Bringing in gender quotas in the Liberal party is not just right it’s smart politics too – The Guardian

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If prime minister Scott Morrison wants a circuit-breaker for the gendered political turmoil besetting his precarious Coalition government, unilaterally declaring gender quotas for federal Coalition MPs would be a masterstroke.

Even Coalition voters on balance now support quotas for women (48% supporting and 43% against) according to the latest Essential poll, with net support among voters overall doubling from +6% in 2019 to +12% in this weeks poll.

Note, Im suggesting he should bring in gender quotas, not quotas for women. Benefits flow from diversity, not women. If three-quarters of Coalition MPs in Canberra were women instead of men as is the case today, gender quotas would rebalance things in the direction of men.

Changing the rhetoric from quotas for women to gender quotas makes it harder for troglodytes to block this sensible extension of the quota approach the Coalition routinely uses elsewhere for example, the longstanding quota ensuring the Nationals get a fair share of ministers on the frontbench.

Quota opponents could be further disarmed if the policy applied only to winnable seats as they open up in the future, making sitting members safe from change.

Morrison could also take up the shift evident internationally from 50/50 quotas to the more flexible 40/40/20 approach adopted, for example, by global law firms Baker MacKenzie in 2019 and Norton Rose Fulbright in 2020.

This 40% women, 40% men, with 20% open approach to leadership appointments not only gives organisations a bit of elbow room in achieving gender diversity but makes room for other kinds of diversity too.

The Male Champions of Change group of Australian business leaders advocated this in its 40:40:20 For Gender Balance report in 2019, aimed to help organisations reap the diversity dividend now clear in management research.

The report provides hard numbers on the superior results achieved by organisations not dominated by one gender. It shows how to overcome the problem of merit being defined by, and reinforcing, the status quo.

Crucially, this is a report endorsed by 255 leading Australian directors and chief executives, including Commonwealth Bank CEO Matt Comyn, Wesfarmers managing director Rob Scott and Golf Australia CEO James Sutherland to name a few.

There would be a fair degree of overlap between the Male Champions of Change group and the Coalitions donor list come election time. If gender quotas are good enough for them and their organisations, why not for the federal Coalition?

Finally, this is a change which can be picked up and announced right away. Morrison has an action deficit. Declaring the beginning of the gender quota era in the Coalition, using the Male Champions of Change report as his template, would show him actually doing something, not just dodging, delaying and announcing another process.

Stubbornness stands in the way of Morrison making this necessary and politically sensible move.

Guardian Australia political editor Katharine Murphy last week noted the prime ministers practice of almost exclusively addressing men at risk of voting Labor in his public rhetoric. It is reminiscent of former US president Donald Trumps 2020 presidential election tactic. Trump lost.

As with Trump, its unlikely to be enough for Morrison to hold on to men at risk of voting Labor when he is at risk, because of his one-sided handling of the last few weeks, of losing an equal or bigger number of women who voted Liberal at the 2019 federal election.

Nor is it as though this is a new problem. The broad church Liberal party of which John Howard used to boast even as he worked to narrow it, is no more.

Instead of being Liberals, small l liberal moderates now sit as independents between government and opposition MPs on parliaments crossbench: Helen Haines (Indi), Zali Steggall (Warringah) and Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo) so far. Similar moderates are eyeing Wentworth, Hughes, Calare and Groom.

A contemporary Robert Menzies would do a strategic appreciation of the situation and realise he had to bring the small l liberals back into the tent before the cumulative seat loss became fatal.

Looking back on the formation of the Liberals in 1944, Menzies singled out two people for special praise. One was May Couchman, Victorian president of the Australian Womens National League whose members Menzies said did far more electoral work than most men. Over a six-month period, Couchman folded the League into the Liberal Partys Womens Section, significantly strengthening Menzies fledgeling political creation.

Morrison may be no Menzies but, as a former state party secretary and in 2019 victor in an apparently unwinnable federal election, he is not without some political smarts.

Putting his prime ministerial prestige on the line to get the Liberal partys state branches to adopt 40/40/20 gender quotas, and to urge the Nationals to do the same, is not just the right thing to do. It would be very smart politics too.

Chris Wallace is an associate professor at the 50/50 Foundation, Faculty of Business Government and Law, University of Canberra. She tweets at @c_s_wallace

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Bringing in gender quotas in the Liberal party is not just right it's smart politics too - The Guardian

DePauw ranked No. 10 liberal arts school in the nation – DePauw University

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DePauw University is among top 10 liberal arts colleges in the country, according to a new ranking by BestValueSchools.org.

The website, which has a target audience of college-bound high school students looking for the right fit, published a list of the best 12 liberal arts schools in the nation, with DePauw at No. 10.

According to BestValueSchools.org, schools are ranked based on graduation rate, acceptance rates, tuition, curriculum, class size and reputation. We also consider prestige, alumni performance and the campus and culture of the school, the website said.

BestValueSchools cited DePauws calendar, including winter and May terms that offer unique opportunities, such as domestic internships and study or service travel abroad. It also noted DePauws low student-to-faculty ratio; small class sizes; and a wide variety of majors.

Aliberal artscollege focuses on providing a well-rounded education instead of being highly career-focused, the website said. These schools will prepare you for life. Youll gain knowledge in a wide variety of subjects, and learn more about who you are as a person. These schools are an excellent place to get a degree and discover your place in the world.

Even though the subjects taught expanded, the core sentiment has stayed the same through the ages. Liberal arts colleges prioritize free thinking and knowledge over career skills.

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DePauw ranked No. 10 liberal arts school in the nation - DePauw University

Former central bank governor to play prominent role at Liberal convention – The Globe and Mail

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Mark Carney attends a news conference at Bank of England in London, Britain on March 11, 2020.

POOL/Getty Images

Mark Carney, long touted as a potential Liberal leader one day, will be a keynote speaker at the federal partys convention later this week.

Its a political coming-out party of sorts for the former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England.

Until recently, his role as a central banker required Mr. Carney to avoid any hint of partisanship.

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But he is known to have nevertheless quietly flirted with the idea of jumping into politics, and Liberals have bandied his name about for at least 10 years.

Back in 2012, after the Liberals suffered their worst electoral thrashing in history, questions about a leadership run grew so intense that Carney was compelled to deny any interest with a stinging rejoinder: Why dont I become a circus clown?

He left the country shortly thereafter to take over the helm of the Bank of England, but speculation about his interest in federal politics intensified once again with his return to Canada last summer and the recent release of his memoirs, Value(s): Building a Better World for All.

The book spells out Mr. Carneys prescription for a sustainable, more inclusive postpandemic economic recovery, based on the lessons he learned from managing monetary policy in Canada during the 2008 financial crisis and in Britain during the tumultuous aftermath of that countrys exit from the European Union.

