Daily Archives: October 23, 2019

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson took aim at political correctness at a contentious committee hearing, warning that the impulse to control speech and expression would destroy the country.

During Tuesdays House Financial Services hearing, Representative Jennifer Wexton (D-Virginia) raised previous comments Carson had made about big, hairy men, widely understood to be directed at transgender women, inviting him to apologize, but the secretary was having none of it.

I think this whole concept of political correctness you can say this, you cant say that, you cant repeat what someone said is total foolishness and its going to destroy our nation, Carson shot back, adding: We need to be more mature than that.

Carson, a Republican, went on to deny that he was referring to transgender women in his prior remark made at a HUD meeting last month arguing that he was merely relating a story a womens group told him about men entering their facility and having to be accepted because of the rules that were in place.

While he said he could not recall the group who told him that story, Carson added that they were based in Alaska.

Wexton later took to Twitter to lament the exchange, slamming Carson for his refusal to apologize and stating that hateful words translate into discriminatory policy.

The Democratic representative has previously quarreled with Carson, decrying a new HUD policy rolled out earlier this year which allowed federally funded homeless shelters to turn away transgender people on religious grounds, a move she called incredibly dangerous.

Carson has been something of an anti-PC warrior for years, well before the highly politically incorrect president entered the Oval Office in 2016, regularly shredding the concept in media appearances and warning of a society where people are afraid to say what they actually believe at times even drawing comparisons to Nazi Germany.

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HUD Secretary Ben Carson warns political correctness will DESTROY' the US (VIDEO) - RT

US top diplomat in Ukraine Bill Taylor testified Tuesday that he was told by US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland that security aid to Ukraine could have been held up in part because of a push for Ukraine to publicly announce an investigation that could help President Donald Trump politically, according to sources in both parties.

In a lengthy and detailed opening statement, Taylor said that he and Sondland spoke by phone about why the aid was frozen, and Sondland cited the need for Ukraine to open an investigation among other reasons, according to the sources. Sondland told Taylor that the investigations potentially included both Ukraines involvement in the 2016 election and Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company that hired former Vice President Joe Bidens son Hunter Biden, the sources said.

Asked about Taylors comments, a source familiar with Sondlands testimony said that Sondland cited, in addition to the investigations, that the aid may have been frozen because the Europeans werent giving Ukraine enough and corruption in general. The source said Sondland was only speculating when he referenced the political investigations into the 2016 election and Burisma.

He made very clear in his testimony that nobody would give him a straight answer about why the aid was being held up, the source said about Sondlands testimony.

Text messages between Taylor and Sondland and provided to Congress show that the two discussed the aid being frozen on the phone, amid concerns Taylor had raised that it was being held up in order to help Trump politically.

As I said on the phone, I think its crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign, Taylor texted Sondland on September 9. Sondland responded that Taylors assertion was incorrect, a conclusion he reached after speaking directly to Trump.

The opening statement from Taylor took roughly an hour to deliver, according to multiple people in the room. Sources said that the statement rich with detail.

Democrats described Taylors testimony as damning to the President.

All I have to say is that in my 10 short months in Congress its my most disturbing day in Congress so far, said Rep. Andy Levin, a freshman Democrat from Michigan.

Republicans, however, downplayed Taylors testimony. Rep. Mark Meadows, a North Carolina Republican, said of Taylors testimony there was nothing new here, I think.

Were trying to see if any witness has a connection between foreign aid and pausing the foreign aid, Meadows said. As it relates to the quid pro quo, we havent had any witness suggest that.

Taylors opening statement was intended to fill in the gaps of his text messages with US diplomats about Ukraine that have formed a key part of the impeachment investigation into Trump and Ukraine, according to another source familiar with his testimony.

Taylor, who is testifying before the three House committees leading the Democratic impeachment inquiry, planned to lay out the reasoning behind his different WhatsApp text messages in his opening statement Tuesday, the source said. Taylor planned to include a chronology of events, according to the source, dating back to June, when Taylor assumed the post as ambassador, through October.

Taylors testimony is among the most significant for Democratic impeachment investigators because of text messages he exchanged with Sondland and former US special envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker about the freezing of US security aid to Ukraine.

Taylor is not bringing any new documents to the committee, and he will just reference those that have already been made public, the source said. Volker, who is no longer at the State Department, provided the texts to Congress. Other witnesses who have appeared, including Sondland, have been prevented by the State Department from providing documents.

