Shall we all hang separately? – Nevada Appeal

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"We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." Benjamin Franklin

There are two basic philosophies in this world: "We're all in this together" versus "Every man for himself." At various times, one or the other philosophy has prevailed.

One example of the first philosophy is Christianity. Early Christians sold their property, shared, and contributed to those in need. (Acts 2:44-45). Both Jesus and Paul used the image of the body to illustrate how Christians should work together. They knew f one suffered, they all suffered. (I Corinthians 12:15-27). Hoarding wealth and ignoring the needs of others is the exact opposite of what Christianity teaches. (Matthew 25:31-46).

The second philosophy is embodied by the teachings of Ayn Rand. Rand believed in what she called "enlightened self-interest," which is actually selfishness. She even wrote a book called "The Virtue of Selfishness." Several current Republican leaders have said they admire Rand's philosophy. They seem to believe that the ultimate goal of life is to gain wealth, and if others suffer, too bad.

Three recent LVN columns, written by local and state-wide conservatives, illustrate this "Me first" philosophy. The first column (Chuck Muth, 5/17/17) seemed to celebrate failure. The point of the column was not just that we should learn from our mistakes, with which I agree. Muth's point was that people should learn how to fail, like President Donald Trump, so they can become rich. To highlight this, Muth quoted Trump: "If 'A' students are considered the smartest people of all, why don't they all become extremely wealthy entrepreneurs?"

Becoming educated in order to help others nurses, teachers, social workers, etc. is pointless, according to Muth. The only goal of education is to learn how to become a wealthy entrepreneur. This illustrates one Republican value, that achieving individual wealth is more important than serving others.

The second column (Tom Riggins, 5/26/17) then belittled college graduates, explaining that they're not special, implying they somehow coasted through college and will now find out what "real" life is like. It seemed to imply that their achievements were meaningless unless they got some high-paying job as a result. Education for its own sake is useless.

From a young age, I wanted to go to college and knew my parents couldn't pay for it. I worked hard in school and earned a four-year, full tuition scholarship. Failure wasn't a beneficial goal. When I got to college, I worked part-time since I was responsible for my room and board, books, fees, and personal expenses. I also had to keep up my grades to maintain my scholarship.

I didn't have the luxury of knowing my parents would bail me out if I failed. I also never wanted to become a wealthy entrepreneur. So according to these columnists, I was a loser who hadn't learned about "real" life. I still felt pretty special when I got my degree.

I became a teacher and eventually was privileged to teach at the Douglas and Fallon campuses of Western Nevada College. My students worked hard in "real" life and in their classes. And if I had told them that to really learn a life experience, they should fail a few classes, they probably would have walked out on me.

The third column (Ron Knecht, 5/26/17) was an attack on unions. Unions were created by working people who realized there is strength in numbers. These people fought and died to gain such rights as the 8-hour workday, the 40-hour work week, workplace safety rules, paid sick leave, paid vacations, and other benefits workers take for granted today and many businesses would love to abolish. Conservatives like to pretend that workers would have achieved these rights individually, but that just isn't true.

Liberals believe we should work together. We should extend opportunities and a helping hand to those who need it, through private charities and government programs, so everyone can reach their full potential.

Conservatives pretend they're promoting rugged individualism but what they're really promoting is selfishness. In 2002, John Kenneth Galbraith summarized it this way: "The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."

A week ago, we celebrated the 73rd anniversary of D-Day. If those troops had stayed isolated to protect themselves, D-Day would have failed. Now President Trump is isolating America by insulting our allies and cozying up to dictators. That doesn't make America great. It makes us alone and irrelevant.

Jeanette Strong, whose column appears every other week, is a Nevada Press Association award-winning columnist. She may be reached at news@lahontanvalleynews.com.

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Shall we all hang separately? - Nevada Appeal

We Don’t Need Uber – Motherboard

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Uber is in turmoil. Soon after former Attorney General Eric Holder's investigation into the company's alleged culture of sexual harassment and misconduct was completed, CEO Travis Kalanick announced he is taking a leave of absence. During a meeting to discuss Holder's findings, board member David Bonderman made a sexist comment. He resigned Tuesday night. Meanwhile, the company was recently hailed for losing just $708 million in the first quarter of this year.

It's probably a good time to consider what Uberthe most valuable private company in the United Statesactually is, and what's happened to it. Uber was the rare startup that so quickly became ingrained in our culture that it's hard to remember a time without it. But Uber today also represents the worst of Silicon Valley, modern business, and capitalism: Its first mover status has conferred it a too-big-to-fail status that it doesn't deserve and that we no longer need.

Thankfully, we have a perfect case study that proves we don't need Uber. Just over a year ago, Uber (and Lyft) voluntarily left the city of Austin, Texas after the city had the audacity to ask the rideshare companies to require their drivers to submit to government background checks, which is what taxi companies in most cities have to do.

The experiences of that city is instructive: Austin did not immediately fall back into the clutches of evil taxi companies. Instead, the vacuum Uber and Lyft left was filled by local startups and nonprofits such as Fasten, Ride Austin, Fare, Wingz, Arcade City, and the Austin Underground Rideshare Community. Getting a ride in Austin today isn't any different than it was before Uber and Lyft left town. Same drivers, same riders, same smartphones, same traffic.

Uber and Lyft continue to hemorrhage their funding in an existential game of chicken that pushes fares lower with subsidization from Silicon Valley's venture capitalistsa high stakes gamble that bets human drivers can be automated out of existence before VC pockets empty completely. Meanwhile, Austin's startups have realized that connecting driver to rider might be good enoughmost people just want to be able to hail a ride from the comfort of the bar while it's raining outside.

By design, Uber's trajectory has always been one designed to crush the competition and capture as much power and money as is possible without consideration for its social costs. In Uber's early days, Kalanick subscribed to an Ayn Rand-ian Libertarian ideology, telling the Washington Post in 2012 that Washington DC's taxi and limo regulations were reminiscent of the regulatory mess depicted in Atlas Shrugged. Kalanick and his friends now say he's backed away from the "libertarian" label. A 2015 Fast Company profile noted that "the only ideology Kalanick subscribes to is contrarianism."

If your founding theory is more-or-less "the rules don't apply to us," it's little surprise that Uber has apparently paid little mind to established norms about workplace respect.

Uber long ago stopped being a company whose fundamental purpose was to connect local drivers with local passengersinstead, it has become a political powerhouse that ignores local and state laws and lobbies their way out of trouble later. Rather than comply with local law in Austin, Uber and Lyft forced through state-level legislation that superseded Austin's local regulations and allowed the companies to return to the city.

"The people designing our technology are not our people"

Uber's decisionsthe self-driving car research, the ignore regulations now, lobby away the problems later tactics, the selling of rides below market value to drive out competitionall make sense as a capitalistic endeavor designed to maximize long-term profits. But for the average driver, rider, or city, Uber is not a good actor. Drivers just want to earn some extra pocket money, and riders just want to get home, ideally without the moral quandary that comes with supporting a company that is perennially wracked with controversy.

