#AP Elections 2019 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

starmergeddon · 2 months

Note

To someone who doesn't live in the UK and has only a very basic understanding of the different parties involved, pray could you provide a very brief rub-down of the election situation? Also a side question, where exactly did Rishi Sunak and the Tories in general fuck up? I've been getting a lot of British politics posts on my dash and I was curious. You seem like a reliable fellow to ask :)

Btw you really don't have to answer this ask if you don't want to or if it's too much work. In that case, could you point me in the right direction for some online resources I can refer to? Thank ye very much, cheers!

for context, I recieved this ask the day after the election, and somehow managed to miss it for 3 weeks. oops.

if you don't know how British elections work, here are three youtube videos from Jay Foreman which I recommend: how elections work, how elections don't work, and the bit that isn't elected at all

very long post under the cut...

the british political parties

like the US, the UK is a two-party state. unlike the US, the UK has more than two relevant political parties. here they are, in order of seats won this year:

Labour Party (411 (63.2%) seats, with 33.7% of votes)

won this year's General Election.

led by kid starver, queer harmer Keir Starmer, namesake of this blog.

was the Big Left-Wing Party. has recently become the Big Party which Doesn't Stand for Anything, Really, Except for Winning Elections and Hurting Transgender People, due to Starmer's leadership.

oddly patriotic. wants to establish "Great British Railways" and "Great British Energy". Nobody really knows yet what they mean by this.

former leader Ed Miliband is the man in my pfp, pictured failing to eat a bacon sandwich. Some speculate that this photo was the reason he lost the election in 2015.

Conservative "Tory" Party (121 (18.6%) seats, with 23.7% of votes)

tonight's Big Loser.

led by fishy, dishy Rishi Sunak, but not for long, because they're electing a new leader on Halloween.

was the Big Right-Wing Party. is still the Big Right-Wing Party, but is now also an Embarrassment.

they were in power for 14 years until this election.

Directly responsible for this country's decline over the past... 14 years.

their colour is more of a dark blue, but Tumblr doesn't let me do that.

Liberal Democrat Party (72 (11.1%) seats, with 12.2% of votes)

returned to its rightful place as the Third Party.

led by Sir Ed Davey, who spent the election campaign bungee jumping, playing Jenga, and paddleboarding.

is the Centrist Party that Nobody Really Cares About.

somehow is more left-wing than Labour.

Scottish National Party (SNP) (9 (1.4%) seats, with 2.5% of votes)

tonight's Medium-Sized Loser.

led by John Swinney, who was also their leader like 20 years ago.

unsurprisingly, is the Scottish Independence Party. is also more left-wing than Labour.

their colour is yellow, but Tumblr doesn't let me do that.

Reform UK Ltd. (5 (0.8)% seats, with 14.3% of votes)

Fascist Cunts.

led by Nigel Farage.

not actually a political party, for some reason.

enough said. (for now)

Green Party (4 (0.6%) seats, with 6.7% of votes)

the one I voted for.

co-led by Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsey.

the Actually Left-Wing Party. Their slogan is "real hope, real change" which sums it up.

Plaid Cymru (4 (0.6%) seats, with 0.7% of votes)

the SNP, but Welsh. (it's pronounced "Plad Cumry")

led by Rhun ap Iorweth. (pronounced "Rune app You're weth")

their colour is dark green, but Tumblr doesn't let me do that.

None of these parties run for election in Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK, but not part of Great Britain. NI is an entirely different situation which I don't know about.

so what actually Happened? Now that the scene is set, I'll go through the events that transpired, from the conservative landslide in 2019 to the conservative demise in 2024.

2019

the Conservatives don't have enough MPs who want to vote for their Brexit plan, so they call a snap general election. in the UK, our elections aren't at regular intervals. ONLY the Prime Minister decides when they happen, within a 5 year limit. this is important later...!

they win a massive landslide victory, with Boris Johnson as their PM. the SNP wins 48 out of 59 seats in Scotland.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (affectionately known as Jezza) resigns, as does LibDem leader Jo Swinson.

2020

Keir Starmer takes over as Labour leader, and is immediately very boring. Labour gets more unpopular.

Jezza is kicked out of the Labour party, as are many of his supporters, on false allegations of antisemitism.

Boris finally "gets Brexit done" (this was his slogan.) The Tories get more popular. The Brexit Party changes its name to Reform UK, but they're still considered right-wing extremists

COVID happens. Everyone rallies round the flag. The Tories get more popular.

Boris gets COVID and nearly dies.

top conservative politicians hold parties in Downing Street, breaking their own lockdown rules, but shhhh! nobody knows about that yet! these keep happening until April 2021

The NHS begins to collapse a bit more than it already had, due to Conservative underfunding. The Tories get less popular.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak announces a program giving people discounts to eat out in restaurants. COVID cases spike. The Tories get less popular.

It's revealed that one of the top Tories, Dominic Cummings, broke lockdown rules by visiting family. The Tories get less popular.

End of year - Tories and Labour tied in the polls.

2021

the Queen's husband dies. She goes to his funeral, socially-distanced, alone. on the same day, more Downing Street parties are held.

not much else happens?? until December, when

people start to find out that the Tories were breaking their own rules by partying in Downing Street. Immediately, the Labour Party gains a 7% lead in the polls.

2022 - shit hits the fan

people are MAD about the lockdown parties. it's named Partygate and the police start to investigate.

Russia invades Ukraine. Boris tries to distract everyone by supporting Zelenskyy.

the police conclude their investigation. Boris Johnson becomes the first Prime Minister to have officially broken the law. as a firm punishment, he is fined.... £50. (so are Rishi Sunak, and lots of others.)

Everything gets expensive. Many people are now choosing between eating and heating their home.

Just after this happens, it's revealed that Johnson also gave promotions to a Tory who he knew had committed sexual assault. His cabinet revolts. He is forced to resign as Conservative Party leader. But because he is Prime Minister, he's the only one who can call an election, and he simply chooses not to! because he knows he'd lose!

The new Prime Minister is chosen not by the people, but by the Conservative Party members. people hate this.

Liz Truss beats Rishi Sunak in the final contest. She becomes Prime Minister.

The Queen dies.

Liz Truss crashes the economy. All hell breaks loose. The Labour Party now have a 25% lead in the polls.

The Daily Star starts a YouTube livestream - will Liz Truss leave office before this lettuce expires?

Liz Truss loses control of her MPs. She, too, is forced to resign, just 40 days after becoming PM! Because she doesn't have to call an election, she doesn't.

The lettuce won.

ONCE AGAIN it is up to the Conservative Party leadership to choose a Prime Minister... except nobody wants to be Prime Minister. Rishi Sunak becomes Prime Minister without being elected by ANYBODY

2023

not much extra happens, for a while. people are just sick and tired of the Tories

They decide it's a good idea to try and deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, because immigration is "too high".

Nicola Sturgeon gets bored of being a politician and resigns as SNP leader. Without a clear successor, the SNP destroys itself finding a new leader.

Nicola Sturgeon is also arrested on suspicion of having funnelled money out of the SNP to herself before she resigned! (she's cleared of suspicion, but the public gain a conception of the SNP being corrupt.)

Shit happens in Gaza. The Tories back Israel. Labour, having shifted massively to the right, also back Israel. People become unhappy with both of them, and still are today.

2024

A general election has to happen this year. The Tories are still 20% behind in the polls.

It's announced that the UK entered a small recession at the end of 2023.

Four asylum seekers are sent to Rwanda. They spent £700,000,000 on this.

Rishi constantly dodges questions about when the general election will be, simply saying it will come "in the second half" of the year. Most people think he means autumn.

He did not mean autumn. He calls an election for 4 July, but forgets to bring an umbrella in the process, and gets rained on.

Nigel Farage immediately takes control of Reform UK. (He's allowed to do that because it's technically a company, and as owner of said company he can do what he wants)

Reform UK surges in popularity, reaching 17% in the polls, just behind the Conservatives at 21%

Rishi leaves a D-day event halfway through to give an interview with a TV broadcaster, in which the multimillionaire claimed his childhood was hard because he didn't have Sky TV.

