Daily Archives: June 16, 2017

Vandalism at Sawtell sporting field – Bellingen Courier Sun

Posted: June 16, 2017 at 3:48 pm

16 Jun 2017, 9:33 a.m.

Coffs Harbour Council has said senseless vandalism of Richardson Park in Sawtell has left local sports clubs reeling and they are counting the cost of repairing the playing fields.

Richardson Park damage.

Over the long weekend, vandals forced their way into the ground and then used a vehicle to totally destroy the playing surface, councils Section Leader for Stadium and Major Events,said Daniel Heather said.

Joining in on the lament is Sawtell/Toormina AFL president Alex Pearson.

We are very angry and upset atthe repeateddestruction and vandalismto the playing surfaceat Richardson Park over the long weekend, Alex said.

We are somewhat fortunate that we have an away game this weekend. Howeverthe damage to the playing surface affectsour home games in the followingweeks and will most definitelyaffect our ability to train.

These actions by reckless individualsshow a lack of respect, not only to the Sawtell/ Toormina AFL club, but to allSawtell sporting groups that use Richardson Park and the local community that use the ground for recreational activities.

Sawtell Cricket Club president, Rod Buckle said his members were also very disappointed.

The fact they had to take the effort to remove a fence to do it and then to come back and do it again makes it even less understandable, Mr Buckle said.

I am sure these people would know someone they have affected in either the cricket club or the local AFL club. The fact they are old enough to hold a licence and still have the lack of judgement to think this would be a good idea in a small community beggars belief.

They seem to think these are victimless crimes, but they affect more than just the clubs. It affects the community, the players, the supporters, the sponsors and all the volunteers that put time into making what are great local clubs.

Council is urging any residents who witnessed the damage to the Park to report it to police.

What people dont realise is that this sort of reckless behaviour causes more than just damage to the grass, MrHeather said.

The fields at Richardson Park now require significant remediation work, which is ultimately paid for by the community. It takes resources off other community projects and, most significantly, the damage leaves local sports and other users - including local schools without grounds.

Vandalism across the Coffs Coast, particularly at public sport facilities, is a problem and council is grateful for the support of the local Police command in helping tackle and deal with this behaviour.

Anyone that witnesses vandalism should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, Coffs Harbour Police Station on 6652 0299 or 131 444 (after hours).

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Vandalism at Sawtell sporting field - Bellingen Courier Sun

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The Fountainhead: American Eclectic – Patheos (blog)

Posted: at 3:48 pm

The Fountainhead, part 1, chapter 9

After months of hitting one dead end after another, Howard Roark finally gets a lucky break in his job hunt not that Ayn Rand ever acknowledged the existence of luck:

John Erik Snyte looked through Roarks sketches, flipped three of them aside, gathered the rest into an even pile, glanced again at the three, tossed them down one after another on top of the pile, with three sharp thuds, and said:

Remarkable. Radical, but remarkable. What are you doing tonight?

Why? asked Roark, stupefied.

Are you free? Mind starting in at once? Take your coat off, go to the drafting room, borrow tools from somebody and do me up a sketch for a department store were remodeling. Just a quick sketch, just a general idea, but I must have it tomorrow Can you stay?

Yes, said Roark, incredulously. I can work all night.

We never find out how Roark learned about John Erik Snyte the first time his name is spoken in the text is the first line of the passage I quoted above which is just a little strange. We saw last week that Roark had been unemployed so long and gotten so desperate, he was reapplying to firms that had already rejected him. How did Snyte come into this picture? From the evidence, his firm isnt brand-new.

Was he someone Roark had known about, but held in such contempt that he refused to interview there until he literally had nowhere else to turn? Or was Roark tipped off about a job opening there but by who, since he has no friends or colleagues?

An obvious answer is that he saw a help-wanted ad in the paper and thought the position might suit him, but were never told that if so. Its possible that Rand deliberately chose to omit this information, because she couldnt think of how to have Roark find out about the job opening in a way that didnt seem like a stroke of good luck.

As I said above, Rand was fiercely opposed to the idea that theres such a thing as luck or random chance, since that might call into question her view of the world as a perfect meritocracy. Having her hero stumble across a job opening that suits him, something that would have been easy to overlook or miss, wouldnt accord with her view of how the world works. (As possible evidence of this, I skipped a section where Roark comes across an editorial by an unfamiliar architect named Gordon L. Prescott, who claims to want fresh blood and originality; but when Roark goes to interview there, it turns out he just wants to build more copies of the Parthenon.)

Personally, my headcanon is that Henry Cameron told Roark to apply with Snyte, and then secretly sent the recommendation letter that Roark always refused to accept, figuring his protege was too stubborn for his own good. It does fit with a line where Snyte says about his new hire, saying, Thats just what Ive always needed a Cameron man, even though we never see Roark actually tell his new boss anything about his background. Did it ever occur to him to wonder how Snyte knew?

Heres how the text describes John Erik Snyte:

He considered Guy Francon an impractical idealist; he was not restrained by an Classic dogma; he was much more skillful and liberal: he built anything. He had no distaste for modern architecture and built cheerfully, when a rare client asked for it, bare boxes with flat roofs, which he called progressive; he built Roman mansions which he called fastidious; he built Gothic churches which he called spiritual. He saw no difference among any of them.

