Daily Archives: June 24, 2022

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Title IX, a landmark piece of legislation that paved the way for all persons to pursue their educational goals by making all forms of sex discrimination illegal in federally funded educational programs and activities. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 protects students, faculty, staff and visitors to the Texas A&M campus from discrimination on the basis of sex, including sexual harassment.

Texas A&M opened as an all-male military college 146 years ago. Due to Title IX and the strides made by courageous Aggies, as of fall 2021, over 47 percent of the universitys students are female, and womens sports teams have secured national championships.

Learn about the history of Title IX and those who led the way at Texas A&M to ensure all future Aggies would have equal treatment and opportunities.

The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, the states first public higher education institution, was founded as a result of the Land-Grant Act of 1862, or the Morrill Act, which provided millions of acres of federal land to states to establish colleges. Texas A&M opened its doors on Oct. 4, 1876, with an all-male student body and mandatory membership in the Corps of Cadets.

In 1895, the first woman to attend classes at the A&M College of Texas was Ethel Hudson, the daughter of a Texas A&M professor although she was not officially enrolled. During the first two decades of the 20th century, additional daughters of professors, as well as wives of students, were attending some classes, having been admitted as special students. Among them were Estelle Tatum and Bernice Carter, both wives of returning veterans; Emma Fountain, the daughter of a professor; and Elaine Bizzell, daughter of A&M President W.B. Bizzell.

On Aug. 30, Mary Evelyn Crawford was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts.

On Sept. 3, three days after Crawford received her diploma, the A&M College Board of Directors adopted a resolution that prohibited the admission of women students.

Additionally that year, the Athletic Council recommended all intercollegiate sports be open to both genders.

Women were officially allowed to attend the university, though Rudder was required by the College Board to approve each applicant.

Sallie Sheppard became the first female graduate student to earn a masters degree. One of the first women formally admitted, Sheppard earned bachelors and masters degrees in mathematics in 1965 and 1967, respectively. She taught at A&M for 20 years in the Department of Computer Science, and in 1987 became the universitys first female associate provost.

International student Shanti Kudchadker, who studied chemistry, became the first woman to graduate with a Ph.D. from Texas A&M.

Betty Miller Unterberger, who taught history, became the first female full professor with tenure. She was perhaps best known for her work with honors students. In 2004, Texas A&M presented her the Betty M. Unterberger Award for Outstanding Service to Honors Education, which continues to be awarded to faculty, solidifying her legacy after her passing in 2012.

Title IX is widely considered to be a groundbreaking gender equality law. It states: No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. This included athletics as prior to Title IX, opportunities for female athletes were extremely limited. This same year at A&M, campus housing opened to female students for the first time.

Following a federal court ruling, female Aggies were free to join the Corps.

Track-and-field athlete Linda Cornelius Waltman became the first female Aggie to earn a full athletic scholarship. She was a member of the 1980 Olympic Team and in 1985 became the first woman inducted into the A&M Sports Hall of Fame.

Professor of History Sara Alpern, along with three other female members of the faculty in the College of Liberal Arts, founded A&Ms Womens and Gender Studies program to examine the lives, challenges and contributions of women. The first course to be offered was Womens History, taught by Alpern, and course offerings expanded during the 1980s. Alpern also turned the informal Womens Faculty Network into a recognized organization during her time as its president in 1991-92.

Cadet Melanie Zentgraf, a senior, filed a class-action lawsuit asking A&M to allow women in the Aggie Band, Ross Volunteers, Fish Drill Team and Color Guard. In 1985, a judge approved the settlement and the Corps was forbidden from blocking the membership of women in its organizations.

Mandy Schubert, the first female cadet on Corps Staff, became the highest-ranking female cadet as deputy commander. Schubert and Nancy Hedgecock become the first women to serve as Ross Volunteers.

Jane Stallings is named dean of education, becoming the first woman to serve as the dean of a college at A&M. Stallings, who died in 2016, helped establish numerous programs in the college, including the Deans Roundtable, which honors educators who are role models to their students and peers, as well as the Learning to Teach in Inner City Schools teacher program. The college continues to honor Stallings with the Jane Stallings Student Service Award, which recognizes outstanding senior education undergraduate students who demonstrate exceptional service and commitment to the teaching profession.

After female cadets reported they were experiencing harassment and discrimination following gender integration, the Corps issued a written statement condemning such behavior.

This year saw two prestigious offices filled by women when Mary Nan West became the first woman president of the Board of Regents, and Brooke Leslie, an agricultural development major from Fort Worth, was elected student body president.

After merging and then unmerging with GIES, the Womens Resource Center today is focused on improving gender relations on campus, raising awareness and encouraging open discussions of gender issues, supporting the personal and academic growth of women on campus, and offering programming and support on the topics of sexual harassment, women of color, violence against women, and lesbian/bisexual women. GIES eventually became the GLBT Resource Center, today the LGBTQ+ PRIDE Center.

