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Doctor who promoted Quebec’s euthanasia law having second thoughts – The Catholic Register

Posted on June 20, 2017 by Danzig

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Doctor who promoted Quebec's euthanasia law having second thoughts - The Catholic Register

New Pontifical Academy of Life Appointee Supports Euthanasia by Starvation – Catholic Citizens of Illinois (press release)

Posted on June 20, 2017 by Danzig

Posted by Andrew Guernsey at 6/20/2017

An ethic study group for the Italian Jesuit magazine Aggiornamenti Sociali, headed by Fr. Maurizio Chiodi, a newly appointed member of the Pontifical Academy for Life and a theologian of the Northern Italian Theological Faculty of Milan, has joined Italian euthanasia activists in supporting a bill that would legalize physician assisted suicide and/or euthanasia in certain cases. The bill has already been approved by the House and is now before the Italian Senate.

Fr. Chiodis study group cites proportionalism to argue that terminally ill cancer patients and those in a persistent vegetative state (like Terri Schaivo pictured here) should have a legal right to refuse food and water, or to create advanced healthcare directives for such acts of euthanasia by starvation and dehydration. Fr. Chiodis group writes:

2. A democratic state is made up of citizens committed to respecting the different ethics, world views and religions, in a context of mutual inclusion and sincere hospitality without trying to impose itself on others..

5. A controversial issue concerns artificial nutrition and hydration (ANH), which the draft of the law includes among the treatments that can be refused in an AHD [advance healthcare directive] or advance planning. In Catholic thought it is often stated that these means are always obligatory; in reality, ANH [artificial nutrition and hydration] is a medical and technical intervention and as such does not avoid the judgment of proportionality. Nor can it be excluded that sometimes it is no longer able to achieve the purpose of providing nourishment to the patient or the alleviation of suffering. The former case can occur in the illness of terminal cancer; the second [can occur] in a vegetative state which is extended indefinitely, if the patient has previously stated that this prospect is unacceptable. Since it can not be ruled out that in cases like these, ANH [artificial nutrition and hydration] becomes a disproportionate treatment, its inclusion among the refusable treatments is correct.

On the contrary Pope St. John Paul II clearly refuted Fr. Chiodi in this matter in a 2004 address:

4. Medical doctors and health-care personnel, society and the Church have moral duties toward these persons from which they cannot exempt themselves without lessening the demands both of professional ethics and human and Christian solidarity.

The sick person in a vegetative state, awaiting recovery or a natural end, still has the right to basic health care (nutrition, hydration, cleanliness, warmth, etc.), and to the prevention of complications related to his confinement to bed. He also has the right to appropriate rehabilitative care and to be monitored for clinical signs of eventual recovery.

I should like particularly to underline how the administration of water and food, even when provided by artificial means, always represents a natural means of preserving life, not a medical act. Its use, furthermore, should be considered, in principle, ordinary and proportionate, and as such morally obligatory, insofar as and until it is seen to have attained its proper finality, which in the present case consists in providing nourishment to the patient and alleviation of his suffering.

The obligation to provide the normal care due to the sick in such cases (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Iura et Bona, p. IV) includes, in fact, the use of nutrition and hydration (cf. Pontifical Council Cor Unum, Dans le Cadre, 2, 4, 4; Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers, Charter of Health Care Workers, n. 120). The evaluation of probabilities, founded on waning hopes for recovery when the vegetative state is prolonged beyond a year, cannot ethically justify the cessation or interruption of minimal care for the patient, including nutrition and hydration. Death by starvation or dehydration is, in fact, the only possible outcome as a result of their withdrawal. In this sense it ends up becoming, if done knowingly and willingly, true and proper euthanasia by omission.

The Pontifical Academy for Lifes 2000 Document, Respect for the Dignity of the Dying as confirmed by John Paul II similarly stated: One must always provide ordinary care (including artificial nutrition and hydration), palliative treatment, especially the proper therapy for pain, in a dialogue with the patient which keeps him informed.

Likewise, a 2007 declaration by the CDF , confirmed by Pope Benedict XVI, declared:

First question: Is the administration of food and water (whether by natural or artificial means) to a patient in a vegetative state morally obligatory except when they cannot be assimilated by the patients body or cannot be administered to the patient without causing significant physical discomfort?

Response: Yes. The administration of food and water even by artificial means is, in principle, an ordinary and proportionate means of preserving life. It is therefore obligatory to the extent to which, and for as long as, it is shown to accomplish its proper finality, which is the hydration and nourishment of the patient. In this way suffering and death by starvation and dehydration are prevented.

Second question: When nutrition and hydration are being supplied by artificial means to a patient in a permanent vegetative state, may they be discontinued when competent physicians judge with moral certainty that the patient will never recover consciousness?

Response: No. A patient in a permanent vegetative state is a person with fundamental human dignity and must, therefore, receive ordinary and proportionate care which includes, in principle, the administration of water and food even by artificial means.

February 2017 also saw the publication of a problematically ambiguous update to the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workerss New Charter for Health Care Workers, paragraph 152 of which affirms:

Nutrition and hydration, even artificially administered are to be considered among the basic cares due to the dying, when they do not become too burdensome or are of some benefit. Their unjustified withdrawal can have the significance of a true and proper act of euthanasia.

It should be noted that besides his stance in support of euthanasia, Fr. Chiodi also opposes the Churchs perennial teaching on contraception.

https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2017/06/new-pontifical-academy-of-life.html

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New Pontifical Academy of Life Appointee Supports Euthanasia by Starvation - Catholic Citizens of Illinois (press release)

Not referring patients for euthanasia is a matter of conscience – Toronto Star

Posted on June 20, 2017 by Danzig

Re: Balancing one right with another for access to assisted dying, June 14

Balancing one right with another for access to assisted dying, June 14

Mr. Warren misrepresents what is meant in medicine by a referral. In referring a patient to another physician, I make a pledge of responsibility to that patient that I am acting in their best interest. Whether that other physician proceeds or not with a given intervention is immaterial to my duty to only refer for the good of the patient. If I refer to a surgeon who I know to be careless and unskilled, it doesnt matter whether the surgery goes forward or not the referral itself is immoral. Likewise with euthanasia: if I refer for an assessment for medical killing, the referral itself has a moral weight, regardless of whether the patient receives the needle.

It is offensive to read Mr. Warren accuse conscientious objectors of abandoning or impeding patients in their hour of need. Myself, along with hundreds of other physicians who object to killing patients, want nothing more than to serve our patients in their final illness, providing them with the best possible medical care and showing true compassion. Not wishing to provide or participate in euthanasia as a matter of conscience in no way impedes the broader society (including Mr. Warrens organization) from providing this service. Forcing physicians to refer for euthanasia against their good conscience will only serve to break their personal integrity, the same integrity which they swore to uphold in their life and profession.

Lucas Vivas, MD FRCPC, Toronto

The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5E1E6. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please contact us or see our privacy policy for more information.

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Not referring patients for euthanasia is a matter of conscience - Toronto Star

Man who survived high voltage accident sentenced for child porn … – WGME

Posted on June 20, 2017 by Danzig

Zane Wetzel, who pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography In December 2016 in federal court in Bangor, can be seen in Boston in this December 2010 file photo. (Courtesy of Wetzel family via BDN)

BANGOR, Maine (BDN) -- An Easton man who in 2010 suffered third-degree burns on 50 percent of his body in a high-voltage accident while working as a linesman was sentenced to one and a half years in prison Monday for possession of child pornography.

Zane Wetzel, 31, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography in U.S. District Court in Bangor in December 2016 before Judge John Woodcock, who also sentenced him for the crime Monday.

Wetzel, who faced up to 20 years in prison, will be on supervised release for five years and also will have to register as a sex offender, according to Chris Ruge, the assistant U.S. attorney general who prosecuted the case.

An investigation conducted by the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security led to police finding in May 2015 images and videos of child pornography depicting actual prepubescent minors who were under the age of 12 years old on Wetzels computer, according to Ruge.

Investigators said Wetzel used peer-to-peer file sharing networks to download hundreds of images at a time. Some of the child porn included men sexually assaulting children, with images and videos saved to the hard drive of his computer.

Ruge said that 36 members of Wetzels family and his religious community attended Mondays proceedings to support him and that four of them spoke on his behalf.

The fact that there is a low risk of recidivism and that he has that support impacted the sentence, said Ruge. Judge Woodcock acknowledged that he was handing down a lighter sentence than he has normally given.

At the same time, Ruge said, Woodcock admonished Wetzel by stating that he did not commit a victimless crime.

Woodcock said in court that these young girls from around the world, who have been subjected to this abuse, are somebodys daughters.

The judge went on to tell the defendant that his offense is a serious crime that merits a significant penalty.

