Category Archives: Liberal

An estimated 580 homes, a hotel and a shopping centre have burned and tens of thousands of people were evacuated in wind-fuelled wildfires outside Denver, officials say. At least one first responder and six others were injured, though Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle acknowledged there could be more injuries and deaths could be possible due to the intensity of fires that quickly swept across the region as winds gusted up to 169km/h. The first fire erupted just before 10.30am on Thursday and was "attacked pretty quickly and laid down later in the day and is currently being monitored" with no structures lost, Pelle said. A second wildfire, reported just after 11am, "ballooned and spread rapidly east", Pelle said. The blaze spans 6.5 square kilometres and has engulfed parts of the area in smoky, orange-hued skies and sent residents scrambling to get to safety. The activity of the fires, which are burning unusually late into the winter season, will depend on how the winds behave overnight and could determine when crews are able to go in and begin assessing the damage and searching for any victims. "This is the kind of fire we can't fight head on," Pelle said. "We actually had deputy sheriffs and firefighters in areas that had to pull out because they just got overrun," he added. Evacuations have been ordered for the city of Louisville, home to about 21,000 people, and Superior, which has another 13,000 residents. The neighbouring towns are roughly 32 kilometres northwest of Denver in an area filled with middle and upper-middle class subdivisions surrounded by shopping centres, parks and schools. The area is in between Denver and Boulder, a foothills college town home to the University of Colorado. Residents evacuated fairly calmly and orderly, but the winding streets in the suburban subdivisions quickly became clogged as people tried to get out. It sometimes took cars as long as 45 minutes to advance less than a kilometre. Small fires cropped up here and there in surprising places -- on the grass in a median or in a dumpster in the middle of a parking lot -- as wind gusts caused the fire to jump and spread. Shifting winds caused the skies to turn from clear to smoky and then back again as emergency sirens blared nearby. Some of the several blazes in the area on Thursday were sparked by downed power lines. Six people who were injured in the fires were being treated at UCHealth Broomfield Hospital, spokesperson Kelli Christensen said. A nearby portion of US Highway 36 also was shut down. Colorado's Front Range, where most of the state's population lives, had an extremely dry and mild fall, and winter so far has continued to be mostly dry. Denver set a record for most consecutive days without snow before it got a small storm on December 10. It hasn't snowed since, though snow was expected in the region Friday. The fires prompted Governor Jared Polis to declare a state of a emergency, allowing the state to access disaster emergency funds. The evacuations come as climate change is making weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive, scientists say. A historic drought and heat waves have made wildfires harder to fight in the US West. Ninety per cent of Boulder County is in severe or extreme drought, and hasn't seen substantial rainfall since mid-summer. The National Weather Service predicts up to a foot of snow could fall tomorrow in Boulder, and that moisture would bring substantial relief, Musselman said. Australian Associated Press

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December 31 2021 - 3:38PM

An estimated 580 homes, a hotel and a shopping centre have burned and tens of thousands of people were evacuated in wind-fuelled wildfires outside Denver, officials say.

At least one first responder and six others were injured, though Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle acknowledged there could be more injuries and deaths could be possible due to the intensity of fires that quickly swept across the region as winds gusted up to 169km/h.

The first fire erupted just before 10.30am on Thursday and was "attacked pretty quickly and laid down later in the day and is currently being monitored" with no structures lost, Pelle said.

A second wildfire, reported just after 11am, "ballooned and spread rapidly east", Pelle said. The blaze spans 6.5 square kilometres and has engulfed parts of the area in smoky, orange-hued skies and sent residents scrambling to get to safety.

The activity of the fires, which are burning unusually late into the winter season, will depend on how the winds behave overnight and could determine when crews are able to go in and begin assessing the damage and searching for any victims.

"This is the kind of fire we can't fight head on," Pelle said. "We actually had deputy sheriffs and firefighters in areas that had to pull out because they just got overrun," he added.

Evacuations have been ordered for the city of Louisville, home to about 21,000 people, and Superior, which has another 13,000 residents.

The neighbouring towns are roughly 32 kilometres northwest of Denver in an area filled with middle and upper-middle class subdivisions surrounded by shopping centres, parks and schools.

The area is in between Denver and Boulder, a foothills college town home to the University of Colorado.

Residents evacuated fairly calmly and orderly, but the winding streets in the suburban subdivisions quickly became clogged as people tried to get out. It sometimes took cars as long as 45 minutes to advance less than a kilometre.

Small fires cropped up here and there in surprising places -- on the grass in a median or in a dumpster in the middle of a parking lot -- as wind gusts caused the fire to jump and spread.

Shifting winds caused the skies to turn from clear to smoky and then back again as emergency sirens blared nearby.

Some of the several blazes in the area on Thursday were sparked by downed power lines.

Six people who were injured in the fires were being treated at UCHealth Broomfield Hospital, spokesperson Kelli Christensen said. A nearby portion of US Highway 36 also was shut down.

Colorado's Front Range, where most of the state's population lives, had an extremely dry and mild fall, and winter so far has continued to be mostly dry.

Denver set a record for most consecutive days without snow before it got a small storm on December 10. It hasn't snowed since, though snow was expected in the region Friday.

The fires prompted Governor Jared Polis to declare a state of a emergency, allowing the state to access disaster emergency funds.

The evacuations come as climate change is making weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive, scientists say. A historic drought and heat waves have made wildfires harder to fight in the US West.

Ninety per cent of Boulder County is in severe or extreme drought, and hasn't seen substantial rainfall since mid-summer.

The National Weather Service predicts up to a foot of snow could fall tomorrow in Boulder, and that moisture would bring substantial relief, Musselman said.

Australian Associated Press

Originally posted here:

Hundreds of homes burn in US wildfires - Daily Liberal

news, national

A decision to stop boxer Mike Tyson entering Australia in 2001 went all the way to the top, previously private cabinet documents reveal. The papers from John Howard's cabinet in 2001, made public on Saturday, noted Tyson would fail the character test set for travellers entering Australia. Tyson was convicted in 1992 of raping an 18-year-old woman. The cabinet decided it was appropriate to deny Tyson a visa, but noted the final decision rested with the immigration minister. The newly declassified trove of documents also reveal cabinet weighed in on the visa application of high-profile rapper, Eminem, on character grounds. Marshall Mathers III, who uses the stage name Eminem, was sentenced to two years' probation in the US months earlier for carrying a concealed weapon. Then-immigration minister Philip Ruddock took into consideration the views of other cabinet members and ultimately decided to rubberstamp his visa, allowing the performer's two-day tour. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) Lifeline 13 11 14 Australian Associated Press

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-feed-data/51e5e403-5582-4c3e-bbab-5b718d1d030e.jpg/r0_74_800_526_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg

A decision to stop boxer Mike Tyson entering Australia in 2001 went all the way to the top, previously private cabinet documents reveal.

The papers from John Howard's cabinet in 2001, made public on Saturday, noted Tyson would fail the character test set for travellers entering Australia.

Tyson was convicted in 1992 of raping an 18-year-old woman.

The cabinet decided it was appropriate to deny Tyson a visa, but noted the final decision rested with the immigration minister.

The newly declassified trove of documents also reveal cabinet weighed in on the visa application of high-profile rapper, Eminem, on character grounds.

Marshall Mathers III, who uses the stage name Eminem, was sentenced to two years' probation in the US months earlier for carrying a concealed weapon.

