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Category Archives: Transhuman News

Heavy-handed interventions from governments arent the answer to hesitancy, building trust is – The Guardian

Posted: September 1, 2021 at 12:34 am

The publics relationship with health and authority has changed substantially over the previous decades, with people now demanding greater individual control and decision-making in healthcare.

The fancy words, epistemologies and sociological frameworks that underpin all this are all incredibly interesting, but it ultimately boils down to one word. Respect.

As we enter into whatever-week-this-is-actually-who-can-even-remember-what-time-as-a-concept-is-any-more of lockdown, pandemic fatigue is gripping us all and respect is becoming increasingly important.

Ongoing compliance with and support of public health directives cannot be taken for granted, but is dependent on mutually respectful relationships that foster goodwill. This requires authorities and the public to view each other as working constructively in partnership and is something we see across public health interventions.

Ive noticed clear parallels to my work on reaching out to vaccine hesitant parents to increase uptake, and there are a few lessons to learn from it.

While the odd charlatan or grifter is lurking around most people are actually trying in their own way to do the right thing by public health. However, misinformation, confusion or inability to access necessary resources often results in well-intentioned people having significantly different sometimes factually incorrect views of what this right thing is.

The problem comes when politicising such differences becomes more of a focus than addressing them.

Most Australians support public health interventions. In fact, politicians have learned during the pandemic they can receive significant political dividends from them. Its true in vaccination too, as support for vaccines in Australia is high and opposition low.

This has meant targeting non-compliant persons is a vote winner.

Populist approaches to public health are smart politics but they make for stupid policy. The political threshold for success in infectious disease management is a simple majority, but public health thresholds are much higher youll need to win over 90% of the population to achieve herd immunity in vaccine campaigns, for example.

This means to put it bluntly only a small percentage needs to be put offside to stuff it up for everyone. Only a very small minority are intransigently opposed to initiatives like lockdowns or vaccination, which means there is capacity to bring those genuinely sitting on the fence on board.

Unfortunately alienating the small percentage required to reach these thresholds remains a politically popular strategy.

Those not immediately taking up the intervention or wanting to ask questions about vaccines, for example, are often immediately pejoratively labelled as anti-vaxxers or selfish dummy mummies (an actual headline!).

Similar politicisation is occurring in Covid, where the infected and those in hotspots are increasingly viewed as possessing some form of moral failure.

Rather than bringing people on board, such responses can lead people to oppositional sources, as they are often the only ones offering empathy, understanding and respect.

People are more likely to be the victims of misinformation than they are the proponents or supporters of it.

Despite this, some politicians have now decided bringing the public along with them is too hard. Rather than trusting, communicating and working with the public to achieve goals, a one-way conversation has been imposed with threats for non-compliance.

Cutting off the two-way conversation is likely to erode trust, and being involved matters.

Weve heard multiple stories of parents who had no questions about vaccinating their children until they had negative experiences of provider-imposed loss of autonomy, decision-making and control during birthing in institutional settings, eroding their trust in medicine and making them question the very value of the institutions themselves.

We are likely to see a similar erosion of trust if public health interventions become something the government does to us rather than with us, which threatens compliance and sustainability of public health responses in the longer term.

Militarisation and policification of the governments response are certainly not helping, particularly in those communities who already have trust issues with those institutions.

Some of the harsher interventions are more pandemic security theatre than evidence-based public health. Rather than being told why initiatives are important, were told they just are, and that well be fined if we dont. Avoiding such discussions is counterproductive and breaks down trust.

Vaccine hesitancy studies highlight frustrations when doctors refuse to acknowledge any risks of vaccines, even when such risks are presented on product material (note: driving to the appointment is still the most dangerous part of vaccination).

Refusal to discuss particular issues and avoiding conversations erodes trust once you dont trust someone to be honest about one issue, it is likely you will wonder about other issues too. Governments need to be careful not to waste the publics trust and goodwill on harsh public health interventions that look like action, with little evidence, and even less explanation.

We shouldnt forget access issues and social determinants in this response. The back story of the person with an unvaccinated child was more likely to be related to access issues than opposition for example a single parent in precarious casual employment who cancelled the appointment because they were offered an additional shift, and couldnt make another one.

Access issues are key in the pandemic response too. Vaccinations and testing remain harder to access than they should be, one million people have been told to register with a non-existent platform or they cant enter or leave certain areas, and were seeing social supports for the most disadvantaged ramp down while the pandemic ramps up.

