Supreme Shot Under The Manhattan Beach Pier: Photo Of The Day – Patch.com

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MANHATTAN BEACH, CA Manhattan Beach resident and professional photographer and tech guy Jefferson Graham captured this photo. Here's what he writes about it:

"Standing under the Manhattan Beach Pier is always one of the most popular local pastimes. After a rainstorm, when the waves get very aggressive it is even more so," said local photographer Jefferson Graham, who shot this for his #Photowalks series on Wednesday, 12/30/20 at 7 a.m. http://jeffersongraham.substack.com

If you have an awesome photo of nature, breathtaking scenery, kids caught being kids, a pet doing something funny or something unusual you happen to catch with your camera, we'd love to feature it on Patch.

We're looking for high-resolution images that reflect the beauty and fun that is California, and that show off your unique talents.

Send your photos to liz.spear@patch.com.

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Supreme Shot Under The Manhattan Beach Pier: Photo Of The Day - Patch.com

Several Mexico Beach businesses prepare to open in 2021 – WMBB – mypanhandle.com

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MEXICO BEACH, Fla. (WMBB) Big things are happening in the small town of Mexico Beach. While many businesses and homeowners rebuild, each day residents get one step closer to a sense of normalcy.

Many spots in town reopened their doors in 2020, and even more are not far behind.

I think 2021 is going to be some landmark things happening here, said Mexico Beach Mayor, Al Cathey.

Mayor Cathey says the city has come a long way over the course of two years, but still has quite a ways to go.

Several different food spots and vacation rentals have opened since the storm and now many others are following suit ahead of the New Year.

We have Harmon Realty opening up, we have the Shell Shack opening up, Ace Hardware is opening up as well, said Cathey.

Cathey says the hardware store has been open since 1974 and as the owner, he never thought he would have to build another one.

Were excited to get back, we have been very blessed that we are able to stay in business after the storm, said Cathey.

Their hope is to open to the public in mid-February.

Another sought after establishment coming to town is a gas station.

We are finally going to have a gas station in the first part of 2021. Its been a difficult time since weve had one, you take so many things for granted. said Cathey.

This kind of business will not only help residents and vacationers, but also boaters and workers.

That is going to be a big lift to our town, said Cathey.

Another hot spot destroyed during the storm is the Shell Shack. Owners say rebuilding their store has taken nearly two years.

Everybody is excited for us to come back, theyre ready for the Shell Shack to be back open to get their fresh seafood and wall dcor and shells and come see us, said Owner, Theresa Hunter.

Their new building is larger than before and is planned to be open by mid-January.

We are excited to get back, I miss it, we miss all the people and our customers and our friends. We are ready to get back, said Cathey.

As these spots are set to open after the New Year, its safe to say Mexico Beach has big plans for 2021.

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Several Mexico Beach businesses prepare to open in 2021 - WMBB - mypanhandle.com

Snapchat boss calls for balance between free speech and social media moderation – IOL

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By Bang Showbiz 2h ago

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Snapchat co-founder Evan Spiegal has insisted there needs to be a balance between free speech and moderating social media platforms.

The 30-year-old businessman - who launched the popular photo sharing app while studying at Stanford University and became a billionaire five years ago - has insisted users should be allowed to express themselves, even when that includes saying "really inappropriate" things.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We've definitely taken a proactive approach to the content that's distributed on Snapchat, but at the same time, you know, should platforms be responsible?

"For example, for telephone calls, I would say no - if you pick up the phone, and you say something really, really inappropriate and outrageous to your friends, the telephone company isn't responsible for what your friend said, your friend is responsible.

However, Spiegal also noted the importance of finding a balance between a huge audience - more than 70% of 13 to 34-year-olds in the US - and letting people exercise their right to free speech.

He explained: "We do want to make sure that our platform is the place where people can express themselves and even though they say inappropriate things sometimes, our government actually has a whole legal framework to protect that sort of self expression and free speech."

Meanwhile, Spiegal also added while he would be "happy" to pay more taxes, he would expect some of the money to be repaid into tech funding by governments.

He added: "The history of great nations really tends to be built on huge breakthroughs in technology and a lot of times that technology is founded on government investment.

I think it's really easy today in our political system to focus on the failures, rather than these amazing successes.

Regulation is only one part of a comprehensive technology strategy - the rest of it really has to be oriented around...investment in new technology.

BANG ShowBiz Tech

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Snapchat boss calls for balance between free speech and social media moderation - IOL

Hillarie Goldstein: Right to free speech is protected in this country – The Laconia Daily Sun

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I am writing about State Rep. Dawn Johnson and her link to a neo-Nazi website.

I don't know Dawn Johnson and am not acquainted with the site she linked to. For the sake of argument I'll stipulate she's is an anti-Semite. That said, there is a whole lot more going on here that people better pay attention to. I believe the attack on Johnson did not happen spontaneously. I believe she is being used as an example to put people on notice as to what will happen to them if they step out of line and express ideas not approved by the ruling class.

I believe the elites who want to shut down free speech are all on the left. And I don't really believe for one minute they care about anti-Semitism. As a Jew who grew up in this country, and has encountered my share of anti-Semitic comments, almost all of them came from people on the left. I think the reason they picked Dawn Johnson to make an example of is that it seems so noble and righteous to condemn anti-Semitism, no one will question the motive behind it. To me, the motive is clear. By first picking on people like Dawn, they get us used to the idea of controlled speech. So when the day comes when your right to express yourself is taken from you, you won't be shocked. And if they've really done their job, they'll end up making you feel guilty even though you haven't said anything wrong.

But what if you did say something 'wrong?' So what? The first amendment was designed to protect offensive speech. Uncontroversial speech doesn't need protection. I'm old enough to see the burgeoning insanity taking root in our once free country. When I was young, if someone said something objectionable, people would talk about it for awhile. The related issues would be hashed out and then we'd be done with it. It is after all, only speech. There is a difference between speech and action. We should be free to say anything.

The other reason I think Dawn was chosen is that she is a Trump supporter. Singling her out supports their canard that Trump is anti-Jewish, which is absurd. Trump is the most Jewish-friendly president we've ever had.

He recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. And he has worked to keep Iran from getting the bomb since they have openly stated they would like to erase Israel from the map and probably would if they could.

The people who attack Dawn are useful tools of the deep state who carry out their agenda, oblivious to how it can and probably will be used against themselves someday. Don't lose heart Dawn. I'd rather have a cup of coffee with you than any one of them any day.

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Hillarie Goldstein: Right to free speech is protected in this country - The Laconia Daily Sun

Can India spend its way out of its unemployment crisis? – Mint

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The covid-19 pandemic has exposed existing faultlines and inequities in the economy, but is the way out spending more on social security programmes or cutting back on the fiscal deficit? Would an urban employment guarantee scheme help job creation and spur short-term demand as well as long-term economic growth? These are the questions our panel of experts debated in an hour-long session titled, Pandemic, unemployment, inequality: The way forward as part of Mints Road to Recovery series in the run-up to the Union Budget in February 2021.

Leading the hour-long conversation on Monday evening were Manish Sabharwal, Chairman and Co-Founder of Teamlease Services Ltd; Dr. Jyotsna Jha, Director of the Bengaluru-based Centre for Budget and Policy Studies; Rosa Abraham, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Sustainable Employment, Azim Premji University; and Ashutosh Gupta, India Country Manager, LinkedIn with journalist Mitali Mukherjee as moderator.

While the panellists werent entirely in accord on the way forward, one thing all four agreed upon was that covid-19 has not created but only reminded us of the socio-economic problems and inequality gaps that India faces. While Sabharwal focused on the need for structural reform to spur growth, Dr. Jha and Abraham emphasised that government spending on health, education and social security was essential for overall economic growth. Gupta, meanwhile, explained why reskilling needed priority in the Budget to take the country forward. The road to recovery lies in reskilling, especially for those in sectors such as education, healthcare and hospitality, which employ large numbers of women and have been hardest hit by the virus effect," said Gupta.

Though employment has recovered in the last few months, incomes have fallen. People have returned to work [after the lockdown], but our research has found that fewer women are back in the workforce and even among the men, 80% have come back to jobs that pay less or are now self-employed," said Abraham. People have come back to employment but in more precarious ways." In this context, an urban jobs guarantee scheme could provide the kind of social safety net that less privileged sections of society require.

This kind of spending would benefit the economy at large, said Jha, pointing out that secure employment and income would create demand for private goods, spark consumption and have a multiplier effect on helping small businesses and, in turn, economic growth. Public spending on social security does not have to be detrimental to the economy. Governance reforms can be socially responsible and yet push economic growth," she said.

Sabharwal made pitch for fiscal prudence, saying, Spending money wont create jobs. Schemes like MNREGA are not an employment but a poverty solution. Find the money is not a solution; there is a shortage of it in a year like this one where the pandemic has exhausted resources." Instead, he said, the Budgets focus should be on boosting investment and putting more money in the hands of employees by removing mandatory contributions to Provident Fund and ESI, labour reform, and regulatory changes. I can think of many non-fiscal ways to create freedom for entrepreneurs," he said.

Jha made the point that signalling is very important for a government. In addition to gender, caste, urban-rural and other inequalities, this pandemic has also worsened interstate inequalities," said Jha. States that were in a better position before will recover faster so the role of the Union government and the Budget is very important in terms of signalling what is important so that states will follow."

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Can India spend its way out of its unemployment crisis? - Mint

House poised to override Trump veto for first time | TheHill – The Hill

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The House appears poised to override President TrumpDonald TrumpNew York Post editorial board calls on President Trump to 'start thinking' about Georgia runoffs instead of overturning election Loeffler, Perdue praise Trump for signing COVID-19 relief legislation after uncertainty Trump signs .3T relief, spending package MOREs veto of the must-pass annual defense policy bill, a dramatic rebuke of Trump in the final days of his presidency.

House lawmakers will vote Monday on overriding Trumps rejection of the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which passed both chambers of Congress with more than the two-thirds majority needed to overcome a veto.

Some Republicans have said they would sustain Trumps veto despite supporting the bill earlier this month. Still, dozens would need to flip their vote for the override to fail, and some Democrats who previously voted against the measure could switch their votes to override Trump.

Top House Democrats are projecting confidence they have the votes needed to deliver the first veto override since Trump took office.

The FY21 NDAA passed with overwhelming, veto-proof support in both the House and Senate, and I remain confident that Congress will override this harmful veto, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam SmithDavid (Adam) Adam SmithThe Grinch steals Joe Biden's Christmas Overnight Defense: Trump vetoes defense bill, setting up override vote | Trump raises objections to government funding, COVID-19 relief package | Trump offers Iran 'friendly health advice' as tensions heat up Trump vetoes defense bill, setting up potential override MORE (D-Wash.) said in a statement after Trump vetoed the measure on Wednesday. While the president may not care about our service members and their families, Congress still places an immense value on their service and sacrifice.

Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiTrump signs .3T relief, spending package New York Democratic Party chairman warns Ocasio-Cortez against challenging Schumer Incoming Democratic House members sidestep questions on voting for Pelosi as speaker MORE (D-Calif.), calling Trumps veto an act of staggering recklessness, said in her own statement the chamber will take up the veto override with bipartisan support.

Including this years defense bill, Trump has issued nine vetoes during his presidency.

Republicans have been largely reluctant to vote against Trump over the past four years. But Trump may have met his match in the NDAA, a bill he has never before vetoed.

Lawmakers are immensely proud of the bills 59-year streak of becoming law and do not want to be remembered as the Congress that failed to deliver. The $740 billion legislation authorizes funding for jobs, military bases and weapons manufacturers that affect nearly every congressional district and state. Troops would lose out on a host of special pay and bonuses without passage of the NDAA.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have also been stressing the importance of cybersecurity provisions in this years bill after a massive hack suspected to have been carried out by the Russians compromised myriad government systems at key agencies.

