Monthly Archives: March 2017

LETTER: ‘Just say no’ to reduced hours at Women’s Rights Historic Park – Finger Lakes Times

Posted: March 21, 2017 at 11:44 am

To the Editor:

The hours of the Womens Rights National Historic Park are now reduced to three days a week, and this is just before the peak visitor season. Its the result of budget cuts in Washington, were told. Or is it a thinly veiled effort by Pres. Trump to deny access to the history of womens struggle for equality?

Its a movement begun in New England by Quakers for the abolition of slavery spread rapidly to central New York and Seneca Falls particularly. There it was taken up by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and Lucretia Mott. As the conditions of slavery were soon realized to be very like those of women generally. No rights and no protection under the law.

Women and the few thoughtful, caring men who supported them pushed forward to work for and finally achieve the vote for women. It took some 70+ years. And the struggle for full equality has not been won yet!

Shall todays women and girls not have the opportunity to learn of the sacrifices and human cost our brave foremothers endured? Museum hours should not just be limited to three days per week! Agreed? If so, resist! Contact your representatives and just say no! to reduced hours at the Womens Rights National Historic Park.

MARY ANN FISCHETTE

Clyde

Read more here:

LETTER: 'Just say no' to reduced hours at Women's Rights Historic Park - Finger Lakes Times

Posted in Abolition Of Work | Comments Off on LETTER: ‘Just say no’ to reduced hours at Women’s Rights Historic Park – Finger Lakes Times

Lady farmers of Ecija fight for equality – Manila Bulletin

Posted: at 11:44 am

Published March 21, 2017, 10:01 PM

By Sheen Crisologo

THE FARM WOMAN This lady farm worker is busy harvesting onions at one of the fields in Nueva Ecija. Just last week, some 300 lady farmers rallied along the main street of Bongabon town to fight for equality in the farming industry, fair farm prices, and against importation. (Sheen Crisologo)

Bongabon, Nueva Ecija Lady farmers of this province are not just as strong as their male counterparts in the tilling fields; they are fierce in fighting for fair farm prices and for equality in compensation in industrial farms.

Recently, they took their fight to the streets, yelling: Mabuhay ang mga kababaihang magsasaka (Long live the women-farmers)! as they snaked through the streets of this town.

The rally was organized by the Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luson (AMGL) as part of their celebration of Womens Month.

AGML official Ula Ledesma said the women who joined the mass action represented farmers most affected by the importation of low-cost agricultural products like onions.

They are also the first casualties of farm mechanization, which the government is currently implementing for efficiency of production, but at the cost of laying off women farmers, said Ledesma.

We are seeking for rational prices of our products like onion and to stop importation which causes us less income, she said. Traders are getting their onion products for 20 pesos per kilo while the consumers market price is 70 pesos per kilo which we think is not fair at all.

AMGL also pushes for equality in compensating women who work in farms and the abolition of discrimination towards every hard-working farmer.

Farm mechanization also causes us unemployment, said Ledesma. Farm mechanization has a low requirement of manpower and, thus, causes the kicking out of farm workers; and the first ones discriminated upon in the farm are the women.

Tags: Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luson, Lady farmers of Ecija fight for equality, Manila, Manila Bulletin, Manila news, News today, Womens Month

Excerpt from:

Lady farmers of Ecija fight for equality - Manila Bulletin

Posted in Abolition Of Work | Comments Off on Lady farmers of Ecija fight for equality – Manila Bulletin

Faced with rising seas, French Polynesia ponders floating islands – The Guam Daily Post (press release) (registration)

Posted: at 11:44 am

NEW YORK When former Google software engineer Patri Friedman came up with the idea of building floating islands, he had in mind an unusual buyer: Libertarians, seeking freedom to live beyond the reach of governments.

But his futuristic plan has now found a new, motivated and very different audience small islands halfway around the world that are slowly being submerged by sea level rise.