When Bill Morneau abruptly resigned as finance minister last August, Mr. Carneys name came up as a possible replacement. Instead, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau chose Chrystia Freeland, herself widely considered an eventual leadership contender.

Mr. Carneys name also came up again as a potential candidate to fill Mr. Morneaus Toronto Centre seat. But he did not run, and the vacancy was instead filled by former broadcaster Marci Ien, one of the co-chairs of the April 8-10 virtual convention.

Since the release of his book last month, Mr. Carney has been coy about his political ambitions. Hes insisted hes focused on his work as the United Nations special envoy on climate action and finance and his new role as vice-chairman of Brookfield Asset Management Inc., where he is overseeing the global investment firms expansion into environmental and social investing.

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But he has not categorically ruled out a political future.

Mr. Carneys appearance at the Liberal convention, which starts Thursday evening, may not herald a plunge into the political arena. But it does mark the first public dipping of his toe into partisan waters.

It comes just over a week ahead of Ms. Freelands first budget, which could tip the minority Liberal government into an election if all three opposition parties vote against it.

Should an election be triggered during the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, Liberals will get some advice during the convention about how to conduct a virtual campaign from two veterans of last falls U.S. presidential campaign: Caitlin Mitchell, senior digital adviser for the Biden-Harris ticket, and Muthoni Waambu Kraal, former national political and organizing director for the Democratic National Committee.

Theyll also hear from Ben Rhodes, ex-deputy national security adviser to former U.S. president Barack Obama.

The convention itself will be entirely virtual, with more than 5,000 registered Liberals expected to take part in what party spokesman Braeden Caley calls the largest policy convention in Liberals history. Mr. Trudeau will deliver a keynote address on Saturday.

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Mr. Caley said the convention will focus on four broad themes: protecting Canadians health, ensuring the economy comes roaring back, protecting a clean and healthy environment and creating a fairer and more equal Canada.

He predicted it will present a stark contrast to last months Conservative convention, where delegates debated whether climate change is real, rolling back womens right to choose and weakening gun control.

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Former central bank governor to play prominent role at Liberal convention - The Globe and Mail

Georgia Governor: MLB Decision To Move All-Star Game Is Based On ‘Fear And Lies’ – NPR

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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, at a news conference at the state Capitol Saturday, slammed Major League Baseball's decision to pull the All-Star Game from Atlanta over the league's objection to a new voting law in the state. Brynn Anderson/AP hide caption

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, at a news conference at the state Capitol Saturday, slammed Major League Baseball's decision to pull the All-Star Game from Atlanta over the league's objection to a new voting law in the state.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp lashed out at Major League Baseball for its decision to take both the All-Star Game and its draft out of the state this year, in response to Georgia's new voting law.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred had said that relocating those events was the best way to "demonstrate our values" and oppose restrictions on voting. But in a press conference on Saturday, Kemp characterized the MLB's move as one based on "fear and lies from liberal activists."

The "Election Integrity Act," passed into law at the end of March without any Democratic support, adds identification requirements for mail-in ballots and places restrictions on the number of drop boxes across the state.

While President Biden and other prominent Democrats like former state representative Stacy Abrams have criticized the law as an attempt to make voting more difficult in Georgia, Republicans argue that's a deliberate mischaracterization of what the law actually does.

"Here's the truth," Kemp said. The law "expands access to voting, secures ballot drop boxes around the clock in every county, expands weekend voting, protects no-excuse absentee voting. It levels the playing field on voter I.D. requirements as well as streamlining election procedures."

Democrats have taken particular umbrage to the portion of the law that prevents groups from providing water to voters standing in line in the Georgia heat. But election workers are still allowed to give voters water, Kemp said; it's just political organizations and "anyone else" who aren't allowed to "harass or electioneer voters who are waiting in line to vote, within the 150-foot buffer," he said.

(The relevant text of the bill states that no person can offer "food and drink" to a voter in line but clarifies that a poll officer can make available "self-service water from an unattended receptacle.")

Kemp and state Attorney General Chris Carr pointed to measures in the law that they say will help turnout, including expanded voting hours across the state. They also pointed out that Georgia law specifies a minimum of 17 days of early voting, with absentee votes allowed for any reason. "It's easier to vote in Georgia than it is in New York," Kemp said.

In addition to MLB's announcement, the state has also faced pushback from Coca-Cola and Delta, whose executives have expressed disappointment with the legislation. Delta CEO Ed Bastian argued this week that "the entire rationale for this bill was based on a lie: that there was widespread voter fraud in Georgia in the 2020 elections." That claim has been repeatedly disproved.

Kemp characterized the corporate response as a direct result of "cancel culture," and said that the MLB's decision to pull out of Atlanta where both the All-Star Game and the draft were scheduled to take place this July will hurt Georgians who were depending on the All-Star Game for a paycheck. "Georgians and all Americans should know what this decision means," Kemp said. "It means cancel culture and partisan activists are coming for your business. They're coming for your game, or event, in your hometown."

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Georgia Governor: MLB Decision To Move All-Star Game Is Based On 'Fear And Lies' - NPR

Conservative vs Liberal – Difference and Comparison | Diffen

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Social Issues

In terms of views on social issues, conservatives oppose gay marriage, abortion and embryonic stem cell research. Liberals on the other hand, are more left-leaning and generally supportive of the right of gay people to get married and women's right to choose to have an abortion, as ruled by the U.S. Supreme Court in Roe v Wade.

With regard to the right to bear arms, conservatives support this right as it applies to all US citizens, whereas liberals oppose civilian gun ownership - or at the very least, demand that restrictions be places such as background checks on people who want to buy guns, requiring guns to be registered etc.

See also: Comparing Joe Biden and Donald Trump's economic policies

The different schools of economic thought found among conservatives and liberals are closely related to America's anti-federalist and federalist history, with conservatives desiring little to no government intervention in economic affairs and liberals desiring greater regulation.

Economic conservatives believe that the private sector can provide most services more efficiently than the government can. They also believe that government regulation is bad for businesses, usually has unintended consequences, and should be minimal. With many conservatives believing in "trickle-down" economics, they favor a small government that collects fewer taxes and spends less.

In contrast, liberals believe many citizens rely on government services for healthcare, unemployment insurance, health and safety regulations, and so on. As such, liberals often favor a larger government that taxes more and spends more to provide services to its citizens.

Some good examples of this policy split are the Environmental Protection Agency, which liberals think is vital and some conservatives want to abolish or scale down, and the Medicare and Medicaid programs, which liberals want to expand and conservatives believe should be partially or completely privatized through a voucher system connected to private health insurers.

In the early part of the twentieth century, liberals - especially those in Britain - were those who stood for laissez fair capitalism. In more recent times, however, the nomenclature seems to have reversed. The exception to this is found in Australia, where the mainstream conservative party is called the Liberal Party and the mainstream non-conservative party is called the Labour Party.