Taylor is appearing behind closed doors before the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees as part of the Democratic impeachment inquiry fueled by whistleblower allegations that Trump solicited foreign election interference from Ukraine to investigate his potential 2020 political opponent.

Taylor was issued a subpoena to compel his testimony on Tuesday morning in response to the Trump administrations direction to witnesses not to testify in the impeachment probe, according to an official working on the inquiry. Thats the same thing the committees have done for other current State Department employees who have testified.

The witnesses who have appeared so far have said that the President directed his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, to take the lead on US-Ukraine policy as Giuliani was pushing for an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.

Taylor, as the current acting ambassador to Ukraine, is in a difficult and delicate position testifying Tuesday, the source said. Taylors view is that he is there to speak to the committee and answer their questions, and hes not looking to issue his own statement publicly.

Other officials who have given testimony and also delivered opening statements were in different positions: Volker had already resigned and Sondland, a major Trump donor, was unlikely to be fired by Trump. Former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, who testified earlier this month, is still a State Department employee but is not currently in an active ambassador role.

Taylor plans to return to Ukraine on Wednesday, the source said. He wants to keep his job and thinks it is important work.

A career diplomat, Taylor had to be convinced to take the Ukraine job in the first place, sources familiar with conversations explained. Volker recommended Taylor to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for the post after Yovanovitchs unexpected removal in the spring. Taylor then met with Pompeo, State Department Counselor Ulrich Brechbuhl and Volker at the department at the end of May.

The conversation focused on US policy towards Ukraine and Pompeos view of that policy. The secretary of state argued the Trump administration had a robust policy a position he has taken in numerous interviews and the elephant in the room Yovanovitchs ouster was not extensively addressed, the sources told CNN.

After the meeting, Taylor texted back and forth with Volker, and among other things, he asked why Volker would not want to take the job. Volker said he was better off in his current role covering Ukraine as well as Washington and allies and NATO. Taylor was on the ground in Ukraine, serving as de-facto ambassador, about a month later.

By Manu Raju, Jeremy Herb, Kylie Atwood, Lauren Fox, and Gloria Borger, CNN

Originally posted here:
US envoy to Ukraine testifies that EU ambassador cited political investigations as possible reason for Ukraine aid delay - KTVI Fox 2 St. Louis

Maher has been talking politics for over two decades now, starting with the aptly titled show Politically Incorrect, on Comedy Central back in 1993. Most recently, he made headlines, offering president Donald Trump $1 million dollars to leave office, saying, "You love money."

Maher is the host of Real Time, an HBO show that's earned him 34 Emmy nominations; he won his first Emmy in 2014 for his work as executive producer of the HBO series, Vice.

He's written five books including New Rules: Polite Musings from a Timid Observer and The New New Rules: A Funny Look at How Everybody But Me Has Their Head Up Their Ass.

Maher visited the PAC back in 2015, when he chatted with City Paper about what exactly is wrong with conservatives:"I have a lot of conservative friends. I meet them on the show, and over the years we talk after the show. They tend to be the nicest people except when it comes to dealing or thinking about people who are not like them. That seems to me, their tragic flaw."

@ North Charleston Performing Arts Center

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When: Sun., Feb. 16

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Bill Maher heads to North Charleston Performing Arts Center this February - Charleston City Paper

HOUSTON Anthony Rendon can still smell the Astrodomes stench more than two decades later. Even now that hes the biggest superstar on the team he calls Los Viejos, the old ones, the Washington Nationals third baseman transforms away from his usually reserved demeanor into the goofy kid who ran around the bowels of the Eighth Wonder of the World in search of autographs.

Rendon is back home for the World Series. This is where it all started for the southwest Houston native, beginning with the Post Oak YMCA Giants. This is home. It will always be home, he says.

Its where he finds the most comfort, the best barbecue and best tacos and taquerias. Rendon, 29, is renowned for his introverted personality. He declined to attend his first All-Star Game this summer in part because he wanted to rest, but those who have worked with him knew he also passed on the Midsummer Classic because he didnt want to deal with the media hassle.

Yet, on the Eve of the World Series, he was clearly the most popular player to interview by the local, national and international media. It took him a few minutes to warm up, but once he did, he unshackled the personality that his good friends and family members love.

He was home, after all, in the concourse of Minute Maid Park, a stadium where he first played as a member of the Lamar High Texans and then at Rice University and eventually as a visitor with the Nationals.

Well, actually, he never played for the Texans. They had a more politically incorrect name when Rendon attended Lamar.

