[unable to retrieve full-text content]
‘It’s going to be hard to sleep’: South Carolina student says he was walking with shooter WAVY.com The Link Lonk
Welcome to Foreign Policy’s South Asia Brief.
The highlights this week: Taliban hard-liners make a power play, Russia’s foreign minister visits New Delhi, and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan fights for his political life
If you would like to receive South Asia Brief in your inbox every Thursday, please sign up here.
Welcome to Foreign Policy’s South Asia Brief.
The highlights this week: Taliban hard-liners make a power play, Russia’s foreign minister visits New Delhi, and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan fights for his political life
If you would like to receive South Asia Brief in your inbox every Thursday, please sign up here.
The 1990s All Over Again
Over the last week, the Taliban have taken a series of draconian steps that bring to mind their policies from the 1990s, when they last held power in Afghanistan. They broke a promise to allow older girls back to school. They announced that women can’t board airplanes unless they’re accompanied by a male relative. They declared that men and women must visit public parks on separate days. And they banned broadcasts of local-language programming of the BBC, Voice of America, and Deutsche Welle after having already cracked down on Afghan media outlets.
Some commentators believe the Taliban are taking advantage of global attention being diverted by the war in Ukraine, trying to sneak in moves that would ordinarily generate international opprobrium and imperil the group’s search for legitimacy. However, issues like girls’ education and press freedom always resonate strongly on the world stage, and the Taliban have met with condemnations from officials across the West, as well as extensive international media attention.
These recent decisions reflect a power play by the Taliban’s most ideologically hard-line factions to assert their strength over the group’s more moderate wings. The hard-liners already had the upper hand: after the Taliban takeover, the most battle-hardened and fierce fighters were rewarded with plum posts, and they hold the highest-ranking positions in the Taliban administration formed in September 2021. But the Taliban will struggle to secure badly needed international assistance if the hard-liners continue to get their way. Additionally, long-festering internal divisions could worsen, constraining efforts to address critical policy challenges.
The hard-liners include fighters who played key roles in the Taliban regime of the 1990s and in the 20-year insurgency against the pro-U.S. government in Kabul. They include Prime Minister Mohammad Hasan Akhund, Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani (a leader of the Haqqani network, an internationally designated terror group), Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob (son of Taliban founder Mullah Omar), and the group’s supreme leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada. According to the Associated Press’s Kathy Gannon, it was Akhundzada who suddenly demanded the group’s recent moves following a leadership meeting in Kandahar—an about-face that, in the case of the girls’ schools decision, caught the Taliban education ministry by surprise. Some experts believe Akhundzada wanted to appease Taliban ultraconservatives.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar leads the moderate faction. He is a founding Taliban leader who operated out of the Taliban’s political office in Doha, Qatar, for many years and became a top interlocutor for international diplomats exploring peace and reconciliation prospects. Despite his prominence and experience, he didn’t receive the prime or foreign minister posts in the Taliban administration and was appointed deputy prime minister instead. This was an apparent snub by the hard-liners. Additionally, according to reports last September, Baradar exchanged “strong words” with hard-liner Khalil ur-Rahman Haqqani, a Haqqani network leader and current refugees minister, resulting in a brawl between their supporters.
There are also broader Taliban divides along ideological lines that play out between clerics and political leaders, battlefield commanders and civilians, and older and younger members.
The hard-liners’ power play could further immiserate the Afghan people. The country badly needs international assistance to ease a devastating economic crisis. But Western donors will hesitate to increase assistance—beyond humanitarian aid—if the Taliban continue their assault on basic human rights. Additionally, while the moderates are outranked by the hard-liners, they may try to push back on local levels by refusing to implement or enforce the draconian new measures. This risks exacerbating internal Taliban divides that distract the group from tackling big challenges, including economic stress and an emboldened Islamic State terrorist group.
A vicious cycle could ensue: Deepening internal spats distract from efforts to tackle policy challenges, and worsening policy challenges put more stress on the Taliban leadership, further intensifying internal divisions.
Government leaders are often faulted for putting their own petty politics above the urgent needs of their needy populations. But in Afghanistan, the stakes are especially high. Internal sparring is playing out within the Taliban even as nearly 23 million Afghans face starvation. While the Taliban fiddle, Afghanistan burns, and one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises rages on.
