Week 1 SEC gambling odds: Alabama favored over FSU; Texas A&M, South Carolina underdogs – SECcountry.com

Posted on by

Were still nearly two months away from the kickoff of the 2017 college football season, but its never too early to start looking ahead to those opening games. The folks in Las Vegas seem to agree, as SEC gambling odds already have been released for Week 1, perBrett McMurphy:

Unsurprisingly, the Alabama Crimson Tide are the headliner for opening weekend, currently marked down as slightly more than a touchdown favorite over the Florida State Seminoles. Alabama typically comes out firing on all cylinders as evidenced by their 52-6 beatdown of eventual Rose Bowl champion USC to open last season. With that said, Nick Saban undoubtedly will remind his team of the last time the Seminoles faced off against a highly ranked SEC squad early in the year, as they mounted an incredible second-half comeback to beat Ole Miss 45-34 last year.

With the Tide leading the way, there are a few other interesting SEC odds: both Texas A&M and South Carolina open as underdogs. The Aggies will have a new quarterback (again) and will be traveling to Pasadena, Calif., to take on the Bruins, so perhaps that line should not come as much of a surprise.

The Gamecocks being nearly a touchdown underdog is somewhat surprising, however, considering the offensive talent they return. Will Muschamp, Jake Bentley and Co.have received a fair amount of buzz this offseason, so pulling off what could technically be considered an upset win could really get the hype train rolling for South Carolina.

NEXT 2017 Fantasy Football: Position rankings, sleepers, bargains, breakouts and potential busts (07/01/2017)

Read the original post:

Week 1 SEC gambling odds: Alabama favored over FSU; Texas A&M, South Carolina underdogs - SECcountry.com

NH late to the game in funding treatment for problem gamblers – Concord Monitor

Posted on by

The calls come in when Ed Talbot is counseling clients, driving back to his Madison home or browsing the produce aisle at the grocery store.

The voices on the other end are often anxious, worried, desperate. They want help for loved ones addicted to making bets, at times the callers themselves are the ones in trouble.

Talbot, who turns 75 in August, is one of their only options. The iPhone he carries with him is the states hotline for problem gamblers, which Talbot has manned since its inception two years ago.

You want to strike while the iron is hot, if they make the call you want to be able to respond, said Talbot, executive director of the states nonprofit council on problem gambling. They win the next bet, and its see you later.

Despite being the first state to profit off legalizing the lottery, New Hampshire is one of the last to dedicate a portion of earnings to help treat compulsive gamblers.

Only this year, after Republican Gov. Chris Sununu signs a bill authorizing keno, will a small percentage of the states roughly $77.5 million annual lottery profits be funneled into treatment.

Currently, no public money is earmarked to that purpose and the state has little infrastructure to help the estimated 22,000 residents believed to have gambling problems. Unlike Massachusetts, New Hampshire has never set up a process to certify gambling addiction counselors, Talbot said.

It is very disconcerting, said Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling. The state has an important role to play providing that safety net.

Compulsive gambling can be devastating and lead to bankruptcy, substance abuse, anxiety, depression and even suicide. Talbot knows all of that first hand.

Working at a dog track for more than a decade, Talbot bet on the greyhounds, a habit that slowly escalated into addiction. As he spent more and more time gambling, his home life grew worse. Talbot missed his daughters school functions and went into marriage counseling. On her deathbed in 1976, Talbots mother warned him that if he didnt stop gambling he would lose everything.

The next day she passed away and I spent the next year of my life proving her absolutely right, Talbot recalls. I lost my job, my family, I had no self esteem at all.

Using the last money he had, Talbot made his final bet in 1977. Days later, he showed up to a support group in Massachusetts. It took him the next eight years to pay off all his debts.

Now he wants to help others. A few years ago Talbot, who has had a house in the state for more than two decades, helped launch the New Hampshire Council on Problem Gambling.

I cant tell you how much better my life is, he said. All the things that I saw other people had and they loved and I couldnt understand it, I was so enraptured with gambling. Today I have those things, and I always felt I can help somebody else.

The council operates on a shoestring budget, comprised mainly of an annual $25,000 donation from the Lottery Commission. Two years ago the council submitted to the state a five-year plan to address problem gambling, but theres been no money to fund it, Talbot said.

The keno bill now requires 1 percent of the profits raised go to the states health department to help problem gamblers. Since the funding is tied to kenos popularity, its hard to tell exactly how much money will be raised.

Even then, the dollars arent necessarily a guarantee.

Almost two decades ago lawmakers decided to send 5 percent of state liquor profits into a fund for substance abuse treatment. Lawmakers then raided the fund almost every year afterward to help pay for other government functions. Amid the states ongoing opioid crisis, lawmakers two years ago slashed the funding formula to 1.7 percent. This year they raised it back up to 3.4 percent.

Its not clear how the money meant to treat compulsive gamblers will be used, but it is set to be managed by the states Department for Health and Human Services.

Few services currently exist. The National Council on Problem Gambling lists no counselors in New Hampshire. Three gamblers anonymous groups meet only in the southern tier of the state.

Though the exact number of compulsive gamblers in the state is unknown, there are signs of a problem.

Talbot estimates he gets between six and 12 calls a month. Before his phone number was publicized on the councils website, the Massachusetts helpline usually fielded between 400 and 500 calls a year from New Hampshire residents, Talbot said. Even more were directed to the National Council on Problem Gambling, which contracted with the Louisiana state helpline to cover calls from New Hampshire, according to its website.

Roughly 60 percent of adults in New Hampshire played lottery last year, according to the state Lottery Commission. In its most recent report from 2013, the National Council on Problem Gambling estimates about 2.2 percent of adults in the state had a gambling disorder.

If you think 1 percent is not that much, its a bunch of folks, said Charles McIntyre, executive director of the New Hampshire Lottery. These are problems we want to avoid.

Even though services for problem gamblers may soon become state-funded, Talbot doesnt anticipate he will stop answering the New Hampshires helpline anytime soon.

Right now the most important thing is if somebody calls they need to talk to someone, he said. That window can close.

Read more from the original source:

NH late to the game in funding treatment for problem gamblers - Concord Monitor

Fade in: Gambling. Corruption. Sin. New Vegas mob exhibit goes to the movies – Los Angeles Times

Posted on by

Las Vegas was once married to the mob, but the relationship unlike the 1988 film was anything but a comedy, a point clearly illustrated by a new exhibit at the Mob Museum.

Mob at the Movies trolls the cinematic archives to reveal how Hollywood portrayed organized crime, including the once-sinister underbelly of Sin City.

The collection includes a suit from the wardrobe department for The Sopranos as well as items from The Godfather, including a poster (in Italian) autographed by various stars. There is also an original script with notes made by the movies special effects coordinator. (Think fake blood, lots of fake blood.)

The Mob Museum

First edition of Mario Puzo's book, "The Godfather," plus the movie script and a poster can be seen through Aug. 1.

First edition of Mario Puzo's book, "The Godfather," plus the movie script and a poster can be seen through Aug. 1. (The Mob Museum)

Other films in the display are older and more obscure. For example, theres a poster from 1952s The Captive City.

The movie, which starred John Forsythe (his screen debut) and Joan Camden and was directed by Robert Wise, explored the links between gambling and corruption. Interestingly, in a poster, the movie was plugged by Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-Tenn.), who held hearings into organized crime around the country.

One of those 1951 Senate hearings was held in Las Vegas, inside whats now the Mob Museum. The courtroom used by Kefauver has been restored to its midcentury appearance.

The senator actually appeared in The Captive City. Turner Classic Movies website noted that Kefauver spoke of the evils of organized crime in a prologue and again at the end of the film.

