Category Archives: Abolition Of Work

PARIS -- The disintegration of France's political landscape following the presidential election victory of Emmanuel Macron is picking up speed by the day.

Marion Marechal-Le Pen, the niece of defeated far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, is quitting politics, depriving their National Front party of one its few real stars. Marine Le Pen tweeted Wednesday her regret at the decision but added that, "as a mother, I understand it."

Marechal-Le Pen, 27, cited "personal and political reasons" in announcing that she won't seek re-election in June. She held one of the National Front's two seats in the National Assembly.

On the other extreme on the far left, the Communist Party and the party of defeated presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon are messily divorcing. They campaigned together for Melenchon's presidential run that saw him surge late in the campaign and get nearly 20 per cent of the first-round vote, narrowly missing a runoff against either Macron or Le Pen. But the parties appear increasingly likely to separately field candidates who will compete against each other in the June legislative elections.

From holding power through outgoing President Francois Hollande and his majority in the outgoing parliament, the Socialist Party is tumbling ever deeper into disarray. Meanwhile the mainstream right is torn between wanting to work with Macron and wanting to clip the new president's wings.

Hollande presided Wednesday over his last Cabinet meeting. He and Macron then appeared together at a ceremony in Paris' Luxembourg Gardens to commemorate the abolition of slavery. The transfer of power is Sunday.

In what he said was his last official ceremony as president, Hollande allowed himself a joke, promising to turn over all his powers to Macron: "Don't worry!"

More seriously, Hollande said Macron's defeat of Le Pen showed voters' support for "tolerance, respect, dignity, democracy, openness." Without naming the National Front, Hollande's speech rang as a warning against the populist, nationalistic discourse of the party with a history of anti-Semitism, racism and homophobia.

Hollande addressed Macron as "Mr. President."

"The same France that can be glorious can, sometimes, also make mistakes," he said. "There are always more or less dark forces that try to drag France to places where it doesn't want to go."

"We must continue to fight against the divisions that tear people apart, including here; against discourse that sets people against each other," he added. "There is still a lot to do, Mr. President."

The upheavals in rival parties could strengthen Macron's fledgling "Republic on the Move" movement as it fights its first legislative election in June, aiming to deliver him the parliamentary majority he will need to govern effectively and implement his campaign pledges over the next five years.

Macron's presidential run and victory on a "neither left nor right" independent platform upended the decades-long left-right duopoly on power in France. In a first for modern France, the mainstream left and right parties failed to qualify for last Sunday's presidential runoff, which saw Macron handily beat Le Pen with 66 per cent of the vote.

In the new and uncertain political landscape, Manuel Valls personifies the struggle of some politicians to work out where they now fit. The former prime minister in Hollande's Socialist government is now belatedly trying to hitch his star to Macron's "Republic on the Move" party, but risks finding himself in no man's land: unwanted by either party in the legislative election.

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French President-elect Emmanuel Macron in Paris, on May 10, 2017. (Christophe Ena / AP) - CTV News

Theresa May campaigned to end hospital car parking fees - despite attacking Labour for announcing the same policy today.

Labour promised today to make car parking free at NHS hospitals in England, for patients, visitors and staff.

But a Conservative spokesman attacked the plan, saying the pledge was not worth the paper it was printed on.

The Tory leader said she was strongly opposed to the introduction of parking charges at St Marks Hospital, in her Maidenhead constituency.

She promised to continue to work towards the abolition of these unhelpful charges.

That was in November 2008. The Hospital still charges 1 for up to two hours, 2 for two to four hours and 10 after that.

Jeremy Corbyn said: Theresa May wont support our plan to end hospital parking fees, unless its in her back yard.

Jeremy Corbyn used a statement this morning to announce the major policy would feature in the party's general election manifesto.

It would be funded by increasing the rate of insurance premium tax on private healthcare products by more than half, from 12% to 20%.

The pledge comes after years of campaigns against parking charges and a Mirror investigation that showed they raked in 160million in one year.

The Unison union says some nurses on low wages are paying 100 a month and having to rush out mid-shift to top up their tickets.

Mr Corbyn said the charges "place an unfair and unnecessary burden on families, patients and NHS staff."

Speaking on a visit to nursing students in Tory-held Worcester, he was due to say: "Hospital parking charges are a tax on serious illnesses.