What We’re Following
Lavrov visits New Delhi. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is visiting India on Thursday and Friday. It marks the highest-level in-person engagement between India and Russia since the invasion of Ukraine. The timing of the trip is notable, as it coincided with a visit by Daleep Singh, the U.S. deputy national security advisor for international economics. Singh also happens to be the administration’s point person for Russia sanctions. He visited New Delhi on Wednesday and Thursday for discussions on U.S.-India economic cooperation but also, according to a National Security Council statement, the “consequences of Russia’s unjustified war against Ukraine.” Indeed, on Thursday, he warned of “consequences” for countries, including India, that seek to evade U.S. sanctions on Russia by doing business with Moscow using local currencies.
New Delhi continues to refuse to condemn Russia. However, over the last week, the Indian government has provided some of its most extensive remarks on the invasion. Last Thursday, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said that India’s stance is based on six principles, including an end to hostilities, a return to dialogue, respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, and humanitarian access. This isn’t new; Indian officials had already referred to these principles previously, including when explaining India’s reasoning for abstaining from all United nations Security Council and General Assembly resolutions on the Russian invasion to date.
Pakistan’s political crisis. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan continues to fight for his political survival as he faces an impending no-confidence vote. On Monday, a motion was introduced in parliament. The Pakistani Constitution stipulates that voting must take place three to seven days after a no-confidence motion is introduced on the parliamentary floor. However, the actual vote date is unclear. According to Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, voting will take place on April 3. But on Thursday, parliament adjourned until April 3. With the motion not yet having been debated, the vote may take place several days later.
It’s been a whirlwind week for Khan. On Monday, one of his coalition partners, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) reaffirmed its support for him after he appointed a new chief minister for Punjab province—long a PML-Q demand. But then he got bad news on Wednesday, when another coalition ally, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, announced it was pulling out of the alliance and joining the opposition. This means the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has lost its parliamentary majority, complicating Khan’s ability to survive the no-confidence vote. Separately, Khan claims he has evidence that a foreign country is meddling in Pakistan’s internal politics and trying to oust his government. In an address to the nation on Thursday, he said, “In an official document it was said that ‘if Imran Khan remains the prime minister, our ties will suffer and you will face difficulties.’” He also stated, for the first time, that the United States is behind the move. The U.S. State Department has denied the allegations.
Media crackdown. Rana Ayyub, a well-known Indian journalist and Washington Post columnist, was prevented from boarding a plane at the Mumbai airport on Tuesday. Coincidentally, she was traveling to London to participate in a conference on New Delhi’s crackdown on press freedoms. According to media reports in India, officials stopped her as part of an investigation into alleged “laundered donations” she had raised through a crowdfunding campaign during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ayyub has categorically rejected the allegations.
Significantly, the case is based on a complaint filed against Ayyub in September 2021 by the Hindu IT Cell, a Hindu nationalist group that uses aggressive online tactics to target people whose views it disagrees with. Ayyub, a sharp critic of Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government, would be a logical target. If the government hoped it could avert embarrassment by preventing Ayyub from speaking out at a conference in London, the strategy backfired. Journalists around the world have loudly condemned New Delhi for keeping Ayyub from leaving.
Quote of the Week
“My information is that when the details of this letter were being read out in the federal cabinet meeting, five to six ministers became tearful.”
—Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif, speaking about an alleged letter that the Pakistani government claims features evidence of an international conspiracy to orchestrate the ouster of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Under the Radar
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Nepal’s Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka wave prior to their meeting in Kathmandu, Nepal, on March 26.PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP via Getty Images
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited half the South Asian capitals over the last week, starting in Afghanistan and Pakistan before making his way to India. But his final port of call—Nepal—stood out for geopolitical reasons. He arrived in Kathmandu just a few weeks after the government ratified a $500 million infrastructure grant from the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). That grant was controversial, as U.S. officials have described it as a part of the Indo-Pacific program, making some Nepalese worried about getting caught up in U.S.-China competition.
Beijing likely didn’t like the grant for the same reason. China has stepped up commercial relations with Nepal as part of its Belt and Road Initiative. Not surprisingly, Wang’s visit led to pledges to explore cooperation on the development of railway lines and power grids—the very type of infrastructure projects envisioned by the MCC grant. Much like Sri Lanka, where India and China are outdoing each other to provide new financial assistance to ease the country’s economic crisis, Nepal could see its sizable infrastructure needs addressed because of U.S.-China strategic competition.