Other oft-forgotten movies resurrected for the exhibit include Las Vegas Story starring Jane Russell, Victor Mature and Vincent Price and Las Vegas Shakedown with Dennis OKeefe and Coleen Gray.

Mob at the Movies continues through Aug. 1.

The museum in downtown Las Vegas is open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Advance tickets are $20.95, a savings of $3.

travel@latimes.com

ALSO

L.A. ranks 193rd in driver skills study. Surprised?

Yosemites busy back gate is finally cleared of snow

You could get booted from your next cruise if you ignore these rules

Kicking back this weekend? You may be making history

Continued here:

Fade in: Gambling. Corruption. Sin. New Vegas mob exhibit goes to the movies - Los Angeles Times

Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler lose big in gambling comedy ‘The House’ – Los Angeles Times

Posted on by

The House tells the harrowing tale of one young womans struggle to attend Bucknell University, despite the criminal behavior of her well-meaning but truly incompetent, irresponsible and insane parents. Saturday Night Live alumni Amy Poehler and Will Ferrell pair up as the Johansen parents in this film from Neighbors and Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates screenwriters Andrew Jay Cohen and Brendan OBrien, with Cohen making his feature directorial debut. While theres no shortage of comedy talent on screen in The House, theres a dire lack of actual laughs to be found in this strange shell of a movie.

Scott (Ferrell) and Kate (Poehler) live in a sprawling suburban McMansion and managed to get their daughter Alex (Ryan Simpkins) into a good college. But they cant get a bank loan, and live in a world where financial aid doesnt seem to exist. Were to suspend our disbelief for the sake of the premise, so that we can get to the illegal casino the Johansens decide to operate in the home of their divorced, gambling-addicted friend Frank (Jason Mantzoukas).

The concept seems based on the idea that it might be funny to see Will Ferrell as a suburban dad do a take on Robert De Niro in Casino, with ostentatious sunglasses, gory violence and all. That concept stretches about as far as an SNL sketch, and Cohen and OBrien have done the bare minimum to flesh out the rest of the film. A running theme about Kates penchant for marijuana leads one to believe that the writers may have been similarly impaired.

Instead of writing actual characters, theyve hired a gaggle of beloved comedians to do bits based on stereotype and persona, and have concocted a cockamamie suburban crime story that manages to be both bizarre and incredibly thin.

Theres an over-reliance on the natural likability of Poehler and Ferrell, and the unlikeliness that they would behave so scandalously. Were supposed to titter when they call their teen daughter a bitch to her face, and a running gag involves Scott throwing Alexs teenage friend violently to the floor. A disturbing date rape joke made in the first five minutes of the movie signals the type of lazily written taboo comedy that awaits.

There is something to the idea about a bunch of bored, frustrated suburbanites trading book club and fro-yo for high-stakes betting and fight clubs in a neighbors ad-hoc Sin City. But thats quickly eighty-sixed to chase down a nonsensical plot about a councilman (Nick Kroll) embezzling money from the city.

The highest praise one can give The House is that it is just barely watchable. The film is badly stitched together with hatchet-job editing attempting to mask a clear lack of coverage, and the comedy offers the suggestion of a laugh instead of the real thing. In this case, dont bet on The House.

-------------

The House

Rating: R, for language throughout, sexual references, drug use, some violence and brief nudity

Running time: 1 hour, 28 minutes

Playing: In general release

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour

calendar@latimes.com

See more here:

Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler lose big in gambling comedy 'The House' - Los Angeles Times

Netherlands Considers Euthanasia For Healthy People, Doctors Say Things Are ‘Getting Out Of Hand’ – The Federalist

Posted on by

Politicians in the Netherlands are discussing the possibility of legalizing euthanasia for healthy people. The proposed Completed Life Bill would allow any person age 75 or over who decides their life is complete to receive euthanasia. It doesnt matter if they are otherwise perfectly healthy.

Under current Dutch law, a person only becomes eligible for euthanasia when they have a terminal illness and are suffering unbearably. Pia Dijkstra, an MP for Dutch political party D66, is preparing to introduce the Completed Life Bill. D66 spearheaded most of the groundbreaking socially progressive legislation for which the Netherlands is famous. They are historically a smaller partytheyve never had a Prime Ministerbut theyve proven themselves to be politically effective.

D66 would eventually like to legalize euthanasia for any adult who wishes to die. They openly admit that the Completed Life Bill is a step towards realizing that goal. In March, D66 leader Alexander Pechtold was confronted on a political talk show by a 57-year-old man who said he wishes to die. He asked why the Completed Life Bill is only persons age 75 and older. I have to wait 18 more years. I dont feel like waiting 18 years. I want it now, he said.

Pechtold replied, Its my personal opinion that in our civilization dying is an individual consideration. You didnt ask to be brought into the world. He went on to explain that currently there is political support for legalizing euthanasia for healthy elderly persons. If we want to maintain that support and not disrupt the discussion then we have to take it step-by-step. In 2002 we passed the euthanasia law for unbearable suffering. In my view, Pia Dijkstra can now continue persuading parliament and the country toin my own words and personal opiniontake the next step for our civilization.

Ironically, the Dutch public news broadcaster decided to include a notice with the number for a suicide prevention hotline directly below where the video of Pechtolds comments is embedded on their website.

If the Completed Life Bill comes to a vote in Parliament, it will most likely pass. Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy has said he is willing to enact it. The question is whether the bill will be placed on the legislative agenda.

In Dutch politics, no party ever wins a majority of seats in parliament. The largest party has to form a coalition with several smaller ones. National elections were held in March, and Prime Minister Rutte is currently negotiating with D66 and two Christian partiesthe Christian Democratic Appeal and the Christian Unionabout forming a coalition. Both Christian parties are opposed to the Completed Life Bill. The Christian Union in particular is likely to make preventing a vote on the bill a condition of joining the coalition.

While politicians debate such a drastic expansion of euthanasia, the manner in which it is currently being carried out in the Netherlands is coming under fire. Earlier this year, a group of 220 doctors took out an advertisement in a major newspaper saying they will refuse to euthanize patients with advanced dementia who are unable give verbal consent. Under Dutch law, an elderly person who is still compos mentis can write a legal declaration stating that they wish to be euthanized when they develop advanced dementia. They can specify conditions about when they want to die, e.g. when they no longer recognize their immediate family.

The doctors who signed the advertisement say they cannot accept these legal declarations. They write, Giving a deadly injection to a patient with advanced dementia on the basis of their written declaration? To someone who cannot confirm that they wish to die? No, were not going to do that. Our moral abhorrence at ending the life of a defenseless person is too great.

Many of the doctors who signed the advertisement actually administer euthanasia, but they draw the line with patients who are unaware of what is being done to them.

The doctors were motivated by a 2016 case in which the Dutch committee that oversees euthanasia concluded a doctor had acted negligently. An elderly woman with advanced Alzheimers had previously written a legal declaration requesting euthanasia, but her specifications about the point at which she was ready to die were open to interpretation. The doctor who euthanized her began by secretly placing a sedative in her coffee. The woman subsequently woke up wide-eyed and resisted the fatal injection. She was restrained by family members and the doctor proceeded.

The controversy flared up again in June when Boudewijn Chabot, a psychogeriatrician and prominent euthanasia supporter, published a 2,600-word op-ed in which he argued that euthanasia now getting out of hand. He believes that the euthanasia oversight committee is lax in carrying out its duty and also insufficiently transparent about what it communicates to the public. Chabot argued that legal protections for patients have been quietly eroded over time. He is particularly concerned about the way euthanasia is administered to patients with advanced dementia or chronic psychiatric illness.