Weve just had one of the worst cyberattacks against us in our history. We experience threats from around the world every day. Our troops deserve a pay raise and it is our duty to keep America safe, tweeted Rep. Will HurdWilliam Ballard HurdLawmakers call for including creation of Latino, women's history museums in year-end spending deal House Republicans who didn't sign onto the Texas lawsuit Defense policy bill would create new cyber czar position MORE (R-Texas), who is retiring at the end of this Congress. Our goal was to rebuild our military and defend our nation. The NDAA does just that and it modernizes our forces. I will be supporting it again.

Trumps veto of the defense bill is just one of the ways he has thrown a wrench into the final days of this congressional session.

The president late Sunday signed a $2.3 trillion government funding and coronavirus relief package, but only after offering surprise objections a day after the measure negotiated by his administration was passed by the House and Senate.

He signed the bill a day after unemployment benefits extended by the measure ran out, but before a government shutdown would have been triggered on Tuesday.

Lawmakers in both parties had called for him to sign the measure, and Trump ultimately relented even while continuing to criticize it.

On the NDAA, Trump has offered several shifting explanations for his opposition. He first threatened to veto it over a requirement that Confederate-named military bases be renamed.

He then demanded lawmakers add a provision that would repeal an unrelated tech liability shield law from 1996 that he has been fixated on as Twitter appends corrective labels to his posts making unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

Trump has also complained the defense bill is weak on China, despite several provisions aimed directly at Beijing, such as the creation of a $2.2 billion fund specifically to counter China.

And he has lashed out at provisions designed to put up roadblocks over his orders to withdraw thousands of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Germany.

My administration has taken strong actions to help keep our nation safe and support our service members. I will not approve this bill, which would put the interests of the Washington, D.C., establishment over those of the American people, Trump said last week in his veto message to Congress that also called the NDAA a gift to China and Russia.

Lawmakers in both parties had urged Trump publicly and privately not to veto the NDAA. They were also hoping a strong enough bipartisan vote would dissuade Trump from vetoing the bill, which passed the House in a 335-78 vote, followed by an 84-13 vote in the Senate.

After Trumps veto, Republicans were largely quiet.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthyKevin Owen McCarthyGrowing number of House Republicans warm to proxy voting GOP senator warns K checks can't pass, urges Trump to sign COVID deal House GOP rejects unanimous consent on ,000 direct payments MORE (R-Calif.) has previously said he would not override Trumps veto despite voting in favor of the bill. His No. 2, House Minority Whip Steve ScaliseStephen (Steve) Joseph ScaliseGOP puts pressure on Pelosi over Swalwell Top Republicans push back on changes to motions to recommit Top GOP lawmakers call for Swalwell to be removed from Intelligence Committee MORE (R-La.), voted against both the compromise bill this month and the initial House version in July.

But the No. 3 House Republican, Rep. Liz CheneyElizabeth (Liz) Lynn CheneyCongress barrels toward veto clash with Trump Top GOP lawmakers call for Swalwell to be removed from Intelligence Committee GOP leaders pinched by pro-Trump bid to reverse election outcome MORE (Wyo.), is urging her colleagues to override Trump.

Without timely passage of the FY2021 NDAA, thousands of military families will be forced to lose their hazardous duty pay during the holidays. Given the sacrifices they and their families make for the cause of freedom, our troops should never have their livelihoods threatened by political battles in Washington, D.C. In addition to hurting our troops, failing to pass the NDAA will have dire consequences for our national security, Cheney said in a statement after Trumps veto.

Congress must uphold its highest responsibility providing for the defense of this nation and ensure this bill becomes law, she added.

One wild card is the possibility that some House lawmakers might not return to Washington for Mondays vote, for various reasons. Some might not want to travel during the height of the pandemic or already have the coronavirus, while others might not feel compelled to come back for a single day because they are retiring or lost reelection.

Many Democrats have voted by proxy during the pandemic, but Republicans have largely opposed the practice. Overriding a veto requires two-thirds of those voting, not two-thirds of the entire chamber.

Rep. Rick LarsenRichard (Rick) Ray LarsenHouse Democratic Rep. Rick Larsen tests positive for COVID-19 House plans Dec. 28 vote to override Trump's possible defense bill veto Biden's Pentagon pick puts Democrats in a bind MORE (D-Wash.) said the possibility of absences coupled with the GOPs refusal to vote by proxy would help the House easily override Trumps veto.

"That's all to our advantage, Larsen, who recently tested positive for COVID-19, said last week.

The unusual post-Christmas session is necessary to meet a deadline to override the veto by noon on Jan. 3, when the 117th Congress starts. If lawmakers fail to override the veto before then, the new Congress would need to start from scratch on the bill.

A Democratic House aide previously told The Hill the lower chamber needs to send the veto message to the Senate by Tuesday to overcome any procedural hurdles in the upper chamber and finish by Jan. 3.

If the House fails to muster two-thirds support on Monday, the override effort dies.

But if the House successfully overrides Trump as expected, action then moves to the Senate, where any one senator who supports Trumps veto could drag out procedural hurdles by forcing a separate vote.

The Senate is planning to convene Tuesday to start the process if the House is successful on Monday.

Sen. Rand PaulRandal (Rand) Howard PaulFive GOP senators to watch in next month's Electoral College fight Meghan McCain says Merry Christmas to all except 'healthy people under 65' getting vaccine before front-line workers GOP Sen. Rick Scott, staff to wait to get COVID-19 vaccine MORE (R-Ky.), who briefly held up passage of the NDAA earlier this month, has indicated he could similarly delay an override vote.

I very much am opposed to the Afghan war, and Ive told them Ill come back to try to prevent them from easily overriding the presidents veto, Paul told reporters last week.

Senators have suggested the final override vote could happen the morning of Jan. 3, just hours before the new Congress is sworn in. Sen. John ThuneJohn Randolph ThuneFive GOP senators to watch in next month's Electoral College fight Trump criticizes Senate Republicans ahead of election results vote, urges a 'fight' Biden faces fight with Congress for more coronavirus relief MORE (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican, warned last week it could take a "few days" for the Senate to jump through all the procedural hoops.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman James InhofeJames (Jim) Mountain InhofeTrump vetoes defense bill, setting up potential override Congress barrels toward veto clash with Trump Pompeo: Russia 'pretty clearly' behind massive cyberattack MORE (R-Okla.), who has been loyal to Trump on everything but this years NDAA, urged Congress to override the veto, saying troops shouldnt be denied what they need ever.

The NDAA has become law every year for 59 years straight because its absolutely vital to our national security and our troops. This year must not be an exception, Inhofe said in a statement after Trumps veto. I hope all of my colleagues in Congress will join me in making sure our troops have the resources and equipment they need to defend this nation.

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House poised to override Trump veto for first time | TheHill - The Hill

Luxembourg 2021 Budget Law: Overview of the key changes – Lexology

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On 14 October 2020, the Luxembourg government submitted to the Parliament the budget bill for fiscal year 2021. It was approved by the Parliament on 17 December 2020 and published in the Official Journal on 23 December 2020 (the Law).

This e-alert provides an overview of the key tax changes as from 2021.

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS TAXATION

Introduction of a new special 20% tax on all income derived by tax opaque Luxembourg funds from domestic real estate assets

As from 1 January 2021, a new 20% real estate tax ("prlvement immobilier") will be due by certain investment vehicles which receive income from real estate located in Luxembourg. Investment vehicles holding real estate located outside of Luxembourg will not be affected by this tax.

Entities within the scope of the prlvement immobilier

The Luxembourg entities covered by this measure are the following investment funds to the extent they have a legal personality (except for the SCS which is expressly excluded) (i) undertakings for collective investment (UCIs) subject to Part II of the Luxembourg law of 17 December 2010, (ii) specialised investment funds (SIFs) subject to the Luxembourg law of 13 February 2007 and (iii) reserved alternative investment funds (RAIFs) subject to the Luxembourg law of 23 July 2016.

Tax transparent investment vehicles, such as the limited partnership (socit en commandite simple), the special limited partnership (socit en commandite spciale) or fund under a contractual form (fond commun de placement), are excluded from the scope of the real estate tax.

Income subject to the real estate tax

Real estate tax is levied on income derived by the Luxembourg investment vehicle from Luxembourg real estate. Income includes rental income (excluding VAT) and capital gains realized directly or through tax transparent vehicles (including the disposal of interest in a transparent body which holds a real estate property located in Luxembourg).

The real estate tax applies at a rate of 20% as from 1 January 2021.

Non deductibility of the real estate tax

The real estate tax is not deductible when determining the amount of income from property and is neither creditable nor deductible by any investor.

Declaration and reporting

The relevant investment vehicles must declare said income to the Luxembourg Tax Authorities (LTA) by 31 May and pay the tax to the LTA by 10 June of the calendar year following the year in which the income is received or realised. First declaration will take place no later than 31 May 2022. An auditor report, to be attached to the return, must certify that the declared income has been computed in accordance with relevant legal provisions and provide details of the computation.

Investment vehicles within the scope of the real estate tax, must inform the LTA by 31 May 2022 at the latest whether or not they have held (directly or indirectly) Luxembourg real estate at any time during the calendar years 2020 and 2021. Such reporting must be filed even if no income was generated from the Luxembourg real estate. Investment vehicles filing a return for 2021 will be deemed compliant with this reporting obligation.

The same reporting applies to investment vehicles having changed, during calendar years 2020 and 2021, their legal form from an entity within the scope of the real estate tax to a tax transparent entity while holding directly or indirectly Luxembourg real estate.

A lump sum fine of EUR 10,000 may apply in the event of failure to declare the aforementioned information.

Lower subscription tax rate for UCIs investing in sustainable economic activities

As from 1 January 2021, under specific conditions, lower subscription tax rates will be available for investment funds covered by the Luxembourg law of 17 December 2010 relating to the undertakings for collective investments (Part I and Part II of the 2010 UCI regime) that invest in sustainable economic activities as defined by EU Regulation 2020/852.

In a nutshell, if the portion of net assets of the UCI, or of the compartment, invested in sustainable economic activities is at least respectively 5%, 20%, 35% and 50% of the total net assets of the UCI or the compartment, then the subscription tax rate will be respectively 0.04%, 0.03%, 0.02% and 0.01 % for that portion of assets. An auditor report must certify the relevant percentage and shall be attached to the subscription tax return.

Updated depreciation rate for rented real estate assets

As from fiscal year 2021, accelerated depreciation rate applicable to rented real estate is decreased from 6% to 4% and will apply to real estate assets whose construction has been completed since less than five years (currently 6 years) at the beginning of the fiscal year.

The same rate will apply for investment expenditures engaged for an older housing to the extent it exceeds 20% of the assets acquisition price and at the beginning of the fiscal year renovation work has been completed since less than five years.

A novelty has been introduced with a 6% depreciation rate granted for certain sustainable energy renovation investment expenditure for rented housing. Such depreciation rate is granted if as at 1st January of the fiscal year renovation work has been completed since less than nine years and a financial assistance has been granted for these expenditures under article 4 of the amended law of 23 December 2016 establishing an aid scheme for the promotion of sustainability, rational use of energy and renewable energies in the field of housing.

Existing 6% depreciation rate will continue to apply if existing requirements are met and the building has been built or acquired before 1st January 2021, or if the renovation of an old dwelling has been completed before 1st January 2021.

Special allowance for taxpayers benefiting from the accelerated depreciation rate

As from fiscal year 2021, taxpayers making use of the above-mentioned accelerated depreciation rate may, under certain conditions, claim an additional tax deduction up to EUR 10,000 (doubled in case of joint taxation).

Private wealth management companies (SPF) and real estate investments

Prohibition as from 1 July 2021 for SPF (socits de gestion de patrimoine familial) to hold via Luxembourg or foreign partnerships or FCPs (fonds communs de placement) real estate assets. Indirect detention though joint-stock companies will however remain allowed. This measure complements the existing prohibition contained in the SPF law of 11 May 2007 to directly hold real estate or grant interest bearing loans.

Increase of registration duty for capital contribution of real estate

If the proposal is accepted as it currently stands, capital contributions of immovable property to a civil or commercial (Luxembourg or non-Luxembourg) company will become subject to the common registration duty rules. In case of contribution in kind (apport pur et simple), registration duties would therefore be increased from 0.5% + 2/10 to 2% +2/10 and the transcription tax would be increased from 0.5% to 1 %. Furthermore, the delay according to which the property may be subsequently transferred to a shareholder (other than the one who contributed it) after liquidation, wind-up or capital reduction without duty to apply is extended from 5 to 10 years.

