Category Archives: Liberal

Half of New Brunswicks all-party COVID-19 cabinet committee have announced theyre pulling out after the province issued an emergency order to force striking health-care workers back on the job.

New Brunswick Green Leader David Coon made the announcement hed be stepping away over Twitter shortly after Premier Blaine Higgs made his move official.

Twenty minutes later, Interim Liberal Leader Roger Melanson followed suit.

Im out, Melanson told reporters over Zoom.

As the leader of the opposition, I need to be able freely to be able to keep this government accountable and explain to New Brunswickers what this government is doing and how theyre doing it and so Im out of this committee for sure.

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While Melansons motivation seems to lay directly at the feet of Higgs, Coon says his sole reasoning is a perception that the method used is unfit for the circumstances.

Using an emergency order, circumventing our democratic processes in this province, is unacceptable, he tells Global News.

The Premier had plenty of other choices leading up to this point in time that he chose not to use, says Coon.

If he was determined to order health workers back to work, he shouldve brought back-to-work legislation to the Legislative Assembly. Thats the democratic venue for debating such proposals.

Remaining at the table, Peoples Alliance Leader Kris Austin says his counterparts are counteracting the foundation of the committee itself which Premier Higgs has touted as a way to ensure pandemic response was prioritized over political divides.

What theyre doing is not symbolic, its political. Period, Austin says in an interview with Global News Friday.

I know that my voice at the table is more important than my voice on the sidewalk.

So Mr. Melanson and Mr. Coon, if they want to play politics the public will judge that, but Im staying put.

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Austin previously said he would support a form of back-to-work legislation if health care in the province needed it.

He says Fridays move fit the bill.

Anybody with any rational objective viewpoint would understand the position, he says.

Its just irresponsible not to do that at this point.

Austin says hes heard from CUPE members who say theyre unaware what offer the government has put forward, as well as CUPE members who dont want to be striking at all.

As long as this emergency order is in place, Coon says he wont return to the committee.

Melanson says hes out for good.

With only Higgs and Austin left, its unclear in what capacity the committee will continue if at all.

Coon says he has confidence in Public Health leadership in the meantime, but wants to see a committee within the legislature looking at response.

Weve got a good Public Health team in New Brunswick, he says, and ultimately well hold the Premier accountable in the legislature.

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Liberal, Green leaders withdraw from COVID commitee as striking health-care workers forced back - Globalnews.ca

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Launched in the spring of 2020 by Liberal Arts student Josie Krieger and alumnus Michael Miller, the Students Teaching Students program at Penn State offers a unique opportunity for students to create, plan and teach official courses.

This semester, there are nine official Students Teaching Students courses being offered, with topics ranging from the complex history of Dutch culture to the exploration of strategy and game theory behind the hit reality TV show Survivor. Each of the available courses this fall are Liberal Arts courses but are open to students across all colleges.

AFAM 297 Anti-Black Racism in America

Maryah E. Burney, a junior Schreyer Scholar majoring in journalism, and Janiyah Davis, a junior Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar double majoring in psychology and criminology, triple minoring in sociology, anthropology and child maltreatment and advocacy studies and pursuing a masters degree in public policy, are instructors for the three-credit course AFAM 297 Anti-Black Racism in America, which aims to challenge students to converse and question their own perspectives about racism.

The focus of our course is on anti-Black racism in America and how anti-Black sentiments impact and affect every system, from education to health care to media essentially every part of a person's life, Burney said. The course structure kind of follows the timeline of life from youth to old age and how anti-Blackness impacts each and every aspect of this from a structural context.

Burney and Davis are both involved with the Multicultural Association of Schreyer Scholars, where the idea for the course originally came to fruition. Our organization was planning to create some sort of cultural competency training, but Maryah and I decided to take it a step further and turn it into a full course where people could come together and learn alongside others who genuinely wanted to be there, Davis said.

Through a combination of activity, discussion, writing and lecture, Burney and Davis hope the course will enable students to expand their world views and challenge their existing beliefs.

We are not trying to tell people what to think, Burney said. We are trying to give people the resources and tools to change and alter their own perspectives in order to see the world and the systems they encounter from a different view.

AFR 297 Neocolonialism in Africa

David Pool, a senior majoring in international politics and finance, is instructing AFR 297 Neocolonialism in Africa this fall, which focuses on the political forces affecting Africa since the end of colonial rule on the continent.

The course introduces students to an alternative theory to postcolonialism, where colonial powers and corporations continue to exert undue influence on African countries today, Pool said. I wanted to create this course because Penn State lacks classes that focus on African politics. I thought introducing students to this incredibly diverse region of the world was an amazing prospect.

Pool was able to shape the content and structure of AFR 297 based on the same discussion-based dynamics that his own Liberal Arts courses typically follow. Now, Pool hopes his students will be able to leave his class with an important new understanding of the realities of African politics.

I hope students are able to learn and understand the complexities of African politics and how European powers still use their power to coerce African nations to fulfill European interests, he said.

Overall, Pool has enjoyed the opportunities that teaching a course has provided, from sharing his own knowledge to learning from his students as well.

My favorite part of teaching this course is not only explaining new ideas and topics that my students are interested in, but also learning more myself from both composing lessons and from the knowledge that my students bring to class.