Redskin for life, thats for sure, Rendon says of the old Lamar nickname. I know theyve changed it to the Texans, but Im still going to hold true to that. Theyve had a lot of great players come through their system. I think thats a testament to the coaching staff that theyve had over the years.

No Lamar product has been better than Rendon, who is also likely to go down as the best player in Rice history.

Rendon may even become the first player from Rice to win the National League MVP Award. Hes one of the favorites this year along with the Dodgers Cody Bellinger and the Brewers Christian Yelich.

I think hes an incredible baseball player, said Astros third baseman Alex Bregman, who is among the favorites for the AL MVP Award. I think hes one of the top players in all of the game. Hes the MVP in the National League, makes it look easy.

He hits from line to line with power, controls the strike zone, doesnt swing and miss much. Hits for power, hits for average, high OPS and then also, not to mention, a great defender over there.

Hes not sure how many family and friends will be at Minute Maid Park for Game 1 of the World Series Tuesday night, but he concedes that the number will be more than 100.

He is bracing for a rush of emotion and a montage of childhood memories to hit when he sees his parents and siblings in reds Nationals gear among the sea of Astros orange.

A lot of memories here, definitely in high school, and we played here in high school and college, he said. Fortunate enough to play here at this level too. Probably all of those memories are going to come hit me at once. Hopefully theyll hit me while were taking (batting practice) tonight and maybe well get it out of the way.

Rendon wasnt certain if he could get away with the rush of memories during Mondays workout. He also didnt know what he would do after the evening workout.

He had a good guess, however. Like a true Mexican American from Houston, he was eager to get Mexican food or barbecue.

Heck, in the fourth largest city in America and the largest city in the Lone Star State, one can even get Mexican food and barbecue in the same joint. Brisket tacos, anyone?

Washington DC may be the center of power, but the nations capital has nothing on Houston in terms of Mexican food.

Rendon hoped to hit the town after Monday evenings workout to see what had changed around Houston since he left in February for the start of spring training in West Palm Beach, where the Nationals share a facility with his hometown Astros.

Oh, and he wanted to find some food. Actually, one specific type of food.

Any Mexican food possible, he said with a twinkle in his eyes. Theres no Mexican food in DC or barbecue, so I might hit them all.

Any recommendations?

I love Demeris Bar-B-Q, he said. That was kind of a spot we would go to in college. Theres a lot of hole-in-the-walls, those little taquerias around here that you cannot miss.

There may not be a taco truck in every corner of Houston, yet you probably couldnt go four miles before hitting multiple taquerias. Great hole-in-the-wall taquerias are as common as young ballplayers in Houston.

The Houston area is a true baseball mecca, producing Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan and superstars such as seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens and All-Stars Andy Pettitte, Lance Berkman, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett, Jose Cruz Jr. and Rendon, to name a few.

Rendon, Berkman and Cruz are the best trio of players ever produced at Rice. Only one of them, however, can say that the city declared a day in his honor.

Former Houston Mayor Annise Parker declared Anthony Rendon Day on June 29, 2010, after Rendon won the Dick Howser Trophy as the best baseball college player that season. He had celebrated his 20th birthday earlier in the month.

He was only a sophomore and a bit naive as to what Anthony Rendon Day entailed, he admits with a hearty laugh. Moreover, he notes that Parker may have been a bit biased in his favor because shes a Rice alum.

Its not an annual event, but it was definitely an awesome experience, he said. You hear all these stories, so and so, he plays for the Rockets or hes the best fireman in the world and he gets a key to the city.

That was kind of what was going through my mind. Man, Im about to get a key to the city. She just hands me like a piece of paper, but it was an awesome experience.

The piece of paper, as he calls it, was a proclamation. He gave it to his parents Rene and Bridget Rendon because hes certain he probably would have lost it by now. He assumes they have it stashed somewhere.

A year after the proclamation, the Nationals picked Rendon sixth overall in the 2011 June Amateur Draft. He had been picked in the 27th round by the Braves in 2008, but he preferred to attend Rice.

In that way, he set a great example for other Latinos in Houston and everywhere on the value of education.

Everyone says that college is the best time of their lives, and I would say that about my college experience as well, Rendon said. I had a great time playing on that team and just being at a local college where my family can support me.

That family will be out in force during the World Series, whether at the games at Minute Maid Park or at Nationals Park.

Rendon is always quick to credit his parents. In an era when players focus much time on promoting their brands, Rendon remains true to the lessons he learned growing up in southwest Houston.

They definitely taught me to be humble, Rendon says of his parents. Both of my parents are very quiet individuals. They told me not to boast about myself, its not about me.