Political liberals believe that parties motivated by self-interest are willing to behave in ways that are harmful to society unless government is prepared- and empowered to constrain them. They believe regulation is necessitated when individuals-, corporations-, and industries demonstrate a willingness to pursue financial gain at an intolerable cost to society--and grow too powerful to be constrained by other social institutions. Liberals believe in systematic protections against hazardous workplaces, unsafe consumer products, and environmental pollution. They remain wary of the corruption- and historic abuses--particularly the oppression of political minorities--that have taken place in the absence of oversight for state- and local authorities. Liberals value educators and put their trust in science. They believe the public welfare is promoted by cultivating a widely-tolerant and -permissive society.

Political conservatives believe commercial regulation does more harm than good--unnecessarily usurping political freedoms, potentially stifling transformative innovations, and typically leading to further regulatory interference. They endorse the contraction of governmental involvement in non-commercial aspects of society as well, calling upon the private sector to assume their activities. Conservatives call for the devolution of powers to the states, and believe locally-tailored solutions are more appropriate to local circumstances. They promulgate individual responsibility, and believe a strong society is made up of citizens who can stand on their own. Conservatives value the armed forces and place their emphasis on faith. Conservatives believe in the importance of stability, and promote law and order to protect the status quo.

Liberals believe in universal access to health care--they believe personal health should be in no way dependent upon one's financial resources, and support government intervention to sever that link. Political conservatives prefer no government sponsorship of health care; they prefer all industries to be private, favour deregulation of commerce, and advocate a reduced role for government in all aspects of society--they believe government should be in no way involved in one's healthcare purchasing decisions.

Jonathan Haidt, a University of Virginia psychology professor, has examined the values of liberals and conservatives through paired moral attributes: harm/care, fairnesss/reciprocity, ingroup/loyalty, authority/respect, purity/sanctity. He outlines the psychological differences in the following TED talk:

Haidt has also written a book, The Righteous Mind, based on his studies conducted over several years on liberal and conservative subjects. Nicholas Kristof, an avowed liberal, offered an unbiased review of the book and cited some interesting findings such as:

Liberals should not be confused with libertarians. Libertarians believe that the role of the government should be extremely limited, especially in the economic sphere. They believe that governments are prone to corruption and inefficiencies and that the private sector in a free market can achieve better outcomes than government bureaucracies, because they make better decisions on resource allocation. Liberals, on the other hand, favor more government involvement because they believe there are several areas where the private sector -- especially if left unregulated -- needs checks and balances to ensure consumer protection.

The primary focus of libertarians is the maximization of liberty for all citizens, regardless of race, class, or socio-economic position.

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82 unions and liberal groups urge Biden to go bigger on tax hikes and hold the wealthy accountable – Business Insider

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President Joe Biden is unveiling the first part of his multitrillion-dollar infrastructure proposal today, which could include up to $3.5 trillion in tax hikes. Some unions and progressive organizations are saying he should go even bigger.

On Tuesday, 82 national organizations, led by Americans for Tax Fairness, sent a letter to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, commending the administration's efforts to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans and encouraging the president to go further. The letter said Biden's tax plans were the "boldest of any major party presidential nominee in modern American history."

The tax proposals have "received widespread media coverage and, perhaps more significant, your boldly progressive tax plan was heavily attacked by your political opponents, who spent untold millions of dollars and claimed falsely that the middle-class would pay more," the letter said. "Yet, you won the most votes ever of any US presidential candidate, with a central promise of your campaign to make the rich and corporations pay their fair share of taxes. You have a clear mandate to pursue your agenda."

The letter, which was signed byAFL-CIO and MoveOn, said that even among Republicans, raising taxes is popular. For example, a New York Times survey from November found that two-thirds of respondents, including 45% of Republican voters, supported tax increases on people making over $400,000, and an Americans for Tax Fairness survey from October found that 71% of Americans supported raising the income tax rate, including 51% of Republicans.

The best way to hold the wealthy accountable, according to the letter, is to reverse the "worst aspects" of former President Donald Trump's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), including Biden's proposals to:

Aside from the TCJA proposed changes, Biden also proposed additional tax reforms during his campaign, like investing in Internal Revenue Service enforcement of high-income taxpayers and imposing a "financial-risk fee" on large Wall Street banks.

The letter said that even along with Biden's campaign proposals, he could implement many other reforms, including a 10-percentage-point surtax on all incomes about $2 million, a financial transaction tax on bond and stock trades, and a wealth tax on ultra-millionaires.

Biden's tax hikes have already faced opposition in Congress. While moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin said an infrastructure proposal could be as large as $4 trillion using tax hikes as funding, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warned that won't win his party's support.

"I don't think there's going to be any enthusiasm on our side for a tax increase," McConnell told reporters last week. Republicans even recently introduced a bill to repeal the estate tax, which would only affect 0.6% of farm estates.

But progressive lawmakers are continuing to push for measures that hold the ultra-rich accountable. Although Politico reported on Tuesday that Biden will notuse a wealth tax to fund infrastructure, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts has led the effort to propose a 2% tax on households with net worths over $50 million.

"A wealth tax iscritical for raising revenue, and that revenue is critical for raising opportunity," Warren said on Twitter on March 1. "We build a future for all of our kids by investing in opportunity. This is one way we can make this government work for everyone not just the rich and powerful."

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82 unions and liberal groups urge Biden to go bigger on tax hikes and hold the wealthy accountable - Business Insider

Why We Need The Liberal Arts To Achieve Stakeholder Capitalism – Chief Executive Group

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Just over a year ago, Steve Denning, the leadership guru and a former director of the World Bank, argued that stakeholder capitalism is doomed to failure, despite the proclamations from the Business Roundtable to the World Economic Forum that addressing stakeholders interest is the only effective way forward.

According to Denning, stakeholder capitalism failed in the mid-20th century, and it will fail again now because corporations must have a single, overriding goal a true north in order to operate successfully.

Since then, the world has experienced a global pandemic that has turned business and economies upside-down. This chaos has only intensified the debate about the best model for business, with consulting firms such as McKinsey making the case for switching to a stakeholder approach, and groups such as the Shareholder Equity Alliance dismissing that approach as ineffective if not impossible.

A key issue in this stakeholder/shareholder argument is how people are defining efficiency and what level of complexity they are willing to navigate in pursuing a companys goals.The stakeholder model requires thinking through impacts on many constituencies customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders and local communities.

Crucially, there is no single stakeholder model that will work to govern every kind of business in every location. Shifting to stakeholder capitalism requires a willingness to think situationallyto analyze the broad context of a particular enterprise, identify the key stakeholders for that company at that time, and remain willing to revisit that analysis over time.

Some business leaders, such as Denning, look at these challenges and declare them to be impossible to address in a way that leaves a company functioning and profitable.

But shifting to a stakeholder approach is not only possible, it is essential if capitalism is going to remake itself into a sustainable system for the future.