The Conservatives decide to cure their election woes by sending all 18-year-olds to National Service. (ie. military)

It's also revealed that many top Tories placed bets on the election being held on 4 July.

The Conservative Party loses voters to Labour on their left, and to Reform on their right.

election result analysis

where did it go wrong for the Tories? uh, everywhere.

where did it go right for Labour, though? depends who you ask...

voters decisively rejected the Conservatives, choosing either Reform, Labour, or LibDem instead.

however, they weren't enthusiastic about Labour instead. many Labour wins came about as a result of Reform splitting the right-wing vote in half.

polling suggests most people who voted Labour did so to remove the Tories from power.

Fewer people voted for Labour this year than in 2019, but they doubled their seats in Parliament. Our voting system is fucked.

The Green Party quadrupled its seat share. They have won in every seat they have targeted.

Five leftist independent MPs beat Labour in what were "safe" constituencies. One of them was Jeremy Corbyn!! What this shows is that people don't really like Labour, or that people really don't like Labour. They want something better.

The SNP is nearly wiped out in Scotland, despite getting 30% of the Scottish vote. Labour wins most seats in Scotland with 35% of the Scottish vote.

The "Party of Women" (which is literally just TERFs) got fewer votes than the Monster Raving Loony Party. Lmao.

19 people voted for Elmo in Keir Starmer's constituency.

More people voted for the Conservatives and Reform UK combined than they did for Labour. If Labour doesn't get its shit together, we could be in trouble.

what's happened since the election?

7 Labour MPs have already been kicked out of the party for voting to adopt measures to lift 1.6 million children out of poverty

pressure from Greens and independents led to Labour accepting the ICC's arrest warrant for Netanyahu and stopping some arms sales to Israel's genocide.

what happens next?

the Tories choose a new leader on Halloween. other than that? fuck knows lmao. what the 2019-2024 parliament tells us is that anything can happen. as mentioned before, we don't even know when the next election is.

where exactly did Rishi Sunak and the Tories in general fuck up?

you tell me

i also realise just now, after typing all that out, that you asked for a "very brief rub-down" of what happened............. yeah my bad

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mariacallous · 4 months

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BRUSSELS (AP) — Far-right parties made major gains in European Union parliamentary elections Sunday, dealing stunning defeats to two of the bloc’s most important leaders: French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

In France, the National Rally party of Marine Le Pen dominated the polls to such an extent that Macron immediately dissolved the national parliament and called for new elections. It was a massive political risk since his party could suffer more losses, hobbling the rest of his presidential term that ends in 2027.

Le Pen was delighted to accept the challenge. “We’re ready to turn the country around, ready to defend the interests of the French, ready to put an end to mass immigration,” she said, echoing the rallying cry of so many far-right leaders in other countries who were celebrating substantial wins.

Macron acknowledged the thud of defeat. “I’ve heard your message, your concerns, and I won’t leave them unanswered,” he said, adding that calling a snap election only underscored his democratic credentials.

In Germany, the most populous nation in the 27-member bloc, projections indicated that the AfD overcame a string of scandals involving its top candidate to rise to 16.5%, up from 11% in 2019. In comparison, the combined result for the three parties in the German governing coalition barely topped 30%.

Scholz suffered such an ignominious fate that his long-established Social Democratic party fell behind the extreme-right Alternative for Germany, which surged into second place. “After all the prophecies of doom, after the barrage of the last few weeks, we are the second strongest force,” a jubilant AfD leader Alice Weidel said.

The French National Rally crystalized it as it stood at over 30% or about twice as much as Macron’s pro-European centrist Renew party that is projected to reach around 15%.

Overall across the EU, two mainstream and pro-European groups, the Christian Democrats and the Socialists, remained the dominant forces. The gains of the far right came at the expense of the Greens, who were expected to lose about 20 seats and fall back to sixth position in the legislature. Macron’s pro-business Renew group also lost big.

For decades, the European Union, which has its roots in the defeat of Nazi Germany and fascist Italy, confined the hard right to the political fringes. With its strong showing in these elections, the far right could now become a major player in policies ranging from migration to security and climate.

Bucking the trend was former EU leader and current Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who overcame Law and Justice, the national conservative party that governed Poland from 2015-23 and drove it ever further to the right. A poll showed Tusk’s party won with 38%, compared to 34% for his bitter nemesis.

“Of these large, ambitious countries, of the EU leaders, Poland has shown that democracy, honesty and Europe triumph here,” Tusk told his supporters. “I am so moved.”

He declared, “We showed that we are a light of hope for Europe.”

Germany, traditionally a stronghold for environmentalists, exemplified the humbling of the Greens, who were predicted to fall from 20% to 12%. With further losses expected in France and elsewhere, the defeat of the Greens could well have an impact on the EU’s overall climate change policies, still the most progressive across the globe.

The center-right Christian Democratic bloc of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, which already weakened its green credentials ahead of the polls, dominated in Germany with almost 30%, easily beating Scholz’s Social Democrats, who fell to 14%, even behind the AfD.

“What you have already set as a trend is all the better – strongest force, stable, in difficult times and by a distance,” von der Leyen told her German supporters by video link from Brussels.

As well as France, the hard right, which focused its campaign on migration and crime, was expected to make significant gains in Italy, where Premier Giorgia Meloni was tipped to consolidate her power.

Voting continued in Italy until late in the evening and many of the 27 member states have not yet released any projections. Nonetheless, data already published confirmed earlier predictions: the elections will shift the bloc to the right and redirect its future. That could make it harder for the EU to pass legislation, and decision-making could at times be paralyzed in the world’s biggest trading bloc.

EU lawmakers, who serve a five-year term in the 720-seat Parliament, have a say in issues from financial rules to climate and agriculture policy. They approve the EU budget, which bankrolls priorities including infrastructure projects, farm subsidies and aid delivered to Ukraine. And they hold a veto over appointments to the powerful EU commission.

These elections come at a testing time for voter confidence in a bloc of some 450 million people. Over the last five years, the EU has been shaken by the coronavirus pandemic, an economic slump and an energy crisis fueled by the biggest land conflict in Europe since the Second World War. But political campaigning often focuses on issues of concern in individual countries rather than on broader European interests.

Since the last EU election in 2019, populist or far-right parties now lead governments in three nations — Hungary, Slovakia and Italy — and are part of ruling coalitions in others including Sweden, Finland and, soon, the Netherlands. Polls give the populists an advantage in France, Belgium, Austria and Italy.

“Right is good,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who leads a stridently nationalist and anti-migrant government, told reporters after casting his ballot. “To go right is always good. Go right!”

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warningsine · 4 months

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BRUSSELS (AP) — Far-right parties made such big gains at the European Union parliamentary elections that they dealt stunning defeats to two of the bloc’s most important leaders: French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

In France, the National Rally party of Marine Le Pen dominated the polls to such an extent that Macron immediately dissolved the national parliament and called for new elections, a massive political risk since his party could suffer more losses, hobbling the rest of his presidential term that ends in 2027.

In Germany, Scholz suffered such an ignominious fate that his long-established Social Democratic party fell behind the extreme-right Alternative for Germany, which surged into second place.

Adding insult to injury, the National Rally’s lead candidate, Jordan Bardella, all of 28 years old, immediately took on a presidential tone with his victory speech in Paris, opening with “My dear compatriots” and adding “the French people have given their verdict, and it’s final.”

The four-day polls in the 27 EU countries were the world’s second-biggest exercise in democracy, behind India’s recent election. At the end, the rise of the far right was even more stunning than many analysts predicted. The French National Rally stood at just over 30% or about twice as much as Macron’s pro-European centrist Renew party that is projected to reach around 15%.