EMPLOYEES TAXATION

Impatriates regime

The impatriate regime will be codified in Luxembourg law as from 2021 onwards whereas it is now based on administrative guidance (i.e., Circular 95/2 dated 27 January 2014 which will be abolished as from 1 January 2021). Some conditions and effects of the regime will change, for instance the new regime will only apply to impatriate employees earning at least EUR 100,000 per year (currently EUR 50,000 per year) and it will apply for a period of up to 9 years (currently up to 5 years following the year of the employees arrival). One of the main differences is that the lump-sum compensation for specific recurring expenses will be changed by a 50% exemption of the impatriation premium not exceeding 30% of the beneficiarys annual basic salary.

Introduction of a new employee participation mechanism and abolition of the current stock option regime

The current tax regime for stock option and warrant plans governed by circular letter L.I.R. 104/2 issued by the Luxembourg tax authorities on 29 November 2017 will be abolished end of 2020. Instead, the Law introduces in the Luxembourg income tax law a new regime for employees participation under which employees can be granted a participative premium connected to the financial result of the employer.

At the level of the employee the participative premium will benefit from a 50% tax exemption and the payment would remain tax deductible at the level of the employer provided certain requirements are met.

The beneficiary of the participative premium must be an employee affiliated to the Luxembourg social security, or to a foreign social security scheme covered by a bi - or multilateral social security instrument and the payment cannot exceed 25% of the beneficiarys gross annual remuneration received the same year (excluding any benefits in cash and/or in-kind, bonuses, the premium itself).

Several conditions shall also be met at the level of the of the employer in order for the participative premium exemption to apply:

An employer deciding to pay such a premium to his employees will be required to inform the Luxembourg tax authorities (tax office in charge of withholding tax on wages).

Introduction of electronic withholding tax cards

Electronic withholding tax cards will be progressively introduced in 2021 by the Luxembourg tax authorities and access will be granted to employers directly. As from 1st January 2022, the withholding tax cards will be accessible only electronically and the employers will be obliged to use the new platform to access said cards.

OTHER MEASURES

Changes to the fiscal unity regime

The Luxembourg fiscal unity regime will be amended in line with EU Law following a recent case law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) (C-749/18). The ECJ ruled in this case that the Luxembourg fiscal unity regime constitutes an infringement of the freedom of establishment considering that a parent company in a Member State other than Luxembourg is obliged to dissolve the vertical fiscal unity between its direct and indirect Luxembourg subsidiaries (potentially resulting in adverse Luxembourg tax consequences) in order to enable its direct subsidiary to establish a horizontal fiscal unity albeit this is not required if the parent company is tax resident in Luxembourg.

Article 7 of the Law temporarily remedies this infringement by allowing a group to change from a vertical fiscal unity to a horizontal fiscal unity tax neutrally provided the following conditions are met:

Groups have until the end of the tax year 2022 to tax neutrally change from a vertical fiscal unity to a horizontal fiscal unity. The commentary to the draft law explains that this period should be sufficient for groups to verify if they should expand their current vertical fiscal unity into a horizontal one.

The changes to the fiscal unity regime will enter into force as from tax year 2020.

Small Business Scheme threshold increased

Under the Law, the threshold for the VAT small business scheme to apply is brought from currently EUR 30,000 to EUR 35,000 per year. By way of reminder, taxpayers whose turnover does not exceed the small business scheme threshold are not obliged to pay VAT on their income.

Tax credit for the self-employed, employees and pensioners

As from 2021, existing tax credit for the self-employed, employees and pensioners will be increased. The minimum amount is increased from EUR 300 to EUR 396 and the maximum amount is increased from EUR 600 to EUR 696. Formulas for calculating the credit tax are adjusted accordingly.

Certificate for inheritances free of inheritance tax

In the case of tax-free inheritances, the indirect tax authorities (Administration de lEnregistrement, des domaines et de la TVA) issue a certificate of fiscal value. As from 2021, this certificate will have a civil value with the objective to ease the access to movable property dependent on such inheritance. Any third-party holder of property (e.g., credit institution) will be required to accept this certificate as proof that the holder of the certificate is an heir.

Introduction of a CO2 tax

An autonomous excise duty on most gas and hydrocarbon is introduced. By way of example, the new tax is expected to lead to a EUR 0.05/L increase for petrol and diesel.

Insurance tax Electronic filing

Compulsory electronic filing of insurance tax returns with the indirect tax authorities (Administration de lEnregistrement, des domaines et de la TVA) is introduced.

Abolition of the venture capital investment certificates

The tax regime for venture capital investment certificates will be repealed due to the limited use of this regime.

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Luxembourg 2021 Budget Law: Overview of the key changes - Lexology

Here’s looking forward to freedom in 2021 – MoneyWeek

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The tree is up. The hall is decorated. The presents are wrapped (sort of). There are eight boxes of crackers. I have just taken delivery of a 4.6kg turkey. We are ready. But for what exactly? Turns out no one is coming this year. And we arent going anywhere either. This is not the end of year we expected when we sent out 2020s first issue in January. Then we were worrying about stockmarket valuations and shifting cash into commodities, which we thought might be at the end of their vicious ten-year bear market.

The future turned out to be as unco-operative as usual. There was no way to know in January that a pandemic would close the world; that democracy would be effectively suspended across the West; that markets would hit new highs amid both a supply and demand crunch; that fiscal and monetary policy would merge into one great stimulus machine, rendering valuations irrelevant; that the main press topic in Christmas week would be the great festive lettuce shortage; and that I would hit 26 December with 3kg of excess turkey to fricassee.

So whats this years shock? Obviously, after the events of 2020, any forecasts must be read more for entertainment value than anything else. But in this week's magazine, Matthew Lynn offers a few of his expectations of the unexpected. Im hoping his last (the FTSE 100 to 10,000) comes true. It has underperformed horribly, but it is cheap and has to be a better bet than some of the capital-destroying businesses Bill Bonner rails against. Max King lists the investment trusts that have disappointed and thrilled him this year;David Stevenson reiterates our view on commodities (definitely a buy);and in our Roundtable weve lined up some of our favourite stockpickers and forced them to give us their best recommendations.

My own thoughts on 2021 will be familiar to regular readers. I think it will be pretty good. Vaccine roll out is faster than I expected (we are heading for one million a week), which should see the economy open faster than expected (when rising cases no longer equate to rising deaths, lockdown has to end). We are likely to see a wave of productivity as firms integrate all the technological lessons of 2020. All this will happen amid an ongoing wave of stimulus. Perhaps most importantly of all, the UK savings rate is still high households have cash to burn. Where will it go?

Here is where I think the miseries of the investment world might be surprised. Think about what you most want to do right now. Ill tell you what I want to do:drive and fly. And as soon as I can, that is what I will do. I will drive all over the UK seeing my family. I will take planes to all the places I want to go Greece, Florida, Iceland and perhaps even to Japan for the Olympics (Japan last hosted the Olympics in 1964, a year that marked its shift from enemy country to global economy see this week's magazine for why 2021 could be another good year in Japan). I wont be alone. We often talk about the pent-up demand for goods created by the pandemic. But dont underestimate the pent-up demand for physical freedom and the oil, airlines, restaurant seats and cars that will be needed to fuel it. Heres looking forward to the renewal of our commitment to that freedom in 2021 and to the investment opportunities that come with it. A very happy Christmas and New Year to all our readers.

Our first issue of 2021 will be with you on 8 January.

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Here's looking forward to freedom in 2021 - MoneyWeek

The U.S. asylum system is broken. How could it be reimagined? – The San Diego Union-Tribune

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The U.S. asylum system is often cited as part of a noble legacy tied to the message on the Statue of Liberty, offering freedom to the huddled masses.

But the truth is much more complicated and decidedly less noble.

Over its 40-year history, the U.S. asylum system has never meted out refuge evenly or in the full spirit behind its creation.

As The San Diego Union-Tribune has reported over the last year in an in-depth investigation, disparities, capriciousness and bias plague the system, subjecting asylum seekers to excruciating waits and making it difficult to predict the outcome of even the strongest cases.

Those shortcomings, partnered with policies meant to deter people from coming, have meant that many people fleeing the worlds atrocities are sent back to danger. Some are returned to their deaths.

While the problems are longstanding, theyve intensified under the Trump administration, which defined itself largely by extreme deterrence policies that have ultimately taken away any meaningful chance at asylum.

The incoming Biden administration has indicated it will undo many of the widely criticized programs created under President Donald Trump, including the Remain in Mexico program, which forces asylum seekers to wait in Mexico as their cases are processed in the U.S.

But, it remains unclear whether the 46th U.S. president will be able to use the moment to break with the United States past in a profound way.

To do so will take a re-examination of more existential questions about the countrys global obligations to protect refugees, as well as a reimagining of many of the processes that make up the asylum system today.

Claudia Hernandez (left) along with her 6-year-old daughter, Angelina, and friend Fernanda Zuniga (right) ended up waiting by a port of entry in early 2019 for their chance to request asylum after they lost their temporary shelter in Mexico.

(Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The decision on whether to protect people fleeing harm used to be made from crisis to crisis, and on the whims of elected officials.

The modern conceptualization of refugees and asylum was born in the aftermath of the Holocaust.

Even then, the United States resisted providing shelter.

After the atrocities of the Nazis were widely known, then-President Harry Truman still had a difficult time convincing Congress and the American public that the United States should take in Jewish refugees, according to Edna Friedberg, historian at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

It wasnt until 1968 that the United States signed onto a United Nations agreement regarding its role in identifying and protecting refugees as part of a collective global commitment.

It would be 12 years before the country codified this obligation into law. That legislation created the asylum system a screening process to identify refugees from among the migrants at and inside the United States own borders.

It also outlined how the United States, through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, would resettle refugees who were identified in other countries screening systems, such as those who fled violence in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos and were waiting in refugee camps.

In order to balance these obligations with countries desires for control of their borders, the international definition of a refugee is specific and restricted.

States give up a certain amount of sovereignty over their borders in order to place themselves under obligation to protect vulnerable people, but the obligation is kept as narrow as possible, said Larry Gollub, a retired asylum officer.

Refugees are people who have fled their countries because of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a social group such as the LGBTQ+ community.

But there are many people who flee harm or hardship whose life experiences do not match this definition. There is also a lot of room for interpretation and political agenda, creating a haphazard and inconsistent system.

A hand from the Mexico side of the border reaches through the fence that separates Tijuana from San Diego at Border Field State Park, where families who cannot cross visit each other through the barrier.

(Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Making the asylum system live up to its obligations in a more humanitarian and efficient way is feasible through a wide variety of changes.

Some could be accomplished at the discretion of the president; others would require an act of Congress and likely bipartisan support.

While some of the changes would require more funding for a particular agency or process, there are also opportunities to shift funding away from policies that dont help the system function as smoothly or fairly as it could.

Its not necessarily all about needing more money invested its about political will, said Michelle Bran, director of the migrant rights and justice program at the Womens Refugee Commission. You think about the things that weve done as a nation in terms of response to challenges, and this is so minor in comparison.

Changes both big and small have been discussed at length by experts in asylum law and human rights, attorneys, judges, former and current government officials, and people who have journeyed through the system themselves as refugees.

Here are their suggestions.

MOVE IMMIGRATION COURT TO THE JUDICIAL BRANCH

Immigration judges are not traditional judges. Instead, they work under the executive branch of government under the presidents authority. They are employed by the attorney general at the Department of Justice, the same prosecutorial agency that argues against asylum seekers appeals in federal court.

This presents, critics argue, a clear-cut conflict of interest.

It also means that the presidential administration has a lot of power to influence the courts decisions based on its political agenda.

That was especially apparent under the Trump administration when attorneys general used their powers to redecide cases and fundamentally changed accepted asylum precedents.

They made it much more difficult for women fleeing domestic violence in countries that dont shelter them from that abuse to get protection in the United States. They also made cases of people fleeing gang violence already a tough scenario to prove under U.S. asylum law nearly impossible.