In 2016, there were 6,091 reported instances of euthanasia in the Netherlands. Of those, 141 were for patients with dementia. That is up from 12 such cases in 2009. Also for patients with chronic psychiatric illness, there were 0 instances of euthanasia in 2009, but by 2016 that number had risen to 60. The numbers are small, you could argue, Chabot writes. But look at the rapid increaseThe financial gutting of the health care sector has particularly harmed the quality of life of these types of patients. Its logical to conclude that euthanasia is going to skyrocket.

Chabot is concerned that the legal guidelines for euthanasia for patients with physical illnesses are applied without any further qualification to patients with dementia and psychiatric illness. He believes that simply doesnt work and can lead to ethical violations.

Speaking to Dutch media, Dijkstra said the concerns expressed in Chabots op-ed have no bearing on the Completed Life Bill. The euthanasia law is being carried out carefully. Its a pity that certain people constantly want to bring it up for discussion. Though, in this instance, it is doctors who practice euthanasia who are saying things have gone too far.

Emily Friere is a freelance writer based in Great Britain. She writes about both English and American culture and politics.

Originally posted here:

Netherlands Considers Euthanasia For Healthy People, Doctors Say Things Are 'Getting Out Of Hand' - The Federalist

Pathos, Bathos, and Euthanasia – Commonweal

Posted on by

At its best Roman Catholic piety can be enormously powerful. It offers what we may call a way of affirmationa sacramental understanding of the countless ways in which we meet the holy God in the everyday life of bodily gestures, repetitive prayer, candles, motherhood. And it does this without losing an equally powerful way of negation, which forbids us to suppose we can capture or control the presence of the transcendent God in such ways. But precisely because this intricate system of spiritual practice is so powerful, it can also go bad in powerful ways. Affirmation is safe only when negation is also present. One can become fascinated not so much with God as with ones own experience of candles, beads, genuflection, and a virgin mother. And then one may lose the transcendent otherness of that God in a way that would hardly be possible for, say, a serious Calvinism (which would, of course, have its own way of going bad).

This was, I have to confess, my first thought after reading At His Own Wake, Celebrating Life and the Gift of Death, a recent New York Times article about the death by euthanasia in Canada of a man named John Shields. Clearly intended to elicit pathos in its readers, the account is, by my lights, drowning in bathos. Let me admit straightforwardly at the outset: I dont much like the John Shields portrayed in this article, though he was much loved by some who knew him. I like even less some of the other characters who play significant roles in Mr. Shieldss deathas, for example, Penny Allport, the life-cycle celebrant whose task it was to orchestrate and choreograph the homemade rituals, drawn from countless different (and incompatible) cultural and religious traditions, that shaped Mr. Shieldss last hours and his death. I am not at all fond of Dr. Stefanie Green who, needing a better life-work balance than her practice of maternity and newborn care permitted, turned to a focus on implementing Canadas year-old legalized medical assistance in dying. Birth and death, deliveries in and outI find it very transferable, she says. Both are really intense and really important. (Is it just an accident that the title of the Times article celebrates lifenot the gift of lifewhile celebrating the gift of death? Perhaps the two are not so transferable after all.)

These are minor dislikes, however, compared with my reaction to the shameful inability of the Times and its journalist/reporter/essayist, Catherine Porter, to help readers not just to sympathize (as we should) with Mr. Shields in his suffering but also to think critically, distinguishing bathos from pathos. Evidently Ms. Porter was present as a silent participant throughout the events recounted in her article, an article the Times deemed important enough to run on its front page. Indeed, it is hard to detect any critical distance at all in her authorial voice. In the context of our societys deep divisions and confusions about the practice of euthanasia, this article amounts to a puff piece aimed at evoking support for one side of a complicated moral argument. A shorter piece on the op-ed page would have been more honest.

John Shields was evidently a man with great energy and a capacity to take interest in many aspects of life, though also in his own perceived uniqueness. Ordained a priest in the Roman Catholic Church, he left after four years, though not before being prohibited from preaching and teaching at his parish in Austin, Texas. After that he became a social worker and, later, president of the British Columbia Government Employees Union, over which he presided for fourteen years. After his first wife died of lymphoma he eventually married for a second time. He studied some Gestalt therapy, learned dowsing, and came to regard himself as a spiritual cosmologist, believing that the universe was conscious and that everything was inextricably connected. Having left institutional religion for a kind of generalized spirituality strikes me as rather less countercultural than Mr. Shieldss self-image would suggestand certainly far from unique. I come forth at this precise moment to contribute my unique gifts to the great unfolding, he wrote in a memoir. And while this does not exactly bring Hegel to mind, we get the idea and can see why Ms. Allport would call his death his great blooming.

His character was marked by the twists and turns of the several directions his life had taken. He loved rituals, which began with the Catholic Masses of his childhood. To be of service was a central theme in his life, as was the theme of freedom. He was always growing and exploring. Sadly, though, in his mid-seventies he was diagnosed with amyloidosis, a disease in which abnormal proteins accumulate in the bodys organs, eventually causing death. Mr. Shields gradually lost feeling in and use of his arms and legs, finally having to enter hospice care. In his debilities he felt a loss of dignity, a diminished condition that he found demeaning and unacceptable.

As it happened, the man and the moment were well matched. For only a year before Canada had legalized what it calls medical assistance in dying. This permits not just assisted suicide but also euthanasia, in which a physician actually administers the death-dealing drugs. The law does prohibit euthanasia that is nonvoluntarythat is, when the dying person is, for whatever reason, no longer able to consent at the time the drugs are actually administered. This was in fact a worry for Shields and his wife: as his condition swiftly declined, they feared that if he waited too long, he might be unable to give his consent when the chosen day arrived. And, in fact, it is hard to believe that this restriction can long surviveat least in British Columbia where, according to the Times article, an increasing number of patients are eagerly embracing euthanasia. Dr. Green herself, while adhering to the laws limits, suggests that there should be more flexibility in the law, a flexibility that would permit euthanasia for those who requested it before reaching a condition in which they are unable to consent.

The Canadian law also specifies that, in order to qualify for euthanasia, an adult must be in an irremediable medical condition, experiencing suffering he or she finds intolerable, and likely to die fairly soon in any case. It is just as hard to believe that these conditions can hold for too long. Patients with severe but not life-threatening disabilities may well find their condition demeaning and undignified. Why exactly the fact that they are not likely to die soon should matter more than the felt indignity of their condition is far from clear.

In short, the Canadian law tries to ground permission for euthanasia in both compassion for those who suffer and a freedom to make important choices about the course and duration of ones life. But, as Daniel Callahan noted years ago, these criteria are on a collision course. If freedom and self-determination are this importantso important that we have a right to help in ending our lifehow can we insist that such help may be offered only to those who are suffering irremediably? On the other hand, if the suffering of others makes so powerful a claim upon us that we should be willing to cause their death in order to end the suffering, it is not clear why we should limit our merciful help only to those who are still able to request it. After all, fully autonomous people are not the only ones who can suffer greatly. We may safely predict that the limits will gradually be extended.

Here is the original post:

Pathos, Bathos, and Euthanasia - Commonweal

40 dogs transported from Texas to Ohio to avoid euthanasia – FOX13 Memphis

Posted on by

by: Bob D Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk Updated: Jul 1, 2017 - 5:55 AM

A Humane Society organization in Ohio is working to save 40 dogs from being euthanized, WCMH reported.

>> Read more trending news

The dogs are being sent north from Houstons K-9 Angels Rescue to the Humane Society of Delaware County.The project is being coordinated from Ohio by Natalie Yeager, a former Houston resident, WCMH reported.

Im thinking, I have people asking for puppies to adopt and were having trouble finding enough for all the people who want them here, she told WCMH.