"Our hospitals are struggling from under-funding at the hands of Theresa Mays Conservative government.

"But the gap should not be filled by charging sick patients, anxious relatives and already hard-pressed NHS staff for an essential service.

Our NHS needs a Labour government that will stand up for the many, not the few.

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The Tories attacked Jeremy Corbyn for announcing a policy Theresa May campaigned for - Mirror.co.uk

One Nation senators Peter Georgiou, Malcolm Roberts, Brian Burston and Pauline Hanson have concerns about the abolition of the 75% reach rule and two-out-of three media ownership rule. Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian

The government has a long way to go to win crossbench support for its media ownership changes, with the Greens and One Nation both expressing concerns about relaxation of ownership rules.

Nick Xenophon has supported the proposed restrictions on gambling ads and is open to changes to ownership rules but has linked the package to news organisations loss of revenue to Google and Facebook.

The media proposals are to abolish the two-out-of-three rule that prevents a company controlling more than two of three radio, television and newspapers in an area, and the reach rule that prohibits a proprietor from controlling a TV licence that reaches more than 75% of the population.

A spokesman for the One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts told Guardian Australia on Monday that Roberts shares Pauline Hansons concerns about the package, including the two-out-of-three rule and the reach rule.

Those concerns may be able to be addressed by a conversation [with the government] as they usually are.

The spokesman said One Nation wanted to see deep significant and long-lasting cuts to the ABC, a demand the government has poured cold water on by saying budget savings would be determined by the public interest.

On Monday the Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, told ABC radio his party had grave concerns [the government package] undermines media diversity and further concentrates an already very concentrated media market.

Di Natale said Australia needed a strong, fierce, independent media and maintaining a diversity of voices would be one of the Greens key principles.

Asked if new technology such as internet streaming made media ownership laws redundant, Di Natale said that may have an impact on something like the 75% reach rule but it did not make all ownership rules redundant.

When youre looking at [abolishing] the two out of three rule, youll see further concentration.

One big business will own newspapers, radio, broadcasting facilities. It can mean youll be in one part of the country and you only hear, through those platforms, one voice.

If the Greens opposed the abolition of the two-out-of-three rule, the government would need the Nick Xenophon Team, One Nation and three of the remaining five crossbench senators to pass it.

The government has promised to scrap TV licence fees in return for the networks support for a new restriction that would ban gambling ads from five minutes before the start of live play of a sporting event until five minutes after the conclusion of play, or 8.30pm.

Xenophon told Radio National on Monday it was admirable and terrific that the government had got disparate sections of the media to agree to a package that should have happened years ago. He supported scrapping licence fees, labelling them an anachronism.

Xenophon said he was concerned about media diversity but what the government has proposed is a big improvement on what they had earlier. He promised to sit down and negotiate in good faith with the government to get the best outcome, but I would be a mug to lock myself in at this stage.

Xenophon said there were additional measures that needed to be considered, because internet giants Google and Facebook received $3.2bn in ad revenue by piggy-backing off Australian media content, despite not hiring journalists.

One such measure would be a small tax break for taxpayers who subscribed to emerging publications, which he said journalists and the media union would welcome.

The anti-gambling campaigner and minor party leader welcomed the proposed gambling ad restrictions as a good first step that provided some insulation of children from gambling ads.

He said he wanted gambling ad restrictions to go further and would work to prevent the gambling industry circumventing or watering down changes.

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Greens and One Nation concerned about proposed media ownership rules - The Guardian

Legacy of slavery: Colstons girls school, like Bristols Colston Hall, was set up with funding from Edward Colston. Photograph: View Pictures/Rex Shutterstock

I am delighted to hear of a change to the naming of Colston Hall, Bristol (Report, 27 April; Opinion, 28 April; and Letters, passim). For nine years from 1953 I attended the University of Bristol, having arrived from the West Indies where my family have lived since 1712. And, yes, they did own slaves.

In Bristol I bought The History of the Rise, Progress, and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave-Trade by the British Parliament by Thomas Clarkson, published 1808. This is the Clarkson who, in 1785, decided to dedicate his lifes work to abolition; who travelled 35,000 miles in this pursuit, recorded the names and fates of more than 20,000 seamen who sailed on slaving ships, interviewed hundreds from all the slave ports, obtained testimonies of the atrocities from seamen, mates, surgeons and captains who had sailed in the trade, visited the ships and recorded their dimensions and collected the irons used to constrain slaves in pairs, and amassed thousands of pages of evidence.