Ruge said Wetzel acknowledged the seriousness of the crime prior to his sentencing.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

In 2010, Wetzel was hit with 69,000 volts of electricity while working as an apprentice linesman for Maine Public Service Co. He suffered a flash burn to his chest, back, arm and neck in the electrical accident that left him with third-degree burns over 50 percent of his body.

Man who survived high voltage accident sentenced for child porn ... - WGME

Judi It’s time to make prostitution legal in New Jersey – New Jersey 101.5 FM Radio

Posted on June 20, 2017 by Danzig

Getty Images

In Newark, a mom of three and activist called Janet Duran (not her real name) sits at the helm of a group called the New Jersey Red Umbrella Alliance, which has been defending and advocating for the rights of sex workers in the Garden State since 2013. She and others like her want New Jersey to decriminalize prostitution. And weve got to start to look at this in a new way.

Though Duran may not be someone youd wanna be friends with, she has a point. If a woman wants to sell her body for money, shouldnt she be protected? We often say that if New Jersey would only tax, regulate and license the business of prostitution the way it does with other popular industries in the state, wed reap the financial rewards as taxpayers, and youd see a lot less unemployment.

Like other victimless crimes, it seems illogical to call women (or men) who choose this line of work criminals. As we become more evolved when it comes to what people should be allowed to do with their own bodies, these laws should evolve as well.

Prostitution in the larger sense takes place every day in relationships only without money as the currency. Women, who are generally in charge of the sexual yay or nay routinely dole out sex in exchange for comfort, security, a lavish vacation or an expensive meal. Its just called wining and dining and not exchanging sex for goods. A happily married wife may promise a little somethin somethin' in exchange for that sports car or designer purse shes been dying for.

But the moment a monetary transaction is made it becomes a crime. In the case of massage parlors who offer or at least will provide, on request happy endings, whos to say what constitutes the actual act? What if a man merely derives sexual pleasure from the massage itself even without completion and then pays for the pleasure. Is THAT prostitution? Where is the line and who is to make that judgement?

The fact is this: when decisions are made by consenting adults whether they involve monetary compensation or not, it should be none of the governments business. These are personal choices and should be kept just that; personal. We are on the precipice of legalizing marijuana because weve finally realized that we can no longer deprive people of certain freedoms. And sex for money, especially with laws that provide for proper testing and safety is inarguably less risky.

If a woman says my body, my choice when it comes to abortion, but then thinks prostitution should remain illegal, shes a hypocrite. Dont sex workers abide by that same principle? Perhaps its time.

Wayne LaPierre, Tomi Lahren, and a Rally Cry From Young Conservative Women – D Magazine

Posted on June 20, 2017 by Danzig

When I saw that the schedule promised an appearance by NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre and a pajama party, I knew I had to check it out.

The Young Womens Leadership Summit, put on this year in Dallas by right-leaning nonprofit Turning Point USA, brings together high school- and college-aged conservative women from all over the country. This year, the invite-only conference drew more than 1,000 to the Hyatt Regency near DFW International Airport.

Its an interesting time to be a conservative young woman. I wondered who they followed on Twitter (spoiler: Ben Shapiro). I wanted to see what kind of young person would choose to spend a summer weekend in a hotel talking about politics. I wondered how they felt about supporting a president whod been criticized for being anti-women, who had once bragged about sexual assault. I wondered how they felt about the Womens March, and whether they worried about things like the gender wage gap and restricted abortion access. Most of all, I was curious if being a conservative woman meant ignoring womens issues.

When I arrived at the hotel last Thursday, the place was teeming with scores of bright, energetic young women. As they stood in line, they introduced themselves to each other and took endless rounds of selfies. They hovered around a plate of cake pops, reconnecting with friends theyd met at last years summit. They wore heels and blazers and skirts patterned with little Republican elephants. Their excitement was palpable.

I picked up my press credentials from Turning Points communications director. He showed me to the press corral at the back of the conference hall, gave me a program, and noted what I could and could not attend during the four-day summit. Most of the breakout sessions were closed. He wrote a 5 on my schedule by the college meet-and-greet to denote that I was allotted five minutes there.

Meanwhile, outside the main conference hall, the line for the meet-and-greet with Ben Shapiro (also known as Bae Shapiro among these ranks) snaked around the foyer. Organizations like the Ayn Rand Institute and pro-gun group Empowered were putting the finishing touches on their booths. As they waited in line, women took turns holding frames emblazoned with phrases like Future Senator and posing for photos along a red carpet-style backdrop. I sidled up in line and asked as many women as I could why theyd come to this summit. Some offered full names while others declined to identify themselves.

I think big government sucks, said Sonia, who attends the College of DuPage in Illinois. (At the time, I didnt realize just how often I was going to hear Sonias sentiment.)

Some had come to learn more about starting Turning Point chapters at their schools. Many envisioned a future in politics and wanted to make connections. Most were glad for the opportunity to be away from the liberal worlds of their college campuses and among other women with whom they agreed. Samantha, clad in blue pants, goes to Messiah College in Pennsylvania and is staunchly against abortion. My college campus is really liberal, and its hard to connect with people who have the same beliefs as me, she told me. There were five people at my college campus who went to the March for Life and like 50 who went to the Womens March.

My college campus is really liberal, and its hard to connect with people who have the same beliefs as me.

Some women wore their conservatism like a badge; some skewed a little more moderate. Some loved Trump; others merely supported him. One woman told me that she had first championed Rubio, then Cruz, then finally resigned herself to Trump. He really does want to make America great again, she said.

Soon it was time for the opening session, so I ventured back to the auditorium and slipped to the back of the press corral. Pop songs blasted overhead. Each seat came with a Big Govt Sucks poster, and as cameras swept over the crowd, the women waved their signs and cheered. Soon a confetti cannon burst and Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point, strode on stage. He thanked the headline sponsor (the NRA) and pointed out that there is no war on womenevidenced, he said, by all the conservative women in attendance. This weekend, he told the gathered crowd, There will be no safe spaces. He repeated it again, for the media.

I looked down at my schedule for this invite-only, women-only summit. The banquet keynote (Laura Ingraham, a few days shy of reports that shes being considered to hold the routine White House briefings) was off limits to the press. We were allowed five minutes in the lunch hall, seven minutes to witness the Krav Maga self-defense workshop, and zero minutes at the pajama party. Political commentator Tomi Lahren, clad in a jacket with shiny sleeves, was up first. She talked a bit about the difficulty of being a conservative and urged the gathered women to stand up for themselves.

The first female president, thats a big deal for all of us, she said. Id rather it not be Hillary ClintonId rather it not be a liar or a crook.

Lock her up! someone in the audience shouted.

We dont need to lock her up, shes at Whole Foods, shes hiking through the woods, Lahren said. Though I cant talkIm unemployed too, so Hillary and I are in the same boat.

When she opened the floor up to questions, no one mentioned her recent pro-choice remarks or departure from Glenn Becks media company.

Instead: I just wanna ask what were all thinking, one attendee said. Wheres your blazer from?

Lahren said she didnt remember, but pointed out her merchandise booth to the right of the stage.

I dont live my life based off the color of my skin, or my gender. Im an American, Im a Christian, I have my beliefs, and thats how I live.

As the speakers progressed, they speculated that one of the summit attendees might become the first woman president. There was also much discussion about the strength it requires to be conservative. And even though the recent shooting had some hopeful sense of bipartisanship, there was little of that reflected here. At the end of each speakers presentation, he or she answered a brief Q&A (with mostly questions like Coke or Pepsi?). The last question, though, was always about big government, and the response was always that it sucks.

Antonia Okafor, a Second Amendment activist, told the cheering crowd: Yes, Im a black woman, and I cling to my guns, my God, and my country! Ginni Thomas, a columnist for the Daily Caller, invited attendees whod faced discrimination for being a conservative to share their stories. A high schooler was blocked from starting a Young Americans for Freedom club at her school. A young professional wept on stage while describing how she was fired from her job when a co-worker discovered her political beliefs. Another woman wanted relationship advice.

So, my boyfriends a liberal, she began. The crowd erupted in a chorus of boos.

Get a new one, Thomas said.

The hapless young woman pressed on. Apparently she really liked the guy.

If you think she should find another guy, Thomas said, stand up.

Hundreds of women clamored to their feet.

Lara Trump, the presidents daughter-in-law, came across as genuine and personable. She told the crowd about her fear in moving to New York for culinary school and her pride in helping her father-in-law win North Carolina during the election. She explained that shes going to be part of his 2020 reelection campaign. Near the end of her talk the entire assemblage sang Happy Birthday to Donald Trump.

Wayne LaPierre talked about the recent congressional shooting, which involved a female Capitol police officer.

The surest way to stop a bad guy with a gunis a good woman with a gun, he said.

