Daily Archives: October 17, 2022

Many rural Oregonians fed up with the state's liberal politics want to move to Idaho or rather, move Idaho to them.

The Greater Idaho movement proposes redrawing Oregon's borders so that about two-thirds of the Beaver State's land mass becomes part of neighboring Idaho. The movement has already gained support from nine counties in Eastern Oregon, and two more will vote on whether they want lawmakers to work on the logistics of moving the border.

"It makes more sense for Eastern Oregonians to get state-level governance coming from Idaho, where they share their values, share their culture, share their politics, than it does to be governed by Western Oregon," Greater Idaho spokesman Matt McCaw told Fox News.

Look at any election map and the problem Greater Idaho seeks to remedy is clear: By land size, Oregon appears conservative. Some counties voted nearly 80% for President Donald Trump in the 2020 election. But the population centers of Portland, Eugene and Bend have made it one of the most liberal states in the country.

MIGRATION FROM BIG CITIES BOOSTS HOUSING PRICES IN SMALLER MARKETS

A voting map from the 2020 presidential election shows Eastern Oregon voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump. (Fox News)

"It's always been a problem because the west side has many more voters," McCaw said. "They have the numbers to dictate what happens statewide."

An urban-rural divide is nothing new, but McCaw said Eastern Oregon is unique because it borders a state that has "almost the same values."

Idaho voted 63.9% for Trump and just 33.1% for President Biden in the last presidential election. The Gem State is already a favorite moving destination among Oregonians who prefer its conservative politics or lower cost of living.

The Greater Idaho movement seeks to make 17 counties in conservative Eastern Oregon part of Idaho instead. (Illustration courtesy of Greater Idaho)

McCaw said the group envisions 15 whole counties and two partial counties joining Idaho. Nine Oregon counties have already voted in favor of exploring the idea further and two more will cast their votes in November.

If approved, the Morrow County measure will require commissioners to meet three times per year to discuss how best to promote their county's interests in "any negotiations regarding the relocation of the Oregon-Idaho state border." Wheeler County's measure would direct local officials to ask the state to proceed with plans for moving the border.

LONGTIME DEMOCRAT 'EMBARRASSED' BY OREGON POLITICS SHAKES UP RACE FOR GOVERNOR, RUNS AS INDEPENDENT

Preliminary maps proposed including the entire southern portion of the state reaching to the Pacific Ocean, but supporters redrew the maps this year after residents of two southwestern Oregon counties voted only 47% and 49% in favor of the measure.

"Our whole core principle is that people deserve to have the kind of government that they want and that shares their values," McCaw said. "So we don't want to be dragging anybody into something that they don't want."

Matt McCaw is a lifelong Oregonian who supports making Eastern Oregon part of Idaho. (Fox News Digital)

Even if all 17 counties approve the proposal, actually creating a Greater Idaho would face big bureaucratic hurdles. The state legislatures of both Idaho and Oregon would have to sign off on the plan, as would the U.S. Congress.

State boundaries have changed before. Maine seceded from Massachusetts in 1820. North and South Dakota were simply the Territory of Dakota before 1889. And Oregon's border with Washington was fluid until the late 1950s when the states agreed on specific geographic coordinates as the border rather than the center of the Columbia River, which can change with flooding, erosion and other factors.

There don't appear to be any examples of a large chunk of one state breaking off to join another state instead of just creating a new state (like the State of Jefferson movement, which proposes creating a new territory out of Southern Oregon and Northern California).

Lawmakers in Oregon haven't said much about the proposal so far, but their counterparts in Idaho seem open to the idea.

OREGON GOP GUBERNATORIAL NOMINEE SAYS TIDE IS TURNING IN RACE: PEOPLE HERE 'DON'T RECOGNIZE THEIR OWN STATE'

This year, Idaho Rep. Barbara Ehardt introduced a resolution stating that representatives would continue discussions regarding moving the border. The resolution notes that Oregon has resources that would "be highly beneficial to Idaho," including timber, minerals and water.