The Greens were predicted to fall from 20% to 12% in Germany, a traditional bulwark for environmentalists, with more losses expected in France and several other EU nations. Their defeat could well have an impact on the EU’s overall climate change policies, still the most progressive across the globe.

“What you have already set as a trend is all the better – strongest force, stable, in difficult times and by a distance,” von der Leyen told her German supporters by video link from Brussels.

Voting will continue in Italy until late in the evening and many of the 27 member states have not yet released any projections. Nonetheless, data already released confirmed earlier predictions: the EU’s massive exercise in democracy is expected to shift the bloc to the right and redirect its future.

With the center losing seats to hard right parties, the EU could find it harder to pass legislation and decision-making could at times be paralyzed in the world’s biggest trading bloc.

The voting marathon began in the Netherlands on Thursday, where an unofficial exit poll suggested that the anti-migrant hard right party of Geert Wilders would make important gains, even though a coalition of pro-European parties has probably pushed it into second place.

Casting his vote in the Flanders region, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency until the end of the month, warned that Europe was “more under pressure than ever.”

After the election comes a period of horse-trading, as political parties reconsider in their places in the continent-wide alliances that run the European legislature.

The biggest political group — the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) — has moved further right during the present elections on issues like security, climate and migration.

Among the most watched questions is whether the Brothers of Italy — the governing party of populist Meloni, which has neo-fascist roots — stays in the more hard-line European Conservatives and Reformists group or becomes part of a new hard right group that could form the wake of the elections. Meloni also has the option to work with the EPP.

A more worrying scenario for pro-European parties would be if the ECR joins forces with Le Pen’s Identity and Democracy group to consolidate hard-right influence.

The second biggest group — the center-left Socialists and Democrats — and the Greens refuse to align themselves with the ECR.

Questions also remain over what group Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party might join. It was previously part of the EPP but was forced out in 2021 due to conflicts over its interests and values. The far-right Alternative for Germany was kicked out of the Identity and Democracy group following a string of scandals surrounding its two lead candidates for the European Parliament.

The election also ushers in a period of uncertainty as new leaders are chosen for the European institutions. While lawmakers are jostling over places in alliances, governments will be competing to secure top EU jobs for their national officials.

Chief among them is the presidency of the powerful executive branch, the European Commission, which proposes laws and watches to ensure they are respected. The commission also controls the EU’s purse strings, manages trade and is Europe’s competition watchdog.

Other plum posts are those of European Council president, who chairs summits of presidents and prime ministers, and EU foreign policy chief, the bloc’s top diplomat.

#europe #politics #elections #news tag

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beardedmrbean · 5 days

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed three bills Tuesday to crack down on the use of artificial intelligence to create false images or videos in political ads ahead of the 2024 election.

A new law, set to take effect immediately, makes it illegal to create and publish deepfakes related to elections 120 days before Election Day and 60 days thereafter. It also allows courts to stop distribution of the materials and impose civil penalties.

“Safeguarding the integrity of elections is essential to democracy, and it’s critical that we ensure AI is not deployed to undermine the public’s trust through disinformation -– especially in today’s fraught political climate,” Newsom said in a statement. “These measures will help to combat the harmful use of deepfakes in political ads and other content, one of several areas in which the state is being proactive to foster transparent and trustworthy AI.”

Large social media platforms are also required to remove the deceptive material under a first-in-the-nation law set to be enacted next year. Newsom also signed a bill requiring political campaigns to publicly disclose if they are running ads with materials altered by AI.

The governor signed the bills to loud applause during a conversation with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff at an event hosted the major software company during its annual conference in San Francisco.

The new laws reaffirm California’s position as a leader in regulating AI in the U.S., especially in combating election deepfakes. The state was the first in the U.S. to ban manipulated videos and pictures related to elections in 2019. Measures in technology and AI proposed by California lawmakers have been used as blueprints for legislators across the country, industry experts said.

With AI supercharging the threat of election disinformation worldwide, lawmakers across the country have raced to address the issue over concerns the manipulated materials could erode the public’s trust in what they see and hear.

“With fewer than 50 days until the general election, there is an urgent need to protect against misleading, digitally-altered content that can interfere with the election,” Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, author of the law banning election deepfakes, said in a statement. “California is taking a stand against the manipulative use of deepfake technology to deceive voters.”

Newsom’s decision followed his vow in July to crack down on election deepfakes in response to a video posted by X-owner Elon Musk featuring altered images of Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

The new California laws come the same day as members of Congress unveiled federal legislation aiming to stop election deepfakes. The bill would give the Federal Election Commission the power to regulate the use of AI in elections in the same way it has regulated other political misrepresentation for decades. The FEC has started to consider such regulations after outlawing AI-generated robocalls aimed to discourage voters in February.

Newsom has touted California as an early adopter as well as regulator of AI, saying the state could soon deploy generative AI tools to address highway congestion and provide tax guidance, even as his administration considers new rules against AI discrimination in hiring practices.

He also signed two other bills Tuesday to protect Hollywood performers from unauthorized AI use without their consent.

#nunyas news #wonder how much this one violates 1A #we'll find out I guess

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thienvaldram · 9 months

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(Doctor Who) UK Prime Ministers and US Presidents

Full (Incomplete) UK PM List in the DWU from 1950 – 20XX (Some years are guessed)

Will be updated whenever I can be bothered we get new information. Just random speculation jamming together a list that was never meant to be jammed together.

Historical Before This Point

Winston Churchill (1951-1955)

Anthony Eden (1955-1957)

Harold Macmillan (1957-1963)

Sir Alec Douglas-Home (1963-1964)

Harold Wilson (1964-1970)

Edward Heath (1970-1972)

Jeremy Thorpe (1972-1974)

Harold Wilson (1974-1975)

Brenda Jones (1975) (According to a Jonathan Morris Tweet)

Shirley Williams (1975-1976)

James Callaghan (1976-1979)

Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990)

Margery Phipps (1990-1992)

John Major (1992-1997) (Assassinated)

Lord Greyhaven (1997) (De Facto PM for several weeks)

Tony Blair (1997-1999)

Terry Brooks (1999-2000)

Phillip Cotton (2000) (Deputy PM until election was called)

Kenneth Clarke (2000-2001)

Tony Blair (2001-2002) (Second term)

Unnamed Male Pro-Europe PM (Possibly Hugh Grant) (2002-2005)

Tony Blair (2005-2006) (Third term)

Joseph Green/Jocrassa Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen (2006) (Only served as acting PM for a day)

Harriet Jones (2006-2008)

Harold Saxon (2008)

Aubrey Fairchild (2008-2009)

Brian Green (2009-2010)

Denise Reilly (2010-2013)

Kenneth LeBlanc (2013)

Denise Reilly (2013-2014) (Resumed for a second term after Kenneth Le Blanc died)

David Cameron (2014-2015)

Daniel Claremont (2015)

Theresa May (2015-2018)

Felicity (2018-2019)

Fiona (2019-2020)

Boris Johnson (2020-2021) (Revealed to be an Auton)

Jo Patterson (2021)

Edward Lawn Bridges (2021-2023)

Unnamed Woman (2023-2025)

S J Wordley (2025-2026)

Glenda Jackson (2026-2028)

The Director (2028-2046)

Roger ap Gwilliam (2046)

Dai (2047-2049)

Lomax (2049 - 2050)

Mariah Learman (2050-2055)

Unnamed (?-2065-?)

Corollaries (PM List)

Jeremy Thorpe and Shirley Williams are said to be Prime Minister contemporaneously with the UNIT stories (Which are assumed here to take place on their airdates as per Mawdryn Undead and most Modern Who references)

In a tweet Jonathan Morris claimed the Prime Minister in Terror of the Zygons or Mawdryn Undead was Brenda Jones, Harriet Jones' auntie. I put this in 1975 (for less than a year) because why not. Ignore this if you think it's bad.

The Torchwood Encyclopaedia claims that Denise Reilly succeeds Brian Green, since the next PM chronologically is ‘Unnamed Female PM from BF Silence Audios’ these have been welded together.