ANTH 197 Museum Repatriations

Amanda Hakins, a senior majoring in anthropology, and Brenna Fennessey, a senior double majoring in anthropological science and classics and ancient Mediterranean studies, are instructing ANTH 197 Museum Repatriations this fall, which focuses on the ethics and processes of museum collections and repatriations.

The basic definition of repatriation is to return something or someone to its country of origin, but as a class we try to enhance this definition, bringing in cultural, ethical and legal aspects into our understanding of repatriation, Fennessey said. We review the general policies and procedures of repatriation by studying active cases and famous examples across the globe.

Hakins and Fennessey were driven to create the course after taking ANTH 152 with Kristina Douglass, Joyce and Doug Sherwin Early Career Professor in the Rock Ethics Institute and assistant professor of anthropology and African studies at Penn State, who is now their faculty adviser for the course.

[Professor Douglass] stated several times in class how she would love to teach a course on artifact and museum repatriation, since it is such a complex, in-depth topic that is seldom talked about outside of anthropology and museum studies, Hakins said. We later found out about Students Teaching Students from a friend of Brennas and took this as the perfect opportunity to teach a class on the topic, especially because [Professor Douglass] was super willing to help us out.

Hakins and Fennessey felt as though their Liberal Arts education has helped to prepare them tremendously to both create and teach the course.

Professors in [the College of the Liberal Arts] really encourage in-depth, hands-on and engaging learning styles and are always there if you need help or have any questions In our class, we practice these same beliefs and try to have our lectures be as interactive and engaging as possible, Hakins said.

ANTH 197 Rural-Urban Migration

Exploring interdisciplinary theories and empirical studies on rural-urban migration in Asia, ANTH 197 Rural-Urban Migration is a one-credit course led by Yebo Chen, a senior international student majoring in economics and anthropology.

This course is about understanding what drives people to migrate from rural to urban areas, specifically in developing countries in Asia, Chen said. The way we address this question is by looking at theories from different disciplines economics, anthropology, demography and using that theoretical framework to understand how to explain rural-urban migration.

Chen was driven to create and teach ANTH 197 after pursuing her own research on the topic of rural-urban migration during the spring and fall of 2020.

I developed this course from my own research interests. I find migration a very fascinating topic, so during the pandemic year I flew home to China and did some independent, ethnographic field work, she said. I decided to package my research into a course to see if it could help other students who might be interested in this field.

The question of rural-urban migration patterns is one that requires an interdisciplinary approach, and Chen credits the freedom of her Liberal Arts education with allowing her to explore these different disciplines.

I have this natural curiosity about human societies, and that is the reason I chose to study in the United States and in the College of the Liberal Arts, she said. I think the courses I have studied so far have allowed me to dive into many different disciplines, and because of that freedom, I was able to approach the research question of rural-urban migration from so many different views.

ANTH 197 Social Strategy of Survivor

Instructed by Alex Wind, a junior majoring in musical theater with a minor in political science, ANTH 197 Social Strategy of Survivor explores the strategy and game theory behind the hit reality TV show.

Basically, the class is structured around the show Survivor, and we are watching episodes from past and current seasons each week, Wind said. The class is discussion based, so we talk about the different social dynamics at play and what optimal moves people are making to get to the end and win.

Wind, who has been a long-time fan of the show, was inspired to create the class after hearing about the Students Teaching Students program from friends who had previously taught courses during the spring of 2020.

I thought [the Students Teaching Students program] was a pretty interesting concept, so I started thinking about something I could teach myself, he said. I had just watched a ton of Survivor over quarantine with my brother, and when I started mapping out the idea for the course, I realized it was actually something I could do.

The goal of the course, according to Wind, is to help equip students to be prepared to succeed on the show should they ever choose to participate.

Survivor is a very intricate game.so when you challenge yourself to think really analytically about the show and its dynamics, it's actually a really interesting concept, he said.

[ANTH 197] is a very creative course; I think its great that Penn State can allow something like this to happen, Wind said. The homework is literally to watch Survivor, which is pretty cool in my opinion.

CMLIT 97 Fanfic as a Literary Genre

Emma Cagle, a senior Paterno Fellow double majoring in English and comparative literature and pursuing a masters degree in fiction writing, is the instructor for CMLIT 97 Fanfic as a Literary Genre this semester.

The course is a study of fanfiction through the lens of genre studies, Cagle said. We analyze texts based on their rhetorical approaches, focusing on audience [fan studies], writing styles, tropes, paratext and many other parts of what makes fanfiction such a unique genre.

Cagle hopes that her students can learn and utilize the process of critical reflection, not only in this course, but in their future studies as well.

The goal of the course is to ask students to think more deeply about a genre that is constantly written off as immature, undeveloped and without merit, she said. I hope that this critical reflection is something that the students will continue to apply as a lens to all different forms of study and inquiry.

With the study of fanfiction often being considered un-academic, Cagle felt that basing a course around the topic would lead to a variety of engaging conversations and connections.

I saw it as an amazing opportunity to take one of my own interests and share it with others, and to bring a new area of study to Penn State, she said.

