Announcing the 2020 Carleton University Chair in Teaching Innovation – Carleton Newsroom

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Carleton University is pleased to announce Professor James McGowan (School for Studies in Art and Culture: Music) has been named the 2020 Carleton University Chair in Teaching Innovation.

On behalf of Carleton University, I am pleased to acknowledge and congratulate James McGowan on this achievement, said Provost and Vice-President (Academic) Jerry Tomberlin.

The Chair in Teaching Innovation is an important appointment that plays a significant role in furthering teaching excellence across Carleton.

Prof. James McGowan (Photo Jenna Gernon)

Established last year, the Chair in Teaching Innovation is awarded annually to an educator who has demonstrated teaching excellence and innovation across their academic career. It provides faculty with a $45,000 grant spanning three years to undertake projects that advance the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) and student success at Carleton.

James is an outstanding educator who is fully invested in providing students with creative and engaging learning experiences, said Associate Vice-President (Teaching and Learning) David Hornsby. Were looking forward to seeing his project implemented and the impact it will have throughout the Carleton community and beyond.

McGowan, who has been teaching at Carleton since 2010, sees the important role the performing arts play in student success, mental health and wellbeing, and fostering a sense of community. With this award, he plans to create and support a network of like-minded instructors, students and staff using the principles of Performative Learning and Artistic Communities of Engagement (PLACE).

The network will identify opportunities for performative learning, exploring experiential arts-based approaches to engage students in a variety of disciplines, and create artistic communities of engagement that allow students to find means of expression beyond course work.

Receiving this distinction signifies to me that the university is ready to be a leader in applying and researching innovative approaches that allow students to experience a wide range of disciplines of study enhanced by the intentional exploration of the arts, said McGowan.

It seems more than ever that we as a university community want to grow in ways that create meaningful, exciting and safe experiences to challenge students to thrive and engage artistically with communities on campus.

While PLACE will start this Fall with online programming of songwriting and community music at Carleton, McGowan plans to extend the network to include a variety of arts and non-arts-based disciplines, and eventually expand outside of the university.

Professor McGowans ambitious project will employ arts-based approaches to learning in disciplines far beyond the humanities, offering students unique opportunities to integrate performative learning into any field of study, said Pauline Rankin, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Professor McGowans extensive experience with diverse forms of performance studies makes him the ideal champion for this exciting experiment at Carleton. His vision for the Chair in Teaching Innovation is particularly relevant at a moment in which many of us are turning or returning to the arts to sustain and inspire us during this unprecedented period.

Through the PLACE initiative, McGowan says he hopes to enrich the student experience at Carleton and promote student engagement within the community, while acting as a resource for colleagues in developing innovative educational strategies.

The biggest hope I have is that the PLACE initiative will give students a richer experience at Carleton. For some students, that might mean that they see opportunities to reach out to others to explore interdisciplinary conversations. For others, this might mean that they simply enjoy a creative activity with other students, helping to sustain them through the inevitable darker days, said McGowan.

Ultimately, I truly hope that applying PLACE principles at Carleton will create and support programming that will enhance students connection to this beautiful campus community. In tandem with this goal, I hope that wecolleagues with common interests and Iwill be able to explore and share the results of studying the impact of this programming more broadly.

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Announcing the 2020 Carleton University Chair in Teaching Innovation - Carleton Newsroom

How to promote diversity in coverage and in the newsroom – IJNet

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In partnership with our parent organization, the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), IJNet is connecting journalists with health experts and newsroom leaders through a webinar series on COVID-19.The series is partof theICFJ Global Health Crisis Reporting Forum.

This article is part of our online coverage of reporting on COVID-19. To see more resources,click here.

You have a television station. We have these AK-47s. We will have to tell our stories with these guns, members of an indigenous community who had joined Maoist forces told journalistShubhranshu Choudhary. Your media will not give us any space.

Their representation is zero, and Indias mainstream media shows little interest in changing that, Choudhary said during a panel discussion co-hosted Tuesday by ICFJ and theMedia Diversity Institute(MDI).

Around the world, a lack of media diversity has dire consequences. Yet even among news outlets that claim to value diversity, most have failed in their efforts to hire, retain, engage and report accurately on minority and disenfranchised communities, panelists said.

At the same time, the global pandemics outsized effect on already-vulnerable communities, along with the growing strength of the Black Lives Matter movement in both the U.S. and other countries, is forcing a reckoning in many newsrooms, they said.Choudhary, founder of IndiasCGNet Swaraand a former ICFJ Knight Fellow, joinedTory Parrish, regional director of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) in the U.S; Frans Jennekens, head of diversity at Dutch broadcasterNTR; and Syrian journalistZaina Erhaim, communications manager at theInstitute for War & Peace Reporting(IWPR), to examine the state of media diversity. MDI Communications Manager Anna Lekas Miller moderated the discussion.

It's really hard to cover a community when you only swoop in when bad things happen, said Parrish, a business reporter at Newsday. And that has been a problem with the media for centuries.

In the U.S. this year, black journalists have become more outspoken in the newsroom for the last couple of months, she said. In her own newsroom, there are conversationsgoing on about coverage, about diversity, about hiring and the importance of diversity at the management level, she said.

She said hiring managers need to be more intentional in their efforts to hire and retain diverse talent. The quality of the talent is there. But the issue is how deliberate are you in bringing the talent onto your staff? And it's not enough to just say, Well, we posted the job. Did you reach out to any journalists of color? Did you reach out to the National Association of Black Journalists, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Asian American Journalists Association offices? She emphasized the importance of hiring more than just one or two people from each underrepresented group, which leads to isolation and high turnover, she said.

Jennekens, with NTR, said he believes the newsroom is mostly a representation of the ruling powers. And the whole problem is, in my view, that in the newsroom there is this system of tapping. So when people are hired for the newsroom, they want to have someone who looks like the people who are already in the newsroom. And as long as this whole system of tapping is not more or less destroyed, I think it will be very difficult to change a newsroom.

He thinks the journalism industry should see this as a business case, as something that makes this medium stronger. You get more viewers, you get more participants. Your base and society will be stronger if you are more diverse and you give more room to different kinds of voices and to people who are not the same as yourself.

Erhaim, the Syrian journalist who works for IWPR, noted that in some cultures, newsroom diversity is a non-starter.

When we're speaking about the Middle East or the Arab world, diversity is in many cases criminalized, she said.

Getting to know who you're living with, getting to know the other cultures, sects and ethnicities is going to make a kind of peace, Ehraim said. You might be able to unite together, but everyone was raised on fearing the others and that was their way of controlling the area and keeping everyone silent.

Erhaim also advocated for free legal counsel for journalists who want to sue the large media companies that parachute in and take unfair advantage of local reporters.

We don't know our rights. We are not raised to know about rights or demand them, she said. If enough journalists begin to take legal action, big media institutions will think twice before taking advantage of local journalists or treating them as free-of-charge sources.

Choudary urged others to start their own, independent platforms for news. As an ICFJ Knight Fellow, he created CGNet Swara, a citizen journalism platform that uses Bluetooth technologyto bring news to media-dark villages in India.

We should be more interactive. A lot of journalists are afraid of their own audience, he said.

Can people tell their own stories? Can [citizen reporting] be a new way of doing journalism? Can we reinvent ourselves? he asked. Technology is giving us that opportunity. In the remotest parts of the country, I go to any village in India, and I find at least half a dozen mobile phones. Each phone can broadcast and become its own radio station, he said.

Can we connect that radio station which is there in every pocket with our newsrooms? It is doable. It is possible. We should be doing more of it. We should be using more of this technology if we want to remain relevant, he said.

Jennifer Dorrohis a senior program director at ICFJ.

Main image CC-licensed by Unsplash viaChristina @ wocintechchat.com.

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After Weeks Of Protests, West Palm Beach Creates Task Force To Address Racial And Ethnic Equality – WLRN

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The nationwide protests for racial justice impacted several local cities in Palm Beach County.The tension is still there; its a movement, not a moment, says activists, members of various communities, and elected officials. A task force formed to help solve racial inequities might be a potential huge step within the proverbial movement.

The Stronger Together march in Riviera Beach called for economic and political empowerment, interracial unity, alleviation of food deserts and affordable housing. The protest staged outside of a Lake Worth Beachs city commission meeting urged commissioners to consider a symbolic renaming of Dixie Highway.

You turn to WLRN for reporting you can trust and stories that move our South Florida community forward. Your support makes it possible. Please donate now. Thank you.

Young demonstrators in West Palm Beach, who marched in the scorching summer heat with their masks and bright signs, demanded policies aimed at economic equality and police reform countywide, tax-paying residents rallied for actionable plans and timelines.

Community organizers say they want to be involved and make elected officials accountable for their actions, and inactions, for whichever policy-driven plan is presented to the public.

West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James discuss the city's Task Force For Racial And Ethnic Equality with WLRN's Wilkine Brutus

As a response to the ongoing protests, West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James has created a citywide task force for racial and ethnic equality to identify and address stark racial disparities related to education, wealth, income, housing, poverty, and police reform. He also said he eventually wants the young women and men who took to the streets to have a say in the process.

James said as a Black mayor in West Palm Beach, he felt it was incumbent on him to grasp the moment and see what we can do in terms of making our city a more just city.

He told WLRN, creating the task force was also a way to address the unyielding poverty rate, which, in 2018, stood at 17 percent, according to that years West Palm Beach Economic Development Study. James believes "that there's some systemic causes for that.

The task force includes the Black Chamber of Commerce, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, State Attorney's Office, subject matter experts within subcommittees, and other leaders appointed by the mayors office.

Here's an excerpt of the mayor's conversation with WLRN, which has been edited for length and clarity.

KEITH JAMES: So we're going to have up to 17 members of the task force itself. And what is consistent from the earlier executive order is that we will have five pillars to really drill down deep into some substantive areas, including education, housing, health care, economics, criminal justice. And I wanted to get a very broad variety of individuals, both from a diversity standpoint, gender standpoint and generational standpoint. I'm intentional about bringing some of those young people who were out on the streets marching and protesting to enter the room. So they are also at the table.

West Palm Beach is still a city in the south. And if you as we dig into its history and we're going to spend a lot of time in those conversations that we do as we dig into the history of West Palm Beach, we will note that our community, as other communities in the South and maybe even around the nation, has not always been at its best when it comes to racial matters.

And so I want the committee to spend time understanding the history, as ugly as it may be, but having those tough, difficult conversations with this very diverse group of accomplished individuals to make sure that we grasp the true history of our city. Because if we sugarcoat that, if we try to just brush that under the rug, I don't think that the committee will be able to do its job to its fullest capability.

WLRN: Is the current mood in the air forcing cities and counties to shift some of their focus and money to racial equity?

Its more than a moment, its a movement. I wanted to take advantage of the platform that I have as an African-American mayor to see what I could do to engage in a conversation. I conducted a town hall shortly after a lot of the demonstrations and the protest began included Congresswoman Lois Frankel, Patrick Franklin, head of the Urban League, and some other notable individuals in our community. And that was very well received. But I knew that was not enough. I said, "What else can I do to capture this moment in time to make sure that we don't lose this moment and that it doesn't just wither away?"

Once the recommendations come out of this task force, how would the public have access to that information?

So there will be a published report. But also one of the things that we want to come out of the task force work are specific policy recommendations that could then be brought to the commission and debated and discussed.

This is certainly I think it's more than a movement. It's a moment. And I think ... as a mayor of this city, I felt it incumbent upon me to grasp the moment and see what we can do in terms of making our city a more just city.

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After Weeks Of Protests, West Palm Beach Creates Task Force To Address Racial And Ethnic Equality - WLRN

A remote workforce, urban exodus and opportunities emerging from the pandemic – CIO Dive

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Editor's note: The following is a guest article from Charla Griffy-Brown, PhD, Professor of Information Systems and Technology Management at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School.

