Daily Archives: March 31, 2021

Time is running out to get everything done. Amazing what has been done yet much remains. Sometimes it seems chaos but reality it is a controlled movement toward a positive end.

This week the Members of the North Dakota House of Representatives continued their work on the floor, debating a number of important topics. Several of the House Committees have completed work and we are quickly approaching the time for conference committees to meet.

On Friday the House overwhelmingly passed Senate Bill 2181 by a vote of 88-4. This bill aims to restrict the ability of the State Health Officer to interfere with religious practices during a declared state of emergency. Specifically, under this legislation the State Health Officer cannot burden a persons freedom to practice their religion unless there is a compelling government interest to do so.

Additionally, the bill mandates that religious conduct cannot be treated more restrictively than similar secular conduct. Supporters of the bill argued that the COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on the need for additional protections of religious freedom in our state. The bill now heads to the Governors desk for consideration.

On Monday, the House members gave their approval to SB 2226 which will allow North Dakota residents to utilize end of life facilities. The intent of the legislation is to provide more care options for patients facing end-of-life situations in a less restrictive environment.

At least one non-profit in the state plans to start raising funds to create this type of facility in some of our major cities. Many families do not want to place a family member into an assisted-living facility or nursing home at this stage of their life. However, they do want options other than continued hospital confinement or home stay, which doesnt always work for many families.

A person utilizing an end-of-life facility would be able choose the hospice provider they prefer and then receive round-the-clock care from register nurses, CNAs and LPNs. Family members would be welcome to visit as often as they want or even move into the facility with their loved one.

On Tuesday SB 2121 failed in a close vote of 45-49. This bill would have changed our states law to make failure to wear a seatbelt a primary offense, as opposed to a secondary offense. It also would have made it a citable offense if a vehicles backseat passengers fail to wear a seatbelt.

Under current law, only a vehicles front seat passengers are legally required to wear a seatbelt, with the exception of children. Opponents of the bill felt that although passengers in a vehicle may take the personal responsibility to wear a seatbelt, it is not the place of government to force them to. Supporters of the bill argued that by requiring the usage of seatbelts by all passengers, this legislation could potentially save lives or prevent certain injuries in the event of an accident. Ultimately the bill failed to gain the support needed to pass.

On Wednesday, The House approved SB 2265 by a vote of 66-28. The goal of the bill is to allow unaccompanied homeless minors to access healthcare without parental consent. Supporters of the bill pointed out that many of these minors do not have adult guardians who can sign off on health treatments on their behalf. They cited concerns for the safety of these minors if they cannot access the healthcare they need. The Governor will now consider signing the bill into law.

You can contact Rep. Hatlestad at phatlestad@nd.gov and Rep. Richter at dwrichter@nd.gov. During the session, mail can be sent to us at: ND House of Representatives, 600 East Boulevard, Bismarck, ND 58505-0360. If you want to leave a phone message you can call the incoming toll-free number 1-888-NDLEGIS (1-888-635-3447). For hearing-impaired individuals, the TTY toll-free number is 1-800-366-6888 to reach a relay operator. If you wish to watch videos of the floor session and committee hearings, you can access that at legis.nd.gov.

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Pandemic shed light on the need for additional protections of religious freedom - Williston Daily Herald

Recent debates around vaccine passports, or formal/mandatory certification of vaccination, point towards a potential widening societal divide between those who are vaccinated and those who are not. Those with certification of covid-19 immunisation might be permitted to travel, work, go to the gym, play sports, attend entertainment events, dine in restaurants, and ultimately, return to normal life. According to Clare Wenham of the London School of Economics, such a distinction would contribute to the creation of a two-tier system and given history shows that when you create division within society it leads to civil unrest, she believes this may result in a vaccine apartheid.

There are many international and country level experiences in which proof of immunity or prior vaccination are either encouraged or required, highlighting the potential use of covid-19 passports both on a local, national, and international scale. Historically, this includes travel vaccine certification (for diseases such as yellow fever, or previously, smallpox), or vaccination for various occupational purposes to protect at-risk healthcare workers and/or their patients. Mandatory vaccination of children before kindergarten or school-entry is also used in some countries.

The UK prime minister has ordered a review of vaccine passports. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, plans to implement the Digital Green Certificate, which would have three primary objectives: providing proof of vaccination, recovery, and/or results of a recent covid-19 test. It should ultimately represent a path to gradual, safe, and lasting reopening, she says, by enabling citizens to move safely and freely in the European Union. Such certificates shall be available for all EU citizens and respect non-discriminatory and data protection standards. This is an ambitious project, particularly given the current vaccination rates in the EU. Nonetheless, this document would include an escape clause and potentially allow for the provision of covid-19 test certificates, which could be a partial solution to the issue of vaccine unavailability.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has taken a distinct position regarding vaccine passports based on ethical, technological, legal, and scientific questions, and urges measures that least impede freedom of movement. Ethical considerations relate to the global shortage of vaccines and the further worsening of existing inequalities (both in terms of accessibility and availability of covid-19 vaccines and tests). WHO currently discourages national authorities from mandating covid-19 immunisations passports. They say there are still critical unknowns regarding the efficacy of vaccination in reducing transmission. Furthermore, to implement such passports, vaccines shall first be approved by the WHO securing quality and global availability. This is of utmost importance when considering the multitude of current covid-19 and candidate vaccines and the country-wise differences in the adopted vaccines.