Cagle has made an effort to create a positive space within her classroom, where students can feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, passions and interests.

I have worked to create an environment where students have opportunities to shape the curriculum with their interests, and where they are genuinely interested in the work we do as a class, she said. It is important to me that fanfiction is something done out of genuine passion and love for a fandom; the study of fanfiction should be no different.

ENGL 197 Abolition: For Liberation

Ayse Keskin, a senior majoring in biology, and Otis Williams, a senior majoring in energy engineering and minoring in environmental engineering, are instructing ENGL 197 Abolition: For Liberation this fall.

We structured this course to be a study of what past abolitionists have said on different topics, taking writings that could be as old as 150 years and seeing how they apply to the world we live in today, Williams said. The main reason we wanted to create this course is because we saw that abolition is becoming a more common term we are hearing today, so we wanted to teach a course on what it really is and what those who have actually struggled with it have said.

Both Keskin and Williams have a passion for social change and wanted to create a space for students to talk about abolition and change in a more structured environment.

We felt there was a lot of misinformation out there about this topic, so we wanted to have a course where we could actually use real literature from experts to explain what the term abolition actually means, Keskin said.

Keskin and Williams described how the conversations they have been able to facilitate in ENGL 197 have been a helpful way for their students to either solidify or strengthen their beliefs.

We are not trying to change peoples opinions. We are just trying to give them other options and help them to understand how abolition has worked and been successful in the past, Keskin said. We have a no-judgement zone and encourage everyone to share their own ideas.

GER 83 Dutch Culture: Art, History and Society

A thought-compelling exploration of Dutch history, GER 83 Dutch Culture: Art, History and Society is a three-credit course led by Harrison Brennan, a senior Paterno Fellow majoring in philosophy, economics, international politics and Asian studies and co-director of the Students Teaching Students program.

The course examines the history of the Netherlands and Dutch culture beginning from the Dutch Golden Age in the 1700s and leading up to the present day.

I hope that students will take away not just an appreciation for the Netherlands, but for global perspectives as a whole, Brennan said. I view my course as a way to introduce students to the fact that there is a big world out there ... every country has its own unique culture and history, and everywhere in the world has a story that deserves to be shared.

Brennan was first inspired to create the course after his own experiences as a teenager.

My parents accepted a job opportunity in the Netherlands, so I was able to go over and spend a lot of time in the country, he said. It was so culturally enriching for me, so I wanted to take what I had learned from my experience over there and repackage it in a way where I could share this knowledge with other students.

This is Brennans second semester teaching GER 83, as the course was also offered in the fall of 2020. Looking back, he said his favorite part about teaching this course has been the opportunity to make deeper connections and form meaningful relationships with his students.

WMST 197 Girls on Film

Sarabeth Bowmaster, a junior Paterno Fellow double majoring in womens studies and philosophy, is the instructor for WMST 197 Girls on Film, a one-credit, discussion-based course focused on female representation within the film industry.

The course is focused on stereotyping specifically within gender and sexuality using movies and films to portray that and understanding how media plays a role in producing and reproducing those stereotypes, she said.

So far, Bowmaster and her 24 students have watched and discussed movies like Fight Club, Steel Magnolias and Booksmart. Bowmaster hopes the course will help students understand how media is influential in upholding stereotypes and creating societal expectations for things like gender and sexuality.

My goal is to have students thinking about the media they consume, the stereotypes that it portrays and how those stereotypes can impact the real experiences of people, she said.

Bowmaster, founder of the Penn State chapter of the League of Women Voters, aspires to become a professor and was driven to create her own course to experience this aspect of her career goals in an engaging and interactive way.

I thought it would be fun to be able to teach and discuss something as interesting as film, she said. I also think that stereotypes are such a normalized part of our society that we don't really talk about very much, so I really wanted to work with my peers and get their perspectives on the topic and the impact it can have on us.

Each student who leads a Students Teaching Students course works with a faculty sponsor and undergoes training from the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence at Penn State. See the spring 2022 Students Teaching Students course schedule or apply to teach a course in the future.

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Nine liberal arts courses offered through Students Teaching Students this fall - Penn State News

Quebec Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade speaks during question period at the provincial legislature in Quebec City on Nov. 2, 2021.Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press

Dominique Anglade has the most thankless job in Quebec politics.

Acclaimed Leader of the Quebec Liberal Party 18 months ago, after the only other candidate in the race dropped out, Ms. Anglade made history as the first Black woman to lead the provinces oldest political party one that had, since 1867, been led by a succession of white men.

Liberals had good reason to believe she might be able to give Coalition Avenir Qubec Premier Franois Legault a run for his money. She possessed an impressive rsum, with degrees in engineering and business, and a solid track record as a former minister of economic development in the Liberal government of premier Philippe Couillard. She had proved a strong debater, articulate and poised, with an ability to talk circles around Mr. Legault.

As the daughter of Haitian immigrants, she also represented modern Quebecs diversity and openness to the world. She herself had quit the CAQ after it moved away from its emphasis on economic issues and adopted an increasingly anti-immigration tone following its disappointing showing in the 2012 election.