Over the past month, major companies, JPMorgan Chase, Barclays and Morgan Stanley, announced they would permit large numbers of employees to work from home on a long term or permanent basis.

The practice of extended or indefinite work-from-home is growing. Twitter and Square's CEO, Jack Dorsey, along with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently notified employees of a permanent work from home policy.Many other tech companies followed suit.

Perhaps less surprising, the acceptance of working remotely is also strongly supported by employees. A recent Gallup poll showed 59% of U.S. workers who moved to remote work on account of the pandemic indicated they would like to continue working from home even after the COVID-19 crisis ends.

Tens of thousands of workers who were once unfamiliar with video conferencing have, in a few short months, achieved expertise. They will naturally keep using these technologies and likely incorporate them into the post-COVID-19 business norm.

What are the potential opportunities for diversity, equity, and inclusion? Can we leverage this shift not only for creating stronger more economically robust communities but also to create stronger businesses with healthier employees?

With that in mind, here are five factors driving work from home arrangements that point to opportunities for community building and employee arrangements that have potential for addressing problems the pandemic unveiled in stark reality: unhealthy work/life habits and the need for greater diversity, equity and inclusion.

There is a collective, growing mindset supercharging the adoption of digital technologies. This will go beyond traditional technology adoption and be seen most starkly geographically as some trends slowly reverse.

For example, Richard Florida coined the term "superstar" metropolitans,places where ambitious and skilled people feel they need to be.

But in recent years, metropolitans benefiting from tech centralization source of much of their wealth have faced the "new urban crisis."

Riddled with affordability and quality of life issues, now coupled with a psychology of social distancing that will leave a shadow as people reexamine risk and family-life differently.

Affordable housing is more available in remote locations and the digital infrastructure required to reliably work from home is stronger.

Traditionally, people move to cities because cities are job hubs. But cities have become unaffordable and create economic hardship for millions of people.

Now with companies welcoming a remote workforce, cities, suburban and rural areas are set to dramatically change. At one point in April, Americans were relocating at twice the pace they did a year earlier, a trend that continued into mid-May,according to data firm Cuebiq.

Future job growth will not hinge on working in an office. According to Brookings,more than one-third of the nation's digital services job growth in the last decade was concentrated in five metro areas: New York, Seattle, Boston, San Francisco, and San Jose, California.

The success of a few large metropolises created geographic inequality and bottlenecks in economic growth in other areas.

Personal wealth growing opportunities will be more balanced. By creating a remote workforce, the U.S. can expand economic wealth and the digital potential for communities that have been "left behind."

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates that increased adoption of online tools and digital services for businesses across rural American could add $140 billion to the U.S. economy and create more than 360,000 jobs.

The opportunity gap will close between the tech elites and tech novices. With higher-wage jobs moving toward permanent remote work, the U.S. moves away from "superstar" metropolitans decentralizing tech across the nation and fostering new tech jobs.

Remote work impacts how society connects, opening up a broader attack surface and increasing the need for cyber-physical security.

Boards and executives should put together "innovation strike-forces" within their organizations to reimagine their future products, services, and how they will do business.

This rapid shift could be a magnitude change, if anticipated and supported through infrastructure growth, including investments in education and services, and intentional corporate efforts to address long-standing equity issues.

Though COVID-19 brought tremendous negative impacts, it also left little choice for workers to adjust to a new, digital normal.

The new digital transformation is not only creating new product/service variations, but leadership, operations and organizational design is also being transformed.

This means that digital leadership, including command/control, is being reinvented.Operations and infrastructure can now be completely decoupled from geography to more efficiently execute delivering new value to stakeholders, including employees.

Industry faces the opportunity for both leadership and employees to develop new skill sets and ask deeper questions regarding employee health, productivity, how to create broader diversity, equity and inclusion which could fuel increased top-line and bottom-line corporate growth.

To achieve these goals we should collectively ask better questions such as:

As the U.S. begins to recover and develop a new "normal," the vibrant tech titans of the U.S. and business leaders have a unique opportunity to recognize the concentration of prosperity and invest in a more stable future across a larger geography with broader diversity, equity, and inclusion.

COVID-19 has given us perspective, and together we have the opportunity to create a future worth wanting.

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A remote workforce, urban exodus and opportunities emerging from the pandemic - CIO Dive

Why are security measures heightened in some KC neighborhoods and not others? – Flatland

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Published August 3rd, 2020 at 1:45 PM

Glass barriers. Metal gates. Visible security cameras.

Ostensibly, each of these things is meant to make a building safer. Theyre often put in place after a crime is committed nearby, designed as deterrents for any future crime. But why do we see these measures more often in minority communities?

Thats what Lisa Middlebrook wondered, except her question focused on post offices. Middlebrook, who is an anti-racist educator, moved from a majority White neighborhood to a majority Black neighborhood. The post office in her new neighborhood on Troost Avenue had a feature her old one did not glass panes that separated customers from postal workers.

To better understand the original curiousKC question, we decided to look at how security measures are implemented and why theyre so prevalent in communities of color.

Daniel Serda, a city planner who specializes in community design, development and historic preservation, said theres a deep history behind these barriers.

In many minority neighborhoods, there is much more perception of crime than there is real crime, Serda said. And theres also much more misperception of crime.

Serda said people not only tend to believe theres more crime in a neighborhood than actually exists but they also tend to believe that certain types of crime occur more often. Part of that, he said, has to do with media coverage. For instance, because some media cover homicides every time they happen, communities think homicides happen more often than other crimes.

Perception is rarely in line with reality, he said. The media plays a big part in reinforcing that bias.

As a result, people associate violent crime with the community in which they happen, which increases their fear of being victimized in that community, according to a report by the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma.

The presence of certain security measures can be a reflection of the misapprehension of certain types of crimes happening, Serda said.

Security measures such as metal bars, glass barriers and security cameras can then lead to mistrust and confusion among community members. Even though one person involved in a business may feel a barrier was necessary, others might not feel the same way.

For the average member of the public, seeing bulletproof glass between you and the clerk is probably not the most reassuring thing, Serda said. You wonder, whats going on here, or why am I being perceived as a threat?

But when you live in an area with security barriers for most of your life, that becomes normalized.

Wanda Taylor, the corporate secretary for the 49/63 Coalition and former president of the Troostwood Neighborhood Association, lives near Troost Avenue. She said when it comes to barriers like the ones at the post office, its hard to tell that somethings not right.

A part of living in a place for a long time, certain things just become normal, until you start looking at it, Taylor said. When you dont know what the other side looks like, you dont know that something is abnormal. Thats the danger sometimes in implicit bias, because people on either side, their reality is their reality.

White flight, where White people relocated to the suburbs in order to leave racially diverse, urban areas, left a lasting economic impact on minority communities. Businesses reduced investment in urban areas as White customers moved, and many havent returned.

Taylor said when you travel along Troost disinvestment is on full display. She pointed to the abandoned buildings that line the street, boarded up while waiting for new tenants, while new businesses pop up in other areas of town.

Underneath all of that, the reality is that these neighborhoods are looking at decades, generations of disinvestment, Serda said.

Ongoing disinvestment created issues such as food deserts, where grocery stores pulled out of urban areas in favor of the suburbs. Urban areas could be profitable for grocers, but theyre still reluctant to return.

Serda said that when asking businesses why they wont relocate to these neighborhoods now, they often cite security concerns.

If they open up (a business) and you know theyve got a metal screen, and two-inch thick bulletproof glass, it doesnt matter who you are, thats going to send a message, he said.

Serda pointed to a trend in New York during the 70s when street crimes such as pickpocketing and theft were common. In response, many businesses began implementing aggressive security measures like roll-down gates over their storefronts.

It was not unusual, even in the 80s and 90s, youd be walking along after five oclock, and there were these weird metal screen garage doors pulled down in front of all the businesses, he said. Sometimes, you couldnt even see that they were businesses.

In the 90s, economic development professionals began advocating against the measures because they create the perception that an area isnt safe.

They started pushing this argument that this is actually very alienating to the public, and its questionable whether it actually increases security, Serda said. What it tends to do is reinforce identity in certain areas and perception of those areas.

In an effort to make the area more attractive to customers, they began to pay businesses to take down the more extreme security measures. This initiated a shift from metal screens to more subtle features we see now, such as thick glass and cameras.

Serda said that in recent years the security of public buildings has been influenced by changing firearm regulations. Most major public buildings now have some kind of security measure, such as metal detectors, physical barriers and cameras.

The New York Times reported that in Kansas, lawmakers voted to allow concealed firearms in public buildings but granted an exemption. Communities can ban concealed firearms so long as they put security measures such as metal detectors in place. Laws like this force cities and counties to either invest in those measures, a costly endeavor, or permit concealed firearms.

Public spaces, by their nature, are required to be open to everyone. Because of that, Serda said, those spaces consciously had to redesign their security measures with the deregulation of concealed carry.

Additionally, security features in private businesses are spurred by a reaction to a perceived threat the business owner has seen reports of crimes in the media, or there was a crime near their business.

In public spaces, cue the post offices Middlebrook noticed, these features tend to be more intentional. Public institutions often have handbooks guiding their design. In the architects handbook for building post offices, for example, its stipulated that security features must be unobtrusive. But it lacks specific guidance on what unobtrusive means, so theres still room for individual variation in different communities.

Municipal and federal buildings are guided much more by specific design guidelines, he said. But there are people internally helping shape those decisions.

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Church amid COVID-19: Alice Drive Baptist’s readiness for online services connects families across the world – Sumter Item

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This is the first in an occasional series spotlighting faith-based communities in Sumter, Clarendon and Lee County with a focus on how the congregation and its leaders are reacting and adjusting to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first week Alice Drive Baptist Church elected to not have in-person services due to the coronavirus pandemic was on March 22. When it resumed in-person services on May 31 following the implementation of social distancing, disinfecting and cleansing guidelines, the Rev. Clay Smith said attendance was about half of what it would be pre-coronavirus.

However, with the spike in positive coronavirus cases and deaths in the weeks following, in-person numbers dipped.

"That has fallen off now to about 20% to 25% of a normal crowd," Smith said. "We think a small percentage of that is just summer stuff, but the much larger is that people are still uncomfortable coming to a large public gathering. We have the benefit of being able to arrange our chairs where the rows are 6 feet apart, and we've got it about as socially distanced as we can. But still we recognize that there are some who just aren't comfortable coming back yet.

"Essentially, some of it is older people, and some of it is families with young children, and some of it is just people that if they get sick - they're self-employed - then they wouldn't be able to work. So that just puts them in a difficult position, and they just don't want to take any chances."

That hasn't deterred the church itself from limiting its worship services, though. The Loring Mill Road church is still having three Sunday morning services as well as a Monday service, while its Pocalla campus on Bethel Church Road is having two Sunday services.

Smith said the biggest combined number upon return to in-person services was 730, whereas the typical number is 1,500. And while those numbers have dropped off, Smith doesn't think that has come because of a state of fear.

"I honestly feel that it's shifted somewhat," Smith said. "I think at first people had a lot of fear, and now people are more like, 'We need to be wise, and we're really ready for this to be over.' Most of our people, they're not rattled by it. They really are walking in faith, I would say."

While the number of people coming to the church is obviously down, Smith said the tithes and offerings to the church have remained strong.

"We have been extraordinarily blessed," he said. "Our people have continued to give, and we're within 5% of our giving projection goal.

"It shows some good, spiritual maturity on their part, that they're not just thinking about church as just what's in it for me, but they're recognizing this is a time where they want to lean in and say, 'We want to be generous for what our church is doing and continue to support our ministries.'"

When the in-person services were stopped, many churches turned to online and social media options. Fortunately for Alice Drive, it was already well-versed in producing services online.