The development of fake passports is also a concern. The need for interoperability standards, as stressed by the WHO, is crucial, along with securing confidentiality and traceability. Such solutions must work locally and internationally.

Despite these recommendations, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Austria, and Greece are considering introducing covid-19 vaccine passports. Similarly, Asian and American governments are considering such a move. In contrast, the French government has expressed its concerns regarding passports.

Use of vaccine passports may extend beyond travelling purposes and determine access to normal life. Israel has issued a green-pass, allowing individuals to attend gym classes, theatres, concerts, and hotels; use of such certificates has extended to those wishing to sit inside restaurants and bars. Yet, while this approach has already allowed about 5 million citizens to return to some normality, the process of implementing and enforcing the use of these passports remains problematic, mainly from logistic, legal, and ethical aspects. The green passport may be complemented with rapid testing. The Polish government has issued a QR code allowing a downloadable version of a vaccine confirmation document, which shall grant rights to which vaccinated people are entitled.In addition to national measures, large private actors (e.g. British tour operator Sage and British Airways) are considering introducing vaccine passports. Travel insurers may operate a two-tier system charging higher premiums for unvaccinated individuals.

Vaccine passports can contribute to vaccine hesitancy in two ways, either by increasing citizens concerns or by encouraging vaccine uptake. Vaccine hesitancy is strongly dependent on contextual factors and the vaccines available. There are extensive areas of covid-19 vaccine hesitancy in Eastern Europe, Russia, and France. There is a higher desire for covid vaccination in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Scandinavia, and the UK. In the UK, not only are there problems with uptake and reluctance amongst certain ethnic minority groups, but there may be a shift from using the term vaccine hesitancy as it could perpetuate stigma and discrimination. Vaccine confidence conveys a more positive outlook.

The role of vaccine passports for countering vaccine hesitancy remains problematic. Those who actively resist vaccine programmes (anti-vaxxers) may portray vaccine passports as coercive measures of the global vaccination plan to control the population and violate privacy. The lack of consistent evidence of effectiveness highlighted by the WHO compromises the message to be vaccinated. Furthermore, the lack of globally endorsed-measures and a WHO-accepted vaccine leads to questions such as: Which vaccine is best? Which vaccine would I like my neighbour to have had, before a flight or before attending a gym class? Which vaccine is safest for me to travel given the various mutations? A key issue in relying on individual consumer choice weakens the ability of governments to vaccinate large percentages of their populations. All these factors can exert negative influences on hesitant individuals and may subsequently lower immunisation rates.

In contrast, vaccine passports may increase the uptake of immunisation as part of a collective desire to return to normality. Moreover, individuals may realise that vaccinated individuals do not suffer from adverse effects leading to higher perceived benefits than risks. For instance, the Israeli green-pass has been seen as beneficial in enabling freedom of movement and persuading many, including minorities and hesitant groups to be vaccinated. Employers may reasonably believe that vaccine passports offer an additional level of assurance to keep their workplace safer and their workforce protected, maintain business continuity, and ensure protection from litigation and trade disputes. Vaccine passports may be highly desirable in areas with high infection rates, often stimulated by poor quality working and living conditions.

There is an urgent need for coordinated, global policy on vaccination passports or certification, and for complementary policies at national and local levels. The need for such policies raises many questions: How should vaccine prioritisation plans be modified in light of possible growing demands linked to immunisation passports? How would this deal with the different variants and their fit with prior vaccines? How would vaccine passports be implemented in countries/areas with high vaccine-hesitancy rates? Would this result in fraudulent documentation? Would clinicians come under pressure to provide medical exemption certificates? Will vaccine passports be a precondition for ones working environment?

Imposing vaccine passports is likely to provoke even more community resistance to vaccination where it exists. We need high levels of vaccination coverage across and within all countries. We will not be free from the virus until everyone is free. Since passports are an imminent reality, trust, community involvement and consent are essential in bringing societies together and ensuring effective international action.

Giulia Sesa, European Public Health, Department of International Health, CAPHRI, FHML, Maastricht University

Brian Li Han Wong, Medical Research Council Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL, Department of Population Science and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Cardiovascular Science, University College London.

Katarzyna Czabanowska, Past President of ASPHER and Department of International Health, CAPHRI Maastricht University

John Reid, Honorary Professor of Public Health, Chester University.

Nadav Davidovitch, Professor of Public Health, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.

Jose M Martin-Moreno, ASPHER Honours Committee & Department of Preventive Medicine and INCLIVA, University of Valencia, Spain

John Middleton, HonProfessor of Public Health University of Wolverhampton and President, Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER).

Competing Interests: none declared

On behalf of the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER) COVID-19 Task Force Vaccination group: Laurent Chambaud, Katarzyna Czabanowska, Nadav Davidovitch, Ranjeet Dhonkal, Manfred Green, Jose M Martin-Moreno, John D Middleton, Jean-Philippe Naboulet, Robert Otok, John Reid, Giulia Sesa, Mohamud Sheek-Hussein, and Brian Li Han Wong. Address for correspondence john.middleton@aspher.org

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Covid-19 vaccine passports and vaccine hesitancy: freedom or control? - The BMJ - The BMJ

Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freedom of speech, which is a thing terrible to traitors.