Dominique Anglade becomes first woman to lead Quebec Liberals after rival quits

Alas, Ms. Anglade inherited the top Liberal job at the worst possible moment, following its historic 2018 defeat. The Liberal-Parti Qubcois duopoly that had defined Quebec politics for almost five decades had finally been upset by Mr. Legaults CAQ, which embraced the PQs nationalism but rejected its all-or-nothing sovereigntist agenda. The PQ had been the perfect foil for the federalist Liberals. Its decline and fall deprived the QLP of its principal anti-referendum talking points.

Since then, the QLP has struggled to define itself. Under Mr. Couillard, it had been accused of having lost touch with nationalist (but federalist) Quebeckers, who had always formed part of the Liberal coalition. But Ms. Anglades initial attempts to woo francophone nationalists were met with criticisms from anglophone voters, who felt increasingly taken for granted by the QLP.

The debate over Bill 96, the CAQ governments proposed legislation to strengthen the rights of francophones to work and live in their mother tongue, has underscored the dilemma Ms. Anglade has faced as QLP leader. She has remained evasive regarding key elements of the bill including a proposed amendment to the Canadian Constitution to recognize Quebec as a nation and French as its sole official language to the chagrin of francophones and anglophones alike.

This would all be bad enough for a party unused to flailing in the political wilderness. But the situation has been made immeasurably worse by a persistent problem of caucus indiscipline.

Ms. Anglade was forced to do damage control after a video surfaced of anglophone MNA Gregory Kelley at a June Black Lives Matter demonstration in which he appeared to draw connections between the CAQs immigration policies and Bill 21 (the law that bans some public servants from wearing religious symbols) and the 2020 death of Joyce Echaquan, an Indigenous woman who had been the victim of racist taunts by nurses at a Joliette, Que., hospital.

Ms. Anglade was then embarrassed by Pontiac MNA Andr Fortins decision to help Justin Trudeau with debate preparation during the federal election campaign. Mr. Legault had described the federal Liberals as dangerous for Quebec and hostile to the provinces autonomist demands, many of which the QLP supports. The QLP has traditionally gone to great lengths to distance itself from its federal counterpart.

Last week, Ms. Anglade removed MNAs Marie Montpetit and Gatan Barrette as her partys health and Treasury Board critics, respectively, after Ms. Montpetit criticized Mr. Barrette on Twitter. Mr. Barrette, a polarizing figure in Quebec politics after implementing unpopular reforms as Mr. Couillards health minister, had, in his own tweet, appeared to side with the Legault government in its crusade to force some family doctors to take on more patients, undermining his own partys health critic.

Then, on Tuesday, Ms. Anglade kicked Ms. Montpetit out of caucus altogether after La Presse reported that the Montreal MNA faced allegations of psychological harassment by several former Liberal staffers, including at least one formal complaint to the National Assembly body charged with investigating such matters. Ms. Anglade suggested that, regardless of the outcome of a formal investigation, Ms. Montpetit would be prohibited from running for the QLP in 2022.

Ms. Montpetit won her Montreal riding by barely 500 votes in 2018. With her ouster, the QLP caucus is down to 27 members in the 125-seat provincial legislature. Based on recent polls, the party would be lucky to hold on to 20 seats in next Octobers election, almost all of them in anglophone Quebec.

Quebeckers might still warm to Ms. Anglade on the campaign trail, especially as Mr. Legaults harder edges become more evident by the day. But she is no longer likely vying for power. Merely ensuring the QLPs survival will be a tough enough task.

Editors note: An earlier version of this column incorrectly referred to Geoffrey Kelley instead of his son Gregory.

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Google and other critics have taken issue with the requirement to take flagged content down within 24 hours and report content to law enforcement

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The Liberal governments proposal to force online platforms to monitor all user content and take down posts they judge to be illegal will result in the blocking of legitimate content, says Google.

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The company warned the government in a consultation on the proposed legislation that automated systems are still evolving, and often struggle when it comes to nuanced or context-dependent definitions.

For example, automated systems looking for hate speech or terrorist content might mistakenly identify news coverage or academic research that deals with these topics.

That means requiring platforms to use automated systems to proactively monitor and block content would likely lead to the blocking of large amounts of legitimate content and undermine Canadians access to valuable information, Google said.

The Liberal government has promised to introduce legislation tackling online harms defined as terrorist content, content that incites violence, hate speech, intimate images shared non-consensually and child sexual exploitation within 100 days of Parliaments return. The government outlined details of its proposal in July and asked for feedback, though it has refused to release the 423 submissions it received. Google is now the latest among a number of organizations and academics to make their own submissions public.

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Many of those experts have warned the government that implementing the proposal the way its currently structured would violate Canadians constitutional and privacy rights.

Google and other critics have pointed to a litany of issues with the proposal, including the requirement platforms monitor all content, that they take flagged content down within 24 hours, and that they report content to law enforcement.

Algorithms and automated systems are a key part of Googles products, driving everything from its search engine results to targeted advertising and video recommendations on YouTube. But the company warned Heritage Canada those systems simply arent up to the task of identifying harmful content where nuance or judgment is required.

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It gave the example of a video of a military conflict. In one context, it serves as evidence of atrocities that have been committed; in another, the video could be used as promotional material for a terrorist organization or it could be used as important political speech by marginalized populations, Google said.