In between the speakers, the young women attended 45 minute breakouts. In the Using Digital Media to Amplify Your Voice session, the presenter gave tips on posts that do well on social media and how to use plugins to find peoples contact information. Of-the-moment topics were largely closed to press, including one titled What Does Conservative Healthcare Look Like? Ironic, considering the Senate has been debating its own bill in secret.

Afterwards, I talked to Estrella Gonzales, who attends the University of Texas at Arlington. Her mother was born in Mexico, and her family were laborers and former Democrats. I wondered how she reconciled her family history with the presidents immigration policies. She told me about how her grandfather, a field worker in South Texas, used to carry sandwiches for immigrants who stopped to ask for directions. One day her grandpa discovered that his co-worker had been robbed and murdered in the fields. She conceded that immigration policy requires some meet-in-the-middle, but stressed that the presidents negative comments about immigrants werent about all immigrants and that there are bad ones.

In the end, though, it came down to this: I dont live my life based off the color of my skin, or my gender, she told me. Im an American, Im a Christian, I have my beliefs, and thats how I live.

That summed up the views of most of the women I came across. To many, gender was just another thing, as Calli Norton, from West Virginia State University, put it. I dont think it means you have a leverage, or a disadvantage. I feel like were all on an equal playing field.

The attendees had strong feelings about abortion, religion, immigration reform, and, of course, the size of the government. They admired Ben Shapiros intelligence; they were inspired by Carly Fiorinas success. Many had well-thought-out opinions, and their futures seemed bright. But I found it interesting that women (at a gathering of women) didnt feel that being a woman had much to do with their world views.

As I was leaving on the second day, attendees were lining up to be photographed with NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre. There I found Samantha, the pro-life advocate from Messiah College I had talked to earlier. She gushed about the speakers so far, all of whom shed enjoyed. When it was her turn to snap a photo with LaPierre, she smiled brightly. Then she held out her journal.

Shed been taking notes on every speaker, she explained. She asked LaPierre to sign beneath her notes on his speech.

Samanthaproud of you, his inscription read. Keep fighting.

Here is the original post:

Wayne LaPierre, Tomi Lahren, and a Rally Cry From Young Conservative Women - D Magazine

Paul Ryan’s passionate call to cut taxes on the wealthy and corporations – Washington Post (blog)

Posted on June 20, 2017 by Danzig

During a speech before the National Association of Manufacturers, June 20, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) pledged to lower taxes and streamline the tax filing process. (The Washington Post)

While Republicans in the Senate work out how to take health insurance away from millions of Americans, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) turns his attention to the other great crusade that animates his career: tax cuts. This afternoon, Ryan is giving a speech to a friendly audience of lobbyists at the National Association of Manufacturers, in which he will lay out his vision for the next phase of the great Republican project, once health care is (one way or another) out of the way.

Ryan may not be the hard-nosed, number-crunching policy wonk hes often portrayed as in the press, but he is certainly a man of substantive beliefs. Unlike his Senate counterpart Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who plainly has no sincerely felt goal other than acquiring and holding power, Ryan has policy changes he desperately wants to see. Among them, only destroying the safety net can rival his deep and abiding wish that America might ease the burden of taxation under which our countrys rich, super-rich and corporations suffer so unjustly.

According to excerpts of his speech released in advance, hell tell his audience: We need to get this done in 2017. We cannot let this once-in-a-generation moment slip. While cutting taxes might slip into 2018, Ryan is basically right. It may not be quite a once-in-a-generation opportunity, but it only comes along when Republicans have unified control of government which they might only have until 2018.

While Ryan may not get everything he wants out of tax reform, he stands a very good chance of getting most of it. Republicans will move heaven and earth to pass something not because they feel pressure from their constituents Americans are not exactly crying out for tax cuts but because they believe in it. If we cant cut taxes on the wealthy, they ask each other, then why are we here? Whats the point of having power if you dont use it for this? So heres what Ryan is proposing to do, per the speech excerpts:

Among these, only the increase in the standard deduction is aimed at the non-wealthy. As the Tax Policy Center wrote last year about an earlier version of this plan:

Three-quarters of total tax cuts would go to the top 1 percent, who would receive an average cut of nearly $213,000, or 13.4 percent of after-tax income. The top 0.1 percent would receive an average tax cut of about $1.3 million (16.9 percent of after-tax income). In contrast, the average tax cut for the lowest-income households would be just $50.

While the figures for this latest iteration will vary somewhat, the essential idea will be the same. This is part of the Republican tax template going way back: Make sure that even lower-income people get something in your tax cut, even if its tiny and the vast majority of the benefits go to the wealthy. Then you can say, This isnt about the wealthy were cutting taxes for everybody!

There are differences among Republicans on some points. For instance, many of President Trumps economic advisers dont like the border adjustment tax (which is essentially a big tariff on imported goods that would be paid by consumers), which means it will probably be dropped. But the good news for Ryan and Republicans is that even if cutting taxes for the wealthy isnt popular, it tends not to generate intense, concentrated resistance of the kind that makes members of Congress skittish about voting for it.

Thats because, unlike health-care reform, taxes are not an issue where its easy (or even possible) for citizens to see a direct harm Republican policies might do to them. If I take away your coverage or enable insurers to deny you coverage because of your preexisting condition, youll know thats bad for you. But if I give a tax break to the millionaires who live in that gated community on the other side of town? You may think its unfair and you may not like it, but since it doesnt seem like it will have an immediate impact on you, youre much less likely to march in the streets or call your member of Congress to stop it from happening.

Furthermore, Ryan and the Republicans know that the public has virtually no historical memory, which enables the GOP to make bogus arguments about taxes and convince many people that theyre true. Why is it necessary to make these tax cuts? Because this will create jobs, Ryan will say in his speech, according to the excerpts. That is what this is all about: jobs, jobs, jobs. Good, high-paying jobs.

Just like all those millions of high-paying jobs that were created when George W. Bush passed a similar set of tax cuts for the wealthy in 2001 and 2003, which brought about the economic nirvana of explosive job and wage growth Republicans like Ryan promised the tax cuts would produce. Thats what happened, right?

Thats not what happened, of course just the opposite. But Paul Ryan is undeterred. Hes a man of substance, but hes no empiricist. What experience teaches him about the world we live in is far less important than the dream that implanted itself in his heart when he read Atlas Shrugged as an impressionable youth. Whatever else does or doesnt make it through Congress, Ryan will get his tax cuts.

Link:

Paul Ryan's passionate call to cut taxes on the wealthy and corporations - Washington Post (blog)

Vince Cable as Liberal Democrat leader would complete the revenge of the old – New Statesman

Posted on June 20, 2017 by Danzig

Around 2007 it appeared that British political leaders only came in one model. Tony Blair (53), David Cameron (40) and Nick Clegg (39) were all young, economically liberal and socially liberal. Grey hair as much as no hair appeared an impediment to leadership. Both Cameron and Clegg had replaced older predecessors (Michael Howard and the much-mocked Ming Campbell). The 2008 election of Barack Obama (47) only appeared to confirm the trend.

But, like much else, this assumption has been overturned. In 2015, Labour elected Jeremy Corbyn (then 66) - the oldest leader of a major party for 35 years. The following year, the Conservatives chose Theresa May (then 59), now the oldest prime minister since Margaret Thatcher. Should Vince Cable become Liberal Democrat leader (the 74-year-old entered the race today), the reversal will be complete. The average age of the three leaders would be 67 (up from 47 in 2015) - the highest since 1955. All this, with a 71-year-old in the White House.

After younger leaders disappointed their parties, perhaps it is no surprise that activists are seeking refuge in the assumed wisdom of age. And May, Corbyn and Cable are not only united in this respect. All are notably more statist than their recent predecessors.

In contrast to David Cameron, May has spoken of "the good that government can do" and backed interventionist policies such as an energy tariff cap, increased workers' rights and employee representation on company boards. Far more than Ed Miliband, Corbyn rejected New Labour's deference to the market and made the case for the renationalisation of the railways, Royal Mail, the energy grid and the water industry. During the coalition years, Cable routinely challenged Nick Clegg from the left on public spending and state intervention. After the 2008 crash, and the ensuing fall in living standards, Britain's ideological horizons have expanded.

In different ways, May, Corbyn and Cable have challenged the assumption that youth knows best (the first with mixed results). Under Clegg, the Liberal Democrats were reduced to just eight seats, a total the 47-year-old Tim Farron only increased to 12. Corbyn, meanwhile, has succeeded where the younger Ed Miliband failed in improving Labour's standing. Should Cable be elected (he has cited the precedent of Gladstone), and fare well, the revenge of the old will be complete.