Regional Voices
Pediatrician Vibha Krishnamurthy writes in the Indian Express about Indian children with disabilities benefiting from the pandemic because being out of school eased their stress. But she warns that “if not going to school has given them their first taste of learning in a safe and happy place, then the adults in their lives … have to commit to making schools safe and happy now that they are headed back.”
Scientist Farid Malik, opining in Pakistan Today, calls for reforms in Pakistan’s mining industry to allow the country to better access its valuable minerals: “It is time to formulate a ‘Mineral and Mining Road Map’ for the country to reduce our import bill together with achieving self reliance in this vital areas.”
Law professor Saquib Rahman argues in the Dhaka Tribune that Bangladesh’s constitution undermines democratic governance because it militates against checks and balances. He contends there are articles within the constitution “that designed the executive, legislature, and judiciary to be under the control and influence of one person.”
Michael Kugelman is the writer of Foreign Policy’s weekly South Asia Brief. He is the Asia Program deputy director and senior associate for South Asia at the Wilson Center in Washington. Twitter: @michaelkugelman
Seven thinkers weigh in on how the war will shift U.S. foreign policy.
Russian generals have had to lead from the front because its amateur army can’t move otherwise.
“As we see, their Army is bullshit,” one Ukrainian official said.
No, the European Union cannot make the continent secure.
You can support Foreign Policy by becoming a subscriber.
As holidays go, World Backup Day probably isn’t going to take the place of Thanksgiving or Independence Day any time soon, but it’s a good opportunity to stop and think: What would happen if your hard drive failed today? What would you do if you lost a lifetime’s worth of photos, documents, and files? And what could you have done to keep it from happening?
The answer is (unsurprisingly) that you should be backing up your data using some extra storage space. There is no shortage of digital storage solutions available today, from plug-and-play external flash drives to massive multi-terabyte internal drives for your tower CPU. But what’s the best fit for your needs? And how can you spend the least while getting the most?
We’re celebrating World Backup Day by sharing the best deals we’ve found for storage that can save you not just hundreds of dollars, but the agony of losing all your data.
If you’re looking for a quick and simple storage solution, an external drive is your best choice to quickly back up your data. External drives simply plug into your machine via a USB or Thunderbolt connection and don’t require any technical know-how for installation. The main questions you have to answer are simply how much storage you need, how quick you need it to transfer, how durable you need your drive to be, and how much you want to spend.
When looking at an external HDD (hard disk drive), you’ll find that these are generally cheaper than SSD (solid-state drives) but this comes at a trade-off of speed and durability. Thanks to the moving parts and spinning discs of an HDD, these are more likely to fail over time, and also due to the moving parts, it’s going to be slower in terms of data transfer as well. That said, the amount of storage available is roughly the same as an SSD, so if you need a lower-priced short-term option that is good for transferring data between two devices, an HDD is a good fit.
Like the external HDD drives, an external SSD is easy to use: Plug it into your device with a USB or Thunderbolt connection and you can instantly have terabytes upon terabytes of data storage and backup available to you. The simplicity and speed of these drives, however, will cost you.
SDDs differentiate themselves largely based on their speed: These devices make almost everything quicker, from starting apps to copying files to pulling up those files in a flash. Another benefit: Thanks to a lack of moving internal parts, these drives are a lot less prone to failure. The downside? Because SDD technology is much newer and chip prices are ever-increasing, you might be paying up to 10x more per TB for the speed and reliability.
So if you want or need your data instantaneously and aren’t concerned about cost, we’d buy the SDD almost every time. For those of us on a budget who can wait a few extra seconds for a drive to spin up our files, a HDD might still be the best bet.
If you’re comfortable opening up your desktop computer tower and making a few connections, an internal HDD is going to be the best, most cost-effective way to add extra storage and backup space. Yes, it’s a bit more intensive than plugging in a box to your USB port, but for a long-term solution that doesn’t add clutter to your desk, an internal HDD is the way to go. These internal HDDs are also great for adding to the storage capacity of constantly recording security systems.