Then-immigration minister Philip Ruddock took into consideration the views of other cabinet members and ultimately decided to rubberstamp his visa, allowing the performer's two-day tour.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

Australian Associated Press

See more here:

Mike Tyson Australia ban went to the top - Daily Liberal

video,

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the metaphorical water after a challenging 2020, along came 2021. It's been another 12 months full of COVID, controversies and crises as we all know. But along they way there have been beacons of light, too. As always the staples were there - natural disasters, political intrigue as well as public triumphs and disasters. But this year everything was experienced with a COVID-19 undercurrent. Here's to the newsmakers and shakers, and also the ACM photographers who captured the events that have defined our 2021. Scroll right down for even more images. Former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins, who has alleged she was raped by a colleague inside Parliament House in 2019, made an impromptu speech at the Canberra chapter of the national March 4 Justice protests on March 15, 2021. Ms Higgins' accounts of what happened to her and how the alleged crime was handled sparked fierce national debate about a dangerous male political and parliamentary culture. Picture: Karleen Minney, The Canberra Times. Two police officers console each other on the grounds of Hillcrest Primary School in Devonport, Tasmania where six children lost their lives after a jumping castle became airborne at end-of-year celebrations on December 16, 2021. Picture: Simon Sturzaker, The Advocate. Newcastle, NSW residents Charmaine Sorrenson, 33, and her kids Emma, 7, and Eli, 5, along with their cat, Oompa, spent Christmas Day in isolation like thousands of other Australians who tested positive for COVID-19 over the 2021 festive season. Picture: Marina Neil, Newcastle Herald. Chrissy Pignataro, pictured underwater in May 2021, suffers from a severe type of migraine which affects less than five per cent of migraine sufferers. Cold water therapy has helped her get her life back. Picture: Sylvia Liber, Illawarra Mercury It was one of the most enduring images of not just 2021 but also the previous 12 months - testers covered in personal protection equipment at your car window. COVID-19 testing stations galore were established across the country, this one is at the Bendigo Showgrounds in Victoria in September 2021. Picture Darren Howe, Bendigo Advertiser. Sheep being mustered at Kallara Station near Tilpa on the Darling River. Stunning drone images of the Darling River were captured as part of ACM's Forgotten River multimedia series drawing attention to the plight of a this key water source for irrigators, water traders and floodplain harvesters - and the Indigenous Barkindji people. Picture: John Hanscombe, Canberra Times. 2021 Australian of the Year Grace Tame, an advocate for survivors of sexual assault, makes an address at the National Press Club in Canberra on March 3, 2021. Picture: Karleen Minney, The Canberra Times. Iconic Indigenous singer-songwriter Archie Roach, who is an ARIA Hall of Fame inductee, was named Moyne Shire NAIDOC ambassador in July, 2021. He is pictured here with his award. Picture: Morgan Hancock, Warrnambool Standard. Liberal MP Christian Porter, pictured during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday, June 21, 2021. He announced in December he would quit politics after the next federal election following a scandal-ridden year in which he identified himself as the then-minister reported by the ABC as being accused of raping a woman in 1988. He strenuously denies the allegations. Picture: Dion Georgopoulos, The Canberra Times. A renewed search for William Tyrrell on November 20, 2021 at Kendall south of Port Macquarie in NSW, just 1km away from where the three-year-old was last seen on September 12, 2014. This was part of a four-week operation involving 30 police officers. Picture: Peter Lorimer, Newcastle Herald. Yuin elder Kevin Mason, 75, pictured near Narooma in November 2021, has been fishing the waters of the NSW south coast his whole life. His story is at the centre of a long-running dispute over Aboriginal people's right to hunt and gather in their waters. Picture: Sitthixay Ditthavong, The Canberra Times. A young girl waits on the shore at Wynyard in north west Tasmania for word of her missing uncle, one of three young people who disappeared at sea in October 2021. His body washed ashore hours later. Picture: Brodie Weeding, The Advocate. 2021 ended at a crawl with huge queues and hours-long waiting times to get tested for COVID-19. Pictured is the queue at Marius Street Sporting Fields testing clinic in Tamworth, NSW. Picture Peter Hardin, The Northern Daily Leader. Vicki Jans is pictured in November, 2021 selling her collection of 7000 ornamental cows. She and her husband are dairy farmers and are selling the cows before they retire to travel around Australia in a caravan. Picture: Morgan Hancock, Warrnambool Standard. A person is rescued from Manning River flooding at Taree in March 2021 during an extreme rainfall event on Australia's east coast which caused record-breaking floods and widespread damage. Photo Scott Calvin, Manning River Times Longreach's John Hawkes and Ollie the Brahman bullock say hello to Prime Minister Scott Morrison at Beef Australia 2021 in Rockhampton in May - a brief reprieve from federal politics dominated by the pandemic and the Coalition's poor standing with women. Picture: Lucy Kinbacher, Queensland Country Life. The mouse plague that devastated farms across central-western NSW in 2021 destroyed Gunnedah farmer Geoffrey Barker's sunflower crop. Picture: Gareth Gardner, The Northern Daily Leader. A scaled-back and more intimate Anzac Day dawn service was held on April 25, 2021 under COVID-19 restrictions at Fort Scratchley in Newcastle, NSW, ending with a four-gun salute to the fallen. Picture: Marina Neil, Newcastle Herald. Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce in his electorate in Tamworth, NSW after becoming deputy prime minister for the third time in June 2021. Picture: Gareth Gardner, The Northern Daily Leader. The Bendigo Theatre Company leapt on a brief reprieve from coronavirus lockdown in July 2021 to put on three shows of We Will Rock You which was delayed in 2020 due to the pandemic. Australia's arts and entertainment industry has been hard hit by COVID-19. Picture: Darren Howe, Bendigo Advertiser.

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/GJZ5TVpAk84wrTzsQfLQRB/952fdcbf-3212-4e6f-ac84-a81e9ec5a403.png/r4_0_1916_1080_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg

WATCH

December 31 2021 - 1:00PM

The photos that defined 2021

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/GJZ5TVpAk84wrTzsQfLQRB/952fdcbf-3212-4e6f-ac84-a81e9ec5a403.png/r4_0_1916_1080_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg

Photos of of the year by ACM photographers.

video,

2021-12-31T13:00:00+11:00

https://players.brightcove.net/3879528182001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6289242117001

https://players.brightcove.net/3879528182001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6289242117001

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the metaphorical water after a challenging 2020, along came 2021.

It's been another 12 months full of COVID, controversies and crises as we all know. But along they way there have been beacons of light, too.

As always the staples were there - natural disasters, political intrigue as well as public triumphs and disasters. But this year everything was experienced with a COVID-19 undercurrent.

Here's to the newsmakers and shakers, and also the ACM photographers who captured the events that have defined our 2021.

Scroll right down for even more images.

Brittany Higgins. Photo: Karleen Minney, The Canberra Times

Former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins, who has alleged she was raped by a colleague inside Parliament House in 2019, made an impromptu speech at the Canberra chapter of the national March 4 Justice protests on March 15, 2021. Ms Higgins' accounts of what happened to her and how the alleged crime was handled sparked fierce national debate about a dangerous male political and parliamentary culture. Picture: Karleen Minney, The Canberra Times.

Hillcrest Public School. Photo: Simon Sturzaker, The Advocate

Two police officers console each other on the grounds of Hillcrest Primary School in Devonport, Tasmania where six children lost their lives after a jumping castle became airborne at end-of-year celebrations on December 16, 2021. Picture: Simon Sturzaker, The Advocate.

Eli Sorrenson with his mum Charmaine and sister Emma. Photo: Marina Neil, Newcastle Herald

Newcastle, NSW residents Charmaine Sorrenson, 33, and her kids Emma, 7, and Eli, 5, along with their cat, Oompa, spent Christmas Day in isolation like thousands of other Australians who tested positive for COVID-19 over the 2021 festive season. Picture: Marina Neil, Newcastle Herald.

Chrissy Pignataro, pictured underwater in May 2021, suffers from a severe type of migraine which affects less than five per cent of migraine sufferers. Cold water therapy has helped her get her life back. Picture: Sylvia Liber, Illawarra Mercury

It was one of the most enduring images of not just 2021 but also the previous 12 months - testers covered in personal protection equipment at your car window. COVID-19 testing stations galore were established across the country, this one is at the Bendigo Showgrounds in Victoria in September 2021. Picture Darren Howe, Bendigo Advertiser.