Elsa Murano began at Texas A&M in 1995 as a professor of food science and food technology, then as dean and vice chancellor of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (2005-2007). She became the first female and first Hispanic president of the university in 2008, serving for 18 months. Murano is currently the director of A&Ms Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture.

A Regents Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Karan Watson became the first woman to assume the helm over academics at Texas A&M.

After 139 years, the Corps of Cadets selected a woman to lead as corps commander. Alyssa Michalke 16 of Schulenburg, Texas, was a junior at the time she was selected, with a dual major in ocean and civil engineering.

For the first time in A&Ms history, women swept the top student leadership posts with Student Body President Hannah Wimberly 17, Corps of Cadets Commander Cecille Sorio 17 and Class of 2017 President Claire Wimberly all holding office during the 2016-17 school year.

Mia Miller 21 made history when she became the first woman to secure the enviable position as handler for A&Ms beloved mascot, Reveille. The nursing student from Hewitt, Texas, was announced as Reveille IXs handler for the 2018-19 academic year.

Amanda Lovitt 23 became the first female bass drummer for the Fightin Texas Aggie Band. She said at the time she hoped her success inspires other young women to achieve their goals.

For more on the history of inclusion at Texas A&M, read the Office for Diversitys inclusion timeline.

Link:

Texas A&M Celebrating 50 Years Of Title IX And The Aggies Who Broke Barriers - Texas A&M University Today

Commentary

I have been trying to understand why President Joe Biden and the Big Government Socialists keep saying and doing things that simply do not work.

Their problem is not just a question of being too far to the left. Their problem is rejecting reality when it conflicts with their ideological fanaticism.

President Ronald Reagan warned about this pattern when he said, It isnt so much that liberals are ignorant. Its just that they know so many things that arent so.

Theodore White warned about this rigid commitment to beliefs over facts 50 years ago in his great work The Making of the President 1972. White noted that Democratic presidential candidate and Sen. George McGovern simply could not get the radicals on the Left to modify their positions. As White put it, the liberal ideology had become a liberal theology.

This pseudo-religious imperative overwhelms any thought of pragmatism. Results in the real world become less important than upholding the tenets of leftwing theology.

As the price of gasoline and diesel fuel have reached levels that are causing real pain to American families and real damage to the economy, Biden and his team have been floundering around in their fantasy world.

They tried blaming Vladimir Putin, but families paying $5 or more a gallon for gasoline saw through the scapegoat. They wanted solutions that brought down the price of energy. They got finger pointing.

Then, Biden tried attacking oil companies, but they had the courage to fight back.

Biden released some oil from the national strategic oil reserve, but the amount is too small and too short term to affect the domestic price of oilwhich is once again dictated by worldwide patterns rather than American supply.

It was President Donald Trumps commitment to American energy independencecombined with his tax cuts and regulatory reformswhich led to new oil and gas production and dramatically drove down domestic prices. On the day Biden was sworn in, gasoline was $2.38 a gallon. It has more than doubled under Big Government Socialist policies, as I outline in my new book Defeating Big Government Socialism.

Now, Biden has come up with (read: pantomimed) the idea of a holiday from the federal gas tax. At the state level, this idea is being implemented by many Republican governors seeking to relieve people from the fallout from Bidens disastrous policies.

It makes sense for governors. Governors cant approve interstate pipelines, waive federal regulations that are crippling new refineries, open federal land to oil and gas production, or do any of the dozen other things Biden could do. For governors, a gas tax holiday may be the only tool they have to help the families in their states. What the governors are doing out of desperation Biden is doing as a deception to hide everything he refuses to do that would help.

Furthermore, the governors who have made the decision to waive gas taxes are only doing so because their states can afford to lose the revenue. With the general surge in inflation, most Americans are cautious about increasing the federal deficit and encouraging more inflation. And the amount of money an individual would save from a federal tax holiday is tiny compared to the continuing increase in the price of gas and diesel.

Bidens federal gas tax holiday is such a bad idea, both President Barack Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi have attacked it and ridiculed it in the past. President Obama (then a senator and candidate for president in 2008) said:

For us to suggest 30 cents a day for three months is real relief, that thats a real energy policy, means that we are not tackling the problem that has to be tackled. We are offering gimmicks. Were arguing over a gimmick that would save you half a tank of gas over the course of the entire summer so that everyone in Washington can pat themselves on the back and say they did something. Well, let me tell you, this isnt an idea designed to get you through the summer, its designed to get them through an election.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has described a gas tax holiday as show biz with no guarantee the savings would go to consumers rather than oil companies.

Bidens commitment to destroy the oil, gas, and coal industries was clear during the campaign.

When CNNs Dana Bash asked during a July 2019 primary debate if his administration would deal with the fossil fuel industry, Biden simply said, no and said he would make sure its eliminated.

Two months later, he promised a young supporter he would end fossil fuels.

Bidens actions as president have reflected that commitment.

Luke Schroeder at the Republican National Committee pulled together some of the key steps President Biden has taken to destroy the oil and gas industry:

As prices continue to go up, remember there are alternatives to the fantasies which have replaced reality in the current White House. You will be able to choose them in November and in 2024.