Benjamin Franklin

By Peter Ready

Americas gateway drug to its tyranny addiction has been to forget and reject what is true, submit the mind and voice to slogans and work hard to remain stupid by believing and supporting fantasy lies.

One of these lies is in the assumption that America will always be free. Yet history is a grim march of nations looted by reckless tyrannies and regimes.

The United States was the first government created with strict limits on its powers and rests on the foundation of Christian morality. Remove, discard, cancel and reject the Bible to guide Americans and their government, then all individual rights, social liberty and justice collapse.

Americas Patriot Act of 2001 removed 200-year-old vital constitutional protections that stopped government corruption and abuse of U.S. citizens. Since 2001 the government has been collecting and harvesting everything digital that is conceivable.

This 20-year 24-hour-a-day global data roundup includes all that can be collected. When the time is right (for them) those in power utilize it according to their purposes. Many today without realizing it, are building our own personal concentration camps databit by databit.

Example 1: King Zuck rules over 2.8 billion active Facebook users, plus 1.84 billion who visit the site daily.

Average users spend over 20 hours per month on the app (93 billion hours per month), freely submitting daily offerings of their likes, photos, addresses, names, friends, families, associates, dislikes, opinions, ventings, travel trip details, pets, and addresses to the entire known universe.

Looks like we have self-relinquished our Fourth-Amendment rights the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, etc.

We have pre-empted our own privacy voluntarily and published to all the world everything about us. So why should we care about the Fourth Amendment rights for people we do not like?

Example 2: Surveillance Government and Surveillance Capitalism must be identified and addressed if we are to end this dangerous era and move forward as Americans and not as un-Americans.

Surveillance Government, partnering with Surveillance Capitalism were applied massively to the Jan. 6 capitol riot crowd. This was never enlisted to police the hundreds of building-burning BLM/Antifa riots during the prior 14 months around the nation.

Americans are now in a dangerous place: we are a suspect society of digits: monitored, governed and controlled by our technology, which does not answer to usit answers to government and big-tech.

Surveillance capitalism is undermining personal autonomy and eroding democracy, while surveillance government spells tyranny, psychological control and loss of liberty under the illusion of collective anonymous empowerment.

Both government and big-tech exploit people with surveillance tools. They both use technology to see, take, sell, predict and manipulate behavior.

Individuals are now more digit than citizen in the governments massive data dragnet, and it is so in Big-Techlandia. Surveillance capitalism tunes, herds and intervenes in our behavior with subtle, subliminal cues, with rewards and punishments toward their most profitable outcomes.

BigTechs power erodes democracy from within by extracting our autonomy of thought and action; critical thinking and judgment erode. They know everything about us and we know nothing about them.

This is not an equal economy: they will keep all their knowledge and keep you in the dark. This economy has much injustice and inequality and they will not give up their superiority over you.

Their knowledge of you is far more than what you tell them. In one sense, their design is to keep us ignorant and believing we must always affirm digital technological progress.

New surveillance-based systems thrive in every economic sector and every smart product and personalized service. Surveillance capitalism and surveillance government are neither necessary nor inevitable.

In fact, they are reducing us all to digits without personhood, rights, liberties, or true freedom.

This is also the case in the political economy. It is not equal. We are suspects, semi-ciphers, who need to be re-programmed to think according to the prevailing political partys trending views.

Americans must re-orient our lives with the liberties as expressed in our founding documents, which are based on Christian values and liberties expressed in Scripture and our founding documents.

The fulfillment of the pretend smart economy is actually entrapment and you are thrilled by your own behavior, which has been studied and replicated in you by your tech-overlords in techland.

The un-Americans of today will lead the nation to further destruction and captivity.

Let us wake up to surveillance capitalism and surveillance government and return to our roots in this nation and in our Bill of Rights. We need to leave un-America and revive America.

The U.S. Constitutions Sixth Amendment grants six rights to the accused to ensure a fair trial and verdict rendering. But in the un-American techno-suspect society the burden of proof has been flipped: now, you start off guilty and must prove your innocence.

Already, faulty facial recognition tools have led to wrongful arrests. Change and reject being downgraded by surveillance capitalism and surveillance government. We must work together, since these adversaries are ubiquitous and they tend to remove all other competition.

Example 3: The COVID-19 pandemic with its lockdowns, mask mandates, surveillance, snitch lines for Americans to report fellow citizens for engaging in risky behavior, plus veiled threats of forced vaccinations are each and all markers on the road to tyranny ahead.

America is descending into a cage-keeper democracy where voters select the politicians to place them under house arrest.

Example 4: In the Soviet Union, under communism, Russian children were taught, much like USA students today, that atheist Marxism leads to a classless, brighter future with no racism or injustice towards minorities.

People were soon disillusioned by totalitarian hypocrisy among their leaders. If they objected in the slightest, they got swift, harsh iron fist reactions.