The trip from Houston took 17 hours, and the dogs arrived Thursday night, WSYX reported. Once the puppies are cleared medically they will be available for adoption, WCMH reported. Until then they will reside in foster homes.

We are going to keep adults here. Were going to keep some puppies here also to have them fixed, spayed and neutered, Yeager told WSYX.Some of the younger ones are being sent out into foster until theyve had their shots and theyre ready for adoption.

2017 Cox Media Group.

See the original post:

40 dogs transported from Texas to Ohio to avoid euthanasia - FOX13 Memphis

40 dogs rescued from euthanasia in Houston, brought to Delaware … – ABC6OnYourSide.com

Posted on by

Forty dogs spent 17 hours inside a trailer on the road to get to the Humane Society of Delaware County Thursday night. (WSYX/WTTE)

Forty dogs spent 17 hours inside a trailer on the road to get to the Humane Society of Delaware County Thursday night.

They were all saved from getting euthanized in Houston. The dogs were at shelters in Houston that are overcrowded everyday. The Humane Society of Delaware County is always getting requests for puppies, but many times there aren't enough to go around.

The project started about one month ago when the dog intake coordinator at the Humane Society of Delaware County noticed there was a need in Houston. Natalie Yeager said she used to work at an animal shelter there and knows people with K-9 Angels Rescue, which is also based out of Houston.

Yeager said she noticed the rescue group needed helping saving 40 puppies and dogs from being euthanized. Yeager said the dogs were going to be euthanized because there wasn't enough room in the shelters to keep them.

Cages for the puppies and dogs were donated along with blankets and towels.

"We are going to keep adults here. We're going to keep some puppies here also to have them fixed, spayed and neutered...Some of the younger ones are being sent out into foster until they've had their shots and they're ready for adoption. They can come back and get spayed and nurtured and be ready for their families too," said Yeager.

The puppies and dogs all have pictures and a biography attached to their cage.

If you'd like more information about how to possibly adopt one of the puppies, you can contact the Humane Society of Delaware County.

Go here to see the original:

40 dogs rescued from euthanasia in Houston, brought to Delaware ... - ABC6OnYourSide.com

Euthanasia vote exposes factional tensions in Tasmanian ALP at state conference – ABC Local

Posted on by

Posted July 02, 2017 14:42:28

Conservative Tasmanian Labor MP Madeline Ogilvie has launched a scathing attack on the party's powerful Left faction, claiming unelected representatives are wielding too much power.

A spat broke out yesterday at the annual party conference between the Right and Left of the Labor Party over the decision of several MPs to vote against voluntary euthanasia legislation earlier this year.

The Left believed the issue had been agreed upon as part of the Labor platform and subsequently MPs were bound to support it.

A motion put forward by union representative Adam Clarke called for members who voted against the bill to be disciplined by the party and even expelled, arguing the only issues within Labor that allowed a conscience vote were abortion and same-sex marriage.

Mr Clarke said members who did not support the legislation were in breach of the party's constitution.

"Once we make a decision, that's it," he said.

"That becomes the view of the party unit, it's how we operate on every other issue.

"Once we determine our platform, we go out there as one and we vote for it as one."

The Health and Community Services Union's Robbie Moore backed the move, and went even further to name Ms Ogilvie, David Llewellyn and Shane Broad.

"We are no longer going to accept it," Mr Moore said.

"If you do it again, I will be moving to expel people."

Member for Denison Ms Ogilvie labelled it a "ridiculous suggestion".

"There's some very loud voices in the room, to make that kind of statement is really quite out there, it goes beyond what I'd expect to see at state conference, it's disappointing," she said.

"I take on board all views, I will listen to what people come to say, but when it comes to the exercise of my parliamentary vote that is mine and mine alone.

"If those with the loud voices want to exert more influence in Parliament they ought to get themselves elected."

She said members did not have the power to expel her.

"I think we should bring this to a head, I would like to see them come forward, if they are serious about that then they should put their case on the table and let's have that discussion," she said.

"It's no secret that the Left faction in Tasmania is very strong and very powerful, and I am concerned about that, I am concerned about the balance of power between the moderates and the Left."

Last month, a bill to allow euthanasia in certain circumstances, sponsored by Labor stalwart Lara Giddings and Greens leader Cassy O'Connor, was voted down by the House of Assembly.

Labor leader Rebecca White said a conscience vote was allowed as the legislation was put forward as a Private Member's Bill.

Topics: state-parliament, federal---state-issues, alp, george-town-7253, burnie-7320, hobart-7000

Read the rest here:

Euthanasia vote exposes factional tensions in Tasmanian ALP at state conference - ABC Local

Once a drug user in Japan, always an outcast – The Japan Times

Posted on by

Since being arrested for possession of stimulant drugs on June 2, it is assumed that 30-year-old actor Ryo Hashizumes career is over. As Mark Schilling wrote in the June 15 Japan Times, Hashizumes latest film, in which he played a supporting role, was pulled from theaters. It reopened June 17, but with Hashizumes scenes deleted. For all intents and purposes, he had become a nonperson in show business.

And I mean that literally. Owing to the way drug busts are covered in the media, anyone even accused of using illegal substances is presented as not just a criminal, but something subhuman. This idea was established in the 1980s with an anti-drug public service announcement that used the slogan, Ningen yamemasu ka?, meaning, Will you stop being a person? By taking drugs, that is.

Media critic Chiki Ogiue mentioned the campaign on his Session-22 radio show back in January.

But do you stop being a person when you have cancer? he asked rhetorically, emphasizing that drug addiction should be treated as a disease rather than as a mortal sin. The stigma is built into the vocabulary used to talk about people with drug habits. Invariably, those who have kicked their habits through whatever means have been corrected (ksei), a word that stresses incarceration, whereas Ogiue thinks a better verb is recover (kaifuku), as if from an illness.

But ksei represents the reality in that drug convictions lead to time in prison rather than time in hospitals, and prisons arent designed to cure addicts of their dependencies. The radio show and other sources mention that in Japan, more than 60 percent of those who do time for drug crimes end up being rearrested for drug crimes after they get out of jail.

The public thinks drug users deserve hard punishment because drug use is seen as a lapse in moral rectitude that can have a bad effect on the community. Ogiue thinks the opposite is actually the case; that downplaying a drugs health-abating properties can make the drug attractive to certain people.

For these reasons, Ogiue, working with experts, former addicts and listeners of his program, came up with guidelines for the media when covering drug-related stories, since such coverage will affect addicts in treatment programs and their supporters, including families. The media should always stress that drug use is an illness requiring treatment rather than a crime that needs to be punished. It should incorporate coverage of people who give and receive such treatment, including recovering addicts. It should also show links between drugs and social problems, such as poverty and abuse, whenever applicable.

More significantly, the guidelines tell reporters what to avoid, including images of white powder and syringes, comments that express disappointment in the accused as either a person or a professional, extreme coverage using helicopters or hidden cameras, suspicion of drug use as the basis for a scoop and creating beautiful stories out of anecdotes of drug recovery with the help of loved ones.

For these efforts, Ogiues show received The Galaxy Grand Prix Award for excellence in broadcasting, though, given the usual overblown tone of the Hashizume coverage, those efforts dont seem to have had the desired effect yet.

In fact, the authorities seem to be moving in a progressive direction faster than the media is. On another radio show, Bunka Hosos (Nippon Cultural Broadcasting) June 13 edition of Golden Radio, writer Maki Fukasawa reviewed Ogiues guidelines and talked about how the government was now considering switching the impetus of drug sentencing from punishment to treatment in line with other countries approaches. Recently, Japans judicial system has expanded its use of suspended sentences for certain crimes. In the case of drug offenses, convicted persons spend part of their sentence in prison and part in a recovery program. The main purpose of the new law is to prevent repeat offenses, and as Fukasawa points out, the program will also need to ensure that ex-offenders can secure jobs once they are back out in the world, since unemployment is a strong incentive for falling back into a drug habit.