Advocates for Greater Idaho were invited to share their ideas with the Idaho Legislature last year.

"I think this is a broader conversation we need to have throughout the United States and in from our rural communities to our urban areas, who forget where their food comes from," Republican state Rep. Laurie Lickley said.

Cattle graze in Harney County, Oregon. Voters in Harney County previously approved a measure supporting the idea of seceding from Oregon and becoming part of Idaho. (Bernard Friel/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

But Democratic state Sen. Michelle Stennett worried about the logistics of moving the border and nuances between the two states, such as Oregon's higher minimum wage and legalization of cannabis.

"How do you blend criminal justice systems and jurisdictions? Where does your tax base come from?" Stennett asked. "There's just a lot that isn't being talked about that would need to be fleshed out for this to even be considered."

Idaho's Republican Gov. Brad Little even addressed the proposal in a 2020 interview on "Fox & Friends," saying he understood why Oregonians would "like to have a little more autonomy, a little more control, a little more freedom."

Now, three years after the movement began, McCaw says it's time for lawmakers in both states to start hashing out the details.

"We've proven that people in Eastern Oregon want to pursue this idea, and we're going to keep trying to get as many of those counties as possible to get on the ballot," he said. "But it's time for the legislature to pick up the ball and start this discussion."

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And if the hearings happen quickly, McCaw is optimistic that the measure could soon be sent back to a vote of the people.

"By 2024, you could have a border moved," he said. "Absolutely."

State representatives for Morrow and Wheeler counties did not respond to Fox News' request for comment.

Ramiro Vargas contributed to the accompanying video.

Hannah Ray Lambert is an associate producer/writer with Fox News Digital Originals.

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Secede from Oregon? 'Greater Idaho' is on the ballot in two conservative counties - Fox News

For years, the once and possibly future Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, pursued a strategy of focusing on the right wing in Israel, around the world, and in the global Jewish community. His deep ties to the Republican party in the U.S. and his cozy relationship with figures as far right as Viktor Orban in Hungary led him to abandon Israels traditional strategy of maintaining broad support across the political spectrum.

So when Yair Lapid took power, Mainstream Democrats, who were desperately trying to maintain their lock-step and uncritical support for Israel even while the apartheid nature of Israels regime was becoming ever more apparent, were energized. They now no longer had to contend with an Israeli leader trying to undermine them domestically and it is no coincidence that, since Lapid ascended to power, the pro-Israel right wing of the Democratic Party has become increasingly assertive and groups like AIPAC have redoubled efforts to purge the party of pro-Israel liberals such as Andy Levin and discredit more vocal critics such as Rashida Tlaib and Bernie Sanders.

This dynamic has also inspired pro-Israel liberals to redouble their efforts to combat anti-Zionism in the Jewish community. One such effort is taking place in New York City, at the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue. There, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch has launched a program called Amplify Israel. Heres how their web site describes the program: As American liberalism has become increasingly hostile to Jewish values and as anti-Israel animosity intensifies, Stephen Wise Free Synagogue has created an education and advocacy initiative aimed at healing the fractured relationship between American liberal Jews and Israel.

That description alone betrays a distorted view of why Israels image among American liberals has taken such a hit. It is certainly not the case that American liberalism has changed; it remains resistant to fundamental change, as is evidenced by its rush to elect Joe Biden, a man who promised that nothing would fundamentally change under his watch after the radical lurch rightward represented by Donald Trump.

No, what has changed is that Israel has become so brazen about its apartheid policies that more people realize how it maintains its iron-fisted control over millions of Palestinians, how it has dispossessed them for over 74 years, and how it has denied them the most basic rights for the past 55 years. More American liberals have seen the rampaging settlers, the violent soldiers, the closures, the killings of journalists and children, the strangulation of Gaza, and the many other crimes of Israeli apartheid. For all of Israels charges of antisemitism, there are many liberal Americans, and specifically American Jews, who know that Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and BTselem are not antisemitic, and when they find out that those groups are confirming what Palestinians have been saying for decades, are finding supporting such a regime impossible to reconcile with their values.