Soviet slave master-leaders punished them, put them in captivity and gulag imprisonment. Free speech was forbidden in the Soviet Union. Soviet Cancel culture resulted in a Russian communist holocaust.

Politically correct: If everyone is thinking alike, then no one is thinking.

Benjamin Franklin

Peter Ready, a longtime reader and regular letter writer, lives in Albany.

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Freedom's not a given, and rights are being lost - Sweet Home New Era

JERUSALEM (AP) A year ago, Giordana Gregos parents spent Passover at home in Israel, alone but grateful that they had escaped the worst of the pandemic in Italy. This year, the whole family will get together to mark the Jewish feast of liberation and deliverance from the pandemic.

Israel has vaccinated over half its population of 9.3 million, and as coronavirus infections have plummeted, authorities have allowed restaurants, hotels, museums and theaters to re-open. Up to 20 people can now gather indoors.

Its a stark turnaround from last year, when Israel was in the first of three nationwide lockdowns, with businesses shuttered, checkpoints set up on empty roads and people confined to their homes. Many could only see their elderly relatives on video calls.

For us in Israel, really celebrating the festivity of freedom definitely has a whole different meaning this year after what we experienced, said Grego, who immigrated to Israel from Italy. Its amazing that this year were able to celebrate together, also considering that in Italy, everybody is still under lockdown.

Passover is the Jewish holiday celebrating the biblical Israelites liberation from slavery in Egypt after a series of divine plagues. The week-long springtime festival starts Saturday night with the highly ritualized Seder meal, when the Exodus story is retold. Its a Thanksgiving-like atmosphere with family, friends, feasting and four cups of wine.

Throughout the week, observant Jews abstain from the consumption of bread and other leavened foods to commemorate the hardships of the flight from Egypt. Instead, they eat unleavened matzah.

Holiday preparations involve spring cleaning to the extreme to remove even the tiniest crumbs of leavened bread from homes and offices. Cauldrons of boiling water are set up on street corners to boil kitchenware, and many burn their discarded bread, known as chametz. Supermarkets cordon off aisles with leavened goods, wrapping shelves in black plastic.

Most Israeli Jews religious and secular alike spend the Seder with extended family. Last years Passover was a major break in tradition.

Government-imposed restrictions forced the closure of synagogues and limited movement and assembly to slow the virus spread. Some conducted the ritual meal with their nuclear family, others over videoconference, while an unfortunate few held the Seder in solitude.

Another lockdown was imposed over the Jewish High Holidays in September, again preventing family gatherings, and a third came earlier this year with the emergence of more contagious variants of the virus.

By the third lockdown, Israel had launched one of the most successful inoculation campaigns in the world after the government secured millions of doses from Pfizer and Moderna. Israel has now vaccinated more than 80% of its adult population.

Its too early to say that Israels coronavirus crisis is over, as new variants could emerge that are resistant to the vaccines.

The vaccination campaign in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza has been slow to get off the ground, with Israel facing criticism for not sharing more of its supplies. Israel has vaccinated over 100,000 Palestinian laborers who work in Israel and West Bank settlements, and has sent a couple thousand doses to the Palestinian Authority.

The Palestinians have imported more than 130,000 doses on their own, but it could be several months before shots are available for the vast majority of the nearly 5 million Palestinians in the territories. Experts say that could pose a risk to Israels own public health efforts.

For now, however, Israelis are enjoying what feels like a post-pandemic reality, lending special significance to Passover.

Its not only symbolic that its the holiday of freedom, but its also the holiday of the family, said Rabbi David Stav, chief rabbi of the city of Shoham and head of the liberal Orthodox organization Tzohar.

This year, families are uniting. People that were so lonely, especially older people, who were disengaged from their families, all of a sudden they discover the freedom and the joy of being together with them.

Excerpt from:

Israelis gather for Passover, celebrating freedom from virus - Associated Press

Crime

Sacramento, CA Relying on a defendants ability to pay bail will no longer be the sole basis for getting out of jail while awaiting trial.

The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that judges must consider suspects ability to pay when they set bail, meaning that indigent defendants can be freed unless deemed too dangerous. In a unanimous decision, the justices stated, The common practice of conditioning freedom solely on whether an arrestee can afford bail is unconstitutional. Electronic monitoring, regular check-ins with authorities, or ordering the suspect to stay in a shelter or undergo drug and alcohol treatment is allowed.

The Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, which represents the interests of crime victims, argued in a friend of the court brief that making cash bail contingent on suspects ability to pay violates state law, which allows for considering the safety of the public and victim, the seriousness of the alleged crime, the suspects criminal record, and the likelihood that he or she will flee.

This decision comes after voters last year rejected a state law that would have ended Californias cash bail system entirely by substituting risk assessments for every suspect, and after months when a judicial order set bail at zero for lower-level offenses during the coronavirus pandemic. The courts ruling allows cash bail, so long as defendants can afford it.

Written by Tracey Petersen.

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Freedom Based On Ability To Pay Bail Unconstitutional - MyMotherLode.com

The scenery and production design of Cowboys make you sit up and take notice from the off. They feel like signals that this is not just another trans tearjerker but a film with much bolder ambition and complexity.