"We had already been doing online, and we actually hired a part-time online minister to do that for us," Smith said. "So we're really thankful God led us in that direction because we didn't have to scramble at the last minute to try to figure out how to do it."

As one might expect, the numbers of those participating online have increased dramatically. Prior to the shutdown, Smith said the church had an average of about 350 devices linked to the services. Since then, it is between 1,000 and 1,200 on a Sunday.

The good thing, Smith said, is it's not just locals watching the services.

"What's amazing is I know of a couple of situations where some smaller churches, like in Oklahoma and Florida that have not reopened, they have some family connections, so they're watching us online, which is just like amazing to me," Smith said. "We have a thing that shows you the geographic cluster, and there's like 20 devices in northeast Oklahoma that watch us every Sunday."

Smith said he knows the church is being watched by those living overseas, as well, and that's likely due to the church's military connections with Shaw Air Force Base.

"That's really humbling," Smith said of the services being viewed in countries such as England, Afghanistan and Qatar.

Along with the Sunday and Monday services, Alice Drive also has student meetings outdoors on Wednesdays and also holds small "life groups" meeting in person and via Zoom, as well.

Smith doesn't see any increase in services at the church happening at this time.

"Right now, we're probably going to stay right where we are, and we're just looking for signs that the infection rate goes down and the death rate goes down," Smith said. "And at that point, then we'll probably consider moving back to having Sunday morning groups. But right now, putting people in small rooms in small groups may not be the wisest thing for us."

As people deal with the pandemic and other issues, such as movements against systemic racism and racial injustice, taking place in the country, Smith thinks being connected with the Lord is imperative.

"People need to be responsible for caring for their whole soul," he said. "So they need to be wise about how they take care of their body, but they also need to be nurturing that spiritual relationship they have with the Lord. This is a time to really stay connected to a church or get connected to a church, get connected to whatever gives you some spiritual hope. And that has to be something that right now is intentional because there is just so much going on that wants to rob us of our hope."

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Church amid COVID-19: Alice Drive Baptist's readiness for online services connects families across the world - Sumter Item

Letter: Liberal representatives have lost their way – Opinion – Lincoln Courier

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TuesdayAug4,2020at9:45AM

Our liberal members of the U.S. House of Representatives have lost their ethics. Attorney General Barr was recently invited to testify before the House Judiciary Committee for a so-called "hearing." Mr. Barr was confronted with incendiary questions from liberal committee members and each time he responded, these Congressmen rudely interrupted him by stating, "I am reclaiming my time". This charade was planned to embarrass him while providing committee members an opportunity to promote their own views. Thoughtful people can see through these shameful actions.

Do we want these people representing us in Congress? They are supposed to do the legislative work of our country but all they do is use their positions to promote their political bias. What a disgraceful scene watching the behavior of Chairman Nadler and others.

Mr.Nadler even had the audacity to suggest that the Portland demonstrators were peaceful. Did he miss seeing the demonstrators throwing rocks and bottles, and blinding three federal agents with lasers pointed at their eyes?

Liberal Congressmen are more concerned with the "rights" of the mob than they are in supporting police and federal agents. The federal government has every right to protect property. Since when are riotous mobs allowed to destroy anything they please?

Lady Justice has lost control. Yet, this is an election year and voters can support law and order candidates. Lets restore Lady Justice to her throne by defeating anti-law and order lawmakers. Support your vote with discerning analysis of the candidates and oppose liberal destroyers of democracy and freedom.

Imee Miedema, Springfield

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Letter: Liberal representatives have lost their way - Opinion - Lincoln Courier

Roberts is no GOP villain or liberal savior. Hes a dyed-in-the-wool conservative – The Boston Globe

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The latest GOP jeers came after an order from the Court late last Friday rejecting a bid by a Nevada church to block state COVID-19 attendance restrictions, which impose tighter limits on churches than on businesses like casinos. Like most summary orders, the justices gave no reason for siding against the church, but Roberts joined the more liberal justices in the vote.

That spurred Republicans to pounce, blasting Roberts for failing to zealously guard what they view as religious rights.

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas tweeted that Roberts abandoned his oath and suggested that churches would be better served by the court if they set up craps tables.

Earlier the year, Roberts also joined the courts liberals in turning aside abortion restrictions enacted in Louisiana, citing court precedent. Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri threw down a new gauntlet. I will vote only for those Supreme Court nominees who have explicitly acknowledged that Roe v. Wade is wrongly decided, Hawley told The Washington Post. By explicitly acknowledged, I mean on the record and before they were nominated.

Trump explicitly made Robertss vote an election battle cry, tweeting: Wow! Win in 2020!

But ironically, the Republican ire gives Roberts political cover to be the conservative he has long shown himself to be.

Because what he wants people to do is think the court is a nonpolitical institution that isnt beholden to the Republican Party, said Tom Goldstein, a veteran Supreme Court practitioner and cofounder of the SCOTUSblog website. So weirdly, the more he is attacked for not advancing their agenda, the more he accomplishes one of his goals. He cares enormously about the institution and how its perceived, and about its legitimacy.

And by careful managing of the publics perceptions and expectations of the court, Roberts can lead it through a tumultuous election year, with plenty of time to spare in his still-young tenure to steer the court firmly to the right.

A close look at last weeks vote by Roberts, along with other votes he cast with the liberal justices of the court this term, reveals no leftward shift in the chief justices jurisprudence, but rather what appears to be a knack for avoiding political firestorms and biding time to bring his true judicial conservatism to bear.

Yes, he was the deciding vote that kept Trump from nixing the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals order, or DACA, protecting young Dreamers from deportation. But only on a technicality, ruling simply that Trump didnt follow statutory rules governing how to dismantle the program.

He declined to give Trump blanket immunity against subpoenas from House Democrats and New York prosecutors seeking the presidents tax returns and other financial documents. But in the process, Roberts narrowed the scope of lawmakers ability to act as such a check on the executive.

He sidestepped attempts by his fellow conservative justices to add gun rights to the docket and restrict abortion rights, but those issues remain teed up for a less politically fraught moment in the future when the right cases appear. Roberts has already made clear what side hell be on when hes ready to cast substantive votes on those issues, as well as votes on voting rights, affirmative action, and immigration.

He is a dyed-in-the-wool conservative, said Melissa Murray, a constitutional law expert at New York University School of Law. His carefully cast votes, she said, give John Roberts more cover to be conservative.

That means progressives who want long-term protection of reproductive rights, voting rights, and gun control shouldnt confuse the GOPs impatience with Roberts as victory. The onus lies on Democrats to roll up their legislative sleeves and be as effective as Republicans have been in convincing voters that the control of the Supreme Court is a crucial campaign issue. Because when Roberts has enough political cover to be his true ideological self, progressives will likely no longer be cheering.

Editorials represent the views of the Boston Globe Editorial Board. Follow us on Twitter at @GlobeOpinion.

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The Fragility of the Liberal Democracies and the Challenge of Totalitarianism – Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

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Institute for Contemporary Affairs

Founded jointly with the Wechsler Family Foundation

During the Spring and Summer of this year, the world experienced violent civil disturbances, which have both political and social dimensions. Such events have destabilized the liberal democracies of the United States, the United Kingdom, and even now, in Israel. These outbursts have taken place against the background of the Covid-19 lockdowns and the ensuing hardship caused by the disruption of commerce, unemployment, and a sense of demoralization. Disparate as they may seem, these developments share several common characteristics, such as the attempts by well-organized political groups to by-pass the results of fair and free elections and seize power by gradually weakening the institutions of authority, such as the educational system and the judiciary, whose purpose is to preserve the values and legal relationships within a state. These groups have adopted a long-term strategy of delegitimization and decomposition, combined with continuous agitation and violent confrontations. As part of their strategy, they direct their attacks against a democratic government and its elected leaders.

The functional definition of a democracy is a government whose leaders are elected through free and fair elections.1 Additional benefits of life in a modern democracy include a free civil society, competitive politics, fiscal transparency, equality under law, cultural pluralism, and respect for human rights particularly those of women.2 Recent scholarship affirms that the concept of equality also includes some equality of material conditions and recognizes a link between income and political stability.3 Many respected commentators have regarded education as the basic requirement of democracy, because there is a correlation between the level of education and a higher standard of living.4

During the 1930s, the Soviet Union introduced and perfected the practice of continuous propaganda and political agitation. This method was originally based on the principles of commercial advertising which included the constant repetition of political messages. In fact, political groups of both the Right and the Left used this approach. Indeed, the Nazi seizure of power in 1933 and the destruction of the Weimar Republic in Germany provide the most dramatic example of a determined and unscrupulous adversary using the weapon of political warfare in order to dismantle a liberal democracy. With the support of the Bolsheviks, the Nazis destroyed a liberal democracy in Germany, a country once thought to be among the most cultured and advanced of the era.5 These developments demonstrate that modern liberal democracies are fragile and must be defended.

The murder of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, triggered rioting, looting, and arson across the United States. Shortly afterward, the mob violence took on a life of its own, independent of the act of police brutality. It became evident that an underground leadership structure had already been in place and set in motion a wave of violence whose destructiveness was unforeseen. This leadership was prepared to use continuous violence and mayhem. Their revealed intention was to destroy the existing system, its legal structure, and accepted norms of lawful behavior. In addition, one of their methods was to attack the symbols of both contemporary authority and national heritage.6 Some of their attitudes are associated with secular messianism, including the rejection of the existing present, the demand for revolutionary change (not bureaucratic reform), and a quick and immediate revolution. This group claims the certain knowledge that their way is the only way to the truth.7

Historians of the French Revolution, such as Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) and Crane Brinton (1889-1968), have researched the climate of ideas that preceded revolutions in general and the French Revolution in particular. Understanding this type of slow-moving history is helpful for our appreciation of the recent events in the United States and other countries, such as Israel. Drawing upon previous examples, Crane Brinton adopted the expression, the desertion of the intellectuals to describe critically important changes of collective mood before a major upheaval:

.The bulk of those who at the higher levels of culture wrote, taught, preached, acted on the stage, wrote and played music, practiced the fine arts and the bulk of their audience clearly felt that the government, the political, social, and economic institutions under which they lived were so unjust that a root-and-branch reform was necessary. To put it simply, these intellectuals were disloyal toward existing legal authority.8

One of Tocquevilles important findings was that in the era before the French Revolution, wider circles of the educated public increasingly maintained that the government did not function equitably. However, at the same time, material economic conditions were actually improving. The observations of both Crane Brinton and Alexis de Tocqueville may well apply to the present situation in America.

During the post-World War II era in the United States, several cultural and political currents became embedded in the national consciousness, sometimes in the background and occasionally, prominently in highly divisive and emotional manifestations. For example, in the 1960s and seventies, the struggle for civil rights and the opposition to the war in Vietnam resulted in a general distrust of authority. Furthermore, both civil rights and anti-war activities brought about new methods of resistance, passive and militant. In many ways, this legacy of civil disobedience of the sixties has persisted.

In the United States, it has been assumed that the creation of wealth is good for society, especially if through hard work and resourcefulness, one could achieve the American Dream. Nonetheless, for the past decade, life has become complicated for many young adults. Many are underemployed and carry the burden of debt which they incurred paying their university tuition. They may harbor feelings of unfulfilled expectations, have problems of loneliness and credit card debt, and take opiates, drugs, and pain-killers. Their growing numbers show an increasingly dissatisfied group in society whose presence must be taken into account.

In addition, there has been a lack of civility in the public discourse, which characterized the primaries in the Spring of 2020. Within a broader context, this campaign reflected the outlook of President Barack Obama, who distanced himself from the idea of American exceptionalism and downplayed the vital contribution of personal initiative, which traditionally had been considered a typically American virtue. For example, during a campaign speech in Roanoke, Virginia, on July 13, 2012, President Obama boldly castigated businesses and the wealthy, asserting, You didnt build that!9 While he explained that the success of individuals depends on society, friendships, and infrastructure, the brutality of his accusation was shocking.