Hirsch understands this. He told The Times of Israel, The [Reform Jewish] movement is drifting in terms of how it speaks, what it speaks about, what it says and avoids saying. Its drifting from the centrality of the Jewish people and our Zionist principles. Were that to happen it would be catastrophic.

Theres a great deal to unpack in those words.

First, Hirsch is, understandably, overstating the case. Support for Israel, despite its apartheid policies, remains high among Reform Jews. 58% of Reform Jews say they are emotionally attached to Israel, which is exactly the same percentage as among Jews overall, according to a 2021 Pew Research poll. Another Reform and passionately pro-Israel rabbi, Rick Jacobs, said of the poll, I believe the big takeaway is that liberal Jews dont care less but rather care differently about Israel

By contrast to Hirsch, Jacobs is understating the reality; its certainly true that 58% represents a significant decline from the past. A 2016 poll of Reform Jews showed about 70% expressed an attachment to Israel, so there has been a notable decline in a relatively short time, even granting that these polls can be fuzzy.

But the issue of the centrality of the Jewish people and our Zionist principles is a stark example of historical revisionism. The dynamic of mythology distorting history and projecting a nationalist interpretation of a groups history back to the earliest days of that people is typical of nationalism, not at all unique to Zionism. But that historical revisionism has been a powerful force, in Jewish perceptions of our own history, and in the politics of Zionism as a force among Jews and against Palestinians.

Zionism is a modern, nationalist movement, one that quickly took on a settler-colonial character. It is not an ancient tenet of Judaism, something that is clear from any reading of Jewish history before World War II and from the fact that Zionists were a distinct minority among Jews before the Holocaust. This is a fact that is well known, most recently recounted again by Zachary Lockman, professor of Middle East Studies and History at New York University.

Indeed, even the constitution, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, of Jews as a modern nation didnt depend on Zionism. Other Jewish nationalists, who did not tie their sense of Jewish nationhood to Palestine, were largely wiped out by the Nazis, such as the General Union of Jewish Workers, referred to often as The Bund, a class conscious, egalitarian, socialist Jewish movement that was quite popular among Eastern European Jews. Zionism has largely smothered the memory of the Bund and other, smaller, Jewish collective movements that were not interested in dispossessing another people and taking their land.

Rabbi Tracy Kaplowitz is heading up the effort to actualize the Amplify Israel program, and she makes little effort to hide the McCarthyist agenda at the root of it. The purpose is to ensure that our teens, long before they head off to college, have the language that they need to understand Israel, Kaplowitz told The Times of Israel. They can assess what they hear about Israel or even the ability to advocate and to say, The way youre presenting Israel to me seems inaccurate, its maybe bordering the line of antisemitism.

Its not hard to imagine what Kaplowitz means by understanding Israel. Given the ongoing and increasingly hostile debates on college campuses, this is about equipping new students with the requisite talking points on Israel. But more important is the clear intention to steer them toward specious and false accusations of antisemitism. As has been frequently noted, its really all Israel advocates have left.

The effort to turn the tide on liberal support for Israel is getting increasingly desperate, especially now that it appears more likely than not that Netanyahu will be returning as Israels prime minister in the upcoming election. Weve seen the large-scale, public efforts directed against politicians like Rashida Tlaib and media personalities like Katie Halper. Were likely to see more localized efforts like Amplify Israel as well.

But Hirsch himself ultimately explains the futility of the effort. Zionism is a liberal movement. Its about the self-determination of an oppressed people, he claims. Liberals support self-determination and freedom and libertyWe support coexistence. We do not support, when two peoples are in conflict, dismantling one of them. That is not liberal, thats reactionary.

Its this formulationone that tries to paint support for apartheid as liberal by omitting the massive crimes committed historically and on an ongoing basis against the Palestinians, individually and collectivelythat explains why liberal Jews are joining their more radical fellows in opposing Israeli apartheid.