The National Association of Immigration Judges, the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the Federal Bar Association have all advocated for years for immigration courts to become free of the political sway of the executive branch by moving to the judicial branch.

The system needs independence, said Jeremy McKinney of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Its time for the Department of Justice and the immigration court system to get a divorce.

Moving the court would require an act of Congress, but past efforts at legislation have not gained much support. Interest among some Democrats to take up the issue appears to be growing.

DIVERSIFY AND TRAIN IMMIGRATION JUDGES

The majority of immigration judges previously worked for the Department of Homeland Security as opponent attorneys arguing against asylum seekers in immigration court.

The Union-Tribune reported in August that immigration judges with this work history were about 1.4 times more likely to order asylum seekers deported than judges with different backgrounds, based on an analysis of immigration court outcomes from fiscal 2009 through fiscal 2018.

Immigration attorneys have long criticized the executive branchs hiring practices for immigration judges. That concern only grew under the Trump administration as the Department of Justice promoted judges who ordered deported high percentages of asylum seekers. Those judges now decide asylum appeals.

In its proposal to move immigration court to the judicial branch, the Federal Bar Association calls for a reimagining of the hiring process that would limit any one presidential administrations influence and incorporate suggestions from local communities.

Newly hired judges, as well as veterans, could also be given thorough trainings of asylum law to try to equalize some of the disparities in their outcomes and lean more toward a mindset often embraced by asylum officers that decisions should be made with an abundance of caution.

REDUCE THE COURT BACKLOG

At her home in Santee, Carmen Kcomt plays her late fathers favorite song from memory on the piano. Kcomt came to the U.S. in the early 2000s from Peru. She had to flee because she was the judge in a paternity case involving the then-president and was facing threats and attacks.

(Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The number of immigration court cases has swelled in recent years to well over 1.2 million with an average wait of more than two years, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse of Syracuse University, or TRAC.

Many of those cases are asylum seekers.

The backlog contributes to issues within the asylum system, including forcing refugees to wait in a hellish limbo.

Its horrible, said Santee resident Carmen Kcomt, who won asylum in 2008 from Peru after waiting for four years through multiple rejections and appeals. You feel like you are a hybrid, not belonging to anywhere. You cannot go back. You cannot stay.

Fully funding an effort to reduce the backlog could gain bipartisan support, even from those who take a deterrence perspective. Reduced wait times discourage people from using the asylum system as a way to forestall deportation if they are not actually fleeing harm, according to many former government officials.

While the Trump administration hired judges and increased the courts budget to $673 million in 2020 from $422 million in 2016, many support staff roles such as clerks and translators were left out, and many judges retired over objections to the administrations practices.

The Biden administration could further clear the backlog by working with Congress to create programs other than the asylum system to grant permanent residency to people who meet certain criteria essentially resetting the system.

This solution would likely be controversial in todays political climate, but it is not unheard of; it has been done before.

In the 1990s, the asylum system also got bogged down with cases.

In 1997, Congress ended up granting certain Central Americans the ability to stay in the United States without going through the asylum process, a system reset to clear out old cases and make sure newly filed cases could be processed fluidly. It gave green cards to just under 200,000 people, according to data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Charlene DCruz, director of Project Corazon with Lawyers for Good Government, said that Congress should consider doing a similar reset and start with people who were put into the Remain in Mexico program. There are more than 65,000 people with cases pending in the programs border courts, according to TRAC.

The Trees of Life art installation that lines much of Managua, Nicaragua, was implemented by President Daniel Ortegas wife, who is also the vice president. To pro-democracy protesters, these trees represent a lavish excess in spending when many Nicaraguans live in poverty. Many of these Trees of Life were taken down by protesters in 2018.

(Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Congress could also consider creating a way to grant refugee status to groups of people fleeing a particular situation, such as the political oppression in Nicaragua under the regime of President Daniel Ortega or the discrimination and attacks faced by English-speaking Cameroonians.

This strategy is already used in other countries including Kenya, where the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has been invited by the government to manage the process of identifying refugees.

PROVIDE LEGAL AID TO ASYLUM SEEKERS

Since immigration is considered a civil matter rather than a criminal one, people in immigration court have a right to be represented by an attorney if they can afford one but not at the U.S. governments expense if they cannot.

In 2018, during the height of the public outcry over families being separated at the border, reports of toddlers standing alone before judges around the country astonished many Americans who were not familiar with U.S. immigration court practices.

Giving asylum seekers more access to legal representation would make the system fairer, many advocates say, and could make it more efficient, too, saving the government money on other immigration court costs.

The attorney general could set up programs that provide lawyers to asylum seekers or even to everyone in immigration court proceedings starting with the most vulnerable among them such as unaccompanied children.

Some states and local governments, including California and New York, have implemented programs to provide attorneys to some of the unrepresented at immigration courts in their area.

If funding attorneys for everyone is not politically feasible at the federal level, the attorney general could increase funding for legal orientation programs that support asylum seekers who have to represent themselves.

These programs, operated by nonprofits in some detention centers, help people understand whether their cases match asylum criteria, how to fill out an asylum application and other basic legal questions that can seem impossible to figure out without an attorneys knowledge.

A 2012 audit of orientation programs that receive funding from the Department of Justice found that they saved the federal government a net of $17.8 million per year because they help people move through the court system more quickly.

Bidens attorney general could also revive a program that provided case management services to asylum-seeking families.

The program, which operated as a pilot from 2016 to 2017, matched families with social workers who helped them find lawyers, housing, schools and more while they waited for their cases. It reported 99 percent compliance with monitoring requirements and immigration court hearing attendance. It was shut down by the Trump administration.

END THE DETENTION OF ASYLUM SEEKERS

Otay Mesa Detention Center holds asylum seekers and other immigration detainees in custody in south San Diego.

(Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Asylum seekers, even those with no criminal history, often spend years in the prison-like conditions of U.S. detention centers after fleeing traumatic persecution in their home countries.

Attorney Elizabeth Lopez of the Southern California Immigration Project said that rethinking practices of detaining asylum seekers would be in her top changes for the system a change that either Congress or the White House could put in place.

But, Lopez said, that would have to be paired with either giving asylum seekers work permits right away so that they can support themselves or creating services to assist asylum seekers with housing, food and medical care if they are not allowed to work. Those adjustments would require congressional action.

Ruth Hargrove, another San Diego attorney, hoped politicians on both sides of the aisle could support this change because holding asylum seekers in custody for years is expensive, in addition to going against humanitarian principles, she said.

It costs roughly $3,500 to hold an asylum seeker in detention for one month, based on fiscal 2019 costs reported by the Department of Homeland Security. The government budgeted more than $3 billion for immigration detention in fiscal 2020.

Plus, detention often is not necessary to ensure compliance. A study from TRAC last year found that more than 80 percent of migrant families likely asylum seekers showed up for their immigration court hearings, and that number rose to more than 99 percent for families who had attorneys to help them.

The federal government has several alternatives to detention programs, such as requiring check-ins with federal officials, to help ensure that people show up for immigration court hearings at much lower costs than detention.

Hargrove recently helped a Cameroonian asylum seeker get released from detention after about 20 months inside.

There are all of these people languishing in prison, and their only crime is that they were trying to avoid death and torture in their home country, Hargrove said. I cant even tell you the sense of betrayal that my client has. He really thought that America was going to save him, and no one was more surprised than he that he was immediately put in chains.

ACT AS AN EXAMPLE FOR OTHER WEALTHY COUNTRIES

A Tigray boy who fled the conflict in Ethiopias Tigray region carries water at Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan on Nov. 27, 2020. More than 50,000 people have fled from Ethiopia into Sudan since the beginning of November.

(Nariman El-Mofty / The Associated Press)

Where asylum seekers go to be recognized as refugees is often a matter of geography.

Countries neighboring current conflicts and crises tend to receive the most if those countries allow them in.

About 85 percent of people forcibly displaced from their countries are living in places designated as developing economies by the United Nations.

Only some refugees in these countries end up resettled, chosen to move to a wealthier country.

In the past decade, even with the cuts to refugee resettlement put in place by the Trump administration, the United States resettled roughly 420,000 refugees who were waiting in limbo in other countries, according to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR. Thats more refugees than any other nation resettled.

But those numbers are small compared with the number of forcibly displaced people around the world, particularly those who need more stable protection than what is being provided in countries that require refugees to remain in camps or relegate them to second-class status.

The United States like other wealthy nations often gives money either to UNHCR ($1.7 billion last year) or directly to these developing countries to help with refugee situations rather than resettling more refugees.

There are currently roughly 33.8 million people who have been forcibly displaced outside of their countries of origin, according to UNHCR. Thats less than 1 percent of the worlds population.

Many refugee advocates emphasize that this is the highest number of displaced people on record. Their goal in that message is to encourage more aid.

But, according to researcher Benjamin Thomas White of the University of Glasgow, the levels of displacement are not an unprecedented crisis, and making the situation seem worse than ever can actually contribute to a push for xenophobic policies.

We live in a period where the world is much wealthier than in the past, White said. Our capacity of supporting is much greater.

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The U.S. asylum system is broken. How could it be reimagined? - The San Diego Union-Tribune

3 broad aspects of good governance that PM Vajpayee brought in – Economic Times

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The idea of an incumbent government seeking re-election based on its performance was not a deciding factor in elections in India till the mid-1990s. Till then the Congress partys inherent advantage of being perceived to have spearheaded the freedom movement and the structural weakness of opposition parties to take advantage of anti-incumbency inoculated the Congress party in spite of a poor performance record. It was the liberalisation regime of the 1990s that led to a level playing field.

The democratisation of information access, the disintermediation of news with the advent of multiple platforms and a better awareness amongst citizens while making electoral choices compensated for the competitive advantage that incumbent political parties had by virtue of spending protracted periods of time in government.

It was in this period that Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee emerged as the torch-bearer of good governance. His language of good governance was nothing but measures by which an incumbent governments performance could be measured. It is worth relooking at the three broad aspects of good governance that Prime Minister Vajpayee brought in implementing a strategic vision, enhancing transparency and ensuring government accountability that led to his birthday being celebrated as Good Governance Day.

Implementing a strategic vision: Leaders at the top, especially in a complex federal structure like Indias, need to put together visions that resonate with a large and diverse population. Prime Minister Vajpayees strategic vision led to a boost in infrastructure building. While the golden quadrilateral is a visible contribution, the effect of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana on rural villages by boosting rural road connectivity and generating employment was equally transformative.

The idea of investing in human capital at an early stage led to the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan that ensured universalisation of primary education in a time-bound manner. Indias decision to conduct nuclear tests in Pokhran and then committing to a unilateral moratorium on further explosive testing can be attributed to Prime Minister Vajpayees strategic vision and thinking.

In the long run, the successful nuclear tests catapulted India into the nuclear high table culminating in the civil nuclear cooperation agreements between India and other countries. Transparency: It was not until 2002, under Prime Minister Vajpayee, that India had a law that made transparency a cornerstone of governance by ensuring that governments provided information proactively through voluntary disclosures.

The passing of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act ensured that the government institutionalised fiscal discipline and committed to bringing down the deficit. Vajpayees ideas of good governance have significantly influenced the two terms of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. By passing laws such as Citizenship Amendment Act and effectively abolishing Article 370 which was anti-women, anti-Dalit and anti-tribal the PM has added an additional dimension to the Vajpayee doctrine of good governance by focusing on equity and rule of law.

Ideas such as Jan Dhan Yojana which were lampooned by the elite showcase the strategic vision of the PM. In this fiscal year alone, more than Rs 2.57 lakh crore has been transferred to more than 700 million beneficiaries directly into their bank accounts. The Direct Benefit Transfer programme has allowed the government to take care of the poorest of the poor during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The new National Education Policy is another example of the PMs strategic vision. Accountability to the people and transparent administrative and legislative processes continue to be a cornerstone of this government. The Prime Ministers call for Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas (everyones support, everyones development, everyones trust) is nothing but a rallying cry for good governance.