It was Clarkson who, in 1787, formed the committee of 12 worthy citizens devoted to abolishing the trade; all but three were members of the Society of Friends, he was not. It was he who persuaded Wilberforce (not on the committee) to put their evidence to parliament.

For Jane Ghosh (Letters, 29 April) to plead in mitigation Colstons money given to build alms-houses, orphanages and schools is argument of the same moral framework as if a man raped a tourist and stole their money to pay for surgery to the face of his disfigured girlfriend. More pertinent would have been to apply these vast sums to the benefit of the towns and peoples of West Africa, and that would be small recompense. As suggested by Philip Colston Robins (Letters, 1 May) the creation of a Colston development fund to provide aid to the nations most affected by the slave trade would be an excellent start.

To rename the building Clarkson Hall, complete with explanatory plaque, would simultaneously promote the importance of the under-recognised Thomas Clarkson and diminish the over-extolled Edward Colston, while expanding historical awareness. Louis Quesnel Manchester

Perhaps the answer to the conundrum of the buildings named after slave exploiters with other historic roles (Renamed and shamed, 29 April) is to keep the name but display a black plaque stating: The person after whom this building was named made large profits from the organisation or exploitation of slavery. Celebrity and infamy both given due credit. Bryn Jones Bath

Alex Faulkner (Letters, 1 May) draws attention to Peros Bridge in Bristol. On a bleak stretch of Morecambe Bay south of Heysham, marked by a way-sign and a plaque, can be found another such memorial, Sambos grave. Sambo, whose single name regrettably became the archetype of the caricature African, was a cabin-boy who died on arrival at Sunderland Point (Lancasters port) in 1736, only to be banished to this lonely spot for burial as he wasnt a Christian.

Much more could be done to commemorate the downtrodden of the past, but it would be folly to try to rewrite history by airbrushing out the oppressor class and, after all, oppression has hardly gone away, it just manifests differently. We should learn, not forget. Anthony Cheke Oxford

The reaction to the re-naming of Colston Hall misses the somewhat pragmatic points that Louise Mitchell of Bristol Music Trust cant ignore: as a venue that relies on subsidy and fundraising, from Arts Council, local authorities, sponsors, trusts and foundations, the redeveloped building cant have artists or audiences boycotting the venue. It has no choice but to be inclusive and encompassing for both public policy and income-earning reasons.

Having said that, it is the right thing to do, to look forward, and not back. Roger Tomlinson Coton, Cambridge

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Black plaques for slaver philanthropists? | Letters | World news | The ... - The Guardian

WASHINGTON, D.C. Life is winning in America, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence told attendees at a pro-life gala on Wednesday evening in Washington, D.C.

Life is winning through the steady advance of so many areas of science that provide a glimpse at the unborn baby in the womb, the vice president said, through the generosity of millions of adoptive families, and through the compassionate caregivers and volunteers at crisis pregnancy centers and faith-based organizations, who minister to women in cities and towns across America.

Compassion is overcoming convenience, hope is defeating despair, he said.

Pence delivered the keynote address at the 10th annual gala of the Susan B. Anthony List on May 3rd in Washington, D.C.

The pro-life group honored Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) with the Marilyn Musgrave Defender of Life Award, and Leonard Leo, the executive vice president of The Federalist Society, with the 2017 Distinguished Leader Award.

SBA List president Marjorie Dannenfelser, in a statement, praised Blacks tireless efforts to investigate and defund Planned Parenthood, the nations #1 abortion business, and redirect their taxpayer dollars to real, comprehensive health care for women.

Black sponsored a joint resolution, ultimately signed by President Trump, that nullified an Obama administration rule which pro-life leaders had called the Presidents parting gift to the abortion industry. Blacks resolution allowed states to, once again, block clinics from receiving federal Title X grants if they performed abortions.

Vice President Pence had cast the tiebreaking vote in the U.S. Senate to ensure the passage of the resolution.

Leo, meanwhile, was credited for his work to help the Trump administration nominate Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, a pick that pro-life leaders applauded.