Compliance is not just about getting individuals to do the right thing, Its also about breaking down barriers to being able to do the right thing. We have a long way to go in this pandemic, but its going to be a lot longer if the government doesnt bring the public back as an active partner in managing its response.

We keep hearing that were all in this together, we need to see it as well.

Jon Wardle is a professor of public health at Southern Cross University

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Astronauts’ photos from the space station reveal the highs and lows of watching Earth from above in 2021 so far – Yahoo News

Posted: at 12:22 am

The thin blue line of Earth's atmosphere appears on the horizon beyond the Red Sea and the Nile River in Africa, February 3, 2021. NASA

Astronauts on the International Space Station enjoy mesmerizing views of Earth. They orbit the planet every 90 minutes, so they see lots of sunrises, nighttime city lights, blue ocean water, and colorful landscapes.

The best photos taken from the space station in 2021 so far, which follow below, showcase bright auroras, hypnotizing crop patterns, and stunning mountain ranges. Some astronauts try to find their birthplaces on the globe, while others scope out National Parks to visit someday.

But as the climate crisis intensifies, the crew can also see devastating wildfires burning, as well as hurricanes like Ida and drought in the western US. The astronauts say this extreme weather is "sad" and "worrying."

See more stories on Insider's business page.

Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) drink in stunning views every day.

From more than 250 miles above the Earth, they can see city lights, mountain ranges, major storms, and melting glaciers.

Since the space station orbits Earth every 90 minutes, astronauts see 16 sunrises and sunsets per day.

There are currently seven people on the station.

Some of them - including European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet and NASA astronaut Megan McArthur - regularly post stunning photos on social media.

Agricultural areas can make beautiful patterns, like these farms in the desert. It's not easy to pin down exact locations from space, but Pesquet said this was somewhere in Africa.

In some places, like Bolivia, those pretty patterns - and the crops growing within them - come at the expense of clearing tropical forests.

When spaceships launch towards the station, carrying astronauts or supplies, those aboard the ISS often watch the rocket streaking towards them.

Astronauts don't always know what they're looking at.

But sometimes they spot something distinct and dramatic, like a volcano spewing gas.

Occasionally, they even spy their homelands - like this picture Pesquet snapped of his birthplace in Normandy, France.

Story continues

"How can something so beautiful be tolerated by human eyes?" NASA astronaut Mike Massimino told the Washington Post, referring to his feelings the first time he saw Earth from above.

Source: The Washington Post

But lately, some of the sights from the ISS have been more concerning.

"We've been very saddened to see fires over huge sections of the Earth, not just the United States," McArthur told Insider on a recent call from the space station.

Plumes of smoke billow from wildfires in Northern California, August 4, 2021. NASA/Megan McArthur

Other consequences of climate change are easily visible from the ISS, too. "We can see all of those effects from up here," McArthur said.

Pesquet photographed Hurricane Ida just hours before it struck Louisiana as a Category 4 storm.

"It's worrying to see these weather phenomena becoming stronger and more frequent from our vantage point," Pesquet said on Twitter.

Lately the astronauts can even see dwindling reservoirs along the Colorado River, which is in its first-ever official water shortage.

On the bright side, though, astronauts caught a stunning view of the southern aurora earlier this month.

"I wasn't surprised by the auroras, but I was kind of bowled over by how breathtaking they really were, and how mesmerizing it was to see it with my own eyes," McArthur said.

McArthur has also been scoping out US National Parks to visit with her husband - astronaut Bob Behnken - and their son once she's back on the ground.

Passing over the US, she can see several National Parks in just a few minutes.

"The other thing that we can see, of course, is the very thin lens of atmosphere," McArthur said.

"That is what protects our Earth and everything on it," she added. "We see how fragile that is, and we know how important it is."

Read the original article on Business Insider

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Astronauts' photos from the space station reveal the highs and lows of watching Earth from above in 2021 so far - Yahoo News

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Space Bubbles: Experiment on International Space Station aims to improve cancer detection – ND Newswire

Posted: at 12:22 am

Tengfei Luohad certain hypotheses about what would happen during his scientific experiment, conducted in June aboard the International Space Station, to form water vapor bubbles in an environment without gravity.

His goal was to engineer material surfaces to make bigger bubbles that adhere to the surface rather than grow buoyant and detach like they do on Earth. He ended up getting both less and more than he expected in his first beyond-this-world experience.

What I found interesting is that the bubbles did detach, Luo said of the near real-time videos beamed back from space. They did grow bigger than what we saw on Earth. Theres no gravity there, which means were probably seeing the physics we would like to see. There is a competition between other factors that led them to detach.

