Category Archives: Abolition Of Work

WE take time to comment today on the announced abolition of the Strategic Communications Office (SCO) in Malacaang. For something strategic, meaning vital and important for the attainment of objectives, we naturally supposed that abolition would be the least likely fate of the SCO.

Based on the evidence, however. the SCO is not strategic at all. It is understandable and to be expected that Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, through Office Order 26, has decided to formally abolish the SCO as a unit of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) in line with the ongoing reorganization of its communications functions and services in the administration.

This is coming down to earth in a big way. At one time, during the administration of President Benigno Aquino 3rd, strategic communications appeared to be the heart and soul of Malacaang communications. It was a fancy name for the communications efforts of the Aquino presidency.

The SCO had a full-time strategic planning secretary in the person of former broadcaster Ricky Carandang and a deputy secretary in the person of former newspaper columnist Manuel Quezon 3rd, both of whom enjoyed special access to President Aquino and carried lofty titles.

What doomed the office to eventual abolition was the fact that the SCO was narrowly conceived (with the interests of its managers in mind), and it spent all its energies and its huge budget on the glorification of Aquino and defending his whims and vindictive policies.

The new communications office sees its work in a more enlightened way. It is not concerned with rivalry with the office of Press Secretary Ernesto Abella, who seems happy just issuing sometimes useful and sometimes erratic statements in defense of the President.

Explaining the order to abolish the SCO, Andanar said in a statement: The main reasons are to streamline and to adjust to our new comprehensive communications strategy in promoting the policies of the different executive departments. The recent communications programs, Dutertenomics, real numbers, extremism [and]martial law and other upcoming events, have increased the demand for the PCOO team to assist other departments. Thus, there is a need to restructure our manpower assignments.

This does not make strategic communications irrelevant. As we understand the concept in communications studies, strategic communications is designed to foster integrated communications within large corporations and entire governments. It is public relations in the private and public sectors. This idea of integration fits the need for the PCOO to serve both the communication needs of the President and the communication needs of the entire administration.

Secretary Andanar would do well to remember the principal reasons for organized government communications in a democratic society in shaping his offices comprehensive communications program. These are:

1. A democratic government is best served by a free two-way flow of ideas and accurate information between government and the public, so citizens and their government can make informed choices and decisions.

2. A democratic government must report and be accountable to the citizens it serves.

3. Citizens as taxpayers have a right to government information, subject to some exceptions.

This rationale for government communication includes working effectively and constructively with a free press.

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Abolition of strategic communications office makes good sense - The Manila Times

A public college in New York City is offering an undergraduate class called the "Abolition of Whiteness," adding to what critics say is a growing number of courses aimed at the study of "whiteness" at colleges and universities around the country.

Hunter College -- a public school in Manhattan that is part of the City University of New York -- is advertising a course in its Fall 2017 catalog that examines "how whiteness and/or white supremacy and violence is intertwined with conceptions of gender, race, sexuality, class, body ability, nationality, and age."

The "Abolition of Whiteness," taught by Prof.Jennifer Gaboury, can be taken as either a women and gender studies course or a political science class, according to the school's online course catalog.

Hunter College in New York City.

The class has drawn ire on conservative media sites, such as the Daily Caller and Campus Reform, where some readers expressed outrage over the course's title. Critics say the course is part of a rise in white studies classes in higher education, which they claim are "divisive" and detrimental to student learning.

"These courses really pound a wedge between people based on race," said Arizona State Rep. Bob Thorpe, who had tried to ban a course at Arizona State University called "Whiteness and Race Theory."

"They're not bringing people together and creating unity on the college campus," Thorpe told Fox News.

"The taxpayers are funding these kinds of courses as well," said Thorpe, claiming, "You're not really seeing these classes in private institutions."

But educators and those who work in academia say such classes are being distorted and critics are failing to recognize a fundamental purpose of higher education:to make students think for themselves.

"Academic freedom protects the right for people to teach things that some might consider divisive," said Hans-Joerg Tiede of the American Association of University Professors.

"A provocative title may encourage students to really think about the issues," said Tiede, who likened criticizing course titles -- like the one at Hunter College -- to judging a book by its cover.

These courses really pound a wedge between people based on race.