An external drive is still your best choice if you know that you’ll be transferring a lot of data between two machines, but if you’re planning to just keep all your data in one place, that’s another reason to add a new internal drive to your machine. And as with the external drives, HDD is always going to give you more storage space for the dollar at the expense of speed, but since an internal device is going to be under less duress than a drive moving from place to place, durability is a bit less of a concern with these add-ons.
The benefits of an internal SSD drive are the same as the external: They’re ridiculously fast, they use less power, they have no moving parts and they’re whisper-quiet. The downsides are the same: For those benefits, you’ll be paying a lot more per TB of storage. That said, prices on internal SSDs seem to be more accessible than the external devices, so adding a terabyte or two is more achievable for a little extra effort.
Internal SSDs come in two types: the M.2 style that looks like microchips soldered to a stick of gum, which primarily are added to laptops, or the 2.5-inch drives which slot into your desktop. As long as you’re going to be opening up your device to install these, you should get the most storage you can at once, so spend a few extra bucks to add at least one terabyte. Most users will find that to be plenty of space for photos, videos and music; If you’re a power content creator or a gamer, you’re probably looking in the 2TB-8TB area for your usage.
Sign up for our expertly curated Daily Deals newsletter for the best bargains you’ll find anywhere.
This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.
GOODYEAR, Arizona -- Hunter Greene has cracked the Cincinnati Reds' season-opening rotation.
The second overall pick from the 2017 draft reached 104 mph with his fastball in Triple-A last season and could be one of the most exciting rookies in baseball this year. The right-hander will pitch behind Opening Day starter Tyler Mahle during a weekend series against the World Series champion Atlanta Braves.
Manager David Bell informed Greene that he'd made the team Tuesday, and Cincinnati announced it Wednesday.
"I'm still at a loss for words. I knew yesterday, but I had to keep it on the down low. I told my family," Greene said. "A lot of work went into this. There were so many obstacles, so many ups and downs, but it is not going to be the last time I face adversity. I've learned a lot of life lessons. I had to grow up pretty quick for some things."
Mahle will pitch the opener Thursday, April 7, with Reiver Sanmartin and Vladimir Gutierrez going Friday and Saturday. Greene, 22, gets the ball for his big league debut in the series finale Sunday.
Greene missed the entire 2019 season after Tommy John surgery but looked to be at full strength last year, when he was 10-8 with a 3.30 ERA and 139 strikeouts in 106⅓ innings between Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Louisville.
He's thrown three scoreless innings spanning two outings this spring, striking out three without allowing a walk.
"Hunter had a lot of confidence this day would come but it is still a dream come true," Bell said. "Sometimes for a guy like him, it can be more difficult with the expectations."
Greene said he's eager to take on the World Series champs, and also excited to face the potent Los Angeles Dodgers lineup in his second start. His only disappointment: his second outing is likely to come April 16, meaning Greene -- a Los Angeles native who is Black -- will miss pitching on Jackie Robinson Day by about 24 hours.
"That would mean the world," he said. "I was actually asking if I could keep that jersey. I would pay whatever they asked. It is just a historic moment. I hope one day in the future one of my start dates would be on that day.
"He is one of my idols, actually my only baseball idol. I've always looked up to him. He was a great role model for the game and just for life."
Cincinnati will begin the year with one of the majors' least experienced rotations, with 123 major league starts combined. The Reds haven't named a fifth starter, but it could be rookie Nick Lodolo. Luis Castillo and Mike Minor are going to start the season on the injured list.
Lodolo, the Reds' first choice in the 2019 draft, is still in the mix, but adding him would require the Reds to make room for him on the roster. Tony Santillan will work out of the bullpen. He was competing for the rotation and pitched well this spring.
The Link Lonk
It has been a busy news week for the Detroit Lions. By now, you have likely seen the headlines.
First, news dropped that the Lions would be the team selected for the annual iteration of HBO’s critically acclaimed series, ‘Hard Knocks’. It had been speculated for some time that the Lions may be on the hook for the program, and now we have a definitive answer. This team, coaching staff, and fan base, should provide some excellent content this summer.
Then, seemingly right after the Hard Knocks news broke, it was announced that Detroit would be the host city for the 2024 NFL draft. Quite a bit of excitement considering it was a Monday in late March!
Both are big breaks for the Lions and the city of Detroit, respectively. The nation will get a chance to familiarize themselves with coach Dan Campbell and this team, outside of kneecap biting, that is. And for the draft, hopefully, people will come to realize that Detroit truly is a city on a meteoric-like rise and that there is plenty to do and see here.