The Pacific nation of French Polynesia, looking for a potential lifeline as global warming takes hold, in January became the first country to sign an agreement to deploy the floating islands off its coast.

"Dreams belong to those who want to move forward and make them happen," said Jean-Christophe Bouissou, the country's housing minister, at a San Francisco ceremony where he inked a memorandum of understanding with The Seasteading Institute.

The institute the name combines combines "sea" and "homesteading" is the brainchild of Friedman and Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel, who helped found it and initially pumped more than $1 million into the floating islands project.

He is now no longer involved in the institute, but Friedman is taking forward the project.

With its possibility of creating new floating nation states, it has won converts among libertarians, whose ideology argues that greater freedom makes people thrive, said Doug Bandow, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a Washington D.C.-based libertarian thinktank.

But the possibility of keeping a sinking nation afloat clearly presents another opportunity for the technology, he said.

"If (island nations) feel threatened by the rising sea ... they might view this as being the best option for their people," Bandow said.

"Obviously, living on a seastead is very different from even living on an island. Nevertheless, if you figure there's going to be relocation, maybe this is a better option to stay in the region as opposed to having to literally move en masse to another country," he said.

Rising risk

Low-lying, small islands of the Pacific are disproportionately at risk of losing land as sea level climbs by an expected 10 inches to 32 inches by the late 21st century, according to the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

In a 2013 study of more than 1,200 French-controlled islands, researchers at the Paris-Sud University found that French Polynesia and the territory of New Caledonia, also in the South Pacific, were most at risk of seeing their islands entirely submerged.

Bouissou, of French Polynesia, says he sees in floating cities the kind of outside-the-box thinking that could solve such a problem.

"There are very few people that have this kind of ability to be forward looking," said Bouissou in a telephone interview.

Many among his country's 270,000 residents have in the last two decades already begun seeing their houses more frequently flooded, he said.

A look at the islands

Under the terms of the deal with French Polynesia, The Seasteading Institute will first study the project's economic and environmental impact, at the institute's own cost, said Joe Quirk, a project's spokesman.

If the study looks positive, the institute will try to raise investment to put in place three solar-powered pilot platforms, each roughly 165 by 165 feet, Quirk said.

Under the plan, the islands likely to be located inside a lagoon near French Polynesia's Tahiti would be made a "special economic zone," in the hope of attracting tech companies, he said.

"I expect French Polynesian and foreign people to live there and commute there for work, and schoolchildren to take class trips there," Quirk said.

One rendering shows a floating island dotted with palm trees and supporting a multi-story building designed to resemble French Polynesia's national flower, the Tahitian gardenia, said Quirk.

Sailing ships are docked in calm waters, just footsteps from an inviting beach, the drawings by Dutch engineering firm Blue21 show.

The islands' engineering details remain to be developed, Quirk said. But in a 2013 study commissioned by the institute, Dutch design firm DeltaSync concluded that the artificial islands could best withstand the ocean's elements as modular platforms that can be connected and arranged in branch-like structures.

Construction of the islands, which the institute hopes to fund with investor cash, could cost between $10 and $50 million and begin as early as 2018, Quirk said. The institute is in the process of recruiting investors, he said.

"We're not going ask for any money (from French Polynesia). We're just going to ask for permission, legislation. And if it fails, we absorb the risks. We'll disassemble and move on," Quirk said.

See the rest here:

Faced with rising seas, French Polynesia ponders floating islands - The Guam Daily Post (press release) (registration)

Posted in Seasteading | Comments Off on Faced with rising seas, French Polynesia ponders floating islands – The Guam Daily Post (press release) (registration)

A cure for political depression register to vote – San Francisco Chronicle

Posted: at 11:43 am

Photo: John Davenport, San Antonio Express-News

Here is a therapeutic option: Register to vote. Engagement and action are the twin enemies of depression.

Here is a therapeutic option: Register to vote. Engagement and...