That includes show-business people. Fukasawa used the example of Robert Downey Jr., who was a serious drug addict at one point and even did jail time for his habit. He eventually got sober and is now one of the highest paid actors in the world, but as Fukasawa said, that couldnt happen in Japan because the media would never allow the public to forget about his drug use.

What Fukasawa didnt mention is that while Downeys career has been rehabilitated in the U.S., he is still persona non grata in Japan. Some years ago when he came here to promote one of his Iron Man movies, immigration officers detained him for six hours because of his felony drug conviction. Eventually, he was allowed in, but hes never been back since.

Drug convictions leave an indelible mark, and while the Japanese media perpetuates the stigma due to its proclivity for sensationalism, its the law and the rationale behind the law that creates the stigma in the first place. In his quest to change media behavior, Ogiue makes the age-old argument that personal drug use does not directly harm anyone else, but he doesnt go so far as to say that drug possession is a victimless crime. The victim is the user and, by extension, his or her family.

Given the examples he used, Ogiue was obviously talking about methamphetamines, but he doesnt distinguish between stimulant drugs and other kinds, because the police dont either. (There are different laws for stimulants and for narcotics, but no appreciable difference in how theyre prosecuted.)

Marijuana users in Japan are also branded as criminals, but can they also be described as being ill? In many countries now, pot itself is used to treat certain medical conditions. The demonization of drug users is a function of the demonization of recreational drugs, regardless of whether or not they lead to addiction.

Go here to see the original:

Once a drug user in Japan, always an outcast - The Japan Times

I watched the sun set on my Sunset Boulevard romance – Los Angeles Times

Posted on by

There is something magical and almost untouchable about the glimmer and grime of Sunset Boulevard. It is this intangible that makes romances elusive and Los Angeles surreal. Our romance was kind of like that.

I was heading for a party in West Hollywood with trepidation. Sunset and Alta Loma sounded fancy. Id ditched the wide-framed glasses for contacts and the tattered Converse for high heels. Id undone the work bun and let my hair down. The drive up the hill allowed for a view of the city behind me. The city sparkled and the night was damp with the promises that only a summers eve in Los Angeles can hold.

We met as soon as I walked in.

He was taller than most. He had a speckle in one of his light eyes. His most endearing quality was that he was unassuming and statuesque. We exchanged a few words: I never eat when I drink (as I reached for a vodka soda); I went to USC (as I inquired about his background). I found out he was almost five years my junior. As an old 27, I joked that I could almost be his mother.

Are you a veteran of L.A.'s current dating scene? We want to publish your story

We parted ways the rest of the party. I made small talk with an oh-so-clich aspiring actor while the tall stranger navigated the party. As is certain in Los Angeles, there were other girls, some prettier, some taller, some more tightly clad and more extreme, that likely gazed his way. On my way out, as he was talking to a girl in a sequined gold dress, he caught my glimpse. Can I have your number? he asked innocently. On the outs of a nine-year relationship, I gave it to him.

The next morning I received a text message: I dont know about you, but Im famished. We made plans to hang out, both shocked but happy to learn that we lived about 2 miles apart on Sunset. (I near Sunset Junction, he near Sunset and Vista.) Runyon Canyon would soon be our favorite haunt.

I wonder to this day if the romance wouldve blossomed as easily without the Sunset Boulevard proximity, and the city swallowing us whole.

We met a week later. The sun was shining brightly that day. I remember walking up to the table where he sat outside at Franklin & Company. I had a sense but no certainty of what lay ahead. I was glowing with expectations that I couldnt define. I found out he was a writer and had published a book. He told me he was politically conservative, which shocked my sensibilities. But the electricity and mystery that shrouded us eclipsed any differences. Surprisingly, I even found his affinity for Ayn Rand unoffensive. In retrospect, it helps me make fun of us and spares me bereavement. My mother always said Ayn Rand was a juvenile and dystopic vision. Perhaps I should have paid more attention.

More L.A. Affairs columns

That night was the stuff dreams are made of. There were deep conversations in dim bars the Woods on La Brea has never seen two people more enamored that were followed by several hours of drinks on the roof of his apartment. We did not kiss that night, but we wanted to.

Fast-forward two dates later and it happened. We sat in another bar, this time on 3rd Street. Two or three drinks in, and the kiss happened. We closed down the bar. That night we went home together. He didnt want a relationship, and neither did I, but somehow it happened. We would lie for hours in his apartment, watching sitcoms based in New York but filmed a few miles away, with the sound of hovering helicopters interrupting the TVs streaming sound. Every time we had together was passionate, explorative and romantic. Like many in love, we were all that mattered. It was us and everyone else.

Two years later, after sharing an apartment by the Grove, family vacations, exploring the future possibilities, and many, many arguments I will describe poetically as deeply impassioned, it all ended just abruptly as it started.

I wanted commitment and he was too young to give it. It was earth-shattering.

One empty apartment later, my story of Los Angeles has changed. I no longer avoided the Churchill on 3rd Street. (In fact, I even enjoyed another unforgettable night there cue black-and-white photo booths and several whiskey gingers.) A Silver Lake jaunt with a stop at Diablo, flaming margaritas at El Compadre, and even Asian tapas at Yatai are once again savory and ripe for new memories and men. I can eat my favorite foods, drink sake that finally tastes good, and drive the 101 overpass in Hollywood without wincing.

I know that my story is not the only one. It is a right of passage that many Angelenos have endured. In a city brimming with creativity, youth of all ages and beauty in every form, we are all looking onward, for the next union of uncontaminated love in whatever form that may be. Its this juxtaposition of love and loss, success and failure, hot condensed fog set against the wide open Pacific, that keeps the city and its residents churning. And hopefully, among the beautiful mix of it all, we find what we are looking for.

A. Zane is an attorney and barre instructor in Los Angeles. She is on Instagram @theannazane

L.A. Affairs chronicles the current dating scene in and around Los Angeles. If you have comments or a true story to tell, email us at LAAffairs@latimes.com.

To read the article in Spanish, click here

MORE L.A. LOVE STORIES

I got caught on AshleyMadison.com

8 lessons I learned about being single in L.A.

I finally asked her: Are we dating, or just hanging out?

home@latimes.com

Original post:

I watched the sun set on my Sunset Boulevard romance - Los Angeles Times

J. Talbot Manvel: Declaration of Independence joined morality and law – CapitalGazette.com

Posted on by

On the Fourth of July we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which Ayn Rand called the "greatest document in human history." Why? Because it was the first time that society was subordinated to moral law. In her seminal essay, "Man's Rights," Rand wrote:

"The principle of man's individual rights represented an extension of morality into the social system as a limitation on the power of the state, as man's protection against the brute force of the collective, as the subordination of might to right. The United States was the first moral society in history."

Previously, men were ruled either by a king who claimed a divine right to rule, or by an elite few supposedly blessed with some superior insight, or by the many, through the mob rule of democracy. Rights were considered grants of permission that could be withdrawn whenever the one, the few or the many dictated. Man was here to sacrifice his life to king or council or to society for the greater good.

America's Founding Fathers changed that. For the first time in history society was subordinated to moral law by making the protection of individual rights government's purpose. Eleven years later they crafted the U.S. Constitution, with the guiding principles that limited government's powers with a series of checks and balances, and the Bill of Rights, demanded by the people for their consent to the Constitution.