Georgetown University, for instance, a private Catholic school, offers a popular theology course called, "The Problem of God," which "grapples with deep and difficult questions about life, meaning purpose and fulfillment," according to Georgetown's website.

"It explores the notion of God and fundamental aspects of belief in such a being," says the school, where theology courses are a requirement for undergraduate students.

"I am sure there may be people who look at Georgetowns course catalog and consider the class title to be offensive," noted Tiede.

Tiede said he was not familiar with the "Abolition of Whiteness" course being offered at Hunter College but said the class was likely reviewed by a committee of people before it was approved. Neither the school nor the professor was immediately available for comment when contacted by Fox News. A syllabus for the course was not available online.

"A course like this could investigate a number of issues regarding race relations in the United States," Tiede said.

"Unfortunately, you have a far-right, outrage machine out there that is trolling the internet for titles that may upset some readers and to use that to sort of stoke resentment against higher education," added Tiede. "Im not questioning the right to do that I just don't think its productive or promotes the rights that higher education seeks to encourage."

Thorpe, meanwhile, disagrees, saying such "white studies" courses only reinforce prejudices -- and may in some cases spur violence -- against a particular group.

Thorpe and other critics note that such "polarizing" courses on white studies are on the rise across higher education institutions around the country.

A class at Ohio State University, titled "Crossing Identity Boundaries," teaches students how to detect microaggressions and white privilege. And the University of Wisconsin-Madison offers a course called, "The Problem of Whiteness," which has been roundly criticized by state Republican lawmakers.

"I am extremely concerned that UW-Madison finds it appropriate to teach a course called, The Problem of Whiteness, with the premise that white people are racist,Rep. Dave Murphy, chairman of the Wisconsin Assemblys Committee on Colleges and Universities,told theMilwaukee Journal Sentinel in a December 2016 interview.

"If you had a class that said 'the problem with women' or 'the problem with blacks' it would never happen," Thorpe said of the course at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"I think of Martin Luther King's famous words about how we should judge a person based on the content of their character and not the color of their skin," said Thorpe. "You would think that this would be a fairly settled issue but it is not."

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New York public college offering course called 'Abolition of Whiteness' - Fox News

The former head of the NAACP is putting social and economic justice at the heart of his campaign.

Former president and CEO of the NAACP Ben Jealous announces his bid to be the Democratic partys nominee and challenge Republican Governor Larry Hogan. (The Baltimore Sun via AP / Kenneth K. Lam)

Former NAACP President Ben Jealous entered the race for governor of Maryland with an honest complaint and an audacious promise. In an era when Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions, and Paul Ryan are working feverishly to reverse the progress of the past century, Jealous argues that progressive states are positioned to build the framework for the progress of the coming century.

Decrying the failure of Republican Governor Larry Hogan and his statehouse allies to resist the new administration in Washington, Jealous declared in his announcement this week that The current leadership has missed every opportunity to stand up to Donald Trump. They have let him trample over the progress our state strived to usher in. We have a rare opportunity right now and hidden inside of it, an obligation. We must bring people together across all lines, and make all forms of difference less important: whether it be race, class, region or religion.

In that unity, argues Jealous, there is the power not just to thwart Trump and Trumpism but to shape an alternative vision for the next American politics.

Jealous faces Democratic primary competition and, if he gets the nomination, a challenging political fight with a well-financed Republican incumbent. But he enters the race with a striking rsum and an inspired agenda that is all but certain to make the Maryland contest a key measure of the national mood in 2018.

Ben Jealous: Voting is the thread that binds the fabric of our democracy together...

With deep roots in Marylandhis parents were Baltimore educators and civil-rights activistsJealous speaks of uniting the state around an economic- and social-justice agenda that extends from his groundbreaking work as executive director of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (the federation of African-American community newspapers), as director of the US Human Rights Program at Amnesty International, and as the youngest president in the history of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Jealous has for years earned high praise for his organizing and coalition-building skills, which he put to work as he steered the NAACP into fights for abolition of the death penalty and an end to mass incarceration, for environmental justice and marriage equality. But the Rhodes Scholar has, as well, been a visionary advocate for a bolder and more inclusive American democracy.

THE STAKES ARE HIGHER NOW THAN EVER. GET THE NATION IN YOUR INBOX.