From Gingrich360.com

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

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Newt Gingrich, a Republican, served as House speaker from 1995 to 1999 and ran as a presidential candidate in 2012.

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Biden's Reality Rejection Syndrome - The Epoch Times

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MPs will hold a hearing next month into allegations that RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki, at the request of the Liberal government, tried to put pressure on Mounties investigating the Nova Scotia mass shooting to help advance Ottawas gun-control agenda.

Notes from RCMP Superintendent Darren Campbell made public this week allege that Lucki said she had promised the Public Safety Minister and the Prime Ministers Office that the RCMP would disclose the type of firearms used in the mass shooting because it would support the governments pending gun-control legislation.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denied that his office put pressure on Lucki to act in a way that could give momentum to the Liberal firearms-control legislation, saying he and his office did absolutely not interfere in the RCMPs decisions on this matter. It is extremely important to highlight that it is only the RCMP, it is only police, that determine what and when to release information, he said.

RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki speaks during a news conference in Ottawa on Oct. 21, 2020.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

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European Union grants Ukraine candidacy status after nearly two-decade struggle

The European Union formally granted candidate status to Ukraine, putting the country on course for eventual membership. The journey to full membership will still take years and likely reforms from the country postwar but is a step Ukraine has sought for two decades.

All 27 EU leaders supported opening membership to Ukraine and neighbouring Moldova, which is also considered a possible target of Russian expansionism, according to European Council president Charles Michel. A historic moment. Today marks a crucial step on your path towards the EU, Michel wrote on Twitter. Our future is together.

The Globe and Mail spoke to Masi Nayyem, a Ukrainian soldier injured in a land-mine explosion earlier this month, which took his eye and required a six-hour brain surgery to remove pieces of shrapnel from his head. For him, this news brings some relief. From a personal perspective, this is what I lost my eye for, he said.

Thunder Bay police chief faces hearing on misconduct allegations

Hours after Thunder Bay Police Chief Sylvie Hauth announced she would retire next year, a provincial tribunal revealed that she will face a hearing over three counts of alleged misconduct related to a criminal investigation into a member of the citys police board.

In a statement to media on Thursday morning, Hauth said she would be retiring from the service next June. Later in the day, the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC), a tribunal that oversees policing services in the province, released notice of the hearing, along with the findings of its initial investigation into the Chief.

The probe of Hauths conduct concerns a criminal investigation into Georjann Morriseau, who was chair of the Thunder Bay Police Services Board at the time. (She still sits on the board, but not as chair.)

According to the OCPC findings, the police force launched the probe of Morriseau in November, 2020, after they came to suspect her of leaking information about an internal investigation. The following month, Hauth decided to transfer the investigation into Morriseau to the Ontario Provincial Police, according to the OCPC document. In its findings, the tribunal cites a 2021 memo in which Hauth said she knew it would not be appropriate for a police service to investigate any of its members or board members.

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Ukraine signals withdraw from Sievierodonetsk as Russians inch forward: Ukraine signalled on Friday its troops were withdrawing from the key eastern city of Sievierodonetsk, the scene for weeks of heavy fighting, and a move that would be a significant setback in its struggle to defeat Russian forces. Sievierodonetsks fall would leave only Lysychansk - its sister city on the western bank of the Siverskyi Donets River - remaining in Ukrainian hands.

How the U.S. Supreme Court is remaking Americas legal landscape: The U.S. Supreme Courts conservative majority has knocked down a 111-year-old New York gun law, ruled in favour of public funds for religious schooling and now appears poised to overturn a half-century of abortion rights. After decades of the Supreme Court taking an incremental approach to the law, critics say that judicial caution and modern precedent are being dispatched by conservatives on the bench.

Monkeypox outbreaks have re-emerged outside of Africa, and experts say it was only a matter of time: The WHO convened an emergency committee Thursday to decide whether the outbreak, which has 210 confirmed cases in Canada, should be declared a global emergency. Although its spread came as a surprise to many, epidemiologist Anne Rimoin says the warning signs have been obvious for years.

Patrick Brown expresses concerns about Conservative MPs talk with soldier facing charges over vaccine-mandate criticism: Conservative leadership candidate Patrick Brown says he hoped Tory MPs received guarantees that convoy members would obey the law with their coming activities before they agreed to meet with them this week.

Canada needs 5.8 million new homes by 2030 to bring prices down to affordable levels, CMHC says: A new report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. shows 5.8 million new homes are needed by the end of the decade to lower home costs and ensure residents are not spending more than 40 per cent of their income on housing.

China may have tried to discourage Canadians from voting Conservative, federal unit says: A federal research unit detected what may be a Chinese Communist Party information operation that aimed to discourage Canadians of Chinese heritage from casting their ballot for the federal Conservatives in the last election, according to a report obtained by The Canadian Press. The Chinese embassy in Ottawa denies the allegations.