Depression comes in several forms that are sometimes interlinked. Adult males, who found themselves unemployed and unable to support their families during the Great Depression, were psychologically depressed, as sociologist R.C. Angell documented in 1936. In retrospect, the connection is obvious: Rather than faulting a faltering economy, many of the fathers and husbands blamed themselves. That linkage reappeared some 80 years later, when widespread mortgage failures in the wake of the 2008 economic collapse of the big banks were accompanied by a spike in psychological depression. There is another form of depression not as well understood, not as well characterized, and far less well known: political depression.

It is a phenomenon that surfaces when people feel dismayed or apprehensive about the political landscape, while simultaneously feeling that they are unable to act in a way that might alter the overwhelming sense of impending doom. In the wake of Trumps surprising victory in the 2016 election, a good segment of the population fell into what could be just so diagnosed. Psychiatrists across the country reported an unusual spike in patients complaining about a new or at least unusual form of depression, something not easily characterized as a familiar psychological malaise.

Across a broad range of age and class divisions, and across the nation, many remain deeply disturbed by Donald Trumps presidency in ways that are both politically unique and potentially invigorating while simultaneously potentially debilitating.

While any attempt to sharply distinguish political depression from psychological depression is unlikely to succeed, the exercise could be useful because the cure or the therapy would be different. For example, a range of websites have generated to-do lists to try to get people mobilized for political action. Many of these have thoughtful and reasonable suggestions, but the sheer magnitude of so many scores of options can be overwhelming. We are witnessing a sense of malaise because of the perceived barriers to taking action.

So here is an alternative therapeutic option: Register to vote. Engagement and action are the twin enemies of depression.

Approximately 100 million Americans who were eligible to vote in 2016 did not bother. It is safe to assume that at least half of the voters in the last election know one person in their direct orbit who did not vote, often in their own family, certainly in their friendship circle, church, or workplace. Quite different from often impersonal voter registration drives what one person can do is attempt and often achieve a goal that is best enabled one-on-one. Why not put at the top of the to-do list each one, register one?

If everyone who voted pledged to find someone who did not, and get them to register, that very engagement could help vault a lot of people out of their political depression. Most significantly, if you can see your individual action as linking up to a larger movement, this single act is more easily converted into a sense of making a difference, and thus personal empowerment.

So why not try to persuade a colleague, friend, relative or neighbor to register to vote, and see how much better you feel. Its a lot cheaper than a drug, and the side effects are likely to be positive.

Troy Duster is emeritus Chancellors Professor of Sociology at UC Berkeley.

The rest is here:

A cure for political depression register to vote - San Francisco Chronicle

Posted in Personal Empowerment | Comments Off on A cure for political depression register to vote – San Francisco Chronicle

Abertay University International Talk Master Shares How Dance Session Can Have Positive Effect – Broadway World

Posted: at 11:43 am

A facilitator of dance for health and wellbeing and former international ballet master was at Abertay University to share how his dedicated dance sessions can have a positive impact on the lives of people with Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Multiple Sclerosis.

Andrew Greenwood told an audience at Abertay's Hannah Maclure Centre of the growing economy in the wellness and health market, and how policymakers are recognising a demand for a different approach to managing health.

The 54-year-old, who has performed in ballet companies all over the world including the US, Brazil and Europe, developed his Switch2Move workshops as a way of using movement and artistic practice techniques to improve serious health conditions.

He said: "When a person is diagnosed with an incurable disease, they start to be treated as a 'person with Parkinson's or 'Alzheimer's' and treatments are very concentrated on the condition rather than the individual.

"I recognised that the health condition is only 10% of the actual person and realised I could make a difference.

"For example, somebody with Parkinson's has very clear symptoms so you know they need to work on balance, flexibility, stability and cognition.

"With MS you need more of a 'moving meditation' and open space way to approach the person and if it's someone with Alzheimer's you get fully up in their face, because in half an hour they may not know who you are."