During the campaign preceding the primaries of 2020, many arguments of the different candidates were aggressive and simplistic, using promises of material benefits to all if the candidates won. The position of the two leading Democratic party candidates, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, was that something was intrinsically wrong with a system that enabled the building of great private fortunes and that the true measure of social justice should be an equality of material outcomes.

Leon Cooperman, the founder of the Omega Advisors investment firm in New York City and an identified Jewish philanthropist, challenged Elizabeth Warrens arguments. Interviewed on television, Cooperman declared that he earned his fortune honestly and paid his taxes. After paying taxes on his gainful earnings, he had the right to share them as he wished, and in any case, his family trust would make sure that his assets would be used for philanthropic purposes. In fact, Cooperman was in tears and challenged Elizabeth Warren to a debate. She never responded.

Similarly, the former Mayor of New York, Rudi Giuliani explained in an interview that the taxes of the wealthy provide for the needs of the indigent. More recently, on July 17, 2020, the headline of the New York Post proclaimed, AOCs proposed billionaires tax would spur an exodus of the wealthy from New York, report says.10

These opposing outlooks have not been reconciled and remain an open question to be decided either through peaceful dialogue or in a war on the streets. Another significant and related development has appeared in the statements of several billionaires. For example, Jamie Dimon, Chief Executive Officer of J. P. Morgan; Ray Dalio, Manager of the Bridgewater Associates hedge-fund; Bill Gates; and Warren Buffet, lamented the big gap between the super-wealthy entrepreneurs and ordinary Americans. Gates and Buffet took the initiative by launching the Giving Pledge, an open invitation for billionaires, or those who would be if not for their giving, to publicly commit to giving the majority [or at least half] of their wealth to philanthropy.11

In his essay, Diplomacy Then and Now, first published in 1961, Harold Nicolson (1886-1968) analyzed the social divide between the haves and the have-nots. More than half a century later, his words retain their value and aptly describe the current debate in the United States and other liberal democracies:

.It is easy enough to convince uneducated people that they are being exploited or suffering humiliations and oppression. It is more difficult to preach to them the rewards of freedom. People who have been convinced that their rights have been disregarded will be glad to throw stones at windows or to overturn motor cars; the doctrine of individual liberty inspires no such acts of passion. We are at a disadvantage when it comes to applying propaganda to the have-nots. Dollars are not always enough; and the fact that our doctrine appeals more to the privileged classes is a fact, which cannot be exploited or even avowed.12

We have noted the correlation between democracy and education, an observation that dates back to the founding of political science in antiquity. Harold Nicolsons remarks remind us of this. However, he has pointed out that the opposite is also true: the uneducated, who can easily be incited, have the power to prevent the enjoyment of the rewards of freedom.

According to Marxist-Leninist doctrine, the goal of organized mob violence is to foment a state of civil war, which will lead to revolution and overthrowing the system. The would-be revolutionaries in the United States did so well that their success exceeded their expectations. They created no-go zones in Seattle and Atlanta. Peaceful demonstrators tried to burn St. Johns Episcopal Church, the Church of Presidents, at Lafayette Park, one block from the White House, and then they began tearing down statues of the heroes of American history.

The symbolic meaning of tearing down statues is not generally appreciated. This destructive act shows contempt for the heroes of American history who traditionally have been venerated. Beyond the shock value, imposing a new official narrative of the past has a distinctly totalitarian dimension. Changing heroes into villains effectively amounts to the rewriting of history and a type of thought control. Rewriting history by using the propaganda of the deed is an act of totalitarian aggression. The destruction of statues of public heroes may be compared to book burning, just as burning a church is a statement comparable to the burning of other houses of worship, such as synagogues. As George Orwell describes in Nineteen-Eighty-Four, taking over the past is the prelude to dominating the present: Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.13

To understand the seriousness of these recent events, we must place them in the context of modern political thought. At the beginning of the modern era, Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), wrote his famous work, Leviathan, first published in 1651. He described an implicit social contract between the subjects and a monarch, whereby individuals entrust the prerogative of self-protection to the state, which in turn accepts the obligation of policing and protection of property. This covenant is the cornerstone of society.14

According to Hobbes, compulsion is necessary in order to cause men to respect their covenants. Political scientist George Sabine (1880-1961) explained that The performance of covenants may be reasonably expected only if there is an effective government which will punish non-performance. In the words of Hobbes,

Covenants without the sword, are but words, and of no strength to secure a man at all.

The bonds of words are too weak to bridle mens ambition, avarice, anger, and other passions, without fear of some coercive power.15

Mayors of several major cities and governors of states where destruction, violence, looting, and arson took place, chose not to act and ordered the police and firefighters to stand down. Such inaction created a condition of anarchy, leaving the public without protection. Instead of using the force of law, these officials betrayed the covenant, which for centuries provided the foundations of society and the rule of law (in the Judeo-Christian tradition). For this reason, the moral shock resulting from the outbreak of mob violence, which was not put down, may have been worse than the actual damage caused by the rioters. To paraphrase Harold Nicolson, the exercise of authority became unpredictable and too uncertain to give its decisions the inevitability of public law.16

What happened in America shows the fragility of the democratic system, and particularly, its vulnerability. Given the cowardice of the authorities, had the revolutionaries acted with greater determination, the outcome could have been a disaster. To use the expression of Edmund Burke, this time the insurrectionists lacked the energy and vigour that is necessary for great evil machinations.17 The first time around, the results were seriously harmful. The second and third times, the outcome may well be a complete revolution and regime change.

We live in an age of globalization, rapid communication, and until recently easy travel. Therefore, we must understand how recent developments in one country can influence the domestic politics of another. For example, recent events in the United States have affected the United Kingdom and Israel. Not so long ago, one spoke of lone wolf terrorism, whereby individuals, influenced by their environment and the media, carried out supposedly isolated acts of terror and murder. However, the more recent violence reflects the increasing influence of the social media upon the dominant environment of political thought and action.

The work of American journalist and senior editor of the Readers Digest, Eugene H. Methvin, who studied the riots of the sixties and enjoyed close ties with the law enforcement community, is helpful in understanding current events. Methvin specialized in mob violence and the methods used by its perpetrators. He pointed out that among the highest priorities of the rioters were paralyzing police authority and creating an atmosphere which signals anarchy:

While agitators keynote the crowd, young hoodlums and criminals probe and test, and police fail to respond, advertising a moral holiday. Prankish teenage boys and hardened rowdies start by throwing rocks and bottles. If police cannot or do not respond, the paralysis of authority signals anarchy. Behind the window-smashers, looters, and street-fillers, the fire-bugs go to work.18

The work of an Israeli scholar also is helpful. After the passage of General Assembly Resolution 3379, Zionism is Racism, on November 10, 1975, the Information Department of the Jewish Agency commissioned a series of studies on what became known as the New Antisemitism. Ehud Sprinzak, a member of the Department of Political Science of the Hebrew University, examined the process of delegitimization in an original piece of scholarship, published in May 1984:

The loss of legitimacy effectively means the loss of the right to speak or debate in certain forums. When a political entity is subjected to widespread delegitimization, whatever its spokesmen have to say, is perceived as irrelevant. They are no longer accepted as partners in legitimate discourse, no matter how cogently they may express themselves. Their position resembles that of patients in a closed mental institution: once committed by the professional board of review, they are treated as mentally incompetent, no matter how cogently they may express themselves.19

Here, Sprinzak accurately describes the beginning of what is now called the Cancel Culture. For years, this totalitarian method has been used against Israel and its advocates. It now claims additional victims.

In his famous essay, The Prevention of Literature, which first appeared in January 1946, George Orwell dealt with the destructive cultural consequences of totalitarian intolerance, .To be corrupted by totalitarianism one does not have to live in a totalitarian country. The mere prevalence of certain ideas can spread a kind of poison that makes one subject after another impossible for literary purposes. Wherever there is an enforced orthodoxy or even two orthodoxies as often happens good writing stops.20

The fragility of the liberal democracies is one of the most serious problems we face. A determined enemy is attacking our traditional freedoms and the continuity of our respective political systems. There is a short distance between peaceful demonstrations, mob violence, civil war, and regime change. The dynamics of political warfare and the methods of mob violence are knowable. We must use this knowledge to safeguard our liberal democracies because this is a matter of self-defense.

* * *

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The Fragility of the Liberal Democracies and the Challenge of Totalitarianism - Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

The Rise of the Resistocrats: How Wealthy Scions Are Flocking to the Left – TownandCountrymag.com

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James Murdoch, Abigail Disney, Mary Trump

Peter Serling/2020 (Trump) ; Celeste Sloman (Disney) ; Getty Images (Murdoch)

Hands up if you had Claudia Conway, the daughter of conservative power couple George and Kellyanne Conway, emerging as a liberal poster child on your 2020 bingo card? Congratulations if you did. As chance would have it, the 15-year-old became as beloved on the left as universal healthcare thanks to a series of videos that she posted on TikTok in which she trolled the Trump administration, at one point urging her followers to leave one star reviews on all of trumps restaurants, hotels and golf courses.

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The Conways made their eldest daughter delete her social media accounts, but like any tech-savvy teen she figured out a way to outsmart her parents and returned online with a vengeance. It was a public betrayal that Mom and Dad, a political Punch and Judy show for our schismatic times, might have seen coming had they put aside their performative bickering for a minute and paid attention to the culture. After all, hardly a news cycle goes by these days without at least one dynastic turncoat or class defector breaking ranks.

Take Mary Trump, a niece of the president, who set the DC commentariat abuzz, to say nothing of the rest of the country, with the publication this summer of Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the Worlds Most Dangerous Man, a tell-all book about her estranged uncle. Following a series of exposs by members of his inner circle, Marys book, with revelations that range from the innocuous (that the president and ex-wife Ivana gave her a three-pack of underwear for Christmas one year) to the incendiary (he allegedly used his influence to have his sister Maryanne Trump Barry nominated to a position as a federal prosecutor), is seen by many on the right as nothing short of perfidy. One peer, on the other hand, welcomed the infraction.

Abigail Disney shouted into the Twitterverse, If you know Mary Trump, please put her in touch with me!!!

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Though she has not taken to social media or divulged any family secrets in print, billionaire Christy Walton, who married into the Walton clan (which owns almost half of Walmart), also raised eyebrows earlier this year, when it was revealed that she is a major donor to the Lincoln Project, a super PAC of Republican renegades (whose founders include George Conway) committed to ousting the titular head of their party.

Porter McConnell, the youngest daughter of Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, may be a true apostate. She is not only the Take on Wall Street campaign director at the nonprofit coalition Americans for Financial Reform, she has been a vociferous critic of her fathers policies. At this point shell be lucky if she gets a Christmas card, let alone underwear, from him and her stepmother, Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao.

Theres a long history of the children of the very wealthy getting progressively more progressive. I call it Rockefeller Syndrome.

The children, grandkids, and even great-grandchildren of the very wealthy are getting progressively more progressive, says David Callahan, author of The Givers: Wealth, Power, and Philanthropy in a New Gilded Age and editor of the website Inside Philanthropy. Theres a long history of it. I call it Rockefeller Syndrome.

Callahan is right to point to the idealistic young second- and third-generation donors of the 1960s and 70s who defied their archconservative families. Among them were Alida Messinger, a fourth-generation heiress to the Rockefeller fortune; her ex-husband and former Democratic governor of Minnesota Mark Dayton, an heir to the Target fortune; and Charles Pillsbury, of the foodstuffs juggernaut, who became an antiwar activist in the Vietnam era and later ran for congress as a Green Party candidate. (He lost.) His father George S. Pillsbury, a staunch Republican, finally switched parties at the age of 87 to vote for Barack Obama in 2008.