SBA List highlighted Pences past pro-life record as a U.S. congressman and as governor of Indiana, sponsoring more than two dozen pro-life bills in the U.S. House of Representatives as well as signing pro-life legislation into law in his state.

He also became the first sitting vice president to address the March for Life, this past January.

White House senior advisor Kellyanne Conway briefly addressed the gala attendees at the beginning of Wednesdays event, thanking them for their help in defending human life and promising that more would be done by the administration to protect life.

Pence, in his keynote speech, emphasized that life is winning in many ways, including through the quiet counsel between mothers and daughters, grandmothers and granddaughters, he continued, friends across kitchen tables.

He exhorted those in attendance to carry on the work of Susan B. Anthony, known for her activism for the abolition of slavery, womens suffrage and womens rights, and temperance. Let us strive with all our might to finish the work that Susan B. Anthony started, he said.

Susan B. Anthony fought against injustices, too many of which still survive to this day, Pence said, and abortion is the worst of them.

I truly believe that weve come to a pivotal moment in the life of this movement, the life of our nation, he said, asking those in attendance to continue to stand up and speak out.

We need every ounce of your energy and enthusiasm, he said. We need your prayers.

The recent passage of Blacks joint resolution was only the beginning of the fight, Pence said, and were going to see that fight all the way through.

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Science, compassion, adoption why Mike Pence says 'life is winning' in America - Crux: Covering all things Catholic

Australias abolition of skilled work visas could unfairly affect international students who have spent years studying with the intent to work in the country, say advocates and students.

Students who entered the country before November 2011 could be left marooned by the sudden changes the so-called 457 visa without a valid avenue to work in Australia.

Most international students rely on 485 Temporary graduate visas to commence work in Australia after their degrees, but applicants under the visas unskilled post-study work stream are ineligible for 485 visas if they entered the country before November 2011.

The largest number of international students come from China and India, with Chinese making up almost 30 per cent of all foreign students enrolled in Australia in 2016.

Dhaval Shukla, a spokesperson for international postgraduate students at the University of Sydney, said 457 was the lifeline for students who did not fall into other common visa categories such as the temporary graduate visa (485) or skilled visas (189 or 190).

As soon as the announcement was made, I started getting emails from students who either entered the country before November 2011 or whose degree wasnt listed.

Its not fair on them for six years theyve been paying the fees applicable for international students. Theyve dedicated their lives to studying in Australia and all of a sudden theyre expected to leave the country and go off.

Fiona, who spoke on the condition of a pseudonym, is an American student who came to Australia in 2010 for a masters degree in media and film studies. After moving on to a PhD, she found herself caught out by the 457 and citizenship changes.

Ive been here for seven years, she said. I love Australia so much I want to join the military and contribute in that capacity. But for some of us, 457 was our only pathway to stay.

Were the ones who have spent the most money in this country. Weve contributed. I volunteered for Legacy, which raises money for veterans. I volunteered during elections.

I gave my loyalty to Australia and I feel like Im being punished for coming early, or at the wrong time. For those of us caught in the middle, they should have given us something.

Shukla said he has spoken to a student who entered Australia in 2002 as a child and is now barred by the change.

One student came to Australia with her mother when she was six or seven, 15 years ago, just for a year while her mother was studying, he said.

She did a year of schooling, then came back to do a masters in international relations, looking to work in NGO aid in Australia. Now shell have to go back to her home country. Its a special circumstance, but the government does not consider special circumstances.

Fiona said in order to join the military, she suddenly faced a 10-year wait for citizenship, under new rules that require four years of permanent residence announced by the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull.

Youre sitting on bridging visas for two years, maybe four years, Fiona said.

Then permanent resident. Then four years until citizenship.

For me, thats a really long pathway for wanting to contribute to this country. Especially since Ive already been here for seven years. I am chomping at the bit to participate in Australian civil life, but I cant do that by waiting five years, under the old rules, and now theyre saying I have to wait another four.

Laurie Berg, a researcher in immigration and labour law at the University of Technology Sydney, said the changes represent a trend of pushing students towards temporary visas.

Theres an ever-decreasing number of pathways, she said.

The increasing work experience requirements will disadvantage students, as well as the decreased number of occupations. Its already been the case for some time that it is very hard to move from a student visa directly on to permanent residence.