This kind of massive change does not just require new strategies; it requires new ways of thinking about the world. And it cant be done based only on financial data. Making a stakeholder model effective requires the ability to comprehend multiple points of view based on different ways of valuing things.

This is not impossible, but it is hard. And it requires different ways of approaching problems than business programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels have offered for the past half century.

Fortunately, the answer to this conundrum lies in the broad, multifaceted educations provided by liberal arts colleges and by arts and sciences programs at large universities.

The fact that stakeholder capitalism is hard is not a reason to toss it away in favor of ideas such as customer capitalism that simply repackage the fundamental goal of maximizing profits. Instead, its a reason to devote resources to getting the stakeholder approach right.

Making stakeholder capitalism work requires rewiring how we educate those going into business. Our business leaders need to be able to think creatively, identify connections that are not always obvious, and put information together in new ways: this is exactly what a broad liberal arts education prepares students to do.

A liberal arts approach teaches students to think critically about the way todays systems operate and about how the status quo can be changed for the better.

Rather than staying focused on the way knowledge is already understood or applied and rejecting information that does not fit a particular model, a liberal arts curriculum teaches students to ask good questions the kinds of questions that lead them to consider problems from all points of view and to cast a wide net across many types of information to find the answers.

In a liberal arts program, an economics major will learn the theories, models, and formulas that economists use to interpret the world. But they will also learn that historians, anthropologists, psychologists, and professors of religion have different ways of interpreting the world. Most importantly, they will learn that combining a variety of ways of thinking will help make their economic decisions better and more sustainable.

This kind of broad education is the necessary preparation for implementing a stakeholder approach, which requires looking at an enterprise from many perspectives and being able to evaluate long-term as well as short-term impacts and risks.

Liberal arts programs need to claim this strength loudly and fully. At Denison, we are doing this across our campus, finding new and exciting ways to help our students articulate the value and applicability of their liberal arts education.

In our Global Commerce major preparing to graduate our 3rd cohort of seniors this year our students combine courses focused on the dynamics and structures of global trade and business with foreign language study and an individually-designed set of courses drawn from across the college curriculum.

The outcome is that our majors understand how businesses work today while also recognizing how the system can be improved. For them, it is not a question of either getting a job or saving the world. It is a matter of both and. They are prepared to successfully enter the working world as it exists and to think about how to improve the way businesses operate in the world as they build their careers.

This kind of imagination is just what is needed to create a version of stakeholder capitalism that will work. Predicting that stakeholder capitalism is doomed is a failure to imagine that things might be significantly different than they currently are.

Ignoring the need to create successful ways to take a wide range of stakeholders into account will only push responsibility for societys growing problemsincome, housing, and educational inequality, climate change and environmental concerns, depletion of natural resourcesdown the road in the interest of short-term financial success for a limited group of people.

Stakeholder capitalism is hard. The liberal arts are necessary to make it happen.

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Why We Need The Liberal Arts To Achieve Stakeholder Capitalism - Chief Executive Group

Former bank governor Mark Carney among featured speakers at Liberal convention – Kamloops This Week

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OTTAWA Mark Carney, long touted as a potential Liberal leader one day, will be a keynote speaker at the federal party's convention later this week.

It's a political coming out party of sorts for the former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England.

Until recently, his role as a central banker required Carney to avoid any hint of partisanship.

But he is known to have nevertheless quietly flirted with the idea of jumping into politics, and Liberals have bandied his name about for at least 10 years.

Back in 2012, after the Liberals suffered their worst electoral thrashing in history, questions about a leadership run grew so intense that Carney was compelled to deny any interest with a stinging rejoinder: "Why don't I become a circus clown?"

He left the country shortly thereafter to take over the helm of the Bank of England, but speculation about his interest in federal politics intensified once again with his return to Canada last summer and the recent release of his memoirs, "Value(s): Building a Better World for All."

The book spells out Carney's prescription for a sustainable, more inclusive, post-pandemic economic recovery, based on the lessons he learned from managing monetary policy in Canada during the 2008 financial crisis and in Britain during the tumultuous aftermath of that country's exit from the European Union.

When Bill Morneau abruptly resigned as finance minister last August, Carney's name came up as a possible replacement. Instead, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau chose Chrystia Freeland, herself widely considered an eventual leadership contender.

Carney's name also came up again as a potential candidate to fill Morneau's Toronto Centre seat. But he did not run, and the vacancy was instead filled by former broadcaster Marci Ien, one of the co-chairs of the April 8-10 virtual convention.

Since the release of his book last month, Carney has been coy about his political ambitions. He's insisted he's focused on his work as the United Nations special envoy on climate action and finance and his new role as vice chairman of Brookfield Asset Management Inc., where he is overseeing the global investment firm's expansion into environmental and social investing.

But he has not categorically ruled out a political future.

Carney's appearance at the Liberal convention, which starts Thursday evening, may not herald a plunge into the political arena. But it does mark the first public dipping of his toe into partisan waters.

It comes just over a week ahead of Freeland's first budget, which could tip the minority Liberal government into an election if all three opposition parties vote against it.

Should an election be triggered during the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, Liberals will get some advice during the convention about how to conduct a virtual campaign from two veterans of last fall's U.S. presidential campaign: Caitlin Mitchell, senior digital adviser for the Biden-Harris ticket, and Muthoni Waambu Kraal, former national political and organizing director for the Democratic National Committee.

They'll also hear from Ben Rhodes, ex-deputy national security adviser to former U.S. president Barack Obama.

The convention itself will be entirely virtual, with more than 5,000 registered Liberals expected to take part in what party spokesman Braeden Caley calls the largest policy convention in Liberals' history. Trudeau will deliver a keynote address on Saturday.

Caley said the convention will focus on four broad themes: protecting Canadians' health, ensuring the economy "comes roaring back," protecting a clean and healthy environment and creating a fairer and more equal Canada.

He predicted it will present a "stark contrast" to last month's Conservative convention, where delegates debated whether climate change is real, rolling back women's right to choose and weakening gun control.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 4, 2021.

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Former bank governor Mark Carney among featured speakers at Liberal convention - Kamloops This Week

Opposition shuts WE hearing as Liberals again refuse to let staffer testify – CTV News

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OTTAWA -- Opposition members shut down a parliamentary committee hearing Wednesday after the Liberal government once again refused to let a political aide appear to answer questions about the now-dead deal with WE Charity.

Members of the House of Commons' ethics committee had asked Amitpal Singh, a senior adviser to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, to testify after a majority of MPs passed a Conservative-sponsored motion to that effect last week.

The motion allowed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to appear before the committee in his place.

But the Liberal government, which has ordered political staff not to appear before committees, deployed Associate Finance Minister Mona Fortier to instead appear for Singh, who worked for Bill Morneau when he was finance minister.