Sheep mustering. Photo: John Hanscombe, The Canberra Times

Sheep being mustered at Kallara Station near Tilpa on the Darling River. Stunning drone images of the Darling River were captured as part of ACM's Forgotten River multimedia series drawing attention to the plight of a this key water source for irrigators, water traders and floodplain harvesters - and the Indigenous Barkindji people. Picture: John Hanscombe, Canberra Times.

Grace Tame. Photo: Karleen Minney

2021 Australian of the Year Grace Tame, an advocate for survivors of sexual assault, makes an address at the National Press Club in Canberra on March 3, 2021. Picture: Karleen Minney, The Canberra Times.

Archie Roach. Picture: Morgan Hancock, Warrnambool Standard

Iconic Indigenous singer-songwriter Archie Roach, who is an ARIA Hall of Fame inductee, was named Moyne Shire NAIDOC ambassador in July, 2021. He is pictured here with his award. Picture: Morgan Hancock, Warrnambool Standard.

Christian Porter. Photo: Dion Georgopoulos, The Canberra Times

Liberal MP Christian Porter, pictured during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday, June 21, 2021. He announced in December he would quit politics after the next federal election following a scandal-ridden year in which he identified himself as the then-minister reported by the ABC as being accused of raping a woman in 1988. He strenuously denies the allegations. Picture: Dion Georgopoulos, The Canberra Times.

William Tyrrell search. Photo: Peter Lorimer, Newcastle Herald

A renewed search for William Tyrrell on November 20, 2021 at Kendall south of Port Macquarie in NSW, just 1km away from where the three-year-old was last seen on September 12, 2014. This was part of a four-week operation involving 30 police officers. Picture: Peter Lorimer, Newcastle Herald.

Kevin Mason. Photo: Sitthixay Ditthavong, The Canberra Times

Yuin elder Kevin Mason, 75, pictured near Narooma in November 2021, has been fishing the waters of the NSW south coast his whole life. His story is at the centre of a long-running dispute over Aboriginal people's right to hunt and gather in their waters. Picture: Sitthixay Ditthavong, The Canberra Times.

Waiting. Photo: Brodie Weeding, The Advocate.

A young girl waits on the shore at Wynyard in north west Tasmania for word of her missing uncle, one of three young people who disappeared at sea in October 2021. His body washed ashore hours later. Picture: Brodie Weeding, The Advocate.

COVID-19 testing queues. Photo: Peter Hardin

2021 ended at a crawl with huge queues and hours-long waiting times to get tested for COVID-19. Pictured is the queue at Marius Street Sporting Fields testing clinic in Tamworth, NSW. Picture Peter Hardin, The Northern Daily Leader.

Vicki Jans. Picture: Morgan Hancock, Warrnambool Standard

Vicki Jans is pictured in November, 2021 selling her collection of 7000 ornamental cows. She and her husband are dairy farmers and are selling the cows before they retire to travel around Australia in a caravan. Picture: Morgan Hancock, Warrnambool Standard.

Saved. Photo Scott Calvin, Manning River Times

A person is rescued from Manning River flooding at Taree in March 2021 during an extreme rainfall event on Australia's east coast which caused record-breaking floods and widespread damage. Photo Scott Calvin, Manning River Times

Scott Morrison. Photo: Lucy Kinbacher, Queensland Country Life

Longreach's John Hawkes and Ollie the Brahman bullock say hello to Prime Minister Scott Morrison at Beef Australia 2021 in Rockhampton in May - a brief reprieve from federal politics dominated by the pandemic and the Coalition's poor standing with women. Picture: Lucy Kinbacher, Queensland Country Life.

Geoffrey Barker. Photo: Gareth Gardner, The Northern Daily Leader

The mouse plague that devastated farms across central-western NSW in 2021 destroyed Gunnedah farmer Geoffrey Barker's sunflower crop. Picture: Gareth Gardner, The Northern Daily Leader.

Anzac Day. Photo: Marina Neil, Newcastle Herald

A scaled-back and more intimate Anzac Day dawn service was held on April 25, 2021 under COVID-19 restrictions at Fort Scratchley in Newcastle, NSW, ending with a four-gun salute to the fallen. Picture: Marina Neil, Newcastle Herald.

Barnaby Joyce. Photo: Gareth Gardner, The Northern Daily Leader

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce in his electorate in Tamworth, NSW after becoming deputy prime minister for the third time in June 2021. Picture: Gareth Gardner, The Northern Daily Leader.

We Will Rock You musical. Photo: Darren Howe, Bendigo Advertiser.

The Bendigo Theatre Company leapt on a brief reprieve from coronavirus lockdown in July 2021 to put on three shows of We Will Rock You which was delayed in 2020 due to the pandemic. Australia's arts and entertainment industry has been hard hit by COVID-19. Picture: Darren Howe, Bendigo Advertiser.

+25

Continued here:

The images that defined 2021, by ACM photographers - Daily Liberal

news, national

Australians have farewelled 2021 with a record number of cases, a vaccination rate among the highest in the world and a new plan for COVID-19. Across all states and territories, Australia reported 32,941 new cases of COVID on Friday. More than 21,000 of Friday's new cases were in NSW, followed by 5919 in Victoria and 3118 in Queensland. The good news for those people is that from Friday, regardless of their vaccination status, positive cases will be able to leave isolation seven days after their initial positive test. The federal government scrapped the need for infected people to take a day-six rapid test, less than a day after announcing it. But Australia is still increasingly reliant on rapid antigen testing, prompting calls from industry groups for them to be made free or at least heavily subsidised. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said state testing centres would hand out rapid tests to those who require one under the rules, but they will not be provided free across the board. "For all other casual uses, that is what the private market is for," he said. The Australian Council of Social Services is concerned for vulnerable Australians who they say are often most at risk of catching COVID-19 and least able to afford the rapid tests. "We are very concerned that people relying on income support payments just can't afford $70 for a rapid antigen test kit, leaving them unable to assess their risk from COVID-19 for themselves, their families and the community," president Peter McNamara said. "It is irresponsible and callous of the federal government to fail to make provision for up to three million people already struggling to survive below the poverty line." Not all have welcomed new changes to the definition of a close contact either, after national cabinet agreed a close contact is a household or household-like contact of a confirmed COVID-19 case. Rural Doctors Association president Megan Belot said now wasn't the right time to water down the rules. "The new definition does not cover those who work together, at a time when many are returning to their regular workplace, and are in close contact for more than four hours each day, or those who have been exposed to the virus in close public settings," Dr Belot said. She also expressed concern that market demand for RAT kits mean rural Australians will have reduced access and have to pay higher prices, comparing the kits to PPE early in the pandemic. "Governments must ensure there is adequate access to RAT kits and PCR tests for all Australians, not just those in the cities," she said. In his new year message on Friday, Mr Morrison was positive about a future, describing Australians as quietly confident people with an optimistic spirit. "That is why, despite the pandemic, despite the floods, the fires, continuing drought in some areas, the cyclones, the lockdowns, even mice plagues, Australia is stronger today than we were a year ago," he said. "And we're safer." Australian Associated Press

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-feed-data/66295365-9c2f-411d-8d85-49660aee8ca9.jpg/r0_74_800_526_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg

Australians have farewelled 2021 with a record number of cases, a vaccination rate among the highest in the world and a new plan for COVID-19.

Across all states and territories, Australia reported 32,941 new cases of COVID on Friday.

More than 21,000 of Friday's new cases were in NSW, followed by 5919 in Victoria and 3118 in Queensland.

The good news for those people is that from Friday, regardless of their vaccination status, positive cases will be able to leave isolation seven days after their initial positive test.

The federal government scrapped the need for infected people to take a day-six rapid test, less than a day after announcing it.