Obviously being in this game theres more players on the team than just yourself, give as you can and then you have nothing to worry about if things dont go your way because you know that you did everything you could.

Rendon has built a reputation as a person who is respectful to the media without not exactly caring for interviews or drawing attention to himself. He is not exactly inaccessible, but hes not usually the best quote either.

Until he is, of course.

On Monday at home, he was at his charismatic best, showing off the personality that Astros outfielder George Springer has loved since they played together on Team USA a decade ago.

Springer and Rendon work out at the same gym together in the offseason.

Springer notes that Rendon is a goofball at the gym.

I know him pretty well, Springer said. Hes a great guy. Hes extremely funny, but again, baseball doesnt define him. He happens to be really, really good at it, but hes a great guy.

I sent him a text earlier today. I talk to him here and there. Hes doing Anthony Rendon things. (I said) Good luck, have some fun. I want him to do well. I think hes had one of the most unbelievable years. Obviously hes a superstar in this game. Hes a great dude. I love him.

In a welcoming city that tends to respect opposing teams, Rendon is likely to get the warmest cheer among the visitors when the players are introduced before Game 1 of the World Series.

Hell likely smile, perhaps even tip his cap. Hell have a rush of emotions and likely think back to all the games he played at Minute Maid Park as a Lamar Redskin and Rice Owl.

He fell in love with the Astros by cheering for the original Killer Bs, Derek Bell, Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell. He remembers the 2005 team that won the Astros franchises only NL pennant for its first World Series appearance.

Much like Rendons 2019 Nationals, the 2005 Astros were dismissed early in the season after a horrendous start that had them 15 games under .500 in May. Rendon remembers the infamous Houston Chronicle tombstone that was published on June 1, 2005, declaring the Astros dead five days before Rendons 15th birthday.

The Nationals were also dismissed by many pundits this year after they began the season 19-31. When asked if there were any similarities between his 2019 Nationals and the 2005 Astros that reached the World Series, Rendon chuckled and tried to end the comparisons.

That team got swept (in the World Series), he noted.

The World Series sweep is not a good memory for Astros fans. Rendon has better memories of his Astros fandom. Hell always love the 2017 World Series champion Astros for the way they lifted his hometowns spirits after Hurricane Harvey ravaged Houston and surrounding communities.

His favorite Astros memory, though, involves his family. He was between eight and nine years old, considering that he remembers slugger Mark McGwire was in town with the Cardinals. McGwire never played against the Astros until he was traded to the Cardinals and appeared at the Astrodome after Rendons eighth birthday.

The team moved to Minute Maid Park in 2000, so its not hard to find the age range. Rendon was following his older brother that day in search of autographs.

I think my greatest memory would be the only game that I went to the Astrodome, he said. I do remember that it was a very smelly place. We kind of got a tour like behind the scenes. And that place was really dirty and real stinky. And I was really young at the time.

But we actually went with my older brothers baseball team and his coach and their son. We waited for Biggio, Bagwell. I was really young at that time. That memory still sticks in my mind.

Rendon, easily the greatest Latino player produced in Houston, cannot afford to be an Astros fan during this Fall Classic. Win or lose, though, the kid who hunted for autographs at the Astrodome and played at Minute Maid Park as a teenager and young adult will make a more special memory at home during the 2019 Fall Classic.

Hell likely stop at a few taquerias during his visit too. This is the ultimate family trip to Minute Maid Park. Its a trip he admittedly didnt ever dream about as a child, but its here, taquerias and all.

Featured Image: La Vida Baseball

How college prepared Anthony Rendon for big league success and life

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From Southwest Houston, Nationals star Rendon longs for taquerias and a title on work trip home for the... - La Vida Baseball

KIM Kardashian kept her 39th birthday celebrations going last night with a lavish family feast at her LA home.

The superstar's husband Kanye West and mum Kris Jenner hired Kim's favourite restaurant Carousel to cater for the family in Palm Springs.

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A huge dining table was decorated with a seriously impressive floral display including a copy of her famous torso fragrance bottle.

Her guests had sweet treats in the garden, with her children, nieces and nephews loving the churros.

Kanye answered the age old question: what do you get the person who has everything? By donating $1million to Cut 50 Buried Alive Project Equal Justice Initiative Anti-Recidivism Coalition, in her name.

It went down a treat, with Kim writing on Twitter this morning: "I got amazing gifts from my whole family and Kanye for me the most amazing bags. But he also donated $1 million to my favorite charities that work so hard on prison reform on my behalf from him and the kids. This makes my heart so happy!"