It was the second time a minister appeared instead of a ministerial aide after government House leader Pablo Rodriguez took the place of Trudeau's director of policy earlier this week.

While the committee ultimately decided to hear what Rodriguez had to say on Monday, opposition members refused to do the same with Fortier and instead used their majority to adjourn the meeting after only 20 minutes.

"By blocking witnesses from testifying ... against an order of the House of Commons, the government is devaluing and disrespecting Canada's Parliament," Conservative ethics critic Michael Barrett told the committee before asking that it adjourn.

The motion passed in the House of Commons last Thursday called on Singh, Trudeau policy director Rick Theis and the prime minister's senior adviser, Ben Chin, to appear before the ethics committee to answer questions on the WE deal.

It also called for Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan's former chief of staff, Zita Astravas, who now holds the same position in Public Safety Minister Bill Blair's office, to appear before the Commons' defence committee to discuss sexual misconduct in the military.

Trudeau was invited to attend on their behalf if the government wanted.

The government has in turn accused opposition members of trying to intimidate and mistreat non-elected political staff and argued that ministers are ultimately responsible for those who work in their offices.

Rodriguez and Liberal committee members have also accused the opposition of trying to score cheap political points by dragging out the ethics committee's study on WE, suggesting there was little more to learn about how the deal came together.

Prior to the committee adjourning, Bloc Quebecois MP Rheal Fortin accused the government in French of "blatantly defying" the House of Commons by ignoring the motion calling for senior political staff or Trudeau to appear.

"I always thought that Canada was supposed to be a democratic country where decisions were taken democratically and where a decision by the House held some value," he said. "And yet members of the government side are blatantly defying the House."

The sole-sourced deal with WE was announced last spring and would have seen the Toronto-based youth organization paid $43.5 million to run the Canada Student Services Grant program, which was designed to reward students who volunteered during the COVID-19 pandemic.

WE later backed out of the agreement following questions and concerns about its close ties to members of the prime minister's family, before the $543-million program was cancelled entirely.

The Liberals and WE co-founders Craig and Marc Kielburger have insisted that it was non-partisan civil servants who came up with the idea of having the organization run the grant program.

But the Conservatives have held up some of the thousands of email exchanges and other documents released by the government in August, after Trudeau testified, as evidence the arrangement was directed by the Liberals.

The ethics commissioner is currently investigating both Trudeau and Morneau, who abruptly resigned as finance minister and left federal politics in August, for potential conflicts of interest in relation to the deal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 31, 2021.

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Opposition shuts WE hearing as Liberals again refuse to let staffer testify - CTV News

Quotas for women would be fraught with problems in the NSW Liberal Party – Sydney Morning Herald

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Regrettably, many members are angry these values and beliefs have been trashed not byLabor governments, but by Liberal governments they helped to elect. For example, the rejection of reform to s.18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, same-sex marriage without protection for religious freedom, the safe-schools program all helped to foment their concerns.

The grassroots are increasingly questioning the values and beliefs of candidates. If merit is not the primary determinant of selection or promotion, this cultural disconnect willcontinue. Conflating bad behaviour by politicians with preselection processes to argue for quotas is illogical and wrong. Preselection should always be on merit and individuals should always take personal responsibility for their actions. This view is reinforced by the fact that we are a party where individual effort is an important cornerstone of its constitution.

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Furthermore, we would do well to ensure political parties have more robust vetting as part of theselection process. The debacle with dual citizenship issues demonstrated obvious shortcomings.

With growing instances of foreign interference and foreign influence, I have publicly advocated forsome form of vetting of politicians. Ministers, like their staff, should be vetted. In relation tobackbenchers, vetting should occur after they are elected, and most especially if they are about tohold positions with access to sensitive and highly classified material.

Selection should be based on merit. It is a view that is widely supported by our grassroots. It took 20 years to achieve reform. Quotas will only return us to the days of entrenched power of factional bosses. We need plebiscites, not quotas.

Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells is a Liberal senator for NSW.

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Quotas for women would be fraught with problems in the NSW Liberal Party - Sydney Morning Herald

Conservative opinion columnist Rob Port to begin new livestream show with liberals – INFORUM

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Starting Wednesday, March 31, Port, who is widely known for his conservative views on North Dakota and national politics, will be hosting weekly shows on InForum that will feature rotating guest hosts with more liberal takes on the issues. The Plain Talk segments will be live every Wednesday at 2 p.m. and include a live blog where readers and listeners can "join the conversation" by submitting questions and comments in real time.

"My goal is to leave the audience feeling like the issues covered are better illuminated for them, however they might feel about the views I or my guests express," Port said. "Maybe they'll feel persuaded. Maybe they'll feel more committed to what they already believed. Either way, that's a win in my book."

Port's first rotating guest host will be Jonah Lantos, a Minot-based talk show host with the podcast "The Good Talk Network." The idea is to provide a platform on InForum where civil dialogue can happen between two people with opposing views on some of the most hotly debated topics, all while allowing InForum readers to join the conversation.

"I don't want it to be another political cage match," Port said. "We have so much of that these days. Cable news might as well be professional wrestling. I want thoughtful, passionate conversations about news, culture and policy among people who can smile at each other at the end and agree to disagree.

Port, who was a guest on a livestreamed event with OneFargo activist Wess Philome to talk about race, said these kinds of conversations require a willingness to acknowledge that nobody is going to "win."

"In nearly two decades of covering politics, the most concrete thing I've learned is that nobody ever really 'wins' a debate," said Port. "One side may be ascendant for a while, but there are no permanent victories in politics. Time marches on. Attitudes evolve. There's always another election looming. All we can really do is listen and try to understand."

Parts of these livestream shows will be available on Plain Talk with Rob Port, which can be found on InForum or on a variety of podcasting services.

In addition to the Wednesday livestream shows, Port will also begin adding "newsmaker" video interviews with some of his columns, where he'll speak with state leaders and various newsmakers throughout North Dakota. His first is being published this Friday, April 2, with Lt. Gov. Brent Sanford as they talk about the potential sale of the Coal Creek Station.

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Conservative opinion columnist Rob Port to begin new livestream show with liberals - INFORUM

NSW Young Liberals turn to Tory selection process for women – Sydney Morning Herald

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The NSW Young Liberals is pushing for a candidate selection model to get more women and people from non-Anglo backgrounds in Parliament, and fewer political hacks.

The youth wing has prepared a discussion paper which says there must be more CEOs, successful small business owners, top professionals and skilled tradespeople running for our party in winnable seats. The selection model the Young Liberals are proposing the party adopt is similar to one used by the British Conservatives.

President of the NSW Young Liberals Deyi Wu says the party must change how it selects candidates. Credit:Louise Kennerley

People who cant necessarily spend the majority of their time doing party political work as a virtual unpaid second job but who would capably represent and embody our partys values in Parliament, the paper says.