Because Zionism is not a liberal movement. While a small minority of its earliest thinkersnone of whom supported Political Zionismmight not have wanted to see the imposition of a Jewish state that dispossessed, displaced, and discriminated against the existing Palestinian population, that has never been Zionisms political expression. It was intentionally designed to replace that Palestinian population.

Its easy to say you support coexistence when the form and function of that coexistence dictates that your group holds a superior position, whether through elevation by law, enforced and manipulated demographics, or, in this case, both.

The movement for Palestinian rights, which by definition must point out not only Israels crimes but the apartheid nature of the state that makes such crimes inevitable, demands equal rights for all. Hirsch defines that as dismantling not just Israel but Jews as a nation. That, my dear rabbi, is reactionary and deeply illiberal, not a call for equality.

BEFORE YOU GO: The Israeli government and its economic, cultural, and political backers here in the U.S. have made a decades-long investment in silencing and delegitimizing Palestinian voices and those who dare to call out Israels apartheid.

The movement needs independent media outlets that amplify Palestinian stories and hold space for those censored for voicing dissent.

We have revolutionized Mondoweiss coverage of Palestine and Israel by building a Palestine newsroom, thus helping to shape the American understanding of the Palestinian struggle.

Become a donor today and support our critical work.

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Why a new program aiming to fight anti-Zionism among Reform Jews is bound to fail - Mondoweiss

On a bright Saturday afternoon in Warren, Michigan, a Twitch streamer and YouTuber who goes by the name Haz descended on Macomb Community College with mic in hand, ready to grill Trump supporters lining up for a rally.

His pitch for the Oct. 1 event: A new ideology of prosperity and working-class unity, built on the ashes of Americas liberal democracy.

It sounds crazy. Its called MAGA Communism, and the communism thing means common wealth, common prosperity, Haz tells one man, in a video he posted to his YouTube channel from the event. We all come together: the workers striking at the railways, the MAGA industrial working class, the small farmers, we all unite with our power. We kick out the globalists. We kick out George Soros. We kick out Klaus Schwab. We stop that Great Reset agenda in its tracks.

Dont forget to kick out Biden, either, the man interjects.

Absolutely, Haz says. Lets go Brandon!

Haz, who runs a YouTube channel called Infrared, is a Marxist-Leninist commentator who has earned a reputation for debating other extremely online politicos (and, sometimes, devolving into a screaming mess about it.) The Oct. 1 rally was not Hazs first time selling a skeptical audience on the notion of #MAGACommunism. In September, a flurry of content around the phrase made it trend on Twitter and touched a viral nerve across the political internet.

While the mentions online have settled down, Haz is one of a number of self-proclaimed communists who are pushing the notion that anyone who cares about the working class should abandon the liberal culture war and ally with Americas largest anti-establishment populist movementMAGAultimately in the name of inciting a populist revolution.

Promoting MAGA Communism alongside Haz has been 23-year-old Jackson Hinkle, a commentator who also has his own show on YouTube. Recently, Hinkle has agitated around the globalist threat (a term most commonly used as an antisemitic dog-whistle), championed Putin in the Ukraine war, and made the rounds on right-wing cable news, including appearances on OANN and Tucker Carlson Tonight.

Together, they decry the vulgarization of Marxism by Western liberals, traffic in the language of deep-state conspiracies, and mock planet worshippers, dismissing modern climate change efforts as virtue-signaling green fascism backed by corporate entities.

Fundamentally, the beliefs that underpin Hinkle and Infrared aren't all that hard to parse. Haz and Infrared contend that communism can be a force for nationalistic might, and that the amorphous force of MAGA represents the largest collective of working people who can fulfill the dream of American prosperity. They marginalize issues they deem as being liberal or identity politics, whether thats the fight for trans rights or Indigenous efforts to reclaim land. Once in a while, they end up agreeing with leftists, as with their claims that American imperialism should be rejected. Mostly, leftist critics suggest Haz and Hinkle are just an alt-right spin on tankie communism, complete with an embrace of authoritarian MAGA vibes.