The reality star shared the certificate from the donation on her Instagram stories.

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Kim also had a dinner party followed by a game of Cards Against Humanity the previous day.

The reality star was joined by her nearest and dearest apart from her mum Kris, who skipped the bash in favour of Jennifer Lawrences wedding.

Kim gave fans an insight into the party with a series of videos, revealing her youngest sister Kylie did her make up for her.

There was another dinner party the night before, with letters that read Happy Kim Day and huge bunches of balloon adorning the table.

Each guest had a party hat and fun glasses to wear as well as various other fun props scattered around the table.

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Kim had some added treats including a necklace that said birthday babe and a hat that read birthday princess.

As the evening wore on the gang settled down for a game of Cards Against Humanity - a naughty game in players complete fill-in-the-blank statements using words or phrases typically deemed as offensive, risqu or politically incorrect printed on playing cards.

Kris meanwhile was attending Jennifer Lawrences star studded wedding in Rhode Island with her boyfriend Corey Gamble.

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Actress Jennifer, who is huge fan of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, has grown close with Kris over the years after striking up an unlikely friendship.

Kris was invited as a surprise guest to Jennifers 25th birthday party because she is such a super fan and they hit it off.

The pair famously got drunk together on martinis and Jennifer ended up naked in Kris closet.

See the article here:
Kim Kardashian buys huge floral display of her BREASTS as she lays on family feast for 39th birthday - The Sun

UPDATED

Alumni joked about censoring what they could say

School marching bands can be pretty politically incorrect.

Columbia University shut down its marching bands annual Orgo Night tradition because it made some students feel unsafe and triggered. Stanford University wrenched control of its band away from students because of its systemic cultural problem, sparking cries of benevolent sexism since female students were about to take the reins of the organization.

Black, Hispanic and Asian members of a Georgia high school marching band got in trouble for spelling out COON on the field.

But Harvard Universitys marching band is going a bold new direction: humorlessness.

More than 70 members left the room at its own centennial party Saturday, The Harvard Crimson reports. What offended them so much?

Jokes about the bands new sexual harassment policy, which provides band members with a formal disclosure system to report incidences of sexual misconduct:

At the banquet, former band member Richard Rich D. Horn 72 began his speech with a joke about the groups decision to implement the policy, which undergraduates distributed to alumni ahead of the reunion. As Horn continued to speak, roughly 75 attendees left the room, according to an emailed statement by the bands senior staff. Many of those who walked out did not return for the remainder of the event.

Its not exactly clear what Horn said, but he wasnt alone: A previous alumni speaker made a similar joke. Both apologized after. Horn grovelled profusely in an email that he was not questioning the policy but that I ought to have known better.Hopefully, I will do better in any future occasion.

Camaron OConnor Wynn, Harvard Band Foundation president, wrote in an email that the offending alumni were brief (not primary) speakers and their [a]ttempts at humor touched on the Bands sexual misconduct policy as a policy in the sense of the necessity of censoring ones own speech to fit with the new policy.

MORE: Stanford marching band women denounce benevolent sexism

The bands intolerance for jokes shows that Harvard is a new Puritan sect, a former Harvard band member and leader told The College Fix in an email, explaining in part why he did not attend the college reunion or bands centennial this weekend.

The former member suggested that the band had internalized the administration controls, including prior review of routines, that had been imposed on the band decades earlier. Prior review seemed legitimate insofar as we were guests of Harvard Athletics and the band had a reputation for raw content before then.

Another band alumnus, who said he was in the room during the walkout, emailed The Fix a week after the incident to question the band leadership for not reviewing the material of the alumni speaker.

I was perturbed because leadership had to have known the speaker gave a snarky speech five years earlier at a related celebration. They then walked out on their own chosen speaker, likely creating ill will among several hundred alumni guests.

The alum, who told The Fix he graduated in the 1980s, said the offended band members also shouted less-than-pleasantries at the speaker while others extended the middle-finger-of-welcome.

Alumni might have thought they could joke about the policy because it had already sparked controversy in an alumni Facebook group.

Senior staff for the band told the Crimson that some alumni wrote in a chat that the policy stood in contrast to the spirit of the band that they had known in their time:

[M]uch has changed even within the past decade, they wrote. The jokes that were made may express discomfort in confronting this change; older alumni may have been surprised to see just how much the structure and nature of the Band have changed over time.

Read the article.

UPDATE: Another band alumnus contacted The Fix after this post was published to share his thoughts and more detail on what happened during the walkout. His comments have been added.