There were roughly 6,000 applicants for the 457 visa from holders of student visas in the last financial year, which is under 10 per cent of 457 grants. From what I understand, the changes mean doctoral students will be hit hardest as there isnt another student visa for them to move on to and they wont have the work experience for other visas.

The post-study work stream of the 485 visa lets students live and work in Australia for two years after completing a bachelors degree, three after a masters and four after a doctorate.

Shukla said the changes added to the stress international students suffer in Australia.

Lets not forget, right from day one when international students apply for student visas, we face huge issues. We pay higher costs than domestic students at least $60,000 for two years if youre being modest. In states like New South Wales we have no travel subsidies and a higher cost of living. The problems are many and the 457 changes just added to it.

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International students in Australia could be marooned by abolition of '457 visa' - South China Morning Post

If the renewables industry is a little anxious about the massive pipeline of projects to be built this year and next, the Turnbull Governments abolishment in April of 457 visas would have sent a chill up its spine.

The reforms, which will be phased in by March 2018, will see the 457 visa replaced with the Temporary Skills Shortage visa to prioritise Australian workers, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection says. (And to appeal to Pauline Hansons supporters, some in the media have assumed.)

Its too early to suggest the changes will put the brakes on the transition to renewables by slowing the deployment of solar and wind plants, but it sometimes pays to be a bit scared.

Lets go on a worst-case scenario, where engineers are no longer allowed in, says Michael Green, director of Sydney-based specialist renewable energy recruiter Bradman Energy & Carbon. Lets face it, if you take engineering out of renewables thats half the sector gone.

The new visa is split into two categories: short term and long term, each with its own list of eligible occupations. The Short-term Skilled Occupations List, for roles up to two years, and will be updated every six months based on advice from the Department of Employment. The Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List, for up to four years entry, contains occupations assessed as being of high value to the economy.

Green says the local market for skilled workers is beginning to thin out.

Up until now employers in renewables have had the comfort of saying I just want renewables experience, and they get it, he says. Theyre still saying that, but locally available talent has just about dried up.

Its a good time for Australians who ventured overseas to chase jobs when the sector went quiet during Tony Abbotts reign to return, he says. Renewables workers from around the world who have previous experience in Australia will also be tempted back. Were soaking up people like that, says Green, who recently placed a German technician with more experience clocked up in Europe than during his previous stint down under. Theyve just gone to where the good work is were attracting those types of applicants now.

The next step is to weigh the merits of people with great supporting skills but no experience in renewables. Thats where well have to go, he says. Experience in construction is what holds applicants in good stead, he says, and it doesnt matter whether that was earned in mining, oil or gas.

I interview people a lot who came from another sector but have built their first wind farm and done it on budget and on time. The clients who have insisted on renewables experience only will be fairly easy to shift into being a bit more open towards the backgrounds of the people they look at.

What does the change in red tape mean for engineering, procurement and construction companies that are gearing up for a long-hoped-for boom in investment? So far, not much. The list of occupations that allowed entry to Australia under the 457 regime has been cut from 651 to 435 for the Temporary Skills Shortage visa class. Luckily, engineering and electrical skills still make the list.

Green expects international interest in Australian positions from Europe, South America and South Africa. He also recruits in Australia and around the world for positions in Asia, where he opened three years ago. Asia has proved a real gem, he says. I got in at just the right time and the business has been growing ever since.

Its easier to get foreign nationals into Asia than into Australia, he says. Indonesia has just built its first wind farm, he says. Its about to build its second.

He expects less than 10% of Australian vacancies will be affected if engineers are ever left off the list of eligible skills in the future (on estimates of past client sponsorships of successful applicants). The lists of eligible occupations will be updated every six months, the Department of Immigration says, which will make long-term planning that much more risky.

Weve got a lot of people who have been underemployed a long time in this sector, so clients have been soaking that underemployment up, he says. We havent had to go overseas [to recruit].

In the short to medium term, Green says it might not be such a big deal if engineers for example are left off the list of eligible occupations. Weve got enough engineers with complementary skills [in Australia], he says. If you can build some kind of gas-fired plant [for example], you can build a wind farm all they need to be given is the opportunity.

The list of eligible occupations can be found here.