Tempered inflation woes:Global stocks were headed for theirfirst weekly gainin a month as recent declines in commodity prices helped ease inflation fears for analysts and investors. Around 6 a.m. ET, Britains FTSE 100 rose 1.26 per cent, and Germanys DAX increased 0.57 per cent. Frances CAC 40 grew 1.80 per cent. In Asia, Japans Nikkei advanced 1.23 per cent, and Hong Kongs Hang Seng gained 2.09 per cent. U.S. futures were higher. The Canadian dollar was trading at 77.15 U.S. cents.

Gary Mason: I dont believe Hockey Canada paid millions, if thats the case, simply to keep this woman quiet. It paid the money because it believed her. And the organization didnt want this going to court where the exposure would be horrible for their star players and their potential professional careers.

Sheema Khan: Imagine, then, the gut-punch upon discovering that the highest law of the land to which new citizens pledge allegiance makes no such guarantees of fundamental rights and freedoms whatsoever. All owing to the notwithstanding clause, which is enshrined in the Charter.

Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail

Can you retire this year? New survey shows inflation is making it difficult for some Canadians

A new survey shows rising inflation and cost of living has caused just over half of older Canadians to delay their retirement. Mounting financial pressure can raise a lot of questions: Should people prioritize paying off their mortgage before retiring? What financial factors should people consider before moving to another country? Heres a look at the answers to these questions, and more.

Ammal Farahat, who has signed up to be a driver for Careem, a regional ride-hailing service that is a competitor to Uber, drives her car in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 24, 2018, the day the driving ban was lifted.Nariman El-Mofty/The Associated Press

Ban on women driving lifted in Saudi Arabia

Four years ago, women in Saudi Arabia were finally given the right to get behind the wheel and hit the road. The milestone, the worlds last lifted ban on women driving, was a culmination of 61 years of waiting and, more recently, agitating for change. In 1990, 47 women were arrested for driving in protest of the ban. The Arab Spring in 2010 provided more inspiration for the protest, and in 2011 a woman driving illegally was caught and proudly told a journalist, Write this down. I am the first Saudi woman to get a traffic ticket.

When the ban was officially removed in 2018, it was part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans Vision 2030, a plan to reduce the countrys reliance on oil and modernize some aspects of Saudi society, including aiming to have women in 30 per cent of the Saudi work force by 2030. Around 40,000 licences were issued to women seven months after the ban was lifted.

Saudi Arabias female drivers still face strict guardianship laws, however. While women can get drivers licences without a guardians approval, they still need permission to receive an education, get married and apply for a passport. Nyren Mo

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Morning Update: MPs vote to call Brenda Lucki to testify on allegations of political interference in RCMP's N.S. shooting investigation - The Globe...

I wrote in July 2021:

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Religions, Roe v Wade, and the First Amendment.

WikiPedia has much to offer, under the heading Separation of Church and State. My extracts:

The separation of church and state is a philosophic and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state.

the exact phrase "separation of church and state" is derived from "wall of separation between church and state", a term coined by Thomas Jefferson.'

The arm's length principle proposes a relationship wherein the two political entities interact as organizations each independent of the authority of the other.

Separately (;-)), under the heading Separation of church and state in the United States, Wikipedia contributes:

"Separation of church and state" is paraphrased from Thomas Jefferson and used by others in expressing an understanding of the intent and function of the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution which reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"

My understanding of the above is that anyone in the US may exercise his/her religion according to the tenets of that religion, whatever it may be. As a teenager, I attended a seminar on Comparative Religions. The discussion centered on the three main Abrahamitic faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. I am not a spiritual leader in any of these. My statements are from my memory of that seminar, are not judgmental and I am open to recalibration for anything I got wrong.

Divorce: Catholicism says not at all. Judaism says if the marriage doesnt work out, then the partners may divorce. If the wife remarries and gets divorced from the second husband, she may never remarry the first husband. Islam allows divorce, but remarriage to the original husband is not allowed, unless and until she has remarried someone else and been divorced from him.

Pregnancy: Catholicism is strict; if a womans health or life is in danger due to her pregnancy, she must carry to term, even if she dies in childbirth. Judaism regards such a situation as if the child is an attacker on her life, and may be treated as a burglar or a robber, and the pregnancy may be terminated since, when she recovers, she may try again to have a normal pregnancy. I dont remember anything about the attitude of Islam to such a situation. Thus I searched, and found, on the BMC Medical Ethics site, the following:

In Islam, and most religions, abortion is forbidden. Islam is considerably liberal concerning abortion, which is dependent on (i) the threat of harm to mothers, (ii) the status of the pregnancy before or after ensoulment (on the 120th day of gestation), and (iii) the presence of foetal anomalies that are incompatible with life. Considerable variation in religious edicts exists, but most Islamic scholars agree that the termination of a pregnancy for foetal anomalies is allowed before ensoulment, after which abortion becomes totally forbidden, even in the presence of foetal abnormalities; the exception being a risk to the mothers life or confirmed intrauterine death.