It argued that the exact same iconic and horrifying images of historic genocide are used by those who want to advocate for justice and tolerance, on one hand, and those who advocate for violence and further genocide, on the other hand. Between these two poles are those who aspire to report on historic events in an objective manner. Computers cannot yet distinguish this key context.

Unlike some of the others who participated in the consultation process, the company isnt asking the government to entirely drop the proposal, outlining a number of suggestions to improve it.

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That includes scrapping the 24 hour deadline by which platforms have to remove content, and establishing a more flexible process.

The problems associated with an extremely short takedown timeline will only be compounded by the fact that any user flag can trigger the start of the countdown, it said. Facing a short deadline and high penalties for non-compliance, platforms will choose to prioritize speed over accuracy and automatically block/remove content that is subject to a flag if their automated system concludes there is even a remote possibility that the content is prohibited.

As a result, significant amounts of legitimate and lawful expression that was either incorrectly flagged by a user or mischaracterized by an automated system will be removed, Google said.

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Another issue with relying on user flags is that they can be wrong or used maliciously, it said, pointing to its experience with users flagging content that violates YouTube guidelines. We receive hundreds of thousands of content flags on a daily basis. While many are good-faith attempts to flag problematic content, large numbers of them represent mere disagreement with views expressed in legitimate content or are inaccurate.

Google is also concerned about the government suggestion to require platforms to report content to law enforcement, saying platforms may feel pressured to report content that could even potentially be prohibited. It said this regular flow of large volumes of user data from private companies to law enforcement organizations without user knowledge would violate consumer expectations about privacy and government surveillance in a democratic country.

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Google also asked the government to drop a requirement that platforms collect and report anonymized demographic data about their users. It said forcing platforms to collect sensitive personal data of Canadians creates an ongoing privacy risk in the case of a data breach.

The online harms bill was developed under then-Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault, who was moved to the environment file in the Oct. 26 cabinet shuffle. New Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez was asked about the criticism the bill has received shortly following his swearing-in, and said he would listen and consult.

Asked whether that means he will be reworking the bill, Rodrigues responded: Ill be consulting, thats for sure.

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A special meeting of the Anchorage Assembly on Thursday revealed a legislative body having a lot of trouble with the fact that it does not control the Mayors Office any longer, and that the new mayor is making appointments to volunteer portions of the government boards and commissions. The closed online meeting was spent dissecting Mayor Dave Bronsons many appointments to boards and commissions.

Dozens of boards and commissions slots were left vacant during the nothing to report Mayor Berkowitz era, when former Mayor Ethan Berkowitz left the vacancies unfilled. As it turns out, dozens of people had been serving in official capacity on boards without the authority to do so. Some boards, such as the Military and Veterans Affairs Commission, were completely vacant.

For example, Pat Abney has been on the election board since 2018, and the leftist Assembly majority is visibly upset that Abneys name is not being renominated by Bronson, after her term expired in October. Instead, the mayor is appointing a male to the all-woman commission.

Abney is a partisan Democrat, and a former candidate for the Alaska State House of Representatives in 2002 and 2006. She was a member of the Assembly from 1991-2001. Instead of Abney.

That change upset the Assembly majority, which had prepared several detailed questions for the Bronson Administration about the process used to determine who would be a good fit for a board or commission. The Assembly has gone so far as to request to see the resumes of all the nominees and the majority members are indicating they dont think the mayor has appointed qualified people.

View all the boards and commissions expired and vacant seats here.

View current appointments to fill vacancies here:

Municipal Manager Amy Demboski provided answers to the Assembly, as they grilled her over the qualifications of the nominees.

What outreach and advertising was done to recruit the new appointees? Was the outreach done in a way that ensures broad community representation on the Boards and Commissions (several have specific requirements to meet geographic and demographic diversity)?

Demboski replied that all residents had the opportunity to apply via OnBoard, a software that the municipality uses. Outreach was conducted through the muni website, social media, transition team, and community councils. Staff reviewed appointments with board diversity in mind.

There are 29 people whose terms expired in October 2021 who were not reappointed. How many of those submitted applications or indicated to their board/commission that they intended to serve out a new term? Can the Assembly have access to these applications? Were all existing members adequately informed that they would need to reapply for their positions (the past practice was to reappoint without a new application)?

Demboski replied that it has not been the practice of the executive branch to advance resumes of people not nominated. Instead, Bronson notified members who were not reappointed. We are continuing the process to send out letters to thank those members not reappointed for their service, she said.

Several Boards and Commission have very specific requirements outlined in municipal code for who fills each seat, and sometimes technical requirements for appointees. Do the new appointments maintain these requirements? Can the Administration note on the AMs which seat each appointee is filling similar to how it is shown in the Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery Advisory Commission section on OnBoard:https://onboard.muni.org/board/2868.

Demboski replied that this was done in some cases, but not all. While this has not always been done in the past, now that the OnBoard system is set up, she said it would be a good practice for the Municipality to maintain.Applications were first received via OnBoard, then filtered by the board/commission in which the applicant expressed an interest.

Next, applicants were evaluated against code requirements to serve on a particular board/commission; then, boards/commissions were evaluated for vacancies and expiring (or expired) seats.