Andrew traveled from his home in Amsterdam to deliver the talk, which was hosted by Abertay's Dundee Academy of Sport and Division of Psychology.

He said a new market in movement for wellbeing was emerging, adding: "Policymakers are looking for new ways of finding personal empowerment, because we currently have an inactivity epidemic."

Andrew's visit was organised by Abertay psychology lecturer Dr Corinne Jola, who has over a decade of expertise in research on the neuronal and cognitive processes involved in dance. Recently, she has written a chapter for an upcoming book on the health benefits of dance.

Dr Jola has worked in multidisciplinary research projects on the perception and cognition of dance in prestigious universities across Europe, before taking up her position at Abertay.

Her background is not just in the sciences, she is also a dancer and a choreographer.

She said: "This chapter is a review of the physiological, psychological and emotional benefits of dance.

"This was a theoretical approach, so I am delighted to have Andrew here to tap into his practical experience."

Dr Jola's chapter, "The dancing queen: Explanatory mechanisms of the 'feel-good-effect' in dance" will be included in The Oxford Handbook for Dance and Wellbeing later this year.

Visit link:

Abertay University International Talk Master Shares How Dance Session Can Have Positive Effect - Broadway World

Posted in Personal Empowerment | Comments Off on Abertay University International Talk Master Shares How Dance Session Can Have Positive Effect – Broadway World

What to expect at the free Multicultural Women’s Conference and Fair on March 25 in Vancouver – canadianimmigrant.ca

Posted: at 11:43 am

Be inspired, gain insight, make connections

Balancing all the demands we place on ourselves as women is not easy. Neither is overcoming the external professional, gender and cultural challenges we encounter.Sometimes we just need an opportunity to be inspired, and gain new insights to help us achieve personal and professional success. Thats where the Multicultural Womens Conference and Fair comes in, bringing like-minded women together who can learn from and empower each other. Free Admission.

Coming from a holistic perspective, theevent touches on everything from achieving success to personal empowerment to finding your authentic self, to parenting to health. More than just a fair, our goal is to provide a space for women to interact and find long-term connections to other women and mentors.

Heres what you can expect at the free Multicultural Womens Conference and Fair on March 25 10a.m. to 4 p.m.in Vancouver at the Croatian Cultural Centre (3250 Commercial Dr.). Free Admission.

9:45 a.m.: REGISTRATION OPENS AT DOOR (or preregister online here).

10 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.: WELCOME plus a special BollyX dance/fitness presentation by Clara Chan

10:15 a.m. to 4 p.m.: TRADESHOW OF EXHIBITORS opens, including:

10:30 a.m.: TOOLS AND TIPS FOR STARTING YOUR BUSINESS with Alpana Sharma of Womens Enterprise Centre

11:30 a.m.: CAREERS WITH THE VPD + PERSONAL SAFETY DEMO with Detectives Andrea Dunn, Michelle Neufeld and Julie Birtch

12:30 p.m.: BE MINDFUL, BE YOUR BEST with Jasmine Bharucha, realtor, author and singer

1 p.m.: CONFIDENCE AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO CAREER SUCCESS with leadership coach Manpreet Dhillon

1:45 p.m.: THE WOMANS VOICE: SPEAKING TIPS with Catherine Steele of English Pronunciation for Success

2:15 p.m.: NETWORKING TRUTHS, TIPS AND TRICKS with Karen Southall Watts, entrepreneur and business trainer

2:45 p.m.: PARENTING WORKSHOP: THE POWER OF CONNECTION with Cheryl Song, parenting trainer and columnist

3:15 p.m.: CREATING A HAPPY BALANCE with Dr. Nareeta Stephenson of Strawberries and Sunshine Healing Centre

See full description of program here.