Thus we see that there are considerable differences in opinion and in practice across only these three branches of one tree. But one of those branches has, according to http://www.livescience.com correspondent Donavyn Coffee, who writes on February 27, 2021: the global body of more than 2 billion Christians is separated into thousands of denominations. Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist, Apostolic, Methodist the list goes on. Estimations show there are more than 200 Christian denominations in the U.S. and a staggering 45,000 globally, according to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity."

I quoted only the Catholic stance, at the time of that long-ago seminar. Presumably, there are 45,000 shades of opinion, as to what is the correct path. This, too, is understandable. If one reads the verse in Exodus 33:20: for no man shall see My face and live . , we must accept that no two people can have the same image of the Almighty.

Of course, an atheist would make a personal choice. I have no knowledge of Eastern religions nor their practices, but ALL have complete freedom of choice in the US, to observe according to their backgrounds, under "Separation of church and state.

Now, we know that there have always been backyard abortions, always very risky for women who felt they needed to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, and Roe v Wade was passed in January 1973, to protect the lives of these unfortunate women in their difficult decisions: The Constitutional Right to Access Safe, Legal Abortion. It was not, as I understand it, based on any religion. Thus I find it OFFENSIVE that there are considerable numbers of people in the US, both lawmakers and ordinary citizens, who have taken it upon themselves to impose their particular RELIGIOUS ideas upon others, who may not be subject to the same religious rules.

Even Supreme Court Justices have expressed a desire to overturn Roe v Wade, after 48 years of legal precedent. This would be the ultimate travesty. As it is, multiple state laws already limit access to legal termination of pregnancies, based on RELIGIOUS views, which fly in the face of "Separation of church and state. These existing laws should be rolled back, since they have been passed under WHOSE authority?

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Today, the ultimate travesty has become the law of the land:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Is the U.S. Supreme Court the same as Congress?

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the land and the only part of the federal judiciary specifically required by the Constitution. The Constitution does not stipulate the number of Supreme Court Justices; the number is set instead by Congress.

Under McConnell and Trump, the Court has been packed. The most obvious results thereof are yesterdays decision on making open carry of guns easier; and todays decision to overturn Roe v Wade. So, where do we go from here? Add five extra liberal judges? And what will the GOP do when they get back into power?

I have a suggestion that has a three thousand year biblical precedent:

Since we have a legal system loosely based on our Judeo-Christian heritage, we should look at the biblical judicial system makeup.

There is the concept of a congregation, or a quorum; a legal entity of at least ten. Why ten? In the disastrous case of the 12 spies, all leaders, sent to evaluate what the Promised Land could/would offer, when the freed slaves left Egypt, only two (Joshua and Caleb) came back with a positive report. The remaining ten (this evil congregation) brought back a report that was SO negative, that it led to a huge protest Why did you bring us into the wilderness to die? Were there not enough graves for us in Egypt? Lets go back; we had it better there (as slaves).

As a result of this negativity, the descendants of Jacob were condemned to spend a full forty years in the Wilderness (a year for each day that the spies were on their tour), until ALL the protesters that left Egypt, had died out. (Only Joshua and Caleb of their generation, eventually entered the Holy Land).

There were three levels of courts in Biblical Times: three judges, twenty three, or the Full Sanhedrin of seventy one experienced judges. In all cases, the courts were not regarded as legitimate, unless they were comprised of an odd number of judges. This was to avoid an impasse, by having an equal number vote Innocent or Guilty. The full Sanhedrin interpreted matters of Biblical Law, whereas the smaller courts bodies dealt with matters of lesser import.

A court of three was considered competent to judge monetary cases. That of twenty three adjudicated cases involving life and death decisions, so that there would be at least a quorum to decide on a death sentence. Similarly, there should be at least a quorum to decide NOT to put a person to death.

Experienced judges would know the law in great depth, and their individual outlooks would not be allowed to influence their deliberations. (Psalm 82: Until when will you judge lawlessly and favor the presence of the wicked? . Judge the needy and the orphan, vindicate the poor and the impoverished. Rescue the needy and destitute; from the hand of the wicked deliver them)

Contrast all this with the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). Power corrupts; total power corrupts absolutely! stated by English historian Lord Acton (18341902) in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton.

Thus, comparing our SCOTUS to the biblical courts, it has no standing to decide matters of life and death - it is not large enough. In addition, the fact that fully five of the current nine LIED in their investigatory interviews. Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett. They ALL referred to Roe v. Wade as established precedent. The last three were recommended by the Federalist Society, whose agenda is anti-abortion, and all three names were pushed to the ex-President by the WIFE of the longest sitting Justice, Clarence Thomas, as ALL being prepared to overturn Roe v. Wade. All five should be impeached, AND should lose their law licences. They will ALL have blood on their hands.

The Supreme Court, in the year 2022, will go down in history as The Corrupt Roberts Supreme Court.

"Hierosolyma Est Perdita", Latin, meaning "Jerusalem is lost, a term that gained notoriety in the German anti-Semitic Hep hep riots of August to October 1819. Today. the parallel thought is America Est Perdita!