With the NAACP, which he led from 2008 to 2013, Jealous was ahead of the curve in recognizing the threat posed by right-wing groups such as the American Legislative Exchange Council to progress in the states. In particular, he focused on the rising tide of voter-suppression legislation, writing years ago about the voter suppression we ignore at democracys peril.

Jealous worked to address the peril not just by leading the NAACP in opposing bad legislation but by mounting a massive organizing drive to register 375,000 voters and to get 1.2 million new voters to the polls for the 2012 presidential election. And he did not stop there. In his final address as NAACP president, Jealous outlined a voting-rights agenda that he linked to the struggle for economic and social justice.

Speaking just days after the Supreme Courts Shelby County v. Holder 2013 decision to strike down key elements of the Voting Rights Act, Jealous declared:

As soon as we turn 18, WE HAVE OUR RIGHT TO VOTE

This is the right that has been won by our ancestors again and again. Through the American Revolution, THROUGH the Civil War, THROUGH the Womens Suffrage Movement, and THROUGH the Civil Rights movement itself.

Securing the right to vote for ALL OF US was THE GOAL that Harry and Harriette Moore died for. that Medgar [Evers] was assassinated for pursuing, that Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner were executed for implementing.

This is the goal that so many in this room have risked their lives for.

Why?

Because we have ALWAYS understood that we are ultimately rendered defenseless when our access to the ballot box is diminished.

Simply put, in a democracy, our right to vote is THE right UPON WHICH our ability to defend all of our other rights is leveraged.

We have to understand what the other side knows to be true. If they can reduce our access to the polls, it will be harder for us to win any of the other fights that we may hold more dear.

Fights for education equity, for health care access. for equality for JUSTICE.

Voting is the thread that binds the fabric of our Democracy togetherpull it hard enough and the whole thing falls apart.

So while voting rights may not be the most important issue to any one of us

With this ruling in Shelby versus Holder it has just become the MOST IMPORTANT FIGHT for ALL of us.

Jealous carried that vision for an expanded and emboldened democracy forward, as an ardent supporter of the 2016 presidential bid by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for the Democratic presidential nomination. Recalling the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s argument that a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus, Jealous hailed the senator for drawing disenfranchised and disenchanted voters into the process with the sort of freedom-minded conviction that strikes fear in the military industrial complex, the prison industrial complex, and the worst of Wall Street.

This combined faith in the absolute necessity of expanded voting rights and the parallel necessity of an expanded message that excites and energizes voters distinguishes Ben Jealous from most political figures in the Republican and the Democratic parties. He is willing to push harder, to go bolder. He is prepared to resist, but he is also determined to present the vision for what can and must be accomplished when the resistance prevails.

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Ben Jealous Is Running for Governor of Marylandand He Has an Inspired Agenda - The Nation.

The State has a primary duty to provide care for children where their parents are unable to do so. Young people who need to be removed from their families under emergency legislation for their own safety are the most vulnerable of all. Yet, a comprehensive audit into Garda use of these emergency powers exposes a series of serious failings which are placing some of these children at further risk.

An analysis of more than 5,400 cases over eight years on the Gardas computer systems shows a dearth of child-protection training, poor communications with social services and limited co-operation. Out-of-hours social work service is inadequate, with significant gaps and limited availability in some parts of the State, it finds. Most troubling is evidence that vulnerable children are being removed from their family circumstances by garda only to be returned within a short period by social workers without risk assessments being conducted.

These findings point to systemic failings on the front lines of our child-protection services and pose troubling questions over social work practice, the resources available for risk assessment and the slow pace of the authorities in tackling recurring failures.

These are not new problems. The establishment of Tusla as a single agency three years ago with responsibility for child protection was supposed to change this. The promise from government ministers at the time was that it would deliver a seamless integration of policy and service delivery and that it would be a ferocious corporate parent. The reality is that some of our child protection and welfare services are creaking. Many social work teams are consumed with emergency cases and do not have sufficient time for the painstaking and resource-heavy work of determining the level of risk facing individual children.

For all its failures, calls in some quarters for the abolition of the agency are misplaced. Tusla has hastened some welcome reforms. There has been a greater emphasis on standardising responses and it is developing novel ways of working with the wider community. However, it has been starved of resources and political will.