Its not surprising that the swirl of social conservatism, patriotism and subversive energy that inform MAGA Communism have been criticized as a repackaging of fascist ideals of yore. In his seminal text Blackshirts and Reds, the political scientist Michael Parenti describes how fascist movements co-opt the symbols and language of socialism, building a pseudo-revolution that appeals to the working class without actually subverting existing power structures (such as a capitalist economy). Thats exactly the concern of observers who say that MAGA Communism is just a new grift, built to create viral views by embracing authoritarianism and MAGA.

It helps that MAGA Communism has little ideological consistency, and can vibe with people who want to be edgy, on the political fringe.

Communism and Marxism historically have been conservative. Its a new era in the West that made it adhere to liberal-leftist values. This is not true Marxism. Its Marxism funded by George Soros, Hinkle told OANN host Addison Smith on Sept. 19, evoking the name of the billionaire and target of countless antisemitic conspiracy theories. They dont want communists, left-wing populists, right-wing populists, uniting on common issues to fight the deep state.

The duo dont have a huge reach online: Hinkles YouTube channel has 177,000 subscribers, while Infrared has just over 23,000. And yet, despite very little mainstream coverage, MAGA Communism peaked in popularity as a search term last month, according to Google Trends data, and has exploded into a curious commodity on social media and political-theory circles. That included discussion from left-leaning commentators, too, like an incredulous Sam Seder and The Young Turks.

This is such a word salad that I cant follow what the hell hes talking about, Seder remarked halfway into Hinkles OANN interview.

We should be careful, because when you think of Nazis and fascists and how they brought people over to their sides, TYT co-host Ana Kasparian remarked. They co-opted socialist rhetoric to bring people in, and then their populist movement was what? Extermination.

From a distance, the rhetoric seems almost impossibly contradictory like a populist gag ironically draped in theory, or some bizarro Dark Brandon meme for tankie nerds. But it also represents the ultimately reactionary and harmful idea that, if the left can somehow cast aside pesky race and identity issues, it can bind together working-class whites who have been attracted to reactionary projects.

Obviously, this view doesnt account for the very real material reasons why people identify with [right-wing] ideas, Daniel HoSang, a professor at Yale University and an expert on Americas modern right-wing movements, told Motherboard. But whats interesting about the MAGA Communism phrase is that it doesnt necessarily mean communism in the literal sense of, say, demanding collective ownership. I think its meant to be a kind of cultural invocationa defense from that which the elites want you to believe. It suggests something about how peoples political moorings are unsettled, and the search to find new bearings.

MAGA Communism almost seems like the logical next step in horseshoe theory, or the hypothesis that the extremes of the political spectrum have overlapping beliefs, such as a broad distrust of major institutions. But Haz and Hinkle go further, downplaying the value of the left-right dichotomy altogether and decrying their critics of being too stupid to comprehend it. They criticize Democrats and their leftist foot soldiers as reactionaries, and see opportunity in the revolutionary energy of the MAGA masses.

There is a political realignment ongoing. There is nothing inherently right-wing about MAGA people. Right and left are political terms used to denote a relation to revolutionary change. Today, they are applied to 'progressive cultural changes, which are not revolutionary at all and in fact led by ruling-class-funded institutions, Haz told Motherboard in an email. (Hinkle did not reply to questions sent via email from Motherboard.)

Can anyone really build a Marxist movement by allying with a demographic that appears to be rife with anti-communist fever? Is a movement that advocates for the repression of "woke academia," ending "open borders," and labels antifascist organizing as "street terrorism" communist at all?

Haz comes off as deeply sincere when he discusses communist theory and his vision to remold the MAGA working class, but this sincerity isnt shared by everyone who is spreading MAGA Communism. For one, the viral attention has partly come from extremists who believe in accelerationism and promote all manner of fringe movements, hoping to spur the disruption (and ultimately dissolution) of the existing American state.

