological, social, economic and political factors to pinpoint changes in short-term water availability and provisionally assess their potential impacts on society. Based on this information, evidence-based actions can be triggered to prevent or mitigate human security risks. WPS can also facilitate this process by raising awareness, developing capacities and supporting dialogue that together underpin effective coordinated action.

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Despite Covid postponements, glass is at least half full

I’ll be leaving next week to teach a series of peace journalism workshops at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv. From there, I head to Luxembourg to give a session at the Transatlantic Dialogue conference. In June, I’m off to Washington to teach a week-long seminar for journalists from the Caucuses at the US Institute of Peace (USIP). In July, I’ll spend about 20 days in Nepal, working on a project with the East-West Center for Indian and Pakistani journalists. Then finally, in the first week of August, I’ll head for Khartoum, where I’ll be spending a week on a State Department Speaker and Specialist grant working with Sudanese journalists.

Or not.

What had promised to be a busy, fascinating, educational summer now has the looks of the polar opposite. Don’t get me wrong. The Covid situation hasn’t left me whiny, but instead, grateful.

I’m extremely grateful that my family, friends, students, and colleagues are all well. I feel fine, and am fortunate enough to still have a job. And certainly, my inconveniences pale in comparison to actual hardship, either medical or financial.

I’m also grateful that these activities have all been postponed, and not canceled. I’ll visit Ukraine and Nepal in 2021, and Sudan and Washington (tentatively) next fall. Luxembourg has been moved back exactly one year, so I’ll be there in May, 2021.

I’m gratified that organizations like USIP and the State Department continue to see the value of my work—a value that has been underscored, I believe, by the Covid and the media coverage of the crisis.

So despite my understandable disappointment, I’m left feeling satisfied with my (at least) half-full glass.

The best news is that the work of spreading the word about peace journalism will continue virtually this summer. I’ll be making a presentation for a virtual session of the Transatlantic Dialogue later this month (stay tuned to this space for details), as well as a virtual seminar for Sudanese journalists in August. And, of course, I’ll keep my eye on Covid coverage in the media, looking for irresponsible or partisan reporting (see previous blog).  

I plan to continue to stay hunkered down at home, and thus relatively safe. I'm grateful, once again, that I have this luxury.

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Eight Things NOT To Do At A School Expulsion Hearing

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995

School expulsions can be devastating for students, emotionally and otherwise, ending up with kids sent to a continuation school and damaging college entrance chances.  It is important to know what NOT to do when parents are fighting for their child's future at an expulsion hearing.  

Here are some things parents should NOT do at a school expulsion hearing:

1)  Consider not allowing your child to testify if they have not already confessed.   Make the school district prove their case, and don't do it for them.  The school district has the burden of proof and no child is mandated to testify.  The testimony decision is highly fact dependent and there is no black and white rule.  Whether the student speaks at hearing may depend on the level of proof the school has, whether the parents will appeal, if the hearing will involve simply a "mercy plea," and other factors.  Caution is advised in making this decision.

2)  Do not forget to object to improper evidence.  If the school district attempts to admit evidence which should not be allowed into the hearing (e.g. evidence from another student who was not there), parents must not stay silent.  Rather, parents should speak up and ask for it to be disallowed, or if the item was already admitted into evidence, have it immediately taken out of the record.

3)  Do not get emotional at the hearing if possible.  If a parent is the one making the arguments at the expulsion hearing, he or she should attempt to keep strong emotions under control, particularly anger.  Parents don't want to alienate whomever is judging the child's expulsion matter, so logic and reason should be used to defend the student.  Parents should never yell or raise voices, regardless of the frustration level at the hearing.

4)  Do not forget to prepare opening and closing statements and witness questions.  Parents usually can make an opening and closing statement, plus question any and all witnesses at the hearing.  However, in the heat of the moment, parents may forget something critical, so a good outline should be developed with all legal and factual arguments as well as questions for anticipated witnesses.

5)  Do not forget to submit documents.  Parents should submit character letters in support of their child, along with any other documentary evidence which proves innocence.  Parents may also want to consider submitting a document which persuasively argues their defenses.

6)  Do not take it personally.  The school expulsion hearing may feel personal, but don't take it that way.  Act professionally at all times or the review panel may tune you out.

7)  Do not forget the district is not being "nice."   Although everyone on the other side may be outwardly polite, the school and district are trying to expel the student.  If they were not, they would have dropped or negotiated the matter before the hearing.  Parents cannot go into an expulsion hearing naively believing that everyone will understand once they get there, or they will win due to sympathy for their child.  

8)  Don't forget to bring witnesses to support your case.  Parents should bring students or others to the hearing to support the student's defense via live testimony.  If parents cannot get a hold of witnesses, subpoenas can be sought from the district prior to the hearing.

Parents need a little luck and good management skills when battling the lions trying to expel a child.  If not, a school expulsion can leave an expelled child adrift and with a black mark they may never get over.

Best,

Michelle Ball

Education Law Attorney 

LAW OFFICE OF MICHELLE BALL 

717 K Street, Suite 228 

Sacramento, CA 95814 

Phone: 916-444-9064 

Email:help@edlaw4students.com 

Fax: 916-444-1209

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Please see my disclaimer on the bottom of my blog page. This is legal information, not legal advice and no attorney-client relationship is formed by this posting, etc. etc.!  This blog may not be reproduced without permission from the author and proper attribution of authorship.

Published 2/5/12, updated 5/5/20

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