Against expectations, Luo said, the bubbles grew slowly but suddenly detached at once while still at different sizes.

To read the full story, clickhere.

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Recall Front-Runner Larry Elder Says Hes a Libertarian and I Dont Have Horns – Times of San Diego

Posted: at 12:09 am

Larry Elder. Campaign photo

The Sage from South Central. Even more extreme than Trump. The recall candidate to beat.

Larry Eldergoes by a lot of labels these days. If hes tough to pin down, thats because hes such an unlikely politician: A Black man who grew up in South Central Los Angeles, went to an Ivy League college and became a conservative provocateur.

In a state dominated by Democrats for 15 years, hed make an even more unlikely governor. As millions of Californains suss out what theyre supposed to think about him as they vote in theSept. 14 recall election, Elder sat down with CalMatters reporters and editors for an hour-long interview.

This conversation took place beforePolitico reported on allegations from Elders ex-fiancee that he brandished a gun at her while high on marijuana.Elder denied that he waved a weapon, but did not respond to other allegations: I am not going to dignify this with a response its beneath me.

CalMatters has invited Gov. Gavin Newsom and his major challengers to sit down and chat. Here are five highlights from the discussion with Elder:

Elder is especially clear on this point: He thinks hes gotten a raw deal from the left-wing media since he announced his campaign last month.

I dont have a tail, I dont have horns, he said, before noting that he also doesnt club baby seals and eat their heads. While his views onlabor policy,gender equalityandracehave been characterized by the Newsom camp and even somefellow Republicansas extreme, Elder says theyre rooted in common sense and Economics 101.

In the latest in a string of stories unearthing past controversial comments, bothCNNand theSan Francisco Chroniclepublished articles documenting what he has said about women.

He also mentioned that hes written books and made documentaries. Despite their commercial success, he claims, theyve been skimmed over by the arbiters of merit and taste newspaper book reviewers and the Oscars.

Its just surprising that Ive been shut out like this, he said. Im from the hood. I ought to be a success story.

Not that depicting himself as a media target and picking fights with fault-finding reporters doesnt have its political upside. Just ask Donald Trump. For Elders supporters and many recall voters, the disapproval of the chattering classes may serve as its own endorsement.

Thats the term Elder uses to describe his policy platform. Its a consistent line and one that hes been repeating for as long as hes been a public figure.

The biggest challenge in California in general is the intrusiveness of government, he said. I believe that a government that governs less governs best.

Hence his views on the minimum wage (there shouldnt be one), pregnancy discrimination prohibitions in the workplace (leave it to the market), public welfare programs (it encourages women to marry the government), public schools (he prefers school vouchers), state-funded health insurance programs (you need to have competition) and recreational drugs (he supports legalization).

Longtime conservative talk radio listeners and Fox News aficionados will know Elder by his more than 20 years of public opinionating. But for many California voters, he remains relatively unknown.

Thats in part Elders doing. Hes skipped three campaign debates so far,a strategy thats frustrated some GOP insiders. Elder insists its because hes not running against the Republican rivals, but against Newsom.

But debating also runs the risk of making a gaffe or coming under sustained attack a risk that Elder apparently doesnt believe he needs to make.

I have a substantial lead over my Republican rivals, thats one of the reasons why they want to debate me, he said. If I were sitting at 2% in the polls, Id want to debate me as well.

Elders years in the media world have given him a knack for talking politics in a way to draw an audience, but also sometimes to inflame.

So, yes, he opposes the Californiasrecent expansion of Medi-Cal, the public health insurance program for low-income people, to undocumented immigrants. And no, hes not going to use the term undocumented immigrant.

Likewise, climate change activists and conservationists are environmental extremists, the reformist district attorneys in Los Angeles and San Francisco are soft on crime and safety net programs pushed by Democrats represent an attack on the nuclear family.

One of a governors most powerful policy levers is his ability to appoint to the judicial bench, to vacated constitutional offices and to the states many regulatory commissions.

While Elder doesnt have a short list of names for any of those possible appointments, he takes inspiration from Washington, DC. When selecting a judge or justice, he would model his selection on self-described originalists like Clarence Thomas and the late-Antonin Scalia.

And for the state Board of Education? Somebody who has the same philosophy as the former Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, he said.

But there was one former DC bigwig Elder was not inclined to talk about: Stephen Miller, the former Trump advisor, whoseearly start as a right-wing provocateurbegan on Elders show.