The writer is Union minister of state for home affairs

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3 broad aspects of good governance that PM Vajpayee brought in - Economic Times

New museums and Smokey Bear: what’s in the $900bn US stimulus package? – The Guardian

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Late on Monday night, Congress approved a $900bn stimulus package which will deliver financial aid to millions of families and businesses facing economic distress from coronavirus pandemic. Though far smaller than a bill lawmakers passed at the outset of the pandemic, earlier this year, the measure is one the largest pieces of legislation in US history.

The product of frenzied negotiations, the package was paired with a $1.4tn spending bill to fund the federal government through the end of the fiscal year, 30 September 2021. In response to a deepening economic and public health crisis, the rescue bill authorizes direct payments of $600 to those who earn less than $75,000 and extends supplemental unemployment benefits to $300 for 11 weeks.

Tucked into the hulking 5,593-page bill, however, are a range of initiatives and obscure provisions that appear to have little to do with fortifying a fragile economy or keeping the government open.

The legislation authorizes the establishment of two new museums in Washington: the American Womens History Museum and the National Museum of the American Latino. Such approval, however, is only the first step in a years-long process to build the museums on the National Mall.

Despite broad support for the museums, earlier this month Mike Lee, a Republican senator from Utah, blocked legislation that would have approved their establishment, arguing that the US doesnt need segregated, separate-but-equal museums for hyphenated identity groups.

According to the bill, the Latino museum will see visitors learn about Latino contributions to life, art, history and culture in the United States while serving as a gateway for visitors to view other Latino exhibitions, collections, and programming at institutions across the country. The womens museum will recognize diverse perspectives on womens history and contributions.

In a shot across the bow at China, the bill reaffirms the right of the Tibetan people to reincarnate the Dalai Lama. China regards the exiled spiritual leader, who continues to advocate for a degree of Tibetan self-rule, as a threat to its sovereignty.

The text of the legislation warns: Interference by the Government of the Peoples Republic of China or any other government in the process of recognizing a successor or reincarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama and any future Dalai Lamas would represent a clear abuse of the right to religious freedom of Tibetan Buddhists and the Tibetan people. The legislation also directs the secretary of state to establish a US consulate in Tibets main city, Lhasa.

According to Reuters, the political head of Tibetans in exile welcomed the news as a victory for the Tibetan freedom struggle. China accused the US of meddling.

Lawmakers also included an end to this costly practice, which sees patients unexpectedly receive care from providers not covered by their insurers, thereby facing bills far higher than they would typically pay. As many as one in six emergency room visits or in-hospital stays resulted in at least one out-of-network bill in 2017, according to analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Consumers will be relieved to see the practice effectively banned under legislation which limits what patients can be billed for out-of-network services. Now, doctors and hospitals will have to work with insurers to settle on costs.

Although members of both parties have long denounced the practice, efforts to ban it had been thwarted by lobbying from insurers and healthcare providers.

The bill repeals a provision of federal law criminalizing unauthorized use of Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl, famous mascots of a US Forest Service public safety campaign concerning wildfires and pollution. Previously, illegally reproducing images of Smokey Bear was punishable by up to six months in prison.

The bill corrects a 25-year-old drafting error that denied thousands of islanders access to federal health benefits they were promised after resettling in the US.

Lawmakers agreed to allow Marshall Islanders and other islanders covered by the Compact of Free Association to sign up for Medicaid, after a 1996 welfare reform changed the categories qualifying for federal aid and effectively barred them.

Democrats led by members from Hawaii have fought for nearly two decades to restore Medicaid eligibility for islanders, without Republican support. They argued that the US broke its commitment to provide medical coverage to islanders who moved to the US after the military used their homeland to test nuclear bombs.

This is a shining moment at a time of darkness for our country, the Hawaii senator Mazie Hirono said after the bill passed. Lets savor it.

There were plenty of other surprises, including $2bn for the new US space force and a tax break for corporate meal expenses, panned as the three-martini lunch but a priority for Donald Trump. Senator Bernie Sanders, who pushed for bigger direct payments, called the inclusion of the provisions pathetic.

Racehorse owners also received a tax break, while $35m was allotted for groups which implement education in sexual risk avoidance, which the legislation defines as voluntarily refraining from non-marital sexual activity.

This is why Congress needs time to actually read this package before voting on it, the New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter, responding to a report that the bill makes illegal streaming a felony.

Members of Congress have not read this bill. Its over 5,000 pages, arrived at 2pm today, and we are told to expect a vote on it in two hours. This isnt governance. Its hostage-taking.

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New museums and Smokey Bear: what's in the $900bn US stimulus package? - The Guardian

Year in Review: A year for the record books in Apple Valley – ECM Publishers

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2020 has been one for the record books for Apple Valley and its neighbors.

The year began with some of the typical annual activities like Mid-Winter Fest and the Frozen Apple Concert series along with the anticipation of others to come, like Freedom Days over the July 4 holiday.

But with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, Freedom Days, summer concerts and more never happened. Public buildings, schools, some businesses and public city pools closed. Some reopened with restrictions and closed again later. People have been encouraged to social distance, wear face coverings and take other precautions.

In the midst of the pandemic, stories of community members, businesses and others helping each other have emerged. Organizers got creative and changed the format of their events from in-person to virtual or scaled back on in-person activities. The city of Apple Valley grappled with how to use just over $4 million in federal coronavirus relief dollars for COVID-19-related expenses.

The community also experienced the sudden death of a parks and recreation leader, financial uncertainty for the Minnesota Zoo, social unrest related to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and two fatal shooting incidents.

Heres a recap of some of the news from the year.

COVID-19 response in Apple Valley

The pandemic affected all facets of government and peoples everyday lives. The city of Apple Valley, like many other governmental entities, moved from in-person meetings to holding public meetings virtually from March to June. Since the Municipal Center reopened during the summer, the city has held in-person meetings with the option for the public to comment virtually.

Apple Valley High School sophomore Sydney Hooppaw loads food into the back of a car during a May 4 food distribution hosted by The Open Door and Minnesota Valley Transit Authority at the Apple Valley Transit Station.

The City Council took other actions in an attempt to bring some relief to residents and businesses including waiving utility late fees, approving temporary beer and wine takeout sales and approving temporary outdoor service areas. The council also allocated $400,000 of the federal relief funding for a business relief grant program to help certain businesses with COVID-19 expenses.

The City Council and the Freedom Days committee decided to cancel the event because of COVID-19 concerns. The council also voted to close the Apple Valley Aquatic Center and Redwood Pool for the season.

The Apple Valley American Legion canceled its usual Memorial Day ceremony with members of the posts Color Guard/Honor Guard conducting honors for Memorial Day with a small, nonpublic ceremony. The Apple Valley Arts Foundation canceled its annual Music in Kelley Park concerts. One of the singers originally scheduled to perform later offered a virtual concert.

The city made several changes for the primary and general elections in 2020 due to COVID-19, including city officials responding to an influx of absentee ballots being cast. City Clerk Pam Gackstetter said over 50 percent of Apple Valleys registered voters requested an absentee ballot for the general election. Training for election judges was done virtually. The city implemented several safety measures including having judges wear masks and other protective equipment, erecting sneeze guard shields between voters and judges, using disposable secrecy sleeves and regularly sanitizing equipment.

Multiple local restaurants offered free meals to community members after schools were ordered to close in March because of the pandemic. The Free Book Buggie, a local nonprofit, worked with some of those restaurants to offer free books to residents during the free meal times.

Other examples of people helping each other include the property manager at the Legends of Apple Valley apartment complex starting a food pantry for its senior residents; an Apple Valley family putting up a Christmas lights display in their yard in April to offer residents free, distanced entertainment; and the Open Door Pantry partnering with the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority and local schools to offer food distribution events to the broader community. There was also a birthday parade for a 12-year-old boy who collected food and cleaning products to help the community and a surprise car cruise to lift a terminally ill veterans spirits.

Minnesota Zoo affected by pandemic

The finances of the Apple Valley attraction have been affected by the pandemic. The zoo, a state agency, temporarily closed to the public from March 14 to July 19 in response to COVID-19. Even after it reopened the zoo operated at reduced capacity, offering a socially distant experience for visitors. It has been closed for a second time since Nov. 21.

The closures have led to the zoos revenue taking a hit. The zoo took several cost-cutting measures including a hiring freeze, staff reductions and delaying or canceling major projects.

The zoo receives one-third of its operating budget from state appropriations and the rest is generated through earned revenue and contributions.

Zoo officials told the newspaper in November the zoo earned $2.2 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2020-21 (July to September), which is about 57% less than it earned in the same period last year. The zoos budget projected earned revenue of $18.3 million for the fiscal 2020-21 biennium compared to the pre-COVID estimate of $33.4 million. Based on this, the zoos outlook was about the same as it was over the summer: a $15 million revenue loss as anticipated at the start of the pandemic. On average, the zoos yearly general operating budget is approximately $28 million.

The zoo has received financial support through a $6 million appropriation from the state and a new drive-thru fundraiser called Beastly Boulevard. Other annual events that support the zoo including Beastly Bash and the Tiger Tracks 5K Walk, Run, and Roll were held virtually this year. A second new drive-thru fundraiser, Nature Illuminated, started Dec. 3 and runs through Jan. 17.

The zoo is continuing to move forward with some of its planned capital improvements. The bonding bill passed by the Legislature this year includes $13 million for the zoo, of which $11 million is allocated for the new Treetop Trail project and $2 million for asset preservation.

Zoo spokesman Zach Nugent has said the zoo anticipates a long-term recovery period and will continue to evaluate its ability to build back and redevelop staffing and programming opportunities. As a state agency its part of a statewide hiring freeze.

Changes in city leadership

Apple Valley Parks and Recreation Director Barry Bernstein died suddenly March 21. Bernstein had worked for the city since 2012.

Superintendent Mike Endres has been working as acting interim parks and recreation director since late March. Endres indicated his desire in August to return to his previous position by the end of the year.

The council hired Huelife to help with the search for a new parks and recreation director. After interviewing five finalist candidates in November, the City Council formally approved the hiring of Eric Carlson on Dec. 10. Carlson has been Inver Grove Heights parks and recreation director for over 13 years and will start his position in Apple Valley on Jan. 19.

The City Council will see a change in early 2021 as Apple Valley Mayor Mary Hamann-Roland resigns her position to take her new seat on the Dakota County Board of Commissioners. Hamann-Roland defeated incumbent Chris Gerlach for the seat during the general election.

The council is scheduled to discuss the process of filling Hamann-Rolands position during the Jan. 14 meeting.

Seven people filed to run for two City Council seats during the general election. Incumbents Ruth Grendahl and Tom Goodwin were reelected for another term. Grendahl has been on the council since 1997 and Goodwin has served since 1987.

Two apparent murder-suicide incidents occurred in the city.

On Feb. 22, police say Alexander Petrovich fatally shot his younger brother and mother before taking his own life. Alexander reportedly suffered from untreated health symptoms for most of his adult life.

Officers responded to the home owned by Janice Petrovich at 13640 Upper Elkwood Court at 12:18 p.m. Feb. 22, after a 911 caller found three people who had been shot inside the home.

Police found the bodies of two men and one woman, who were later identified by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner as Janice Petrovich, 60, and her sons, Alexander Petrovich, 27, and Jonathan Petrovich, 23. The manner of death was listed as homicide for Janice and Jonathan, and suicide for Alexander. The Police Department said it believes Alexanders mental health challenges likely contributed to the violence in the home.

According to the department, Janice, Alexander and Jonathan all lived at the home. Officers responded to the house for different calls but nothing involving violence. According to court records, Jonathan had a history of mental illness but similar records cannot be found for Alexander. Alexander had previous criminal convictions for dogs at large and fourth-degree criminal damage to property in Dakota County, as well as minor traffic infractions, court records show.

On Nov. 4, Raymond Ronald Rosenbaum, 51, was suspected by police of shooting two people before taking his own life. Rosenbaum died of a gunshot wound to the head on Nov. 4. Police believe Rosenbaum used a .40-caliber handgun to shoot 52-year-old Faye Elizabeth Brown, who died of a gunshot wound to the torso on Nov. 4 and a 56-year-old man who survived and was hospitalized. The three of them all lived at the Morningview condominium complex at 7600 157th Street W.