Continue reading here:

What to expect at the free Multicultural Women's Conference and Fair on March 25 in Vancouver - canadianimmigrant.ca

Posted in Personal Empowerment | Comments Off on What to expect at the free Multicultural Women’s Conference and Fair on March 25 in Vancouver – canadianimmigrant.ca

Pitt Tonight shines spotlight on Women’s Empowerment Week – University of Pittsburgh The Pitt News

Posted: at 11:43 am

Student Government Board Vice President Sydney Harper is awestruck when she thinks about the women who have come before her and left behind inspirational legacies.

On Sundays women empowerment-themed episode of Pitt Tonight, Harper reeled off numerous names from her ultimate inspiration, Harriet Tubman, to queen Oprah Winfrey, to Meryl Streep and Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

I am someone who has always gotten chills when it comes to thinking about amazing women who have done amazing things, and Im surrounded by them all the time at Pitt, Harper said. I wanted to make a space where it is celebratory and also explanatory in terms of where are we, where have we been and where are we going.

To celebrate these pioneering ladies, Student Government Board in association with other student groups including Pitt Program Council, Campus Womens Organization and Black Action Society is hosting its first Womens Empowerment Week from March 20 to 24. Harper and 13 others on the women empowerment planning committee have been planning for this since November 2016.

The one big reason we called it Womens Empowerment Week was because we wanted to use the acronym WE because empowerment of everyone comes when everyone supports it, Harper said. So nothing this week is limited to just women because we want everyone to be a part of empowering women and all students.

The purpose of the week is to create a space for all students to come together: to network, brainstorm, look at art, engage and leave feeling empowered. There will be six events throughout the week including a comedy show by Leslie Jones and a screening of the movie Girl Rising. Additionally, Womens Empowerment Week will include the GAL-A, the Pitt Womens Leadership Experience retreat and an art gallery featuring work related to themes of womens empowerment.

More than 200 students gathered to watch Harper kick off the week, along with Geri Allen, Grammy-nominated pianist and Pitt Jazz Studies professor, and Sidney Cannon-Bailey, a fourth-year bioengineering major.

In between guest segments, Cannon-Bailey showed Irwin how to play the asparagus piano and make elephant toothpaste innovative science experiments fit for humanities majors. She said it can be hard for women to find the support they need in STEM fields, but when someone is giving her a hard time, she asks herself how best to prove them wrong. The show concluded with a dance performance by the YaBaso African Dance Team.

In addition, more than 10 women-focused groups and student organizations such as Resident Student Association and Women in Business were invited to be a part of the show and hang up flyers and posters at the event.

The whole point is to get everyone in one room to promote the week, and to shine a light on people who dont get the light they deserve, Jesse Irwin, host of Pitt Tonight, said.

After the show, Liz Chiyka, a first-year biology major, said she and her three friends initially went to watch an episode of the show, but left excited for the upcoming week of WE events.

I think its really important to recognize all the different facets of womens empowerment from dancing to science and STEM fields which I thought [Pitt Tonight] did a really good job highlighting, Chiyka said.

Irwin said Pitt Tonight is run by women and the show would be nothing without them. According to Irwin, who is a comedian himself, comedy is a tough industry to break into because it is filled with men who talk about women. Before the shows conclusion, he thanked the women who inspire him, including Pitt Tonight Executive Producer Hayley Ulmer.

Ulmer said after the show that she was the one who pitched the idea to Harper to have a womens empowerment-themed episode, and that the timing couldnt be more perfect.

I know the guests talked about how womens empowerment meant going after opportunities and equality, but to me, womens empowerment also is about supporting and listening to each other, Ulmer said.

The rest of the week will feature one event each day.

Pitt Womens Leadership Experience retreat, which about 80 women have signed up to attend this year, March 24 to March 25. Students had to complete an application by March 5 to attend the retreat, which was created by Senior Vice Chancellor Kathy Humphrey.

To Harper, the goal of having the Womens Empowerment Week is personal. She said she has left leadership and networking events feeling, Im awesome, youre awesome, were awesome, lets do this.