I think a lot of people are just so disillusioned with liberalism, and this is powerful for young people, especially the young far right. In their own way, theyre disgusted with the kind of hybrid coalition between Christian conservatism and free-market economics that make up movement conservatism, Brian Hughes, the associate director of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL) at American University, said in an interview. Various figures are trying to take advantage of the moment. Skull-mask networks, and accelerationist networks more broadly, have been juicing MAGA Communism because they like to inhabit odd, esoteric subcultures. Theyre smaller, and easier to exploit. It helps that MAGA Communism has little ideological consistency, and can vibe with people who want to be edgy, on the political fringe.

From a tweet by Hinkle on Sept. 20

Its possible the humor and tongue-in-cheek irony around MAGA Communism is its biggest draw. This is especially true for Haz, who has made it a habit of going niche-viral for screaming angrily in several online debates with leftists, spiraling into surrealist rants while mocking critics, and writing 10,000-word takedowns of other commentators over Twitter drama.

On the ground, Haz and Hinkle crib from the far-right entertainment playbook by agitating on livestreams, hoping to capture some essential conflict that proves their intellectual superiority. Last weekend, Haz and Hinkle went to Twitchcon, a major convention for streamers in San Diego, and filmed themselves harassing seemingly random attendees by mocking COVID masking, Ukraine support, and online content moderation.

It was presumably a performance to own the libs, but mostly resulted in perplexed faces staring back at the duo. Much of the same unfolded a few days later on the campus of UCLA, where Haz, Hinkle and Dark MAGA streamer Jon Zherka spent hours trying to debate passing students. Mostly, they stood around and yelled, including Haz proclaiming that all liberals are ugly! while holding a sign that read FEMINISM IS CANCER.

More than anything, the nascent interest around MAGA Communism symbolizes how entertainment and politics intersect in an attention economy fueled by social media hyperbole. Theres nothing new about antagonistic man-on-the-street interviews, stirring up esoteric beef with fellow streamers, or indulging in unhinged behavior for the memes. But being a Marxist-Leninist who loves American nationalism and hates radical leftists sure feels fresh, despite the familiar mechanics. (As Hinkle remarked in a 2021 stream: I do everything for the clout. Youve never seen me do something not for the clout. Thats the only way I operate.)

Meanwhile, Haz is trumpeting his Oct. 1 foray into a Trump rally as a major win for this movement, crowing at the haters who told him he would likely get punched. But its also evident that Haz served up the most palatable version of MAGA Communism possible, sticking to a loose script railing against globalists, Wall Street, Big Tech, and the Green New Deal. The people in his video mostly nod along to his leading questions, interjecting to make boilerplate remarks like things have got to change and Ukraine is a money grab.

It would be great if everyone could get together and get on the same page, one man tells him.

Thats far easier said than done, especially given how the MAGA movement grew out of online virality, preening politicians, and bad-faith misinformation, all rigged to churn the full-blown grift around the Culture Wars. Nonetheless, it seems like MAGA Communism can and will stick around, especially on YouTubea venue that, despite all its ills, remains a crucial hub for instigating political brawls and generating a fandom for fringe ideas.

Original post:

What the Hell Is MAGACommunism? - VICE

Daines endorsement

Far away from the Beltway Bubble of Washington D.C., county government is on the frontline of every issue facing policy makers and our communities. Thats why we need local elected officials with the knowledge and know-how to serve their constituents.

For nearly a decade, Ive had the pleasure of working with Flathead County Commissioner Pam Holmquist on important Montana issues ranging from forestry and land management to job creation. Ive sat with her in meetings on Capitol Hill advocating for the Kalispell Bypass project. Weve had important discussions at mills and manufacturing facilities in the Flathead Valley about increasing high paying job opportunities for Montanans.

Working on behalf of a county that is more than 70% federal land, Pam has been a constant voice for commonsense forestry and land management policies. She understands that commonsense management enhances our public lands, lowers the risk of catastrophic wildfires and helps sustain Montana timber jobs.

Pam also has unmatched knowledge of the ins and outs and intricacies of county government, which has proved vital as she advocates for Flathead County on the state and national levels. Shell continue working to protect private property rights, deliver critical public services and keep the county on a strong fiscal track.

I have always appreciated Pams kindness, candor and honesty in discussions.