There must also be more women and more people from non-Anglo backgrounds.

The leader of the Liberals moderate faction in NSW, Energy Minister Matt Kean, said on Monday nothing else had worked to increase female representation and it was clear quotas had to be tried.

Quotas are a fast and effective way to get the Liberal Party to better reflect the community we seek to serve, Mr Kean said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week said he was very open to the idea of quotas for females.

In its paper Modernising our Candidate Selection Process, which will be sent to all Young Liberals for feedback before being handed to the partys governing body, there is a call for soft quotas through using candidates lists.

The basic idea of a candidates list is that there is a set pool of candidates (whether statewide, regional or in a local electorate) from which pre-selectors can choose, the paper, co-written by former Young Liberal president Chaneg Torres, said.

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NSW Young Liberals turn to Tory selection process for women - Sydney Morning Herald

Liberal senator backs redeploying of superannuation early access scheme – Sydney Morning Herald

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Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg wants the Morrison government to redeploy an emergency scheme introduced at the height of pandemic letting workers withdraw $20,000 from their superannuation for other purposes such as first home deposits.

In a speech to be delivered at a launch for Arch Capital founder Nigel Bakers new book The Super Secret on Thursday evening, Senator Bragg says the federal governments early access scheme had been one of the most successful policies of the coronavirus recession. The policy allowed struggling workers who had lost hours or been made unemployed during the crisis to access up to $10,000 twice from their funds.

Senator Andrew Bragg.Credit:Peter Braig

Between April 20 last year and January 31, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority recorded $36.4 billion worth of payments to 3.5 million people under the scheme. The superannuation system is worth about $3 trillion in total.

It was hotly contested by Labor and the super industry but it worked. It was a success for two main reasons: firstly, it helped Australians improve their personal balance sheets, and secondly it drove engagement with super, Senator Bragg said.

By breaking the seal of preservation and allowing people to access their own money Australians realised super wasnt monopoly money that fell out of the sky only to be locked away and eaten by fees and junk insurance, he said. We should consider using this scheme again in future but for targeted policies.

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One of the ways he thinks this could be used is for future crises or other situations leaving households in severe financial stress. Currently, people can apply to the Australian Taxation Office for early access to their super on compassionate grounds for the coverage of some medical treatments, which has allowed some people to pay for IVF, weight loss surgeries and other treatments using their retirement funds. They can also apply directly to their funds in cases of financial hardship.

Senator Braggs suggestions will rile the superannuation industry, which has been advertising on free-to-air television to publicly raise concerns the government is meddling over the possibility of a backflip on the currently legislated rise in the super guarantee from 9.5 per cent to 12 per cent by 2025. Industry Super Australia has previously warned letting first-home buyers tap into super for a deposit will result in higher property prices and would harm the growth of peoples retirement savings due to the loss of compound interest.

Senator Braggs book on superannuation, Bad Egg: How To Fix Super, recommended the expansion of the governments existing First Home Super Saver Accounts scheme to allow first-time buyers to not only tap into additional contributions but mandatory super payments. Liberal MP Tim Wilson recently launched a Home First Super Second campaign to drum up support for letting young renters tap into super to help them buy a property.

Super has damaged home ownership, especially for lower-income Australians and this trend must be reversed. Home ownership is more important than super, Senator Bragg said. I am not saying that super for housing is a silver bullet, especially in an overheated property market.

Jennifer Duke is an economics correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based at Parliament House in Canberra.

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Liberal senator backs redeploying of superannuation early access scheme - Sydney Morning Herald

Ron Paul Warns of Government Crackdown on Bitcoin ‘The Government Is the Threat’ Regulation Bitcoin News – Bitcoin News

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Former congressman Ron Paul has warned of a government crackdown on bitcoin and safe-haven assets may not be safe from government intervention. The government is the threat, he said, noting that they will crack down because they have the ability to do it.

Former presidential candidate Ron Paul shared his view on the governments intervention on bitcoin in an interview last week with Kitco News Michelle Makori. Paul is an American author, physician, and retired politician. The former congressman from Texas launched The Ron Paul Liberty Report in 2015 to bring provocative opinion and analysis to the breaking issues affecting our lives and finances, its website describes.

Paul was asked about the threat of potential gold confiscation or one form or other of government intervention because that concern is rising. Several well-known hedge fund managers, like Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio and The Big Short investor Michael Burry, have said that safe-haven assets are not necessarily going to be safe from government intervention, Makori recalled. They expect possible tax changes or regulations that will prevent a flight of capital to these assets that could be viewed as an alternative to the dollar, like gold, like bitcoin. She then asked Paul, Could they be at risk of a government crackdown?

The former congressman replied:

Absolutedly the government is the threat because they will crack down because they have the ability to do it.

He added: We had a taste of [a free society]. If you dont know where to start, just start with the Constitution, that might give you an idea of what a free society is all about.

Paul was also asked: What form of a crackdown do you think this could take when we talk about assets, like gold and even bitcoin, potentially being at risk of government intervention at higher taxes and regulation what do you think could happen to those assets?

The former congressman replied, I think all of that can happen. He elaborated that Either the tax system will be used or the government will just print more money, resulting in the devaluation of the currency.

He further opined: But they will do it for public relations reasons. They will have to show that theyre putting a heavy tax on the very wealthy because of the civil strife thats going on.

On President Joe Bidens proposed infrastructure bill, Paul expects its outcome to be worse than average. He opined: Most likely it will do what those kinds of programs always do, they spend a lot of money, theyre inefficient, they always cost more than they thought they should. Besides, its built on some mystical belief that you shouldnt have any concern about the deficit everybodys just in a dream.

What do you think about Ron Pauls warning about bitcoin and government intervention? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

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Ron Paul Warns of Government Crackdown on Bitcoin 'The Government Is the Threat' Regulation Bitcoin News - Bitcoin News

Isley Brothers will defeat Earth, Wind and Fire in Verzuz battle, just ask the Beatles – Asbury Park Press

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A home in Alpine that sold for $3 million after being on the market for nearly a decade was once owned by one of the Isley Brothers. NorthJersey.com

Who's going to win the big Verzuz R&B battle between the Isley Brothers and Earth, Wind and Fire at 8 p.m. EST Sunday, April 4.

Put your money on Jersey Teaneck's Isleys will be victorious. After all, if it weren't for the Isley Brothers, the Beatles would still be Liverpool.

That's the word from Paul McCartney, who told guitar legend Ernie Isley of the debt the Fab Four owed the Isleys when they met at the Apollo in the Hamptons benefit in 2012. The Beatles, of course, covered the Isley Brothers hits Twist and Shout and Shout early in their career.

The Isleys had just finished performing Shout at the benefit.