Originally posted here:

Vince Cable as Liberal Democrat leader would complete the revenge of the old - New Statesman

BC Liberals adjusting principles for a shot at power – CBC.ca

Posted on June 20, 2017 by Danzig

Six times the B.C. NDP proposed legislation that would have led to the ban of union and corporate political donations in British Columbia.

And six times the B.C. Liberal government stood in the way.

But thisThursdaythe B.C. Liberals willunveila new look.

The 2017 speech from the throne will be very different from throne speeches of the past,since the party was firstelected in 2001. Many of the ideas the party fought against while in power will now be included as Liberal policy.

Banning union and corporate donations - check.

Increasing social assistance rates - check.

Transit funding without a Metro Vancouver referendum - check.

And here is the political kicker.

NDP MLAs willhave to vote against all of those changes they've championed for yearsif they want to form government. That is because the upcoming throne speech will be pegged to a confidence vote expected to end the 16 year Liberalpolitical dynasty.

"What you are seeing is exactly what you would expect from a government in the situation that we are in where we won the electionin having the most seats and the most votes but not having a majority," said Social Development Minister MichelleStilwell.

"I think we are always looking at creating the bestBritish Columbia that we can."

B.C. Premier Christy Clark arrives June 12, 2017 at the swearing-in ceremony for her new cabinet. (Richard Zussman/CBC News)

It's not just legislative votes the Liberal partyhasitseye on. It's the next provincial election.

With the B.C. legislature in an unprecedented time of uncertainty, predicting when that next election will be is impossible.

But the Liberals know that what they did leading up theMay 9election didn't work and this new course is an attempt to lure back voters in Metro Vancouver.

As bits and pieces of the speech from the throne are leaked to the media, thepicture emerging is of a Liberal party willing to substantially change.

B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan promised to make education a defining issue in the 2017 provincial election. (Denis Dossman/CBC)

This could mean a more direct approach onovercrowded Surrey classrooms, a focus on increasing child care spaces in Metro Vancouver and closing loopholes for evicting renters and for foreign investors parkingmoney in Vancouver real estate. All issues that weren't part of the last Liberal election campaign, but were featured in the platforms of both theGreens and NDP.

"For sure, it's about getting votes, but it's about connecting with people," said B.C. Liberal cabinet minister Sam Sullivan. "We have really recognized how we didn't do well in the urban area. We did really well in the Interior, the North, the suburbs, etc, but we were unable to connect with urban voters."

Many of those urban voters weredisappointed when February's provincial budget was the ninth in a row to provide no increase to social assistance rates.

This, despite recognition the province hasbecome one of the country's most expensive places in which to live and the government's claim it was using the province's wealth to help those who needed it most.

It's only now, with the confidence vote looming, that the Liberals will increase those rates by $100 a month at a cost of about $53 million a year.

The same goes for increasing disability rates. The government hadbattled for years with advocateswho were angry rates were left unchanged from 2008 to 2015.

Now, the Liberals are promising to do just that if they stay in power or win the next election.

"We all know that there is a lot of cynicism and skepticismof people in politics. Ithink this will add to that cynicism," said disability advocate JaneDyson. "Ithink that a lot ofpeople's confidence in politicians will be further eroded from what we are seeing now."

There are some core principles the Liberals are unwilling to budge on.

Don't expect the throne speech to include a change of direction on the Site C dam or Kinder Morgan. The Liberals will also likely stick by thebalanced budget pledge and theMasseyBridge project.

But beyond that, almost anything goes. And that will set up an election where the major parties appear to stand for many of the same things.

Leaving voters to wonder if they believe any of them.

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BC Liberals adjusting principles for a shot at power - CBC.ca

Jo Swinson appointed deputy leader of Liberal Democrats – The Independent

Posted on June 20, 2017 by Danzig

A police officer lays some flowers passed over by a member of the public, close to Finsbury Park Mosque in north London, after one man died and eight people were taken to hospital and a person arrested after a rental van struck pedestrian

The Borough Market bell is seen in Borough Market in central London following its re-opening after the June 3 terror attack

Getty Images

Two women embrace in Borough Market, which officially re-opens today following the recent attack, in central London

REUTERS/Hannah McKay

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan attends the re-opening of Borough market in central London following the June 3 terror attack

Getty Images

People walk through Borough Market in central London following its re-opening after the June 3 terror attack

Getty Images

News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch, with one of his daughters, visit Borough Market, which officially re-opened today following the recent attack

REUTERS

A woman reacts in front of a wall of messages in Borough Market, which officially re-opened today following the recent attack, in central London

REUTERS/Hannah Mckay

Vivenne Westwood walks the runway at the Vivenne Westwood show during the London Fashion Week Men's June 2017 collections

Getty Images

Millwall fan and London Bridge hero Roy Larner on 'Good Morning Britain'

Rex

Richard Arnold, Roy Larner, Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on 'Good Morning Britain'

Rex

England players celebrate after defeating Venezuela 1-0 to win the final of the FIFA U-20 World Cup Korea 2017 at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, South Korea

England players celebrate with the trophy after the final match of the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2017 between Venezuela and England at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, South Korea

EPA

Great Britain's Alistair Brownlee celebrates winning the Elite Men Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds

Danny Lawson/PA Wire

Two men drink beer outside the Southwark Tavern which reopened for business today next to an entrance to Borough Market which remains closed in London

Getty Images

Singer and songwriter Ed Sheeran receives a bottle of mezcal from a reporter during a press conference in Mexico City

AP Photo/Marco Ugarte

This photo issued by Freuds shows the car that was involved in a crash where Richard Hammond escaped serious injury, in Switzerland

Freuds via AP

The Cateran Yomp, Scotland's foremost outdoor fundraiser that puts soldiers and civilians side by side on a 24-hour trek across the historic 'Cateran Trail' in Perthshire. With a target to walk over 37,000 miles collectively, more than 1150 hikers signed up for the 2017 Cateran Yomp challenge, raising an estimated 2.9 million in seven years in support of ABF The Soldier's Charity

David Cheskin/PA Wire

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain kisses an Ayrton Senna helmet that was presented to Hamilton after he won the pole position to tie the late Senna at second for most career poles, at the Canadian Grand Prix

Tyler Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP

A poster hangs from a railing outside Downing street in London

REUTERS/Hannah McKay

Protesters gather outside Downing street in London

REUTERS/Hannah Mckay

A general view of police presence inside Hampden Park before the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying, Group F match at Hampden Park, Glasgow

Martin Rickett/PA Wire

The Duke of Cambridge, Colonel of the Irish Guards, parading down the mall in Central London during the Colonel's Review, the final rehearsal of the Trooping the Colour, the Queen's annual birthday parade

Ben Stevens/PA Wire

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge attends the Colonel's Review at the Queen Victoria Memorial in London

Getty Images

An Irish Guard collapses before being taken away on a stretcher, during the Colonel's Review, the final rehearsal of the Trooping the Colour, the Queen's annual birthday parade, on the mall in Central London

Ben Stevens/PA Wire

Police officers remove the cordon tape by Borough Market following the June 3rd attacks in London

Getty Images

Items next to the van used in the London Bridge attack

Metropolitan Police/PA Wire

Interior of the van used in the London Bridge attacks

Metropolitan Police/PA Wire

Messages of solidarity written on post-it notes stuck to a wall are seen at the southern end of London Bridge in London on June 8, 2017 following the June 3 terror attack that targeted members of the public on London Bridge and Borough Market

Getty Images

Ozzy Gandaa with Ben Shephard and Kate Garraway on 'This Morning' TV show. Ozzy Gandaa, a pub doorman saved countless lives when he hurled bar stools, bottles and glasses at the London Bridge terrorists as they went on a rampage through Borough Market

Rex

People look at many messages of solidarity and love written on post-it notes and stuck to the side of a wall at the southern end of London Bridge, following the June 3 terror attack that targeted members of the public on London Bridge and Borough Market

Getty Images

An exit poll predicting that the Labour Party led by Jeremy Corbyn will win 266 seats in the British general election is projected onto BBC Broadcasting House, Portland Place, in London, after the polls closed

Getty Images

Britain's Prince Harry speaks to Nazhath Faheema, a Muslim Youth Ambassador of Peace, as they eat an evening meal to break fast, or the iftar, for Ramadan - the Muslim fasting month, during a visit to a children's home in Singapore

REUTERS/Joseph Nair/Pool

The Brandenburg Gate is illuminated with the colours of the British flag to show solidarity with the victims of the recent attack in London, in Berlin, Germany

REUTERS/Christian Mang

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Jo Swinson appointed deputy leader of Liberal Democrats - The Independent

Politics Briefing newsletter: Liberal access-to-information reforms don’t quite meet promises – The Globe and Mail

Posted on June 20, 2017 by Danzig

Good morning,

The Liberals have finally introduced legislation to fulfill one of their campaign promises: reforming Canadas access-to-information law. For users of the law, which allows the public to access government documents under certain guidelines, the long-awaited Liberal bill is a mixed bag: it boosts proactive disclosure and gives more powers to the Information Commissioner (a kind of watchdog of the law), but it breaks a promise to apply the access to ministers offices and gives government the ability to dismiss requests it believes are made in bad faith.