Actual dates of Kenneth Le Blanc and Unnamed Female PM are unknown, but are set in the UNIT audios between Power of Three (2012-2013) and DotD (2013).

Felicity and Fiona are given as PMs in Aliens Among Us and God Among Us (Torchwood S5 and S6) released and presumably set in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

Eight gives the PM list as Heath -> Thorpe -> Williams -> Thatcher -> Major -> Blair -> Clarke in Interference, this is not supported as a direct list by other sources, though I tried to fit it as best I could, resulting in Blair having two non-adjacent terms.

2010s are a mess due to BF, Titan Comics and the Lucy Wilson novels all giving conflicting accounts of who is PM only a couple years apart, apparently there were a lot of elections/resignations in that decade

Harriet Jones initially served Three terms prior to the Doctor altering history and deposing her, given UK Term Length is unclear, it's unknown how long this would have been, I would guess around 15 years, which would've put Harriet Jones at (2006-2021) where she'd be succeeded by Jo Patterson.

The UK becomes a military Dictatorship from 2028 until 2046 headed by ‘The Director’.

Dai is described as the 'first Prime Minister to serve after the Director is overthrown' this seems to contradict 73 Yards depicting Roger ap Gwilliam's election, but if Roger ap Gwilliam was overthrown as well he can't be said to have 'served', his deputy PM, Iris Cabriola technically succeeds him, but is never the official PM and presumably Dai is then elected the following year.

Then in 2050 Lomax is the dictator of the UK. In the 'mid 21st Century', Mariah Learman is a ‘benevolent dictator’ of the UK.

An unknown Prime Minster led the UK during the weather crisis of December 2065.

Full (Incomplete) US President List in the DWU from 1960 – 20XX (Some years are guessed)

Historical Before This Point

John F Kennedy (1961-1963) (assassinated)

Lyndon Johnson (1963-1969) (VP who succeeded their predecessor)

Richard Nixon (1969-1974)

Gerald Ford (1974-1977) (VP who succeeded their predecessor)

Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)

Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)

George H.W. Bush (1989-1993)

Carrol (1993-1994)

Bill Clinton (1994-1997) (Presumably VP who succeeded their predecessor)

Tom Dering (1997-1999)

George W Bush (1999-2001) (Presumably VP who succeeded their predecessor)

Bruce Springsteen (2001-2003)

Chuck Norris (2003-2005) (VP who succeeded their predecessor)

George W Bush (2005-2007)

Arthur Coleman Winters (2007-2008) (VP who succeeded their predecessor)

Winter’s VP/Speaker of the House (2008-2009) (Succeeds Winters after he’s killed by Saxon)

2009-2017 Term

Felix Mather (2009-2017) (Presidency overwritten by Faction Paradox)

Sampson (2009-2017) (Presidency induced as an aberration by Lolita)

Barack Obama (2009-2017) (Replaced Felix Mather in history)

2017-2021 Term

Daniel Strunk (2017-2021) (Presidency overwritten by Faction Paradox – Mather’s Successor)

Matt Nelson (2017) (Presidency induced as an aberration by Lolita – Assassinated at Inauguration)

Lola Denison/Lolita (2017-unknown) (Assassinated her predecessor)

Donald Trump (2017-2021) (Replaced Daniel Strunk in history)

After 2021

Courtney Woods (unknown-2049-unknown)

Gavin A32X40 (unknown – 2086 – unknown)

Corollaries (President List)

The Eighth Doctor gives the list of Presidents as Carter -> Reagan -> (HW) Bush -> Clinton -> Dering -> Springsteen -> Norris

The President given in 2004 is referred to by the nickname ‘Chuck’ in Cat’s Cradle: Warhead which combined with the fact Springsteen was the President in 2003 and ‘Norris’ succeeded them suggests that the 2004 President was Chuck Norris.

The President in 2006 was implied to be George W Bush based on Harriet Jones’s dialogue. He was previously stated to be President in 2000 (Which he hadn’t been in real life)

Clinton is stated to be President in both 1997 (by metaphor in Placebo Effect) and in 1999 (in Rosa). However both of these are less conclusive than Tom Dering’s direct appearances in Option Lock and and Millennium Shock (also 1997 and 1999) implying that the mentions in Placebo Effect and Rosa were merely off by 1-3 years.

Obama is explicitly stated and shown to be President in 2009, 2012 and 2016, however Felix Mather is stated to be President in the 2010s, physically meeting the Eighth Doctor in Trading Futures. It is stated that Mather’s role in history was replaced due to Mather refusing to make a deal with Faction Paradox and so that has been taken into account.

Concerning the 2017-2021 Presidential Term

Donald Trump is stated to be a candidate in 2016 and is subsequently stated to be President in 2017, 2018 and 2020.

In contradiction, Daniel Strunk is stated to be President in 2017.

This is resolved by having Strunk be Mather’s successor who’s term was also replaced when Faction Paradox remove Mather’s term from history.

The Faction Paradox novel ‘Head of State’ depicts a 2 term Democratic President named Samson who is succeeded by Matt Nelson of a newly formed Radical Party. They are subsequently assassinated by their VP, the sentient humanoid TARDIS Lolita (Who has also been War Queen of Gallifrey and Queen of the UK before, as well as having devoured the Eleven Day Empire). It’s unknown how long she served nor when beyond ‘Early 21st Century’. She (along with Matt Nelson and Samson) have been as a temporal aberration replacing Mather and Strunk before themselves being replaced by Obama and Trump following Lolita’s defeat in True History of Faction Paradox and the ending of the War in Heaven.

A 2000 Bernice Summerfield short story claims Hillary Clinton was US President at some point. However, these records are portrayed as suspect with Bernice questioning them herself and have been ignored for lack of a position to place Clinton into the timeline.

#doctor who #dweu #doctor who eu #faction paradox #uk prime minister #us president #prime minister #president #in doctor who though #will update

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darkmaga-retard · 2 months

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https://thepostmillennial.com/tim-walz-first-order-as-minn-governor-was-to-create-dei-council-make-himself-the-chair

Tim Walz first order as Minn governor was to create DEI council, make himself the chair

“Disparities in Minnesota, including those based on race, geography, and economic status, keep our entire state from reaching its full potential."

Tim Walz’s first executive order as the Democratic governor of Minnesota governor was establishing a diversity, equity and inclusion council for all of the state government’s actions and designated himself as the chair. On Tuesday, Waltz was selected to be Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in the 2024 presidential election.

The Democratic Vice Presidential nominee told The Associated Press in 2019 that the “One Minnesota Council on Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity” would ensure the “lens of equity” for all state government businesses, including “recruiting; retaining and promoting state employees; state government contracting; and civic engagement.”

"Walz told reporters Wednesday he’ll chair the council," the AP said at the time, "patterned on a similar council formed by former Gov. Mark Dayton, but expand its scope to include geographic diversity and other considerations." Walz said that the point of the council, per AP, was to "work to ensure that all Minnesotans have the opportunity to fully participate in the development of state policy. He says it will ensure that the 'lens of equity' is focused on everything the state does, whether it’s transportation projects or hiring."

He has spoken many times about the "privilege" he's been given as a "white man." "I understand the privilege I've been given as a white man," he said during his leadership, saying that he was in office "not just to talk about the problem" of racial disparity "but the solve the problem."

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reasoningdaily · 3 months

Video

youtube

A military plane carrying Malawi's vice president has gone missing and a search is underway

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/malawi-ap-bahamas-africa-b2560080.html

A military plane carrying Malawi's vice president and nine others went missing Monday and a search was underway, the president's office said.

The plane carrying 51-year-old Vice President Saulos Chilima left the capital, Lilongwe, but failed to make its scheduled landing at Mzuzu International Airport about 370 kilometers (230 miles) to the north around 45 minutes later.

Aviation authorities lost contact with the plane when it “went off radar,” the statement from Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera's office said. Chakwera ordered a search operation and canceled a trip to the Bahamas, his office said.