The good news is that many people are realizing there's no particular reason why we can't replace Uber with a systems that favor the human over the dollar. At the Left Forum in Manhattan earlier this month, a panel of people seeking to make technology work for people laid this out plainly.

"The people designing our technology are not our people," Samir Hazboun of the Highlander Research and Education Center, which studies social movements and educates activists, said at the forum. "They're against us."

"We need to control the technology, we need to own the internet, we need to design it for what our needs are"

Uber and Lyft may soon reign again in Austin, and Uber will likely survive its current turmoil. But the question we should all be asking ourselves is simple: Why? Why do we need Uber? Its technology was innovative several years ago, but much of the software has been open sourced or reverse-engineered now, and the most important partthe human driversUber never owned nor cared to employ. We use Uber because of pure inertia, because of its first mover status, because its app is slightly less clunky than its local competitors, because it has substantial political clout, because its rides are (temporarily) subsidized.

Uber started a revolution, but it need not be a lasting regime. All these years later, Uber is still essentially just an app. And not a particularly complex one.

"We need to control the technology, we need to own the internet, we need to design it for what our needs are," Alice Aguilar, of the Progressive Technology Project, said at the Left Forum. "They're telling us what they want and we're doing it. But we can use these tools in a way that's appropriate for us without it leading to the demise of our work and our communities."

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We Don't Need Uber - Motherboard

Ayn Rand’s Controversial Play Gets a Queer Makeover – ?

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BY GENNA RIVIECCIO|The phrases Ayn Rand and sought after for a revival dont exactly go fit together naturally. Especially in the era of Trump, when Randian political extremism in art is more feared and frowned upon than ever. Nonetheless, the Lincoln Stegman Theater in North Hollywood dares to take on the polarizing figure through a medium shes less known for: Playwriting.

Starting June 3 and running through June 18, the authors seldom-staged Night of January 16th will present Darryl Maximilian Robinson in the role of District Attorney Flint. Originally produced in 1934 (under the title Woman on Trial,) the play garnered positive reviews in part due to its engagement with the audience as interactive participants in the jury of the aforementioned trial.

The play will be imbued with a fresh take by The Emmanuel Lutheran Actors Theater Ensemble (ELATE), featuring Robinson as a prosecutor heavily invested in the case of The People of The State of New York vs. Karen Andre. Karen Andre, of course, is the secretary to business magnate Bjorn Faulkner (on whom Match King Ivan Kreuger was based.) Rands murdered character is based less on a single real person as the overall ambitious and fatally appetitive nature of the businessman in American culture something that remains more resonant than ever in the current Reign of Orange Terror. Arguably the most detrimental character flaw in any man of power is his weakness for women, and Karen proves no exception, with her dual position as secretary and lover making her a force to be reckoned with in Faulkners life. Indeed, it rather sounds like Abel Ferraras Body of Evidence borrowed a lot of ideas from this play.

Directed by Jeff Zimmer, who also collaborated with Robinson for Tad Mosels Impromptu, the play will be given the revival it deserves after so long being forgotten in favor of some of Rands other, more controversial work (chiefly, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.) Plus, for good Shakespearean measure, actresses in roles traditionally played by males will include Gerrie Wilkowski as Judge Heath, Therese Hawes as the writing expert, Chandler, and Lisa Cicchetti as the medical examiner, Dr. Kirkland.

There would probably be no pleasing Rand with any reinvented version of her original work, as, at the time of the plays production, she ended up getting involved in a legal battle with the producer, Al Woods, who not only made numerous alterations Rand did not approve of, but also funneled a chunk of her royalties in order to compensate the very script doctor she never wanted. But ELATE might just have been able to bring a nod of approval from the stalwart playwright/author by intending to stage the play off of the definitive 1968 version of her script. And, best of all, they plan to keep intact the most inventive aspect of the play: the involvement of the audience as the jury.

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Ayn Rand's Controversial Play Gets a Queer Makeover - ?

Let’s give the ‘Golden Rule’ a try; it can’t hurt – Montana Standard

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Lyrics to a Simon & Garfunkel song "still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest" seem to sum up today's political mood. Our reaction to identical behaviors fluctuate depending on if the person committing the acts is of our political persuasion or not.

How fickle and opinionated we are.

I'm deeply troubled by the "us against them" tone our politics have taken. We are all in this together. We are the UNITED States of America. Part of the problem as I see it is the way our information is presented to us. The news has somehow shifted to entertainment, and worse yet this entertainment has taken on a nasty and confrontational aspect. That I believe is intended to work us into a frenzy thus increasing their ratings and profits.

But at what cost to us as a society? A house divided against itself will not stand. Social media that feeds you only the point of view "they" know you agree with is very much a part of the problem.

What has happened to the truth behind the old cliche "it takes all kinds to make the world go round"? It seems we don't have the patience or tolerance to even listen to an opposing point of view. How can we work towards a compromise if we're unable or unwilling to even consider that there is an alternative way of looking at things. We have more in common than those issues we are divided on.

In our humanness we are all likely to experience a broken heart, loss of a loved one to death or possibly divorce, brokenness caused by an addiction, a dream not realized, rejection, cancer, Alzheimer's, or FEAR of ---- you fill in the blank.

In times of crisis our petty differences take their proper place as we come together as a community to support and encourage one another through the difficult time. The best advice my mom and dad instilled in me growing up would, if followed, go a long way in healing our divisiveness. They told me to always try and put myself into the other persons place and see the situation from that perspective. Then reflect again on my actions and see if I would like to be treated like I was treating others.

Yes, the "Golden Rule." Let's give it a try, it can't hurt and might just help.

Jim Sheehan, Butte

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Let's give the 'Golden Rule' a try; it can't hurt - Montana Standard

The Not So Golden Rule – HuffPost

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I am willing to wager that you've heard of the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. In other words, treat others the way you would wish to be treated. This "ethic of reciprocity" has been expressed in many moral maxims and religious/spiritual traditions and has even become a part of many formal educational systems.

As with many commonly accepted directives and norms, I hadn't put much thought into Golden Rule until fairly recently. In contemplating its significance, however, I was somewhat surprised to realize that I do not agree with the Golden Rule at all!

Though I believe that there is an element of common humanity in each of us, we are also all unique individuals with different needs and desires and circumstances. What would be best for me to do unto someone else may not at all be what is in my best interest. For instance, it might be best for a parent to change their baby's diaper and burp them after meals. But having or expecting the baby to do the same for her parents is clearly absurd! This is clearly a rather absurd example intended to illustrate the point, but there are also numerous subtle examples of this in practice. Can you think of a time when you did something for somebody that you would have loved or appreciated only to have the other person respond negatively? Their reaction might have been due to the fact that you projected what might have been best for you in a given situation onto someone else who may have felt differently.