But Australia is still increasingly reliant on rapid antigen testing, prompting calls from industry groups for them to be made free or at least heavily subsidised.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said state testing centres would hand out rapid tests to those who require one under the rules, but they will not be provided free across the board.

"For all other casual uses, that is what the private market is for," he said.

The Australian Council of Social Services is concerned for vulnerable Australians who they say are often most at risk of catching COVID-19 and least able to afford the rapid tests.

"We are very concerned that people relying on income support payments just can't afford $70 for a rapid antigen test kit, leaving them unable to assess their risk from COVID-19 for themselves, their families and the community," president Peter McNamara said.

"It is irresponsible and callous of the federal government to fail to make provision for up to three million people already struggling to survive below the poverty line."

Not all have welcomed new changes to the definition of a close contact either, after national cabinet agreed a close contact is a household or household-like contact of a confirmed COVID-19 case.

Rural Doctors Association president Megan Belot said now wasn't the right time to water down the rules.

"The new definition does not cover those who work together, at a time when many are returning to their regular workplace, and are in close contact for more than four hours each day, or those who have been exposed to the virus in close public settings," Dr Belot said.

She also expressed concern that market demand for RAT kits mean rural Australians will have reduced access and have to pay higher prices, comparing the kits to PPE early in the pandemic.

"Governments must ensure there is adequate access to RAT kits and PCR tests for all Australians, not just those in the cities," she said.

In his new year message on Friday, Mr Morrison was positive about a future, describing Australians as quietly confident people with an optimistic spirit.

"That is why, despite the pandemic, despite the floods, the fires, continuing drought in some areas, the cyclones, the lockdowns, even mice plagues, Australia is stronger today than we were a year ago," he said.

Australian Associated Press

Continue reading here:

New year but COVID pandemic continues - Daily Liberal

City in Seward County, Kansas

City and county seat in Kansas, United States

Liberal, Kansas

"Crossroads of Commerce"

67901, 67905

Liberal is the county seat of Seward County, Kansas, United States.[6] As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 19,825.[2][3] Liberal is home of Seward County Community College.

Early settler S. S. Rogers built the first house in what would become Liberal in 1872. Rogers became famous in the region for giving free water to thirsty travelers. Reportedly, Liberal gained its name from the common response to his acts of kindness, "That's very liberal of you."[7][8] In 1885 Rogers built a general store, and with it came an official U.S. Post Office. Rogers named the post office 'Liberal'. After the railroad was built close by, a plan for the town site was created in 1888. A year later the population was around 800.[7]

Drought caused some farmers to give up and look for more fertile territory; however, when the nearby Indian Territory was opened, more settlers headed to the cheap land that would become Oklahoma.[7]

Natural gas was discovered west of town, in what would become part of the massive Panhandle-Hugoton Gas Field, in 1920. Oil was discovered southwest of town in 1951. In 1963 the largest helium plant in the world, National Helium, was opened.[7]

Liberal is located at 37236N 1005541W / 37.04333N 100.92806W / 37.04333; -100.92806 (37.043418, 100.928133) at an elevation of 2,835 feet (864 m).[9] Located in southwestern Kansas at the intersection of U.S. Route 83 and U.S. Route 54, Liberal is 140 miles (225km) north-northeast of Amarillo, Texas, 202mi (325km) west-southwest of Wichita, and 288mi (463km) southeast of Denver, Colorado.[10][11]

The city lies approximately 10 miles (16km) southwest of the Cimarron River in the High Plains region of the Great Plains.[10]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.75 square miles (30.43km2), of which 11.61 square miles (30.07km2) is land and 0.14 square miles (0.36km2) is water.[12]

Liberal has a semi-arid steppe climate (Kppen BSk) characterized by hot, dry summers, cool, dry winters, and large diurnal temperature variation year-round; relative humidity averages 63%.[13][14] On average, January is the coldest month, July is the hottest month, and June is the wettest month.[15]

The monthly daily average temperature ranges from 34.1F (1.2C) in January to 79.3F (26.3C) in July. The high temperature reaches or exceeds 90F (32C) an average of 80 days a year and 100F (38C) an average of 18 days. The minimum temperature falls to or below 0F (17.8C) on an average 5.3 days a year. The highest temperature recorded in Liberal was 114F (45.6C) as recently as June 10, 1981; the coldest temperature recorded was 19F (28.3C) on January 7, 1912.[16]

On average, Liberal receives 20.15 inches (512mm) of precipitation annually, a majority of which occurs from May to August, and records 58 days of measurable precipitation.[16] Measurable snowfall occurs an average of 8.9 days per year with 6.1 days receiving at least 1.0 inch (2.5cm). Snow depth of at least one inch occurs an average of 9.5 days a year. Typically, the average window for freezing temperatures is October 21 through April 14, and that for temperatures below 0F or 17.8C from January 5 to January 24.[16] Liberal is located in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 7.[17]

As of the 2010 census,[18] there were 20,525 people, 6,623 households, and 4,838 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,832.6 people per square mile (707.6/km2). There were 7,118 housing units at an average density of 641.3 per square mile (248.9/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 68.6% White, 3.7% African American, 2.9% Asian, 0.8% American Indian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 20.6% from other races, and 3.2% from two or more races. Hispanics and Latinos of any race made up 58.7% of the population.[19]

There were 6,623 households, of which 42.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.7% were married couples living together, 7.1% had a male householder with no wife present, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.0% were non-families. 21.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.03, and the average family size was 3.54.[19]

The median age was 28.4 years. 32.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 12.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27.8% were from 25 to 44; 19.4% were from 45 to 64; and 8.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city population was 51.4% male and 48.6% female.[19]

The median income for a household in the city was $40,247, and the median income for a family was $44,167. Males had a median income of $31,435 versus $25,208 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,668. About 15.3% of families and 17.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.6% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those age 65 or over.[19]

As of the census[4] of 2000, there were 19,666 people, 6,498 households, and 4,756 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,778.4 people per square mile (686.5/km2). There were 7,014 housing units at an average density of 634.3 per square mile (244.9/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 63.56% White, 4.21% African American, 0.72% Native American, 3.25% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 23.93% from other races, and 3.27% from two or more races. 43.30% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 6,498 households, out of which 42.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.0% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.8% were non-families. 21.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.96 and the average family size was 3.46.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 31.7% under the age of 18, 12.1% from 18 to 24, 30.5% from 25 to 44, 16.7% from 45 to 64, and 9.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $36,482, and the median income for a family was $41,134. Males had a median income of $29,315 versus $22,017 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,108. About 14.3% of families and 17.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.8% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over.[4]

Energy and agriculture are the main economic drivers of the area. Natural resources include oil, natural gas, water, gravel and sand. The beef industry (ranches, feed lots and packing plants) is Liberal's largest source of employment. Hard winter wheat, corn, milo, alfalfa and cotton are common crops. Trucking is a major industry. Dairies and pork processors are a growing business.