Pam Holmquist is a strong advocate for the Flathead and a top-notch public servant. She has my full support.

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, Bozeman

Its election season, also known as the season of misleading information. A prime example is what appears to be Montana Democrats main talking point on legislative races: If the Republicans can flip just two more legislative seats, theyre coming after the constitution.

What the Democrats fail to mention is that the Legislature cannot change Montanas Constitution. It says right there in the constitution that any proposed amendments have to be voted on by Montana voters. At most, the Legislature can propose amendments for the voters to decide. A good example of that is the proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot this year to safeguard our privacy in the digital age. Republicans passed it in the Legislature over the objections of more than 20 House Democrats. Now, voters will get to decide whether the government is required to get a warrant before accessing our election communications.

Despite the Democrats fear mongering about make believe threats to constitutional rights, I dont see voters approving changes to reduce or eliminate freedom of speech, personal privacy, tribal sovereignty, religious freedom, public education, a clean environment, civil rights, the right to bear arms, hunting and fishing rights, or public access rights, among others. Nor do I see Republicans proposing any radical changes like that.

What Montana Democrats are really saying is that they dont trust Montana voters. Montana Democrats believe the government knows what is best for you and they dont trust you to update our constitution if thats what you want to do, whether regarding digital privacy or any other topic.

The Montana Democrats are spinning lies and nonsense because they know Montana does not support their far left liberal agenda of pushing woke policies destroying our families, culture, and schools. Montana doesnt support their agenda promoting soft on crime policies, open borders bringing in dangerous drugs, and destroying our energy and natural resources economy while supporting OPEC oil and overseas mining employing child labor, not to mention Bidens reckless spending and inflation.

With an unpopular agenda like that, I guess Im not surprised Montana Democrats have resorted to trying to mislead Montanans about our own constitution. This November, remember, only you can change Montanas constitution. But Montana Democrats will implement reckless policies if you vote for their candidates.

Vote Republican for common sense solutions.

State Sen. Greg Hertz, Polson

This year Montanans are facing the most critical general election in recent history with results that will have significant impacts on future generations.

We Montana citizens, no matter the party affiliation, have certain, unimpeachable duties which must be performed intelligently and with empathy. We are instructed in Isaiah chapter 1 verse 17: Learn to do good, make justice your aim; redress the wronged, hear the orphans plea, defend the widow.

Learn to do good, make justice your aim. We are urged by these words to be open minded, to do our homework and then make a judgment as to whom will best be of service to our community, to future generations and who will best represent us with their experience, qualifications and most importantly, their character. We will then exercise our right to vote and elect with certification. Our choices start with the election for Justice of the Supreme Court, our United States Representative and for our local district representatives. Make justice your aim and do your very best.

Michael L. McKenna, Bozeman

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Letters to the editor Oct. 17 - Daily Inter Lake

SRINAGAR, OCTOBER 10: The Administrative Council (AC) which met here under the chairmanship of the Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, approved the proposal for authorizing departmental stores to sell beer and other Ready to Drink (RTD) beverages in urban areas.

Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor and Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, J&K attended the meeting.

The Administrative Council approved incorporation of liberal provisions in Jammu and Kashmir Liquor License and Sale Rules,1984 and Excise Policy, 2023-24 for grant of License JKEL-2A for retail sale of Beer and Ready to Drink (RTD) beverages in Departmental Stores in urban areas of UT.

The Departmental Stores in a Commercial Complex, approved by the competent authority, fulfilling conditions like having total carpet area of minimum 1200 (One Thousand Two Hundred) Sq. Feet, annual turnover of minimum 5 Crores in Jammu and Srinagar Cities and 2 Crores for stores in other urban areas will be eligible under the scheme. Moreover, chain of Departmental Stores having annual turnover of more than Rs.10 Crores will be eligible to apply for separate licenses for each of its Store.

The Departmental store should have been inexistence for at least 12 months prior to the date of application. However, this condition shall not be applicable in case of a new/recently opened Departmental Store belonging to a chain of Departmental Stores having annual turnover of more than Rs. 10 Crores.