Everett Collection Inc / Alamy Stock Photo

And while he never had the deep pockets of a Rockefeller, Ron Reagan became a heretic in conservative circles for his outspoken disavowal of the GOP and embrace of atheism.

There were other rich rabble-rousers before them, of course: Nancy Cunard, the turn-of-the-20th-century patron saint of rebel heiresses, who became an ardent antifascist and civil rights activist; author Jessica Mitford, the only red in a family of fascists; and Marion Barbara Joe Carstairs, the granddaughter of Jabez Abel Bostwick, one of the founders of Standard Oil and a devout Baptist.

Joe, who inherited a vast fortune, defied convention throughout her life and enjoyed affairs with Tallulah Bankhead and Marlene Dietrich. When she settled in the Bahamas as the self-styled Queen of Whale Cay, she flouted segregated employment laws that persisted into the 60s.

Slim Aarons

Undeniably, there are more of them today, and they dont adhere to the old rule of appearing in the newspaper only for the big three milestones: birth, marriage, and death. Another beneficiary of Standard Oil money, David Kaiser, great-great-grandson of John D., was a climate change activist and critic of Exxon Mobil until his death at 50 in July.

Also in July, Disney and her brother Tim were among the 83 ultra-affluent signatories of an open letter calling for a permanent wealth tax to help coronavirus relief efforts. But not everyone is as generous with their public statements as they are with their checkbooks. As one radical scion put it, declining a request for an attributable quote, Its 2020regardless of how well intentioned you are, even the most innocuous comment will get you in trouble!

Scroll through the Federal Election Commission filings, however, and there is no shortage of next-gen Pritzkers, Strykers, Gettys, and Simonses donating to candidates who support progressive causes to effect long-term political, societal, racial, and environmental change.

Matt WinkelmeyerGetty Images

Theres even the odd Murdoch in the bunch. James Murdoch, who left one part the family business in 2018 after losing a succession battle worthy of HBO (a tale told in this summers three-part BBC documentary, The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty), and his wife Kathryn have recently used their considerable wealth to donate to Democratic Senate candidates and create the Quadrivium Foundation, which invests in evidence-based solutions to some of societys most urgent challenges, especially climate change.

The opposite, in other words, of anti-science messaging from Rupert Murdochowned news media outlets, like Fox News and The New York Post. Not surprisingly, the younger Murdoch severed his last formal link to dads News Corp. a week ago by resigning from its board, citing disagreements over certain editorial content published by the companys news outlets and certain other strategic decisions. Rupert responded with a brisk statement of his own, wishing his son the very best in his future endeavors like he was just some rank-and-filer who numbered among his employees. Still, its not like James wont make it to family reunions: he is still a beneficiary of its trust, the New York Times noted.

We are in the middle of a seismic generational transfer of wealth, says Jason Franklin, founder of philanthropic consulting company Ktisis Capital and senior adviser to the Movement Voter Project, which connects individual donors with more than 400 organizations engaged in electoral rights. We are seeing more money come into the hands of younger people who are increasingly connected to the kind of movement conversations that are bubbling up today.

Perhaps none more than Leah Hunt-Hendrix, an Occupy movement activist and the philanthropic powerhouse behind Way to Win, a donor collaborative that transcends candidate races by also funding progressive policies like the Green New Deal and expanding access to the ballot box through structural reforms. The younger generation is more progressive in general, and so it stands to reason that younger donors are too, she says. We have raised $80 million in the last couple of years, and Way to Win and Solidaireanother community of donors that she co-founded, in 2012, to provide resources to social movementsare testament to the fact that theres a set of philanthropists who are willing to dig into the root causes of the problems we face today.

Slaven VlasicGetty Images

Hunt-Hendrix was born into the philanthrosphere. Though she is the granddaughter of Texas oil tycoon and ultraconservative donor Haroldson Lafayette Hunt Jr. (and niece of Nelson Bunker Hunt, who bankrolled a lot of the New Right in the 1970s, including the John Birch Society), she learned at the feet of her mother Helen LaKelly Hunt, who rebelled against her family, decamped to New York, fell in with the womens movement, became friends with Abigail Disney and Gloria Steinem, and founded the New York Womens Foundation and Women Moving Millions. Shes an incredible organizer, says Hunt-Hendrix. I have definitely followed in her footsteps.

As Callahan notes in The Givers, the swelling ranks of capable do-gooder heirs brings to mindand not without a hint of concernthe Guardians in Platos Republic, an unelected elite chosen at birth to serve the common good. But unlike Platos ruling class, who were scrupulously educated to fulfill their obligations, todays genetic lottery winnersespecially those not lucky enough to be guided by parents like Hunt-Hendrixsare increasingly turning for guidance to networks such as One for Democracy, which asks pledgers to donate 1 percent of their assets to democratic efforts, and Resource Generation, which has 600 members, almost all under 35, who come from families with fortunes that put them in the countrys top 10 percent.

Im a huge believer in these networks, says Hunt-Hendrix, who temporarily ditched grad school at Princeton to go to the West Bank after she met an inspiring woman at a Resource Generation gathering. Philosophically, I believe that you become who you surround yourself with, and these networks allow you to surround yourself with people who are on the same path, and share the same values. Its very scary at first, though. Its so strange to look around the room and worry that all we have in common is that we have wealthy parents.

LAURA RICKETTS

INSTRUCTOR: The openly gay daughter of Joe Ricketts, the conservative billionaire who owns the Chicago Cubs.

CASE STUDY: Dad tried to unseat President Obama; Laura was one of Obamas top bundlers.

THE LESSON: Learn to play defenseto cover up for toxic relatives.

PORTER McCONNELL

INSTRUCTOR: Mitch McConnells daughter.

CASE STUDY: The Senate majority leader favors financial deregulation. Porter is campaign director of the coalition Take on Wall Street.

THE LESSON: Time your attacks for maximum impact, like during Senate confirmation hearings.

MARK DAYTON

INSTRUCTOR: An heir to the Target Corporation department store fortune.

CASE STUDY: In the 60s Dayton was a vocal antiwar protester, while his father Bruce sat on the board of directors of Honeywell, a major defense contractor.

THE LESSON: When in doubt, marry a Rockefeller!

ALFRED FORD

INSTRUCTOR: Great-grandson of Henry Ford.

CASE STUDY: Alfred got lost in his own root chakra, changed his name to Ambarish Das, and donated millions to the Hare Krishnas.

THE LESSON: Drive the family even crazier by adopting a spiritual persona. Namaste!

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The Rise of the Resistocrats: How Wealthy Scions Are Flocking to the Left - TownandCountrymag.com

Liberals, Conservatives see drop in donations during height of COVID-19 pandemic – CBC.ca

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Canada's two main federal political parties took in less money from individual donations during the second quarter of this year compared withthe same time in 2018 the last non-election yearas the financial slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

According to financialreturns released by Elections Canada this week, the Liberals and Conservatives together raised more than$6.2million in donations between April and June of this year, which is almost $3millionless thanthey raised during the same period in 2018.

Donations are always highest during election years, so comparisons with 2019 would not be relevant.

The drop in donations coincides with the period when the economy came to a virtual standstill as Canadians stayed home to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Conservatives led the pack by pulling in donations from individualstotalling more than$3.5millionin the second quarter of 2018. The party also received about$436,000 in transfers from candidates in its ongoing leadership campaign, for a total of just over $4 million. Theparty raised more than$6 millionfrom bothdonations and transfers during the same period in 2018.

The Liberals pulled in $2.6 million in individual donations this year, compared withjust under$3.1 million in 2018.

The three smaller parties,meanwhile, saw theirdonation totals increase compared with2018.

The New Democratic Partyreceived $1.3 million this year compared withjust $872,000 two years ago, while the Bloc Qubcoisreceived $131,000 in donations, up from a meagre $42,000 two years ago.

The Green Party took in more than$633,000 from individuals and more than$87,000 from its leadership candidates for a total of slightly more than $721,000, up from $572,000 two years ago.

The numbers offer the first significant look into how the pandemic has affected the fundraising efforts of federal political parties.

The $8.2million raisedby all parties from individual donations between April and Juneis a slight decrease from the approximately $8.4million they raised during the firstquarter between January and March. A CBC News analysis found that March 2020 when the novel coronavirus began to shut down businesses and schools in Canada appears to have been the worst March for fundraising in Canadasince March 2006.

Parties had to halt their in-person fundraising events in March after the country went into lockdown. Emails and other messages soliciting money from donors were also temporarily suspended or altered to encourage people to pitch in only if they could.

"We know that not everyone is in a position to give right now, and that's OK. Your involvement means the world to our whole team and we're so grateful to have you standing with us no matter what," one Liberal party email sent in May told supporters.

"If you're able, though, please show your support and chip in $5 today to support our progress for Canadians (or whatever amount feels right for you at the moment)."

These messages have shifted in recent weeks to more traditional pushes for support as pandemic restrictions have lifted and businesses have started reopening.

The Conservatives have also begun asking party faithful to chip in to an "early election fund," with the message that the Liberals "could call an election at any time."

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Liberals, Conservatives see drop in donations during height of COVID-19 pandemic - CBC.ca

Polls suggest Liberals would still win an election despite WE controversy but only if the bleeding stops – CBC.ca

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After soaring in the polls for months thanks to the government's handling of the pandemic, support for the federal Liberals is now taking a hit from the WE Charity controversy.

But that outbreak-induced polling surge has provided Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with a bit of a cushion one that likelywould still win him an election if one were held today.

That may not be the case for very long if the Liberals can't arrest their slide in the polls, however.

After COVID-19 shut the country down, the Liberals saw their support increase significantly. It rose from just under 30 per cent in early March to over 40 per cent at the beginning of June, according to the CBC's Poll Tracker.

Since then, the Liberals have been dropping.

Four different pollsters have conducted surveys since July 13, when Trudeau first apologized for his failure to recuse himself from the decision to award the WE Charity the contract for a summer student grant program. They've all recorded drops in Liberal support.

Compared to surveys conducted before July3 when the government announced it was dropping its partnership with WE and the ethics commissioner said he was looking into the matter Abacus Data put the Liberals down four percentage points in its latest poll. The Innovative Research Group (IRG) had the Liberals down just a single point, while EKOS Research recorded the Liberals slipping six points.

The most recent survey, by Lger, put the Liberals down five points since the end of June ending a remarkably steady stream of polls showing the Liberals hovering around the 40 per cent mark.

On average, these four pollsters have put the Liberals down four points compared to pre-WE polling. The Conservatives, New Democrats and Bloc Qubcoiseach haveaveraged a gain of one point.

The Poll Tracker which is designed to react more slowly to new trends outside of the urgency of an election campaign has the Liberals down 2.3 points since their peak in early June.

Trudeau's own personal ratings have taken a bigger hit. According to Nanos Research's rolling four-week poll, Trudeau is the preferred choice as prime minister of 34 per cent of Canadians. That's down seven points from mid-June. The Angus Reid Institute (ARI), which pegged Trudeau's approval rating at 55 per cent in May, now puts it at 44 per cent.

It's clear that the WE controversy is at the root of this drop in support for both Trudeau and the Liberals. Among those polled by IRG who said they had read, heard or seen something about the prime minister in recent days, 72 per cent pointed to the WE controversy and among those people, 66 per cent said it gave them a less favourable impression of Trudeau, compared to just five per cent who said it improved their image of him.

While these shifts in public opinion are significant, they nevertheless leave the Liberals in a better position now than they were before the COVID-19 outbreak.

In early March, the Poll Tracker put the Liberals two percentage points behind the Conservatives in national support. The Poll Tracker currently puts theLiberal lead over the Conservatives at10 points. Even the worst recent poll for the Liberals still gave them a lead of three points.