"All efforts to make contact with the aircraft since it went off radar have failed thus far," the statement said.

Chakwera was informed of the missing plane by Gen. Valentino Phiri, the head of the Malawian armed forces. The president had ordered national and local authorities to “conduct an immediate search and rescue operation to locate the whereabouts of the aircraft,” his office said.

A military plane carrying Malawi's vice president is missing and a search is underway

BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — A military plane carrying Malawi’s vice president and nine others went missing Monday while on a short trip from the capital to a mountainous region in the country’s north and a search is underway, the president’s office said.

The plane carrying 51-year-old Vice President Saulos Chilima left the southern African nation’s capital, Lilongwe, at 9.17 a.m. but disappeared from radar and failed to land as scheduled around 45 minutes later at Mzuzu International Airport, about 370 kilometers (230 miles) to the north.

“All efforts to make contact with the aircraft since it went off radar have failed thus far,” according to a statement from Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera’s office. Chakwera ordered a search operation and canceled a trip to the Bahamas, his office said. The others onboard were not identified.

Mzuzu is Malawi’s third biggest city and the capital of the northern region. It lies in a hilly, forested area dominated by the Viphya mountain range, which has vast plantations of pine trees.

Malawi’s The Times media group reported that search teams involving soldiers, police officers and others were scouring one of those forested areas near Mzuzu for signs of the plane.

Chakwera ordered national and local authorities to “conduct an immediate search and rescue operation to locate the whereabouts of the aircraft,” his office said. Chakwera later announced on his official Facebook page that he would make a live speech to the nation at 11 p.m.

Chilima had been facing corruption charges over allegations that he received money in return for influencing the awarding of government contracts, but the charges were surprisingly dropped by prosecutors last month. That led to criticism that Chakwera’s administration was not taking a hard enough stance against graft.

Chilima was arrested in late 2022 and made several court appearances, but the trial had not started. He denied the allegations.

Chilima was a candidate in the 2019 Malawian presidential election and finished third. That vote was won by incumbent Peter Mutharika but was annulled by Malawi’s Constitutional Court because of irregularities. Chakwera finished second in that election.

Chilima then joined Chakwera’s campaign as his running mate in an historic election rerun in 2020, when Chakwera was elected president. It was the first time in Africa that an election result that was overturned by a court resulted in a defeat for the sitting president.

#youtube #A military plane carrying Malawi's vice president has gone missing and a search is underway

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head-post · 4 months

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Netherlands begins 4 days of EU election

Polling stations opened on Thursday in the Netherlands to begin four days of voting in European Union parliamentary elections, according to AP News.

Estonians can vote for six days starting from Monday, but the Netherlands is the only EU country to start the one-day voting earlier. Ireland follows on Friday and the rest of the EU over the weekend.

EU-wide results will be announced on Sunday evening after all member states have completed their voting. The EU election is the second largest in the world after India’s, and the stakes are high.

Nearly 400 million voters will choose 720 members of the European Parliament from the Arctic Circle to the fringes of Africa and Asia. They will influence issues ranging from global climate policy and defence to migration and geopolitical relations with China and the United States.

The Netherlands has long been an unwavering supporter of EU policy. However, research by the think tank Clingendael points to dissatisfaction with the EU among the Dutch. While most of them believe the Netherlands should remain in the bloc, many also believe the country should be more self-sufficient.

The number of members elected in each country depends on the size of the population. It ranges from six for Malta, Luxembourg, and Cyprus to 96 for Germany. In 2019, Europeans elected 751 lawmakers. After the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU in 2020, the number of MEPs fell to 705. Some of the 73 seats previously held by British MEPs were redistributed among other member states.

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voluptuarian · 6 months

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"New Turkey" Introductory Reader

I did so much research for my paper that the final product barely scratched the surface of what I've read or looked up in the course of writing it. As such, I feel like the scope of my paper is very basic compared to the depth of the issue. (And considering how quickly I wrote it, frankly I'm not that sure of its actual writing quality.)

My research topic was current Turkish politics, centering on recent policies of President Erdogan and his party, the AKP, who have dominated the country since the mid-2000s. In particular I wanted to look into the roots of, and meaning behind a sort of party motto/discourse/policy umbrella which started in 2014 when Erdogan became president and announced the arrival of a "New Turkey."

This motto has frequently been compared to "Make America Great Again," and is just as bold and lacking in specific meaning. It is also the mission statement behind much of what's happening in Turkey's social and political climate right now, so for anyone interested in what's been going on in Turkey in the recent past, or curious about where the country's current direction is leading, the "New Turkey" idea is central to everything.

Rather than just delete all my references I thought I would share them here for anyone who's interested. Consider this a bit of "New Turkey" intro. It includes most of what I used in my bibliography and some other sources I looked at but didn't get to include.

I'm including some newspaper articles here-- these are all very introductory-- they're helpful for people with no background at all on Turkey, as well as for anyone who's interested and doesn't want to go through an entire paper's worth of books and articles. All these should be accessible for most people, I think.

“Erdogan Elected Turkey’s President, Promises ‘New Era.’”

"21st Century Will Be the Century of Türkiye: Erdoğan."

"Recep Tayyip Erdogan Sworn in as Turkish President; Swearing-in Ceremony Caps Monthslong Campaign."

"Erdoğan's split personality: the reformer v the tyrant"

"Turkey, lavish new presidential palace proves divisive."

"Turkey Rages at Shoddy Construction of 'Earthquake-Proof' Homes."

(Also looking up information on the Gezi Park protests from 2013 or Fethullah Gülen and his movement will be helpful for newbies as well.)

Behind the cut is all the more scholarly stuff. I've included entries in citation form so all the info you could need is there; I've also included links to everything but I don't know how many will be accessible everywhere, or to people without accounts, or even usable (I had a couple links stop working during the process of writing this.) Hopefully even if you can't access them all through the links provided, looking up the article information or even reaching out to the author will get you access. Happy reading!

The progression and consolidation of erdoğanist authoritarianism in the New Turkey - Bilge Azgın https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14683857.2020.1764277

Bâli, Aslı Ü., 'The “New Turkey” At Home and Abroad', in Amal Ghazal, and Jens Hanssen (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Middle Eastern and North African History, Oxford Handbooks (2020; online edn, Oxford Academic, 9 June 2015), https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199672530.013.29‌

Bourcier, Nicolas. “Erdogan, the Enduring Reinterpreter of Turkish History.” Le Monde.fr, October 29, 2023. https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/10/29/erdogan-the-enduring-reinterpreter-of-turkish-history_6212761_4.html.

Cagaptay, Soner. “Making Turkey Great Again.” The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs 43, no. 1 (Winter 2019): 169–78. https://doi.org/https://www.jstor.org/stable/45289835.

Çevik, S. B. (2024). Grandiose dreams, mega projects: Ottoman nostalgia in ‘new Turkey’. International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 21(1), e1846. https://doi.org/10.1002/aps.1846

Heper, M., & Toktas, S. (2003). Islam, Modernity, and Democracy in Contemporary Turkey: The Case of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The Muslim World, 93(2), 157-185. http://proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/islam-modernity-democracy-contemporary-turkey/docview/216437044/se-2

ERDOGAN'S GRAND VISION: Rise and Decline - Hillel Fradkin, Lewis Libby (2013)https://www.jstor.org/stable/43556162?searchText=&searchUri=&ab_segments=&searchKey=&refreqid=fastly-default%3A07607ba3d65e40f3231e2694b7b6b306&seq=2

Eissenstat, Howard. "Recep tayyip erdoğan: From 'illiberal democracy' to electoral authoritarianism (born 1953)" in Dictators and Autocrats: Securing Power Across Global Politics, ed. Klaus Larres (Abingdon, Oxfordshire, U.K: Routledge, 2021) https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003100508-25/recep-tayyip-erdo%C4%9Fan-howard-eissenstat

Cinar Kiper, “Sultan Erdoğan: Turkey’s Rebranding into the New, Old Ottoman Empire”, http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/04/sultan-Erdoğan-turkeys-rebranding-into-the-new-old-ottoman-empire/274724/

Kocamaner, Hikmet. “How New Is Erdoğan’s ‘New Turkey’?” Middle East Brief, no. 91 (April 2015): 1–9. https://doi.org/https://www.brandeis.edu/crown/publications/middle-east-briefs/pdfs/1-100/meb91.pdf.