She wants everyone to leave feeling the exact same way.

printPrint

Read more here:

Pitt Tonight shines spotlight on Women's Empowerment Week - University of Pittsburgh The Pitt News

Posted in Personal Empowerment | Comments Off on Pitt Tonight shines spotlight on Women’s Empowerment Week – University of Pittsburgh The Pitt News

Freedom Caucus Squares Off With GOP Leadership As Health Care Vote Nears – Huffington Post

Posted: at 11:43 am

WASHINGTON As House Republicans scramble for votes on their health care overhaul, GOP leaders are betting that a visit from President Donald Trump on Tuesday will help close the deal on the legislation and House Freedom Caucus leaders are swearing it will not.

Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) emerged from the groups weekly meeting late Monday night to tell reporters he was confident House leaders did not have the votes to pass their Affordable Care Act rewrite and that, even with pressure from Trump, conservatives would not waver.

This is not a decision made on personalities, Meadows said. Its made on policy.

Meadows said that, without the changes the Freedom Caucus has demanded, it would be very difficult, if not impossible for leaders to find the votes to pass their health care bill.

This is a defining moment for our nation, but its also a defining moment for the Freedom Caucus, Meadows said.

Bill Clark via Getty Images

While Meadows was cagey about an exact whip count as well as whether some members of the group might waver if Trump applied all the pressure at his disposal other Freedom Caucus members were confident that conservatives controlled their own destiny.

Reporters staking out the Freedom Caucus meeting Monday night couldnt help but notice that the group of nearly 40 conservatives had not taken an official position against the Republican legislation, a potential signal that the caucus was split and opposition might not be as monolithic as some members wanted to present. But members assured reporters that leaders didnt have the votes.

We took a position weeks ago. Our position has not changed, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) said.

They dont have the votes to pass it, Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) said.

Asked if there were enough members opposed in the Freedom Caucus alone to sink the bill meaning there were at least 21 in the group who would vote against the bill Amash said that was absolutely the case.

And there are others outside of the Freedom Caucus not voting for it as well, Amash added.

GOP leaders made their own moves late Monday night, releasing a managers amendment that would assuage some concerns of less hard-line conservatives and GOP moderates. Republican leaders, as promised, added language for the optional block-granting of Medicaid, as well as optional Medicaid work requirements. At the same time, in a nod to moderates, the amendment would add funding to help individuals with high health care costs, though it does not explicitly detail how much money would go to that endeavor and is indecipherable from the legislative language.

A section-by-section analysis from one of the committees with jurisdiction over the legislation says the amendment would provide the financing for additional support for those with high health care costs before the bill goes to the Senate. In effect, Republicans are saying the House has to pass the bill to find out what exactly is in it.

Republicans also added language to win over reluctant New York Republicans. The language which were referring to as The Buffalo Buyout would prevent New York from requiring rural counties to kick in to cover Medicaid costs.

The late backroom changes and deal sweeteners undermine Speaker Paul Ryans promise of an open legislative process, but even with the slapdash lawmaking, leaders continue to project confidence with regard to the bill. Late Monday, on Fox News, Speaker Ryan (R-Wis.) once again expressed confidence that Republicans would pass their health care legislation this week, and leaders are hopeful that Trumps appearance before House Republicans Tuesday morning will push them over the top.

But without the coverage changes to lower premiums that Freedom Caucus members have been demanding, conservatives think the legislation is doomed.

Asked what would happen Monday night if leadership didnt make the changes they wanted, Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) simply said, That means that the bill is going to fail.

And was Labrador confident of that?

Im confident of that. Yes.

See the original post here:

Freedom Caucus Squares Off With GOP Leadership As Health Care Vote Nears - Huffington Post

Posted in Freedom | Comments Off on Freedom Caucus Squares Off With GOP Leadership As Health Care Vote Nears – Huffington Post

Donald Trump protesters, supporters flock to Freedom Hall – The Courier-Journal

Posted: at 11:43 am

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP SPEAKS IN LOUISVILLE IN MARCH 2017Trump visits Louisville: What you missed | 0:59

President Donald Trump visited Louisville on Monday. Here's what you missed. Rachel Aretakis/Wochit

1 of 5

President Donald Trump held a campaign-style rally in a packed Freedom Hall on Monday night.