With a 10-point lead, the Liberals would be favoured to win a majority government. But even if that lead was reduced to three points, the party likelywould still win a bigger minority government than the one it currently has(the Liberals lost the popular vote by 1.3 percentage points last October, after all).

Trudeau's own approval had fallen to 33 per cent in ARI's polling in February. It was 35 per cent just before the last election. While the prime minister's latest result of 44 per cent approval is the outcome ofa big reduction over the last few weeks, it's a number Trudeau would have been lucky to get last fall.

The reason that the picture for the Liberals is rosierthan it otherwise mightbe is that the governing party's main opponent is not taking advantage of its current troubles.

The Conservatives have the same level of support in the Poll Tracker now thatthey did when the Liberals were at their pandemic peak. No national poll has awarded them more than 31 per cent support among decided voters in over three months.

Regionally, the party is trailing the Liberals by double digits in the key battlegrounds of Ontario and British Columbia and has less support in Quebec than it did last fall.

The Conservatives' current lack ofa permanent leader undoubtedly is a handicap. Andrew Scheer, who announced in December he would resign once his replacement was chosen, has only become less popular since losing the election in October.

But it's not a given that his replacement will be better placed to capitalize on Liberal woes. Polling by Lger in June found that former cabinet minister Peter MacKay scored no better than a generic Conservative leader. Ontario MP Erin O'Toole, the other front-runner in the party's leadership race, did worse.

The latest survey from IRG found that fewer than 20 per cent of respondents held a favourable view of the two Conservative front-runners. Polls suggest Derek Sloan and Leslyn Lewis, the other two contestants, remain largely unknown to voters.

If the Liberals halt their slide in the polls, they could end the summer in a relatively decent position perhaps a better one than they could reasonablyhave expected to be in at the beginning of 2020.

But how likely is it that the party can stop the bleeding?

According to ARI, just 29 per cent of Canadians see the WE controversy as "overblown" and just 12 per cent believe it is a "simple mistake or error in judgment." The rest are split over whether it was criminal or merely unethical.

How that opinion splitsis important, though. It is predominantly Conservative supporters who see the government's actions as possibly criminal, while it's mostly Liberals and New Democrats who see it as unethical (but not criminal) or a simple mistake.

ARI found that Trudeau's approval ratings have taken the steepest dive among NDP and Conservativevoters. But they are still higher among these groups than they were before the pandemic.

Because of the political capital the Liberals have built up throughtheir handling of COVID-19, the party has a chance to weather this storm. While the Conservatives remain stagnant, the Liberal base is enough to win an election. The supporters they've picked up in the last few months the ones they have not lost because of the WE controversy over the last few weeks give them some wiggle room.

But the pandemic is also far from over and Canadians' views of the federal government's handling of the emergency are dimming. Lger found satisfaction with the government's management of the crisis is down six percentage points since the end of June to 73 per cent. Satisfaction with provincial and municipal handling of the outbreak has dropped just three points over that time.

And more political fallout from the WE controversy is likely; Trudeau will testify at committee on Thursday and the Bloc has announced it might try to force an election in the fall if Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau do not resign.

Still, despite the hits they've taken, the Liberals would be the favourites to win a snap vote now. But they'll lose that edge if the hits keep coming.

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Polls suggest Liberals would still win an election despite WE controversy but only if the bleeding stops - CBC.ca

Liberal or populist: Will all be revealed in ACT Three? – Stuff.co.nz

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OPINION: Rogue poll has become something of a buzzword in the last few weeks as National MPs have come to realise that the low 30s is no longer rogue. But was ACT polling at 5 per cent the most roguish element in the latest poll? Im not so sure, given that more than one recent poll had them around 3 per cent. There are surely many dismayed National voters looking for a right-wing alternative at present.

Many National voters are classic liberals. As they see liberal MPs like Amy Adams and Nikki Kaye jump off the sinking National ship and the large religious, conservative faction gain ascendancy present leader excepted they might be thinking ACT is a better fit.

But isnt ACT that tiny party full of gun nuts and obsessed with fringe issues like three strikes and charter schools? Well, yes, but it hasnt always been that way.

Maarten Holl/Stuff

Richard Prebble led ACT to early electoral success, before stepping down in 2004.

In their first election, 1996, ACT gained a whopping 6 per cent of the vote. In the next two elections, it gained over 7 per cent, with nine MPs in 2002. Im seeing a trend here: when Labour is led by a popular leader, ACTs star starts to rise.

READ MORE:* Top five contenders who could join ACT leader David Seymour in Parliament* Empower Tiwai owners to build their own transmission line - then they probably won't need to* The Detail: The two polarising referendums Kiwis will soon vote on

Some of the earlier ACT MPs Derek Quigley, Stephen Franks, Heather Roy, Deborah Coddington, Patricia Schnauer and Ken Shirley spring to mind were intelligent professionals with political experience. Yes, they espoused what I would call heartless social policies, and supported neo-liberal economic policies which benefited the few not the many, but they were consistent and said what they believed.

NZPA

Don Brash, left, and Rodney Hide in 2011, when Brash took over the party leadership from Hide.

The late left-wing commentator Bruce Jesson used to look enviously at ACTs policy-focused operation. What New Zealand needs is an ACT of the Left, he wrote in the 1990s.

And although leader Richard Prebble had been a brawler in the past, he led his MPs well and was popular with them. But in 2003 ACT MP Donna Awatere Huata was charged with fraud. Then, for reasons that I believe have never been properly explained, Prebble stood down.

Rodney Perkbuster Hide became leader and ACT slumped to 1.5 per cent in 2005. As John Key fever swept the country, ACT gained 5 MPs in 2008, but ACT had changed. It turned to populist policies such as law and order. Thank ACT for the three strikes law which seems to have had little effect on crime and charter schools.

Phil Walter/Getty Images

When John Banks led the party, he found it hard to follow some of its liberal social policies.

But worse was to come. In 2010 MP David Garrett resigned after revelations he had fraudulently obtained a passport in the name of a dead infant. Perkbuster Hide got busted for taking perks, then Don Brash launched a coup and a divided caucus elected him by one vote.

Brash couldnt even get in on the list so John Banks become leader and even right-wing columnists wrote ACT obituaries. Banks and ACT swore by charter schools, but they were an imported irrelevancy. The present Government didnt abolish them, but made them obey the rules that every other school must abide by, and the issue has largely disappeared.

Watching anti-gay Banks having to follow his liberal party line and vote for civil unions was almost as hilarious at watching present leader David Seymour address the media against gun control while the rest of Parliament was voting on the issue. ACT was the party of the 1 per cent in more ways than one.

Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

Current leader David Seymour has plenty to smile about, according to the latest polls, which could see the party crossing the 5 per cent threshold.

Until last year, that is. Seymour successfully introduced the pro-euthanasia End of Life Choice Bill, which will become law if more than 50 per cent of voters support it in September. Seymour and his small team worked on this difficult issue across party lines for a successful outcome. This is not the David Seymour that venerates charter schools with little compelling evidence, has been a self-confessed lukewarmer on climate change, and provides train-wreck viewing on Dancing with the Stars.

So the question is, if the country elects more than one ACT MP in September, will they be 1996-style discerning classical liberals of ACT One, or the vulgar ACT Two populists from the class of 2008?

Two candidates in the current top six have an interest in firearms hardly the biggest issue facing the nation. Another is focused on disability issues, and one is a musician not your usual ACT candidates, given that charter schools enrolled few students with disabilities, and that ACT wanted to cut virtually all government arts funding not so long ago.

Robert Kitchin/Stuff

Dave Armstrong: While many of us find such policies distasteful, ACT needs only 5 per cent of the country to like it to be relevant in the next Parliament.

If you look at its more recent statements, ACT would whack interest back on student loans, slash benefits to pre-Covid levels, push back Working for Families increases, scrap fees-free tertiary education, scrap government KiwiSaver contributions and eliminate research and development tax credits.

While our prime minister is treating those most affected by Covid with kid gloves, ACT Three, while hardly wearing jackboots, has at least donned the Doc Martens to give those at the bottom a decent jab.

While many of us find such policies distasteful, ACT needs only 5 per cent of the country to like it to be relevant in the next Parliament.

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Liberal or populist: Will all be revealed in ACT Three? - Stuff.co.nz

Idea of India wasnt demolished at Ayodhya. That happened in our liberal homes – ThePrint

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If Ram is the presiding deity of Ayodhya, then its political god is Lal Krishna Advani. Even though Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath are lining up for the bhoomi pujan on 5 August.

Actually, a lot of people can claim credit for bringing India to this penultimate step of bhoomi pujan before the grand Ram Mandir is built in Ayodhya Advani, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Vishva Hindu Parishad, and the Congress. But, most importantly, Indian families.

Undoubtedly, L.K. Advani not only set the ball rolling but also introduced the new language of Hindutva pride in the early 1990s. He single-handedly dismantled the word secularism from Indias aspirational pulpit, and gave it the adjective pseudo. In every stump speech from the rath, he spoke of the historical Hindu wound and made Babri Masjid a buzzword for hate in Indian living rooms.

But Indian family conversations should also be a big claimant for this credit. They kept chipping away at Indias founding narrative template. This is why scholars erred early on by locating the so-called idea of India in saving the Babri Masjid. That idea wasnt demolished at a religious site, it was taken apart brick by brick in our living rooms.

Also read: There are 3 claims to Ayodhya law, memory & faith. Its not a simple Hindu-Muslim dispute

Many in the Indian liberal commentariat have said that the demolition of the Babri Masjid was the biggest blow to Nehruvian ideals. But to invest an old dilapidated mosque with the burden of secularism and an idea of India was never going to fly. First, a religious structure cant be and shouldnt be a site to preserve secularism. Second, and more importantly, many Hindus, over generations, had been taught to view the mosque as a site of historical humiliation. They acted as mnemonic communities (thick-memory communities) self-identifying as wounded.

And that wound, reminded Arun Shourie, was strewn across India, not just Ayodhya. According to a book that he co-wrote Hindu Temples:What Happened to Them which was published much before the demolition in 1990, there are 2,000 mosques that stand on top of demolished temples. The red book listed each of these mosques with name, village and some photographs, and gave intellectual fodder to the Vishva Hindu Parishads campaign in the 1990s that said Hindus are ready to give up their claims over these 2,000 mosques if Muslims would give them the Ayodhya, Varanasi and Mathura sites.

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I visited a handful of these 2,000 mosque sites back then but found no knowledge, folklore, collective memory, let alone wounds, about demolished temples among local villagers. People did not know or did not care or had just accepted what they had inherited by way of built heritage. Popular memory is constructed through deliberate acts of retelling, which were manifest in Ayodhya, Varanasi and Mathura, but not the 2,000 sites listed in Shouries book.

Here is another way collective memory is shaped. When I visited Ayodhya a few years after the mosques demolition, I saw street vendors selling little black-and-white flip-books with two dozen picture pages. When you flipped the pages fast, you could see in motion how the Babri Masjid was razed to the ground. The last flip-book I had seen in life was one that showed Kapil Devs bowling action in the early 1980s. The Babri flip-book was being sold alongside poster images of Ram, the warrior. There were also books extolling kar sevaks who helped bring the mosque down, sort of like a demolition hall-of-fame. This is how deliberate retelling works. It can keep both wounds and triumphalism alive.

Also read: Why Mathura or Varanasi temple disputes wont go the Ayodhya way

The demolition, however, wasnt the only, or first, or the last act of vandalism against the unique Indian pluralism that Indira Gandhi called a salad bowl. (Canadians say mosaic, Americans use melting pot to describe diversity). The salad bowl had been regularly chipped away long before 1992 in deliberate family oral histories and conversations. In families, the idea of the Muslim as the eternal, unforgivable other was kept alive.

