January 23, 2018

Manchin Will Seek Re-election but Sends Democrats a Stern Warning

WASHINGTON — Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia told colleagues on Tuesday that he intended to run for re-election this year after all, ending an anxiety-making flirtation with retirement and easing Democratic fears that the most conservative Democrat in the Senate was about to effectively hand his seat to a Republican.

In an interview, Mr. Manchin said he repeatedly expressed his frustration to Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, and other colleagues, telling them that “this place sucks,” before finally signaling Tuesday morning to Mr. Schumer’s aides that he would file his re-election paperwork before West Virginia’s deadline on Friday. “I was very vocal,” Mr. Manchin said, adding, “they read between the lines.”

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It also will have to be bridged if Democrats have any hope of regaining the Senate in November, when they must defend 10 seats in states that Mr. Trump won, while winning Republican-held seats in difficult states like Tennessee, Nevada and Arizona. “I’ve said this point blank: If people like me can’t win from red states, you’ll be in the minority the rest of your life,” Mr. Manchin said about his conversations with other Democrats about the need to tolerate more moderate lawmakers.

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His aides noted that he had a dinner fund-raiser planned for Tuesday evening in Washington and campaign events already scheduled for this weekend in West Virginia. They also pointed out that Mr. Manchin’s grumbles about Senate dysfunction and the Democratic Party’s shift left were not new. Such complains have been a recurring theme over his seven-year tenure.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/us/politics/manchin-reelection-this-place-sucks.html

January 18, 2018

Irish PM Leo Varadkar speaks and debates at EU Parliament - Brexit, Border, Tax and more

Five things the Taoiseach said in his special address to the European Parliament

The Taoiseach gave a 20-minute address at the European Parliament in Strasbourg this morning as part of a series of leaders' addresses. He was the first head of government to do so. The President of the European Commission Jean Claude-Juncker and lead Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier were also present.

1. On 'serving the interests of citizens'

In his speech, Taoiseach Varadkar called for the EU to "serve the interests" of all "citizens and not just corporations." He also recommitted Ireland’s position at the centre of Europe and the euro and called for "even more free trade" and globalisation. "Now is the time to fulfil the promise of the single market in other areas," he said.

"For example, insurance, mortgages and loans, so that people can get cheaper loans from European lenders and insurers if needs be," he told the European Parliament in Strasbourg. He said; "Ireland is a founder member of the euro, and a founder member of the Single Market."

2. On Tax
On tax, he said such issues "should be determined by national governments, but equally true was the fact that corporations should pay their fair share of tax."

"We cannot tolerate a situation where large companies can avoid paying taxes anywhere. He said Ireland has already taken steps to close loopholes in our tax laws "and we will do more." "I believe in more free trade agreements with third countries, and in completing monetary union," he told the audience of MEPs.

3. On Challenges to the EU

The Taoiseach said that Europe is at "decisive point in history" and despite all the upheavals of recent years – the rise of populism and euro-scepticism, nationalism and anti-democratic forces - "we meet in solidarity", with a renewed "sense of purpose."

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4. On Ireland's Potential in the EU

Varadkar said the promise of Europe "unlocked the potential of Ireland and allowed us taking our place among the nations of the world." He thanked the EU for recognising the unique situation of Northern Ireland and how Brexit affects Ireland.

5. On Ireland and Brexit
Taoiseach Varadkar pointed to the fact that citizens in Northern Ireland will remain to be EU citizens even after Brexit such is the unique position of the north.

He reiterated the importance of ensuring the UK translates the agreement in phase one of Brexit into a legal text and a withdrawal agreement.

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He received a round of applause when he said Europe needs to "stick together" if we are to "protect what we have and export our values and world view."

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/five-things-the-taoiseach-said-in-his-special-address-to-the-european-parliament-36498158.html

Varadkar's speech

https://multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/en/ep-plenary-session-debate-with-leo-varadkar-prime-minister-of-ireland-on-the-future-of-europeopening-statement-by-leo-varadkar-prime-minister-of-ireland_I149092_01-V_rv

Also

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/farage-fails-to-hold-candle-to-varadkar-on-eve-of-birthday-1.3359264

Of course not everyone is happy....in between being an international puppet for Putin, Farage is still drawing an EU Parliament salary.

January 3, 2018

Alex Wagner joins The Circus, replacing Halperin

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/02/business/media/showtime-the-circus-halperin.html

The Showtime political documentary series “The Circus” is set to return in April, minus its most recognizable star: Mark Halperin, the high-flying journalist whose career was felled last year by allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault. Replacing Mr. Halperin will be Alex Wagner, a CBS News anchor and former MSNBC host. She will join two of the original hosts, the writer John Heilemann, Mr. Halperin’s longtime professional partner, and Mark McKinnon, a Stetson-sporting political consultant.

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Ms. Wagner, who has appeared as a guest on the show, said she planned to use her new role to examine “questions of American identity: us vs. them, tribalism and nativism, themes that emerged in the campaign and show no sign of going away.” She is the author of a soon-to-be-published book, “Futureface,” which looks at race and immigration in the United States through the lens of her own mixed-race ancestry.

Ms. Wagner laughed when asked if she and her co-hosts were simpatico on political matters. Mr. McKinnon is a former adviser to the presidential bids of George W. Bush and John McCain; Ms. Wagner, whose views lean liberal, is married to the Obamas’ former White House family chef.