Snytes system is to hire five designers, each specializing in a different style, and to blend the best ideas from each of their sketches to create the final product. Roark is the modernistic designer in the room, although he dislikes being called that:

He met his fellow designers, the four other contestants, and learned that they were unofficially nicknamed in the drafting room as Classic, Gothic, Renaissance and Miscellaneous. He winced a little when he was addressed as Hey, Modernistic.

Roark takes individuality to comical heights. Hes so obstinate about it that he cant even stand to be described as part of a movement. Whatever he does, its important to him to believe that hes the only one doing it.

Of course, its impossible for every architect in the world to be a movement of one, with styles and aesthetic choices that are completely unlike anything else in the history of humanity. All culture is a mix of imitation and improvisation. We coin terms like Gothic or Modernist to describe broad trends and patterns that, yes, are influenced by the fashions of their era. This is as true for Roark or his real-life inspiration, Frank Lloyd Wright as it is for architects of the ancient past. But Ayn Rand conceived of herself as a special snowflake, someone who stood apart from the crowd, and she wrote her protagonists the same way.

Youd think that Snytes mix-and-match design scheme would infuriate Roark, since he hates anyone else altering his work with the ferocity of a Klan member opposing miscegenation. Instead, he grudgingly goes along with it:

Roark knew what to expect of his job. He would never see his work erected, only pieces of it, which he preferred not to see; but he would be free to design as he wished and he would have the experience of solving actual problems. It was less than he wanted and more than he could expect. He accepted it at that.

What explains this temporary outbreak of reasonable behavior? It seems that long months of unemployment have worn him down, to the point where hes actually angry with himself for feeling relief at getting a job:

Roark looked at the clean white sheet before him, his fist closed tightly about the thin stem of a pencil. He put the pencil down, and picked it up again, his thumb running softly up and down the smooth shaft; he saw that the pencil was trembling. He put it down quickly, and he felt anger at himself for the weakness of allowing this job to mean so much to him, for the sudden knowledge of what the months of idleness behind him had really meant.

Its difficult to tell what Rand intends us to make of this. Some commentaries, like this one from SparkNotes, call Snyte a supposedly progressive architect who is in fact the ultimate plagiarizer, but I dont buy that. I doubt even Ayn Rand could have believed that its plagiarism for a boss to use ideas from his employees.

I think this is the more accurate description of the fault were meant to find in him:

As a man willing to give the public anything it wants, no matter how vulgar or inane, Snyte represents conformity in yet another form.

Snyte is another illustration of Rands belief that selling what your customers want to buy is a sin in business. The proper attitude is to be like Howard Roark: tell your customers what theyre going to accept, rather than vice versa, and on no account consider their preferences or tastes. Her ideal businessman is someone who sticks so obstinately to this principle that hed rather go broke and hungry than accept money from someone who insists on having opinions of their own about what the end product should look like.

Westworld and the Roots of Self-Ownership The Chief’s Thoughts – Being Libertarian

Posted: at 3:47 pm

Westworld (HBO) Season 1 Spoilers Ahead

I recently completed the first season of the critically acclaimed HBO seriesWestworld, which concluded in December 2016. HBO has renewed the series for a second season, expected sometime in 2018. Since finishing the show, aside from some unrelated YouTube analyses, I have not read or watched any libertarian reviews of Westworld, so if you have written one and see similar themes in this piece, rest assured that I write only from my own memory and understanding of the show and libertarian principles.

While watching, I was not, as is customary for me, on the lookout for deeper philosophical messages being conveyed by the show. The surface-level themes problematizing slavery and encouraging people to find their true selves in the park were quite evident, but it was only until the last episode of the first season when I was left saying, Hey, wait a minute

This curiosity was piqued the moment when the hosts (androids who appear human) of the park started killing Delos employees left, right, and center, and the show was attempting to portray it, in my view, in a positive light, almost as if justice was being carried out. The implication is that the Delos corporation and its sadistic clients have been torturing, maiming, raping, and killing the hosts for decades, and that revenge was finally in order. These violent delights have violent ends, after all.

But I was quite inclined to agree with Logan and others, who, throughout the show, emphasized that the Westworld park and all that it had to offer was a game.

The hosts, at least insofar as the corporate members and employees of Delos were concerned, are akin to the AI in video games: they arent real. Sympathy is not due to the masses of crowds you run over with your truck while playing Grand Theft Auto V. They do not feel or think, despite their squealing wails and the pain the game makes you think they are experiencing.

In the final episode of the season, the hosts go on a rampage, killing off the Delos board of directors as a kind of payback. The non-libertarian voices in our minds will gain extreme satisfaction from this, as Delos has up until now been portrayed as an evil company knowingly exploiting conscious or pseudo-conscious beings. Of course, various members of the corporate staff of Delos were keenly aware that consciousness had been achieved, and if they had been targeted, it would have been valid defensive action on the part of the hosts. However, I am not convinced that all Delos employees or even the majority of the board of directors knew that the hosts had achieved consciousness, given the immense secrecy Robert and Arnold shrouded their work in.