As of 2012[update], 70.2% of the population over the age of 16 was in the labor force. 0.0% was in the armed forces, and 70.2% was in the civilian labor force with 63.4% being employed and 6.9% unemployed. The composition, by occupation, of the employed civilian labor force was: 28.5% in production, transportation, and material moving; 20.0% in natural resources, construction, and maintenance; 19.9% in sales and office occupations; 18.9% in management, business, science, and arts; and 12.6% in service occupations. The three industries employing the largest percentages of the working civilian labor force were: manufacturing (24.4%); educational services, health care, and social assistance (19.4%); and retail trade (10.5%).[19]

The cost of living in Liberal is relatively low; compared to a U.S. average of 100, the cost of living index for the city is 80.8.[20] As of 2012[update], the median home value in the city was $85,600, the median selected monthly owner cost was $961 for housing units with a mortgage and $383 for those without, and the median gross rent was $648.[19]

According to Liberal's 2011 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top 10 employers in the city are:[21]

Liberal has a commission-manager government with a city commission consisting of five members elected at-large. Elections occur every two years in the odd numbered year, and commissioners serve two-year or four-year terms depending on the number of votes they receive. Each year, the commission appoints a member to serve as mayor and another to serve as vice-mayor.[22] The city manager heads the city administration.[23]

The community is served by Liberal USD 480 public school district, which operates twelve schools in the city:[24]

There is also a Christian school in Liberal: Fellowship Baptist School (K-12).[25]

U.S. Route 83 runs north-south along the east side of the city, intersecting U.S. Route 54 which runs northeast-southwest. In addition, Liberal is the western terminus of U.S. Route 270 which runs concurrently with U.S. 83 south from the city.[10]

Liberal Mid-America Regional Airport is immediately west of the city.[26] Publicly owned, it has two operative paved runways and is used primarily for general aviation.[27] United Express provides airline service with daily flights to Denver.[28]

The Tucumcari Line of the Union Pacific Railroad runs parallel to U.S. 54 northeast-southwest through the city.[29]

Four newspapers are published in Liberal. The Leader & Times is the city's main daily newspaper, published six days a week.[30] It is the result of the merger between the city's two previous dailies, the High Plains Daily Leader and the Southwest Daily Times.[31] The publisher of the Leader & Times also prints a weekly Spanish language paper, El Lider.[32] Seward County Community College publishes a bi-weekly student newspaper, the Crusader.[33] The fourth paper is the Liberal Light, published weekly.[34]

Liberal is a center of broadcast media for southwest Kansas and the Oklahoma Panhandle. Two AM and seven FM radio stations are licensed to and broadcast from the city.[35][36] Liberal is in the Wichita-Hutchinson, Kansas television market,[37] and one television station broadcasts from the city: KSWE-LD, a sister station of KDGL-LD in Sublette, Kansas.[38]

On cable, viewers can receive stations from the Wichita/Hutchinson market (via semi-satellite stations in Garden City/Ensign), PBS' Tulsa affiliate, KOED, as well as Amarillo, Texas's CBS affiliate, KFDA-TV.

Liberal is famous for its annual Pancake Day race that is held in competition with the town of Olney, United Kingdom for the fastest time between both cities.[39]

Liberal has a water park known as Adventure Bay.

The fifth largest collection of civilian and military aircraft in the United States is located at the Mid-America Air Museum. Started with a gift of fifty planes by General Tom (Thomas) Welch, Jr., the museum has more than one hundred aircraft.[40]

The Coronado Museum has items from the Native Americans that lived in the area, as well as items from Francisco Vsquez de Coronado's expedition to the area in 1541, and the history of farming and ranching in the county in more recent times.[41]

Liberal is home to "The Land of Oz" exhibit from The Wizard of Oz, a recreation of Dorothy Gale's house and the famed Yellow Brick Road, featuring donated bricks bearing the names of former U.S. Senator Bob Dole, Ronald and Nancy Reagan, and Liza Minnelli (Judy Garland's daughter). This exhibit was originally designed and displayed for Topeka in 1981, but relocated here eleven years later by its creator Linda Windler.[42]

Liberal Memorial Library is located on North Kansas Avenue between Fifth and Sixth Streets in Cooper Park. The Book Front entrance was completed in April 1955 and designed by the building's architect George L. Pitcher. Wheeler Williams, a sculptor from New York, signed an agreement in October 1960 to mold the "Pioneer Mother of Kansas." This six foot statue, sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. D. K. Baty, was to be erected in Cooper Park on Memorial Day, May 30, 1961. It was placed opposite of the "Statue of Liberty," which was donated and placed in Cooper Park by the Boy Scouts of America.

The Liberal Bee Jays, a semi-professional baseball team, have won five national championships and 13 state championships. The Bee Jays have been coached by three major league managers and have sent 165 players to the major leagues.[43]

Notable individuals who were born in and/or have lived in Liberal include:

Continued here:

Liberal, Kansas - Wikipedia

New Years is approaching, and one resolution will help our democracy: Make a friend with opposing political views and be kinder to people you disagree with politically.

Liberal women, this especially means you, given new research from media company Axios showing just how intolerant young leftists, particularly females, are compared with conservatives.

Axios, working with the Generation Lab, found just 5 percent of Republican college students said they wouldnt befriend someone from the opposite party vs. 37 percent of Democrats.

It also determined 30 percent of Democrats and 7 percent of Republicans wouldnt work for someone who voted differently from them, while 71 percent of Democrats but only 31 percent of Republicans wouldnt date someone with opposing views.

Researchers found college-age women more likely than men to take strong partisan stances, with 76 percent of women and 86 percent of men saying theyd work for someone who voted for the opposing candidate. Axios reported just 68 percent of women, as opposed to 84 percent of men, would shop at or support the business of someone from the other party.

This new research is sad but not surprising, given how liberal our college campuses are. A 2016 Econ Journal Watch study examining voter registration of economics, history, journalism, law and psychology faculty at 40 leading universities, for example, found Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 12 to 1.

The study, conducted by Brooklyn College business professor Mitchell Langbert, George Mason University economist Daniel B. Klein and FICO economist Anthony J. Quain, noted the liberal ratio among faculty under age 36 was 23 to 1.

Samuel Abrams, a Sarah Lawrence College politics professor, found similar trends in his 2018 survey of 900 university administrators (people who manage professors and campuses). He reported, Only 6 percent of campus administrators identified as conservative to some degree, while 71 percent classified themselves as liberal or very liberal.

This year, student newspaper The Harvard Crimson surveyed 236 arts and sciences faculty members, and a mere 3 percent described themselves as somewhat or very conservative, versus 76 percent who identified as somewhat or very liberal. Thats a ratio of 25 to 1.

While the University has made a concerted effort across the past decade to promote gender and racial diversity among its faculty, Harvard has not made any explicit attempts to bolster representation from across the ideological spectrum, the papers Natalie Kahn wrote in April.

The left frightfully claims our democracy is under attack, but democracys root demos means people. If millions of liberals refuse to speak with and feel concern for millions of conservative people even though liberals claim to be enlightened and tolerant who is the threat to democracy?

Democracy Dies in Darkness, The Washington Post intones. Does that include darkness about half your fellow citizens?

Michael Barone wrote in The Wall Street Journal about how liberals are so immersed in cultural crock pots that they dont realize their ignorance.

Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt and his colleagues have shown that conservatives are better at understanding liberal views than the converse, Barone noted. Thats not surprising: Whereas liberal views permeate the news media and popular culture, liberals can easily avoid exposure to conservative views. That distorts their view of the world and produces oversensitivity to leftist social-media mobs along with overconfidence in demographic trends.

In a related vein, last summer the Cato Institute released research about political expression and self-censorship. It found 62 percent of Americans say the political climate prevents them from saying what they believe up from 58 percent in 2017.

Majorities of Democrats (52 percent), independents (59 percent) and Republicans (77 percent) feel they cannot express their views. Strong liberals are the only political group comfortable sharing their views (58 percent).

Cato found 31 percent of Americans support firing Donald Trump donors and 22 percent support firing Joe Biden donors; but 50 percent of strong liberals support firing Trump donors and 36 percent of strong conservatives support firing Biden donors.

My colleague Carrie Lukas wrote a whole book about our lopsided anti-conservative cultural bias. In Checking Progressive Privilege, she declared, Progressive privilege isnt just unfair to conservatives; it has warped our entire political environment and made our country more divided. Recognizing progressive privilege is the first step to ending it, so that we can have a fairer, more truly inclusive society.

To strengthen democracy, we need stronger civic fabric, which means speaking with and humanizing people with whom you disagree. Heres hoping for a brighter new year in which we do just that.

Carrie Sheffield is a senior policy analyst at Independent Womens Voice.