Rejecting the Golden Rule invites curiosity as well as empathy. In order to figure out what someone would have done unto themselves, we must get curious and step outside of our frame of reference and into their shoes. Evaluating and trying to understand and even feel things from an another person's perspective is at the heart of empathy. It allows us to get outside of our heads and connect with somebody from a heart to heart rather than a head to head orientation.

Given that the Golden Rule isn't the best way of navigating the world, I assumed that the opposite of the Rule would presumably be true: do not do unto other as you would not have them do unto you. I was wrong.

Yet again, upon further consideration, I realized that the "anti-Golden Rule" is equally misguided. Again, examples of this in practice abound, but I will share just one example to illustrate the point: Just because you would not appreciate going out to eat sushi (or the color orange or being called "honey" or flying on airplanes, etc., etc.) does not mean that someone else would not. Can you think of instances in your life where you've wrongly assumed that other people preferences and sensitivities?

In short, both the Golden Rule and the anti-Golden Rule are ways in which we project ourselves onto others. Doing so compromises connection and creativity and keeps us naive to others' experiences. On the other hand, interacting with others from a place of curiosity and empathy allows us to have a deeper understanding and build better relationships - both with others and ourselves.

- What are some common truisms/ maxims/ norms that you take for granted?

- In what ways might accepting these things as fact be impacting you?

Wake up to the day's most important news.

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The Not So Golden Rule - HuffPost

What Is the Golden Rule? – East Texas Review

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By Carey Kinsolving

What did Jesus mean when he said, Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them?

If you are mean to someone, then they will start being mean back to you, says Blain, 7.

Brooke, 9, looks to agriculture to interpret the golden rule: If we plant something good, we get something good back. But if you plant something bad, you get somethingbad back.

Every farmer knows that even the most fertile farmland will remain barren unless good seed is sown. Its the same with human relationships. The thing to remember is that not every seed sprouts and produces fruit. Because you never know which seed will sprout, you have to keep sowing good seed.

If you are nice to another person, then they will probably be nice back to you. And so then you and he will be friends, says Daniel, 7.

Yes, you might even reap friends from the golden rule. There are few things in life more valuable than good friends.

Dont tease or make fun of somebody if you wouldnt want them to tease you, says Marci, 10. Put yourself in the other persons shoes before you say or do something mean. Think of the consequences.

If we consistently live and act as though the entire universe revolves around us, were going to reap a barren life. Because were so busy tripping over our own selfishness, well never be able to put ourselves in anyone elses shoes.

For Christopher, 7, the golden rule is practical: Show respect to other people. Today, I will not fight.

A minimal starting place for the golden rule would be to stop abusing others. The people on the receiving end of your abuse will be greatly relieved if you stop whatever youre doing that drives them crazy.

Do what they want you to do, but dont boss them around, says Peyton, 12.

Most bad relationships revolve around a struggle for control. A story about improving marriages on network television featured a woman who treated her husband as though he were one of her three boys.

As an exercise, the marriage counselor recommended the wives go out to dinner with their husbands and resist all temptation to control. It was difficult, but the controlling wife asked her husband to choose what she should wear, where they should go and so forth. At the end of the evening, they were actually holding hands and showing genuine affection.

Obviously, control is not just a problem in marriages. Its part of the fall. Men and women want to control everything in their lives, including God. One thing is sure: God will never submit to our control.

God is a person with whom you can have a relationship. Like any person, he has feelings. We cause him grief and pain when we ignore him or dont treat him with the respect and honor he deserves. If youre a parent or grandparent, what is the one thing you want from your children or grandchildren? Love.

Jesus said, This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you (John 15:12). Clearly, love is the essence of the golden rule.

Think about this: Go beyond the golden rule. Show more consideration to people than you would want or yourself.

Memorize this truth: Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 7:12).

Ask this question: Can you treat others with more consideration than you would want for yourself?

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What Is the Golden Rule? - East Texas Review

Argentina’s national football team reaches out to The Golden Rule … – Coconuts

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The Golden Rule Barber Co one of those new age snazzy gentlemans barber shops around town just ticked off the box for serving their most important clientele for this work year: the Argentinas national football squad.

The thing is, the barbers werent even looking for a job with them twas the other way round, really. It was none other than young Juventus star Paulo Dybala who came knocking on their door when he reached out ontheir Facebook page, asking for a haircut.

Dybalas message went unansweredat first (we totally get it though; we ignore rando messages on Facebook too), according to one of The Golden Rule Barber Cos staff who spoke to Channel NewsAsia. It was only when they got a call from the Argentina team themselves later on that they realized that the request was legit.

The barbers were informed that the team stumbled upon their enterprise after searching on Google so the haircut must have been pretty urgent. The barbers later went down to Fullerton Hotel to carry out the unexpected VIP house call, where the trimmed the hairs of football stars such as Dybala, Angel Di Maria and more. The barbers could have even styled the holy hairs of Lionel Messi and Nicolas Otamendi too, but alas, they skipped the match against Singapore tonight in preparation for their own weddings.

Argentina takes on Singapore tonight at 8pm at The National Stadium. Their fresh haircuts may or may not have helped the Singapore squad turn the tides against their way more accomplished opponents.

Stay juicy. Like Coconuts Singapore.

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Argentina's national football team reaches out to The Golden Rule ... - Coconuts

Donald Trump Is Making Europe Liberal Again – FiveThirtyEight

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On Dec. 4 last year, less than a month after Donald Trump had defeated Hillary Clinton, Austria held a revote in its presidential election, which pitted Alexander Van der Bellen, a liberal who had the backing of the Green Party, against Norbert Hofer of the right-wing Freedom Party. In May 2016, Van der Bellen had defeated Hofer by just more than 30,000 votes receiving 50.3 percent of the vote to Hofers 49.7 percent but the results had been annulled and a new election had been declared. Hofer had to like his chances: Polls showed a close race, but with him ever so slightly ahead in the polling average. Hofer cited Trump as an inspiration and said that he, like Trump, could overcome headwinds from the political establishment.

So what happened? Van der Bellen won by nearly 8 percentage points. Not only did Hofer receive a smaller share of the vote than in May, but he also had fewer votes despite a higher turnout. Something had caused Austrians to change their minds and decide that Hofers brand of populism wasnt such a good idea after all.

Left: Far-right candidate Norbert Hofer. Right: Independent presidential candidate Alexander van der Bellen.

Georg Hochmuth/AFP/Getty Images; Alex Domanski/Getty Images

The result didnt get that much attention in the news outlets I follow, perhaps because it went against the emerging narrative that right-wing populism was on the upswing. But the May and December elections in Austria made for an interesting controlled experiment. The same two candidates were on the ballot, but in the intervening period Trump had won the American election and the United Kingdom had voted to leave the European Union. If the populist tide were rising, Hofer should have been able to overcome his tiny deficit with Van der Bellen and win. Instead, he backslid. It struck me as a potential sign that Trumps election could represent the crest of the populist movement, rather than the beginning of a nationalist wave:

It was also just one data point, and so it had to be interpreted with caution. But the pattern has been repeated so far in every major European election since Trumps victory. In the Netherlands, France and the U.K., right-wing parties faded down the stretch run of their campaigns and then further underperformed their polls on election day. (The latest example came on Sunday in the French legislative elections, when Marine Le Pens National Front received only 13 percent of the vote and one to five seats in the French National Assembly.) The right-wing Alternative for Germany has also faded in polls of the German federal election, which will be contested in September.