The root of self-ownership is human consciousness. (Lets leave comatose individuals and animals aside for the purposes of this discussion; life isnt black-and-white.) The hosts, for the majority of the season, and as far as Delos employees know, were unable toknow themselvesto be. They can therefore not be rights-bearing individuals and do not own themselves. The hosts were property up until the moment of consciousness.

Had Delos and Westworld been real entities in our world, I would have likely been an investor (if I had a financial mind, that is). Its truly revolutionary technology, and would, if it had been real, been yet another indication of the awesomeness that comes out of the market. But I recognize that if it is revealed that the hosts achieved consciousness, they would need to be liberated, and the project will need to cease.

But the hosts jumped the gun. They announced their consciousness by killing every human in sight. I, therefore, cannot condone what amounts to unjustifiable murder by the hosts. I, for one, will not regard Delores and the conscious hosts as the good guys while this persists.

Featured image: HBO (Westworld season 1, episode 10, The Bicameral Mind)

This post was written by Martin van Staden.

The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect our views and opinions.

Martin van Staden is the Editor in Chief of Being Libertarian, the Legal Researcher at the Free Market Foundation, a co-founder of the RationalStandard.com, and the Southern African Academic Programs Director at Students For Liberty. The views expressed in his articles are his own and do not represent any of the aforementioned organizations.

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At this water park, inclusion is the golden rule – Mother Nature Network

Posted: at 3:46 pm

Kids, water parks and summer just go together. The laughter and the splashing and the fun are a hot-weather staple. But water parks aren't necessarily accessible for people with disabilities.

A new water park, Morgan's Inspiration Island in San Antonio, is designed for people of all ages and abilities. The park sits next to Morgan's Wonderland, a 25-acre fully accessible theme park that opened in 2010.

Like Morgans Wonderland, Morgans Inspiration Island is not a special-needs park; its a park of inclusion, Gordon Hartman, philanthropist and developer behind the park, said in a statement. Both were designed with special-needs individuals in mind and built for everyones enjoyment.

Every part of the water park is wheelchair-accessible. (Photo: Morgan's Inspiration Island)

There are five water play areas in the park featuring geysers, water cannons, pools, jets, rain trees and buckets that tip over. There's also a River Boat Adventure ride that takes visitors through a jungle setting as animals and birds call out in the background. In one of the play areas, the water can be warmed up so that guests who have a sensitivity to cold can comfortably play and splash around.

Everything is accessible by wheelchair, and the park also offers special waterproof wheelchairs propelled by compressed air. The park suggests using the specially designed "PneuChair" so visitors don't damage the expensive battery-powered wheelchairs they rely on.

To develop the park, planners worked with doctors, therapists, caregivers and people with special needs. (Photo: Morgan's Inspiration Island)

Both parks were inspired by Hartman's daughter, Morgan, who has special needs.

We decided to call it Morgans Inspiration Island because Morgan truly has been the catalyst for every project weve pursued to help the special-needs community, Hartman said.

Admission to the park is free for anyone with disabilities, although the park suggests online reservations. (For people who do not have special needs, admission to the water park is $12 for children and $15 for adults.)

The park is for guests of all ages and abilities. (Photo: Morgan's Inspiration Island)

Hartman said the park was also designed with water conservation top of mind. Water will be continuously filtered and recirculated and stored in large underground tanks when the park is not in operation.

Hartman said the developers consulted with doctors, therapists, special education teachers, parents and caregivers on the park's design, and people with disabilities have tested the fun prior to opening day, which is June 17.

There are five water play areas in the park. (Photo: Morgan's Inspiration Island)

Morgans Inspiration Island like Morgans Wonderland will concentrate on inclusion and inspire guests with special needs to do things previously thought not to be in their range of capabilities, Hartman said. Those without disabilities and those with, including individuals in wheelchairs, guests with hearing and visual impairments and even guests on ventilators, will be able to play alongside each other and gain a greater appreciation of one another."

The park's play areas feature rain trees, geysers, jets, water cannons and tipping buckets. (Photo: Morgan's Inspiration Island)

Mary Jo DiLonardo writes about everything from health to parenting and anything that helps explain why her dog does what he does.

Golden rule: Warriors beat Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5, clinch championship – Arkansas Online

Posted: at 3:46 pm

OAKLAND, Calif. -- As the gold confetti fell and a fresh gray NBA champion cap sat a tad off-kilter on his head, Kevin Durant embraced his mother Wanda. Then he moved across the podium and hugged Stephen Curry before accepting his MVP trophy and hoisting it for everyone to see.

Durant capped his spectacular first season with the Warriors by bringing home an NBA championship, scoring 39 points in a Finals-clinching 129-120 victory over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5 on Monday night.

"It's just a great group of guys, great community, great arena, great fans," Durant said. "I'm just so happy to be a part of it."

Stephen Curry added 34 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 steals as Golden State closed out its second title in three years after squandering a 3-1 lead a year ago to the Cavs. That missed opportunity stung ever since, and even Durant understood, because he gave up the same lead to the Warriors a round earlier with Oklahoma City.