2 of 5

President Donald Trump talks about trade during his campaign-style rally at Freedom Hall in Louisville on Monday night.

3 of 5

During a campaign-style rally at Freedom Hall on Monday night President Donald Trump talks about keeping his campaign promises

4 of 5

The crowds came out before President Trump's speech at Freedom Hall. Marty Pearl/Special to C-J

5 of 5

Trump visits Louisville: What you missed

Donald Trump's opening remarks at Freedom Hall in Louisville

Trump on trade

President Trump talks about keeping his campaign promises at rally in Freedom Hall

Trump fans and foes outside Freedom Hall

Comedian and Donald Trump impersonator Dustin Gold interacts with Trump supporters before a visit by Pres. Donald Trump to the Kentucky Exposition Center's Freedom Hall on Monday. March 20, 2017(Photo: Alton Strupp/CJ)Buy Photo

Hundreds of protesters on Monday waved signs and gave fiery speeches at the gates to Freedom Hall ahead President Donald Trump's visit to tout his plan to replace Obamacare, booing as Air Force One passed overhead for landing.

But theirnumbers were dwarfed by the long lines of thousands of Trump supporters wearing red Make AmericaGreat Again hats that snaked around the fairgroundshours before Trump appeared. Many scorned the demonstrators, calling them snowflakes.

At the end of the night, as Trump supporters flooded out of the area, police went from blocking a group of chanting protesters from entering the front of Freedom Hall to protecting them from a ring of jeering Trump supporters who chanted USA! and hurled insults.

They need to get over it, said rallygoer Bonnie Rhome. Accept that he is the president.

Autoplay

Show Thumbnails

Show Captions

The protests, spearheaded by the liberal group Indivisible Kentucky, have become a fixture at such events, including the recent visit by Vice President Mike Pence to build support for effort to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act.

Many, holding signs such as one reading Republicare will kill poor, elderly and sick people and Stop the lunacy, said they wanted Obamacare fixed, not replaced by something that might further drive up costs.

RALLY COVERAGE:President Trump comes to Louisville on high-profile day

READ MORE: Fivetakeaways from President Trump's visit to Louisville

Im totally against it, said George Bodina, a Navy veteran who held a handmade sign portraying Trump with a Pinocchio nose. He said Kentucky has benefited from the Affordable Care Act.

Speakers from groups such as Black Lives Matter, Parents for Social Justice and Stand Up Louisville highlighted issues ranging from police shootings to immigrant rights to efforts to cut funding for Planned Parenthood. Democratic State Rep Jim Wayne told the crowd he thought Trump had a personality disorder and was not equipped to lead this great nation.

The crowds came out before President Trump's speech at Freedom Hall. Marty Pearl/Special to C-J

Supporters waiting in line nearby wore Trump T-shirts, including one that readFinally someone with balls. They took selfies with a Trump impersonator and listened to classic rock. They bought buttons reading, Deplorable Lives Matter, and one man wore a pin knocking CNN as the Communist News Network. A coal miner from Eastern Kentucky wore his helmet and said he was there to thank Trump. Some said they were pleased with Trumps brash and unapologetic style.

Im tired of paying taxes for people who dont work, said William Bizer, a retiree from Southern Indiana.

RELATED: Sen. Paul says he's a 'no' on GOP plan to replace Obamacare

SEE ALSO:Trump to nominate Thapar to serve on U.S. Court of Appeals

Donna Duke, a housekeeper from Breckinridge County, Kentucky,said she made too much to qualify for Obamacare subsidies but still cant afford a health plan, so shegoes without insurance and her diabetes medication.