Finally, the Mayor selected the appointees from the eligible applicants who had made it through the review process. Thank you for the recommendation to mimic the Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery Advisory Commission section on OnBoard; we are happy to consider this recommendation as we move forward.

There were 23 people who expired prior to 2021, but according to OnBoard, that person was still serving (perhaps unaware that they had expired).

Some of these were reappointed, but some were listed on theAdministrations appointment documents as Vacant and new appointees were put forward. Of those, how many were still actively participating in 2021? How many reapplied for their seats? How did the Administration determine which Members to reappoint and which ones to replace?

Demboski replied that when the Bronson Administration took over, they found the information about who was actively participating in their board or commission was not recorded in a manner to easily track. Some people serving a previous administration were not in compliance with code (because terms had long been expired, or in one instance the reappointment was not put forward to the Assembly, but the person continued to serve in an official capacity).

The appointments for boards and commissions are solely at the discretion of the Mayor; this process is exclusively a function of the executive branch, Demboski said.

The staggering is off for the Election Commission. Would the Administration be willing to readjust the new appointment for Seat 4 for one year to expire in 2022, to bring the Commission back into alignment with the code to have staggered terms?

Demboski replied that the the administration is reviewing all board andcommission terms for legal alignment with the members terms.

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Liberal Anchorage Assembly finds it tough to accept mayor's board appointees - Must Read Alaska

I am pretty cranky with Matthew saying he shouldnt stand again. Being the head-kicker, a lot of people dont like him, but we need someone like that in state opposition. A lot of the Liberal opposition pollies have been there for too long and dont do anything. He works like a devil.

She warned against the state party headquarters intervening in a Kew preselection. All hell would break loose if they did.

Matthew Guy on Thursday stood by his view that Tim Smith should quit politics. Credit:Eddie Jim

Mr Smith has been working all week to gauge the local support for him recontesting Kew, a once-safe seat likely to be decided at the next election by the flow of Greens preferences. Not all his former backers believe he should.

Jolyon Edwards, the owner of The Cleaning Shop in Kew for more than 30 years and the president of the local Studley Park branch of the Liberal Party, has known Mr Smith since he was a young, local mayor campaigning against clearway parking restrictions along the busy shopping strip.

During the 2018 state election, Mr Edwards agreed for a massive billboard of Mr Smiths face to be erected on his shop at the top of the High Street hill.

He agrees with Mr Smiths conservative politics but said the focus needed to be on the impact of the governments lockdown policies on small and medium-sized businesses and peoples mental health not the career prospects of one MP.

Kew trader and Liberal Party branch president Jolyon Edwards has told Tim Smith to put the interests of the party first. Credit:Simon Schluter

He said the stakes at the next election were made clear to him eight weeks ago when an older woman who had walked past his shop for years stopped and bluntly told him that being cut off from friends and family had made her contemplate suicide.

She had effectively researched how to end her own life because she couldnt see a way out, he said.

Like Ms Hargreaves, Mr Edwards received a call from Mr Smith on Sunday. The counsel he offered was very different.

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My opinion is he needs to do some soul-searching and ultimately come up with whats best for the Liberal Party in supporting Matthew Guy and the team and hopefully, challenging the government.

Mr Smith is yet to make a decision on whether to seek re-election in Kew. As of Thursday, there were no rival candidates nominated for preselection. Nominations close on November 12.

The last time a Liberal leader tried to influence a Kew preselection, it didnt end well.

In 2014, when state government minister Mary Wooldridge lost her seat in a redistribution, then-premier Denis Napthine tried to parachute her into Kew. As soon as she landed, Ms Wooldridge realised that the seat had been secured long ago by Mr Smith.

For the best part of two years, Mr Smith had embedded himself with the branch members, party stalwarts and Liberal powerbrokers of Kew. One of his preselection fliers carried endorsements from Mr Edwards, Olympic rowers David Crawshay and Drew Ginn, and a clutch of local party heavyweights, Bill Clancy, Kyle Wightman, Pat Holdenson and Richard Alston.

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Mr Alston, a former state president and chairman of the Kooyong Electorate Conference which controls federal Treasurer Josh Frydenbergs overlapping federal seat, backed Mr Smith in 2014 as a candidate for much-needed party renewal. When contacted by The Age on Thursday, he said his view about Mr Smith hadnt changed.

We all make mistakes, he said. This is a serious one, as Tim acknowledges, but you need a proportionate response. The punishment ought to fit the crime.

Mr Frydenberg is a friend and political ally of Mr Smith and Mr Guy, who understands from his own seat how hard the Liberal Party needs to work to hang onto Kew, an electorate now ringed by Labor territory. His support will carry enormous weight in a contested preselection ballot. So far, his public comments about Mr Smith have been carefully balanced.

He needs to take the time to reflect on his own position, do some soul-searching and reflect on the words of his state leader, Matthew Guy, and make a decision on his future in coming weeks, Mr Frydenberg said on Thursday.

A party insider said that Mr Frydenbergs support was essential to Mr Smith. I dont think Tim would be taking the route he has unless he has Joshs backing that he can tough this out.