The beneficiaries of the right-wing decline have variously been politicians on the left (such as Austrias Van der Bellen), the center-left (such as Frances Emmanuel Macron) and the center-right (such as Germanys Angela Merkel, whose Christian Democratic Union has rebounded in polls). But theres been another pattern in who gains or loses support: The warmer a candidates relationship with Trump, the worse he or she has tended to do.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron have both been the beneficiaries of the right-wing decline.

Gabriel Rossi/LatinContent/Getty Images; Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images

Merkel, for instance, has often been criticized by Trump and has often criticized him back. Her popularity has increased, and her advisers have half-jokingly credited the Trump factor for the sharp rebound in her approval ratings over the past year.

By contrast, U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May has a warmer relationship with Trump. She was the first foreign leader to visit Trump in January after his inauguration, when she congratulated him on his stunning electoral victory. But she was criticized for not pushing back on Trump as much as her European colleagues or her rivals from other parties after Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris climate accords on June 1 and then instigated a fight with the mayor of London after the terrorist attack in London two days later. Her Conservatives suffered a humiliating result, blowing a 17 percentage point polling lead and losing their majority in Parliament; its now not clear how much longer shell continue as prime minister. Trump was not Mays only problem, but he certainly didnt help.

Lets take a slightly more formal tour of the evidence from these countries:

Geert Wilders.

Carl Court/Getty Images

The Netherlands Geert Wilders, of the nationalist Party for Freedom (in Dutch, Partij voor de Vrijheid or PVV), hailed Trumps victory and predicted that it would presage a populist uprising in Europe. And PVV initially rose in the polls after the U.S. election, climbing to a peak of about 22 percent of the vote in mid-December potentially enough to make it the largest party in the Dutch parliament. But it faded over the course of the election, falling below 15 percent in late polls and then finishing with just 13 percent of the vote on election day on March 15. Those results were broadly in line with the 2010 and 2012 elections, when Wilders party had received between 10 and 15 percent of the vote. The center-right, pro-Europe VVD remains the largest party in the Netherlands.

Marine Le Pen.

Chesnot/Getty Images

Reciprocating praise that Le Pen had offered to Trump, Trump expressed support for Le Pen after a terrorist attack in Paris in April and predicted that it would probably help her to win the French presidential election. But over the course of a topsy-turvy race, Le Pens trajectory was downward. Last fall, shed projected to finish with 25 to 30 percent of the vote in the first round of the election, which would probably have been enough for her to finish in pole position for the top-two runoff. Her numbers declined in December and January, however, and then again late in the campaign. She held onto the second position to make the runoff, but just barely, with 21 percent of the vote. Then she was defeated 66-34 percent by Macron in the runoff, a considerably wider landslide than polls predicted.

Le Pens National Front endured another disappointing performance over the weekend in the French legislative elections. Initially polling in the low 20s close to Le Pens share of the vote in the first round of the presidential election the party declined in polls and turned out to receive only 13 percent of the vote, about the same as their 14 percent in 2012. As a result, National Front will have only a few seats in the French Assembly while Macrons En Marche! which ran jointly with another centrist party will have a supermajority.

Theresa May.

Jack Taylor/Getty Image

While the big news in the U.K. was Mays failed gamble in calling a snap parliamentary election, it was also a poor election for the populist, anti-Europe UK Independence Party. Having received 13 percent of the vote in 2015, UKIP initially appeared poised to replicate that tally in 2017 (despite arguably having had its raison dtre removed by the Brexit vote). But it began to decline in polls in the spring, and the slump accelerated after the election was called in April. UKIP turned out to receive less than 2 percent of the vote and lost its only seat in Parliament.

UKIPs collapse in some ways makes Mays performance even harder to excuse. Most of the UKIP vote went to the Conservatives, providing them with a boost in constituencies where UKIP had run well in 2015. But the Conservatives lost votes on net to Labour (although there was movement in both directions), Liberal Democrats and other parties. Its perhaps noteworthy that Conservatives performed especially poorly in London after Trump criticized London Mayor (and Labour Party member) Sadiq Khan, losing wealthy constituencies such as Kensington that had voted Conservative for decades.

Frauke Petry.

Markus Schreiber/AP photo

The German election to fill seats in the Bundestag isnt until September, but theres already been a fair amount of movement in the polls. Merkels CDU/CSU has rebounded to the mid- to high 30s from the low 30s last year. And the left-leaning Social Democratic Party surged after Martin Schulz, the former president of the European Parliament, announced in January that hed be their candidate for the chancellorship (although the so-called Schulz effect has since faded slightly). Thus, the election is shaping up as contest between Schulz, who has sometimes been compared to Bernie Sanders and who is loudly and proudly pro-Europe, and Merkel, perhaps the worlds most famous advocate of European integration.

The losers have been various smaller parties, but especially the right-wing Alternative for Germany (in German, Alternative fr Deutschland or AfD) and their leader, Frauke Petry, who have fallen from around 12 to 13 percent in the polls late last year to roughly 8 percent now. Meanwhile, both Schulz and Merkel have sought to wash their hands of Trump. Instead of criticizing Merkel for being too accommodating to Trump, Schulz instead recently denounced Trump for how hed treated Merkel.

So if youre keeping score at home, right-wing nationalist parties have had disappointing results in Austria, the Netherlands, France and the U.K., and they appear poised for one in Germany, although theres a long way to go there. I havent cherry-picked these outcomes; these are the the major elections in Western Europe this year. If you want to get more obscure, the nationalist Finns Party underperformed its polls and lost a significant number of seats in the Finnish municipal elections in April, while the United Patriots, a coalition of nationalist parties, lost three seats in the Bulgarian parliamentary elections in March.

Despite the differences in electoral systems from country to country and the quirky nature of some of the contests, such as in France its been a remarkably consistent pattern. The nationalist party fades as the election heats up and it begins to receive more scrutiny. Then it further underperforms its polls on election day, sometimes by several percentage points.

While theres no smoking gun to attribute this shift to Trump, theres a lot of circumstantial evidence. The timing lines up well: European right-wing parties had generally been gaining ground in elections until late last year; now we suddenly have several examples of their position receding. Trump is highly unpopular in Europe, especially in some of the countries to have held elections so far. Several of the candidates who fared poorly had praised Trump and vice versa. Hes explicitly become a subject of debate among the candidates in Germany and the U.K. To the extent the populist wave was partly an anti-establishment wave, Trump the president of the most powerful country on earth has now become a symbol of the establishment, at least to Europeans.