‌McKernan, Bethan. 2019. “From Reformer to ‘New Sultan’: Erdoğan’s Populist Evolution.” The Guardian, March 11, 2019, sec. World news. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/11/from-reformer-to-new-sultan-erdogans-populist-evolution.

Populism, victimhood and Turkish foreign policy under AKP rule - Mehmet Arısan https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14683849.2022.2106131?src=recsys

Development of the 'New Turkey' Media Image: Substantive Aspect - N. E. Demeshko; V. A. Avatkov; A. A. Irkhin https://eds.s.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=ea94c4bc-4632-4ee4-a8c2-df8b9f5973bf%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=edsdoj.

Smith Reynolds, Aaron. “The ‘New Turkey’ Might Have Come to an End: Here’s Why.” giga. https://www.giga-hamburg.de/de/publikationen/giga-focus/the-new-turkey-might-have-come-to-an-end-heres-why.

Solomon, Hussein. “Turkey’s AKP and the Myth of Islamist Moderation.” Jewish Political Studies Review 30, no. 3/4 (2019): 128–35. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26801121.

Yavuz, M. Hakan. “Social and Intellectual Origins of Neo-Ottomanism: Searching for a Post-National Vision.” Die Welt des Islams 56, no. 3–4 (November 28, 2016): 438–65. https://doi.org/10.1163/15700607-05634p08.

Media in New Turkey: The Origins of an Authoritarian Neoliberal State - Bilge Yesil https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=w3tMDAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=%22new+turkey%22+origins+erdogan&ots=iqHojS41ci&sig=KC201icwuSS6tseeNml_IFMnZWU#v=onepage&q=%22new%20turkey%22%20origins%20erdogan&f=false

Yilmaz, Ihsan. "Islamic Populism and Creating Desirable Citizens in Erdogan’s New Turkey." Mediterranean Quarterly 29, no. 4 (2018): 52-76. muse.jhu.edu/article/717683.

The AKP and the spirit of the ‘new’ Turkey: imagined victim, reactionary mood, and resentful sovereign- Zafer Yilmaz https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14683849.2017.1314763

#idk it felt wasteful just deleting everything so here you go #erdogan #recep tayyip erdogan #turkey #turkiye #turkish politics #current events #politics #ottoman empire #neo-ottomanism

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zvaigzdelasas · 2 years

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At his initial court appearance, Castillo looked downcast as he gave simple yes or no answers and his attorney argued that he had been arbitrarily ousted from Peru’s presidency on trumped-up charges of rebellion.

The U.S. condemned Castillo’s power grab as illegal and even leftist allies have refused to speak out against his overthrow. A major exception was Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who called Castillo’s removal a “soft coup” fueled by deep-seated racism against the former school teacher from the heavily indigenous Andean highlands.

“It is no longer military intervention,” said López Obrador. “It’s done with control of the media by the oligarchs, undermining legal and legitimately constituted authorities, especially if they want to do something for the benefit of the long-suffering people who do not belong to the elites.”

Meanwhile , Castillo’s successor, like many Peruvians, seemed eager to turn the page. In comments to journalists Thursday, Dina Boluarte, who served as Castillo’s vice president, appealed for a “truce” from the political feuding that has paralyzed Peru for years so that she can “reorient” the country. With polls showing Peruvians despising Congress even more than they do Castillo, she suggested that she would consider holding early elections — something that requires approval of a hard-to-muster constitutional amendment. [...]

But once in office he cycled through dozens of inexperienced Cabinet choices, a number of whom have been accused of wrongdoing. He also faced a hostile Congress, which first tried to impeach him last December. At the time, a relatively small group of opposition lawmakers cited an investigation by prosecutors into illicit financing of the governing party. To remove the president requires two-thirds of the 130 lawmakers to vote in favor. Only 46 voted in favor.

Congress tried to impeach Castillo again in March for “permanent moral incapacity,” a term incorporated into Peruvian constitutional law that experts say lacks an objective definition and that Congress has used more than a half dozen times since 2017 to try to remove presidents. The effort failed, this time with only 55 votes in favor.

On Wednesday, Peru was girding for a third impeachment vote. The night before, the president said in an unusual midnight address on state television that a certain sector of Congress had it out for him and that he was paying for mistakes made due to inexperience. [...]

The president can dissolve congress to end a political standoff but only in limited circumstances — after losing two votes of confidence in Congress, which last occurred in 2019, when then President Martin Vizcarra dismissed lawmakers. [...]

Despite the high political drama, only small clashes erupted between a handful of Castillo supporters and riot police on guard outside.

Boluarte, a 60-year-old lawyer, was sworn in as Peru’s first female president. She said her first order of business would be to address corruption, ostensibly what led to Castillo’s downfall. [...]

López Obrador said Thursday that he had greenlighted Castillo’s request for asylum that he made in a phone call to the Mexican president’s office. But he said those plans were frustrated when Castillo was intercepted by police on his way to the Mexican Embassy in Lima, where a group of protesters awaited.

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro said Castillo had committed “political suicide” by weaponizing a seldom-used clause of the constitution to combat his adversaries in Congress, who he said never allowed Castillo to govern.

Anti-democracy can’t be fought with more anti-democracy,” he said, echoing similar comments by Brazil’s incoming president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

8 Dec 22

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mariacallous · 8 months

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Lansing — Democratic lawmakers are condemning a social media post from Republican state Rep. Josh Schriver of Oxford that promoted "the great replacement" theory, a racist ideological belief that there's a coordinated global effort to diminish the influence of White people.

On Tuesday, Schriver shared a post of a graphic that depicted black figurines covering most of a map of the world, with white figures occupying smaller sections of Australia, Canada, northern Europe and the northern United States. The bottom of the graphic read "The great replacement!"

The graphic, initially posted by right-wing pundit Jack Posobiec, was reposted by Schriver with an emoji of a chart showing a downward trend on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

In a statement Wednesday to The Detroit News, Schriver said he loved "all of God's offspring" and believed "everyone's immense value is rooted in the price Christ paid on the Cross when he died for our sins.

"I'm opposed to racists, race baiters, and victim politics," Schriver said in the statement. "What I find strange is the agenda to demoralize and reduce the white portion of our population. That's not inclusive and Christ is inclusive! I'm glad Tucker Carlson and Jack Posobiec are sharing links so I can continue my research on these issues."

The "great replacement" conspiracy theory asserts there is a coordinated effort to dilute the influence of White people through immigration and through low birth rates among White individuals, according to the Anti-Defamation League. The theory has been linked to anti-Semitism, with some versions alleging it is Jews coordinating the so-called replacement.

The shooter in a 2022 Buffalo, New York supermarket shooting that killed 10, most of whom were Black, raised the theory in a manifesto as a motive for the killings, the Associated Press reported. The killer in the 2018 Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in Pittsburg blamed Jews for bringing non-white immigrants to the U.S.; a 2019 Poway, California synagogue shooter claimed Jews were responsible for the killing of White Europeans; and a shooter who killed 23 people at an El Paso Walmart in 2019 talked about a "Hispanic invasion" in his manifesto, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

At least a half-dozen Republican U.S. Senate candidates promoted the "great replacement" conspiracy theory in the 2022 elections, the AP reported.

House Speaker Joe Tate, a Detroit Democrat and Michigan's first Black speaker, said Schriver's "blatantly racist social media post" and later statement on the issue do not align with the chamber's values and are "deeply and personally" offensive.