MORE: Columbia shuts down un-PC band tradition, makes students feel unsafe

IMAGE: John Gardner/YouTube

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'Harvard is a new Puritan sect': Marching band walks out of its own party because of sexual harassment jokes - The College Fix

Kylin Hill and the Bulldogs fly to Arkansas next week, for a 3:00 kickoff on the SEC Network. (Photo: Matt Bush, USA TODAY Sports)

Mississippi States month of mostly road trips concludes next weekend at Arkansas. Now the Bulldogs know their game time on November 2.

Kickoff on Reynolds Razorback Stadium will be 3:00, as announced today by the Southeastern Conference. The Dogs and Hogs get to perform for the SEC Networks broadcasting pleasureor at least the pleasure of one fan base. It will be the fourth time this 2019 season that Mississippi State has played in one of the SECNs slots, though the first for the mid-afternoon game after three morning or noon local kickoffs.

This game will be opposite the leagues premier contest of November 2, with the annualif politically incorrect title nowWorlds Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in Jacksonville between Georgia and Florida airing at 2:30central.

Bulldog fans have some recent reasons to make the trip to Fayetteville. After a long, long stretch of State football failing to find success in that state, whatever the venue, now MSU teams have taken three-straight wins within Arkansas boundaries. It began with the overtime victory in Little Rock in 2013, itself a first-ever such win for State.

In 2015 came an epic shootout with Dak Prescotts senior team and the Razorbacks swapping scores for four wild and frozen quarters in RRS. The game came down though to special teams, with linebacker Beniquez Brown blocking Arkansas field goal kick and preserving a 51-50 final.

Two years ago on the same field Nick Fitzgerald had to throw a touchdown in the final minute, and the defense make a mid-field stop, for a flat bunch of Bulldogs to escape upset by a 28-21 margin.

That game ends a stretch of State playing just once at home, and four conference contests, in a 35-day span. The Bulldogs will have an open date upon return home.

Read more:
Dogs and Hogs Will Kick Off at 3:00 - 247Sports

Tuesday October 22, 2019

Today, readers debate the funding and fashion of public art, and question if Adelaide needs so many local councils.

Commenting on the story: Unloved statue to call Adelaide home in 2020

The absurd debacle of the Terrance Plowright sculpture that has already become a perpetual headache for Adelaide highlights the need for greater transparency and public accountability in the practice of gifting cultural material of questionable merit to our major public institutions, in this case the Art Gallery of South Australia.

Did the gift provide a big tax deduction to the philanthropist who donated it?

Who determined the seemingly inflated value of $2 million for an unwanted public sculpture with a dubious political history and no apparent critical support for its merits?

Given the obvious practical liabilities of the gift, why did AGSA consider it an acceptable addition to its collection of Australian contemporary art, when the artist has almost no national reputation beyond his various projects for local councils and community organisations within his own region in NSW?

Australias scheme that provides generous tax incentives for gifts to public cultural institutions is exemplary in its intentions, but too often questionable in its execution.

The reliance on tax deductible donations has also allowed state governments like that in South Australia to avoid their responsibility to provide adequate funding for acquisitions.

In short, the practice needs a serious public review to ensure that proper standards of probity and cultural value are maintained. Bruce Adams

The recycling of unloved sculpture gives pause for thought.

I recall that the now-loved statue of Queen Victoria between the QVB and the Town Hall in Sydney came from an Irish rubbish dump, doubtless placed there when she became politically incorrect after 1921.

The Romans were more direct, usually re-cutting the facial features to those of someone more acceptable to the next generation or simply destroying the offending items in a process neatly called damnatio.

The Liberal party rooms in Canberra seem to preserve their images of past Prime Ministers, even those who were dumped by machination or, like John Howard, by his electorate at the ballot box. Dont they care?

Think of the fuss about portraits of Margaret Thatcher. And then what will happen to images of Trump? J R Green

Commenting on the story: Mayoral interference claim over city councillor motions

When I came from Queensland (where the Brisbane City Council is reasonably effective for the whole city ) I was shocked to see the number of small suburban councils in Adelaide.

I understand the argument for local representation, but surely in a city the size of Adelaide one united council can achieve lower costs and more strategic planning. Julanne Sweeney

Send us anemail, making it clear which story youre commenting on and including your full name (required for publication) and phone number (only for verification purposes). Please put Reader views in the subject.

Well publish the best comments in a regular Reader Views post. Your comments can be brief, or we can accept up to 350 words, or thereabouts.

InDaily has changed the way we receive comments. Goherefor an explanation.