Well see how the reforms address the complaints of those who use the access-to-information system frequently (predominantly businesses and members of the public), such as long delays and redacted information. A few examples from this writers experience: months-long delays for routine reports, including packages sent to our office for reporters who stopped working here years ago; paragraphs from a news article, included as part of an email sent from one public servant to another, that were blacked out because they were publicly available information (figure that one out); and basic factual information that is excluded because cabinet members could use it as a basis for making a decision.

This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Chris Hannay in Ottawa and Mayaz Alam in Toronto, with James Keller in Vancouver. If you're reading this on the web or someone forwarded this email newsletter to you, you can sign up for Politics Briefing and all Globe newsletters here. Let us know what you think.

CANADIAN HEADLINES

Thats not all...Justin Trudeaus Liberals are in a final sprint to introduce some policies before Parliament rises for its three-month summer break. The governing party is putting new limits on the use of solitary confinement, eventually keeping the practice to no more than 15 consecutive days. The Liberals will finally table its national-security legislation today, which sets out to undo many of the changes made by the previous Conservative government. And there will be a new way of appointing directors to the board of the CBC/Radio-Canada, to address past allegations of partisanship.

Senators defeated a motion to hive off the infrastructure bank legislation from the budget bill, clearing the way for the Liberals to get their bill passed on schedule.

The Liberal government says it will have a backup plan for the regulation of legalized marijuana in provinces that dont create their own regimes.

The Commons indigenous affairs committee says the federal government has routinely failed to address the issue of suicide in Canadas indigenous communities and must dramatically improve its care of children.

And a few public figures being criticized for things theyre saying on social media: Governor-General David Johnston apologized yesterday for referring to Indigenous Canadians as immigrants in a CBC Radio interview that aired over the weekend; Dwight Duncan, the former Ontario Liberal finance minister and current chairman of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, is under fire from opposition MPs for making partisan comments on Facebook; and Conservative MP Kellie Leitch is getting flak for a tweet about Syrian refugees and domestic violence.

Nik Nanos (The Globe and Mail) on cloudy ways: The data suggest that the cloudless sunny ways are over. Sure, some days will be better than others for the Liberals. Now, reality will set in as more Canadians focus on what the Liberals have done to make things better for that large swath of Canadians who consider themselves part of the middle class.

Andr Pratte (The Globe and Mail) on independents in the Senate: It is true that over the past year, the Senate has amended a relatively large number of government bills. In many cases, those amendments were accepted by cabinet, which agreed that they made its bill better. In other cases, the amendments were rejected and the bill sent back to the Senate, unchanged, for final approval. What happened then? Did the FrankenSenate insist on its amendments and try to impose its will on the House of Commons? Not at all.

Chantal Hbert (Toronto Star) on retiring Quebec Conservative Denis Lebel: It is an open secret that the premier would like to recruit Lebel to run under the provincial Liberal banner in next years Quebec election. But Lebel claims he is done with politics for the foreseeable future. That may change depending on how the wind is blowing in the lead-up to the provincial campaign.

Andrew MacDougall (CBC) on access-to-information reform: Ask yourself what is better: public policy that's made in secret and then revealed to the public, or a policy process that pulls its punches because its authors didn't want to ask or answer the uncomfortable question or challenge from their colleagues during its development?

Andrew Coyne (National Post) on government aid for the media: The one thing it will not do is save the industry. It wont fix our problems. It will just make them easier to avoid. Worse, it will draw us into the political arena, not just as observers but as an issue in our own right.

Stephen Maher (iPolitics) on a media bailout: I suspect the Liberals foot-dragging on all this has to do with (my former employer) Postmedia, which took a strongly pro-Conservative position in the last election. The Liberals likely would rather stick pencils in their eyes than bail out Postmedias bosses. They may hope those bosses are gone by the time they dole out the money. You have to wonder, though, how much of an industry will be left to bail out if they keep dragging their feet.

B.C. UPDATE

B.C.s Liberal government is abruptly reversing course on several major policy areas as the party faces almost certain defeat in the legislature. The party says it is now in favour of a ban on corporate and union donations, increases to social assistance rates, and letting mayors find ways to fund transit upgrades without a referendum. Just over a month ago, the party ran an election platform on doing the opposite. Critics say its little more than a cynical death-bed conversion, but the Liberals insist they are learning the lessons of a rebuke at the ballot box.

B.C.s Green leader has made opposing a massive hydroelectric project in the provinces north a key issue for his party, but it wasnt long ago that Andrew Weaver was an enthusiastic booster. Mr. Weaver wants to scrap the Site C dam, and his power-sharing agreement with the New Democrats includes a pledge to put the project to a fresh review. Mr. Weaver, who plans to visit the region tomorrow to make his case, says the economics have changed and the power that will be generated simply isnt needed.

And if the B.C. legislature turns out to be totally dysfunctional, will voters be prepared to head to the ballot boxes again? No, says a survey from the Angus Reid Institute. Seventy-one per cent of respondents say they would like the elected officials to keep at their work, though those who said they supported the BC Liberals were more likely to want an electoral re-do.

Gary Mason (The Gobe and Mail): "It is a clear attempt to win back the affections of former supporters who cast their votes for others last month. The Throne Speech will be the Liberals first attempt at contriteness, something that does not come naturally to them."

INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES

The London mosque attack is the latest incident to rock the U.K.s stability after a tumultuous first half of the year thats seen multiple terrorist attacks, a general election and uncertainty over the future of its relationship with the European Union. Details from the attack are still emerging but witnesses say the suspect, who has been arrested on attempted murder and terrorism charges, deliberately targeted Muslims because of their faith.

The U.K. and the EU officially kicked off Brexit negotiations yesterday nearly a year after British voters narrowly chose to begin the process of leaving the single market and three months after British Prime Minister Theresa May officially triggered Article 50. The entire undertaking is expected to take around two years and it appears that the EU has the upper hand after day one. Both the EU and U.K. teams feature veteran negotiators.

Former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi was killed in October, 2011. In the six years following his death, the billions of dollars tied to his estate have been filtering through the dark underworld of arms deals and illicit money, according to a new United Nations report. Shortly before dying he had reportedly sold one-fifth of Libyas gold reserves and was known to have business holdings across the African continent. After his death, the money vanished but is reportedly being smuggled across borders through locked boxes and in hidden bank accounts.

Voters in Georgias 6th district will choose their representative today in whats become the most expensive, and arguably the most overhyped, House race in U.S. history. Democrat Jon Ossoff will face off against Republican Karen Handel in a two-person race -- both advanced after a multi-candidate primary on April 18. The district has been historically Republican but Democrats are looking for their first big win in the Trump era after narrowing margins in special elections. In the time in between the primary and todays special election, France has held its presidential elections and parliamentary elections, and the U.K. had an entire general election campaign from writ drop to vote.

A BuzzFeed News investigation suggests that Russian security services and organized crime have been carrying out assassinations on British soil for years -- and U.K. police have, for various reasons, stayed out of it.

A data firm associated with the Republican National Committee inadvertently leaked the personal information of nearly 200 million Americans through a publicly available Amazon web server. The private details include everything from addresses and birthdates to complex psychological and political analyses.

And heat waves are expected to become more and more deadly across the world due to climate change. If all countries agreed to abide by the Paris [climate] agreement tomorrow, you are still going to have close to 60 per cent of the worlds population facing deadly conditions for 20 or more days per year, scientist Camilo Mora said.

Doug Saunders (The Globe and Mail) on extremism and London: While these may appear to be two strands of extremism, one Islamist and the other far right, ostensibly posed against one another, any up-close examination of their opinions and rhetoric reveals that they have the same view of the world, the same mirror-image political goals, and now the same tactics.

Margaret Wente (The Globe and Mail) on Amazon, innovation and automation: Innovation always has a cost. The vacuum-cleaner store will disappear, if it hasnt already. Bookstores gone. Department stores gone. Shopping malls gone. Grocery stores will consolidate into a couple of supermegachains. Millions of warehouse workers, retail sales clerks, cashiers gone. As Barack Obama warned in an exit interview earlier this year, the real job killer isnt free trade, its automation.

Nesrine Malik (The Guardian) on hate, radicalization and normalization: Hate crimes of any nature do not occur in a vacuum, and there is a particularly urgent need to examine the context in which this attack took place. For innocent people to become targets, two things must happen: first, incitement to hatred, and then normalisation. Incitement happens when anger is stirred up and people are depicted as less than human. Normalisation occurs when the incitement is repeated, when it begins to feel like part of the scenery. After that, acting on that rage can begin to feel like less of a crime.