To state a conclusion to this diary, Supreme Court Justices should no longer be chosen or confirmed by politicians. This SCOTUS should be dissolved, and a new court of twenty three EXPERT judges should be appointed by the body of experienced jurists of the United States. Justices should be chosen on the basis of their lack of bias, and to make their judgements to benefit the vast majority of the people of this country.

View post:

The Death of Roe v Wade - the Bloodied Hands of the Federalists. - Daily Kos

In March 2020, whilst launching a new book, I took part in a BBC radio program along with Mervyn King, who had been governor of the Bank of England at the time of the financial crash of 2008. He, together with the economist John Kay, had also brought out a new book, Radical Uncertainty: decision-making for an unknowable future.

The coronavirus pandemic was just beginning to make itself felt in Britain, and it had the effect of making both of our books relevant in a way that neither of us could have predicted. Mine is about the precarious balance between the I and the we: individualism versus the common good. Theirs is about how to make decisions when you cannot tell what the future holds.

The modern response to this latter question has been to hone and refine predictive techniques using mathematical modeling. The trouble is that mathematical models work in a relatively abstract, delimited, quantifiable world and cannot deal with the messy, unpredictable character of reality. They dont and cannot consider what Donald Rumsfeld called the unknown unknowns and Nicholas Taleb termed black swans things that no one expected but that change the environment. We live in a world of radical uncertainty.

Accordingly, they propose a different approach. In any critical situation, ask: What is happening? They quote Richard Rumelt: A great deal of strategy work is trying to figure out what is going on. Not just deciding what to do, but the more fundamental problem of comprehending the situation. Narrative plays a major role in making good decisions in an uncertain world. We need to ask: of what story is this a part?

Neither Rumelt nor King and Kay quote Amy Chua, but her book Political Tribes is a classic account of failing to understand the situation. Chapter by chapter, she documents American foreign policy disasters from Vietnam to Iraq because policy-makers did not comprehend tribal societies. You cannot use war to turn them into liberal democracies. Fail to understand this and you will waste many years, trillions of dollars and tens of thousands of lives.

It might seem odd to suggest that a book by two contemporary economists holds the clue to unraveling the mystery of the spies in our parsha. But it does.

Understanding the Situation

We think we know the story. Moses sent 12 spies to spy out the land. Ten of them came back with a negative report. The land is good, but unconquerable. The people are strong, the cities impregnable, the inhabitants are giants, and we are grasshoppers. Only two of the men, Joshua and Caleb, took a different view. We can win. The land is good. God is on our side. With His help, we cannot fail.

On this reading, Joshua and Caleb had faith, courage and confidence, while the other 10 did not. But this is hard to understand. The 10 not just Joshua and Caleb knew that God was with them. He had crushed Egypt. The Israelites had just defeated the Amalekites. How could these 10 leaders, princes not know that they could defeat the inhabitants of the land?

What if the story were not this at all? What if it was not about faith, confidence or courage? What if it was about What is going on? understanding the situation and what happens when you dont. The Torah tells us that this is the correct reading, and it signals it in a most striking way.

Biblical Hebrew has two verbs that mean to spy: lachpor and leragel (from which we get the word meraglim, spies). Neither of these words appear in our parsha. That is the point. Instead, no less than 12 times, we encounter the rare verb, latur. It was revived in modern Hebrew and means (and sounds like) to tour. Tayar is a tourist. There is all the difference in the world between a tourist and a spy.

Malbim explains the difference simply. Latur means to seek out the good. That is what tourists do. They go to the beautiful, the majestic, the inspiring. They dont spend their time trying to find out what is bad. Lachpor and leragel are the opposite. They are about searching out a places weaknesses and vulnerabilities. That is what spying is about. The exclusive use of the verb latur in our parsha repeated 12 times is there to tell us that the 12 men were not sent to spy. But only two of them understood this.

Almost 40 years later, when Moses retells the episode in Devarim 1:22-24, he does use the verbs lachpor and leragel. In Genesis 42, when the brothers come before Joseph in Egypt to buy food, he accuses them of being meraglim, spies, a word that appears seven times in that one chapter. He also defines what it is to be a spy: You have come to see the nakedness of the land (i.e., where it is undefended).

The reason 10 of the 12 men came back with a negative report is not because they lacked courage or confidence or faith. It was because they completely misunderstood their mission. They thought they had been sent to be spies. But the Torah never uses the word spy in our chapter. The 10 simply did not understand what was going on.

They believed it was their role to find out the nakedness of the land, where it was vulnerable, where its defenses could be overcome. They looked and could not find. The people were strong, and the cities impregnable. The bad news about the land was that there was not enough bad news to make it weak and thus conquerable. They thought their task was to be spies and they did their job. They were honest and open. They reported what they had seen. Based on the intelligence they had gathered, they advised the people not to attack not now and not from here.

Their mistake was that they were not meant to be spies. They were told latur, not lachpor or leragel. Their job was to tour, explore, travel, see what the land was like and report back. They were to see what was good about the land, not what was bad. So, if they were not meant to be spies, what was the purpose of this mission?