There are also several caveats. While there have been fairly consistent patterns in elections in the wealthy nations of Western Europe, we have little evidence for what will happen in the former nations of the Eastern Bloc, such as Hungary, which has moved substantially to the right in recent years. (The next Hungarian parliamentary election is scheduled for early next year.) Turkey is a problematic case, obviously, especially given questions about whether elections are free or fair there under Tayyip Erdogan.

And even within these Western European countries, while support for nationalist parties has generally been lower than it was a year or two ago, it may still be higher than it was 10 or 20 years ago.

Politics is often cyclical, and endless series of reactions and counterreactions. Sometimes, what seems like the surest sign of an emerging trend can turn out to be its peak instead. Its usually hard to tell when youre in the midst of it. Trump probably hasnt set the nationalist cause back by decades, and the rise of authoritarianism continues to represent an existential threat to liberal democracy. But Trump may have set his cause back by years, especially in Western Europe. At the very least, its become harder to make the case that the nationalist tide is still on the rise.

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Donald Trump Is Making Europe Liberal Again - FiveThirtyEight

Congressional shooter’s liberal politics don’t bear the blame – Washington Examiner

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"I hope people realize that bitter rhetoric can have unintended consequences," Bernie Sanders said after a madman went on a murderous shooting rampage at a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in 2015.

It was a dumb thing for Sanders to say. It's false and dangerous, and today that standard could indict Sanders. But Sanders bears no blame for the shooting today, just as pro-lifers bore no blame for the Planned Parenthood shooting in 2015.

James T. Hodgkinson, named as the suspect in shooting Republican congressmen at baseball practice Wednesday, was reportedly a volunteer for Sanders and he used Sanders' picture on his Facebook page. He was also a prolific writer of letters to his local newspaper, where he showed his clear preference of liberal Democrats over Republicans and where his main theme was the need to tax the wealthy more.

"We need to get back to the Kennedy era rates," Hodgkinson wrote to the Belleville News-Democrat in 2012, "when we had 25 brackets from 14 percent to 70 percent and a top marginal rate of $1,424,600."

"President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his Federal Reserve chairman," Hodgkinson wrote, "Marriner Eccles, brought us out of the Great Depression by raising taxes on the rich."

"During the 1920s three Republican presidents lowered tax rates leading up to the Great Depression."

"If the rich paid their fair share of taxes today," he wrote in July 2012, "we wouldn't be in this predicament. We need to vote all Republicans out of Congress."

After the Planned Parenthood shooting I wrote that Sanders' argument blaming pro-life rhetoric was totally wrong. The cause of these shooters' rampages is their own mental illness. Perhaps their politics determined the targets, but different politics would have just sent the same madmen to shoot at different targets.

Timothy P. Carney, The Washington Examiner's commentary editor, can be contacted at tcarney@washingtonexaminer.com. His column appears Tuesdaynights on washingtonexaminer.com.

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Congressional shooter's liberal politics don't bear the blame - Washington Examiner

Liberal Shoots Republicans; Democrats Blame GOP Gun Policies – The Daily Caller

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This morning, someone who specifically wanted to kill Republicans sprayed more than 50 shots at a GOP Congressional baseball practice, wounding at least five including Congressman Steve Scalise (R-La.). Within minutes, the sadly inevitable Tweets began:

Yes, it is too soon.

I have never been a gun guy, and Ill leave it to others to argue gun control vs. gun rights and how they relate to issues of safety, security, and freedom.

But the rush to blame Scalises own political stances for his misfortune should shock the conscience of Americans, and I reject the idea that both sides do it. While Republicans sometimes point out the way Democrat policies (generous welfare, the minimum wage) hurt the people they are supposed to help, virtually none of us gloat and seek political advantage when Democrats face death or grievous bodily injury.

Yet during the health-care debate, I heard some liberals openly wish Republicans who supported Trumpcare would themselves suffer painful illnesses, or witness them among family members.

Were seeing the same vengeful point-scoring today.

As the saying goes, conservatives think liberals are wrong; liberals think conservatives are evil. Democrats often seem certain that Republicans choose economic policies from malice toward the poor; health-care proposals out of indifference to sick people; and attitudes toward affirmative action due to racism.

And when Republicans take NRA money (for their campaigns, not themselves) in exchange for supporting policies that objectively lead to the deaths of children, its simple greed.

The smug idea that conservatives would abandon their positions if they affected them personally is a bedrock of the liberal cultural stance. Countless TV shows have portrayed traditionalist characters who dont support gay marriage until a family member comes out. A Republican Senator in a recent off-Broadway, Church and State, sees the light about gun control after a shooting at the elementary school his children attend. Liberal newspapers trumpet confessionals by women who were pro-life until they got pregnant.

Todays tweets are particularly obnoxious when they offer thoughts and prayers. Thats a manifestation of what is known on the internet as concern trolling pretending sympathy for the other side to undermine its case. Anyone who really seeks prayers for Representative Scalise calls for prayers for him, and joins in. They dont attack Scalises policies and his campaign donor list while they do so.

And it needs to be said: the shooter was not a conservative. He stopped to check the political affiliation of the practicing legislator-athletes before opening fire. Seriously? Democrats have gone back to defending gun control today as a means to control their own people from murdering Republicans? Words cannot

Were already seeing conservative responses online to the blame-guns crowd, pointing out that if the shooter had not been himself shot by armed guards the event would have been a massacre. Those debates will likely continue for weeks. But its not too early to upbraid those who waited but minutes to exploit a legislative opponents tragedy to score political points. Shame on you.

David Benkof is a columnist for The Daily Caller. Follow him on Twitter (@DavidBenkof) and Muckrack.com/DavidBenkof, or E-mail him at [emailprotected].

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Liberal Shoots Republicans; Democrats Blame GOP Gun Policies - The Daily Caller

Trump and the liberal hate-fest – Washington Times

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ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Almost six out of 10 American voters are angry and dissatisfied with how the media is covering politics, according to a new Quinnipiac poll. Someone has finally united us, and its through rejection of the 24/7 media (read liberal) hate-fest of President Trump.

Thats a good sign for the country, but not so much for the business of news or for the Democratic Party. Its indicators like this that should be considered seriously by the Democrats and their still failing water carriers. Their spoiled, elitist hatred for the president is not translating well for the American people.

As Obamacare continues its collapse and terrorist attacks around the world are an almost daily event, New Yorks elite remain rabidly enraged at Mr. Trump. Ironically, hes the only person so new to the political scene to not have had a hand in any of the governmental schemes currently ruining peoples lives.

Yet, its Mr. Trump who apparently should be murdered because, you know, after 144 days hes a tyrant or something. According to Rasmussen, consumer confidence is the second-highest its been in the indexs history. The market cap of the U.S. stock market has risen more than $3 trillion since Mr. Trump was elected. Small-business confidence has surged to a 12-year high. In May, the unemployment rate hit a 16-year low.