The plot revolves around dad Troy and 11-year-old Joe, who run away from their problems together into the Montana wilderness, with but the flimsiest of plans. We are given context via flashbacks: Troys struggle to be a good man and Joes to be a girl. The interweaving works well yet results in a lack of time spent up in the mountains, getting to know present-day father and son.

Young newcomer Sasha Knight is a testament to the treasures producers can unearth if they see trans casting as an opportunity rather than a chore. His pain, fear and joy feel viscerally real throughout, not just because he is a talented actor but because he can, of course, empathise with his character. He does not have to approximate or analogise Joes experiences and so, as viewers, neither do we.

This emotional realness paradoxically leaves space for richer dynamics to play out in the plot. While some tired tropes and clunky dialogue (Im in the wrong body!) mean Cowboys stops short of being a great trans film, it triumphs as a moving portrait of parenthood and family, two more universal experiences with the power to make and break any of us.

Rrangi is about a trans man returning to his rural hometown after an unexplained 10-year absence and it, too, relies on flashback to bring us up to date. While the conscious LGBTQ+ casting pays off, the film as a whole suffers from a lack of plot driving everything forward. Eventually, we understand where protagonist Caz is coming from, but we never find out where he is going or what he wants. Instead, the film offers engaging, well-executed, albeit sometimes over-egged, scenes from a trans life. They play out in small-town New Zealand but could probably be transposed elsewhere.

There is a kind of storytelling about trans people (usually by non-trans people) that mistakes trans experience coming out, transition, family rejection, etc for plot. A few years ago, this was understandable, perhaps even a necessary growth stage. But portraying gender dysphoria, or even euphoria, as the story in and of itself is no longer enough. Nor does it do justice to ones ample on-screen talent.

Rrangi began as a miniseries that was recut into film shape. Hopefully, it can be disassembled again and develop rich present-tense storylines in future episodes.

Another Flare film that struggles with lack of story arc is the affecting Colors of Tobi. It is never fair to judge a film by what is not, however, given the rise of the far-right and anti-LGBTQ+ politics in Hungary in recent years, it was a shock to slowly realise this is not the films backdrop.

Instead, the documentary zooms its much more intimate lens in on one working-class family with three almost-adult children, one of whom is figuring out their gender identity.

The family, in particular Tobi and mum, are full of charisma and unafraid to have bracing, faltering conversations on camera. The director does a brilliant job of recognising when her big characters are about to enact a small human drama and letting the camera soak it up.

Yet there is also a risk to being hands-off with such a complex individual story. Sometimes it feels as though the director is not fully equipped to translate what she captures for her audience and it is not clear whether Tobi could not or would not share a little more of their inner dialogue.

There were moments when it seemed as though this filmmaker might also have mistaken a complex trans person for a compelling trans story. Rather than collaborate more with Tobi to find the narrative that truly is their journey, the editing hints at more sensational ideas, such as regret and confusion. These may well be accurate or projections, added to create tension or simplicity where neither really existed.

Thiessa Woinbackk, star of the Brazilian coming-of-age drama Valentina, is a trans YouTube star and activist in her home country. She is also a formidable screen presence and another exciting discovery among this years Flare lineup.

The titular character is a moody and defiant, yet smart and tender teen, upon whose shoulders the universe happens to have placed the added weight of being trans. In the opening scene, when forced to out herself to a club bouncer during a night out with friends, she impatiently asserts: Thats me five years ago, wearing an expression that says: Now let me in, I want to dance like everybody else.

It is clear that she does not see herself as a victim, so nor should we. In terms of where we are in the global struggle for trans equality, this characterisation feels very real and timely. And yet, precisely because Valentina is a girl, her small-town, conservative surroundings and the men who dominate it may yet break her spirit.

This film assuredly explores intersections of gender inequality, sexuality and societal change. Its transness is not a crutch or a hook but rather a rubric, which it uses to ask new and surprising questions, such as, for example, Valentina in the final scene: What is it about my freedom that bothers you?

No Ordinary Man is trans history, one many of us assumed we would never get to see and some feared did not even exist. It is also a meta narrative in more than one way, which sounds dubious but is magnificently executed.

The life story of mid-20th century trans jazz musician Billy Tipton is told in part as straight biography, with home audio recordings and black and white photos. A full sense of the man remains elusive but the makers know this. Indeed, they are asking: why is that?

We also go, and return throughout, to a casting call for a Tipton biopic, where a diverse range of trans masculine people are auditioning for the leading role. Its surprising and instructive in its own right to see these script readings become emotionally charged over and over again.

Lastly, by way of sociopolitical analysis and context, Tiptons original biography Suits Me: The Double Life of Billy Tipton is firmly but fairly critiqued from contemporary trans perspectives. We are reminded of how absolute the trans people are deceitful theory was and how recently that began to change.

So, there is a lot going on and yet the documentary retains room to breathe, and to exhale in disbelief and sigh with feelings of collective grief for our hidden elders. Then, just when you think both you and the film are spent, in comes the inscrutable Billy Jr, who held his father as he died from treatable illnesses .

This is a devastating and mighty documentary. It offers us trans or cis vital lessons about our past and reassures us of entirely different and hopeful ways forward.