Original post:

Will the abolition of 457 visas throw a spanner in $7.4bn of clean energy projects? - EcoGeneration

By Michael Bonner mbonner@s-t.com

NEW BEDFORD Loose straws discarded from their original cup and lid, cigarette butts and plastic bottles littered the green space across from the New Bedford Historical Society on Wednesday.

Lee Blake, the Society's president, envisions a much different description a year from now for the plot of land at the corner of Seventh and Spring streets.

You have this wonderful opportunity to tell the story of the abolition movement and the work that blacks and whites did to protect each other and to protect self-emancipated blacks that came to the city, Blake said.

By the start of summer 2018, trees, kiosks, benches and a gazebo will replace the litter as part of the design for Emancipation Park as it's named on the rendered drawings. A meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at 83 Spring St. to discuss plans for whats called Abolition Row Park.

The $190,000 project, to be funded by the New Bedford Historical Society, is meant to create a small park with the mission of telling the story of abolitionists who once lived in the neighborhood.

According to Blake, 17 abolitionists at one time called the area home.

Its an education garden because it will tell the story of the neighborhood, Blake said.

In January, the New Bedford Historical Society received a $40,000 grant from the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Scotts Miracle-Gro Co.

Blake said the Historical Society has already received donations to complement the grant, but more funding is needed.

We were really lucky because the historical society has been working with communities around the country because 2018 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Douglass, Blake said.

According to Historical Society website, Douglass made his way to New Bedford in 1838 via the Underground Railroad after escaping from slavery. In New Bedford, he was helped byNathan and Polly Johnson, African American abolitionists, and he and his wife Anna began their life together, raising their young family here.

Douglass quickly rose to prominence as an abolitionist and anti-slavery speaker and each February, the Society recognizes his contributions at an annual Read-a-thon.

The design plans for the parl show a "Frederick Douglass bench" with a Little Free Library. The plans also list a North Star Gazebo and an Outdoor Room Educational Exhibits.

A wrought iron fence will surround the perimeter of the park and Adinkra symbols will accompany the greenery in the garden.

COGdesign, a nonprofit in Cambridge that provides pro-bono landscaping designs, developed plans for the park.

COGdesign chose this project, despite its distance from Boston, because of the historic significance of the place and the potential for public learning that the historical society is providing, said Jean Krasnow, who sits on the Board of Directors of COGdesign.

Blake said the plot had been vacant since a 2009 fire destroyed the building on it in. The New Bedford Historical Society has worked to gain ownership of the land for seven years before finally purchasing the piece of land about six months ago.

We wanted to make sure that the land across the street was important to how New Bedford saw the role of Frederick Douglass, Blake said.

Follow Michael Bonner on Twitter @MikeBBonnerSCT.

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Design of Abolition Row Park in New Bedford to be discussed today - SouthCoastToday.com

In the Caribbean territory of Guadeloupe, boudin is a food entrenched in the history of colonization and slavery. Melissa Banigan hide caption

In the Caribbean territory of Guadeloupe, boudin is a food entrenched in the history of colonization and slavery.

The making of boudin is a visceral, bloody and time-consuming process in the French Caribbean territory of Guadeloupe. Boudin a name that comes from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning "sausage" was first recorded in ancient Greece by a cook named Aphtonite. A variation of it was mentioned in Homer's Odyssey as a stomach filled with blood and fat roasted over a fire.

Halfway around the world and thousands of years later, boudin was brought to some of the Caribbean islands by colonists. Yet unlike in mainland Europe, every bite retraces the dark history of colonization, the celebration of the abolition of slavery and postcolonial culture in Guadeloupe.

In the territory's beach town of Gosier, Pascal Maxo makes two kinds of boudin, using recipes that have been in his family for generations. Artistry is required in making the fortifying, iron-rich stuff, and there's no rushing the job.

To prepare, Maxo first heads to the butcher to buy a vat of fresh pig's blood, the main ingredient of boudin rouge Antillais (Antillean red boudin). If using blood as an ingredient seems strange, one must remember that historically, the slaughter of a pig was an infrequent event. Cooking blood, which otherwise would go bad quickly in the days before refrigeration, was a way to use every part of the precious animal from tail to snout.

Making boudin is messy and bloody work and involves teamwork. Melissa Banigan hide caption

Making boudin is messy and bloody work and involves teamwork.