Schriver's insistence that the issue was worthy of consideration "puts his ignorance on full display," Tate said in a statement, but is not an excuse for "proliferating obvious hate."

“Perhaps most disturbing is that his post uplifts a dangerous and tortured narrative that fosters violence and instability," Tate said. "His callous and reckless act is not within the spirit of what Michigan is, and it contributes to a hostile environment."

Rep. Jason Hoskins, a Black Democratic lawmaker from Southfield, also criticized the post Wednesday night.

"Michigan House Republican celebrates Black History Month by promoting racist and dangerous conspiracies that there are too many people of color," Hoskins wrote on X.

House Republican Leader Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, did not respond to a request Wednesday night for comment about Schriver's post.

Rep. Kelly Breen, D-Novi, condemned the post as "blatantly racist" and "dangerous rhetoric" that has no place in society or in the state Legislature.

"It saddens & infuriates me that a colleague shared this," Breen wrote on X. "For someone who claims to love God - Rep. Schriver is blind to the fact this would make Him weep."

Elected in 2022, Schriver represents the 66th District in the Michigan House of Representatives, which includes Addison, Brandon, Oxford townships and most of Oakland Township in Oakland County and Bruce and Washington townships in Macomb County. The Warren native is a graduate of De La Salle Collegiate High School.

Schriver serves on the House Natural Resources, Environment, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Committee.

Condemnation of Schriver's post extended beyond Michigan political circles.

The Northern Guard Supporters, a fan group supporting the Detroit City Football Club, also condemned the post and said the first term lawmaker was not welcome among the fan group. Schriver's wife plays for the Detroit City Football Club women's team, which plays in the Premier Arena Soccer League.

Nick Finn, who helps run communications for the group, said fans "won't tolerate that in our stands." On X, Northern Guard Supporters noted that the league included "players from all ethnic backgrounds in a high minority population city."

"It’s very upsetting to see something like that, one, from any representative in Michigan, let alone one directly connected to a member our team,” Finn told The News on Wednesday.

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workersolidarity · 1 year

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Photo: AP News

🇲🇻 OPPOSITION CANDIDATE, MOHAMED MUIZZU, WINS MALDIVES PRESIDENTIAL RUN-OFF

Maldives: The Opposition candidate, Mohamed Muizzu of the People's National Congress Party, won a Presidential Run-off Election in the Maldives on Saturday with 54% of the vote, defeating the incumbent, Ibrahim Solih who received 46%.

Solih conceded his defeat after Muizzu's lead became unassailable.

“Congratulations to the winner of the presidential election @MMuizzu. Thank you for the beautiful democratic example shown by the people in the elections. Thank you to the MDP and AP members who worked together and to all the people who voted for me,” outgoing President Ibrahim Solih wrote on X.

President Ibrahim Solih spent his Presidential term building up relations between the Maldives and India. Muizzu's Party, on the other hand, wants to forge closer ties with China, with Muizzu's People's National Congress Party launching an "India out" campaign during the election season.

Formerly an Engineer, Mohamed Muizzu served as the Minister of Housing and Environment, later renamed the Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure from 2012 to 2018 where Muizzu gained a following for his involvement in a multitude of major joint infrastructure projects between the Maldives and China, including the iconic Sinamalé Bridge linking the Maldives capital city Malé with the Velana International Airport in Hulhulé and extending into the new planned city of Hulhumalé.

During Muizzu's term as Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, many important infrastructure projects were completed, including the construction of a multitude of harbors, parks, jetties, mosques, public buildings, roads and sporting facilities.

Muizzu was later elected Mayor of the Maldives capital, Malé in 2021.

Muizzu is also known for modernizing the Maldives infrastructure techniques, such as the introduction of modern asphalt and the implementation of modern building and maintenance codes.

During his time as Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, Muizzu and his party forged closer ties with China as the economic juggernaut helped the Maldives fund important infrastructure projects. Today, Muizzu and his opposition party have been labeled "Pro-China" by Western observers, politicians and journalists.

Mohamed Muizzu has also said he would remove Indian troops from the independent archipelago, and says he will balance trade, which today leans heavily in favor of India.

Muizzu has also said he supports the release of former President of the Maldives, Abdulla Yameen, from prison. Yameen was convicted of corruption charges in 2019 after a massive money laundering scandal which saw the former President sentenced to 11 years in Prison.

“Today is a very happy day,” Muizzu told supporters.

“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the Maldivian people. This outcome today is a huge encouragement for us in our pursuit to build a better future for our country, and to ensure the sovereignty of our nation.”

Yameen, the leader of the PPM, must be released, Muizzu said.

“The president has the power to transfer [Yameen] home imprisonment. And doing so, I believe, is the best action that can be taken in our nation’s interests,” he added.

#source

#source2

#source3

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beardedmrbean · 10 days

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NEW YORK (AP) — When her husband turns on the television to hear news about the upcoming presidential election, that's often a signal for Lori Johnson Malveaux to leave the room.

It can get to be too much. Often, she'll go to a TV in another room to watch a movie on the Hallmark Channel or BET. She craves something comforting and entertaining. And in that, she has company.

While about half of Americans say they are following political news “extremely” or “very” closely, about 6 in 10 say they need to limit how much information they consume about the government and politics to avoid feeling overloaded or fatigued, according to a new survey from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and USAFacts.

Make no mistake: Malveaux plans to vote. She always does. “I just get to the point where I don't want to hear the rhetoric,” she said.

The 54-year-old Democrat said she's most bothered when she hears people on the news telling her that something she saw with her own eyes — like the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol — didn't really happen.

“I feel like I'm being gaslit. That's the way to put it,” she said.Sometimes it feels like ‘a bombardment’

Caleb Pack, 23, a Republican from Ardmore, Oklahoma, who works in IT, tries to keep informed through the news feeds on his phone, which is stocked with a variety of sources, including CNN, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press.

Yet sometimes, Pack says, it seems like a bombardment.

“It's good to know what's going on, but both sides are pulling a little bit extreme,” he said. “It just feels like it's a conversation piece everywhere, and it's hard to escape it.”

Media fatigue isn't a new phenomenon. A Pew Research Center survey conducted in late 2019 found roughly two in three Americans felt worn out by the amount of news there is, about the same as in a poll taken in early 2018. During the 2016 presidential campaign, about 6 in 10 people felt overloaded by campaign news.

But it can be particularly acute with news related to politics. The AP-NORC/USAFacts poll found that half of Americans feel a need to limit their consumption of information related to crime or overseas conflicts, while only about 4 in 10 are limiting news about the economy and jobs.

It's easy to understand, with television outlets like CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC full of political talk and a wide array of political news online, sometimes complicated by disinformation.

“There's a glut of information,” said Richard Coffin, director of research and advocacy for USAFacts, “and people are having a hard time figuring out what is true or not.”Women are more likely to feel they need to limit media

In the AP-NORC poll, about 6 in 10 men said they follow news about elections and politics at least “very” closely, compared to about half of women. For all types of news, not just politics, women are more likely than men to report the need to limit their media consumption, the survey found.

White adults are also more likely than Black or Hispanic adults to say they need to limit media consumption on politics, the poll found.

Kaleb Aravzo, 19, a Democrat, gets a baseline of news by listening to National Public Radio in the morning at home in Logan, Utah. Too much politics, particularly when he's on social media sites like TikTok and Instagram, can trigger anxiety and depression.

“If it pops up on my page when I'm on social media," he said, “I'll just scroll past it.”