Apple Valley Police Capt. Nick Francis said while Brown called police multiple times in 2020 reporting that Rosenbaum was harassing her, Rosenbaum never committed any crimes.

Court records indicate Rosenbaum has no criminal history in Minnesota other than convictions for petty misdemeanor seatbelt and texting while driving violations in 2017 in Dakota County. Francis said the departments coordinated response team, which includes an officer and a mental health professional, reached out to Rosenbaum prior to the Nov. 4 incident but he did not accept any services.

Unrest filters into Dakota County

The violence, break-ins and looting from the riots in Minneapolis and St. Paul filtered into some parts of Dakota County following the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody on May 25.

The first three nights of protest in the Twin Cities left burned-out buildings, smashed-out windows and stores robbed.

The evening of May 28, West St. Paul police reported that 18 businesses were damaged and items stolen during quick strikes, and two men allegedly smashed windows to break into the Dakota Countys Western Service Center in Apple Valley in the early morning hours of May 29. Fire and significant water damage was done to the judges chambers and court areas.

Arrests were made in connection to both incidents, including charges in U.S. District Court against the Apple Valley suspects.

Fornandous Cortez Henderson was sentenced on Dec. 9 to six and a half years in prison for aiding and abetting arson in connection to the arson at the Western Service Center. He entered a guilty plea on Aug. 26 in U.S. District Court in St. Paul. Hendersons sentence also includes a three-year supervised release and an order to pay $205,873 in restitution.

According to Hendersons guilty plea and documents filed with the court, Henderson and Garrett Patrick Ziegler, co-defendant, constructed multiple Molotov cocktails, and in the early morning hours of May 29 broke multiple windows at the Western Service Center with baseball bats and threw in multiple, lit Molotov cocktails.

Some of these devices successfully ignited and caused the fire damage.

Henderson and Ziegler also attempted to start other fires at the Western Service Center by pouring ignitable liquids and throwing unlit Molotov cocktails in and around the broken windows, then attempting to start the fluids on fire.

The attack caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage, according to a U.S. Attorneys Office. The Western Service Center houses state and local agencies and organizations, including Dakota County court facilities, as well as a U.S. Passport center.

Other incidents linked to the rioting were reported in Burnsville, Eagan, Inver Grove Heights and Mendota Heights, including some burglary and firearms charges.

A peaceful protest also took place on Cahill Road in Inver Grove Heights. Dakota County Sheriff Tim Leslie said an 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew that was implemented May 29 through June 1 in Dakota County was effective in quelling potential lawlessness.

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Year in Review: A year for the record books in Apple Valley - ECM Publishers

Op-ed | Not all space capabilities should reside in Space Force – SpaceNews

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The decision the Joint Chiefs reach in the next year will be as seminal for the future development of military space as any except the actual creation of Space Force.

We are approaching a watershed moment in the future of the U.S. Space Force. Will all space systems be consolidated into the new service, or will the other services retain some capabilities and personnel? The 2021 National Defense Authorization Act requires the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the service chiefs to report on the space-related missions and expertise that should remain within each service. The decision that the Joint Chiefs reach in the next year will be as seminal for the future development of military space as any except the actual creation of Space Force.

Space Policy Directive-4, which directed the establishment of the USSF, also directed the consolidation of existing forces and authorities for military space activities, as appropriate, in order to minimize duplication of effort and eliminate bureaucratic inefficiencies. The as appropriate caveat was inserted because the National Space Council recognized that some space functions might have to remain in the other services. While an understanding has largely been reached that the other services should no longer develop or operate satellites, no similar consensus has been reached on other space capabilities or supporting space personnel, particularly the future of the space control mission.

Space control is an umbrella term for a broad set of warfighting capabilities that are not unique to a single service. It is broadly defined in Joint Publication 3-14 as operations to ensure freedom of action for the United States and its allies in space and deny an adversary freedom of action in space. Specifically, space control operations include both offensive and defensive capabilities that create effects in the space domain to support military activities in all domains.

While Space Force should be solely responsible for developing capabilities and systems that operate in space, it should not be the only service responsible for developing systems that create effects in space. As it develops into a mature warfighting domain, the other services will find it necessary to continue to build and integrate space control systems capable of protecting and enabling forces in their respective domains.

The space control missions that should be retained by the other services are most analogous to the air defense mission of the Army. While the Army does not operate aircraft for the purposes of protecting land forces from air attack, it has always retained various air defense systems designed to defend land forces from air threats. Absent its air arm, the Navy also conducts the air defense mission from surface vessels in a manner that another service could not replicate. In the same way that these services have integrated the air defense mission, the space control mission set will still need to be fully integrated into domain-specific platforms and will not be unique to any single service. In sum, while the other services will not operate systems in the space domain, they should not be excluded from creating effects in it.

Unlike the air defense analogy, the space control capabilities that the services need to retain will not be purely defensive. Defensive space control, as currently defined in JP-3-14, is limited to active and passive measures taken to protect friendly space capabilities from attack, interference, or unintentional hazards. It does not account for defensive space control actions that may be necessary to protect forces in other domains from adversary space capabilities. The space control capabilities the services need for protection will also have an inherently dual-use nature that will enable multi-domain operations which Space Command will integrate.

The joint integration of space warfighting within Space Command is another reason to retain some joint space control acquisition authorities. In addition to directing the creation of the Space Force, SPD-4 also directed the establishment of U.S. Space Command, noting that the command would perform its mission with forces provided by the United States Space Force and other United States Armed Forces. The space capabilities and personnel that the services retain will be the space forces that they will provide to Space Command. If the other services lack any organic space capabilities to present, they would only be nominally represented within Space Command. This lack of joint forces and expertise would create a disconnect between domains, generating the very inter-service issues that the Goldwater-Nichols Act was meant to resolve.

A counterargument to service retention of space control capabilities is that the consolidation of all things space within one service will lead to streamlined acquisition timelines and reduced cost. This is most likely true for the development of satellites and other in-space systems. But it is almost certainly not true when it comes to engineering space capabilities for the unique needs of each service at the user level. Today it is unrealistic to expect the Space Force to budget funds to develop satellite communications terminals designed specifically for the maritime environment. It is just as unrealistic to expect the Space Force to meet all of the Navys future sea-based space control needs. There will simply be too many demands on the Space Force budget to expect it to adequately fund all aspects of the space enterprise. Allowing the services to retain space control capabilities will ensure that they can allocate funds proportionate to the threat as they see it from their domain. This spreading of fiscal responsibility will create a healthier Department of Defense wide response to future space threats.

Retaining the space control mission within the other services will necessarily limit the number of space personnel available for transfer to the Space Force. A recent survey of Army Space officers demonstrated that enthusiasm for transfer is high, and if permitted, nearly all of them would transfer. The Army and the Navy will be reluctant to allow their space personnel to transfer en masse to Space Force if they still have a mission within their parent service. Limiting transfers will reduce the positive cultural impact that the mass transfer of non-Air Force space personnel would have on the culture of the new service. Without this infusion of new perspectives, Space Force will find the already difficult task of making a cultural break with the Air Force even more challenging. However, the presence of these skilled and experienced service retained space personnel at Space Command will be a mitigating factor. They will help ensure that a uniquely joint space warfighting culture develops at the combatant command level, where space forces are actually employed. On balance, the loss of the cultural impact that these personnel transfers would have on Space Force is less than the loss that their transfer would have on the integration of joint space warfighting within Space Command in the future.

Space control from within the space domain is a uniquely Space Force mission, but space control from other warfighting domains is not. As the space domain continues to evolve into an active warfighting domain with tactical, operational, and strategic implications across all domains, each service needs to retain the ability to create effects in space from their respective domains to protect their forces and enable multi-domain operations. These future space control capabilities will need to be fully integrated into land, sea, and air platforms and forces in a manner that the USSF will not be able to achieve. The task of fully integrating necessary space control capabilities into their forces is therefore best achieved by the services.

Lt. Col. Brad Townsend, Ph.D., PE, is an Army Space Operations Officer currently assigned to the Joint Staff J-5 Space Policy. The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government.

This article originally appeared in the Dec. 14, 2020 issue of SpaceNews magazine.

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Op-ed | Not all space capabilities should reside in Space Force - SpaceNews

The Guardian view on Britain out of the EU: a treasure island for rentiers – The Guardian

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When the UK entered the coronavirus age in March, state resources and collective commitment were mobilised on a scale not seen since the second world war. Decades ago, Britain had revealed itself, thanks in part to being able to marshal the industrial might of the empire, to be a formidable world power. Its economy was energised with breakthroughs in radar, atomic power and medicine.

Although the story of the pandemic has not yet ended, there appears to be no such transformation in sight under Boris Johnson. Rather depressingly, familiar trends of greed, incompetence and cronyism are reasserting themselves. This is bad news for an economy where there has been a collapse of socially useful innovation. Britains lack of hi-tech manufacturing capabilities, notably in medical diagnostic testing, was cruelly exposed by the pandemic.

This country has become more of a procurer than a producer of technology. But it is a remarkably inefficient one despite an extraordinarily high percentage of lawyers and accountants in the working population. Connections seem to matter more than inventions. How else to explain why, in the desperate scramble to procure personal protective equipment, ventilators and coronavirus tests, billions of pounds of contracts have gone to companies either run by friends or supporters even neighbours of Conservative politicians, or with no prior expertise.

History is not short of examples where political insiders were successful in extracting virtually all the surplus that the economy created. Such influential interests moulded politics to enlarge their share of the pie. Greed was limited only by the need to let the producers survive. The shock of war, revolution, famine or plague provides an opportunity to fix a broken society. But if, post-pandemic, UK politicians care less about reform than the retention of power, they will fail to restrain the grasping enrichment that undermines democracy itself.

Perhaps the most penetrating X-ray of this phenomenon today is by Brett Christophers in his book Rentier Capitalism. The academic makes the case that Britain has become a treasure island for those seeking excess profits from state-sanctioned control of natural resources, property, financial assets and intellectual property. Rent, paid by renters to rentiers, is tied to the ownership or control of such assets, made scarce under conditions of limited or no competition.

Mr Christophers says that the first sign of this new order was when Britain struck black gold in the North Sea. He writes that MPs on the public accounts committee noted with incredulity in 1972 that the first huge areas of the sea were leased to the companies as generously as though Britain were a gullible Sheikhdom. After that, public assets were sold off cheaply. The private sector ended up controlling lightly regulated monopolies in gas, water and electric supply, and public transport and telecoms. Customers lost out, overpaying for poor service. In a rentiers paradise, windfall profits abound. Brazenly occupying the lowest moral ground was essential, as the housebuilder Persimmon proved by earning supersized state-backed help-to-buy profits long enough to hand out a 75m bonus to its boss.

The banks, which took this country to the brink of collapse a decade ago, are at the heart of a rentier state. France, Germany, Japan, the US all have banking sectors smaller than the UK. While banks earning rents have flourished, the households paying them either directly as financial consumers, or indirectly as taxpayers of a debtor state or customers of debtor firms have floundered.

The anger that such spivvery engenders is diffused politically by making voters complicit in the theft. The sell-off of council homes, says Mr Christophers, was a privatisation that gave many of those perhaps most inclined to kick against Thatcherism a personal stake in the project. Culturally, Brexit plays the same sort of role as the right to buy, insulating poorer leave voters from the idea that they will suffer from the resulting policies.

The prime minister understands that Covid can change Britain, but lacks modernising policies. He extols the virtues of free competition both for itself and because such freedom, he reasons, will somehow liberate the spirit fluttering within a pre-Brexit Britain caged by coronavirus. He is no doubt betting that the disruption of leaving the EU will be lost in the roar of an economy taking off as an inoculated population returns to offices and shops.

The gap between rich and poor in the UK is at least as high today, academics calculate, as it was just before the start of the second world war. This is largely because the British state that once mediated the struggle between labour and capital has been taken over by rentiers. Weakening regulations, reducing the importance of fiscal policy and shredding social protections has corroded liberal democracy in which an increasingly influential wealthy few have been enjoying a free run. Ultimately, rentiers want to increase what the economist Micha Kalecki called the degree of monopoly in an economy. This allows them to limit the ability of workers, consumers and regulators to influence the markup of selling prices over costs and to defend the share of wages in output.