It takes Maxo two full days to make boudin rouge Antillais. At the crack of dawn on Day 1, he sets up a couple of long tables on the veranda of his home, which sits on a verdant hillside that rolls gently downward toward the Caribbean Sea. Making boudin is tedious and messy work, and three of Maxo's friends join him to labor over the process. A large pot of water is heated over an outdoor stove, and a station is set up for spices.

Boudin rouge Antillais resembles a Creole version made in Louisiana, but one of its spices, graine de bois d'inde (seed of wood from India), is endemic to the West Indies and really sets the sausage on its own pedestal. The seed grows on Pimenta racemosa trees, and like many spices and fruits grown in the Caribbean islands, it is macerated in rum before being ground into a powder.

Rum, an alcohol produced from sugar, has a dark history. Christopher Columbus couldn't possibly have foreseen how sugar would become "white gold" when he first brought sugar cane seedlings with him on his second voyage to what he called the "New World" in 1493. By the early 1600s, sugar cane was brought by the Dutch to the Caribbean islands, forever changing the islands' fates.

Pascal Maxo and one of his friends dig into a bucket of bread that has been softened in water. The bread is used in both kinds of boudin made by Maxo. Melissa Banigan hide caption

Pascal Maxo and one of his friends dig into a bucket of bread that has been softened in water. The bread is used in both kinds of boudin made by Maxo.

Indigenous peoples were enslaved and forced to work on the burgeoning sugar plantations, and diseases introduced by colonizers from Europe and Africa wiped out entire communities. The "Triangular Trade" quickly developed among Africa, the Caribbean islands and the New England coast of what would become the United States, and indigenous peoples were replaced by African slaves to keep up with the growing demand for sugar.

Toward the end of the 1700s and well into the next century, ending slavery involved battles and revolutions. The British, Swedish and French took turns swapping control of the territory, and in the midst of all the changing hands, during the French Revolution the territory's governor emancipated all people living as slaves. This emancipation, however, was short-lived as the French army fought to regain control of the territory. Unwilling to once again be subjugated, a mulatto officer in the resistance movement named Louis Delgrs led an uprising of 800 against the French army in 1802. Overtaken by soldiers, but unwilling to surrender, Delgrs and up to 500 followers, both men and women, shouted "Vivre libre ou mourir!" ("Live free or die!") just moments before lighting a large store of gunpowder, effectively committing suicide while taking out many French troops.

Maxo drops coils of boudin into boiling water, then strings them over a clothesline to dry. Melissa Banigan hide caption

Maxo drops coils of boudin into boiling water, then strings them over a clothesline to dry.

Although Napoleon reinstated slavery, it didn't last long and was abolished in Guadeloupe in 1848, at which point indentured servants from Tamil, India, were brought to the territory to work in the sugar cane fields. Today, the territory is still reeling from colonialism and slavery. Bks, or "white people born in the Antilles," are the descendants of the earliest European colonizers in the French Caribbean. Despite being the minority, they still own much of the land and local industry, and deep racial and ethnic inequities prompted low-income workers to strike throughout the French Caribbean in 2009. Agreements were made with the government that ended the strike, but tensions remain high.

Unlike typical boudin from European countries or the southern United States, Guadeloupe's version blends spices some of them infused with rum made in the area from Africa, Europe, India and the Caribbean. Each family uses a different mlange in its recipes, and Maxo's family is no exception.

Maxo and his friends carefully prepare a mixture of blood, spices and bread that has been softened in water, then push the blend slowly through a large metal funnel into casings that are tied off into sausages. Despite using clean towels to mop up, blood still pools over the table and onto the floor. The twisted ropes of sausage are reminiscent of wet entrails, and the smell of blood in the tropical heat is heavy and pervasive. Maxo drops heavy coils of boudin into boiling water and then strings them up over a clothesline to dry.

Midmorning, Maxo turns on some music and breaks out a few snacks ham, cornichons and ti punch, a rum drink made with a touch of sugar and lime. Each of the four boudin-makers has a different job. One person fills the funnel, another fills the casings, a third ties off the individual boudin, and the last is a floater who does anything else that needs doing. When one person tires of a job, a friend steps in. When the boudin are finally finished in the early afternoon, the area is cleaned and prepared for the next day.