Luckily for Rich Eisen and his show (The Rich Eisen show), they had Lions’ veteran defensive end Michael Brockers in-studio on the day both pieces of news dropped. The pair touched on the updated overtime rules, why players love playing for Campbell, why he is looking forward to the HBO crews being in Allen Park, and how good the Lions can be in year two of the Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell era.
When asked about Campbell’s energy and overall enthusiasm for life, Brockers said, “That’s him on the daily. That’s him during pre-game speeches. That’s him all of the time”. And while this isn’t the first time we have heard this, it will be interesting to see the reaction of the national media once they realize it isn’t an act or facade being put on by Campbell, and that this is just how he is, at all times.
“We enjoy playing for him,” Brockers went on to tell Eisen. “He’s an iconic player’s coach. He was a player, so he understands what we go through, mentally, physically throughout the year. When you have a guy that looks out for you, you want to look out for him.”
You can find the full interview here.
And now, onto the rest of today’s notes:
On locker room access for media, @NFLprguy chimes in: “They will be open.”
Another step back towards normality.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 29, 2022
Can you love Bitcoin and the environment at the same time? The world’s dominant cryptocurrency depends on so-called miners whose high-powered computers run day and night to process transactions. Its energy consumption is ballooning so fast that it’s alarming environmentalists, governments and other big energy users. China has banned Bitcoin mining entirely and billionaire Elon Musk won’t take the token as payment for his Tesla cars until miners switch to at least 50% renewable power. With many of them still hooked on electricity from fossil fuels, that’s going to be a tall order.
1. How much power is involved?
Bitcoin’s estimated power consumption soared from an annual rate of 6.6 terawatt-hours at the start of 2017 to 138 terawatt hours in early 2022 -- more than a country like Norway -- according to the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, which keeps a running estimate. As for its carbon footprint, Digiconomist puts annualized emissions from Bitcoin mining at 114 million tons of carbon dioxide, comparable to those of Belgium.
2. Why does it need so much energy?
The biggest miners have operations with tens of thousands of computers humming in warehouses that resemble data centers. The calculations they perform are used to verify transactions within the network, and their completion unlocks new Bitcoin. The complexity of the calculations increases as the number of miners grows. The amount of computing power required touched a record in early 2022, forcing miners to invest in even more powerful machines and bigger server farms to keep a competitive edge. Bitcoin advocates say the cryptocurrency still only uses a tiny proportion of global electricity consumption -- less than what’s needed to power the world’s Christmas lights.
3. Are miners trying to lower their carbon footprint?
Yes. Some use surplus natural gas that would otherwise be “flared,” or burnt just to dispose of it, to generate power for mining. Others have put solar panels on top of their server halls or struck up deals to source low-carbon nuclear power. Many have set up shop in places like upstate New York, Canada, Iceland and Norway where there’s an abundance of emissions-free hydro or wind power. That’s motivated as much by self-interest as concern for the climate -- renewable power tends to be cheaper than other sources anyway.
4. So are Bitcoin’s emissions falling?
It’s hard to tell. The China ban in June 2021 deprived Bitcoin miners of the country’s clean, abundant hydropower and sent them off in search of any inexpensive, reliable energy they could find. Some set up shop near renewable sources in the U.S. Others appeared in places like Kazakhstan, where fossil fuels still dominate the energy mix. The impact of all this on Bitcoin’s carbon emissions is unclear as no one knows precisely where all the miners are and what type of power they use. However, one study published by the research journal Joule in February suggested that Bitcoin’s environmental impact has worsened since China’s move, with the share of renewables used to power the network falling from more than 40% in 2020 to about 25% in August 2021. And don’t overlook the environmental impact of the growing mountain of older computer gear being discarded by miners as they try to maintain an edge in processing power.
5. What are governments doing?
In some parts of the world that enjoy surpluses of renewable power, Bitcoin miners are still welcome. Texas, for example, is trying to attract more of them to act as a source of demand response to match the state’s variable wind output. In other places, they’re seen as a threat. The Chinese ban was a response to a power deficit that forced it to ration electricity supply and cut industrial output. Kazakhstan, a major Bitcoin producer, imposed limits on the industry after facing its own energy shortages. Sweden’s financial regulator has called for a Europe-wide ban on crypto mining, saying it “threatens the climate transition that needs to happen urgently.” Some governments would prefer to channel renewable power to older industries that are trying to decarbonize, such as transportation and manufacturing. Other big power users complain that Bitcoin miners suck up limited energy resources with little return to the host country in jobs and tax revenue.