Further the departmental stores should be selling a minimum of six of the category of items including Grocery Items; Frozen Foods; Confectionery/Bakery Items; Toiletries; Cosmetics; Household Goods; Utensils/kitchenware; Sports Items; Electrical/Electronic Appliances; Apparels; and Stationery. In addition, no application for the grant of License shall be considered for Departmental Stores functioning at Petrol Pumps as per the said decision.

The Administrative Council also approved permission to the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Development Corporation for retail sale of Beer and Ready to Drink beverages in unserved/ underserved areas in consultation with the concerned Deputy Commissioner.

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AC J&K approves liberal provisions for sale of Beer and other Ready to Drink (RTD) beverages - Cross Town News

A NEW exhibition is putting the spotlight on a Victorian politician who owned a winter retreat at Pyrford and was involved in a scandal, remembered in this weeks Peeps into the Past.

He was Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, 2nd Baronet, whose ambition to become Prime Minister was ruined when he became embroiled in a divorce case in 1886.

The exhibition at Watts Gallery Artists Village in Compton, is called Faces Of Fame: GFWatts X Simon Frederick.

It features 12 contemporary photographic portraits from Fredericks 2016 series Black is the New Black alongside seven portraits from Victorian artist GF Watts Hall of Fame series.

The popular gallery is dedicated to the work of Watts, a portraitist, sculptor, landscape painter and symbolist. He painted Dilkes portrait in 1901.

From the late 1840s, Watts began to select leading British politicians, writers, artists and thinkers to feature in a portrait series that became known as the Hall of Fame.

Watts intended his paintings to memorialise the men who made England the prominent who may hereafter be found to have made or marred their country.

At the current display, among the Hall of Fame portraits is one of social reformer and businessman Charles Booth. Simon Fredericks contemporary photographic portraits for the National Portrait Gallery record black people who have had an impact on British society, acknowledging the contribution they have made to British life. These include supermodel Naomi Campbell, rap singer Dizzie Rascal and trade union leader Sir Bill Morris.

As for Dilke, he became a Liberal MP for Chelsea in 1868. He entered the Cabinet in 1882 in William Gladstones government as president of the Local Government Board.

Dilke was radical in his left-wing views and strongly critical of the monarchy.

Things started to go wrong for him when he was caught up in a divorce case, brought by another Liberal MP, Donald Crawford.

Crawford claimed that his wife, Virginia, told him she had been having an affair with Dilke.

When the case was heard in 1886, Dilke strenuously denied his involvement. It was adjudged there was no evidence against Dilke, but Crawford was granted a divorce.

Dilke had the case reopened in an attempt to clear his name. However, this did not go well for him as he was forced to admit he was having an affair with Virginias mother, Eileen Smith.

To make things even more compelling, Mrs Smith and her husband, Thomas Eustace Smiths eldest daughter, Margaret, was married to Dilkes brother, Aston Wentworth Dilke.

Dilke was ruined. He lost his parliamentary seat in the 1886 general election and retreated from politics until 1892, when he was returned as the MP for the Forest of Dean. He held that seat until his death in 1911.

The house, with nine acres of land, that Dilke and his wife owned at Pyrford was called The Rough. It was initially used as a winter retreat from their London home.

Dilke has left his mark here in the form of a boundary stone that is embedded in a ditch close to Pyrford Common Road.

Peeps researcher Mark Coxhead uncovered it in 2021 and photographed it. It is marked CWD 1885 the year the scandal erupted that was to ruin Dilkes career aspirations.

If you have some memories or old pictures relating to the Woking area, call David Rose on 01483 838960, or drop a line to the News & Mail.

David Rose is a local historian and writer who specialises in what he calls the history within living memory of people, places and events in the west Surrey area covering towns such as Woking and Guildford. He collects old photos and memorabilia relating to the area and the subject, and regularly gives illustrated local history talks to groups and societies. For enquiries and bookings please phone or email him at: davidrosemedia@gmail.com

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