#nunyas news #I stopped watching broadcast news entirely

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newstfionline · 1 year

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Monday, July 17, 2023

Canadian Politicians Who Criticize China Become Its Targets (NYT) The polls predicted a re-election victory, maybe even a landslide. But a couple of weeks before the vote, Kenny Chiu, a member of Canada’s Parliament and a critic of China’s human rights record, was panicking. Something had flipped among the ethnic Chinese voters in his British Columbia district. Longtime supporters originally from mainland China were not returning his calls. Volunteers reported icy greetings at formerly friendly homes. Chinese-language news outlets stopped covering him. And he was facing an onslaught of attacks—from untraceable sources—on the local community’s most popular social networking app, the Chinese-owned WeChat. Mr. Chiu and several other elected officials critical of Beijing were targets of a Chinese state that has increasingly exerted its influence over Chinese diaspora communities worldwide as part of an aggressive campaign to expand its global reach, according to current and former elected officials, Canadian intelligence officials and experts on Chinese state disinformation campaigns. Canada recently expelled a Chinese diplomat accused of conspiring to intimidate a lawmaker from the Toronto area, Michael Chong, after he successfully led efforts in Parliament to label China’s treatment of its Uyghur Muslim community a genocide. Canada’s intelligence agency has warned at least a half-dozen current and former elected officials that they have been targeted by Beijing, including Jenny Kwan, a lawmaker from Vancouver and a critic of Beijing’s policies in Hong Kong.

Heavy rains swamp Northeast again as flash flooding claims at least 5 lives in Pennsylvania (AP) Heavy rains pounded an already saturated Northeast on Sunday for the second time in a week, spurring another round of flash flooding, cancelled airline flights and power outages. In Pennsylvania, a sudden flash flood late Saturday afternoon claimed at least five lives. Other parts of the East Coast were experiencing heavy rain, including Vermont. Authorities there said landslides could become a problem Sunday as the state copes with more rain following days of flooding.

San Francisco’s downtown is a wake-up call for other cities (AP) Jack Mogannam, manager of Sam’s Cable Car Lounge in downtown San Francisco, relishes the days when his bar stayed open past midnight every night, welcoming crowds that jostled on the streets, bar hopped, window browsed or just took in the night air. He’s had to drastically curtail those hours because of diminished foot traffic, and business is down 30%. Empty storefronts dot the streets. Large “going out of business” signs hang in windows. Shampoo, toothpaste and other toiletries are locked up at downtown pharmacies. And armed robbers recently hit a Gucci store in broad daylight. San Francisco has become the prime example of what downtowns shouldn’t look like: vacant, crime-ridden and in various stages of decay. But in truth, it’s just one of many cities across the U.S. whose downtowns are reckoning with a post-pandemic wake-up call: diversify or die. As the pandemic bore down in early 2020, it drove people out of city centers and boosted shopping and dining in residential neighborhoods and nearby suburbs as workers stayed closer to home. Those habits seem poised to stay. Data bears out that San Francisco’s downtown is having a harder time than most. A study of 63 North American downtowns by the University of Toronto ranked the city dead last in a return to pre-pandemic activity, garnering only 32% of its 2019 traffic.

Europe sizzles under heat wave (AP) Scorching temperatures across Europe forced the closure of the Acropolis in Athens for a second day as officials warned Saturday of even hotter weather next week, when the mercury is forecast to top 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in several popular Mediterranean tourist destinations. In cities, those venturing out at all drenched themselves in fountains while others sought out pools, the sea or shade in hopes of relief from the heat wave caused by Cerberus. The high-pressure anticyclone coming from the south was named after the three-headed dog in ancient Greek mythology who guarded the gates to the underworld. Fifteen cities in Italy, most of them in the country’s center and south, were under heat advisories signaling a high level of risk for older adults, the infirm, infants and other vulnerable people. In Greece’s capital, where the temperature was forecast to reach 41 C (105.8 F), officials decided to keep the sun-baked Acropolis monument closed from noon to 5:30 p.m. as they did Friday. In Turkey, coastal cities in the south and southwest reached the high 30s (about 97-102 F) and low 40s (104-109 F).

La Palma wildfire (AP) More than 4,000 people were evacuated as a wildfire rages “out of control” on La Palma in Spain’s Canary Islands on Saturday, destroying around a dozen homes, authorities said. The blaze has affected an area of about 4,500 hectares (11,000 acres) and officials warned residents that the situation could worsen because a heat wave has made the terrain tinder-dry. “The fire has spread very fast,” Canary Islands regional president Fernando Clavijo said. “The fire is out of control.” Spain saw record high temperatures in 2022 and this spring as it endures a prolonged drought. Authorities and forestry experts are concerned that the conditions are ripe for a difficult wildfire campaign after seeing virulent fires as early as March.

Small, Hidden and Deadly: Mines Stymie Ukraine’s Counteroffensive (NYT) It was a grisly scene of bloody limbs and crumpled vehicles as a series of Russian mines exploded across a field in southern Ukraine. One Ukrainian soldier stepped on a mine and tumbled onto the grass in the buffer zone between the two armies. Nearby lay other Ukrainian troops, their legs in tourniquets, waiting for medical evacuation, according to videos posted online and the accounts of several soldiers involved. Soon, an armored vehicle arrived to rescue them. A medic jumped out to treat the wounded and knelt on ground he deemed safe—only to trigger another mine with his knee. Five weeks into a counteroffensive that even Ukrainian officials say is off to a halting start, interviews with commanders and soldiers fighting along the front indicate the slow progress comes down to one major problem: land mines. The fields Ukrainian forces must cross are littered with dozens of types of mines—made of plastic and metal, shaped like tins of chewing tobacco or soda cans, and with colorful names like “the witch” and “the leaf.” Ukraine’s army is also hindered by a lack of air support and the deep network of defensive structures the Russians have built. But it is the vast array of mines, trip wires, booby traps and improvised explosive devices that has Ukrainian forces bogged down only a few miles from where they started.

For Ukrainians isolated by war, English lessons offer a lifeline (Washington Post) The Ukrainians logged on in the dizzying days after Russian troops surged across the border. They logged on by candlelight after rocket attacks knocked electricity offline. They logged on as air raid sirens warned of danger. And so it was again one recent day, that 15-year-old Jane Gerasimchuk logged on to Zoom from her home in Dnipro, about 60 miles from the front lines of Russian’s invasion of Ukraine, so she could practice speaking English with a volunteer in Maryland. The call is part of a program called Speaking English Language Overseas or SELO—which sounds similar to the Ukrainian word for village—that pairs English tutors with groups of Ukrainians in the countryside who might not otherwise have a chance to hone their language skills with a native speaker. But what started as online language classes have become much more amid the deprivations and depravities of war—an escape, a lifeline to the outside world, a therapy session and an unusual window into the lives of ordinary Ukrainians at a time when simply carrying on with day-to-day activities has become an act of bravery. “When the bombs started, it was really hard to deal with what was going on,” Jane said in an interview. “I decided even if there was war, I would get better and I will grow.”

India’s favorite girl never grows up. But her wit is less welcome. (Washington Post) Nearly two decades after India’s independence, a little-known cooperative of small town dairy farmers in 1966 launched what became the most successful advertising campaign in the country’s history and helped transform India into the world’s largest producer of dairy and dairy products. The economic business model developed by Amul, the dairy cooperative, spread throughout India as did its cartoon advertising mascot: a young girl with blue hair, a polka dot dress and an endless stream of witty one-liners commenting on the events of the day. The girl quickly became India’s most recognizable cartoon character, a cultural icon that spared no public figure. But more than 8,000 ads later, she has had to tread carefully in a new India, within the shrinking space to poke—even in jest—at politics. “From then to now is a story of how India has changed—in terms of tolerance, humor, in terms of regime, in terms of what we can do,” said Rahul daCunha, who took over his father’s advertising agency and the Amul butter portfolio in 1993. “My dad was courageous. He never stayed away from a topic. Today, I don’t have that luxury.”

Antarctic ice levels undergo ‘massive decrease’, data shows (Reuters) Antarctic sea ice levels reached record lows last month, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Monday, a development climate change experts described as worrisome. WMO said that Antarctic sea ice levels last month—the hottest June ever recorded—were at their lowest since satellite observations began, at 17% below average. “We’re used to seeing these big reductions in sea ice in the Arctic, but not in the Antarctic. This is a massive decrease,” Michael Sparrow, Chief of World Climate Research Programme, told reporters in Geneva.

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