6. Has the concern impacted the crypto markets?
Yes. In February 2021, Tesla Inc. said it had invested $1.5 billion in Bitcoin and would begin accepting the cryptocurrency as a form of payment. The dual move was a catalyst for a rally in the digital currency. But in May that year, Musk announced a stunning about-face, suspending acceptance of the token citing environmental concerns. The decision prompted a sell-off in Bitcoin that spilled over to many other digital currencies.
7. What does it all mean for Bitcoin’s future?
Bitcoin’s detractors say the energy-intensive “proof-of-work” system used to verify transactions on its digital ledger, or blockchain, was never designed to underpin what’s now a trillion-dollar asset. Backers of rival cryptocurrencies have seized on Bitcoin’s environmental impact as an argument to switch to lower-power alternatives. Many newer blockchains, like Solana and Cardano, use variations of “proof-of-stake,” an alternative process that consumes less electricity. Bitcoin rival Ethereum is expected to switch from “proof-of-work” to “proof-of-stake” in mid-2022, slashing its estimated energy consumption by as much as 99%. Bitcoin remains the world’s dominant cryptocurrency, yet its energy challenge is set to grow along with its popularity: A rising Bitcoin price lowers the break-even point for miners, giving them an incentive to keep using older, less efficient machines.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
The Link Lonk
Inflation is a pain for everyone. But the high numbers you’ve been hearing are incomplete. The consumer price index—known as CPI and based on observed price increases on sample baskets of goods—is scary enough when you look at the 12-month 6.4% growth rate. Now recognize that figures don’t include energy or food prices in the mix.
The reason is the desire to understand basic financial forces and predict the future. Energy and food frequently exhibit large amounts of volatility that make predictions exceedingly difficult. So, out they go.
When people hear the inflation numbers, food can be higher or lower, and it can change more rapidly. Unfortunately, right now is not a good time for consumers who don’t have the financial resources to weather price jumps because food has been getting more expensive and will continue to do so.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations noted in February 2022 that its global food index hit an all-time high.
“The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) averaged 140.7 points in February 2022, up 5.3 points (3.9 percent) from January and as much as 24.1 points (20.7 percent) above its level a year ago,” the organization wrote. “This represents a new all-time high, exceeding the previous top of February 2011 by 3.1 points. The February rise was led by large increases in vegetable oil and dairy price sub-indices. Cereals and meat prices were also up, while the sugar price sub-index fell for the third consecutive month.”
The New York Times quoted Maurice Obstfeld, senior fellow of the Peterson Institute for International Economics and a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, who said it “wasn’t much of an exaggeration” to say the world is approaching a global food crisis. Vegetable oils were up 8.5% year over year; meat jumped 15.3%. Cereals were up 14.8%.
In some parts of Latin America and Africa, people regularly spend 50% to 60% of their income on food. Average food inflation across the globe hit almost 6.9%, according to IMF data.
Prices have jumped particularly quickly of late in the U.S., with food prices up 7.9% year over year in February 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs increased 13.0 percent for the year ended February 2022, the largest yearly increase since July 1979. From February 2021 to February 2022, fruits and vegetables prices rose 7.6 percent, and nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials prices rose 6.7 percent.”
One reason is that farmers are feeling production pressures with rising costs, according to the Wall Street Journal. Labor’s up and so are machinery, fuel, fertilizer, crop seeds, and weed killers. Food price increases in 2022 could be more of the same.
A USDA study released last September found that while 89.5% of U.S. households had food security—"consistent, dependable access to enough food for active, healthy living”—the remainder did not. “The remaining 10.5 percent (13.8 million households) were food insecure. Food-insecure households (those with low and very low food security) had difficulty at some time during the year providing enough food for all their members because of a lack of resources. The 2020 prevalence of food insecurity was unchanged from 10.5 percent in 2019.” About a third of that group had “very low food security,” which means “the food intake of some household members was reduced, and normal eating patterns were disrupted at times during the year because of limited resources.”
With the ongoing growth of inflation, it would seem logical that the number facing food insecurity would easily grow.