As a result, it has been left to limp along with enough capacity to function but nowhere near what is required to shift the agencys focus from firefighting towards early intervention. The benefits of a single child protection agency remain unfulfilled.

It is time for proper investment in supports and services to deliver the kind of decisive, system-wide changes that are so badly needed. Failure to do so as a State and a society will mean we cannot feign surprise if vulnerable children continue to fall through the cracks of a dysfunctional system. It is a matter of political priorities.

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Children at risk: failing our most vulnerable - Irish Times

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By Rob Shimshock

Students at a public university in New York will have the chance to take a class called the Abolition of Whiteness in the fall, all while knocking out a political science requirement.

Jennifer Gaboury, a women and gender studies professor, teaches Abolition of Whiteness at Hunter College. POLSC 20474-01: Abolition of Whiteness can be taken as either a women and gender studies course, or as a class for the political science department, for which it fulfills a requirementfor the 4 subfields of political science, according to Campus Reform.

Abolition of Whiteness course listing (Photo: Courtesy of Campus Reform)

The classs listing on the schools course catalog provides only a vague description of its content, but a flyerdisplaying a fall 2016 offeringof the course claims it examines how whiteness and/or white supremacy and violence is intertwined with conceptions of gender, race, sexuality, class, body ability, nationality, and age.

Students obtain 3 credits for taking Abolition of Whiteness and 15 out of 25 seats in the course were full when the screenshot was taken, Campus Reform reported Thursday.

In addition to teaching the course, Gaboury serves as assistant director of Hunter Colleges Women and Gender Studies Program. Her work pertains to masculinities, feminisms, and politics; she is currently working on a project related to race and sex segregation in public bathroom facilities.

The Daily Caller News Foundation reached out to Gaboury and Hunter College for more information regarding the course, but received no comment in time for publication.

Abolition of WhitenessHunter CollegeJennifer Gaboury

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'Abolition Of Whiteness' Course Fulfills Political Science Requirement - The Libertarian Republic

Pourakarmikas protest, demand abolition of contract system The Hindu Wielding brooms, pourakarmikas gathered at the Freedom Park here on Thursday demanding the abolition of contract system and threatening to strike work from June 12 if their demands are not met. Narayan, State president, Karnataka Rajya Nagarapaalike, ...

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Pourakarmikas protest, demand abolition of contract system - The Hindu

American colleges and universities, and the Leftists who dominate them, are blind to their own bigotry and hypocrisy.

If a school offered a class titled "The Problems of Blackness," academia -- and everyone else -- would be outraged, and for good reason. That class material would be racist as hell. Yet change it to "The Problems of Whiteness," and you have a course that would be applauded for speaking openly about race.

Of course, I'm sugarcoating it. The modern Left isn't into simply discussing their hate anymore.

The class in question sounds like it's moved far beyond "speaking openly" to outright advocating for genocide, as it's actually called"The ABOLITION of Whiteness":

While the schools official course catalog discloses very little about what is actually discussed in the course, a flyer advertising a previous iteration of the class from the fall of 2016 describes it as an overview of whiteness studies in the United States, specifically focusing on concepts of consciousness, in/visibility, disavowal, and resentment.

Well be examining how whiteness -- and/or white supremacy and violence -- is intertwined with conceptions of gender, race, sexuality, class, body ability, nationality, and age, the description continues, adding that a petition for this course is on file with the College Senate so that it fulfills Pluralism and Diversity Parts B, C, or D, referring to mandatory courses that focus, respectively, on the historical conditions, perspectives and/or intellectual traditions of ethnic minorities in the U.S., women and those with non-traditional sexual orientations, and Europeans.

While the description of the class implies the usual racistbunk that white people are inherently evil,sitting on top of the heap, looking down at everyone around them, the biggest issue may just be that title. Gaboury, who is white, doesn't seem to understand that "abolishing" whiteness is going to involve, you know, genocide.

Try to offera class on "The Abolition of Blackness" or "The Abolition of Hispanic-ness" and hell would break loose. The professor would find himself out of work immediately -- and his safety threatened. Students would mob administrators, demanding more sensitivity training, anti-racism programs, and "white-free" safe spaces.

Violence, bigotry, fascism, everything evil you can think of is in style now on college campuses.