"We learned from everything we've been through," Curry said during the trophy celebration. "Our perspective, being blessed to play on this stage three years in a row, it's for these fans, for our organization, for these families. To be back here, bring ol' Larry back home, I'm just excited to do something special. I'm ready to do it again."

James, who in 2012 with Miami beat the Thunder in Durant's only other Finals, wound up with 41 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists.

"I left everything on the floor every game," James said after averaging a triple-double in his eighth Finals.

Kyrie Irving followed up his 40-point gem in Friday's Game 4 with 26 points, but he shot 9 for 22.

"Well I'm not happy he won his first. I'm not happy at all," James said of Durant. "... Getting that first championship for me was like having my first son."

Durant drove left, right and down the middle, knocked down three-pointers, dished and dunked. He hit a 17-foot fadeaway over James early in the fourth quarter, then assisted on a three-pointer by Andre Iguodala the next time down as the Warriors pushed a 98-95 lead to 103-95 early in the fourth quarter.

The Cavs scored the next three points, but Durant responded with a three-pointer for a 106-98 lead with 10 minutes remaining.

Cleveland pulled within 108-102 on a Kyle Korver three-pointer, but again Durant had an answer with a dunk. The Cavs never were closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Iguodala, the 2015 Finals MVP, came up big again with 20 points off the bench.

Durant shot 14 for 20 and Curry -- the two-time reigning MVP who took a backseat as the new big star got acclimated -- finished off a brilliant postseason. Not to mention a healthy one after his 2016 injuries.

Draymond Green stayed on the court in a game that featured three technicals on one play with 3:08 left before halftime. David West fought for the ball with Irving, then they got tangled up and Tristan Thompson entered the fray. He and West went at each other face to face. West, Thompson and J.R. Smith received technicals after a replay review.

Green had sat out Game 5 a year ago, suspended because of flagrant foul point accumulation after he swiped at James' groin in Game 4. He had 10 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists in the clincher.

"I had a letdown last year," Green said. "If KD was the consolation prize to lose, thanks for that loss, and we're champs this year."

During the trophy ceremony, Golden State Coach Steve Kerr said, "I want to say a special thank you to Mike Brown and my whole coaching staff."

The reigning NBA coach of the year returned for Game 2 of the Finals after a six-week absence from the bench.

On Monday, Golden State used a 27-4 second-quarter run to take charge and got to celebrate right at home in Oakland surrounded by a deafening home crowd waving yellow rally towels and holding up phones to shoot video and photos as the final minute of the clock ticked away.

The Warriors became the first Bay Area team to capture a championship at home since the A's finished the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of the 1974 World Series.

Sports on 06/13/2017

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‘Liberal’ mosque where burqas are banned opens in Germany – The Independent

Posted: at 3:46 pm

Poland's Piotr Lobodzinski starts in front of the Messeturm, Fairground Tower, in Frankfurt Germany. More than 1,000 runners climbed the 1202 stairs, and 222 meters of height in the Frankfurt Messeturm skyscraper run

A runner lies on the ground after arriving at the finish line in Frankfurt Germany. More than 1,000 runners climbed the 1202 stairs, and 222 meters of height in the Frankfurt Messeturm skyscraper run

A troupe of Ukrainian dancers perform at Boryspil airport in Kiev, on the first day of visa-free travel for Ukrainian nationals to the European Union

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A troupe of Ukrainian dancers perform on the tarmac at Boryspil airport in Kiev, on the first day of visa-free travel for Ukrainian nationals to the European Union

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French President Emmanuel Macron with his wife Brigitte Trogneux cast their ballot at their polling station in the first round of the French legislatives elections in Le Touquet, northern France

EPA

A Thai worker paints on a large statue of the Goddess of Mercy, known as Guan Yin at a Chinese temple in Ratchaburi province, Thailand. Guan Yin is one of the most popular and well known Chinese Goddess in Asia and in the world. Guan Yin is the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion in Mahayana Buddhism and also worshiped by Taoist

EPA

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs a weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem. An Israeli court has ordered a journalist to pay more than $25,000 in damages to Netanyahu and his wife Sara for libeling them. The magistrate court in Tel Aviv ruled Sunday that Igal Sarna libeled the couple for writing a Facebook post that claimed the prime minister's wife kicked the Israeli leader out of their car during a fight

Parkour enthusiasts train on Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Originally developed in France, the training discipline is gaining popularity in Brazil

Mario Tama/Getty Images

Volunteers spread mozzarella cheese toppings on the Guinness World Record attempt for the Longest Pizza in Fontana, California, USA. The pizza was planned to be 7000 feet (2.13 km) to break the previous record of 6082 feet (1.8 km) set in Naples, Italy in 2016

EPA

Jamaica's Olympic champion Usain Bolt gestures after winning his final 100 metres sprint at the 2nd Racers Grand Prix at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica

REUTERS/Gilbert Bellamy

Usain Bolt of Jamaica salutes the crowd after winning 100m 'Salute to a Legend' race during the Racers Grand Prix at the national stadium in Kingston, Jamaica. Bolt partied with his devoted fans in an emotional farewell at the National Stadium on June 10 as he ran his final race on Jamaican soil. Bolt is retiring in August following the London World Championships