Follow Chris Hannay on Twitter: @channay

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Politics Briefing newsletter: Liberal access-to-information reforms don't quite meet promises - The Globe and Mail

Tucker Spars With Liberal Strategist Behind #HuntRepublicanCongressmen – NewsBusters (press release) (blog)

Posted on June 20, 2017 by Danzig

Tucker Spars With Liberal Strategist Behind #HuntRepublicanCongressmen
NewsBusters (press release) (blog)
Tucker Carlson, Fox News' heir to Bill O'Reilly's slot in their primetime cable lineup, often fills the hour with bewildered glances, engaging dialogue, and outright mockery of his typically-deserving opponents who he brings on to the program. Monday ...

and more »

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Tucker Spars With Liberal Strategist Behind #HuntRepublicanCongressmen - NewsBusters (press release) (blog)

Flashback: When Liberal Sites Mocked Otto Warmbier For Getting What He Deserved – Townhall

Posted on June 20, 2017 by Danzig

After suffering 17 months of brutal captivity in North Korea, Otto Warmbier died Monday, having spent more than a year in a coma before his release last week.

After news of his death, Twitter users were quick to resurface articles from liberal sites Salon, Huffington Post, and Bustle in 2016 mocking the college student for getting what he deserved.

Warmbier was accused of stealing a propaganda poster from the hotel he was staying at in North Korea and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.

Huffington Post: North Korea Proves Your White Male Privilege Is Not Universal

This Huffington Post blog sure aged well. pic.twitter.com/8DSZ1uL6qe

This Huffington Post piece is even more outrageous today than when it was originally published. https://t.co/kraXAbNJQF

Bustle: Why Do People Blame Otto Warmbier For His North Korea Sentence? Privilege Can Sometimes Come At A Price

Here's Bustle, engaged in the same victim-blaming back in the day pic.twitter.com/BYVBx0FY4t

Salon: This might be Americas biggest idiot frat boy: Meet the UVa student who thought he could pull a prank in North Korea

Reminder that Salon was downright gleeful when Warmbier was first arrested pic.twitter.com/BIMB9f7nEb

The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore: Straight Outta Pyongyang Frat Boy Arrested in North Korea

Best thing about this 2016 #hottake from Wilmore and Salon is they both completely buy the Norks version of events. Truth to power, fellas. https://t.co/IsGe4PjW4c

As one Twitter user quipped, they put the "ass" in "class."

Peach State Beatdown: Can Handel Survive Ossoff Insurgency in GA-06?

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Flashback: When Liberal Sites Mocked Otto Warmbier For Getting What He Deserved - Townhall

Garrison Keillor: A Liberal Sees Some Problems With Big Government – Hartford Courant

Posted on June 20, 2017 by Danzig

I am a registered liberal who mostly toes the party line but I am not devoted to the idea of big government. I loathe the law in New York state requiring gas pump nozzles to not latch. This means that I must stand beside my vehicle, holding the nozzle lever open, instead of latching it and walking into the gas station to use the john which, if you're an older male and hear gushing liquid, you feel a powerful urge to do, so thanks to legislative over-regulation, I am on the verge of humiliating myself.

Liberals believe in universal suffrage, but I don't think the right to vote should be extended to people walking around with wires going into their ears. If you need to walk through the world in a state of stupefaction, you don't belong in a democracy. The ballot should belong to people who pay attention.

I have other strong conservative tendencies: I accept limitations as inevitable, even sometimes futility. I once gave a very funny speech in the chapel of an Ivy League college and my voice went ricocheting around the Gothic arches and came back to me 15 seconds later and it was incomprehensible, even to me whose voice it was. I might as well have been speaking Navajo. Nobody laughed. I did not complain to authorities. I was amused. Stuff happens.

Life is unfair. The National Endowment for the Arts bestows pots of gold on poets, chickenfeed on humorists, and so what? The federal government is responsible for the announcement in airports warning you to report to authorities any stranger who asks you to carry an object aboard an aircraft. It's like telling people to report any sightings of unicorns. But who cares? Not I.

All around Washington stand handsome temples housing the ABA, NEA, AFL-CIO, the Federated Organization of Associations, the Organization of Associated Federations, the American Scatological Society, the National Recidivists Alliance, all of which have marbly lobbies and numerous executive vice presidents whose job is to buttonhole public servants. My group, UNCLE, the United Newspaper Columnists in the Language of English, has no such temple. We are harmless, like the Moose and the Elks, and ask only to be left alone.

Same with my other group, Minnesotans Oppressed by Rather Obsessive Self-Effacement (MOROSE), which, despite our resistance to attitudism, refusing to cheer at football games or join singalongs, has only dug a hole for itself. People regard us as a joke. We are not. We are victims of a self-mortifying culture and dare not ask anything for ourselves such as major defense installations, which go to Texas or California, but what are you going to do?

So there I am, pumping gas in Poughkeepsie, about to wet myself, all because of big government, and it dawns on me that back in my boyhood days, patient and practical-minded men and women got into politics and formed a strong bipartisan bloc that worked for decent mental health facilities and prisons, made higher education available to children of mail clerks and waitresses, created parks and protected wilderness all the basic stuff of government. That bloc seems to have evaporated and now we are locked in bitter conflict about which way is up and whether the earth is round. Crankiness is in the driver's seat.

Meanwhile, dreadful things are afoot. Powerful people want to put potheads in prison, clamp down on travel to Cuba, let banks mess around however they like, deport the folks who pick the lettuce and slaughter the hogs, and work assiduously to ease the troubles of the very rich, and if one says boo to them, they blame the media or my aunt Sally. Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country lest the quick brown fox jump over the lazy dog and President Etaoin Shrdlu endure. Sad! Total loser! You know it, I know it.

Republicans, beware. The tables will turn. We liberals will regain power by the simple method of redistricting. We will incorporate the Dakotas, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah into California, and usher in a hundred years of progressivism. What goes around comes around. Be wise. The Senate majority staffers who are trying to put lipstick on a cruel House health care bill are spitting into the wind. In 20 years, Obamacare will be gone, replaced by universal Medicare, and you will be employed as carnival workers, running the kiddie rides, and you'll stop for gas in New York and remember this column and ask yourselves, "Why didn't we listen to him then?" Well, why don't you?

Garrison Keillor is an author and radio personality.

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Garrison Keillor: A Liberal Sees Some Problems With Big Government - Hartford Courant

Prospect of Repeat Budget Failure Puts Pressure on Republicans – Roll Call

Posted on June 20, 2017 by Danzig

House Republicans face the possibility of failing to pass a full budget resolution for the second year in a row, despite making progress on their goals for a fiscal 2018 budget resolution.

The stakes are much higher than last year as the budget, through the reconciliation process, has become a tool for Republicans to advance legislation without Democratic support, something they lack on nearly all of their top priorities.

Passing a budget resolution is key to the GOP goal to overhaul the tax system and helps kick-start the appropriations process because it sets topline budget numbers. Failure to adopt the fiscal blueprint would further illustrate how Republican divisions are stalling the legislative agenda in a year where GOP leaders have ambitious goals underunified government.

If we do not get a budget, most of what we want to accomplish as Republicans will take a major setback, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadowsof North Carolina said.

Rep. Tom Cole, who serves on the Budget and Appropriations committees, said finding agreement on the budget is always difficult given competing priorities among defense hawks, fiscal conservatives and appropriators, but its become more so after the House failed to get a deal last year.

Weve proven that Republicans can actually fail at [adopting] a budget when were in the majority, the Oklahoma Republican said. Weve never done that before. I thought it was a really bad thing then. I think youll see the consequences more [now].

The budget resolution, which will be among the topics discussed during a House Republican Conference meeting on fiscal issues on Wednesday (it was originally expected to be discussed at a meeting on Friday but was moved up), is where lawmakers typically unveil a topline spending number for the upcoming fiscal year. Last year, disagreement over the topline is what prevented House Republicans from passing a full budget; Senate Republicans never really tried.

The topline spending number is still a point of contention. The spending caps enacted as part of the Budget Control Act of 2011 set fiscal 2018 spending levels at $549 billion for defense and $516 billion for nondefense discretionary funds.

Any changes to those topline levels need to pass both chambers of Congress to be enforceable, requiring 60 votes in the Senate.

Most Republicans want to boost defense spending (although they do not agree on the amount), but Democrats would likely only agree to a defense increase if it includes hikes indomestic spending. Previously, Democrats have insisted on, and secured, a dollar-per-dollar increase, something that is a nonstarter for conservatives, Meadows said.