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College Actually Offers 'Abolition Of Whiteness' Class - PJ Media - PJ Media

Times Now

Cabinet approves abolition of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) Times Now Henceforth, the work relating to processing of applications for FDI and approval of the Government thereon under the extant FDI Policy and Foreign Exchange Management Act, shall now be handled by the concerned Ministries/Departments in consultation ... Govt approves phasing out of 25-year-old Foreign Investment Promotion BoardThe Hindu Make in India gets sourcing push from govtBusiness Standard all 94 news articles »

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Cabinet approves abolition of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) - Times Now

Diane Abbott has insisted her previous views on the IRA have changed, just like her afro.

The Shadow Home Secretary made the surprising comment as she was grilled on her alleged comment in 1984 that "every defeat of the British state is a victory for all of us."

BBC presenter Andrew Marr asked her about the claim, which the Sunday Times said was made in an interview with pro-republican journal Labour and Ireland.

Ms Abbott replied: "It was 34 years ago, I had a rather splendid afro at the time, I dont have the same hairstyle and I dont have the same views.

"It is 34 years on. The hairstyle has gone, and some of the views have gone."

She dismissed the quote as coming "from a now defunct left newspaper", but did not deny saying it and would not say she regretted it.

Tory Home Secretary Amber Rudd snapped back: "Ive changed my hairstyle a few times in 34 years as well but Ive not changed my view about how we keep the British people safe."

Grilled minutes later on ITV, Jeremy Corbyn appeared not to be caught unawares.

"Diane's hairstyle is a matter for Diane," the Labour leader said, adding: "We learnt all of us a lot from the whole experience of Northern Ireland."

Ms Abbott's apparent comments were revealed in a report in the Sunday Times last week.

She was quoted in 1984 as saying Ireland "is our struggle - every defeat of the British state is a victory for all of us. A defeat in Northern Ireland would be a defeat indeed."

During her interview Ms Abbott defended voting against orders to proscribe alleged terror organisations, saying: "The reality of some of those groups is they were dissidents in their country of origin."

She said she, like some Tory MPs, was simply holding the government to account.

She also confirmed Labour's pledge today to hire 1,000 more intelligence and security officers was merely a pledge to fulfil what has already been announced.

But she denied reports she wants to wipe clean police DNA records, saying she would only do so for children who committed no crime.

She said "of course" she would no longer call for the abolition of MI5, because the nature of the organisation has changed since the 1980s.

And she insisted she could be trusted with tracking terror suspects if Labour wins the general election on June 8.

She said: "I was a Home Office civil servant. I know how these things work.

"If the files are put in front of me, evidence is put in front of me, of course I'll sign orders for surveillance."

The interview came as Manchester prepares to close the first week since the terror bombing by Salman Abedi that killed 22 concert-goers at an Ariana Grande gig.

Labour restated its commitment to hire 10,000 more police officers, 3,000 more firefighters, 3,000 more prison officers and 500 more border guards.

Jeremy Corbyn said: "Ensuring the safety of our communities demands properly resourced action across many fronts.

"It means upholding and enforcing our individual rights, promoting community relations, supporting our emergency services, tackling and preventing crime and protecting us from danger, including threats of terror and violence."

Meanwhile the Tories announced a new Commission for Countering Extremism would have a remit to clamp down on "unacceptable cultural norms" such as female genital mutilation, and promote "British values".

It will also act to ensure that women's rights are upheld in all of Britain's ethnic and religious communities, Theresa May said.

Mrs May wrote in the Sun on Sunday: "Enough is enough. We need to be stronger and more resolute in standing up to those who hate our values and want to destroy the freedoms we hold dear".

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Labour's Diane Abbott claims her views on the IRA have changed, just like her 'splendid afro' - Mirror.co.uk

The Hindu

Govt approves phasing out of 25-year-old Foreign Investment Promotion Board The Hindu The proposal entails abolishing the FIPB and allowing administrative Ministries/Departments to process applications for FDI requiring government approval, an official statement said. It added: Henceforth, the work relating to processing of ... Cabinet approves abolition of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB)Times Now Union Cabinet approves abolition of Foreign Investment Promotion BoardJagran Josh Make in India gets major sourcing push from Modi govtBusiness Standard domain-B all 94 news articles »

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Govt approves phasing out of 25-year-old Foreign Investment Promotion Board - The Hindu