Ron and Ernie Isley.(Photo: Submitted)

We came back off the stage, taking selfies and signing autographs, said Ernie Isley to the USA Today Network New Jersey in 2019. My wife Tracy said to me Paul McCartneys over there and I said, 'Where?' She points and he was about four tables away. I squeezed through the tables, tapped him on his shoulder and he stood up at his full height and gave me bear hug that cut my wind off.

We were both yelling in each other's ears at the same time and I said something like, 'Paul, you and Ringo, George and John were wonderful.' He said, 'Ernie, if it werent for the Isley Brothers, the Beatles would still be in Liverpool.' "

There was more rock 'n' roll to come that night.

Ernie and brother Ron Isley were joined by McCartney, Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Usher and Jennifer Hudson on stage to sing Twist and Shout.

It was the only time the Isley Brothers and a Beatle had ever performed the song live, and it was great, Ernie Isley said. It was great.

More: TJ Lubinsky goes deep into 'My Music' vaults for new 'Rock, Pop and Doo Wop' collection

More: Who's the New Jersey talent coming on strong at the Grammy Awards?

More: Brighton Bar of Long Branch, home of original music at Jersey Shore, has shut its doors

McCartney repeated his acknowledgment of the Isleys from the stage. Ringo Starr also told Ernie Isley of the Isley Brothers influence on the Beatles at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.

Ernie, its because of the Isley Brothers that we were able to hit our stride, said Ringo, as relayed by Ernie Isley.

The Isley Brothers(Photo: Provided)

Shout and Twist and Shout by the Isley Brothers are two of the seminal tracks in rock 'n' roll history. They were recorded while the Isleys, natives of Cincinnati, were based in Teaneck.

They changed some of the lyrics for their version, said Ernie Isley of the 1962 session for the Isley's Twist and Shout, which predates his joining the band. They only had a chance do one take on the record when they got to the ahh ahh ahh shake it up baby!, (Ron's) voice cracked a little bit. He hated it but he kept going and they wanted to do second take but it was decided time was up and that was good enough.

Bert Berns, the co-writer of the song, produced the Isley Brothers version.

They sort of left the studio feeling little discouraged, but it turned out that version was the record that so many have since copied, Ernie Isley said.

Including the Beatles, who opened their ground-breaking 1965 concert at Shea Stadium with Twist and Shout.

Of course, the Isley Brothers legacy is steeped in much more than Beatles covers. The band was on the vanguard of R&B, funk, hip-hop, quiet storm, Afro punk and more. Their hits include This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You), Summer Breeze, That Lady, Live It Up, Fight the Power, Harvest for the World, Between the Sheets, Contagious and That Lady.

Ernie Isley's playing on That Lady is considered one of the greatest lead guitars in rock 'n' roll this side of Jimi Hendrix. He must have picked up a few pointers from Hendrix when Hendrix was a member of the band and lived at the Isley'shome in the early 60s.

Earth, Wind & Fire are certainly shining stars themselves, known for hit records like September, Lets Groove Boogie Wonderland, and "Shining Star." Like the Isley Brothers, they're in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

But the Isley Brothers, well, what can you say about a band that has two of the music's greatest guitarists, Jimi Hendrix and Ernie Isley, in it?

That's tough to beat. The Verzuz takes place via Instagram and the Triller app.

We have managed to change with the musical terrain, the musical climate, and still keep our ID, Ernie Isley said.

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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at @chrisfhjordan; cjordan@app.com.

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Kane Honored With Senate Joint Resolution For His WWE Hall Of Fame Induction – Wrestling Inc.

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Veteran WWE Superstar Kane, who is also known as Mayor Glenn Jacobs of Knox County in Tennessee, is being honored locally for his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame 2021 Class.

Knoxville Senator Becky Duncan Massey has introduced a Senate Joint Resolution to formally honor and celebrate Mayor Jacobs as he prepares to enter the WWE Hall of Fame as Kane.

When he is inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, Kane will take his rightful place alongside such legends as Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, and Dusty Rhodes; both Kane and his real-life alter ego, Mayor Jacobs, are worthy of our praise and recognition on this special occasion, the resolution reads.

The resolution (SJR0384) was introduced into the Tennessee General Assembly on Monday of this week, and then passed on first consideration today, April 1.

As Knox County Mayor, Glenn Jacobs has earned the respect and admiration of his constituents through his honesty and integrity, but no matter what measure of popularity he achieves in Tennessee, he will never match the approbation and adoration that wrestling fans have heaped upon Kane, the resolution reads.

The resolution also details some of Jacobs career accomplishments since debuting in 1997 as the Kane character.

Mayor Jacobs tweeted a response to the resolution and wrote, Thank you to my friend @MasseyForSenate for this wonderful honor!

Kane recently announced his re-election campaign, as reported at this link.

You can see Kanes tweet below, along with a congratulatory tweet he received from Ron Paul, and a local news story on the resolution from WBIR Channel 10 in Knoxville:

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Kane Honored With Senate Joint Resolution For His WWE Hall Of Fame Induction - Wrestling Inc.

Covid-19 Vaccination Cards Are the Only Proof of Shots, Soon an Essential – The Wall Street Journal

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Millions of adults vaccinated against Covid-19 have little to prove it beyond a paper card they received at inoculation sites.

The U.S. has no central database for immunizations. States maintain an incomplete patchwork of records. Nor is there standard proof of Covid-19 vaccinations like the yellow-fever cards that are required for travel to many countries where that disease remains prevalent.

With some countries and businesses preparing to make digital proof of vaccination a requirement for entry and travel, the paper cards may be the only ticket to access those platforms. Proof is already being requested on some first dates and at weddings.

Im glad we prioritized getting shots in arms, said Ami Parekh, chief medical officer at digital healthcare company Grand Rounds Inc., which acts as a kind of medical concierge for patients. But putting in rules about being vaccinated without giving people a way to properly track it is a little bit backwards.

The cards themselves are a patchwork of formats. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has designed a version, which many locations use, but it isnt required. State and local authorities and even individual sites are devising their own cards to hand out. With no official standard, it may be hard to say what constitutes proof.

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Covid-19 Vaccination Cards Are the Only Proof of Shots, Soon an Essential - The Wall Street Journal

Paul Fanlund: Listen more than you talk, and other advice on racial justice – Madison.com

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Maybe part of it has to do with where we start. Whites drawn to Madison are often among the most highly educated attracted to our world-class university or the regions burgeoning technology sector.

Some people of color who come here dont start with the same privileges and thats also true for their children at school, but generalizations are perilous and theres much more to the achievement gap story than that. Well-educated people of color often report that their children dont get the same treatment at school here that white children do.

Many do, but not all Madisonians care much about delving deeper into racial justice.

I noticed after Black Lives Matter protests here last year an unrelenting buzz about the property damage on State Street and the suggestion that there were lawless hordes downtown. Madison police, criticized by some Black leaders as racially insensitive, are criticized by others as overly conciliatory.