The EU says its labour, environment and customer protections are a floor, not a ceiling, and that they cant be traded away for frictionless market access. If we had stayed in the club, our ability to concentrate profits for monopolists would have been stymied in future trade deals negotiated by Brussels and open to MEPs scrutiny. Outside the EU, Mr Johnson can barter away such regulations without parliamentary oversight and scrap safeguards in new technology for higher monopoly profits. Karl Marx wrote in The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte in 1852 that the Tories in England long fancied that they were in raptures about royalty, the church and the beauties of the ancient constitution, until a time of trial tore from them the confession that they were only in raptures about rent. His assessment of early 19th-century Tories applies with unerring accuracy to todays Conservatives.

Mr Christophers insight is that the Tories under Mr Johnson are a party of and for rentiers, much more than the interests of productive capital. This explains why, after 2016, the Tory party embraced Brexit and shrugged off productive capitals concerns about leaving the EU. It will be to the great detriment of this country if the pandemic permitted Mr Johnson to combine present-day fears with a yearning for hopeful change to persuade the average person to vote against their interests in the future. But history often repeats itself first as tragedy, then as farce.

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The Guardian view on Britain out of the EU: a treasure island for rentiers - The Guardian

Effort brewing to end closed-door congressional nominations – Santa Fe New Mexican

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In Chicago politics of old, the powerful Democratic Party chairman sat in a hotel meeting room with several cigar-chomping cronies. They slated the chairman as their candidate for mayor.

Richard J. Daley used that backroom system to displace an incumbent as the Democratic nominee and then unseat him. Daley remained mayor of Chicago for 21 years. Only death in 1976 loosened his grip on power.

State Rep. Daymon Ely says he doesnt want a similar system of closed-door politics to infect a special congressional election in New Mexico.

As it stands, members of state party central committees would choose the candidates for a probable vacancy in the Albuquerque-based 1st Congressional District.

About 700,000 people live in the district. Only a few hundred party regulars would select the nominees to run in a special election.

To prevent insiders from picking who makes the ballot, Ely wants to change state election law when legislators go into session next month.

You make it a fair fight. I do not like this system of a small number of people deciding on the candidates, Ely said Tuesday in a phone interview.

How would he bring the general public into the selection process if senators confirm U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland as interior secretary and she resigns from her elected office?

Ely is not sure. He mentioned the possibility of qualified candidates from all political parties being placed on a single ballot, and a winner emerging through ranked choice voting.

In that system, if no one has a majority of first-place votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. Voters who selected the ousted the candidate as their top choice then have their votes count for their second choice. The elimination of candidates and shuffling of votes continues until a candidate has a majority.

Do I think my idea is fabulous and should be accepted as Bible? No, I dont, Ely said.

He has reservations about the very concept hes mentioned.

I dont like ranked choice voting. Im not a proponent of it, Ely said.

But its a starting point for discussion, he said. His reasoning is he expects opposition to holding both traditional primaries and then a special election to choose Haalands successor.

I know there will be complaints that having primaries is more expensive and more time consuming, Ely said.

State Sen. Mark Moores, R-Albuquerque, called Ely to offer his help in changing the system to replace Haaland.

The Constitution says the House of Representatives shall be elected by the people. A smoke-filled room to pick the nominees I dont think that meets the spirit of what the founders had in mind, Moores said Tuesday.

He shares another position with Ely.

I hate ranked choice voting, Moores said. There is no concrete plan right now, but I want to make a more open, democratic process. Thats democratic with a small d.

State Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto, D-Albuquerque, often leads the Legislature in crafting election laws. He has a different view of party regulars choosing political nominees.

Ivey-Soto said a mere 31 central committee members in his Senate district voted when he became the replacement candidate in 2012 after the nominee withdrew. No fuss occurred over that process, Ivey-Soto said.

But thats not a fair comparison.

New Mexico has 112 state legislators but only three members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Shutting out the public while political insiders choose high-profile congressional candidates isnt smart and it shouldnt be acceptable.

The field of contenders to replace Haaland probably would be large and unwieldy, especially for the Democratic nomination. Republicans havent won the 1st Congressional District since 2006.

Already two state legislators, Rep. Melanie Stansbury and Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, say they will compete for the Democratic nomination if Haaland moves to the Interior Department.

Several other politicians, as well as people from law, business and sports, say they might seek the congressional seat.

Elys next step is to huddle with professional bill drafters at the Legislature. He needs to review election law and consider the possibilities for removing power from party regulars and giving it to the public.

In Daleys era, top-down decisions were the norm. As mayor of one of Americas largest cities, Daley could order a technician to kill the microphone of a dissenting alderman without receiving any serious criticism.

Picking congressional nominees without a public vote might seem tame by comparison. Moores and Ely say otherwise. They hope to start a movement that will change the law.

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The KOIN.com Top 10 protest stories of 2020 – KOIN.com

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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) In 2020, Americans were touched in large and small ways by civil upheaval sparked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. The public demonstrations that followed swung between peaceful but insistent demands for change to all-out riots that sometimes turned deadly.

Portland became one of the biggest protest stages in the country. The city captured the attention of people around the world as demonstrations repeatedly drew thousands of participants and marches choked off major freeways. People of all ages, colors, ethnicities and beliefs united under the banner of ending police brutality and seeking racial justice.

But the peaceful demonstrations of the daylight hours often devolved into violent turmoil once night fell. Vandalism and looting drew the attention of the nations top leaders, leading to the deployment of federal law enforcement officers. Clouds of tear gas suffocated the streets of Portland for nights on end. Downtown buildings wore sheets of plywood like armor as agitated groups stalked through neighborhoods.

Portland, Oregon once one of the most desirable cities in the country was often unrecognizable.

The protests of 2020 have left an indelible mark on the soul of America. They have challenged deep-seated beliefs, shined a glaring light on injustice, ignited heated discussions across social media and they have set a fire for change in the hearts of strangers, friends, family members, artists, students and politicians.

One thing is certain: America is looking in the mirror and examining its reflection with new eyes.

Here are the top 10 most-read stories about the protests on KOIN.com during 2020:

By mid-June, protests sparked by the death of George Floyd had entered into a third week in Portland. Many who were joining rallies and marches did so while respecting the law. Others didnt.

Late on June 18 the eve of Juneteenth a small group met at NE Sandy Boulevard and NE 57th Avenue at the site of a large bronze statue of George Washington. Some wrapped the statues head in an American flag and lit it on fire. More people joined the group until there were enough people to successfully topple the statue. A KOIN 6 News crew found the statue of the countrys first president covered in graffiti. It wasnt the first public statue in the city to be defaced and it wouldnt be the last.

Oregon State Police troopers were federally deputized by U.S. Marshals in late summer. State police said they were working with the U.S. Attorneys Office to review arrests made by troopers assigned to Portland for potential prosecution.

But the decision, which was made in response to the growing unrest in Portland, meant a deputized OSP trooper could arrest someone for a federal crime and turn the case over to a federal prosecutor instead of a state prosecutor. Doing so would essentially override Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Shmidts policy of limited prosecution for certain charges related to the ongoing protests.

The story spoke to the larger undertone of confusion as federal and local authorities jostled for control over how to respond to the protests.

In mid-July, a video of Navy veteran Chris David being beaten by federal officers took social media by storm. Shot by Portland Tribune reporter Zane Sparling, the video showed David wearing shorts, a baseball cap and a backpack being struck repeatedly by officers in riot gear outside the federal courthouse building in downtown Portland as tear gas wafts through the air.

David needed surgery to repair his hand and needed months off from work to recover. He told KOIN 6 News in October his sense of activism has significantly changed. The things I want to be, to advocate for: police reform, criminal justice reform.

As the summer drew to a close, tensions began to rekindle in the lead-up to the presidential election. A rally held by the far-right group Proud Boys drew scores of supporters, Donald Trump flags and militarized body armor.

Simultaneous rallies supporting the Black Lives Matter movement were held relatively nearby but remained separated by a large police presence. Authorities said they arrested four people over the course of the day.

Aaron Jay Danielson, 39, was shot and killed near clashes between supporters of President Donald Trump and counterprotesters in late August during a Trump 2020 Cruise Rally.

KOIN 6 News crews witnessed two people yelling and having an altercation near SW 3rd and Alder. Someone sprayed mace and then someone pulled out a gun. The crews heard shots fired, then a wounded man, later identified as Danielson, was seen on the ground and the suspect took off running.

A federal task force tracked the suspected shooter 48-year-old Michael Reinoehl to Lacey, Washington. Reinoehl was killed as the task force attempted to arrest him.

Protesters overturned statues of former Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln in Downtown Portland on Oct. 11, with organizers calling the event Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage.

The event that quickly unraveled from demonstration to destructive protest to riot was deemed by the Portland Police Bureau as one of the most damaging nights of demonstrations in five months of nightly unrest.

After 87 straight nights of protests on the streets of Portland, the co-president of the Downtown Development Group penned a letter to Mayor Ted Wheeler and the members of the Portland City Council. In it, he listed company after company departing the central district of Portland.

Greg Goodman said the companies included Daimler Chrysler, AirB&B, Banana Republic, Microsoft (who he said is permanently closing their retail store), Saucebox and Google. Their departure, he said in the letter, has nothing to do with the Black Lives Matter movement but does have most everything to do with the lawlessness you are endorsing downtown.

Scott Asphaug, theFirst Assistant US Attorney for Oregon, stood outside the Hatfield Federal Courthouse in July after police had declared an unlawful assembly the previous night. Inside the fence surrounding the courthouse were bags of feces, commercial-grade fireworks, CS cans used by officers, debris from garbage fires, bricks, glass bottles and fluid cans for Molotov cocktails. The courthouse itself was covered in graffiti.

This building is supposed to represent justice and its drowning out the voices that should matter, which are the voices of social and racial justice taking place in Portland, and instead were talking about riots, Asphaug said. So the people who are doing the rioting are drowning out the voices that really need to be heard and thats just heartbreaking.

Billy Williams, the US Attorney for Oregon, said leadership was needed to put an end to this ongoing violence.

Look around. Do you think its OK? Is there any justification on this? I hope not. Portland is losing its soul right now, he said.

Well-known right-wing protester and Proud Boys member Alan Swinney was arrested by Portland police on Sept. 30 after an indictment was issued on September 11. According to the district attorneys office, the indictment alleges Swinney fired a paintball gun at another person at a protest on August 15. That paintball shot caused physical harm to the individual. He is also accused of unlawfully using mace or a similar substance against another person and attempting to assault others on the same day.

The 50-year-old later pleaded not guilty to 12 total charges, including multiple for assault, unlawful use of a weapon, pointing a firearm at another person and unlawful use of mace.

On July 19, hours after rioters broke into the building that houses the Portland Police Association offices and set a fire, a passel of community leaders and activists begged for an end to the violence that had gripped the city for nearly two months.

Our community has had enough. Our business owners have had enough. Officers have had enough and Portland has had enough, said PPA President Daryl Turner at a press conference. This is no longer about George Floyd. This is no longer about racial equity about racial justice. This is no longer about reform or the evolution of policing. This is about violence, rioting, destruction, chaos, anarchy.

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Split Up NSA and CYBERCOM – Defense One

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The lack of conclusive upstream intelligence about Russias long-running, recently discovered digital espionage effort suggests a need to rethink how the U.S. is organized to meet cyber threats and in particular, the dual-hat leadership of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command.

To be sure, the United States has worked to improve its national security focus on cybersecurity in recent years, spurred by Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 election and recognition that more adversaries can and will want to use offensive cyber methods and tools. These efforts include strategy documents, executive orders, and legislation yet more work remains to be done. Insights about the SolarWinds attack underscore a number of cybersecurity gaps and vulnerabilities that were exploited. These include shortcomings in virtual supply chains from the private sector to the government, incomplete information-sharing between and within both these sectors, and the limitations of federal cyber threat detection measures like the Department of Homeland Securitys Einstein program.