Yeah, for New York limousine liberals that amounts to a tyranny, especially because their political bread-and-butter relies on victimhood. Mr. Trump is threatening the only thing the Democrats have left suffering.

Whats a panicked gang to do? Much is being made of the New York Public Theaters play featuring the murder of Mr. Trump. Sure, its titled Julius Caesar, but we know thats an inside joke. For those not living in the pretend-world of liberals, the people in charge of the New York Public Theater are using Shakespeare simply as cover for their horrific fantasy, as its rather likely their creative process first involved wanting to kill the president, then they went scrounging around to find the fitting Shakespeare.

How clever they are, as they no doubt assure themselves.

Drowning in smug, the theater released a statement which, in part read: Our production of Julius Caesar in no way advocates violence toward anyone. Shakespeares play, and our production, make the opposite point: Those who attempt to defend democracy by undemocratic means pay a terrible price and destroy the very thing they are fighting to save.

How kind of them. Americans appalled at the presentation of the murder of our sitting president are reprimanded by our artistic betters for not understanding Shakespeare, and the message of Julius Caesar.

Newsflash for artistes: Context matters. Shakespeares intent was based on an historical personage for a reason. When you murder a living president, who is loathed by the very people making the presentation, you lose the right to point back at the original playwright who knew the difference between a historical lesson and contemporary provocation.

This is dangerous for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the inuring of the public to the idea of violence being committed against the president. After the London Bridge terrorist attack, we were told by various media that Londoners were getting used to terrorism.

One man was lauded for keeping his beer with him as he ran from the carnage. The Associated Press headline: UK hails man who fled attack holding beer an unlikely hero.

This is what liberals everywhere want. Why? Because it keeps them from having to face the consequences of their actions. They create chaos and then have no solutions for the collapse of civil society, so the goal becomes to make obscene violence and chaos a normal, or as former Secretary of State John Kerry wished about terrorism, for it to be considered simply a nuisance.

There are many reasons why six out of 10 Americans are angry at the media, defending what the New York Public Theater has done is part of it (You ignorant fools dont understand Shakespeare), but also in purveying fake news. Former FBI Director James B. Comey told us the foundation story in The New York Times claiming Trump campaign collusion with Russia was dead wrong. CNN had to retract a story a day before Mr. Comeys testimony claiming he would deny he told Mr. Trump he wasnt under investigation. The opposite was true.

During an appearance on Fox News Fox & Friends, this columnist was on a panel that included a perfectly nice young man who, as a liberal, explained essentially that the president was unable to work because of the headlines surrounding his presidency. I responded, noting that headlines are not reality, despite the fact that for the years prior to new media and the internet, headlines and people like Walter Cronkite did control what the American people saw and heard. They did control reality.

When liberals lose that, their mask is ripped off as they produce photographs of the president beheaded ISIS-style, or a play featuring his torturous murder night after night.

But Donald Trump is the tyrant. Got it.

Tammy Bruce, author and Fox News contributor, is a radio talk show host.

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Trump and the liberal hate-fest - Washington Times

Tim Farron resigns as leader of Liberal Democrats – The Independent

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Tim Farron has resigned asleader of the Liberal Democrats, following a furore over his beliefs concerning gay sex.

The politician admitted some of his comments concerning the matter could have been wiser when asked if homosexuality is a sin he had previously responded: We are all sinners.

After the matter refused to go away and surfaced again during the election campaign, Mr Farron said it had felt impossibleto be both Lib Dem leader and a Christian.

Earlier on Wednesday Lib Dem Lord Paddick, a gay former senior Met police officer, resigned from his post as the partys home affairs spokesman.

In a statement, Mr Farron said: I seem to be the subject of suspicion because of what I believe and who my faith is in.

In which case we are kidding ourselves if we think we yet live in a tolerant, liberal society. Thats why I have chosen to step down as leader of the Liberal Democrats.

He said that from the very first dayof his leadership he had faced questions about his Christian faith and that he had tried to answer with grace and patience, adding: Sometimes my answers could have been wiser.

But with the vital election campaign kicking off and the Lib Dems desperate to capitalise on any anti-Brexit feeling, Mr Farron said the issue was distracting attention from the partys message.

When the results came in last Friday the party had gained four seats, leaving them with 12 not as many as had been hoped for in the wake of the EU referendum.

Mr Farron added: Journalists have every right to ask what they see fit. The consequences of the focus on my faith is that I have found myself torn between living as a faithful Christian and serving as a political leader.

Tim Farron says it's 'bizarre' journalists keep questioning him on faith

A better, wiser person than me may have been able to deal with this more successfully, to have remained faithful to Christ while leading a political party in the current environment.

Taking to Twitter earlier in the day, Lord Paddick said: Ive resigned as Lib Dems Shadow Home Secretary over concerns about the leaders views on various issues that were highlighted during GE17.

The announcement clears the way for one of the other well known figures in the party to step forward and take on the top job.

Potential contenders include Jo Swinson, newly returned to Parliament, former cabinet ministers Vince Cable and Ed Daveyand ex-health minister Norman Lamb.

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Tim Farron resigns as leader of Liberal Democrats - The Independent

Donald Trump Jr. and Twitter users blame liberal rhetoric in wake of Scalise shooting – The Daily Dot

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As authorities continue to investigate the motives surrounding the shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise and several others on Wednesday morning, some politicians and people online think theyve found the culprit: liberal rhetoric.

At least one Republican lawmaker suggested that the liberal rhetoric that has popped up since President Donald Trump took office led to the Scalises shooting at a baseball field in Virginia early Wednesday, according to the Buffalo News.

I can only hope that the Democrats do tone down the rhetoric, the Buffalo News reported Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) saying on a local radio station. The rhetoric has been outrageousthe finger-pointing, just the tone and the angst and the anger directed at Donald Trump, his supporters. Really, then, you know, some people react to things like that. They get angry as well. And then you fuel the fires.

Collins, the third-highest ranking member of the House of Representatives, continued: I can only hope maybe theres something here that would say: Lets tone down the rhetoric. We can disagree politically but we can be polite. Its gone too far.

While there have been recent incidents of left-leaning figures gaining attention for their over-the-top suggestions of violence against Trump, the president is no stranger to using incendiary rhetoric to fire up his supporters.

Trump drew fierce criticism forpraising violence against protesters at rallies during the presidential campaign and some fear his near-daily attacks on the press may cause escalation among his supporters.

Rhetoric was also blamed following the assassination attempt of Democratic congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in 2011.

Specifically, many people pointed out that former vicepresidential candidate Sarah Palin released an online map of different districts they hoped to turn in favor of Tea Party candidates (including Giffords), which used images of gun sights.

While Twitter was buzzing with debates over gun control in the wake of Scalises shooting, others seemed to agree with Collins that rhetoric on the left was to blame.

Leading the charge was the presidents own son.