Many parentseven todaytell their children to marry anyone but a Muslim (or some version of that). My own father said this. The marigold flower was not allowed in family prayers because it was associated with Muslims. The flower even has a derogatory Tamil name that refers to it as a Turkish flower. The simple act of banishing a flower keeps the popular memory of Muslim invasion alive. In Tamil and Kannada families, you refer to Muslims not as Muslims but as Turks for the same reason. My father routinely talked about how Muslim neighbourhoods in Madurai were growing (from ten houses at the corner to the entire street now), and how Muslim women no longer wore saris like they did in his generation but had moved on to black burqas.

Casual prejudiced observations and references like these are routinely made in many Hindu families about Muslims (to emphasise what Ashutosh Varshney called their everlasting disloyalty), Christians (over religious conversions) and Dalits (over hygiene). It works the other way too. Many Muslim families also warn their children against marrying a non-Muslim. A converted Pentecostal relative of mine once said to me others wont be saved.

Also read: Ayodhya verdict & Babri demolition confirmed status of Muslims as second-class citizens

The 1992 demolition was no sudden act. All of our family conversations contributed to the pickaxes that hit the mosque in Ayodhya. It is easier to blame politicians for religious bigotry or go to Jantar Mantar with Not In My Name placards, but more difficult to look in the mirror and speak up in our families.

There will be visible triumphalism in the bhoomi pujan event this week. First, history was undone and now it will be corrected. Liberal intelligentsia will mourn and blame politicians and courts. But they will choose to be oblivious to how public history and social memory is constructed. History isnt just the sum of built heritage structures. It is also made up of intangible collective memories the stuff that is not allowed to be disremembered.

A wiser approach for liberals would be to start investing their energies in family oral histories and conversations instead.

Views are personal.

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Idea of India wasnt demolished at Ayodhya. That happened in our liberal homes - ThePrint

Brexit LIVE: Barnier reveals in private chat he’s NEVER believed UK no deal threat serious – Daily Express

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Former Brexit Party MEP Rupert Lowe has revealed he once had a conversation with the EUs chief Brexit negotiator, where Michel Barnier indicated he didnt think the UKs threats had any weight. The Brexiteer said he hopes Britain can hold its nerve against the bloc, as the talks between the two sides intensify.

Mr Lowe wrote on Twitter: When I spoke to Barnier about Brexit, it was always clear he never actually expected the UK Government to follow through.

Has the penny dropped? I really hope Frost can hold his nerve. We've played Barnier's game for far too long.

It comes as the UK prepares to host Japan for trade talks tomorrow.

Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi will fly into London tomorrow for the start of the three-day trade talks with Liz Truss, Secretary of State for International Trade.

JUST IN:Barnier fears major disruption for EU on January 1 in 39 page dossier

The Japanese Foreign Minister will stay in the UK from August 5-7, with a deal expected to be signed in just a matter of weeks.

Japan and the UK will hope to bring talks on a free trade agreement to a close this week.

Such an outcome should be achievable, as the trade deal is set to be largely replicated on the EU-Japan trade agreement, but with added bonuses for both sides.

The Japan-UK trade deal will come into force when the EU transition period ends on December 31.

Mr Motegis visit to London will be the first overseas trip made by any Japanese minister since the coronavirus outbreak.

FOLLOW EXPRESS.CO.UK FOR LIVE UPDATES:

4.30pm update: Joe Biden to 'favour US-EU deal' in major UK blow

Joe Biden could scupper a US-UK trade deal in favour of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the EU if he becomes US President, a scholar has claimed.

International Trade Secretary Liz Trussis expected to meet her US counterpart Robert Lightizer in Washington on Monday for the third round of talks to reach a trade deal between the two countries.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson put an agreement with the US at the heart of his plans to revive the British afterBrexit, and Ms Trusss decision to travel during the coronavirus pandemic highlights Londons willingness to broker a deal.

As the Brexit deadline looms closer and closer, the medicine suppliers have been warned to stockpile drugs as part of contingency plans.

The Department of Health issued a letter which read: "We recognise that global supply chains are under significant pressure, exacerbated by recent events with Covid-19.

"However, we encourage companies to make stockpiling a key part of contingency plans, and ask industry, where possible, to stockpile to a target level of six weeks total stock on UK soil."

3.20pm update: Migrants arrive in Dover after July spike

More than 1,000 migrants entered the UK throughout July and today, Border Force have stopped more people trying to illegally enter the country.

Pictures show men wearing lifejackets being brought into the Kent port via a Border Force speedboat.

The migrants are seen boarding a coach by officials in yellow vests.

3pm update: Steven Brown takes over fromEmily Ferguson

2.23pm update:Details emerge on Barnier's latest bid to avoid no deal

Details are emerging on Michel Barnier's latest compromise offer to the UK, as the EU continues to give ground in Brexit negotiations as it attempts to avoid a no deal scenario.

State aid has been one of the key issues between the two sides with Mr Johnson demanding Britain be free of EU state aid rules, environmental or social standards.

Instead of tying the UK into EU regulations and rules, Mr Barnier will present a hybrid model using an arbitration board to determine each individual case.

The concept of state aid is whereby resources are granted to companies in order to give them assistance.

EU officials have demanded an agreement on the concept in order to stop the UK from undercutting businesses to become a more attractive destination for organisations.

Although the EU may drop demands on the issue, one diplomat insisted there must be guarantees from the UK on state aid if trade to the bloc is to be maintained.

1.17pm update: Brussels dismiss calls for Brexit deal to be rewritten

The European Commission has rejected calls for the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement to be rewritten after senior Tories complained it could leave the UK liable for 160 billion of unpaid loans.

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the deal means we are "hooked into the EU's loan book".

But Brussels said the commitments made in the Withdrawal Agreement - the divorce deal signed by Boris Johnson and the 27 EU members - are reasonable and will stand.

Commission spokesman Eric Mamer insisted that the Withdrawal Agreement is a "firm document" which is not going to be rewritten.

He said: "I think it's very clear that we are not going to get into a debate with British politicians on liabilities or any other of the provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement.

"The Withdrawal Agreement is there, it is now a firm document that has been accepted by both parties and it is the basis on which both sides are acting.

"In this document it is clear that that the United Kingdom has taken a certain number of completely normal legal commitments when it comes to its share of liabilities related to loans that would have been given by the EIB whilst the UK was still a member of the European Union."

12.23pm update:Government braced for six months of Dover border chaos

Ministers have admitted they are braced for six months of significant border disruption at Dover at the conclusion of the EU transition period, new documents reveal.

The new document lays bare concerns over the looming prospect of a no deal Brexit, warning that disruption to cross-Channel travel is expected until the middle of next year - and could last until October 2021 in the worst-case scenario.

The document said delays would be caused by "low levels of border readiness" among lorry drivers and warned that "significant numbers" could be stopped by the French authorities.

11.15am update:Should Boris Johnson call Michel Barnier's bluff and force no deal?

Express.co.uk is asking its readers whether you think Boris Johnson should call Mr Barnier's bluff and force a no deal? Vote in our exclusive poll.

10.48am update: Scotland to lose 4billion over Brexit

A bombshell report from experts at Warwick University has found people were left up to 9,000 worse off since the date of the controversial vote to leave the European Union despite most of Scotland voting in favour of staying in the EU.

The study found Aberdeen had been hit the hardest as it lost more than 2billion leaving the city 9,000 worse off per head of population.

This was despite less than 39 percent of the electorate voting to leave the EU.

Across Scotland on average, the study found the country had lost 736 per head of population as a result of Brexit whilst Orkney where the Prime Minister recently visited would be about 3800 worse off.

In total, Scotland lost 3.94billion since the 2016 vote up to 2019.

9.55am update:Government urges companies to stockpile medicines

The Government has warned pharmaceutical companies in the UK to stockpile six weeks' worth of drugs in preparation for the end of the Brexit transition period in December.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) wrote a letter to medicine suppliers encouraging them to prioritise stocking their reserves to protect against any disruption that may happen in January.

The letter advised the companies to prepare for all scenarios when the UK leaves the Brexit transition period.

It highlighted the concerns around how the coronavirus crisis has caused a dwindling of some medical stocks.

8.54am update:EU could accommodate Britiain in Brexit negotiations

The EU could accommodate Britain in the struggle for a trade agreement, according to EU insiders.

The examination of state aid for British companies would not have to be implemented according to EU rules, EU diplomats said on Monday to the Reuters news agency.

Instead, a kind of arbitration board could be used as a compromise.

However, this must be based on fixed framework conditions and monitored independently, a diplomat said.

The question of fair competitive conditions for companies on both sides of the channel is a central issue in the deadlocked negotiations.

The 27 EU states have demanded guarantees from the British if they want to continue selling goods on the continent.

However, Boris Johnson does not want to be subject to EU aid rules, environmental or social standards.

Additional reporting by Monika Pallenberg

8.30am update: Britons fled to Europe after 2016 Brexit vote

The number of Britons emigrating to the EU has risen by 30 percent since the 2016 vote, with half making their decision to leave in the first three months after the referendum.

Migration from Britain to the EU averaged at 56,832 people a year in 2008-15, rising to 73,642 a year in 2016-18, according to analysis by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Eurostat.

The research found a large increase in Britons who made the move and then took up citizenship in an EU state.

Germany saw a 2,000 percent rise, with 31,600 Britons becoming a citizen there since the referendum.

Co-author Daniel Tetlow said Brexit was by far the most dominant driver of migration decisions since 2016.

Link:

Brexit LIVE: Barnier reveals in private chat he's NEVER believed UK no deal threat serious - Daily Express

Tuesday briefing: Britons flee Brexit by the thousands – The Guardian

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Top story: Exodus akin to economic or political crisis

Good morning, Warren Murray bringing you the headlines this Tuesday morning.

The number of British nationals emigrating to other EU countries has risen by 30% since the Brexit referendum, to a level akin to a country experiencing economic or political crisis, experts have found. Analysis of data from the OECD and Eurostat shows the number leaving was 73,642 a year in 2016-18, with a 500% increase in those who then took up citizenship in an EU state. In Germanys case 31,600 Britons have naturalised since the referendum a 2,000% rise. The biggest jump in migration has been to Spain, followed by France.

The withdrawal agreement signed in January enshrines residency, work and social rights of EU citizens in the UK and Britons in the bloc, but failed to guarantee the free movement rights of British migrants restricting future employment and residency prospects in other member states. Unless British nationals take out citizenship in their host country, they can no longer work in or offer a service to another EU member state, impacting professions including accounting, law, architecture, translation and health.

Carlos gone Spains former king, Juan Carlos, has exiled himself to an as-yet-unnamed country after allegations about his finances damaged the monarchy and embarrassed his son, King Felipe.

Juan Carlos played a pivotal role in restoring democracy to Spain after the death of General Francisco Franco in 1975. He abdicated six years ago after a series of scandals including taking an elephant-hunting trip to Botswana while Spain was in the grip of financial crisis. Juan Carlos said in a letter to Felipe that he was leaving to help his son exercise his responsibilities as king.

Coronavirus latest The government has one month to significantly boost its test-and-trace systems or risk a second wave of coronavirus after schools in England reopen, researchers have warned. Dozens of leading virus experts have complained that UK testing contracts have gone on ideological grounds to private sector companies rather than being based on expertise. The government has announced new 90-minute tests but the experts from the UK Clinical Virology Network say such tests were already available, whereas the types chosen by the government are not well known.