Why would you bring up Stephen Miller? Elder asked, repeatedly. Im just wondering what the agenda here is. Whats the point? Am I somehow what a Nazi? A fascist?

CalMattersis a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how Californias Capitol works and why itmatters.

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Libertarians Correctly Predicted the Afghanistan Fiasco Reason.com – Reason

Posted: at 12:09 am

Given the partisan nature of everything, it's no surprise that debates about the unfolding humanitarian tragedy in Afghanistan center on the Biden administration's handlingor most would say, mishandlingof the pull-outof U.S. troops and resulting conquest by the Taliban.

"The debacle of the U.S. defeat and chaotic retreat in Afghanistan is a political disaster for Joe Biden, whose failure to orchestrate an urgent and orderly exit will further rock a presidency plagued by crises and stain his legacy,"wroteCNN analyst Stephen Collinson. The retreat had a troubling "fall of Saigon" air about it, as desperate Afghans clung to departing U.S. fighter jets.

Others blamed the former Trump administration. "This was a consequence of the Trump administration's announcementof a fixed date for total withdrawal," arguedRobert Tracinski in The Bulwark. "This signaledthat the United States had given up and that we would be leaving the Afghan government without support." That, too, makes some sense.

Nevertheless, late-game finger-pointing reminds me of lost hikers arguing about exit trailswhen the problem was heading into the woods in a blizzard. Sure, specific U.S. policies have failed along the way. Writer Bari Weiss, for instance, casts a wide netblaming Bill Clinton's refusal to target Osama bin Laden, George W. Bush's reliance on warlords, and Barack Obama's unwillingness to focus on winning.

The problem is America's fundamental policythe hubristic idea that a government that can't even handle its domestic responsibilities has the wherewithal to rebuild an undeveloped nation. That's a bipartisan delusion, although I'm pleased Trump and Biden finally pulled the plug. Had our War on Poverty succeeded, perhaps one could make a stronger case for intervention. We should know better but rarely learn.

Libertarians long decried endless U.S. military interventions given our understanding of the way the government worksas opposed to its myopic promises. I recall the angry responses The Orange County Register editorial pages received when we opposedthe wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as readers questioned our patriotism for pointing out the obvious. It's too bad it can take decades to be proven right.

The Iraq war made no sense given the dubious connections between Iraq and the 9/11 attacks, but Afghanistan was a hotbed for terrorism. It was a tougher case, but there were alternatives to an outright invasion. But once our leaders start pounding the war drums, there was no reasoning with Americans who insisted that this timeresultswould be different.

It is horrific to watch the Taliban, whose philosophy emanates from the Dark Ages, cement its grip on Afghanistan. The results will betragic indeed. Expect widespread executions of those who cooperated with the Western regime, the relegation of women to the status of chattel, and the re-imposition of Islamic law. But let's not forget the horrific effects of the war and occupation.

"An accurate accounting of the war in Afghanistan must take into account the roughly 2,400 American service members, 3,800 American contractors, 66,000 Afghan security forces, 47,000 Afghan civilians, and others (including journalists and aid workers) who were killed,"explainedEric Boehm in Reason. Then add to that the trillions of dollars in costs.

Reasonalso pointed to a report by the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. SIGAR lamented our shifting goals: "At various points, the U.S. government hoped to eliminate al-Qaeda, decimate the Taliban movement that hosted it, deny all terrorist groups a safe haven in Afghanistan, build Afghan security forcesand help the civilian government become legitimate and capable enough to win the trust of Afghans."

Although it pointed to a few successes, the "Lessons Learned"report documented 140 pages of failures. The best lesson learned, however, is that the United States should not insert itself into these foreign conflicts, should not engage in nation-building, and should limit its interventions to defensive measures that actually protect our nation and its interests. That's what libertarians always have argued.

"Most Americans still want to see some sort of retribution against Osama bin Laden and his far-flung organization,"wrotethe Register's late editorial writer Alan Bock. "But more are wondering if they'll see it anytime soon. The dread word 'quagmire,'has become part of the discourse." He wrote that in 2001and it's hard to say he was wrong.

What should the United States government do now? It should complete the pull-out, keep close tabs on any terrorist networks that could threaten us, and accept as many Afghan refugeesinto the United States as possible. Many of them, especially interpreters, worked with the U.S. military. Welcoming them here is the least we can doand can help prevent a bloodbath.