People accused Trump aide Kellyanne Conway of perpetuating an anti-Republican angle to the shooting when she tweeted #breakingnews suggesting someone asked whether Republicans or Democrats were playing baseball on the field prior to the shooting.

Her tweet was quickly denounced by Twitter users:

Meanwhile, off the evidenceof social media profiles for shooterJames T. Hodgkinson, online communities are identifying him as a radical left winger.

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Donald Trump Jr. and Twitter users blame liberal rhetoric in wake of Scalise shooting - The Daily Dot

Liberal WaPo Analysis Writer, Budding Author Deletes Heinous Tweet About Shooting – The Daily Caller

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Malcolm Harris, who tweets at the ominous addy @BigMeanInternet and wrote a recent analysis piece for The Washington Post,deleted what may be the most heinous reaction to the morning shootings at a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Va.

On Friday, The Washington Post featured Harris in its PostEverything section. The New Republic featured a story by Harris in August, 2016. Salon has also publishedhis work. The story says he works for The New Inquiry. The New Inquiry site describes Harris as a writer and editor living in Brooklyn and lists a slew of his work, the most recent of which is July 6, 2016.

Harris is the author of Kids These Days: Human Capital and the Making of Millennials,which is allegedly being published by Little, Brown. In his Twitter bio, he says hes a full-time staff writer for Vox.

But there is strangely no mention of him anywhere on the site.

During the time it took me to write this story, Harris blocked me from viewing his Twitter account.

Harriss tweetabout the congressional shooting is time stampedat 5:45 a.m.

The news broke just after7 a.m. so perhaps hes in a different time zone.

The tweet has since been deleted.

Mirror note to readers: In all seriousness, judging from the lack of stability in this guys Twitter feed, authorities, not to mention friends and family, may want to look into getting this guy some help.

UPDATE: WaPo and Vox PR both wrote The Mirror to severely distance themselves from Harris. WaPo says he contributed one story. Vox says he is not a Vox employee as he claims to be in his Twitter bio. I will cover this in more detail in an upcoming story.

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Liberal WaPo Analysis Writer, Budding Author Deletes Heinous Tweet About Shooting - The Daily Caller

Northam beats Sanders-backed liberal in Va. gubernatorial primary; Gillespie wins GOP nomination – USA TODAY

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Alan Suderman, The Associated Press Published 8:53 p.m. ET June 13, 2017 | Updated 19 hours ago

Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam greets voters and supporters at the Larchmont Elementary School polling place on Election Day in Norfolk, Va., June 13, 2017.(Photo: Stephen M. Katz, The Virginian-Pilot via AP)

RICHMOND, Va. Virginias establishment-favored lieutenant governor won the Democratic nomination in the closely watched race for governor Tuesday, defeating a more liberal insurgent challenger in a contest to be one of the partys standard-bearers against President Donald Trump.

Ralph Northam defeated former U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello, who ran as an unapologetic liberal crusader supported by prominent national Democrats like Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren as the best candidate to take on Trump.

The three-way Republican primary remains too close to call. The general election is expected to be an early referendum on the president and a preview of what the 2018 midterm elections will look like.

Northam, a low-key pediatric neurologist, won running as a pragmatist with states Democratic establishments firm support. He has also vowed to fight Trump, but with pledges to work with state Republican lawmakers on issues like a tax overhaul.

Virginia is one of only two states electing new governors this year, and the swing-state contest is likely to draw intense national scrutiny for signs of how voters are reacting to Trumps first year in office.

Frank Von Richter said he voted for Northam because he likes that the lieutenant governor is more middle of the road than Perriello and thinks he will work better with a Republican-controlled General Assembly. The retired Richmond resident said Northam is strong on issues like education and health care and will continue Gov. Terry McAuliffes efforts to bring more jobs to Virginia.

I think he has the ability to move Virginia forward like McAuliffe has, the 80-year-old said.

McAuliffe, who, like U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia, backed Northam, is barred from seeking a consecutive term.

Perriello made a surprise entrance into the race in January and faced an uphill climb from the beginning. He energized many new-to-politics voters who oppose Trump and promised to support a grab-bag of progressive policies, like raising taxes on the wealthy, using public funds for political campaigns or mandating union membership.

Although he received a large amount of attention and praise from prominent national Democrats, Perriello was ultimately unable to expand the universe of Democratic primary voters enough to counter Northams advantages.

Northam had been essentially campaigning for years, making key contacts with influential power brokers like prominent African-American politicians and religious leaders, and building up a large cash advantage that let him outspend Perriello on TV advertising in the closing weeks of the race.

Northams campaign ran a more traditional campaign focused heavily on his biography rural upbringing, Army veteran, pediatric neurologist as well as his endorsements from key progressive groups that make up the Democratic base like teachers and abortion-rights groups.

He will face Republican Ed Gillespie who narrowly won his partys nomination in Virginias race for governor, eking out a victory against an ardent supporter of President Trump.

Gillespie is a former Republican National Committee Chairman who had a huge fundraising advantage and enjoyed the solid backing of most state elected Republicans, but largely kept Trump at arms length during the campaign.

On Tuesday, he barely defeated Corey Stewart, a former Trump state campaign chairman who made preserving Virginias Confederate history a top campaign issue. The close results shocked many political watchers and shows Trumps enduring appeal among Republican voters in Virginia.

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Northam beats Sanders-backed liberal in Va. gubernatorial primary; Gillespie wins GOP nomination - USA TODAY

‘Millions and millions and millions of subscribers’: Shaw’s Freedom Mobile wants to grab quarter of wireless market – Financial Post

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Financial Post
'Millions and millions and millions of subscribers': Shaw's Freedom Mobile wants to grab quarter of wireless market
Financial Post
RBC analyst Drew McReynolds raised Shaw's price target to $31 from $30. Barclays analyst Phillip Huang called the deal a win-win for the companies, but would not assume Shaw will be able to transform Freedom into Videotron 2.0 in the next fiscal ...

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'Millions and millions and millions of subscribers': Shaw's Freedom Mobile wants to grab quarter of wireless market - Financial Post

Lawmakers move closer to state budget appealing to Freedom … – The Union Leader

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"I think many things are being done to take care of the Freedom Caucus," said state Sen. Lou DAllesandro, D-Manchester, during a break in the budget negotiations on Tuesday.

Republican leaders from the House and Senate are close to a budget deal designed to attract Freedom Caucus votes through additional cuts in spending, lower revenue estimates than either the House, the Senate or the governor have proposed up to this point, and a new tax cut.

Budget conferees continued their grinding line-by-line review of the $11.8 billion spending plan, agreeing to a projection of $4.8 billion in state-generated revenue (not counting federal funds) over the two years of the budget.

Thats $29 million lower than estimates in the Senate-passed budget and $44 million less than the governors estimates, although the committee agreed to add $13 million to the Education Trust Fund over the two years through internet sales of lottery tickets.