As a work of logic, the declaration is a syllogism that it, is a logical argument containing a major premise, a minor premise and a conclusion. The major premise is Thomas Jefferson's brilliant summation of John Locke's theory of government, captured in the first sentence of the declaration's second paragraph, which is worth reading today:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness."

Meredith Newman

Annapolis cancels Fourth of July parade, but Severna Park, others march on

Annapolis cancels Fourth of July parade, but Severna Park, others march on (Meredith Newman)

The minor premise is the list of 27 grievances against the king of Great Britain, who was seeking "the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states."

Notice there is not one grievance against the king for not providing for the "needs of the people." The Founding Fathers understood that for governments to provide for "needs" it must take from the haves to give to the have-nots, which violates the rights of the haves. Indeed, the American colonists, rich and poor, felt the king's lash violating their rights as he plundered their towns to provide for his needs to impose tyranny on them.

The declaration's conclusion is: "We therefore, the representatives of the United States of America ... solemnly publish and declare that these colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states."

As the result of this revolutionary founding, America blossomed into the wealthiest nation in the world. In her speech at West Point to the Corps of Cadets, Ayn Rand paid tribute to America:

"I can say not as a patriotic bromide, but with full knowledge of the necessary metaphysical, epistemological, ethical, political and esthetic roots that the United States of America is the greatest, the noblest and, in its founding principles, the only moral country in the history of the world."

Enjoy and celebrate the 241st anniversary of the founding of America.

Long-time Annapolis resident Talbot Manvel is graduate of the Naval Academy, St. John's College and the Ayn Rand Institute. Contact him at talmanvel@icloud.com.

Read the original here:

J. Talbot Manvel: Declaration of Independence joined morality and law - CapitalGazette.com

Letter: Things aren’t going so well under President Trump – Detroit Lakes Online

Posted on by

This, despite the fact we have entered the most exciting technological age in history, responsible application of which would enhance the lives of all people.

Trump himself has no idea what he's doing, just making juvenile tweets in early morning hours to attract attention and divert focus from potentially disastrous investigations and the acts of his wrecking-crew cabinet.

Worse, there are no plausible plans to move the country forward. The health care plan is being drafted in a hurried, secret setting by only a dozen or so older, healthy white Republican conservative males, none of whom are considered experts in this very complex program, just so Trump will have a signature achievement to his credit.

McConnell and crew have shown absolutely no regard for the health and well being of tens of millions being thrown off coverage, to say nothing of the 30 million or more already without insurance and another 50 million who are underinsured. Underinsured meaning their policies are so thin they will not withstand a severe illness or injury. A dozen white guys?? Health care is and has been the bedrock of feminine humanism since time began. Remember Susan B. Anthony?

Although the stock market has jumped, its positive effects are felt only by the 50 percent of people who have any money to invest in any substantial way. The other 50 percent either have no individual retirement plan or depend entirely on Social Security.

Individual retirement plans are no guarantee to last through the twilight years, especially if another stock market crash happens, which is now a realistic expectation now that the United States has withdrawn from its role as world leader.

And now Social Security, food subsidies, Medicare and Medicaid are in the crosshairs for massive cuts so the wealthy can add to their already obscene accumulations of money and power.

Other derailed cars in the train wreck are public education, environment protection, consumer protection from predatory lenders, Wall Street and corporate regulations, more mass incarcerations into private, for-profit prisons, more deportations of innocents, and the overall Republican economic philosophy based on "Objectivism and Individualism" writings of Ayn Rand, Paul Ryan's hero. Look her up on Google and you can predict where Ryan and the Republicans are trying to take us. Explains their opposition to everything in our social safety net.

We've seen enough in five months to know we're in a world of hurt never before encountered.

The presidency, Congress, and Supreme Court are controlled by the Republican Party, no Democrats need apply. Not much can be done except mounting constructive resistance and putting forth progressive approaches to the daunting issues of the 21st century confronting us.

My advice to the Democrats, Independents, and patriotic Republicans is to work together on strategies to take advantage of the incredibly fast-moving technologies, economies, and social guarantees for the benefit of everyone, here and abroad, rich and poor.

Leave the greedy, power-hungry pigs to grovel in their money troughs while we enjoy the fruits of optimistic endeavor, saving the Earth and our democratic values for future generations.

-- Lee Purrier, Park Rapids

See more here:

Letter: Things aren't going so well under President Trump - Detroit Lakes Online

Appalachian Wrestling’s Greatest Villain: ‘The Progressive Liberal’ – NPR

Posted on by

When Daniel Harnsberger leaves his home on the East Coast and drives into Appalachia, he usually packs a T-shirt covered in Hillary Clinton faces and spandex wrestling briefs that say "Progressive Liberal."

That's his wrestling persona and his costume. And most weekends, Harnsberger dons it to work in semipro regional circuits as a stereotypical coastal elite who trolls in Donald Trump country. (He sometimes also wears a shirt that says "Not My President.")

He's wrestled for years until recently, without the left-leaning political tilt in conservative corners of Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia. It's a grind. These are small gigs, often in high school gyms or on county fairgrounds. On these regional circuits, wrestlers often schedule a match at a time.

"I was wrestling for $5 and a hot dog and a soda," Harnsberger tells NPR's Steve Inskeep. "There were times I didn't get paid at all."

But two years ago just after Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign Harnsberger made politics part of his act.

He was wrestling in a small town in West Virginia. As Harnsberger recalls, the promoter told him to "be the biggest heel you can be." That was easy for Harnsberger, who's always been a fan of wrestling heels cartoonish bad guys whose job is to rile up the crowd.

So he took the microphone and brought some of Trump's campaign rhetoric into the ring: "I said, 'I hope Trump doesn't build a wall around Mexico. Instead I hope he builds it around this town so you people can't infiltrate the population.' And that got a heated reaction."

And his shtick kept getting that reaction. He honed it into a character named Dan Richards, The Progressive Liberal, that he kept playing throughout the election. When Trump won in November, crowds hated Dan Richards even more.

In character, Harnsberger tells crowds he'll take their guns. He says he wants to "reprogram" Trump supporters to make them favor renewable energy over coal.

"I know how you stupid Trump voters think," the Liberal Progressive says in one video for Appalachian Mountain Wrestling. "Allow me to illustrate: dur-dur-dur, I love coal. Dur-dur-dur, I love mountains."

And in the ring, he finishes off opponents with a move called the "Liberal Agenda" he described recently to Sports Illustrated:

"It's just a cross-arm neckbreaker, so if I'm standing in front of you, I'm grabbing each of your wrists, crossing your arms, then twisting you for a standard neckbreaker. I call that the Liberal Agenda so then the announcer says, 'Oh, he hit him with his Liberal Agenda!' "

Wrestling fans seem to eat it up. In one video, a gym full of spectators boos Harnsberger as he makes his entrance before a match; a group of kids scream at him from just a few feet away. In another video, Harnsberger gets into a shouting match with a fan. The man calls him "D.C. girl" and starts a chant of "Bye, bye, Hillary!"

Harnsberger goes out of his way to make wrestling fans hate his character. Turns out the left-wing views of the Progressive Liberal aren't an act.

"I'm the progressive liberal in real life," he says, "so I think this would generate a reaction from fans, especially the places I was going."

And that's probably what makes Harnsberger such a good villain. A great heel, he says, is one who "believes what they're saying and feels justified in their actions."

More here:

Appalachian Wrestling's Greatest Villain: 'The Progressive Liberal' - NPR

No-confidence vote for British Columbia Liberals delivers blow to pipeline project – The Guardian

Posted on by

British Columbia premier-designate John Horgan prepares to make a statement following a non-confidence vote in Victoria. Photograph: Kevin Light/Reuters

British Columbias Liberal government has been defeated in a non-confidence vote, as expected, paving the way for the left-leaning New Democrats to rule the western Canadian province for the first time in 16 years.