There are a little over 400 Liberal Party members registered to branches in Kew. If Mr Smith decides to contest preselection, he needs a simple majority to win. From there, his path back to state politics would still be fraught.

The partys administrative committee has the power to block preselections and, in effect, insert its own candidates. Whoever is preselected would then face a difficult task to hold the seat against a rising Labor and Greens vote.

Although Mr Smiths prospects of finding a way through all this appear bleak, a defiant message is starting to resonate from Liberal branch members: dont let them hound you out.

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As Tim Smiths prospects darken, Kew backs its head-kicker - The Age

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This coming year will be a true test of Dominique Anglades leadership, which hasnt been easy so far.

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With less than a year before the provincial election, the official Opposition Liberal Party has been going through some internal strife. Leader Dominique Anglade has demoted two MNAs Gatan Barrette and Marie Montpetit for publicly sparring on Twitter about the governments battle with doctors, and then expelled Montpetit from caucus amid allegations related to workplace harassment.

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This coming year will be a true test of Anglades leadership, which hasnt been easy so far. She was acclaimed leader of the party just two months into the pandemic, so has had to cede practically all media space to Premier Franois Legault, Health Minister Christian Dub and Quebecs director of public health, Horacio Arruda. It seems fair to say most Quebecers are generally satisfied with the way all three have been managing the crisis.

The Liberals under Anglades leadership seem to be struggling to find their identity and carve out a meaningful space on the political landscape. Her leadership campaign emphasized the need to expand the partys support beyond Montreal after the partys worst defeat ever in the 2018 election, which left them only a handful of seats off the island. This potential expansion of support seems not to have materialized, and her supportive position of Bill 96 and tougher language regulations has alienated the partys anglophone base in Montreal. She also hasnt really distinguished herself in question period in the National Assembly, typically a forum to showcase political forcefulness.

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Six months can be an eternity in politics, but polls continue to foreshadow another sweep by the CAQ, leaving some crumbs to be shared by the other parties. The CAQ has usurped a big chunk of the clientele of both the Parti Qubcois and Liberals, the only two parties that have alternated governing Quebec for the past 50 years. The PQ is facing its own existential crisis as most nationalist Quebecers seem to prefer the Legault approach of a nation within Canada full autonomy with all the selfish trappings of the Canadian federation, such as transfer and equalization payments, and currency. Why the need for independence if they can have their cake and eat it too?

The other option is Qubec solidaire at the left end of the spectrum, also a sovereignist party that has hived off much of the PQs progressive base. With the political maturation of their young leader, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, they might be the next official opposition if the Liberals dont quickly find their feet somewhere relevant. There is a lot of middle ground between the CAQ and QS, but the Liberals need a strong leader to lay down the sod.

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Legault wont maintain this level of popularity indefinitely. Quebecers are fickle and rarely give their leaders more than a second term. For the next election, however, many Liberals see the writing on the wall, but with no obvious saviour are likely to remain behind Anglade (although she must keep this latest turmoil quashed and ensure cracks dont keep reappearing).

In the coming year Anglade will have the high-profile language debate over Bill 96, now in committee, hitting the floor of the National Assembly. The Liberals will push for some amendments, but will they eventually support it for political expediency? Or will she take a principled stand on certain aspects of the bill, such as the notwithstanding clause?

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Will she veer right or left?

Will she strike a more nationalist or more federalist posture?

These are all issues of self-identification that the Liberals must reconcile to find a way back in the game and distinguish themselves. Otherwise, the party that has been around since Confederation may just become a third-party rump in the Assembly come October.

Robert Libman is an architect and building planning consultant who has served as Equality Party leader and MNA, as mayor of Cte-St-Luc and as a member of the Montreal executive committee. He was a Conservative candidate in the 2015 federal election.

twitter.com/@robertlibman

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Robert Libman: Quebec Liberals need to find their footing - Montreal Gazette

The University of Florida is facing public headwinds amid reports that it has blocked several professors from testifying in lawsuits against the state. Problems for the school first arose when UF said three of its political science professors couldnt serve as paid expert witnesses in a voting rights case. The school has since backtracked. Yet, while the situation is being viewed as a free speech issue, some scholars say it's part of broader concerns over academic freedom.

When it comes to the situation unfolding at the University of Florida, the conservative-leaning National Association of Scholars' David Randall says it's untested legal ground.

Theres a complicated series of legal precedent for issue which Garcetti vs. Ceballos is relevant," said Randall, citing a 2006 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that said public employees do NOT have first amendment protection for speech done as part of their job duties.

In its initial rejection of the professors testimony UF noted that it was a public, state institution and that as an extension of the state, the professors testimony would pose a conflict of interest. The university later said the professors could testify, but only if theyre unpaid, on their own time, and dont use school resources. Now the school has changed course again and says the professors CAN testify on their own time and be paid for itbut they still cannot use university resources. Randall says its an open legal question whether public higher ed institutions can limit the speech of people they employ.

Public employees have a responsibility to their employers. But its not cut-and-dried," said Randall.

He's watching to see how the situation is resolved.

"Academic freedom and free speech allows students and scholars to challenge ideas and to use our discoveries and expertise for the public good without fear of reprisal," said Andrew Gothard, president of the United Faculty of Florida and a professor at Florida Atlantic University.