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Police officers investigate at the Amsterdam Centraal station in Amsterdam, Netherlands. A car ploughed into pedestrians and injured at least five people outside the station. The background of the incident was not immediately known, though police state they have 'no indication whatsoever' the incident was an attack

EPA

Protesters stand off before police during a demonstration against corruption, repression and unemployment in Al Hoseima, Morocco. The neglected Rif region has been rocked by social unrest since the death in October of a fishmonger. Mouhcine Fikri, 31, was crushed in a rubbish truck as he protested against the seizure of swordfish caught out of season and his death has sparked fury and triggered nationwide protests

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A man looks on at a migrant and refugee makeshift camp set up under the highway near Porte de la Chapelle, northern Paris

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Damaged cars are seen stacked in the middle of a road in western Mosul's Zanjili neighbourhood during ongoing battles to try to take the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters

Getty

Smoke billows following a reported air strike on a rebel-held area in the southern Syrian city of Daraa

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Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel gestures next to Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto during a welcome ceremony at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico

REUTERS/Carlos Jasso

Soldiers and residents carry the body of a Muslim boy who was hit by a stray bullet while praying inside a mosque, as government troops continue their assault against insurgents from the Maute group, who has taken over large parts of the Marawi City, Philippines

REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco

Opposition demonstrators protest for the death on the eve of young activist Neomar Lander during clashes with riot police, in Caracas

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Neomar Lander, a 17-year-old boy was killed during a march in the Chacao district in eastern Caracas on Wednesday, taking the overall death toll since the beginning of April to 66, according to prosecutors

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Former FBI director James Comey is sworn in during a hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC

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Former FBI Director James Comey testifies during a US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC

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Usain Bolt of Jamaica trains at the University of West Indies in Kingston. Bolt says he is looking forward to having a party as he launches his final season on June 10 with what will be his last race on Jamaican soil. The 30-year-old world's fasted man plans to retire from track and field after the 2017 London World Championships in August

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Acquanetta Warren, Mayor of Fontana, California, reacts after US President Donald Trump introduced himself before the Infrastructure Summit with Governors and Mayors at the White House in Washington, US

REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

Frenchman Alain Castany, sentenced to 20 years on charges of drug trafficking in the 'Air Cocaine' affair, leaves the prison in Santo Domingo, on his way to France, where he is being transferred for medical reason

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A woman reacts at the place where 17-year-old demonstrator Neomar Lander died during riots at a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela, June 8, 2017. The sign reads: 'Neomar, entertainer for ever'

REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado

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Queen Maxima of The Netherlands visits Tobroco Machines in Oisterwijk, Netherlands. The company is a manufacturer of machines for use in agriculture, road construction and field maintenance. Tobroco is winner of the 2016 Koning Willem 1 Award for entrepreneurship

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A family member of an inmate tries to stop a truck used to transfer prisoners, outside a prison where a riot took place on Tuesday, in Ciudad Victoria, Mexico

REUTERS/Josue Gonzalez

An unconscious person is taken away on a motorcycle by fellow demonstrators after they clashed with riot police during a protest in Caracas, Venezuela

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Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt's elementary teacher Sheron Seivwright poses with her students during a break at the Waldensia elementary school in Sherwood Content. Usain Bolt, the greatest sprinter in history with eight Olympic golds, 11 world titles and three world records, will retire from international competition after the IAAF world championships in August

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This 1916 photo provided by the Archdiocese of Denver shows Julia Greeley with Marjorie Ann Urquhart in McDonough Park in Denver. Greeley, a former slave, is being considered for possible sainthood. In a step toward possible sainthood, the remains of Greeley were moved to a Catholic cathedral in Denver

Archdiocese of Denver via AP

US President Donald Trump, flanked by the families of business people he says were harmed by Obamacare, high-fives a young boy as he arrives to deliver remarks on the US healthcare system at Cincinnati Municipal Lunken Airport in Cincinnati, Ohio

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Wellesley Bolt, the father of Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, speaks during an interview with Agence France-Presse at his home in Sherwood Content

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Overview of the United Nations Human Rights Council is seen in Geneva, Switzerland

REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

An artist's rendering showing two merging black holes similar to those detected by Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO)

Courtesy of Caltech/MIT/LIGO Laboratory/Handout via REUTERS

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi talk to journalist Megyn Kelly on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) at the Constantine (Konstantinovsky) Palace, Russia

Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via REUTERS

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi react while walking near the Constantine (Konstantinovsky) Palace during their meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia

REUTERS/Mikhail Metzel/TASS/Host Photo Agency/Pool

French riot police signal to a migrant who is on his knees as French authorites block their access to a food distribution point in Calais, France

REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol

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Welcome to the Post-liberal International Order – The American Conservative

Posted: at 3:46 pm

Princeton University Professor John Ikenberry, one of the most articulate defenders of the open, rules-based system that dominates international politics today, claims that the past two centuries should be remembered as the liberal ascendancy. In this narrative, conservatives have become economic liberals, socialists have become social liberals, the institutions that regulate international affairs have proliferated and strengthened, and liberal values have been promoted across the globe with increasing vigour.