Such a prospect has unnerved investors in Canadas third-most populous province, not least owners of oil and gas projects, such as Kinder Morgan Incs C$7.4bn (US$5.7bn) Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which the New Democratic party (NDP) has vowed to halt.

But an NDP government, which has to be propped up by the third-place Green party to achieve a slim parliamentary majority of one, is fragile, and few expect it to survive the four-year term.

On Thursday, seven weeks after a knife-edge election, NDP and Green lawmakers used their 44 votes in the 87-member legislature to pass a non-confidence amendment to the Liberal governments Throne Speech.

After the vote, NDP leader John Horgan told reporters he had met the provinces nominal head, Lieutenant-Governor Judith Guichon, and that she had invited him to form a new government, making him British Columbias next premier.

Well have access to government documents tomorrow to start working on a transition, Horgan said. I cant predict when that (transition) will be, but its going to be soon.

Incumbent premier Christy Clark told media she offered her resignation to Guichon, but asked for a dissolution of the legislature, which the lieutenant-governor did not grant.

Dissolution would trigger another election. While Guichon technically has that power, such a move would go against convention for the largely ceremonial leader.

Guichon said in a statement she will accept Clarks resignation.

The NDP and Greens struck an agreement last month to oust the right-leaning British Columbia Liberal party unaffiliated with the left-leaning federal Liberal party of prime minister Justin Trudeau after a 9 May election reduced Clarks party to a minority.

The NDP and Greens, which will form the provinces first minority government in 65 years, have accused the Liberals of trying to retain power after the election by stealing their election promises and introducing them as last-minute legislation to delay being voted out.

Yet those same promises could be hard to deliver under an NDP government, which needs Green cooperation and every legislator to be present for every vote to pass laws, said University of British Columbia political science professor Hamish Telford.

The NDP may decide on its own accord that it needs to have a fresh election, he said.

Excerpt from:

No-confidence vote for British Columbia Liberals delivers blow to pipeline project - The Guardian

John Roskam blasts ‘lazy, self-indulgent’ Liberal Party facing ‘existential crisis’ – The Sydney Morning Herald

Posted on by

The "lazy" and "self-indulgent" Liberal Party is facing an existential crisis after a horror week that exposed deep wounds from which it may never recover, the head of the influential Institute of Public Affairs think tank has warned.

John Roskam, who on Tuesday hosted Tony Abbott for a speech in which he directly challenged Malcolm Turnbull's policy agenda, on Friday blasted both men for failing to deliver philosophical direction to the party, and took aim at "so-called conservatives" Peter Dutton and Mathias Cormann.

He said the significance of frontbencher Christopher Pyne's leaked comments was seismic because they addressed "the elephant in the room" of factional warfare and "let loose" the boiling tensions between moderates and conservatives.

While Mr Turnbull on Sunday clocked up one year since his narrow election victory, Mr Pyne's boasts of factional dominance and the promise of same-sex marriage "sooner rather than later" has sparked a furore over the direction of the government, the party and its leadership.

One minister privately predicted Malcolm Turnbull could face a leadership spill by Christmas - though that view is not widely shared, and even conservative members of cabinet believe sticking with the prime minister is the best option.

"What the Liberal Party faces is verging on an existential crisis. How this resolves itself, no-one knows," Mr Roskam said on Friday.

"When the Liberal Party raises taxes, increases government spending, imposes extra regulations and red tape and does not stand up on key cultural questions you must ask the question: is the Liberal Party as we've known it since the 1940s exhausted?"

Time would tell if the party would survive, he said, but it "has had too big a monopoly on centre-right thinking in Australia for too long" and "at times it has been lazy and self-indulgent".

Get the latest news and updates emailed straight to your inbox.

The IPA has deep links with the Liberal Party and Mr Roskam is well connected with MPs, but they have had major disagreements over superannuation, free speech and Mr Roskam's repeated failure to win preselection in Victoria.

He principally blamed "Turnbull and the cabinet" for the party's problems, and was critical of Mr Dutton and Mr Cormann, declaring "the so-called conservatives in cabinet have been completely ineffectual when it comes to economics" and labelling Mr Dutton's citizenship reforms "tokenistic".

Meanwhile, Mr Turnbull will use Sunday's 12 month election anniversary to emphasise his policy achievements, including company tax cuts, childcare changes, Snowy Hydro 2.0 and intervention in the gas market.

In a social media message, Mr Turnbull will claim to have delivered "real results [and] strong outcomes, not just headlines and press statements". "I'm not interested in politics, or the personalities of politics," he will say.

But the political drama of this week meant even the government's major victory on Gonski 2.0 was short-lived. Mr Roskam described the $23 billion school funding injection as "a complete capitulation to the left" and "nothing other than political expediency".

Right-wing voters would be entitled to seek refuge in David Leyonhjelm's Liberal Democrats and Cory Bernardi's Australian Conservatives, he said, and fighting off that challenge "requires a great degree of leadership which frankly so far has been lacking".

Asked about his own role in giving Mr Abbott a platform to stir leadership strife, Mr Roskam said it was "essential" to air an alternative policy manifesto. But he echoed ministers' criticism that the former PM never implemented those ideas while he was in power.

One minister told The Sunday Age it was inconceivable Mr Abbott had not planned the timing of this week's white-anting by lining up speeches at think tanks amid his usual spots on talkback radio.

Asked to gauge how widespread the malaise was within the Liberal party room, Mr Roskam said: "A lot of MPs actually don't want to face these questions. When they take more than a few moments to think about it, the truth is perhaps too confronting to be contemplated."

The rest is here:

John Roskam blasts 'lazy, self-indulgent' Liberal Party facing 'existential crisis' - The Sydney Morning Herald

Why Angela Merkel, known for embracing liberal values, voted against same-sex marriage – Washington Post

Posted on by

Friday's parliamentary vote in Berlin to recognize the right of same-sex couples to wed was a long-awaited victory for German liberals.Butthe vote was a defeat for the womanwhoseemed to haveemerged as one of the country's most popular icons of liberalism: German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

She welcomed over 1 million refugees, abandoned nuclear energy over safety fears and has urged President Trump to respect human rights.

On Friday, however, Merkelvoted against same-sex marriage, despite having paved the way to its recognition only days earlier.

Theanti-marriage-equality party line of Merkel'sChristian Democratic Union (CDU) had long prevented the law from being passed. But on Monday, the German chancellorclearedthe way for the issue to win approval in the German Parliament by allowing lawmakers to choose according to their personal convictions after being pressured into a vote by the Social Democratic Party. I would like to steer the discussion more toward the situation that it will be a question of conscience instead of me forcing something through by means of a majority vote, Merkel said earlier this week.

German lawmakers vote by a wide margin to legalize gay marriage, although German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she had voted against it. (Reuters)

What she did not say at the time was that shewouldoppose the law.Merkel'sFriday voteagainst marriage equality may have come as a surprise to international observers who consider her an increasingly influential liberal icon or evenleader of thefree world.At home in Germany, not everyone was equally surprised.

[Decades of yearly portraits show how power has transformed Angela Merkel]

Herseemingly inconsequentialvote encapsulates some of the opposing forces tugging at Merkel, said Robert Beachy, the author of Gay Berlin: Birthplace of a Modern Identity. She is at once an exponent of a liberal Western vision and the leader of a country, and party, tied to more conservative values.

It occurs to me that Merkel is feeling increasingly exposed because she certainly wants to align herself with a progressive E.U. culture and tradition, and shes in some ways the leader of that now, Beachysaid. It made the absence of same-sex marriage in Germany that much more glaring.