Boudin blanc Antillais (Antillean white boudin) differs from blood sausage in that it's typically made from a porridge of milk, bread and meats such as chicken or ham. Maxo, however, makes his boudin blanc from fish, one of the more popular foods in the territory. Although he enjoys a spicy boudin, his wife, Frdrique, who was raised in mainland France, prefers hers a little less fiery.

Friends and family gather just days after the boudin is prepared. Eaten with the fingers, both varieties are soft and dense. Whereas in France, boudin rouge is typically served with a light-bodied Beaujolais or Chteauneuf-du-Pape, boudin Antillais is generally washed down with un doigt of rum, and the table is often set with yellow, lime and orange plates and decorations and Madras-pattered napkins derived from Indian influence.

Although true aficionados of boudin Antillais probably don't seek out the sausage to retrace its history, each bite taken by Maxo and his friends is a savory culmination of flavors and culinary processes developed over thousands of years.

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Boudin: A Story Of Sausage, Slavery And Rebellion In The ... - NPR - NPR

ALabor government would triple the fees for skilled migrants visas to work in Australia, establish a new visa for academics, set up a new training fund and establish a newindependent body to test whether jobs can be filled by Australians instead of overseas residents.

And in an escalation of tit-for-tat "Australians first" migration policies, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will accuse the Turnbull government of announcing"little more than a con job" when it announced the abolition of the 457 visa program last month.

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The decision to abolish 457 temporary work visas is presented by Malcolm Turnbull as putting the interests of Australians first.

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The decision to abolish 457 temporary work visas is presented by Malcolm Turnbull as putting the interests of Australians first.

The suite of prospective policy changes also include a promise that Labor in government will not sign another free trade agreement that allows local labour market testing to be waived, as the South Korean, Japanese and Chinese dealsdo.

They will be unveiled by Mr Shorten in a pre-budget address to the McKell Institute in Sydney on Wednesday.

Labor was heavily critical of the Turnbull government's new visa policies, which includedthe abolition of the 457 visa and creation of twonew temporary skills shortagevisas, tougher English language tests, stricter labour market testing, at least two years of work experience and a mandatory police check.

It argued the changes were window dressing, did not go far enough on labour market testing and also caused problems for universities and the advanced technology sector, by making it too hard to bring highly educated professionals to Australia.

The policies outlined by Labor on Wednesdayfollowthe government's package of measures, some of which will need to pass parliament, and underscore the fact that both major partieshave shifted to a more strident, nationalist position on immigration in recent months.

"With underemployment at record highs and young people across the country struggling to find work, too many employers are turning to temporary work visas to undercut local jobs, wages and conditions. It's time to change the system so locals get the first shot at local jobs," Mr Shortenwill say.

Draw It Yourself: See the full interactive quiz about how the economy has performed under the Coalition.

Under the changes, fees for temporary skilled migrant visas willincreaseto 3 per cent of the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold, which is currently$53,900.

That means, in practice, visa fees for temporary skilled migrants would rise to$1617 per year, $3234 for two years or $6468 for four years.

In comparison, the Turnbull government's planned visa fee hikes will see fees for the new two-year visa set at$1150, or $575 per year, and $2400 for the new four-year visa.

"This is a strong price signal to employers that they should be looking for local workers first. Under Labor, putting local workers first won't just be fairer it will be cheaper," Mr Shorten will say.

The moneyraised from the fee hike will establish the"SkillUP Training Fund" to be used to fund Labor's agenda in skills and training. The Turnbull government has also promised a greater focus onskills training as part of its new visa plans.

Theso-called "SMART" visa, designed for highly-skilled workers in theScience, Medicine, Academia, Research and Technology sector, is designed to help ensure "universities, research institutes, medical, scientific and advanced technology industries and companies and public research agenciesto bring the best and brightest here".

"The current surge in anti-intellectual, anti-scientific sentiment in great research nations offers Australia a unique opportunity to attract the world's finest minds. That's why Labor will introduce a new, four-year visa, with appropriate salary safeguards."

A new, independent Australian Skills Authority will take charge of labour market testing and create a single skills shortage occupations list, while the currentMinisterial Advisory Committee on Skilled Migration be abolished.

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Shorten Labor government would triple skilled migrant fees under visa crackdown - The Sydney Morning Herald