Go here to read the rest:

Liberals should resolve to be more tolerant in 2022 our democracy depends on it - New York Post

Every movement contains a range of viewpoints, from moderate to extreme. Unfortunately, Americans on each side of the political spectrum believeincorrectlythat hard-liners dominate the opposite camp.

After the killing of George Floyd last year, for example, liberal protesters across the nation pushed for criminal-justice reform, and many of the specific changes they sought enjoyed a lot of popular support. Even recent polls have shown that, regardless of political affiliation, most Americans remain in favor of police-accountability measures (such as body cameras and a registry of police misconduct), the banning of choke holds, and tackling racial injustices head on. Some activists went much further, though, demanding the complete elimination of police departments. Conservative pundits noticed. Soon, the Fox News host Tucker Carlson was presenting call after vivid call to abolish or radically defund policing. They would like to eliminate all law enforcement for good, he told viewers.

Read: Americas real wokeness divide

But supporters of police abolition are the exception, not the rule, on the American left, according to research that my colleagues Matthew Feinberg, Alexa Tullett, Anne E. Wilson, and I conducted. In late October 2020, we asked more than 1,000 people in the United States whether they agreed that police departments are irreversibly broken and racist, so the government needs to get rid of them completely. Only 28 percent of the self-described liberals even somewhat agreed, indicating that this was not a solid consensus on the left.

Although far out of step with what most liberals actually thought, Carlsons sampling of liberal views was emblematic of what conservatives believed about liberals. Conservatives in our sample estimated that 61 percent of liberalsmore than twice the actual numberendorsed the abolition of law enforcement. This is a striking example of what plagues our politics: a false polarization in which one side excoriates the other for views that it largely does not hold.

Left-leaning readers might not be surprised that conservatives would accept as widespread a caricature of the radical liberal, given that they are so clearly blinded by racism or pro-police sentiment that they would excuse even the most unjust excesses of force. But waitis this portrayal of conservatives accurate?

No. It isnt.

Just as liberals came to rally around #BlackLivesMatter, conservatives gravitated to #BlueLivesMatter. From the vocal conservatives who made excuses for misconduct or blamed victims, some liberal commentators concluded that the right is dominated by police apologists. In fact, many on the right recognize both the humanity and hardship of police officers and those harmed by them. When we asked conservatives if police were almost always justified in their shootings of Black people, only 31 percent of respondents even somewhat agreed with the sentiment. Liberals, on the other hand, estimated nearly double that number of conservatives57 percentgave police a free pass.

Some caveats: Our research, which is available as a preprint, is under review and subject to change. We drew our large samples of respondents from online survey platforms, not from nationally representative polling. We recognize that this sampleand therefore our estimates of the prevalence of liberal and conservative opinionsis not an exact microcosm of the country. Still, other researchers have concluded that these platforms are reasonably comparable to nationally representative polling.

The gap that we identified between what partisans really think and what their opponents think they think shows up again and againbut only on a particular kind of issue. People have a more accurate view of the other sides position on many standard policy issues, such as taxes or health care. But specifically on culture-war issues, partisans are likely to believe a caricatured version of the opposing sides attitudes. These misconceptions have hardened into enduring stereotypes: liberal snowflakes and free-speech police, conservative racists and deplorables.

In reality, just a third of liberal participants agreed even a little with banning controversial public speakers from college campuses, but conservatives estimated that 63 percent of liberals held that view. Only 22 percent of conservatives expressed hostile and unwelcoming attitudes toward immigrants, but liberals thought that 57 percent of them did. Our data suggest that many people are walking around with an exaggerated mental representation of what other Americans stand for.

Where do these ideas come from? Partisan media outlets have an incentive to stoke their audiences outrage by making extreme views seem commonplace. In our work, we saw that the more people reported consuming partisan news (a category in which, drawing on the work of other researchers, we included Fox News and MSNBC), the more they believed in a caricatured version of the other side.

Conor Friedersdorf: Americas blue and red tribes arent so far apart

Peoples perceptions of others are powerful, even when theyre wrong. We found that people disliked their opponents primarily for the fringe views most opponents didnt actually hold. Worse still, partisans who disliked their opponents most were least willing to engage with them, which likely forecloses the chance to have their misperceptions corrected through real-life personal contact. Instead, an oversimplified, exaggerated version of the other sides views is allowed to live on inside of everyones head.

Whats more, partisans told us they were hesitant to voice their opinions about the most extreme positions expressed by people on the same side of the spectrum. For example, liberals were less keen to talk publicly about the downsides of censoring free speech than they were to talk about the benefits of universal health care. So although a majority of liberals opposed censorship, their reluctance to criticize it openly might have led conservatives to think that most on the left favored it.

So what should politically minded Americans conclude from our researchthat, gosh, their opponents are just like them, and everyone should join hands in the center? Nope. Some policiesand some partisansdeserve forceful opposition, even contempt, from the other side. Vigorous disagreement, both within and between parties, is essential in a functioning democracy. But democracy also requires at least some level of mutual comprehension. No matter where people are on the political spectrum, they ought to know whom theyre fighting with and what theyre even fighting about.

Original post:

Conservatives and Liberals Are Wrong About Each Other - The Atlantic

What do you need, really, to be a teacher, anyway? asked the late Norm Macdonald in a stand-up routine, before answering his own question: Lets say youre teaching the third grade. What, what do you need? A fourth grade education. Really, anything above that ... youre overqualified, really, you know?

Norms joke was, of course, not serious. It was an exaggeration for comedic effect and not a suggestion for public policy. The question it raises, if not the punchline, though, was a valid one how much education does one need to teach?

According to pending federal legislation, quite a lot. The House-introduced reconciliation bill, the "Build Back Better" bill, includes a provision for universal, high-quality, free, inclusive, and mixed preschool services run by the states but funded by Washington, provided that at a minimum, [states] requir[e] that lead teachers in the preschool have a baccalaureate degree in early childhood education or a related field by not later than 7 years after the date of enactment of this Act.

In light of the predictable costs this mandate would impose, one has to wonder: What dire problem is it trying to solve?

The bizarre thing is that it can be hard even to find proponents arguing for this policy on the merits. A New York Times article discussing the bill mentioned this provision and cited an essay it had published four years ago arguing for the requirement. That piece cited evidence that high-quality early childhood education helps children, especially disadvantaged ones, for the rest of their lives but that low-quality preschool can hurt more than none at all. This is all well and good as far as it goes, except that the referenced study made no mention of the education of its educators as a variable.

Its little wonder that the American Enterprise Institutes education research fellow Max Eden has denounced college requirements for preschool teachers as regressive, declaring that there is no evidence to support this will help with student outcomes.

Why, then, are lawmakers considering a federal law that would fund preschool programs only if lead teachers have years of experience in special collegiate programs? After all, how many people genuinely believe preschool instruction is a discipline that requires years to learn and not a matter of brief on-the-job training?

Its no secret that college graduates are more liberal than the typical person. Pew Research Center polling over the past 20 years has seen the proportions of white Democrats self-identifying as liberal scale directly with education levels. More education tracks with more liberal engagement and activism and familiarity with niche woke jargon. In 2015, the share of mostly or consistently liberal people was 26% among those with high school or less education, 36% with some college, 44% with a college degree, and 54% with postgraduate experience.

And those numbers consider people on the basis of education in general theres reason to believe that those with college degrees in the humanities would be even further extreme than a generic graduate. A 2016 study that analyzed the party registration of college professors found that more hard disciplines, such as economics and law, featured less skewed ratios of registered Democrats to Republicans than departments such as journalism/communications and history. (Education was not a department studied.) History professors who were registered Democrats outnumbered Republicans 33.5 to 1. If increased Democratic registration tracks with more humanities fields, such as education, and with more liberal attitudes, then the above numbers about self-identified liberalism probably understate the ideological slant of this group.