Thedaughter of a Protestant pastor, Merkel has long sided with the right ofher party on the issue. In 2015, the chancellor said: For me, personally, marriage is a man and a woman living together. She repeated those comments almost word for word Friday. What has since changed, however, is Merkel's stance on the right of same-sex couples to adopt children, which she now appears to be in favor of.

Her ambiguity on the issue fits a common pattern that has shaped much of her 12 years as German chancellor: Merkel hardly defines her role in an ideological sense. As chancellor, Merkel has repeatedly turned her back on herself and her own party when she deemed it necessary to adjust to the political winds.

[Angela Merkel predicts showdown with U.S. over climate at G-20]

On other subjects, her party and supportershave willingly followed suit. In contrast, same-sex marriage has proved to be a more difficult challenge for the chancellor, as many members of her party remain staunchly opposed to it even as most Germanssupportmarriage equality.

Since 2001, Germanyhas allowed same-sex couples to registercivilpartnerships, which afford some but not all of the benefits accruing to married couples. Unlike in other Western European nations, such as France or Spain, same-sex marriage remained a red line for many Christian conservatives.

That red line would have been challenged sooner rather than later.All major parties Merkel's CDU could form a coalition with after the general elections in September arein favor of same-sex marriage. From a tactical perspective, there was no way around marriage equality.

By allowing the law to pass beforethe elections despiteopposing it, Merkel appealedto the majority of voters but might have avoided the angerof much of her party following Merkel's long-standing rationale of trying to make the least enemies whenever possible.I hope that with todays vote not only that mutual respect is there between the individual positions, but also that a piece of social peace and togetherness could be created, Merkel said after the Friday vote.

She likely knew that her personal opposition would matter to her party but not make a difference overall, given that the German parliament voted393-226 in favor of modifying the countrys civil code.

Isaac Stanley-Becker contributed from Berlin.

Read more:

Germanys far right preaches traditional values. Can a lesbian mother be its new voice?

The state of gay rights around the world

Read the original:

Why Angela Merkel, known for embracing liberal values, voted against same-sex marriage - Washington Post

Pope Francis drops conservative German Cardinal Mller for more liberal option – Deutsche Welle

Posted on by

Pope Francis shook-up the Vatican's administration Saturday by replacing the church's top theologian with whom he often clashed.

Pope Francis chose not to renew the five-year term of 69-year-old German Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Mller, who headed the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith, which is responsible for defending Catholic doctrine.

Instead, the pope has turned to the department's deputy, Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer. Like Francis, Ladaria is a Jesuit with a more liberal view of theology.

The pope has upset conservatives by suggesting that a ban on remarried divorcees taking Holy Communion could, in carefully scrutinized circumstances, be overcome without the traditional annulment. Mller, one of the pontiff's chief critics, said such an approach undermined Catholic dogma on the permanent natureof marriage.

In 2015 Mueller was among 13 cardinals who signed a secret letter to the pontiff complaining that a meeting of bishops discussing family issues was stacked in favor of liberals. The letter was leaked to the media, embarrassing the signatories.

Pope,cardinal spar

German theologian Wolfgang Beinert said Mller and Francis never got along.

"They are chemistry-wise two different people who are incompatible by nature," he said. Beinert described the pope's decision to cut ties with Mueller as a "punishment."

A priest, who works at the Vatican, and knows both Mller and his replacement, Ladaria, said the latter will get along with Pope Francis much better.

"They speak the same language and Ladaria is someone who is meek. He does not agitate the pope and does not threaten him," said the priest, who didn't want to be identified.

Since becoming pope in 2013, Francis has given hope to more progressive voices inside the church who want him to push ahead with his vision for a more tolerant church that focuses more on mercy than on a strict enforcement of rigid rules, which they see as outdated.

Mller's ouster was the second major shakeup at the Vatican this week. On Thursday, Francis granted Vatican hardliner Cardinal George Pella leave of absence to return to his native Australiato face trial on sexual assault charges.

The absence of Mller and Pell, the two most powerful cardinals in the Vatican, after the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, will likely create a power vacuum for the conservative wing in the Holy See hierarchy.

Mller was also allegedly lax in addressing sexual abuse cases that have come before the Vatican. During his tenure victims from Latin America, Europe and beyond came forward to press their cases.

Last year the pope confirmed there was a 2,000-case backlog, and he set about naming new officials in the congregation's discipline section to process the overload.

bik/jm (Reuters, AP, dpa)

Read this article:

Pope Francis drops conservative German Cardinal Mller for more liberal option - Deutsche Welle

Independence Day and Fiscal Responsibility – Summit NJ News … – TAPinto.net

Posted on by

The4th of Julyis far more than hotdogs, fireworks, and swimming. Its a time to reflect upon the sacrifices our forbearers made so that we would be free, that liberty would reign among all.

Foremost among those liberties was economic freedom, often summarized in the phrase: No taxation without representation.

Unfortunately, our economic freedom is very much in peril. Puerto Rico is essentially bankrupt. The Virgin Islands may soon follow. Illinoiss debt ratings have been slashed to near junk, and unpaid bills total over $14 billion. Our Federal debt has nearly doubled to $20 Trillion in the last nine years. No economist believes those trends are sustainable.

Sign Up for E-News

New Jersey is in very difficult straits, too. Its public pensions are massively underfunded, and our politicians are loathe to come up with concrete plans to remedy.

Here in Summit we are very proud of our triple A credit rating. But, ultimately our footing is no better than the ship we stand in, and Summit and its taxpayers must ultimately backstop our States financial responsibilities. Indeed, the auditors of the Board of Education have required a notation in our financial statements of our contingent responsibility for the pension obligations of BOE employees.

Evaluate each candidate this election season with a simple question. Are they more apt to exercise fiscal restraint, look for the most efficient approach to each problem, and treat the taxpayers dime as if it were their own? Or, are they inclined to say tax my neighbor or the next generation, we are owed this new goodie, and appeal to the short term desires of their supporters?

I am proud of my financial record as Board of Education President, two time chair of the Operations Committee of the Board of Education, and three time member of the Board of School Estimate, as all budgets have come in below the mandated cap.Yet such fiscal discipline has had no adverse impact on the quality of our educational system; we were recently ranked quite highly in the national media for quality of our programs.

If elected as the At Large Candidate to Common Council, I would bring this fiscal experience and diligence to the issues that face our great City.

I wish you and your family a most enjoyable4th of July!

David Dietze is the Republican candidate for Summit Common Council, At-Large.

More:

Independence Day and Fiscal Responsibility - Summit NJ News ... - TAPinto.net

Moderate House Republicans warn of trouble for tax reform – CNBC

Posted on by

"House Republicans have made significant progress on budget decisions and these family discussions will continue amongst the conference," Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong said in a statement.

The Freedom Caucus and Tuesday Group each represents enough House Republicans to stymie legislation on its own.

Outside organizations including powerful business lobby groups are increasingly worried that the disagreement could lead to a political stand-off that prevents tax reform from occurring.

"No other reforms under consideration rise to the importance of pro-growth, comprehensive tax reform," the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, the National Association of Manufacturers and the National Federation of Independent Business said in a joint letter to Republican and Democratic congressional leaders on Wednesday.

Republican moderates also worry that adding mandatory cuts to a reconciliation bill would create unpalatable legislation that reduces benefits for the poor while granting tax cuts to corporations and wealthy individuals, according to aides.

The House Budget Committee canceled plans to send a resolution for fiscal 2018 to the floor this week, after the chairmen of several other committees rejected efforts to wring $250 billion in mandatory spending from spending.

Freedom Caucus members want much larger cuts.

The rest is here:

Moderate House Republicans warn of trouble for tax reform - CNBC