They said you have to have it and then dont make it affordable, she said.

Kentucky has emerged as a battleground state in the effort to repeal the federal health care law.

Mainly thanks to an expansion of Medicaid, more than 500,000 Kentuckians gained health coverage after Obamacare was implemented by former Gov. Steve Beshear, who has been outspoken in his support for Obamacare since Trump was elected.

The Republican plan backed by Trump already is controversial within the GOP, with some arguing it doesn't go far enough to fully repeal the law. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is among those. On Monday,he said in Louisville that he would not vote for the plan, which he called "Obamacare Lite."

Reporter Chris Kenning can be reached at 502-582-4697 or ckenning@courier-journal.com

Autoplay

Show Thumbnails

Show Captions

Read or Share this story: http://cjky.it/2ntftMU

Excerpt from:

Donald Trump protesters, supporters flock to Freedom Hall - The Courier-Journal

Posted in Freedom | Comments Off on Donald Trump protesters, supporters flock to Freedom Hall – The Courier-Journal

Minister: Freedom of press won’t be harmed, broadcast law moving forward – Jerusalem Post Israel News

Posted: at 11:43 am

Moshe Kahlon. (photo credit:MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon said on Tuesday that he would not allow any injury to be done to the freedom of the press, but that a new law giving greater authority to the government over broadcasting regulation would be advanced.

Kahlon was speaking at a conference of The Marker financial newspaper, against the background of severe coalition strains regarding the new public broadcaster the Israel Broadcasting Cooperation.

The finance minister said that despite various reports, he was unaware of any new deal between himself and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is seeking to shutter the IBC before it even starts operations on April 30, a step Kahlon opposes on budgetary grounds.

I spoke with Netanyahu on Thursday and we agreed to establish the cooperation and advance the communications law, since then I dont know about anything else, said Kahlon at the conference.

We stand by what we committed to, there is an agreement and legislation will arrive. We wont allow any harm to be done to democracy, to freedom of expression, or freedom of the press.

One of Netanyahus main claims against the IBC is that it would not have sufficient regulatory oversight, so he has insisted that the coalition advance legislation to create a unified state regulatory body for news broadcasting which would come under the authority of the Communications Ministry.

Concerns have been raised by opposition parties that the law would politicize the regulation of news broadcasting and harm the freedom of the press.

Since the Thursday agreement mentioned by Kahlon however, Netanyahu subsequently said he had changed his mind and was totally against the IBC beginning operations.

Efforts are underway between various Likud ministers, MKs and advisors with Kahlons aides to find a compromise, variously reported to include merging the old Israel Broadcasting Authority with the IBC, and firing IBC director Eldad Koblentz and chairman Gil Omer who Netanyahu opposes.

Kahlon said however he was unaware of any demand to fire the pair.

Another spanner thrown into the works of any possible agreement was the announcement by the IBC on Monday that the journalist Geula Even-Saar would present its main nightly news broadcast.

Even-Saar is the wife of former Likud minister, MK, party darling, and potential Netanyahu rival Gideon Saar.

Saar stepped away from politics back in 2014 but has not left the Likud party and is frequently mentioned by Likud officials as a possible replacement for Netanyahu at some point in the future.

I have no doubt that the heads of the IBC sat for several months, checked, examined, and arrived at the conclusion that yesterday they needed to make this appointment, said Kahlon sardonically.

A totally professional decision, I cant intervene on professional decisions, he added with a large smile on his face.

Channel 10 reported that close associations of Netanyahu have objected strongly to Even-Saars appointment, and said that the timing had been deliberate so as to further raise the ire of the prime minister.

Relevant to your professional network? Please share on Linkedin

Read the original:

Minister: Freedom of press won't be harmed, broadcast law moving forward - Jerusalem Post Israel News

Posted in Freedom | Comments Off on Minister: Freedom of press won’t be harmed, broadcast law moving forward – Jerusalem Post Israel News