Former Gen. Colin Powell is known for citing the "Pottery Barn"rule of foreign affairs. "If you break it, you own it." How about the U.S. start following the libertarian rulejust stop playing with other people's pottery?

This column was first published in The Orange County Register.

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Salter: Liberty forgotten and the Article of Confederation – LubbockOnline.com

Posted: at 12:09 am

ALEXANDER SALTER| Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

The heart of Americas political tradition is liberty. But our freedom means much more than rugged individualism or cowboy capitalism. American liberty is ordered liberty. Ours is not the liberty of license, nor is it the order of obstruction. Americans demand freedom so they can be the best version of themselves. Libertarianism carries forward this honorable tradition into the 21st century.

Liberty flourishes where government is strictly limited in scale and scope. The essence of government is violence. Sometimes that violence is used for good purposes, as when a police officer stops a robbery. But it is violence nonetheless. Because government power is so easily abused, its a very good idea to keep the state on a tight leash. Government is not reason, it is not eloquence--it is force! said George Washington. Like fire it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. President Washington understood well the nature of government.

We need conscious constitutional craftsmanship to preserve freedom. Alexander Hamilton said it best: it is up to Americans to show the world whether mankind can establish good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend for their political constitutions on accident and force. Tradition is good. Folkways are good. But by themselves, they cannot guarantee liberty. We have both the right and duty to take the reins of government in hand to secure the blessings of liberty.

The U.S. Constitution is rightly venerated for creating a government of ordered liberty. But the Constitution wasnt our first constitution. We need to do a little historical digging to recover the nations earliest governing charter: the Articles of Confederation. Without appreciating the virtues of this document, we wont fully understand our own story.

The American colonies-turned-states ratified the Articles of Confederation on March 15, 1781. The Articles governed the nation during its most tumultuous days in its conflict with Great Britain until the Constitution was ratified in 1789. Unlike the Constitutions federal government, the confederal government under the Articles was strictly limited. Nineof 13 states had to agree for an act of the unicameral Congress to pass. Amending the articles required unanimity. Most important was Article II, which explicitly laid out the nature of the government as a voluntary association of states: Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled.

From a libertarian standpoint, the Articles of Confederation was an impressive document. The confederation had no power to impose taxes, maintain a standing army or navy, or regulate commerce. Todays Americans have learned the hard way that taxes can become punitive, armies and navies can be instruments of imperialism, and commercial regulations are often the excuse used by Washington to micromanage our lives. Perhaps our Founding Fathers had it right the first time around! As E. James Ferguson, a respected historian of the early Republic wrote, our first constitution emphasized defense of local rights against central authority. The Articles were designed to safeguard liberty.

But wasnt American government dysfunctional under the Articles? Critics contended the new nation couldnt pay its war debt, excessive decentralization resulted in the states engaging in costly trade wars with each other, and the high concurrence requirements for Congressional action hampered valuable political projects. But all these claims are exaggerated. The states themselves, not the confederation government, took the lead on paying the war debt. Trade barriers between states were minimal. And the whole point of the Articles was to discourage political projects unless they were truly in the interest of the whole nation.

The constitutional theory of the Articles was simple: keep government constrained! Most politics should happen at the state and local level. National politics is only for those rare occasions where the entire nation must act collectively. Even then, there needs to be explicit consent with greater-than-majority voting thresholds. Anything else threatens the liberty Americans just shed blood to win. The only real strike against the Articles is that the confederation could not withstand the political ambitions of those among the Federalist faction who hungered for national greatness, possible only with a stronger and more activist central government.

Somewhere in the course of American democracy the nation at large forgot to distinguish between the government and the people, Ferguson lamented. Individual rights and local privileges were no longer regarded as standing against the authority of the government; they were to be advanced by soliciting its aid and patronage. We lost something priceless when we abandoned the Articles for the Constitution. That doesnt mean we forfeited the promise of liberty in America. But it does mean we must turn a critical eye to our own history, to ensure our hard-won rights are not taken away.

Alexander William Salter is the Georgie G. Snyder Associate Professor of Economics in the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University and the Comparative Economics Research Fellow at TTUs Free Market Institute.

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‘Liberty Republicans’ and an evolving GOP – Concord Monitor

Posted: at 12:09 am

In a taped interview in June, Gov. Chris Sununu addressed what he called at the time squabbles within the New Hampshire Republican Party arising from the growing presence of libertarians within the caucus in the New Hampshire House.

The Libertarians are not Republicans, Sununu said flatly. They have their own party, their own place. Libertarians are not Republicans. Okay? I know a lot of them like to sign up as Republicans and pass themselves off as Republicans, he continued. But, theyre not. Not even remotely.