Gothard and Randall see UF's high-profile conundrum as part of a broader debate over academic freedom. Gothard says the problem lies in a law approved last year meant to test whether schools are allowing diverse voices, viewpoints, and opinions to be represented and heard on campus.

While it claims to support greater diversity, its designed to track ideas and target speech the political party in power does not like," said Gothard.

He sees the law as an attempt to silence liberal voices, yet Randall sees it as essential to ensuring theres room for conservative speech in the academic freedom debate.

The basic situation is that the universities have abandoned academic freedom and the broader public, through intellectual diversity, are trying to restore academic freedom, he said.

The law has its roots over concerns that conservative voices and thought are being drowned out in public higher education: And Randall says thats not just a concernconservative faculty are afraid of speaking out.

They stay quiet from fear, not mention anything that might be controversial, and try to retire with their pension."

Randall points to policies like one at UF which he says encourages only voices from one side: the schools inclusionary hiring statement, which he believes has the opposite effect: exclusion of conservatives. That statement includes points like whether a candidate has mentored women or minorities and how candidates will promote diversity.

We have reached a point where it's not nearly a narrowing of thought but an exclusion of anyone who dissents.

The unions Gothard says the UFs effort to stop its professors from testifying in state cases has implications for both sides.

Both students and teachers alike are intimidated into silence in the classroom. This law is an Orwellian nightmare that can be turned against liberals and conservatives alike depending on who holds the reins of power. Instead of addressing these very real challengesthe university of Florida is siding with people who want to divide and control Floridians."

University of Floridas faculty union is calling on donors to withhold money from the school. Its also calling on the groups that have ranked UF as one of the top institutions in the country to issue downgrades. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accredits UF. It says it is investigating whether the decisions on professorial testimony violate its academic freedom standards.

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UF's evolving policies on professors testifying in state cases are drawing conservative and liberal concerns about academic freedom - WFSU

1. Japans ruling Liberal Democrats secure general election victory  Financial Times
2. Japan Election: Kishida Struggles to Connect With Voters  The New York Times
3. Japan election: Fumio Kishida, Liberal Democrats keep majority  The Washington Post
4. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida defies expectations, ruling LDP easily keeps majority  CNBC
5. Japans Kishida wins mandate, though economic agenda unclear  KTAR.com

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Japans ruling Liberal Democrats secure general election victory - Financial Times

Political yard signs are no longer just election-season events. Conservative counties are rife with signs expressing support for Trump, though he holds no office and is not currently running for anything. And the In This House sign has spawned many flattering imitations and absurdist parodies. There are versions for neoliberals, YIMBYs, conservatives, conspiracists, fans of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and people irked by the triteness of the original sign. In 2017, Garveys poster was acquired for the archives of the National Womans Party an organization which had, a century earlier, led the most militant fringe of the American suffrage movement. Its a remarkable outcome for an artifact born from such a humble tradition: mom-related dcor.

If you have visited a beach town bric-a-brac shop, browsed a farmhouse-style Pinterest board or stayed in a generic Airbnb rental, the In This House sign format may be familiar. In This House, the sign begins, followed by a list of aphoristic family rules, such as We Do Hugs, We Do Mistakes, We Do Loud Really Well or We Do Family. Often the messages are overtly sanctimonious (We Do Prayer). Sometimes they end with a saucy twist (We Cheer for Clemson). Like other incantations in the momcore canon, the sign is often printed on a purposefully distressed plank in a scramble of fonts perhaps a gloopy typewriter style punctuated with bursts of spindly cursive. The whole dcor category (see also: Thou Shalt Not Try Me and Mama Needs Her Wine) features a mother character who serves as the fun if beleaguered keeper of her familys moral compass. Though In This House, We is phrased like a disciplinary guide for children, the signs feel directed at the adults in the room, reminding them of their own mission amid the chaos of parenting.

When this genre of sign was translated into a symbol of the #resistance, it left the living room and entered the public sphere. The target audience expanded from the family unit to passing neighbors and total strangers. Now the sign suggested a culture-wide lesson plan, even as its framing (in this house) remained individualistic. It was attuned to meet a particular cultural moment for liberal white women, who were experiencing not just a political crisis but a reputational one.

The typical member of Pantsuit Nation may have felt personally attacked by Trumps win, but she was also made to feel responsible for it. One of the most memorable signs of the 2017 Womens March read, Dont forget: White women voted for Trump, punctuated by an ominous scrawl of red marker. Initial exit polls suggested that Trump won more than 50 percent of white women voters, and that figure formed a powerful narrative that implicated the whole demographic. Though it was the overwhelming support of white men that swept Trump into office, it was the ambivalent position of white women that became an object of public fascination. The allegation was that liberal white women had failed, metaphorically speaking, to clean their own house. In 2018, the Pew Research Center released a more solid analysis of the 2016 electorate which determined that 47 percent of white women voted for Trump, edging out the 45 percent for Clinton. However you sliced it, white women were split roughly down the middle, suggesting a tense battle for the soul of the demographic.

Read more here:

'In This House' Yard Signs, and Their Curious Power - The New York Times