Towards the end of No Ordinary Man, the writer Thomas Page McBee says that people who are transgender are learning to tell our own stories. This years BFI Flare lineup of trans-led and trans-made films is promising evidence of this. But it is also a reminder that, while seeing trans actors play trans characters is powerful and necessary, it is not enough.

Empowering trans people to tell trans stories at every level is not about ticking boxes or being woke; its much simpler than that. Its about unlocking great stories and making films that are as good as they can possibly be.

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'What is it about my freedom that bothers you?': how trans films are evolving - The Guardian

SCOTT HAMMOND/STUFF

New Zealand Motor Caravan Association Marlborough chairman Ian Simmons at Blenheims Wynen St freedom camping site.

The Marlborough District Council has found itself on the wrong side of caravanners with its disproportionate and unreasonable clampdown on freedom camping.

The New Zealand Motor Caravan Association believes the councils new freedom camping bylaw, put down in December, could spell the end of freedom camping as we know it.

The association would vote at a public-excluded board meeting on Thursday on whether the group should ask the High Court to review the bylaw.

The bylaw put an end to freedom camping at all but five council sites and ruled vehicles at the remaining sites must be self-contained, which the association dubbed a dangerous precedent.

READ MORE:* Hundreds stop at newly closed freedom campsites over summer* Smoke alarm advice for freedom campers after van explodes suddenly* Kiwi-laden campsites forced to hang 'no vacancy' signs in Marlborough

Association chief executive Bruce Lochore said the council's disproportionate and unreasonable freedom camping bylaw punished tens of thousands of responsible Kiwi families.

He said the council failed to consult the public on its second drafting of the bylaw, released three days before it was adopted.

We have lost faith in the councils ability to follow due process and make lawful decisions ... We now have a bylaw that undermines national legislation designed to protect a Kiwi tradition, he said.

A council spokesman said it was inappropriate for the council to comment as it involved the potential for legal action.

Robert Steven/Stuff

New Zealand Motor Caravan Association property and policy national manager James Imlach says the councils new freedom camping bylaw is prohibitive.

Association property and policy national manager James Imlach said the association had long taken issue with the region's bylaws. It had flip-flopped four times between banning camping in all but some camp sites and allowing campers everywhere except certain sites.

However, the new 2020 bylaw is far more prohibitive towards [certified self-contained] vehicles than any previous edition. It explicitly prohibits freedom camping unless allowed in designated areas which departs from Parliaments expectations and Local Government New Zealand advice to its own membership, he said.

Marlborough's bylaw establishes a dangerous precedent that could spark the end of freedom camping as we know it. Challenging the bylaw sends another clear message and warning to local and central government that the only watchdog with the resources and commitment to hold councils to account will not back down.

The association was one of 350 to submit on the bylaw last year, concerned it would effectively ban freedom camping in the district.

SUPPLIED

In red, the Marlborough District Council-owned freedom camping sites that closed last year after a new freedom camping bylaw was approved.

The association challenged the Thames-Coromandel District Council freedom camping bylaw in 2014 because we felt that it went too far, Imlach warned the freedom camping bylaws hearing panel last year.

What were seeing in Marlborough is creating similar concerns, he said at the time.

Thames-Coromandels bylaw was found to be illegal, and had to be rewritten.

Imlach said the association had tried to take responsibility by setting up a camp site for members that visited Marlborough, but had missed out on more than a dozen properties in the last decade.

It had asked to lease council-owned land many times, he said.

CHLOE RANFORD/LDR

Marlborough District Council rangers say several information signs warning campers of the regions new rules have been stolen.

There's just been zero appetite from the council to work with [the association] to find a solution that's outside the box, Imlach said.

The council later agreed to work with the association.

But the groups Marlborough chairman, Ian Simmons, said both members and travellers felt they had been prohibited from sites some of which had been open for decades without a real reason.

There were 3000 members living in Marlborough.

The feedback we've had ... is there's just a lack of spaces available for people to camp on at the Marlborough District Council sites, let alone the number of sites. We used to have 13, now we have five.

MARION VAN DIJK/Stuff

Only self-contained vehicles are allowed at Marlborough District Council camp sites.

Council parks and open spaces planner Linda Craighead told residents during consultation on the bylaw last year that the council expected to be challenged on its non-self-contained vehicle ban.

As with a lot of legal matters, there are some lawyers who feel we can ban non-self-contained units, and some lawyers who think we can't. We're going to have a go and see how we do, Craighead said.

Changes to the bylaw were promised following a wave of submissions against freedom camping in the last two annual plans.

Council rangers have reported considerable surprise from several freedom campers over the changes, particularly so for those who had planned to use the camping sites over the [summer] holidays.

Read more here:

Caravanners fear regional bylaw the 'end of freedom camping as we know it' - Stuff.co.nz

Syracuse, NY Police made an arrest last week in the murder of a 93-year-old former teacher in her home at the Skyline Apartments, but the discussion quickly turned to this question:

Why was the suspected killer free?

A woman who police say admitted to the February murder of Connie Tuori had been arrested a week prior the death and charged with attacking another elderly woman in the same building. But a judge released her.

Seven days later, Tuori was murdered inside her 12th floor apartment at Skyline, a high-rise building overrun by crime and neglect, Syracuse police say.