Call them what he will, they are the very same lawmakers who control the House Republican caucus and played a strong hand in the state budget Sununu has called transformational, historic and a win for every citizen and family in this state.

The annual Liberty Rating compiled by the NH Liberty Alliance, confirms the dominance of those who some call the Liberty Republicans.

The rating scores how the 400 members of the House and 24 members of the Senate voted on a tranche of selected bills 49 in the House and 25 in the Senate. The system applies an opaque formula with a factor, positive or negative, for each vote and adds a weight for sponsoring and shepherding a bill through the process to calculate a letter grade for every legislator.

Altogether, 150 representatives scored A and another 45 scored B all of them Republicans by voting with the alliance on between 87% and 100% of 49 tracked bills. Among Republicans, only eight representatives received the lowest score of C for those voting with the alliance on between 50 and 60% of votes.

In other words, 195 members of the Republican caucus which numbered 213 when the session began and 211 when it ended, aligned themselves closely with the alliance.

Little wonder that House Majority Leader Jason Osborne, who moved to New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project and an open Libertarian, touted the unity among House caucus members in pursuing its legislative agenda and carrying what either cuing or echoing the governor he also called a transformational budget.

Of the 177 Democrats, 18 were rated D and 24 F while the other 135 were graded CT, or constitutional threat, and considered unfaithful to their oath of office to uphold the New Hampshire Constitution and the principle of liberty.

By contrast, no senator received an A grade. Eight of the 14 Republicans rated B, with one B+, by voting with the alliance on at least 80% of the selected bills while the other six who strayed on at least 30% of votes were graded C+. Likewise, seven of the 10 democratic Senators were graded CT while two rated F and one D.

The alliance describes pro-liberty bills as those protecting individual freedom and promoting personal responsibility.

Anti-liberty bills, according to the alliance, displace voluntary individual choice with compulsory government regulation and compel people and businesses to pay for policies they may not willingly support.

The bills tracked by the alliance included measures to trim the governors emergency powers as well as reverse or forgive penalties levied for breaching them.

A half-dozen bills loosened restrictions on the possession and use of firearms, including one prohibiting the state from enforcing federal regulations imposed by executive order.

Other bills sought to withhold state support from and impose state supervision on municipalities. Among these was a bill that would deprive municipalities of the authority to enact local ordinances on subjects not enumerated by a statute originated in 1846 and instead would require them to be enacted by the Legislature. Another bill sought to strip public officials of immunity for actions taken in good faith while acting within the scope of their authority and responsibilities.

At the same time, members of the House Republican caucus chafed at the governors proposed budget, particularly his family medical leave program and proposed spending level, and with enough dissidents among their number, threatened adoption of the budget until the 11th hour.

Tension between the Republican governor and the Liberty Republicans has marked Sununus second term, peaking when protesters, chafing at his emergency orders to tackle COVID-19, took to the streets and picketed his home. And in December, three dozen citizens, six state representatives among them, presented a bizarre letter discordantly echoing the Declaration of Independence, that branded the governor a tyrant and demanded the dissolution of the state.

These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.

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Libertarian view: Beliefs and expectations, reasonable and unreasonable – The Spectrum

Posted: at 12:09 am

Thomas L. Knapp| Libertarian View

More than seven months after the fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt during the January 6 riot, the Capitol Police Department officer who shot her is speaking out. I know that day I saved countless lives, Lt. Michael ByrdtellsNBC Newss Lester Holt.

Maybe hes right, maybe not, but hes going farther than he has to go. The standard for use of deadly force not just in the Capitol Police Department but generally is not certain knowledge but rather,as the departments policy puts it, a reasonable belief that said use of force is in the defense of human life, including the officers own life, or in the defense of any person in immediate danger of serious physical injury.

Did Byrds actions meet that standard? The events of the day, andthe video record of the shooting, say yes.

Even setting aside the question of whether the 2020 presidential election was stolen, as many Trump supporters believe, and the bizarre theories of QAnon, with which she seems to have been affiliated, the story of Babbitts death is a story of reasonable versus unreasonable beliefs.

It was unreasonable for Babbitt especially given her description in online biographies as a 14-year Air Force veteran and former security guard at a nuclear power plant to believe that she and the mob she joined could walk into the US Capitol and violently prevent Congresss certification of the election without armed Capitol Police officers contesting the matter.