In a meeting Thursday, Republicans on the House Budget Committee discussed topline spending numbers of $620 billion for defense about halfway between President Donald Trumps proposed $603 billion and the $640 billion called for by defense hawks and $511 billion for nondefense discretionary spending. Such a split, which is not finalized, is unlikely to get Democratic votes, and its unclear if it could garner enough Republican votes.

GOP appropriators haveexpressed concern about moving forward with budget numbers that Democrats have not agreed to because it could create problems with getting the appropriations bills done.

Anybody that thinks youre just going to deal the Democrats out of the appropriations process is just being naive, Cole said.

Finding the sweet spot on spending is more complicated this year because its become wrapped up in Republican negotiations over what fiscal policies to include in the budgets reconciliation instructions. The plan the GOP had mapped out in January was to use the fiscal 2018 budget reconciliation process to overhaul the tax code, but some Republicans are pushing for more.

House Freedom Caucus leaders have said their hard-line conservative membership, which prefers a lower spending baseline, is open to an increase in the topline number in exchange for a specific dollar amount of mandatory spending cuts in the reconciliation instructions. While the Freedom Caucus has yet to take a position on a specific proposal to that end, theyve been discussing the idea of looking to welfare programs such as theSupplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families to achieve savings.

If the budget reconciliation [instructions] are definitive and preconditioned, then youll find great flexibility on spending numbers of those fiscal conservatives who believe that they can make some short-term adjustments in exchange for long-term mandatory reforms, Meadows said.

Leadership has been toying with the idea of including mandatory spending cut instructions but have yet to publicly back any specific proposal. Behind closed doors, theyve discussed tasking each committee with spending jurisdiction with finding $1 billion in savings, but Meadows said that would not be enough to appease conservatives.

Budget Committee Republicans discussed a target of $150 billion in mandatory savings during their Thursday meeting. That number may be too much for moderates to stomach.

Further complicating matters is a perception among some members that the Senate may not pass a budget.

Is the Senate interested in passing a budget? New York GOP Rep. Chris Collins said. Because were not so sure that they are. And if we dont have an indication that were on the same page as the Senate, why would we in the House work on something thats going to be very controversial and give our opponents lots of potential to distort, exaggerate or highlight things that would not be helpful?

Collins said theres an interest among moderate Republicans in a bipartisan tax overhaul, which would eliminate the need to use the budget reconciliation process.

If we try to do this on our own, its fraught with peril, he said.

A Senate GOP aide said the chamber does intend to pass a fiscal 2018 budget resolution but the timeline for that remains unclear. The Senate is currently busy trying to find the votes to pass a health care overhaul, which is moving through the fiscal 2017 budget reconciliation process.

House Budget Chairwoman Diane Black of Tennessee has met with the Freedom Caucus, the Tuesday Group and the Republican Study Committee in recent weeks to gather ideas across the conference. Despite the differing opinions on the topline, as well as what should be included in the reconciliation instructions, Black has expressed confidence that the House will pass a budget this year.

Well get something done, she said last week. Its just a matter of making sure we have all the pieces together.

Some more pessimistic members have raised the prospect of needing to pass another so-called shell budget, the bare minimum needed to set up the reconciliation process for a tax overhaul. Republicans passed a fiscal 2017 shell budget earlier this year to create the reconciliation instructions for a health care overhaul but billed that as a one-time solution.

GOP leadersmay struggle to find the votes for another shell budget, if it comes to that. But theyre hoping it wont.

Were going to put out a budget thats a real budget, Black said. No shells.

Paul M. Krawzakand Joe Williams contributed to this report.

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Senate GOP plans July debt ceiling vote – Politico

Posted on June 20, 2017 by Danzig

"I'd like to see that done earlier," said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas when asked about lifting the debt ceiling in September. | AP Photo

Senate Republicans are planning for a July vote to raise the debt ceiling, according to senators and aides.

But House Republicans aren't prepared to show their hand yet, although they also hope to resolve the issue before the August recess begins. Yet with a possible health care vote in July if the Senate passes a bill top House Republicans are worried that the two issues could become entangled politically, making two already difficult votes even tougher.

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Though the Treasury Department has said Congress can likely wait until September to avoid default, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his lieutenants are increasingly disposed to clearing the Senates plate as much as possible before heading home for August recess. That would also likely mean decoupling the debt ceiling from a potential government shutdown fight in September.

Its not clear what exactly such a bill would look like, but members of both parties are interested in a broad spending deal that would avoid the blunt budget cuts of sequestration. A clean debt ceiling increase one with no policy strings or cuts attached might be a problem for a GOP majority filled with fiscal conservatives.

There is also an emerging consensus among Hill leaders that the debt ceiling currently $20 trillion should be raised by an amount large enough to preclude another vote for several years. This would make it politically dicey for fiscal conservatives, yet it would be easier for most rank-and-file lawmakers to just have one vote this Congress.

Id like to see that done earlier, said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas when asked about lifting the debt ceiling in September. Im hoping there will be a negotiation on spending caps. Maybe it will be part of that.

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On Monday, Republican Senate staffers were provided new schedule guidance laying out that the preferred debt deadline is before the August break.

In the House, GOP leaders have not formally settled on a plan to raise the debt ceiling, according to multiple sources. The topic, which is toxic for many in the more right-leaning chamber, is expected to be discussed Wednesday morning during a GOP Conference meeting on the budget and appropriations process.

Conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus have called for spending cuts to accompany any increase in the nations borrowing limit, and more than a few GOP leadership allies have bristled at the idea of doing a clean debt ceiling increase, as Democrats have demanded in previous years.

But GOP leaders in the House are eyeing whats feasible in the chamber across Capitol Hill. And since Senate Democrats will never go for spending cuts, the idea will likely remain a far-off hard-liner dream.

There may be some rank-and-file support among House Republicans to piece together a bipartisan budget deal to raise spending caps, as is being discussed in the Senate. More than 141 defense-minded House Republicans signed a letter in early May asking GOP leaders to raise the cap on the Pentagon budget.

Senate Democrats would be loath to support a military boost without increases for domestic programs as well. Some GOP defense hawks may be willing to negotiate to do both. Its unclear, however, whether they would want to link that to a debt ceiling vote.

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Momentum seen moving toward NH House passage of budget plan – WMUR Manchester

Posted on June 20, 2017 by Danzig

CONCORD, N.H.

Its virtually impossible to predict the actions of the New Hampshire House on close call votes, but several key lawmakers said Tuesday it appears momentum is moving in the direction of passage of a fiscal 2018-2019 budget later this week.

The House and Senate will vote up-or-down Thursday on a conference committee compromise $11.7 billion spending plan for the next two fiscal years. Senate approval is virtually assured on a 14-9 party line vote, while the House is far less certain.

House Speaker Shawn Jasper, R-Hudson, told WMUR last Thursday there would be an all-out push to touch every member and try to convince opponents and undecided members to vote in favor.

Jasper said Tuesday the effort has moved into high gear. House Republicans held the first of three closed-door caucuses following a public budget briefing led by legislative budget staffers and the chairs of the House and Senate finance committees. House GOP caucuses are scheduled for both Wednesday and Thursday morning ahead of the vote.

Gov. Chris Sununu, investing some of his own political capital, has been speaking extensively to lawmakers, while state Republican Party Chairman Jeanie Forrester, a former state senator, has also been deeply involved.

Its going very well, Jasper told WMUR. Were still working hard. I dont want to be over-confident, but the movement is in our direction and its moving pretty rapidly.

The fate of the budget will depend on the votes of conservative House members who identify with the House Republican Alliance or the New Hampshire House Freedom Caucus. Some attend meetings of both groups.

After an HRA meeting Tuesday morning, Rep. Glenn Cordelli, R-Tuftonboro, a group co-chair, said that he expects to be a yes vote. He said that within the HRA opinion is split.

There are some parts of the budget that I greatly appreciate the work of the conferees in including, he said, citing business tax cuts and an increase in the rainy day fund.

Do I wish it was lower? Probably so, Cordelli said. Im still looking at it, but Im leaning toward voting for it, he said.

Reps. Jim McConnell, R-Swanzey, and JR Hoell, R-Dunbarton, key members of the Freedom Caucus, continue to oppose the plan because they said it simply includes too much state general fund spending. Hoell said the increase is 9.6 percent over general fund spending in the current fiscal 2016-2017 spending plan.

But McConnell acknowledged that momentum is moving in the direction of passage.

Over the past week, the leadership has done a great deal of work and managed to create the idea that knocking the budget down will generate something that will be absolutely horrendous, he said.

My sense of things, quite candidly, has changed because recently a number of people who had said there was no way they would ever support the budget have now decided that maybe it isnt so bad and will vote for it, McConnell said.

We are looking at a very close vote, he said. I remain opposed to it and will do what I can to defeat it.