Victoria Afet, 23, now faces up to life in prison without chance of parole if convicted of first-degree murder, police Chief Kenton Buckner announced Thursday.

Afet is accused of killing Tuori while trying to steal from her apartment. That led to an additional first-degree burglary charge.

Victoria Afet, 23, of Syracuse, is pictured in this undated selfie.Provided

Despite the arrest, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said Tuoris cause of death remains under investigation. He declined to say if anything was taken from her apartment, saying only that would come out at trial.

Afet was the last person seen with Tuori before her death, Fitzpatrick said. The two women, 70 years apart in age, were not acquaintances, he said.

But Afet, who is homeless, was seen on security camera following Tuori into the elderly womans apartment just before 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 26, police detective Matthew LaLonde wrote in court papers. Afet was seen leaving two hours later.

Thats the day authorities believe Tuori died.

But her body was not found for another 19 days. During that time, many people came and went from the apartment, as she lay dead inside, Fitzpatrick said, based on security video.

No one at Skyline reported Tuori missing. Her family asked police to check on her March 17 because they had become concerned. Thats when her body was discovered.

It just makes me kind of sad to think about, Fitzpatrick said of the fact no one in the building reported anything.

RELATED: Connie Tuori, 93, survived Afghanistan, Antarctica and African safari, only to be killed in her Syracuse apartment

Connie Tuori

Tuoris killing and an investigation by The Post-Standard have drawn attention to the desperate conditions inside the Skyline Apartments. Local governments have scrambled to take action against the owners, and non-profits are looking to move out their clients who fill the building plagued with crime and filth.

Related: Walsh says hes exploring legal action against Skyline owners: Its public nuisance No. 1

The DA implored those who had been in Tuoris apartment after her death to speak to authorities. Those individuals have already been identified on security video, he added.

Fitzpatrick promised that any witnesses who spoke truthfully would not be charged with entering the apartment, but he vowed to prosecute anyone who refused to talk to the full extent of the law.

A police detective wrote in court papers that Afet made admissions to the murder. But details of that alleged confession remain unknown. Fitzpatrick would only say Thursday that the implicating statements were not made to police.

In a court appearance, defense lawyer Susan Carey protested the suggestion that Afet made admissions, arguing that the criminal complaint outlining that allegation lacked specifics about any admission. A judge allowed the reference to a confession to remain in court paperwork.

Perhaps the biggest controversy surrounding Afets arrest involved what happened before the murder: the suspects release from jail without bail on a robbery charge at the same Skyline Apartments a week before Tuoris death.

Afets robbery charge from the earlier incident is one that cant typically result in jail under the states recent bail reform law. Thats because third-degree robbery defined as the forcible stealing of property is not considered a violent felony.

The reform law, however, does have a legal exemption that would have allowed the judge to set bail and hold Afet in jail. The law allows a judge to send a defendant to jail on a new offense during a pending case, if both the new and old cases involve identifiable harm to other people.

As she stood before a judge Feb. 19, Afet already had four ongoing felony cases, a short, failed stint on probation and a misdemeanor larceny conviction, public records show.

Shed been jailed seven separate times in the past three years and had gotten released or bailed out each time, according to records provided by Onondaga County Sheriffs Office spokesman Sgt. Jon Seeber.

In the robbery case, Afet had been accused of robbing a 74-year-old woman at Skyline, stealing $38 and biting her hand, police said in a felony complaint filed in Syracuse City Court. She also had prior ongoing allegations that included, in separate cases from 2020: slamming a womans head against a tree, flashing a serrated knife while threatening someones life and injuring someone with a knife outside a store.

Newly elected Syracuse City Court judge Felicia Pitts Davis in from of Onondaga County Courthouse. Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com

City Court Judge Felicia Pitts Davis ordered Afet released from jail on pretrial release, akin to probation for those awaiting their day in court.

Its unclear what weighed into Pitts Daviss decision, including how much she knew about the previous pending charges. Judges are not allowed to talk about pending cases.

Still, the record shows that the judge considered and rejected an argument from prosecutors to keep Afet jailed on the bail-reform exemption that involves harm to people.

Afet was let go from jail Feb. 19. A week later, on Feb. 26, authorities say she followed Tuori into her apartment and killed her.

Buckner, the police chief, expressed concern Thursday that someone like Afet, facing multiple violent felonies, was still walking the streets at the time of Tuoris murder.

Thats what jails were built for, the chief said Thursday, while stressing that he wasnt blaming anyone.

Fitzpatrick pointed out that prosecutors had asked Afet to be held in jail on $50,000 bail on the robbery charge, a week before Tuoris death. The judge decided to release her with no bail.

Thats a big difference of opinion, Fitzpatrick said Thursday.

One of us was seriously wrong, the DA said. I think we now know who was wrong.

While questioning the wisdom of bail reform, the DA noted that the judge had the ability to send Afet to jail in the earlier robbery and had decided against it. The same judge would have made the same decision before bail reform, too, he suggested.

The circumstances of Afets release from jail before Tuoris murder were first revealed by Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard on Thursday morning, based on a timeline compiled from public records, sheriffs office jail records and interviews with lawyers involved in the case.

That history was later confirmed by the police chief and DA during the news conference announcing Afets arrest.