It was even more unreasonable for Babbitt to believe that when her fellow rioters began smashing the windows of the barricaded doors to the Speakers Lobby, and that when she attempted to crawl through one of those windows, the armed officers charged with protecting Congress wouldnt respond with deadly force. Frankly its surprising that they didnt do so as soon as the window-smashing began.

On the other hand, whether or not one likes the Capitol Police, or Lt. Byrd, or Congress, or the outcome of the election, it was entirely and obviously reasonable for Lt. Byrd to believe that members of a mob attempting to force their way through those barricaded doors represented a danger of immediate danger of serious physical injury or even death to himself and those he guarded.

Ashli Babbitt is neither a martyr nor an innocent victim of police abuse (of which there are far too many). She willingly joined a violent mob. She willingly took part in that mobs violent actions. She willingly went an extra foot or two beyond the actions of most of that mobs members. And that extra foot or two was fatal.

Had Ashli Babbitt not put her unreasonable beliefs into motion against Michael Byrds reasonable beliefs, shed almost certainly still be alive.

Thomas L. Knapp (Twitter:@thomaslknapp) is director and senior news analyst at the William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism (thegarrisoncenter.org).

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‘Frustrating is not even an adequate word’: Health care worker’s unvaccinated mom in ICU with COVID-19 – KGW.com

Posted: at 12:09 am

Matt Gervais, a physical therapist, encouraged his mom to get the vaccine. But he said her social circle felt differently and persuaded her not to get vaccinated.

MEDFORD, Ore. For many families, the threat of COVID-19 hits close to home as their loved ones fight for their lives in the hospital.

Matt Gervais is praying his mom will pull through. He lives in Los Angeles, practicing as a physical therapist, but for the last week hes been in Southern Oregon. His mom, 70-year-old Karin Gervais, is on a ventilator in the ICU with COVID-19. She's been sedated and almost unresponsive for nearly a week now.

The prognosis is pretty poor, said Gervais. She probably has around a 30% chance of surviving this.

As someone who works in healthcare, Gervais knew about the seriousness of COVID early on. He warned his mom throughout the pandemic and when the vaccine became available, he encouraged her to get it.

I said, you gotta get the vaccine. This is vital," said Gervais.

But he said his mom, who is generally a rational person, had surrounded herself with people who felt differently. He believes they persuaded her not to get vaccinated.

She ended up lying to me about getting the vaccine, he said.

Gervais remembers speaking to his mom a couple weeks ago.

She had been feeling really bad and I was like, Well, you sound like you got a respiratory thing mom. You know, I'm super glad you have the vaccine. Thats really, really good. You will be safe. Even if you have it, you know, you won't have it as bad, probably won't be hospitalized, so no worries, said Gervais.

Throughout the week he said hed call to check up on her. She seemed to be getting worse. Once a week had passed, Gervais said he called 10 times, but she didnt pick up the phone. Family went to check on her and discovered her passed out on the ground.

She'd probably been there for 24-plus hours, Gervais said.

Now Karin, a woman who was active at church and in life, is fighting for her life. If she does pull through, shell be looking at a long road to recovery.

Frustrating is not even an adequate word. It's absolutely infuriating, said Gervais.

He said it angers him that whats happening to his mom may have been preventable had it not turned political.

The frustrating thing is that has nothing to do with politics, said Gervais, who said his political beliefs tend to lean libertarian. He said he highly values freedom of choice, but topics related to COVID-19 like getting the vaccine shouldnt be a political discussion, rather a health care discussion.

You wouldn't have somebody that works at the Black Bear Diner work on your car to replace your engine, you know? But that's what they're doing with their literal healthcare, which is 100 times more complicated.

He said his mom, a loving, sweet, kind-hearted woman, got swept up in the tide of misinformation.

That's the saddest part is that people will not understand that, until they have to lose a couple of family members and at that point its too late, Gervais said.

Gervais said the last time he got to talk to his mom while she was still coherent was about a week ago. He told her he loved her and that he and many others were praying for her to pull through. At that point, she wasn't able to talk back to him, but was able to acknowledge his presence.

In less than 24 hours, he said his moms health had degraded even more. He wasnt sure if she had much longer.

Gervais hopes his story helps others see the importance of vaccination.

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'Frustrating is not even an adequate word': Health care worker's unvaccinated mom in ICU with COVID-19 - KGW.com

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Meet the 4 Inland Empire candidates on the Gavin Newsom recall ballot – San Bernardino County Sun

Posted: at 12:09 am

With the football season fast approaching, the number of candidates on the Sept. 14 recall ballot could almost fill a National Football League roster.