With this in mind, its hard not to view this provision in a more sinister and power-centric light. Requiring preschool educators (or at least the lead teachers in charge of the rest) to have college degrees is a way to require that an ideologically distinct set of people oversees the full-time instruction of impressionable minds. That is the simplest way of explaining a national requirement that is so stringent yet also so starved for evidence or even vocal support. This rule is about influence and power.

Noah Diekemper is a senior research analyst at Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty.

The rest is here:

Proposed regulation would ensure more liberal teachers, not better education - Washington Examiner

Indias Liberal front is floundering in the deep waters of confusion and inaction. The rapid rise of the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has caught it off-guard, creating a political moment characterized by what an editorial of Krisis journal has called the feeling of being caught in a wave, heading somewhere dangerous, yet feeling unable to change its direction. An important feature of this image of citizens seized in a right-wing wave is that it includes those repulsed by it but unable to find anchors for resistance or to imagine viable alternatives. What accounts for the failure to construct a strong counter-narrative? In India, the Liberal political class instead of adapting to the changing realities has resigned to its tradition of smug righteousness, unwilling to understand the worth of its electoral bromides.

The volatile shifts of politico-historical tectonic plates in India make it amply clear that the extreme Right emerged from the womb of a defective liberal ideology that slowly became antithetical to the peoples interests. In response to the imperialist depredations of the British empire, a sustained anti-colonial struggle was launched which to acquire a certain effectiveness had to foster mass participation and that in its turn required a degree of accommodation of alternative perspectives. Thus, mainstream Indian nationalism developed a relatively unificatory and subaltern stream though it was kept in check by a Congress leadership of high-caste, middle-class professionals with sizeable properties and business clout.

Through the dynamic interaction between the overflowing energy of a genuinely grassroots movement and the calibrating control exercised by a conservative domestic elite, modern pathologies of communalism were born. While the oppressed sectors of the independence movement advanced a broadly socialist and secular agenda, the bourgeois nationalist establishment weakened the potency of these programmatic horizons by de-coupling politics from economics. In this way, secularism was emptied of its radical message of the civil equality of denominationally different individuals and communities.

What was the necessity of this ideological operation? Aijaz Ahmad writes:

the idea of one kind of equality leads, necessarily and logically, to other ideas of equality: the idea of secularism leads to ideas of political democracy; the idea of political equality leads to the idea of economic equality; the idea of socio-economic equality among men leads to similar ideas about equality between men and women, between individuals of one caste and another, one race or nation and otherideas of equality in one domain lead necessarily to ideas of equality in other domains; that the logic of such ideas would take us and should take us far beyond the conventional confines of democracy or socialism or secularism; that the logic of secularism, the logic of democracy would take us, step by step, to communism itself.

After the defanging of secularism, what was left was the half-hearted notion of tolerance castigated by K. N. Panikkar as a doubtful alternative to secularism. In his words: tolerance is sufferance or endurance and can even turn into tyranny, when exercised by a religious majority. The tolerance of Hindutva, for instance, concedes to the non-Hindus a subordinate position, devoid of rights and privileges. The practical failures of this strategy of tolerance were evident in the bloody partition of the subcontinent that accompanied the transition to independence.

In the immediate post-partition years, then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru contained these communal explosions by stitching a social contract dominated by modernist developmentalism. Economic planning and sovereignty, the provision of some basic services for the poor and the illiterate, the principle of affirmative action for Dalits, and subsidies for farming came to be accepted as standard fare. However, actual implementation was lacking. Tanika Sarkar comments: Most of these policies remained solely on paper, while the poor continued to live their lives without the protection of any safety net whatsoever. Nonetheless, the tenacity of certain principles cleared a space for the contestation of poverty and class exploitation. Rights and equality were given the status of absolute goods, of desirable norms.

Although the normative consensus around the need for eradicating poverty was politically progressive, the cultural field was not incorporated in this framework. A civilizational discourse of multiculturalism built on the myth of an enduring Indian nation, from the Vedic times to the modern inadvertently promoted Hindu religiosity and symbolism. Through his inclusive notion of unity in diversity, Nehru constructed the contours of what Anna Guttman has called nationalist classicism. It is worth quoting her at length:

Nationalist classicism opposes colonial classicizing discourses, however, in that it seeks to conceive of ancient civilizations as alive, rather than dead, in emphasizing the connection between the lands ancient and contemporary inhabitantsthis assertion is double-edgedthe proximity of ancient and modern Hinduism might point just as convincingly to the backwardness of the modern form as to the enlightened nature of the ancient. A reliance on classicism can also lead to a distortion of history that privileges certain kinds of identity. In India, the consequences of this are particularly problematic. Though Nehru rejects the British periodization of Indian history and its creation of distinct Hindu and Muslim eras, there can be no doubt that he is especially interested in ancient India. The classical period precludes not only Indian Muslims per se, but Islam itself, and, by extension, their entire way of life. Any insistence on continuity between the Indus Valley civilization and contemporary South Asia inevitably made non-Hindus uneasy.

Thus, Nehru in his efforts to highlight the achievements of the colonized people in response to the ideological violence unleashed by the British rulers adopted a rather static view of Indian history, frequently allowing culture to pervade the entire arena of the countrys history. This was linked to the need he felt for erecting a strong nation. Pritam Singh notes:

Nehru was not a believerbut his almost romantic notion of Indias oneness since time immemorial meant that he equated the religion with the nation. In his much celebrated book The Discovery of India, Nehru writes: Hinduism became the symbol of nationalism. It was indeed a national religion, with all those deep instincts, racial and cultural, which form the basis everywhere of nationalism today. He held contradictory positions on the Hindu institution of caste, praising it as a great historical institution at one point and considering it outdated at another point but avoiding the subject of untouchability all together. Nehrus Hindu bias was not religious per se but was closely entwined with his passion for building a strong united India with a highly centralized power structure.

Though Nehru harbored Hinduist assumptions, these strands of his thought were marginal due to the overwhelming influence exercised by political society. It was only in the Nehruvian era that the Indian state performed an educational and ethical function, trying to spread modern and progressive values, evident in the new textbooks of the period. This ability of the Indian state to transcend the divisions of civil society and propagate the figure of the abstract universal citizen proved to be phenomenal. This was bound to happen because the rugged realities of civil society constitutively shape the texture of the state, which derives its contingent legitimacy from the internal motions of civil society.

Beginning from the 1980s, the Congress party started abandoning the post-colonial ethos of sovereignty and secularism in favor of a more overtly communal politics. Themes of aggressive national unity arising due to the turmoil in the states of Assam, Kashmir and Punjab were routinely highlighted and given a religious form by the insistence that unity could only be maintained by Hindus. The 1984 general elections, held after Indira Gandhis assassination, were won due to the undertow of Hindu chauvinism cultivated in different regions. When this focus on identitarian specificities combined with the immiserating effects of neoliberalism, the fortunes of liberalism drastically declined.

Whereas the Right used its network of overlapping fronts and tightly-knit cadre organizations to provide its support base with a sense of political belonging and social coherence, the Liberal camp stuck to its mode of haphazard politicking. Opportunist deployment of religious themes could not compete with the systematic communalism of the Right. Hypocritical adherence to the precepts of democracy appeared argumentatively inferior to the concrete claims of exclusionary glory offered by neo-fascists. In short, the Congress incomplete political prioritization of the conservative ideological elements of the anti-colonial struggle was fully carried forward by the Indian Right. Today, we need to honestly acknowledge this dimension of the present-day political crisis so that the battle for democracy and secularism can be rejuvenated.

See the article here:

How Indian Liberalism Aided The Rise Of The Right OpEd - Eurasia Review

The Foundation for Middle East Peace had a webinar about the state of U.S. politics on Israel/Palestine as the year ends, and here are some of the takeaways.