Where will help come from? Probably not the federal government, which is tugging back and forth over a new budget and where money should be spent. But even if there were more money allocated for human aid, the budget is for fiscal year 2023, which doesn’t start until October 1, 2022.
Food pantries are already feeling the pinch, whether in New Jersey, Las Vegas, Chicago, or many other parts of the country. What will happen? Who knows? And who cares? Clearly not enough people.
The Link Lonk
Overworked and understaffed, many of America’s teachers are at a breaking point. They need the gift of time and something even more precious: support.
Teaching the next generation has never been an easy career, but the past two years have tested the education community like nothing else in our lifetime. Unfortunately, the worst may be yet to come, as the challenges to effective education just keep piling up. “This is a great profession, and educators love what they do, but if we don’t start to treat them better widespread teacher shortages are likely,” says Dr. Lynn Gangone, President of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.
Of course, I am not an educator—just someone who gets to work with these visionary, world-changing people every day. I wanted to let teachers speak for themselves, and that’s why I was so honored when Wyoming’s 2016 Teacher of the Year, Amy Pierson, agreed to share what a regular day in her teacher life looks like. Pierson, who is about to complete her doctoral degree, serves on the State Board of Education in addition to teaching fourth grade at Cloud Peak Elementary in Johnson County School District #1.
She’s clearly an exemplary educator, but that’s just one of the ways Pierson exerts a positive influence in her students’ lives. Here’s what she wants people to know about the life of a teacher.
No one fully knows what they’re signing up for when they decide to become a teacher, says Pierson. “I wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember—I even played school with my dolls as a child,” she says. “I wanted to work with kids and make a difference in their lives.
“To be frank, being an educator has changed drastically over the 17 years I have been in the profession.”
Instead of asking why educators chose their profession, Pierson says we should ask why they stay. For her, the answer is simple. “I stay, because it is the place I believe I can make the biggest difference,” she says.
Though she’s had opportunities to leave the classroom in pursuit of other roles, Pierson doesn’t want to leave. “Students are who bring me joy. It is their ability to grow and learn on a daily basis that inspires me to continue to do what I do. Watching them try and fail and then succeed is a gift that I get to witness every day,” she says.
“I stay because of the students.”
Pierson, who co-teaches in a 50% special education, 50% regular education classroom, arrives at school between 7:15 and 7:30am. Before the bell rings at 8:05am, Pierson meets with her partner teacher to discuss last-minute changes in order to meet all the diverse learning needs in their classroom. Sometimes she also has scheduled IEPs or staff meetings before the bell.
At 8:05am the kids arrive and it’s go time. After the students fill out their planners (a communication tool that goes home with them daily for parents to sign), some go with Pierson’s partner teacher to work on life skills while the rest use the next 10 minutes to work on typing skills. The rest of the day usually looks like this:
That’s the plan on paper—but of course, effective teaching requires constant calibration. “We are constantly looking back on small assessments or measures to make sure they are mastering content and that we are truly giving students what they need,” Pierson says. “Not to mention, if I start a lesson and determine it doesn’t fit their needs, I have to be able to switch gears immediately and make a change on the spot.”
Pierson’s lunch is usually spent preparing for the rest of the day’s lessons or tomorrow’s lessons. Teachers have 20 minutes to eat, then 20 minutes to prep or head outside for recess duty, which Pierson has twice a week.
Aside from actual time spent in the classroom, Pierson also has staff meetings on Tuesdays, Team Meetings on Mondays, PLC Meetings on Thursdays during planning, and LLI (leveled literacy intervention) meetings Thursdays after school. Plus she has IEPs, parent meetings, BIT (building intervention team meetings) every other week, as well as professional development and trainings squeezed in wherever there is space.
At 3:05pm, the bell to leave rings and Pierson and her fellow educators get to work organizing tomorrow. “We determine how to structure the next day’s lessons based on data we collected,” she says.
It doesn’t stop when she goes home. “Most nights I also juggle phone calls from parents as I am trying to cook dinner for my own family answering questions regarding medication change and effects on behaviors, make-up work, questions about schoolwork, problems with friends, et cetera,” says Pierson. “Most weekends I spend one day working at school to catch up.”
What many people don’t realize is that teaching is just one role teachers fill in the course of a normal day. “It’s not just academics that we worry about or can only focus on,” says Pierson.