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Your views: on an unloved sculpture, and cutting councils - InDaily

You know the world is twisted when a top Pakistani Twitter trend after the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) decision on Friday was #indiafailedatfatf, with everyone sharing interviews of loose-tongued Indian politicians.

It is only a marginal concern that FATF has retained Pakistan in the grey list, issuing a set of withering criticisms that should throw up red flags all over Pakistan. The roadmap is clear after February 2020, when Pakistans current reprieve expires, it would face a series of actions that are currently used only against Iran.

Look at the FATF kicker in the last line of its post-plenary statement, where it excoriates Pakistan for barely comprehending the enormity of its actions or lack thereof: should significant and sustainable progress not be made across the full range of its action plan by the next Plenary, the FATF will take action, which could include the FATF calling on its members and urging all jurisdictions to advise their financial institutions to give special attention to business relations and transactions with Pakistan.

This language is uncannily similar to what has been used against Iran, which, along with North Korea, are the only two in the blacklist.

Pakistan did not escape the FATF blacklist because China, Malaysia and Turkey stood by it, though that played a part. Almost all countries at the FATF plenary used this argument: throwing Pakistan off the cliff would crash its economy and whatever government-army cocktail is in charge there would come under increasing pressure.

The issue of terror-funding would not be addressed, terrorist groups would continue to be able to access funds, launder money, etc, and basically become bigger monsters than they are already. And lets not forget the nukes.

Its a familiar argument and used for Pakistan by a world that continues to need it for several things. It brought many of the countries together in Paris this past week. With FATF holding three plenaries and therefore six reviews in a year, Pakistan will have its nose to the grindstone regarding increased compliance.

Increasingly too, a new tactic is discernible Pakistan may not be placed formally on the blacklist, but FATF is unobtrusively but surely tightening the screws.

The warning to financial institutions on transactions in Pakistan is a red flag that it can ignore at its own peril. But the army-Imran Khan combo are more likely to believe that since Pakistan gets regular billion-dollar lifelines from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and China, they can ride this through. Pakistan may not be on the blacklist, but they are not getting out of the grey list for a long time to come.

Meanwhile, in India, a sense of unrealism pervades. Nobody seriously following this issue in government ever thought Pakistan would get into the blacklist. But between ministers who should know better and mindless mavens on TV, public opinion was whipped up into a frenzy about supposed colour shades at the FATF grey, light grey, dark grey, purple, black, jet black and what have you. None of which exists, by the way. FATF does not put anybody on a blacklist, a usage deemed politically incorrect since 2012.

A public statement has replaced the blacklist, as in the case of Iran, and proactive counter measures have replaced what used to be the jet black grade, as in the case of North Korea. India, however, has been the most assiduous in collecting and analysing information regarding Pakistans egregious actions on terror funding, among others, and this goes a long way in being able to nail Pakistans lies.

So, no, Indian FATF diplomacy has not failed, but our diplomacy would be much better served if spinmeisters actually knew what they were shouting about. Once again, highlighting the growing convergence between India and the US, both countries had coordinated their positions last week, despite the fact that the US State Department remains, as ever, in awe of Pakistan actually arresting a couple of terror leaders days before the FATF plenary. It was Chinas first plenary as head of FATF, and, by all accounts, Xiangmin Liu acquitted himself rather well.

Will the continued pressure on Pakistan prevent it from openly exporting terrorism into India? You would think so, right? You would also, as always when it comes to Pakistan, be wrong.

Their desperation and pressure from the jihadi ecosystem is apparently proving too much for them. The security establishment in India has detected a quantum jump in terrorist infiltration into Kashmir in the past couple of months (and September figures arent out yet). Terror threat levels in the Kashmir valley are at an all-time high. The worry is the increased possibility of terror attacks in other parts of India as well.

The removal of Article 370 robbed Pakistan of a fundamental pillar of its domestic, international and security policy. Its not going to give up without a fight. India has to expect that Pakistan will exploit every tool that it can remotely lay its hands on. But we can also expect Pakistan to overplay its hand, as its loyalists in the US recently did, by feeding that countrys lawmakers that the Indian government was playing piped Hindu music in the Valley to indoctrinate Muslims. Mamata Banerjee has been playing piped Rabindra Sangeet on Kolkatas crossings for years. By now, the rest of the country should be singing, too.

Read more:
FATF Actions: Pakistan is under severe international pressure that India has helped mount - Economic Times

The left is becoming more unapologetically totalitarian every day. Every freedom-loving American should be alarmed.