The next step should be acting on a long-debated proposal to split the job of leading the NSA and CYBERCOM. On Dec. 19, officials with the lame-duck Trump administration sent the Joint Chiefs of Staff a plan to do so. The plan would need the defense secretary and Joint Chiefs Chairman to certify that it meets Congressional requirements; it is not clear whether they will do so before the next administration begins.

Critics of splitting the job note that the two agencies enjoy a very close relationship, sharing people, expertise, resources, and even a physical campus. Separate organizations with different chains of command would develop this level of integration and collaboration slowly, if ever.

But from our vantage point as former professionals with significant experience and insights on how national security reforms have unfolded since 9/11, we believe the nation could be served by the split. Such a move would have a rough precedent in the 2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act, which established the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and created the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) position. The law allowed the Central Intelligence Agency to retain its authorities and responsibilities, but its director was no longer forced to lead both an operational agency and the entire U.S. intelligence community.

Splitting up the leadership of NSA and CYBERCOM could allow the latter commander to fully focus on the organizations attention on training, equipping, and organizing military forces to conduct the full spectrum of operations to support national security priorities. It could also eliminate potential conflicts of interest in which the CYBERCOM would advocate conducting warfare against a cyber target (i.e., taking it down) while the NSA would be more interested in collecting intelligence from it (i.e., leaving it up but subverting it). Such decisions would be elevated to an interagency forum such as the National Security Council, where competing equities could be debated in a rigorous manner.

We would also advocate for moving the NSA from its organizational home in the Defense Department. It should be led by a Presidentially-appointed, Senate-confirmed civilian who reports to the DNI. Such a move would improve NSAs existing authorities and capabilities, place it under the intelligence umbrella for which its best suited, and improve its ability to serve national-level and military-specific intelligence requirements.

Javed Ali is a Towsley Policymaker in Residence at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. He previously had over 20 years professional experience in Washington, DC on national security issues, to include senior roles at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and National Security Council.

Adam Maruyama is a national security professional with more than 15 years of experience in cyber operations, cybersecurity, and counterterrorism. He served in numerous warzones and co-led the drafting of the 2018 National Strategy to Counterterrorism. Adam currently manages cybersecurity softwaredeployments for a number of federal customers.

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Split Up NSA and CYBERCOM - Defense One

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NSA Year in Review: Election Security, Cybersecurity, and More – HSToday

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The pandemic affected everyone this year, but our mission didnt slow down. As our Director, GEN Paul Nakasone said, we are one team, and each of us contributes our unique expertise to a mission that is all the more critical in times of crisis.

Throughout 2020, our workforce contributed our expertise in many ways:

NSA worked to secure our elections

The security of the2020 Presidential electionwas NSAs top priority in 2020. We were part of the Whole-of-Government effort to identify and counter foreign interference and malign influence threats to the 2020 U.S. elections. NSA generated vital insights and shared them with partner agencies like U.S. Cyber Command, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.Our efforts strived to assure all audiences, and most importantly, the American public, that NSA, USCYBERCOM, and other U.S. government partners together protected the U.S. elections from foreign interference and influence campaigns.

NSA shared cybersecurity guidance and advisories

MarylandGovernor Hoganrecognized our cybersecurity expertise to keepCOVID-19 research protectedas part of the U.S. Government-wide Operation Warp Speed (OWS). In addition to our support to OWS, as the pandemic shifted the workplace to home, NSA helped teleworkerswork from home safely,secure their home office, and evenlimit their mobile device exposurethanks to guidance developed by our Cybersecurity mission.

NSA continued our steady provision ofcybersecurity advicefor the Department of Defense, National Security Systems and the Defense Industrial Base. These specificadvisories and guidancealso helped system administrators and other cyber specialists across the cybersecurity field by providing information that was timely, relevant, and actionable throughout the year.

NSA drove innovative solutions

While the world faced new challenges this year, we didnt stop creating solutions. We contributed to the evolution of5G, were involved in how to keep theInternet of Thingssecure, planned for the future of national security when applyingquantumcomputing, we developed aQuBIT Collaboratory, and stood up theCenter for Cybersecurity Standards.

NSA invested in our nations future

We look forward to starting the New Year and the future looks bright, thanks to our investments in the future. TheOnRamp II programprovides the scholarships for students who will be developing the newest solutions to keep our nation safe. NSA worked in partnership with the DoD Office of Small Business Programs and created theCybersecurity Education Diversity Initiativeto assist minority serving institutions. This allows Historically Black Colleges and Universities with no existing cybersecurity program to obtain access to and educational resources from designated National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity Institutions. We were pleased to announce that theU.S. Naval Academyreceived its designation as an NSA Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Operations to develop new cyber warriors.

NSA personnel recognized for excellence

While many NSA personnel serve in silence, several of our staff and former personnel were publicly recognized this year for their dedication to our nations security. Former NSA Executive DirectorHarry Cokerwas recognized by the Intelligence Community for his commitment to improving diversity, equality, and inclusion.MSgt Frances Dupris,Dr. Ahmad Ridley,LaNaia JonesandJanelle Romanowere recognized for showing the importance of STEM education and career development. OurTech Transfer Teamwas recognized by the DoD for creating an efficient process for releasing NSA-developed capabilities to the open-source software community.

For more details on our efforts to protect our nation and secure our future, check out our Twitter,@NSAGov, throughout the month.

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NSA Year in Review: Election Security, Cybersecurity, and More - HSToday

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Edward Snowden and wife share photos of newborn son amid push for Trump to pardon NSA leaker – Washington Times

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Edward J. Snowden and his wife, Lindsay Mills, announced the birth of their first child Friday amid a push for President Trump to pardon the fugitive leaker of crimes keeping him from returning to the U.S.

The couple, who have resided in Russia for the last several years, shared photos on social media showing them holding their newborn child.

Happy Holidays from our newly expanded family, Ms. Mills said on Instagram where she posted the photos. The greatest gift is the love we share, Mr. Snowden added on Twitter where he shared one of them.

Mr. Snowden, a former CIA employee and National Security Agency contractor, admittedly leaked a trove of classified documents to the media in 2013 exposing the NSAs vast operations and capabilities.

The Department of Justice under former President Barack Obama accordingly charged Mr. Snowden with stealing and violating the U.S. Espionage Act, putting him at risk of serving up to 30 years in prison.

However, Mr. Snowden has successfully avoided the long arm of the law during the last 7.5 years as a result of residing in Russia, which does not have an extradition agreement with the U.S. government.

Mr. Snowden said while his wife was expecting that they were both applying for dual citizenship to avoid the possibility of being legally separated from their son, a Russian citizen by birth.

After years of separation from our parents, my wife and I have no desire to be separated from our son. Thats why, in this era of pandemics and closed borders, were applying for dual US-Russian citizenship, Mr. Snowden said last month on Twitter.

Anatoly Kucherena, a lawyer for Mr. Snowden, said on Saturday that both Ms. Mills and her newborn son are in excellent health, Russias Interfax news agency reported over the weekend.

Mr. Snowden, 37, has previously said he will return to the U.S. if given a trial he deems fair, although some of his defenders are now pushing the president to have the case against him dropped entirely.

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, both Republicans closely allied with Mr. Trump, each advocated recently for Mr. Trump to pardon Mr. Snowden before his presidency ends.

Mr. Trump, who called Mr. Snowden a traitor prior to becoming president, said in August that he was considering granting him a pardon. He has since pardoned dozens of others.

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Edward Snowden and wife share photos of newborn son amid push for Trump to pardon NSA leaker - Washington Times

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Edward Snowden Pardon and the SolarWinds Hack | – City Journal

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The most surprising thing about the failure of U.S. intelligence to discover for nearly nine months the SolarWinds penetration of U.S. government agencies, reportedly including the State, Energy, and Homeland Security Departments as well as private contractors, is that anyone is surprised. After all, the National Security Agency, responsible for protecting the communications of the U.S. government, had such a massive hole punched in its capabilities by a breach in 2013 that Michael McConnell, the former director of first the NSA and then the Office of National Intelligence, assessed This [breach] will have an impact on our ability to do our mission for the next 20 to 30 years.

The proximate cause of the damage was Edward Snowdens theft of NSA files in June 2013. He was never apprehended because he fled first to Hong Kong, where he met with journalists, and then Russia, where he received sanctuary from Putin. How could such a loss of intelligence not do immense damage to the NSAs counterintelligence for many years?

According to the unanimous report of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Snowden removed from the NSA digital copies of 1.5 million files, including 900,000 Department of Defense documents concerning, among other things, the newly created joint Cyber Command. Other stolen files contained documents from GCHQthe British signal intelligence service to which Snowden had access. One NSA file, a 31,000-page database, included requests to the NSA made by the 16 other agencies in the Intelligence Community for coverage of foreign targets.

NSA Deputy Director Rick Ledgett, who headed the NSAs damage assessment, warned that this database reveals the gaps in our knowledge of Russia, thus provides our adversaries with a roadmap of what we know, what we dont know, and gives themimplicitlya way to protect their information from the U.S. intelligence communitys view.

Snowdens theft dealt a savage blow to U.S. intelligence. Whenever sensitive compartmentalized information (SCI) is removed without authorization from the NSAs secure facilities, as it was by Snowden, it is, by definition, compromised, regardless of what is done with it. Whether Snowden gave these files to journalists, Russians, or Chinese intelligence, or whether he erased them or threw them in the Pacific Ocean, all the sources in them had to be considered compromisedand shut down. So did the methods they revealed.

The Pentagon did a more extensive damage assessment than the NSA, assigning hundreds of intelligence officers, in round-the-clock shifts, to go through each of the 1.5 million files to identify all the fatally compromised sources and methods they contained, and shut them down. This purge reduced the capabilities of the NSA, the Cyber Command, the British GCHQ, and other allied intelligence services to see inside Russia and China.

The damage was deepened by Snowdens defection to Russia. In a televised press conference on September 2, 2013, Vladimir Putin gloated, I am going to tell you something I have never said before, revealing that, while in Hong Kong, Snowden had been in contact with Russian diplomats. While Snowden denies giving any stolen secrets to Russia, U.S. intelligence further determined, according to the bipartisan House Permanent Select Intelligence Committee, that he was in contact with the Russian intelligence services after he arrived in Moscow and continued to be so for three years. Both Mike Rogers, the committees chair, and Adam Schiff, its ranking minority member, confirmed this finding to me. Fiona Hill, an intelligence analyst in both the Obama and Trump administrations, told the The New Yorker in 2017 that The Russians, partly because they have Edward Snowden in Moscow, possess a good idea of what the U.S. is capable of knowing. They got all of his information. You can be damn well sure that [Snowdens] information is theirs.

After the NSA, CIA, and the Cyber Command shut down the sources and methods Snowden had compromised, McConnell pointed out that entire generations of information had been lost. The resulting blind spots in our surveillance of Russia gave Moscows intelligence services full latitude to carry out mischief. Russian intelligence services have no shortage of operatives and tools to carry out long-term operations in cyberspace and elsewhere.

In the 2020 SolarWinds penetration, which Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attributes to Russian intelligence, the gaps allowed Russian spies to masquerade as authorized system administrators and other IT workers. The spies could use their forged credentials to copy any material of interest, plant hidden programs to alter the future operations of thousands of workstations in networks inside and outside the government, cover their tracks, and plant hidden backdoors for future access. Though it may take years to find and unravel all the malicious code implanted in these systems, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has already determined that this threat poses a grave risk to the Federal Government and state, local, tribal, and territorial governments as well as critical infrastructure entities and other private sector organizations.

This immense compromise of government networks is the inevitable price for allowing a large part of our counterintelligence capability to be compromised in 2013. The perverse irony here is that while Vladimir Putin rewarded Snowden for his contributions with permanent residency, Donald Trump says that he is looking into pardoning Snowden for his intrusion into NSA files and betrayal of American secrets.

Edward Jay Epsteins most recent book was How America Lost Its Secrets: Edward Snowden, the Man and the Theft.

Photo by Rosdiana Ciaravolo/Getty Images

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Edward Snowden Pardon and the SolarWinds Hack | - City Journal

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