Peter Beinart the former liberal Zionist who came out a year ago for one democratic state said that liberal Zionism is becoming discredited among progressives due to the failure of the two-state solution, so liberal Zionists are joining the broader movement for equal rights. Beinart said there used to be two parallel tracks on the American left, the BDS call from Palestinians of 2005 and the two-state agenda pushed by J Street and other liberal Zionists, but the second discourse is collapsing.

I think whats happening is that the boundaries between these two movements are starting to collapse. Or another even more provocative way you can say it, is the Palestinian solidarity movement is in some ways becoming broader and taking in. Its not necessarily an equal marriage. I would say because the movement on the ground has made the two state solution and the idea of liberal Zionism harder and harder and harder to maintain, then I think ultimately whats happening and ultimately what we have to move towards and I think is happening is a broader Palestinian solidarity movement in which people who used to be liberal Zionist or support two states, and more people inside the Jewish community, and others, find their way into it.

Now its not an easy set of relationships always, and I think it involves lots and lots of different kinds of conversations and things that are difficult to figure out in a lot of ways You dont see it necessarily manifested in Washington, where a group like J Street is still much, much more influential than the Palestinian solidarity groups, but if you think of where the momentum is coming I think especially because the Black Lives Matter movement forced a new kind of reckoning in the American public square with the lack of representation from Palestinians, which I dont think is going to end. So Palestinians are going to become more prominent in these conversations. We will see a broader Palestinian solidarity movement, in which Jews including Jews who once considered themselves liberal Zionists and maybe even some who still do consider themselves liberal Zionist will find a place. I think that will ultimately be a more powerful opposition to the status quo than what weve had before.

Fadi Quran, a leading Palestinian human rights worker formerly of Al-Haq, now with the activist network Avaaz, said he was hopeful about the ways the Palestinian narrative is gaining a global audience.

From a more Palestinian perspective what has dawned more and more, for my generation, is that our narrative, just whats going on with us the fact were surrounded with cameras that literally flash red, yellow or green based on facial recognition, that theres a whole system of surveillance, that weve had a woman who fought and almost went on hunger strike just for the right not to have to give birth in a prison. The narratives of people in Sheikh Jarrah [occupied Jerusalem] surrounded by one of the most powerful armies in the world, staying strong and standing for their homes and two basically early 20-year-olds [Mohammed and Muna El-Kurd] just kind of carrying the movement on the back There are people literally who have been buried mothers were holding on to the graves of their kids who were killed so the graves wouldnt be razed by the Israeli military.

All the stories and then the epicness of having 200 kids in prison by Israel right now, and still kids going out in the face of tanks to throw stones. The power of this narrative if we speak to it just factually but also in depth really carries a whole new generation of people. Thats what we saw in May [during Gaza onslaught] More than at any other time, despite all the strategic efforts to silence the Palestinian voice, our voice and that narrative at least for a glimmer managed to break through. And then it was silent.

Lara Friedman of Foundation for Middle East Peace said some had hoped that the Biden administration would lead a breakthrough on Israel-Palestine, but it has proved to be a great disappointment.

Their performance thus far would suggests that there is really no energy there. The energy there is going to be spent on, Well we managed to delay temporarily one settlement, but by the way weve given in on the consulate, weve given in on the PLO mission, and weve given in on all the other settlements and by the way were not going to say a word publicly to defend the NGO sector [the six leading Palestinian groups smeared by Israel as terrorist] even though defending human rights organizations is supposed to be the core identity of this administration. Its hard to believe that people are still holding out hope. Pressure is going to matter.

Beinart said that the political reality of Israel Palestine can be characterized by the fact that not even Bernie Sanders can support one democratic state yet. And by the way that the Israel lobby crushed Omari Hardy, an appealing young Florida state legislator who dared to support BDS and run in the Democratic primary for Congress in Fort Lauderdale.

A guy who has a moral compass woke up one day and said, you know what, Palestinian rights are consistent with everything I believe. And he gets predictably snowplowed. He had to explain 17,000 times why he supports BDS.

No one ever asked Hardys many primary opponents why they didnt support the human rights reports naming Israeli apartheid, Beinart said.

That political dynamic seems very far from changing. Politicians will look at [the pushback against Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Jamaal Bowman] and think, Who needs that? Who needs that level of headache? We havent changed that political dynamic, sometimes I feel like were still very far away.

(Beinart also said that no one came to Hardys defense except for Twitter and Jewish Currents, the publication he works for. Our site and others supported Hardy. Our friend Roger Waters was a leading advocate for Hardy. Despite Beinarts concern about cancel culture, he always cancels us.)

Lara Friedman echoed Beinarts point by noting the prominence of Rep. Ritchie Torres, a progressive who represents the South Bronx and is relentlessly pro-Israel, and beloved by the party establishment and Israel lobby for that stance.

I always say to people, Look at Ritchie Torres. Thats so much the direction, certainly the energies of those who have power thats the direction they are organizing around.

Friedman warned that Democratic Party fear of supporting Palestinians can lead to terrible policies. She said that Arizona Republican Congressman Paul Gosar recently called for the removal of the Al-Aqsa mosque.

Hes dogwhistling to the end time folks. Hes referencing scripture about the abomination and desolation on the site where the temple must be rebuilt so you can have the second coming of Christ. That scares the crap out of me. I really worry that Democrats who by and large dont want to spend too much political capital on Israel Palestine in defending Palestinian rights and free speech, I worry that they have their heads in the sand as to how bad this can get. And I think thats going to be tested next year.

On the upside, Friedman said, the discourse is changing and Democrats are being forced to reckon with the shifting and more honest narrative around the Palestinian experience. And alluding to the global controversy over the Israeli spyware company, the NSO group, she observed, Any conversation about weaponized surveillance takes you back to Israel and any conversation about Israeli surveillance takes you back to Palestinians.

The bottom line is at this point if youre talking about the erosion of democratic values, and liberal values, worldwide and youre not talking about Israel, then its clear youre making an exception and youre a hypocrite. That I think is something that strengthens those of us who say if you care about this worldwide, you have to care about Palestinians.

Quran described his detention by Homeland Security in the U.S. at Israels behest two months ago.

If youre Jewish American, on so many levels, your voice matters more than a Palestinian and at the same time we are going against actors that will go to all ends possible including the worst lies to devastate those of us who have the loudest voices

I had the experience and I didnt share this before, but I will share it with you. When I traveled to the U.S. in October to visit my father who is sick, for the first time in my life, I was stopped by Homeland Security in Dallas airport. They stopped me, they interrogated meWhere do you work? Have you been arrested? Etc. Etc. The core question, the last bit, because the lieutenant who was interrogating me really felt for me, and I showed him my phone with my personal messages to members of Congress Whoever told you Im an evil person, these senators wouldnt be messaging me if I actually was. He was like We got a report against you from an allied government claiming that you support terrorism. We have been investigating you since May. I was surprised that he shared this information. Theres nothing on you, Im going to let you go. But it was, The moment you booked your ticket we have to bring you in and interrogate you on this

These actors that want to silence the work that we are all doing are going to go to that level and more. And I think we need to be prepared for it next year. But we also need to remember the sacrifices we make they literally will benefit all the other struggles we care about.

Beinart and Friedman also had an interesting if coded discussion about rhetorical concessions the left will have to make to broaden the movement for Palestinian rights. Friedman said that the next generation of Palestinian leaders is brilliantly using the idea of post colonial framing for understanding the Palestinian issue. But that concept will be very challenging for a lot of people who see themselves as allies. There is a reservoir of support that can be tapped into that wasnt there before, as people see that simply reciting the catechism of two states is not going to do it.

Friedman had this good observation: Every movement has its assholes. That doesnt mean a movement is discredited. Its only this movement that is held to that standard.

Thanks to Yakov Hirsch expert on Hasbara Culture for pointing out this dialogue to me.

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Liberal Zionism is collapsing into the Palestinian solidarity movement everywhere but Washington Beinart - Mondoweiss