The day authorities say Afet killed Tuori she was charged again in an unrelated incident: driving a 2005 Honda Civic that had been reported stolen in DeWitt, said Trooper Jack Keller, a state police spokesman.

She was ticketed and released in that case without going before a judge, records show.

Two days later, on Feb 28, state police found Afet in another stolen car in the Baldwinsville area, Keller said. This time, she was driving a car that had been reported stolen in Syracuse. She was also carrying methamphetamine and hash oil, the trooper said.

That time, Afet was arraigned before a judge. Since Pitts Davis had placed Afet on pretrial release earlier in February, that was another factor that could be considered in sending her to jail.

This time, Clay Town Justice Jeffrey Schiano ordered Afet jailed with no bail, records show. Afet has been in custody ever since.

Including the murder, Afet now has a total of eight pending cases and one conviction, records show:

April 10, 2020: Accused of stealing a Chevrolet SUV from outside a North Side store. She was seen getting into vehicle with a bandaged, bloody hand injury, according to court records. When the vehicle was later recovered, blood inside was matched to Afet, police said. (Afet wasnt arrested until Oct. 22, 2020, after DNA blood analysis completed.)

June 16, 2020: Accused of stealing from the Butternut Street Rite Aid, then flashing a serrated knife at a civilian who tried to stop her; also accused of threatening to kill the civilian. Sent to jail with unknown bail, remained there for a month. That case is still pending in City Court after prosecutors consented to pursuing misdemeanors, not felonies.

July 16, 2020: Pleaded guilty to misdemeanor petit larceny from May, which also closed or reduced several other pending cases. Sentenced to three years on probation, freed from jail for the first time since June 16.

Aug. 16, 2020: Accused of injuring someone with a knife outside a North Side store. That case has been indicted as an assault and is pending in felony court. She faces up to 7 years in prison, if convicted. (Afet wasnt arrested in this case until Oct. 1, 2020.)

Aug. 22, 2020: Accused of slamming another womans head into a tree on Highland Street. That case is also pending in City Court after prosecutors consented to pursuing a misdemeanor.

Aug. 23, 2020: Sent to jail in head-slamming case, with bail set at $2,500 cash or $5,000 bond. Bail is increased as older cases linked to Afet: additional $20,000 bail in head-slamming incident from June; additional $1,000 bail in SUV theft case from April. Remains jailed for nearly next five months.

Sept. 4, 2020: Accused of violating probation from her sentence in the earlier petit larceny conviction. Specific allegations are unknown, though new arrests are considered probation violations.

Jan. 13: Officially taken off probation, resentenced to nine months in jail. Because shed already spent six months behind bars since her crime back in June 2020, shes released from jail Jan. 29. (Under jail rules, an inmate only serves 2/3 of a sentence, assuming theres no problems in custody.)

Feb. 18: Does not show up for felony court for 10:15 a.m. arraignment on indicted assault charge stemming from 2020 knife incident outside store. Around 4:30 p.m. the same day, accused of robbing and biting the 74-year-old woman at Skyline Apartments. Released from jail the following day, after arraignment, on pretrial release. A grand jury is now hearing the Skyline robbery case.

Feb. 26: The day authorities say Afet killed Tuori. Its the same day Afet is accused in DeWitt stolen car case. Ticketed by police and released.

Feb. 28: Accused of driving another stolen car in Baldwinsville. Also charged with drug possession. At arraignment, sent to jail with no bail, based on her prior pretrial release provisions.

March 17: Connie Tuori, 93, found dead by police in her 12th floor apartment at Skyline, 753 James St. Police were checking on her condition after she missed an appointment. Her death ruled a homicide.

March 23: Defense lawyer Susan Carey confirms to Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard that she is meeting with Afet in jail that afternoon regarding the Skyline Apartments homicide. Authorities decline comment.

March 25: Afet is officially charged with murder and burglary in Tuoris death. Security camera show Afet following Tuori into her apartment on Feb. 26, the day authorities believe the elderly woman was murdered, and leaving two hours later, police say. A criminal complaint alleges that she admitted to the crime, but details of that apparent confession remain unknown.

Accused Skyline Apartments killer admitted to murder before body was found, police say

Accused Skyline killer followed 93-year-old victim into her apartment, police say. What happened next still a mystery

Woman charged in slaying of 93-year-old woman in Syracuses Skyline Apartments

Skyline murder suspect was accused of attacking other woman, 74, in same building and freed a day later

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Walsh says hes exploring legal action against Skyline owners: Its public nuisance No. 1

Elderly murder victims family on Skyline squalor: Did they get away with this because who owns it?

Connie Tuori, 93, survived Afghanistan, Antarctica and African safari, only to be killed in her Syracuse apartment

Family IDs 93-year-old woman murdered in Skyline Apartments

Inside Tim Greens Skyline Apartments: Murder, drugs and filth. Tenants, cops say enough is enough

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Police, tenants push football legend Tim Greens firm to fix nightmare apartments

Staff writer Douglass Dowty can be reached at ddowty@syracuse.com or 315-470-6070.

See the original post:

Inside the Skyline murder: A tale of arrests, freedom and the heartbreaking death of an elderly woman - syracuse.com