But while 53-man NFL teams want Super Bowl rings, the 46 recall candidates hope to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom if a majority of California voters agree to oust him before his term ends in 2022. A recall candidate needs only a plurality of votes to become governor if the recall succeeds.

Heres a look at the four candidates with Inland Empire ties.

Resides: Calimesa

Party: Libertarian

Platform: A Riverside County supervisor representing the San Gorgonio Pass, Moreno Valley, Perris, and Menifee, Hewitt is one of the highest-ranking elected officials affiliated with the Libertarian Party.

The former Calimesa mayor supports school choice (to) bring about better learning environments for our students and student savings account plans to make college more affordable, according to his website.

Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Hewitt, left, is embraced by Mickey Valdivia, San Gorgonio Pass Water Agency treasurer, before Hewitt announces he will run as a Libertarian for governor in the upcoming recall election of Gov. Gavin Newsom at the Mind & Mill in Riverside in April 2021. (File photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Chauncey Slim Killens wears a Trump flag as he waves at cars during the Save America Rally at the Duck Pond in Temecula on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, during the inauguration of Joe Biden as president. (File photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Republican gubernatorial recall candidate for governor Robert Newman lives in the Redlands area. (File photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG).

Sarah Stephens, who is running for governor in the upcoming special election, speaks at an anti-mask protest in Palos Verdes on Aug. 11, 2021. (File photo by Daniella Segura, Contributing Photographer)

Hewitt also is calling for more investment in water infrastructure, including raising dam heights and building two new reservoirs. He wants to streamline the permit process to build more homes, pay down public employee pension debt and create what he views as more sustainable retirement options for civil servants.

Hewitt, who is in his first term as supervisor, has made headlines for urging his colleagues to defy the states coronavirus business restrictions. He also was the subject of a civil claim alleging he sexually harassed a county employee that was settled for $50,000. Hewitt denied wrongdoing.

Another claim from a former staffer accusing Hewitt of harassing and discriminating against her is pending. Hewitt has not commented publicly about the claim.

Website: http://www.hewitt4ca.com

Resides: Winchester

Party: Republican

Platform: A retired corrections officer, Killens said via email hes running because Americas God given freedoms have been slowly eroding at the state and national levels.

I have high moral standards, a quality that is lacking in the current political arena, and I will do what I say, he said. I have common sense, not politically correct common sense, and I will use that to solve the majority of problems overnight because Im not going to be a career politician.

If elected, Killens said he would (allow border) patrol agencies to do their jobs and reject any attempt to cut law enforcement funding.

He opposes coronavirus mask and vaccination mandates and wants to reduce homelessness by creating a program (to) provide jobs and living arrangements so that (the homeless) can be productive and eventually take care of themselves without the government incentives, which continues to exacerbate the problem.

Website: http://www.witnessinthepublicsquare.com

Resides: Near Redlands

Party: Republican

Platform: Its the sixth gubernatorial campaign for Newman, whose ballot designation is farmer/psychologist.

Dr. Newman is Pro-God, Pro-life, traditional marriage, U.S. Constitution, agriculture, business, and truckers, read a statement on his campaign website.

He supports returning those in the nation illegally to their country of origin, building a border wall and (guarding) it with the same security we use to secure our private homes, offices, and government buildings.

Newman is critical of California water policy-makers, whom he argues more heavily yielded to environmentalists pressure than to the needs of the end users. As a result, (millions) of gallons of water are wasted by dumping it into the Pacific Ocean.

Website: http://www.newman4governor.com

Resides: Her campaign uses a Riverside mailing address

Party: Republican

Platform: She is running with the slogan Make California Gold Again. Stephens describes herself on her campaign website as a wife, mother of five beautiful children, a pastor, community leader, and motivational speaker.

We have incredible people, incredible businesses, and incredible resources, her website read. However, the people of California have been shut down, abused and not protected and have not been given the freedom to thrive. It is time for the people to be spoken for.

If elected, Stephens, who states she is pro-life and a defender of free speech and the right to bear arms, plans to cut taxes and regulations and (cut) billions of dollars of spending to unnecessary unproductive causes.

She supports school choice There has (been) so much unhealthy indoctrination in schools and allowing home-schooled kids and charter schoolchildren to take part in public school programs. Stephens also supports allowing people to opt out of vaccines without having to give a reason and opposes coronavirus restrictions on in-person worship services.

Website: http://www.makecaliforniagoldagain.com

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