I suggest that the answer is to be found in a passage in the Talmud that states: it is forbidden for a man to marry a woman without seeing her first. The reason? Were he to marry without having seen her first, he might, when he does see her, find he is not attracted to her. Tensions will inevitably arise. Hence the idea: first see, then love.

The same applies to a marriage between a people and its land. The Israelites were traveling to the country promised to their ancestors. But none of them had ever seen it. How then could they be expected to muster the energies necessary to fight the battles involved in conquering the land? They were about to marry a land they had not seen. They had no idea what they were fighting for.

The 12 were sent to latur: to explore and report on the good things of the land so that the people would know it was worth fighting for. Their task was to tour and explore, not spy and decry. But only two of them, Joshua and Caleb, listened carefully and understood what their mission was: to be the eyes of the congregation, letting them know the beauty and goodness of what lay ahead, the land that had been their destiny since the days of their ancestor Abraham.

The Israelites at that stage did not need spies. As Moses said many years later: You did not trustin theLordyour God,who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day,to searchout places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go (Deut. 1:32-33). God was going to show them where to go and where to attack.

The people needed something else entirely. Moses had told them that the land was good. It was flowing with milk and honey. But Moses had never seen the land. Why should they believe him? They needed the independent testimony of eyewitnesses. That was the mission of the 12 And, in fact, all 12 fulfilled that mission. When they returned, the first thing they said was:We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey!Here is its fruit (Num. 13:27). But because 10 of them thought their task was to be spies, they went on to say that the conquest was impossible, and from then on, tragedy was inevitable.

The difference between the 10 and Joshua and Caleb is not that the latter had the faith, courage and confidence the former did not. It is that they understood the story; the 10 did not.

I find it fascinating that a leading economist and a former governor of the Bank of England should argue for the importance of narrative when it comes to decision-making under conditions of radical uncertainty. Yet, that is the profound truth in our parsha.

Ten of the 12 men thought they were part of a story of espionage. The result was that they looked for the wrong things, came to the wrong conclusion, demoralized the people, destroyed the hope of an entire generation, and will eternally be remembered as responsible for one of the worst failures in Jewish history.

Read Amy Chuas Political Tribes, mentioned earlier, and you will discover a very similar analysis of Americas devastating failures in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq.

I believe that the story we tell affects the decisions we make. Get the story wrong and we can rob an entire generation of their future. Get it right, as did Joshua and Caleb, and we can achieve greatness.

The late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks served as the chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, 1991-2013. His teachings have been made available to all at rabbisacks.org. This essay was written in 2020.

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A Word of Torah: What Is Going On? Detroit Jewish News - The Jewish News

The executive director of the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association says a formal consultation process for the future of the industry is welcome after years of ad hoc discussions over Ottawas pledge to end open-net salmon aquaculture.

Ruth Salmon said it will bring the industry, First Nations and the federal and B.C. governments together to talk about how to transition away from open-net farms.

Studies have shown open-net pens can spread disease to wild fish, though Salmon said the global aquaculture industry is changing, with new technologies that reduce interactions between wild and farmed fish without land-locking the farms.

The mandate letter for Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray tasks her with developing the plan to shift from open-net salmon farming in B.C. waters by 2025, while working to introduce Canadas first Aquaculture Act.

Fisheries and Oceans announced Wednesday that open-net salmon farms may continue operating during the consultation process thats set to run until early 2023, with the final plan to transition 79 farms expected to be released next spring.

Murray said Thursday she will be proposing a framework for the plan in consultation with Indigenous communities, the industry, environmental groups and different levels of government.

The plan will be for a new regulatory regime that will lead to this transition to where there is little or no contact between wild and farmed salmon, she said in an interview.

The federal government will be working closely with the province, after Premier John Horgan wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in March, saying any plans to end open-net fish farming should come with supports for the industry and its workers.

Its too early to say what the supports for coastal communities might be, since the framework is still being developed, Murray said.

New Democrat fisheries critic Lisa Marie Barron issued a statement Thursday saying consultation for moving away from open-net farms should have taken place years ago, when the Liberal government first announced its intention to phase them out.

Almost three years later the important work of providing a clear transition plan for First Nations, workers, and coastal communities has not been done, said Barron, who represents the Vancouver Island riding of Nanaimo-Ladysmith.

Murray acknowledged the pledge to end open-net pen aquaculture was made in 2019, but said action has been taken since then.

There are no more farmed Atlantic salmon in the Discovery Islands, representing about 30 per cent of the volume of aquaculture industry off B.C.s coast, she said.

Aquaculture operators in the area located along a key migration route for wild salmon had already begun scaling back after Murrays predecessor announced in late 2020 that 19 salmon farms would be phased out by the end of this month.

A Federal Court judge set aside that decision this spring afterthree companies applied for a judicial review of the order that prevented them from restocking their farms, arguing it lacked reasons and didnt show an appreciation of the facts.

In her April decision, Federal Court Judge Elizabeth Heneghan found the ministers order breached the right to procedural fairness owed to the fish farms.