Brexit and the election of Donald Trump have led many to conclude that this liberal order is in crisis. The likes of Ikenberry would disagree: They claim that crises only serve to provide greater incentives to cooperate in rules-based ways. In other words, we are simply living through the growing pains of liberalism.

An examination of liberalisms conceptual foundations, however, may lend credence to a more pessimistic outlook.

Liberalism is a philosophy that originated at the domestic level, gaining its full form as a political movement during the Enlightenment. Although it has made numerous important contributions toward advancing the rights of individuals, nations, women and minorities in the centuries since, it can be faulted for possessing several inherent contradictions and shaky assumptions.

Chief among them is the idea that society is composed solely of rational individuals, primarily concerned with the advancement of their own material well-being. This is a notion that has become particularly mainstream in Western politics since former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatchers neoliberal revolution. Mediating institutions between the individual and the statesuch as families, religious organizations and civic associationsare often downplayed.

This liberal hypothesis is easy to criticize. For example, after the election that brought Trump to the Oval Office, the New York Times Ross Douthat explained that liberal societies have always depended on an illiberal or pre-liberal substructure to answer the varied human needsmeaning, belonging, a vertical dimension to human life, a hope against mortality [] People have a desire for solidarity that cosmopolitanism does not satisfy, immaterial interests that redistribution cannot meet, a yearning for the sacred that secularism cannot answer.

Perhaps one of liberalisms more profound contradictions lies in the fact that, although it professes a commitment to enhancing individual freedom and agency, it has a deeply structuralist view of the world. That is to say, if only the right institutions are designed and the right values are promoted, then humans will exhibit predictable behaviour, and cultural and class differences can be overcome.

This is manifested most clearly by liberals at the domestic level, who in many countries have had difficulty grappling with questions ranging from immigration to income inequality. But it is also true of liberal internationalism: As the norms it promotes and the institutions it upholds begin to grapple with the more persistent realities of history and geography, the inconsistencies of liberal world order have been brought clearly to the fore.

Liberal internationalists believe in both the self-determination of nations and the inviolability of states territorial integrity, in both human rights and state sovereignty, in both international integration and democratic accountability, and in both global leadership by a concert of democracies and representative international institutions that feature non-democratic members. Inevitably, then, liberals have been selective in the application of their principles, as has become painfully evident in recent decades.

Playing somewhat fast and loose with the rules, Western countries intervened in Yugoslavia and Iraq without UN sanction in 1999 and 2003 respectively, recognized Kosovos unilateral declaration of independence over Moscows objections in 2008, and used a mandate to protect civilians to force regime change in Libya in 2011. These moves have helped to harden Russias resolve to protect its national sovereignty and great-power status. And indeed, it is not coincidental that liberalism appears to be in crisis in the West at the same moment as the international order to which it gave birth has encountered a major roadblock.

Liberalism is by its very definition a universalizing ideology, resolved to promote democracy and human rights across the world. Having failed to remake the Middle East in its image and subsume Russia into its orbit, the liberal-international sphere of states appears no longer able to expand its borders in any significant fashion. This has produced a crisis of confidence for the West, which, since the dawn of the Age of Exploration more than five centuries ago, has believed that the rest of the world would one day come to resemble it.

This dual crisis of liberalismdomestic and internationalbrings with it at least two important lessons for the West.

First, functional repairs to liberal economic and political projects (e.g., the Eurozone) are necessary but insufficient remedies for what plagues the West today. Tinkering around the edges is not enough. What liberalism needs to succeed over the long term is a wholesale reconceptualization, a move away from its present hyper-materialist, consumerist character and toward a greater focus on human dignity, mutual obligations, and the common good. Liberals celebrating recent populist setbacks in France, Austria, and the Netherlands should keep this need for reform in mind.

And second, liberal states may have to prepare for a world featuring multiple overlapping international orders, rather than a single-tier liberal system. Further attempts by the West to impose its values on non-Western major powers stand only to strengthen anti-Western voices within those countries. A more cautious, realist approach is the most reliable way to transition peacefully toward a world in which the West may eventually no longer be ideologically or materially dominant.

The proverbial cat may be out of the bag. Liberal aims may have already morphed into uncontrollable structural forces, taking on a life of their own. Under ideological siege, Western states may grow increasingly inflexible in their conduct of foreign policy. The shift toward a potentially post-liberal, post-Western world is thus likely to be fraught with difficulty. But without decisive action, the contemporary international order will continue to disintegrate and domestic political consensus will continue to erode.

Today, the ultimate triumph of liberalism no longer appears certain. What this realization bodes for the West remains to be seen.

Zachary Paikin (@zpaikin) is a PhD candidate and assistant lecturer at the University of Kent in Canterbury, United Kingdom, researching Russian conceptions of state sovereignty and their impact on the contemporary international order.