According to a document distributed by the House and Senate leadership at Tuesdays briefing, the plan calls for state general fund and education trust funding spending of $4.9 billion, while total spending, including federal and other funds, totals $11.72 billion.

The budget contains business tax cuts and repeals the electricity consumption tax. It increases the states rainy day fund from $93 million to $100 million while boosting funding for substance abuse prevention and treatment by nearly 60 percent.

Vote breakdown

There are currently 393 members in the House 221 Republicans, 170 Democrats and two Libertarians -- with six vacancies and one recently elected member who has yet to be sworn in. If all members attend the Thursday session, which is unlikely, 197 votes will be required for passage.

House Democratic Leader Steve Shurtleff of Penacook on Tuesday reiterated his belief that his caucus will unanimously oppose the budget. If that occurs, only 27 additional votes - the two Libertarians and 25 Republicans, for example will be enough to kill it, which would lead to further conference committee negotiations.

House and Senate Democrats will hold a press conference Wednesday morning to discuss their opposition to the plan.

Shurtleff has cited the budgets provision to end the states Medicaid expansion plan if the federal government does not grant a waiver allowing the state to impose a work or job training requirement on new entrants into the system.

He cited the insertion of Hyde Amendment language prohibiting the state from funding health care facilities that provide abortions.

I think its going to be a very close vote, but I think it will fail, Shurtleff said. Theres something in there for everybody to dislike, and if it fails, it can be ironed out in a renewed committee of conference.

If a budget agreement is not reached by the June 30 end of the fiscal year, it is possible a continuing resolution, to keep spending at current levels, will be passed while further negotiations take place. But Jasper said Sununu has made it clear to legislative leaders he does not want to turn to a continuing resolution.

Key legislative leaders met with the Freedom Caucus Monday night in Manchester, while Forrester and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Gary Daniels attended the HRA meeting Tuesday morning.

The HRA takes its positions based on the (state) constitution and the Republican Party platform, Cordelli said. But other representatives might have other considerations as well, such as what theyve heard from constituents.

And, believe it or not, there might be a political factor.

State Rep. Al Baldasaro, R-Londonderry, an HRA member, said that like most lawmakers, he is not in agreement with all aspects of the budget, but he supports the business tax cuts. He also said there are no tax or fee increases that would affect his constituents.

So, Im going bite my tongue, hold my nose and vote for the budget, Baldasaro said.

I think other conservatives are going to come on board, he said. If we dont pass this budget, we could lose some things, like the tax cuts, and we dont want that.

I think its going to pass, Baldasaro said. If I was a betting man, Id say today we have the numbers. Were close.

Stephen Hawking: it’s time to get the hell off planet Earth – Vox

Posted on June 20, 2017 by Danzig

TRONDHEIM, Norway Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking has set a deadline for humanity to save itself. Within in the next 100 years, he warns, we need to colonize Mars and other planets. If we dont, we may not survive climate change, disease, and other versions of doom were bound to inflict on ourselves this century.

Hawkings pessimistic take on humanity isnt new. But the super-famous scientist and author has been making the case more urgently in advance of the release of his new BBC documentary, Expedition New Earth, this summer.

And President Trumps decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate agreement on June 1 has only upped the stakes, Hawking said in a talk delivered by Skype at the Starmus science and art festival on Tuesday.

Unlike Donald Trump, who may just have taken the most serious and wrong decision on climate this world has seen, I am arguing for the future of humanity and a long-term strategy to achieve this, Hawking, now 75 and still a professor at the University of Cambridge, said.

There is no new world, no utopia around the corner, on Earth, he added. We are running out of space, and the only places to go to are other worlds.

If you share Hawkings faith in the human imagination and fierce drive to explore, then these are hopeful words. Its conceivable that we could rekindle the excitement of the early days of space travel in the 1960s, and get more serious about it.

And Hawking has some concrete goals to guide us going forward. If were going to make his timeline for building new civilizations before we perish, heres what we need to do:

If these ideas sound familiar, its because billionaires like Elon Musk and Richard Branson, who are deeply invested in spaceflight, have been pushing them too. Some of Hawkings fellow physicists and astronomers also agree we could use an exit strategy. And theres now a small but growing community of aspiring space colonists prepping for life on Mars. (To be clear, Mars, for now, looks like a pretty deadly place.)

Last year, as Voxs Brian Resnick reported, Hawking, along with a Russian billionaire and Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg, concocted a scheme to build and send spacecraft the size of postage stamps to Alpha Centauri, the second-closest star to Earth, some 4.37 light-years away.

The plan, called Breakthrough Starshot, is ambitious, to say the least. A huge number of engineering hurdles would need to be cleared over the next couple of decades to make a launch possible. And its just a tiny example of what wed need to actually decamp to other planets and the moon.

Timetables like Hawkings are troubling to climate scientists and a whole lot of other people whod like to focus on fixing planet Earth, however. If we start looking for our salvation outside our solar system, they fear we may be dissuaded or distracted from reducing greenhouse gas emissions to avert catastrophic climate change right now.

As Katherine Hayhoe, a renowned climate scientist at Texas Tech University and another Starmus speaker, tweeted during Hawkings talk on Tuesday:

And that's why cutting our carbon emissions is so essential to all of us: our planet, its people, and even the future of space exploration.

Hawking admits there are risks to the kind of audacious space exploration hes calling for. We dont know what or whom well find when we venture further afield.

But, he said Tuesday, with just a twinge of envy, "If there are beings on Alpha Centauri, they remain blissfully unaware of the rise of Donald Trump.

Why Stephen Hawking is more afraid of capitalism than robots

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Heres Joey Stromberg on why space tourism is going to be utterly disappointing

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Stephen Hawking: it's time to get the hell off planet Earth - Vox

PNG boxing team all set for Oceania C’ship – POST-COURIER

Posted on June 20, 2017 by Danzig

June 21, 2017

BOXING BY MARTIN LIRI

Papua New Guinea boxing team moves into the last week of preparations before they lace on their competition gloves for the Oceania Boxing championships in Gold Coast, Australia.

Assistant coach Mark Keto, who remained in Port Moresby, to ensure Bougainvillean Maxie Mangea (49kg) and Mekeos Andrew Aisaga (69kg), continued to train while their Australian visas were being processed, flew out last Friday together with team manager Dick Larry.

They joined the rest of the team which has been in Gold Coast, training under National coach Joe Aufa since early June.

Charles Keama (52kg), Beupu Noki (56kg), John Ume (64kg), who had valid Australian visas due to an earlier visit to Australia for the Sydney Kokoda Track Charity event in March this year, are the boxers who went ahead.

PNG Boxing Union president John Avira thanked Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited for supporting the team with uniforms and travelling bags so that the boxers were professionally attired.

The company is new to sponsoring sports teams, therefore we are very grateful to the board, management and staff of the Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited for their timely support, Avira said.

He also extended his appreciation to the PNG Olympic Committee under the leadership of secretary-general Auvita Rapilla and her deputy Andrew Lepani and the staff for their tireless efforts to provide funding and assist with other travel requirements.

The Oceania championships from June 26 to 28 which includes only men, is important for PNG boxings programs as it will provide the ideal opportunity for boxers to push their claims for higher level international competitions like next years Commonwealth Games.

Keama, the 2015 gold medalist, is the only boxer who has proven that he can mix it with the best in the Oceania region while the others in the team have shown the potential and need to convince national selectors they can continue to be part of the PNG elite squad.

Another proven boxer Olympian Thadius Katua could not join the team when ruled out due to an injury as he undergoes rehabilitation process for recovery.

PNG boxing is one of the sports nominated for the Mini Pacific Games in Port Vila, Vanuatu in December.

Unfortunately, women have not been included in the competition due to the lack of quality women boxers from the Pacific, the same reason they were not included in next weeks Oceania championships.

While these PNG boxers are the front-runners to spots for in mini games team, they would have to maintain their spots by winning their respective weight categories at the SP Brewery National Boxing Championships in Arawa in September.

One line break, 11 tackle breaks and 210 run metres.

NSW coach Laurie Daley has admitted he is finally in charge of a team that is capable of winning an Origin series through their attack.

Veupunama survived a strong contest defeating Mona 45-42 in Port Moresby netball tier two match on Monday night at the Rita Flynn indoor complex.

One line break, 11 tackle breaks and 210 run metres.

NSW coach Laurie Daley has admitted he is finally in charge of a team that is capable of winning an Origin series through their attack.

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PNG boxing team all set for Oceania C'ship - POST-COURIER

Get a Taste of the Islands at the Caribbean Festival – Up & Coming Weekly

Posted on June 20, 2017 by Danzig

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Get a Taste of the Islands at the Caribbean Festival - Up & Coming Weekly

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