Ottawa is now undertaking a separate consultation process, which Murray said will involve talking with First Nations and fish farm operators about the possible non-renewal of the salmon licences in the area, with a final decision expected next January.

Its important that we talk with people who are affected.

The federal government will not reissue any licences for Atlantic salmon farms around the Discovery Islands in the meantime.

For dozens of salmon farming operations outside that area, Fisheries and Oceans said their two-year licence renewals come with stronger conditions, including sea lice management plans and wild salmon monitoring requirements.

While the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association welcomes the consultation process, the industry is disappointed the licence renewals arent longer to encourage investment in innovation, said Salmon, who is serving as the interim executive director.

Short-term licences really dont give investors the kind of confidence they need to invest in Canada, she said.

We do need to know that the government feels theres a future, because that aligns with investment dollars. So weve got all kinds of exciting ideas, but we cant operationalize those until there is that security.

The First Nations for Finfish Stewardship also issued a statement saying the coalition had called for longer-term renewals, but theyre thankful Ottawa has reissued licences outside the Discovery Islands, recognizing the rights of nations that want to pursue seafood production in their territories.

The Canadian Press

RELATED: B.C. fish farm licences outside Discovery Islands renewed until at least spring 2023

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B.C. salmon farming industry welcomes consultation after years of ad hoc talks - Campbell River Mirror

Faced with a faltering economy and soaring energy prices, the Chancellor has come before the nation and announced a battery of new tax measures. Mr Sunak claims these measures will get us back on track, but is digging into ordinary peoples pockets really the answer?

Families across the country are in the grip of a catastrophic cost of living crisis. The governments response to this emergency has demonstrated a lack of any clear strategic vision. With one hand, Boris Johnson has handed households an eye-watering tax bill, while with the other he has offered a half-hearted rebate that is dwarfed by rising prices.

Even after the Chancellors support measures, the rise in National Insurance, the freeze on income tax thresholds, and increased energy bills will leave households 800 poorer this year. In just two months, the governments policies have already cost families an average of 180 all while 1,370 children are expected to fall into poverty each day, according to Resolution Foundation estimates.

Not content with raising the cost of living, Treasury Minister Simon Clarke recently asked workers to show collective society-wide responsibility and agree to low pay increases that will leave them poorer in real terms. Effectively, the government has asked working people to simply accept the damage caused to their budgets by rising inflation.

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This refusal to increase wages in line with inflation paves the way for further economic disaster. By decreasing households spending power, Boris Johnson will reduce demand across the economy, starving struggling high streets of business, and driving the UK further towards a recession. Furthermore, it is clear, that not one member of the government has any real understanding of the pressure workers are under.

While families are being asked to both pay more in tax and accept pay cuts, the Prime Minister and Chancellor have worked exceptionally hard to protect the interests of big business.

In June of last year, the UK government pushed President Biden to drop the proposed global minimum corporation tax from 21 to 15 per cent, costing the taxpayer 6.8 billion a year. In the autumn, the Chancellor went on to hand big banks a tax cut that will cost the taxpayer 7 billion over the next four years. Last but not least, the government delayed the windfall tax on oil and gas producers. Had this been brought in just a few months earlier, the Treasury would have received almost an extra 3 billion in revenue.

This litany of cuts and delays demonstrates what many people have already come to realise. Protecting the profits of big banks, fossil fuel companies, and large multinationals is more important to this government than supporting the people facing the most severe cost-of-living crisis in 70 years.

When the government needs to raise revenue, the first port of call should not be families and high street businesses. I, and my Liberal Democrat colleagues in Parliament are calling for tax cuts that will lessen the burden on every household struggling to keep its head above water.

We need to reduce VAT from 20 to 17.5 per cent and put an average of 600 back in the pockets of every household in the UK. This would give a critical boost to local high-streets and help safeguard small businesses across the retail and hospitality sectors.

This boost is something local high streets sorely need. The government has done nothing to help businesses with their energy bills and this lack of support could prove to be the final nail in the coffin for many high streets that are still recovering from the pandemic. Rising employment costs due to the hike in National Insurance, and unfair business rates that make it harder to reinvest profits must be challenged if we are to keep shops, pubs and restaurants from closing.

And thats why we need real reforms rather than empty slogans. I have lobbied for the Treasury to scrap business rates and replace them with a Commercial Landowner Levy that only captures the value of the land occupied by commercial sites, rather than taxing buildings, machinery, and other productive capital that powers business. Simply put, the savings this would produce would allow businesses to reinvest their profits, boosting productivity and wages in struggling industries, and helping revive our high streets.

Ultimately, the government has chosen to saddle households and small employers with higher taxes, whilst protecting its friends, and kicking vital reforms into the long grass. The current crisis is showing us all that the Conservatives can no longer claim to be defending either small businesses, working families, or the squeezed middle. It is time for this government to get its priorities right, cut taxes, and stop taking people and businesses for granted.

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Families urgently need a tax cut to tackle rising living costs | The Paradise News - The Paradise News