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Welcome to the Post-liberal International Order - The American Conservative

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The Bubble: How conservative and liberal media reacted to Sessions’ testimony – USA TODAY

Posted: at 3:46 pm

Attorney General Jeff Sessions displayed flashes of anger during questioning by Sen. Ron Wyden when the senator pressed him about suggestions that he had failed to provide full disclosure about his meetings with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. USA TODAY

Each week, USA TODAY's On Politics blog will take a look at how media from the left and the right reacted to one of the week's top political news stories, giving liberals and conservatives a taste of life in the other's media bubble.

This week, we look at the articles and opinion pieces that got political junkies' attention on social media that were written about Attorney General Jeff Sessions' testimony before the Senate IntelligenceCommittee Tuesday.

Political pundit Charles Krauthammer spoke for many conservatives who thought Sessions crushed it during his Senate testimony. Krauthammer said the attorney general "exposed the absurdity of the whole exercise"about alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

"I mean this is supposed to be about Russia meddlingin our election. That wasn't even an issue,"Krauthammer said during an interview with Fox News. "Then it was supposed to be about the collusion. There's not an ounce of evidence."

The conservative commentator called the efforts to build a case of impeachment against Trump"un-American" and said that Sessions testimony was a "side show of a side show."

For many liberals, the hearing was all about Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif.

"California Sen. Kamala Harris has once again shown a room of old white men how to do their damn jobs,"wroteJezebel reporter Prachi Guptain apost headlined, "Kamala Harris just handed Jeff Sessions his a--."

She tried to pin Sessions down on what notes he tookcalendar appointments, memos, emailsabout these critical conversations and meetings, and asked him to submit them to the committee. He dodged, eventually giving a wishy-washy assurance that he will give documents pending a conversation with lawyers as to what is appropriate.

Then came the moment that grabbed the most attention on left-leaning media: the exchange between Harris and Sessions over his claims he couldn't talk about his conversations with President Trump:

It was at this point, in her last question, when other Senators interrupted her to come to the defense of the poor old white guy with the bad memory. They did not, of course, so rudely cut off any of the men who spoke beyond their allotted time before her.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions says Senator Kamala Harris' speedy pace of questioning "makes him nervous." USA TODAY

A post on Sean Hannity's website lauded Sessions for slamming "leakers and themedia overfalse news reports and innuendos."

Attorney General Jeff Sessions lashed out at federal leakers who spread false rumors, saying they will not intimidate him from fulfilling his responsibilities at the Department of Justice.

During the hearing, Democratic senators like Harris challenged Sessions' claims that there is a Justice Department policy which prevents him from sharing the details of his conversations with the president. And several pieces from the liberal press backed up their skeptism about Sessions' assertion.

Vox's Sean Illing said he reached out to 10 legal experts to ask if "Sessions' claim that hes protecting the president's constitutional right to executive privilege makes any sense."

All but one of the experts rejected Sessionss argument on its face, insisting that Sessions is legally permitted to discuss conversations with the president, provided the president hasnt yet invoked executive privilege (which he hasnt). One expert believes there is a precedent for Sessionss actions, but that Congress can and should compel him to answer their questions.

Not all conservatives thought Sessions' performance inthe hearing was a total success. While Sessions was effective in arguing he colluded with the Russians, he "did little todispel" the evidence that Trump "tried to interfere" in the Russia investigation," wroteThe Weekly Standard's Michael Warren.

Sessions was unable to provide any more context to this question: Did Trump fire Comey because of, or in response to, the FBI director's refusal to "let go" of the investigation into Trump's national security adviser, Mike Flynn? Because this question has gotten reasonably complicated.

Sessions' refusal to talk about his conversations with Trump may have meant there were no major revelations from the attorney general's testimony, but he did admit to a stunning lack of curiosity about Russian efforts to interfere in the election,wrote David Corn for Mother Jones.

So the person picked to be attorney generalone of the chief national security officials in the US governmenthad not bothered to educate himself about the Russian operation. He had not even read the public report issued by the intelligence community. This seemed a strong indication that the Trump camp really didnt give a damn about Putins clandestine effort to undermine American democracy.

Sessions: Any suggestion I colluded with Russia is 'detestable lie'

Analysis: AG Jeff Sessions defends Jeff Sessions. But what about Donald Trump?

GOP: Testimony shows Sessions integrity

Jeff Sessions' testimony was unconvincing

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The Bubble: How conservative and liberal media reacted to Sessions' testimony - USA TODAY

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Liberal group targets potential Republican healthcare swing votes – The Hill

Posted: at 3:46 pm

A liberal advocacy group is running new television and digital advertising targeting Republican senators who could be potential swing votes on the Senates ObamaCare repeal bill.

The seven-figure buy from Save My Care will run TV and digital ads in four states: Alaska, Nevada, Maine and West Virginia.