Advertising spending across the UK media fell by more than 1bn year on year during the coronavirus lockdown, according to figures that reveal the government as the biggest advertiser during the pandemic. Activists are calling on the pharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences to develop a drug called GS-441524 that showed promise in curing cats of a coronavirus. Donald Trump has again lashed out at his own health experts while repeating his opposition to lockdowns. Keep up on coronavirus developments at our live blog in our latest global wrap, the UN has warned of a generational catastrophe as more than a billion children miss out on school, while Latin America has surpassed five million Covid-19 cases to account for nearly 30% of global infections

Health experts painkiller warning Painkillers such as paracetamol, ibuprofen, aspirin and opioids can do more harm than good and should not be prescribed for chronic primary pain, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) says. It cites little or no evidence that the commonly used drugs make any difference to quality of life, pain or psychological distress in people with long-term pain. Draft guidance, which is open to public consultation until 14 August, says people should instead be offered supervised group exercise programmes, psychological therapy or acupuncture. Antidepressants might also be considered for some people with chronic primary pain, Nice says.

Striker pose Marcus Rashfords policy-changing campaign against child poverty has helped propel the footballer on to the front cover of British Vogues September issue.

The Manchester United striker, who forced a government U-turn on the granting of free food vouchers for the poorest families over the summer, headlines a special edition dedicated to activism posing alongside Adwoa Aboah, the supermodel turned mental health activist, for the Activism Now issue.

With NHS services consumed by the fight against Covid-19 in recent months, cancer care has been dealt a blow, with diagnoses and treatment delayed.

Sorry your browser does not support audio - but you can download here and listen https://audio.guim.co.uk/2020/08/03-69879-200804TIFcancer.mp3

In its first year of existence, Extinction Rebellion transformed the global conversation around the climate crisis. But then it was gripped by internal conflicts about its next steps. Can XR reinvent itself for the post-pandemic world?

English hockey has an endemic race issue from the national team down to the club game and junior levels, and is not doing enough to attract players from more deprived areas, the sports governing body has been told in a hard-hitting letter signed by nine clubs. Pakistans head coach, Misbah-ul-Haq, believes the 17-year-old Naseem Shah is a complete bowler and is pleased with his teams preparations for the Test series, which starts at Old Trafford on Wednesday. England defender Danny Rose has said he is regularly stopped by police in his car and questioned in various scenarios that would not happen if he were a white man as he detailed his anger and exasperation at racism in the UK. Manchester United are in advanced negotiations with Borussia Dortmund to sign Jadon Sancho for an initial 100m (90m) a fee that would set a transfer record for an English player. Odell Beckham Jr, one of the NFLs biggest stars, says the season should not go ahead as the Covid-19 pandemic continues its spread across the United States. And Sky Brown, Great Britains 12-year-old world skateboarding bronze medallist, is recuperating after a horrific accident but has told the Guardian she is already thinking of next years Olympic Games.

Asian shares have risen after strong US manufacturing data and gains in tech stocks helped investors look past broader worries about the coronavirus and global economy. Oil futures gave up overnight gains to fall in Asia due to nagging worries about an increase in the supply of crude. US stock futures were 0.02% higher in Asia. The pound is worth $1.307 and 1.111 while the FTSE is pitched to open 12 points lower.

Several of todays front pages memorialise John Hume and his role in Northern Ireland peacemaking. The Guardian remembers Hume as A titan and a visionary. Our print editions top story is the theft by Russians of secret UK-US trade documents from Liam Foxs private email account. The Telegraph leads with that one too.

Differing treatments of Eat out to help out. The Metro has Rishi two-snacks noting that instead of just snagging a 50% discount, some people went two-for-one, which the paper warns will fuel the obesity crisis. The Mail confects Weve had our lunch, now lets get back to work the paper finds a striking contrast in restaurants being packed while offices are largely deserted.

Test & trace fiasco is timebomb the Mirror really ought to have chosen one derogative or the other. Having virus may earn right to roam the i is reviving the immunity passport idea (maybe well call it the travel bug). The Express says Painkillers do more harm than good and the Times has Dont give paracetamol to patients, doctors told thats about treatment of chronic pain, and the warning also covers ibuprofen, aspirin and opioids. The Timess picture slot goes to Spains runaway king-emeritus. The FT has HSBC profits plummet 96% amid pandemic crisis and US-China spat heres Larry Elliott on that one.

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Tuesday briefing: Britons flee Brexit by the thousands - The Guardian

Brexit breakthrough: Brexiteer reveals how UK will FORCE EU backdown in crunch talks – Daily Express

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Former Brexit Party MEP Ben Habib claimed the UK could get the upper hand in the Brexit trade talks with the EU as we near the end of the transition period. During an interview with Express.co.uk, Mr Habib said the UK must reject the Northern Irish protocol and prepare for a no deal Brexit. He argued the UK could still greatly thrive regardless of whether a trade deal is agreed with the EU.

Mr Habib said: "There are two things that we would need to do to put proper pressure on the EU.

"The first thing is we need to repudiate the Northern Irish protocol.

"We need to say although we signed up to it, it is actually pernicious in its terms for the sovereignty of the United Kingdom."

Mr Habib noted the UK also needed to prepare for no deal, regardless or not whether it is a likely outcome.

DON'T MISS:Brexiteer exposes heavy restraints the EU had over the UK for years

He continued: "The other thing we would need to do is prepare positively for no deal.

"One of my biggest criticisms of Theresa May and indeed the current Government is that there is no positive vision of a no deal Brexit.

"Michael Gove, who is in charge of no deal planning, is on the record a number of times saying no deal would be a disaster for the UK.

"Actually no deal could be a huge liberator for the United Kingdom."

The Brexiteer outlined some of the benefits of a no deal Brexit that have been ignored by both Theresa May and Boris Johnson's governments.

He added: "If we were to no deal Brexit, fail to get a deal with the EU, we would be able to levy tariffs on the EU.

"We run a 100 billion pound trade deficit with them so the benefit of those tariffs would favour the UK dramatically.

"We would be able to cut VAT to whatever level we want and state fund those industries in the UK we wish to protect.

READ MORE:

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"We would be able to ensure that companies and the Government bought British products ahead of buying EU manufactured products.

"We would be able to take back proper control of our borders our cash and our country."

Mr Habib argued the EU was hoping to prevent the UK from gaining control of these things.

He noted this was one of the reasons the EU was not behaving progressively in the Brexit trade deal talks.

He closed by saying: "In the absence of proper no deal preparations and in the absence of being prepared to repudiate the Northern Irish protocol, I feel the Government would be unable to get a good Brexit deal from the EU."

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Brexit breakthrough: Brexiteer reveals how UK will FORCE EU backdown in crunch talks - Daily Express

Brexit a Bigger Threat to U.K. Food Supplies Than Virus, MPs Say – Bloomberg

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Photographer: Bryn Colton/Bloomberg

Photographer: Bryn Colton/Bloomberg

A disorderly break with the European Union at the end of the year poses a bigger threat to Britains food supplies than the coronavirus pandemic that saw supermarket shelves emptied, a Parliamentary committee warned.

In a report published on Thursday, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee called on Boris Johnsons government to complete an urgent review of the food industrys resilience to shocks like Brexit and climate change. The panel singled out the importation of produce from overseas on a just-in-time basis as a particular concern.

The government cannot afford to be complacent, the report said. It should provide reassurances that food supply disruptions have been factored into contingency planning for the end of the transition period.

Origins of food consumed in the U.K. in 2018

Source: Defra

The fragility of the U.K.s food supply chain was exposed in March as the coronavirus struck Britain, leaving supermarkets struggling to replenish stocks.

Britain imports almost a third of its food from the EU, and its dependence on fruit and vegetables from the bloc is even greater. That trade is at risk of being disrupted as customs checks are reintroduced at the end of the post-Brexit transition period on Dec. 31.

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Brexit a Bigger Threat to U.K. Food Supplies Than Virus, MPs Say - Bloomberg

A Second U Expands Education Platform with Precision Nutrition, Bringing World-Class Nutrition Certification to the Foundation’s Trainers -…

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Toronto, Aug. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A Second U, a nonprofit foundation that trains formerly incarcerated people for careers in the fitness industry, announces today the expansion of its education program, which will now include nutrition certification from Precision Nutrition, the worlds largest online nutrition and healthy lifestyle coaching and certification company. Through the new partnership, A Second U trainers will gain complimentary access to the Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification. This will provide A Second U trainers with the ability to integrate nutrition coaching into their personal training programs, while also pursuing new clients as online nutrition coaches.

Jeffrey Korzenik, author of Untapped Talent: How Second Chance Hiring Works for Your Business and the Community, and chief investment strategist at Fifth Third Bank, N.A., has become an advocate of hiring practice reform that supports the employment of formerly incarcerated individuals. When reacting to the news of this partnership, he stated: The stigma of incarceration compounded by a limited education and a lack of employment history make it incredibly difficult for those with criminal records to find steady employment after re-entry. A Second U helps to remove these barriers and together with Precision Nutrition, can elevate its education offering and help these trainers not only satisfy a need for employment but also a desire for stable and fulfilling careers.

Throughout A Second Us intensive six-week program, participants class work focuses on preparation for a national certification exam, and also teaches a set of soft skills such as interpersonal skills and salesmanship. The Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification is the worlds most respected nutrition education program and provides fitness professionals and those interested in a career in health or nutrition with a deep understanding of nutrition, the authority to coach it, and the ability to turn what theyve learned into results. Combined, these two programs provide these formerly incarcerated individuals with a diversified education to help them secure and maintain employment.

Like so many formerly incarcerated individuals, I struggled to build a career aligned with my newfound passion for fitness upon re-entry and that experience inspired me to build the A Second U program. For me, education has always been key to building my confidence and establishing myself in the fitness industry. Partnering with Precision Nutrition helps A Second U expand our education program by providing myself and all of our trainers with the latest in the science of nutrition, allowing us to coach beyond fitness to better health, said Hector Guadalupe, founder of A Second U.

In addition to the Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification, each A Second U trainer will gain unrestricted access to Precision Nutritions extensive library of client-facing articles and infographics, as well as the first-hand experiences shared in the Precision Nutrition online communities.

Health and fitness professionals know that without proper nutrition, clients will struggle with weight, body composition, metabolism, and achieving their health goals. That is where Precision Nutrition's Level 1 Certification comes in, bridging the gap between nutrition, sleep, movement and stress management to create a holistic approach coaches can use to help their clients get sustainable results, said Marc Zionts, Executive Chairman of Precision Nutrition. Precision Nutrition is proud to be that bridge for the ambitious and hard-working trainers at A Second U, helping them to continue their investment in themselves and ultimately, their clients, too.

About Precision Nutrition

Precision Nutrition offers a sustainable, practice-based approach to losing fat, building strength, and getting healthy. As a global leader in providing health and fitness professionals the education, tools, and coaching they need, nearly 100,000 coaches in over 140 countries use the Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certificationalong with ProCoach, the companys proprietary coaching softwareto improve client results, increase operational efficiency, and drive business growth. Precision Nutrition offers the only nutrition certification endorsed by CrossFit, the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). The American Council on Exercise (ACE) and The National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching (NBHWC) also approve Precision Nutrition for its professionals continuing education credits.

In addition, Precision Nutrition Coaching for Men and Women is a personalized, evidence-based healthy nutrition and lifestyle program, which has been validated in multiple peer-reviewed studies and helped over 100,000 people improve their nutrition, fitness, and lifestyle. For more information, visit http://www.precisionnutrition.com.

About A Second U Foundation

A Second U Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to educate, certify, and secure employment for formerly incarcerated people as certified personal trainers. Through opportunity, empowerment, and community, they aim to eliminate recidivism or the tendency for reoffending. Since 2016, A Second Us program which combines education and mentorship has helped more than 200 individuals get certified as personal trainers. For more information, or to donate, please visit http://www.asecondufoundation.org.

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A Second U Expands Education Platform with Precision Nutrition, Bringing World-Class Nutrition Certification to the Foundation's Trainers -...