Conferees also agreed to include in the budget the elimination of the electricity consumption tax. Billed at a rate of 0.00055 cents per kilowatt hour, it amounts to about 33 cents on a $120 electric bill, and generates about $6 million for the state budget each year.

The conservative revenue estimates were approved despite protests from Democrats on the committee, who endorsed the projections provided by Republican Gov. Chris Sununu. "The governor provided realistic estimates and these are artificially low," said Sen. Dan Feltes, D-Concord.

The lower revenue estimates set the stage for spending reductions demanded by members of the Freedom Caucus, whose 40 to 60 Republican votes will be essential to pass a budget without Democratic support.

Feltes said Republicans had an opportunity to win Democratic votes if they would agree to the revenue estimates submitted by Sununu, give up on a new round of business tax cuts and add about $45 million in spending, mostly to support health and human services programs.

That now seems out of the question, which means the budget that goes to the full House and Senate next week is likely to reflect additional cuts in spending.

Senate President Chuck Morse, R-Salem, set the stage for that outcome late Monday night, when he proposed a cut in General Fund spending by $28 million in each of the two years, for a total of $56 million.

As of early Tuesday night, the conference committee had agreed to a $5 million a year college scholarship program proposed by Sununu, and an increase of $500,000 per year for domestic violence programs.

Conferees also agreed to create the Office of Child Advocate to provide third-party oversight of the Department for Children, Youth and Families, at a cost of $140,000 a year, paid for out of general funds.

Other positions approved by the committee include one new attorney to prosecute election law violations, at a cost of $75,000 in the first year and $73,000 in the second.

House negotiators conceded to the Senate on judicial branch appropriations, eliminating a new Superior Court judge but adding a new Circuit Court judge in 2019.

A new pathologist position was added to the Medical Examiners Office to help ease the backlog of drug-related cases.

The House agreed to Senate changes in the states alcohol and drug rehabilitation fund, allocating 3.4 percent of liquor commission revenues to the fund and earmarking up to $4 million for construction and operation of a drug rehabilitation wing for juveniles at the Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester.

State police got most of what was requested, including five more troopers for the Granite Hammer drug interdiction program in 2018. If the department can fill those positions, it can come back to the Legislative Fiscal Committee for five more in 2019.

Some of the most controversial issues, like funding for full-day kindergarten, a new round of business tax cuts and rate increases for nursing home services, remained unresolved as of early Tuesday evening, although negotiations continued into the night.

All decisions of conferees are tentative and subject to change before final approval of the compromise spending plan that will go before both chambers for a vote next week.

Union Leader Staff Writer Kevin Landrigan contributed to this report.

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Lawmakers move closer to state budget appealing to Freedom ... - The Union Leader

5 things to know about Cincinnati’s Brad Wenstrup, who helped treat fellow congressman after shooting – Cincinnati.com

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File video: Freshman Rep. Brad Wenstrup talks about his toughest vote, his partys future, and other issues with Enquirer Washington correspondent Deirdre Shesgreen. Deirdre Shesgreen

Some constituents complained to Ohio Rep. Brad Wenstrup that they did not want Obamacare heard from some constituents this weekend who do not want Obamacare repealed.(Photo: The Enquirer/Deirdre Shesgreen)Buy Photo

Cincinnati's Brad Wenstrup rushed to aid fellow congressman Steve Scalise after he had been shot on a baseball field near Washington, D.C., on Wednesday morning.

Wenstrup's act of heroism came as no surprise to those who know the 58-year-old podiatrist best.

Here are five things you should know about Wenstrup, now in his third term in Congress:

1. He's not forgotten where he's from.

Wenstrup grew up in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Hyde Park and comes from a long line of St. Xavier High School graduates in his family, including his father, Jack, and younger brother, Jay. Last year, Wenstrup hosted the St. Xavier rugby team on Capitol Hill. Wenstrup received his degree in psychology at the University of Cincinnati and went onto obtain his master's and medical degrees fromRosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in North Chicago, Illinois. He then returned home to Cincinnati in the late 1980s and started his own podiatry practice in the Carew Tower Downtown. After 15 years there, Wenstrup joined Wellington Orthopaedicand Sports Medicine.He now lives in Columbia Tusculum, a Cincinnati neighborhood.

2. Wenstrup joined the military in 1998.

About a decade into his medical career, Wenstrup decided to join the U.S. Army Reserve. His sister had been diagnosed with leukemia, and Wenstrup was a match for a bone-morrow transplant. It saved her life. The experience prompted Wenstrup to do more to help people. "Time was ticking by, and I thought, 'I'm not getting any younger.' I wanted to serve, so one day I just called 1-800-USA-ARMY and joined," he once told UC's alumni magazine.

3. The Enquirer helped make him known.

In December 2006, hit medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" was in its third season on ABC and "Dr. McDreamy" (actor Patrick Dempsey) was one of television's leading men. It prompted former Enquirer TV reporter John Kiesewetter to ask readers to submit names of local doctors who they believed wasCincinnati's version of "Dr. McDreamy." A reader submitted Wenstrup's name, propelling the then-bachelor into the public's eye for the first time. Wenstrup, who some believe bears a resemblance to actor George Clooney, got married in 2012 during his first congressional campaign.

4. Cincinnati's streetcar helped Wenstrup build apolitical brand, name ID.

Wenstrup took his first crack at politics in 2009, when he ran for Cincinnati mayor against well-known incumbent Mark Mallory. Then 50, Wenstrup launched his campaign in full attack mode on Mallory's streetcar proposal. Wenstrup called the proposal "hugely irresponsible and poorly planned" during his campaign launch event. "I worry, about an unused streetcar named Debt," Wenstrup said. He made a surprisingly strong showing for an unknown candidate, losing by 9 percentage points. The race helped him build name recognition and earned him credibility with streetcar-loathing fiscal conservatives. Many of those same folks, including tea party members, backed Wenstrup in his congressional race against Jean Schmidt in 2012. By the way, the GOP hasn't had a candidate in a Cincinnati mayor's race since.

5. He worked in anotorious Iraqi prison.

Wenstrup was called to active duty in 2005, and served 14 months as the chief surgeon at Iraq's infamous Abu Ghraib prison hospital. He told The Enquirer in 2012 that witnessing the horrors of war and surviving them gave him a renewed sense of purpose. "I made it home while others didn't," Wenstrup said. "It gave me a greater appreciation of life and of freedom." He won the Bronze Star and remains an active reservist as a lieutenant colonel. The war influenced him to run for Congress. His close friend, 42-year-old U.S. Army Maj. John P. Pryor, was killed on Christmas Day 2008 inIraq. Pryor was a combat medic. "He was really an inspiration for me to do more with my life," Wenstrup said in 2012."I thought about him during the mayor's race, and I thought about him during this race."

The Enquirer archives contributed to this report.

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5 things to know about Cincinnati's Brad Wenstrup, who helped treat fellow congressman after shooting - Cincinnati.com

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