Sens. Lisa MurkowskiLisa MurkowskiLiberal group targets potential Republican healthcare swing votes Schumer wants all-Senate meeting on healthcare Overnight Healthcare: GOP brushes off Trump calling health bill 'mean' | Big decision for insurers | Trump order on drug pricing in the works MORE (Alaska), Dean HellerDean HellerLiberal group targets potential Republican healthcare swing votes Governors from both parties slam House ObamaCare bill, call for bipartisan Senate approach Court-martial possible in Marines nude photo sharing scandal MORE (Nev.), Susan CollinsSusan CollinsLiberal group targets potential Republican healthcare swing votes Elizabeth Dole, Ryan Phillippe urge action on military caregivers Overnight Defense: Trump to let Pentagon set Afghan troop levels | Senate advances Russia sanctions deal | Mattis to talk missile defense with South Korea MORE (Maine) and Shelley Moore CapitoShelley Moore CapitoLiberal group targets potential Republican healthcare swing votes Murkowski: 'I just truly do not know' if I can support GOP health bill GOP considers keeping ObamaCare taxes MORE (W.Va.) are among the more moderate Republican senators who could prove crucial if any of them choose to oppose Senate leaderships emerging legislation.

Heller and Capito represent expansion states and recently said they support a proposal that would gradually end the extra federal funding expansion states receive over a seven-year period. Collins hasnt tipped her hand, and Murkowski has consistently said she supports expansion and wont vote for ending expansion if her state legislature wants to keep it.

She also said recently she wasnt sure she could support the emerging bill because she doesnt know what policies will be included.

Senate leaders can only afford to lose two votes when they bring the legislation to the floor. Its a delicate balancing act, and if enough moderates can be convinced to oppose the bill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellMitch McConnellLiberal group targets potential Republican healthcare swing votes Trump probe puts spotlight on Justice's No. 3 Schumer wants all-Senate meeting on healthcare MORE (R-Ky.) may need to rely on conservatives such as Rand PaulRand PaulLiberal group targets potential Republican healthcare swing votes Overnight Defense: Senate approves Russia, Iran sanctions | GOP chair expects to surpass Trump defense budget | Nude photo scandal could lead to court-martial Overnight Healthcare: GOP brushes off Trump calling health bill 'mean' | Big decision for insurers | Trump order on drug pricing in the works MORE (Ky.) or Mike LeeMike LeeLiberal group targets potential Republican healthcare swing votes Murkowski: 'I just truly do not know' if I can support GOP health bill Rand Paul denounces 'new entitlements' in emerging health bill MORE (Utah) to help pass the measure.

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Liberal group targets potential Republican healthcare swing votes - The Hill

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Liberal bill to reverse Conservative move to strip citizenships passes Senate – CBC.ca

Posted: at 3:46 pm

A Liberal bill that would make it easier for people to become Canadian citizens has passed the Senate, after over a year of back-and-forth in Parliament.

Bill C-6 was designed to repeal many of the previous Conservative government's changes to how people become citizens and how they can lose that status.

Among other things, the legislation repeals a provision that strips dual citizens of their Canadian status if convicted of terrorism, treason or espionage.

But far more people lose their citizenship because it was obtained fraudulently and current law gives them no right to appeal, something not addressed in the Liberals' original bill.

The Senate proposed adding such an appeal and the Liberals agreed to that and several other amendments late last week.

The bill went back to the Senate and after a brief debate, passed by a vote of 51-29.

Former immigration minister John McCallum introduced the bill in 2016, following through on a Liberal campaign promise that had in part spawned Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's famous "A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian" line during the heated debates of the 2015 election.

The issue was the Conservatives' citizenship law, which allowed for stripping citizenship from dual nationals convicted of certain serious crimes.

It has been applied to one person: Zakaria Amara, convicted for his role in a 2006 terror plot in Toronto and his citizenship is now likely to be reinstated.

The Liberals' original bill makes two other changes: restoring the age range for language and knowledge requirements for citizenship to 18 to 54 from 14 to 64. One of the Senate amendments had sought to raise the upper age to 59 but the Liberals did not accept that.

The other change in the bill repeals a Conservative provision that required people to say they intended to reside in Canada as part of their citizenship application.

Among the notable Senate amendments was one allowing people a right to appeal if their citizenship were to be revoked because of fraud.

The Liberals accepted it, though their hand was forced a bit after a recent Federal Court ruling saying citizens deserved an independent hearing before their status was revoked.

The Opposition Conservatives have condemned that move, saying it risks encouraging people to lie on their application, because of the lengthy appeals process.

They say their process which left decisions on revocation in the hands of the bureaucrats was more efficient, and court appeals were still possible if the law was wrongly applied.

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Liberal bill to reverse Conservative move to strip citizenships passes Senate - CBC.ca

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Daily Archives: June 16, 2017

Vandalism at Sawtell sporting field – Bellingen Courier Sun

The Fountainhead: American Eclectic – Patheos (blog)

Westworld and the Roots of Self-Ownership The Chief’s Thoughts – Being Libertarian

At this water park, inclusion is the golden rule – Mother Nature Network

Golden rule: Warriors beat Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5, clinch championship – Arkansas Online

‘Liberal’ mosque where burqas are banned opens in Germany – The Independent

Welcome to the Post-liberal International Order – The American Conservative

The Bubble: How conservative and liberal media reacted to Sessions’ testimony – USA TODAY

Liberal group targets potential Republican healthcare swing votes – The Hill

Liberal bill to reverse Conservative move to strip citizenships passes Senate – CBC.ca

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