From hounding conservatives out of restaurants to spitting on Trump supporters at rallies, from firing employees for politically incorrect statements to fining people for misgendering a person, the left is on a path toward absolutism.

Even some former and current leftists have recognized this intolerant trend and broken from their colleagues, lamenting their intolerance of opposing ideas and disturbing mission to suppress dissenting opinion.

Just the other day, three incidents typifying the lefts authoritarianism popped out at me as I was surveying the morning news.

The Federalist reported that venues in three North American cities Toronto, Brooklyn and Portland canceled screenings of a movie about Canadian psychologist and author Jordan Peterson because of leftist criticism. Peterson exploded onto the scene in recent years with his no-nonsense, brilliant and clear-eyed critique of insane cultural trends, especially those concerning gender.

Petersons book 12 Rules for Life is wildly popular, and there are countless viral videos featuring his encounters with various leftist interviewers, panelists and audience members who have tried and failed to entrap him on a number of issues, and been reduced in every case to blundering, ineffectual bullies. If you havent partaken of these videos, you owe it to yourself to witness one arrogant leftist after another being gobsmacked by the simple weapon of unadulterated logic. These videos are irresistibly contagious and imminently satisfying for those longing to see intellectually defenseless, virtue-signaling finger waggers brought to their knees through the medium of polite debate.

Peterson, you see, wont kowtow to the leftists demand that we embrace the tenets of gender ideology, which teaches that gender is less about biology and more about personal identification. He refuses to support laws that criminalize ones failure to use a persons preferred pronouns, such as they instead of she.

Peterson has the temerity to say that men and women are biologically different, and that gender is not a fluid, human construct. That doesnt sit well with the left, who not only insists that we accept its cockeyed ideas as normal but also advocates imposing them on us by force of law.

Can you get your mind around the irony of the left banning a movie about Peterson because hes dangerous? Who is more dangerous: a person who peaceably expresses an opinion that happens to be supported by thousands of years of human experience and common sense, or those who try to ban his voice or even a movie about it? This is 1984-level scary, and its getting worse by the hour.

On what possible grounds is the left arguing that Petersons views are dangerous? He doesnt advocate violence; he isnt a rabble-rouser or revolutionary. He simply states his opinion instead of genuflecting to the despotic left.

But they claim that if Petersons views are openly expressed, he might convince other people that hes right, and that could lead to the proliferation of conservative thought. Petersons conservative perspectives on feminism and gender, according to an opinion piece in The New York Times, are very popular among young men and often are a path to more extreme content and ideologies. Think about this. Conservative speech is dangerous because it is a slippery slope to the adoption of conservative ideas? This must be satire. Do these clueless cranks know how ridiculous they sound?

Again, who is more extreme and dangerous: Jordan Peterson, who advocates the silencing of no one and expresses mainstream opinions, or leftists, who are actively trying to censor Peterson?

Please dont make the reckless mistake of dismissing this crusade against Peterson as exceptional. This is the lefts pattern, and it is becoming more aggressive all the time.

The second and third incidents I came across are further proof that the left is increasingly Stalinist. In the most recent Democratic presidential debate, Sen. Kamala Harris pushed for the suspension of President Trumps Twitter, speciously alleging that he is trying to obstruct justice and intimidate and threaten witnesses. You see, the left always has some urgent rationale to smother conservative speech whether its to prevent the incitement of violence or obstruction of justice. But it just wants to shut us up.

Those who would silence the other side are the very definition of dangerous. Dont take Harris musings lightly, even if she is mostly posturing to gin up more support from the Trump-hating Democratic base. It is instructive that efforts to muzzle speech almost always come from the left, not the right, because the left is insecure about the popularity of its kooky ideas.

The third incident involved demagogue and former Rep. Beto ORourke, who said in a CNN forum on LGBT issues that churches and religious organizations should lose their tax-exempt status if they oppose same-sex marriage. If I have to explain how outrageous this is, the country is in even greater danger than I imagined.

I found these examples in 15 minutes of reading this week. They are everywhere. America was founded on the idea of claiming and preserving our God-given liberties. The illiberal left, which believes our rights and freedoms come from government, is hell-bent on destroying our liberties and forcibly imposing its thoughts and ideas on all of us.

God save us.

David Limbaugh is a writer, author and attorney. His latest book is Jesus Is Risen: Paul and the Early Church. Follow him on Twitter @davidlimbaugh and his website at http://www.davidlimbaugh.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at http://www.creators.com.

Read more:
LIMBAUGH: The Totalitarian American Left - The Daily Wire