Racial animus was stoked by Donald Trump, and some subset of Madison buys into that. They probably like the law-and-order message and would be less likely just as U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said he was to fear the predominately white crowd at the U.S. Capitol insurrection than Black Lives Matter activists. Yes, Madison is generally liberal, but I have been surprised at how prominent that vibe has been.

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Paul Fanlund: Listen more than you talk, and other advice on racial justice - Madison.com

Following Lady Gaga and Adam Driver Across Italy – Architectural Digest

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You may already have seen the viral photos of Lady Gaga and Adam Driver dressed in retro fashion, trotting across Italy, 1970s style. The duo are shooting the biopic House of Gucci, which traces the murder of Maurizio Gucci (Driver), who was killed by his ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani (Gaga) in 1995; she was convicted in 1998 and released in 2016.

It is expected to premiere November 24, but already fans are going so crazy over the movie that there are multiple unauthorized Instagram accounts tracking the progress of this Ridley Scott project. From the paparazzi shots of the star-studded cast (Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, and Al Pacino are also involved) to sneaky on-set videos showing backdrops of century-old Italian villas, its just the beginning of the hype around this film, which is based on the book The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed by Sara Gay Forden.

Lady Gaga and Adam Driver filming House of Gucci in Lake Como.

The amount of excitement surrounding the film and its production has been utterly surreal, says Wyatt Macgregor, who runs the Instagram account @thehouseofgucci, tracing the day-to-day filming. Just over the past fortnight, weve amassed nearly ten thousand new followers. We developed this page to raise publicity about the upcoming film, the intrigues of the underlying story, and its fabulous cast.

Everyone involved in this film is certainly getting a cross-country tour of Italy, maybe even a free vacation, while shooting in the most sought-after cities. They shot at landmarks in Milan, from the ancient church at the Piazza del Duomo, to the historic Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping center. They also paid a visit to the Villa Necchi Campiglio, a home for the Necchi Campiglio family of industrialists. This masterpiece of Italian rationalism with Art Deco accents was built by architect Piero Portaluppi in 1935. In Rome, theyve been shooting along the retail avenue Via dei Condotti; inside the actual Gucci boutique, which first opened in 1938; and most recently, at the Cinecitt Studios.

The first publicity image from the film to sweep the internet in March shows Gaga and Driver standing before a snow-covered mountain (thats Monte Rosa) in Gressoney-Saint-Jean, a snowy town near the Swiss Alps. They also shot in the mountain resort of Valle dAosta, which is meant to represent St. Moritz, where the Gucci family went skiing every winter.

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Following Lady Gaga and Adam Driver Across Italy - Architectural Digest

Inside the enemys mind The Manila Times – The Manila Times

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FENG Zhang of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies claims there are several groups and different kinds of strategic thinking inside China concerning the West Philippine Sea (WPS). He discloses that since 2009, there has been an internal debate on the matter that can serve as a useful guide to understanding the nuances of Chinese policy that are not always apparent from behavioral indicators.

Whether this is propaganda to soften the blow of Chinese actions or not, it helps to understand the enemys mind.

According to Feng, there are three dominant groups in this debate: 1) pragmatists, 2) hardliners, and 3) moderates.

PragmatistsWhile it is important for China to maintain a stable and peaceful external environment, Beijing is also determined to protect its own interests and would respond firmly to provocations, encroachments on its territorial sovereignty, or threats to its rights and interests. Thus, there appears to be a dichotomy between (regional) stability and (Chinese) rights.

Pragmatists insist that a rights first approach is not necessarily detrimental to regional stability. The policy goal is to realize Chinese maritime rights in the WPS without engendering conflict, especially against the United States and Southeast Asia. However, they are willing to sacrifice regional stability in order to safeguard Chinese maritime rights.

In terms of strategy, the pragmatists promote a deterrence-based assertiveness approach. This means China should assert itself in the WPS to deter other claimants from further encroaching on Chinese rights. The most clear-cut example of this strategy is Chinese assertiveness during the Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal) standoff with the Philippines in 2012. This is also felt in the reclamation and construction activities of China in the WPS that are meant to strengthen the assertion of their maritime rights over the area.

Pragmatist thinking is guided by a modified version of the American rationalism that was in vogue in the 1960s. Thus, pragmatists utilize Cold War terminologies such as strategic resolve and deterrence in their strategic thinking.

HardlinersHardliners view the WPS as part of Chinas core interests that must be protected at all costs. They are not too concerned about the potential for conflict that can arise from Chinese actions in the WPS. They simply wish to defend, enhance and enforce Chinas rights, and expand Beijings power and influence in the region.

Hardliners usually belong to the military establishment in China. According to Feng, hardliners believe that Chinas rights in the South China Sea require establishing a solid foothold in the region in order to carry out military and law enforcement activities. Such a foothold would also be very useful for protecting the South China Sea as a strategic sea line of communication vital for supporting Chinas economic development and safeguarding its expanding overseas interests.

They see the economic significance of the WPS natural resources and its strategic importance for international commerce. Thus, they want to control as much of the area as they can, primarily through the utilization of various assets. The hardliners imprint can be seen in the recent swarming presence of Chinese maritime militia near the Julian Felipe Reef off the coast of Palawan.

Strategically, the hardliners utilize the principle of opportunistic assertiveness. They avoid making China look like the aggressor if possible and seek to exploit any mistakes committed by rival claimant states like the Philippines by responding forcefully and aggressively to occupy features previously controlled by them. This happened in the Scarborough Shoal in 2012 when the bumbling, clueless and incompetent Aquino 3rd administration was easily outmaneuvered and taken advantage of by the Chinese.

The hardliners pursue a delicate balance of defensive-oriented coercive action through a strategy of deterrence-based assertiveness that demands an equally measured handling by our Philippine national security managers. It requires from the Philippines a thoughtful counter-strategy from experienced national security thinkers unlike the reckless and knee-jerk decision-making of President Benigno Aquino 3rd in 2012.

Chinese President Xi Jinping seems to be the high-profile patron of the hardliners.

Intellectually, Feng claims, the hardliners are influenced by the traditional Chinese military doctrine of active defense. According to Feng: Active defense doctrine is the integration of defense and offense: an overall defensive strategy, it does not preclude partial offense that strikes hard at the enemy. Active defense also promotes the integration of consolidating territorial integrity and recovering lost territory. The Chinese thinking holds that consolidating existing territory and recovering lost territory are both defensive actions. Recovering lost territory through nonmilitary means would be ideal. But should that prove unfeasible or ineffective, force may be used to achieve the objective. The doctrine also advocates the integration of maintaining stability and protecting rights, but among the two goals, protecting rights clearly takes precedence over maintaining stability.

To be continued

* * *

Happy birthday to Luke Cordero (April 2), Zylvette Lim (April 6) and Leticia Andres (April 7).

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Inside the enemys mind The Manila Times - The Manila Times