Kids spend hours with their teachers every day, and (as any parent can attest) they need much more than just academic instruction. “Demands are placed on teachers to help students solve problems with peers that occur in the classroom and at recess,” says Pierson. “Help students find a coat, because it is 0 degrees and they didn’t come to school in a coat. Listen as students recount their night when Dad didn’t come home. Feed them when they are hungry.
“We are teachers, counselors, nurses, parents, mediators, custodians, cooks, friends, safe havens, disciplinarians and ‘future citizen’ creators.”
As they juggle these many and demanding roles, most teachers in America find themselves with little to no support in the classroom. With two certified teachers, a paraprofessional and a deaf educator in the room, Pierson’s classroom is unusual in its wealth of staff. “It allows us to really hone in on the learning needs of each group of kiddos and meet them where they are at,” she says. “Not every classroom has this luxury.”
If effective teaching is hard in well-staffed classrooms like Pierson’s, imagine what it must be like when you’re the sole adult in the room—tasked with educating, managing and, somewhere in the day, attempting to inspire a roomful of children.
Pierson recalls her time as a solo teacher, where it was more difficult to make sure group work remained on task. “I had to use vital instructional time to set my classroom up for success and practice the skills they would need to be independent on work when I was not with them,” she says. “I had to creatively design lessons that would help enforce a skill, but not be too difficult that they couldn’t figure it out without more instruction.”
Even in well-staffed classrooms, the demands are still taxing teachers to the limit. “There have been a number of polls suggesting that many teachers are at their breaking point and are planning to leave the profession,” says Dr. Gangone. “It is heartbreaking.”
Another struggle Pierson shares is the constant balance between teaching the material and teaching how to take a test. Though she strives to create lessons that allow her students to grow in problem solving, critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity, she admits that it’s becoming more difficult.
“As much as I fight it, as much as it hurts me to say this, we are constantly preparing students to take a test at the end of the year that tells us if they have mastered everything they need to know for 4th grade,” she says. “A test that I truly don’t believe actually represents the skills or knowledge that my students have mastered. A test that doesn’t assess their problem-solving skills, creativity, communication skills or how they work with others.”
I asked Pierson about her biggest need as a teacher, one thing that would help her do her job. Her answer was instant: “I need the gift of time, or something taken off my plate.”
However, more time is just one part of the bigger picture of support. “I also need parents, legislatures, administrators, school board members and the general public to trust me to do my job,” says Pierson. “Trust that I am the expert in my field, that every decision I make is in the best interest of the students I am teaching.
“As a professional it would be nice to be trusted.”
Pierson is quick to add that she doesn’t believe evaluations of educators should be eliminated. “Reflecting on my practice is something that helps me grow and that I need in order to stay on the cutting edge of my profession,” she says. “However, when people constantly criticize, degrade or insert their agendas into education, ultimately it prevents educators from doing their jobs and it is the students who suffer.”
Instead, communities should rally around their educators. “Write things in the paper that elevate the teacher’s voice, that showcase the amazing things educators are accomplishing,” she says. “And if you hear a rumor, instead of blindly spreading it, talk to an educator and most of them will candidly answer your concerns with reasons to back up their thinking.”
Dr. Gangone agrees: “We need to speak out for ensuring that teachers have the support they need, including adequate compensation and school funding.”
The shortage of people entering the field of education predates the pandemic—which of course has only made things worse. Record numbers of teachers across the U.S. feel overworked and burned out, and every day, their students see it.
Though the life of a teacher is clearly challenging, Pierson has nothing but encouragement for young people considering education as a profession. “Do it!” she says. “I love learning more than I love teaching and, in this profession, you constantly have to keep learning. Be ready to fight for what you believe is right throughout your career.
“You will have some precious people who are counting on you.”
The Link Lonk
Join the Conversation
Commenting on this and other recent articles is just one benefit of a Foreign Policy subscription.
Already a subscriber? .
Subscribe Subscribe
View Comments
Join the Conversation
Join the conversation on this and other recent Foreign Policy articles when you subscribe now.
Subscribe Subscribe
Not your account?
View Comments
Join the Conversation
Please follow our comment guidelines, stay on topic, and be civil, courteous, and respectful of others’ beliefs. Comments are closed automatically seven days after articles are published.