“I think it’s a prerequisite that we don’t all agree on everything,” Ms. Wagner said. A former editor in chief of The Fader, a music magazine, she said she was also looking forward to expanding the show’s musical selections.

“If we can get André 3000 on the show,” she said, “I am doubly in.”

December 21, 2017

Trump gets permission to build Wall, after warning about Climate Change !

At his Doonbeg, County Clare, Ireland golf resort

US President Donald Trump has got the go-ahead for one of his walls - a sea defence at his exclusive golf resort on Ireland's west coast. Planning authorities gave the green light for the billionaire to protect his Doonbeg golf links in Co Clare with man-made dunes to keep back Atlantic storms. The work will involve putting in sea defences to protect the first, ninth and 18th holes of the course covering about 600m at the south end of Doughmore Bay and 250m at the north end. The aim is to create a sea defence that will stem erosion where severe winter storms have wiped out metres of beach and dune in recent years.

Clare County Council said the decision can be appealed within four weeks.

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President Trump last year pulled plans for more extensive coastal protection works at Doonbeg amid fierce oppositions to a 200,000 tonne, 2.8km (two mile) sea defence. Mr Trump has said he is not a great believer in man-made climate change, but in his original application he cited global warming and rising seas as a reason for needing the wall. The dune system is also home to the microscopic narrow-mouth whorl snail, or vertigo angustior, which has survived since the Ice Age. Mr Trump paid about 15 million euro for Doonbeg and vowed to invest up to 45 million euro.

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Tony Lowes, of Friends of the Irish Environment - which challenged the original plan, said: "Any intervention through physical barriers will impede the natural evolution of the dune system and put at risk protected species, even without considering the loss to Doughmore strand and its great dunes.

"The decision must be appealed."

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/donald-trump-given-green-light-to-build-wall-around-doonbeg-golf-resort-36428431.html

December 14, 2017

MSNBC : Blake Farenthold not standing for re-election

just in ...

UPDATE ::

GOP Rep. Farenthold to retire after claims of sexual harassment
Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX) will not run for re-election in 2018 after a second former staffer has come forward with accusations of sexual harassment. NBC’s Kasie Hunt reports.

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc-news/watch/gop-rep-farenthold-to-retire-after-claims-of-sexual-harassment-1116513859525

December 13, 2017

Brexit : British Government loses key Brexit bill vote after Tory rebellion

The government has been narrowly defeated in a key vote on its Brexit bill after a rebellion by Tory MPs.
In a blow to Prime Minister Theresa May, MPs voted to give Parliament a legal guarantee of a vote on the final Brexit deal struck with Brussels. The government had argued this would jeopardise its chances of delivering a smooth departure from the EU.
Despite a last-minute attempt to offer concessions to rebels, an amendment to the bill was backed by 309 to 305.

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After the result was announced, one of the rebels, former cabinet minister Nicky Morgan, tweeted: "Tonight Parliament took control of the EU Withdrawal process." The UK is due to leave the EU in March 2019, and negotiations are taking place on what their relationship will be in the future. The EU Withdrawal Bill is a key part of the government's exit strategy.
Its effects include ending the supremacy of EU law and copying existing EU law into UK law, so that the same rules and regulations apply on Brexit day.

MPs have been making hundreds of attempts to change its wording - but this is the first time one has succeeded.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-42346192

December 13, 2017

Ireland : Committee expected to vote for unrestricted access to abortion up to 12 weeks

This is going to be a vicious Referendum, the Catholic Church and assorted RWNJs are lining up for a massive line in the sand.

Health Minister Simon Harris said he has prepared for various scenarios ahead of the final report from the Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment. The committee is expected to vote in favour of allowing unrestricted access to abortion up to 12 weeks as members believe that inserting clauses to allow for terminations in cases of rape and incest would be unworkable.
The committee will cast a series of votes relating to the repeal and replacement of the amendment, which gives equal status to the life of the mother and her unborn baby.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has told the Dail he would like for the referendum on abortion to be held in May. He said for this to happen, the Government will require the full support of the house.

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everal amendments proposed by members relating to the circumstances in which abortion should be made available - including gestation, viability and acceptable grounds for termination, such as rape or incest - will be considered.
However, TDs and Senators are expected to conclude that allowing abortion in cases of rape and incest only is unworkable due to the high burden of proof required to prove rape.

During previous hearings, Prof Tom O'Malley BL said that in cases where a woman has an abortion after being raped, it could in theory be used as evidence against the accused and so prejudice a trial.
It was also heard that cross-examining a woman who may have just been raped - in order to decide if she was eligible for an abortion - would be deeply traumatic.

The widespread and unregulated use of abortion pills is another reason why members will support unrestricted access.

Meanwhile, a New York-based foundation, backed by billionaire George Soros, has said it is "proud" of its support of groups seeking to repeal the Eighth Amendment - despite the controversy over its donation to Amnesty International. The Open Society Foundations (OSF) stood over its financial support for the groups and did not rule out providing funding in the future. Amnesty International is refusing to return €137,000 that it received from OSF in 2016.

That is despite an order from the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo) to do so over allegations that the donation breaches laws against foreign financing of political campaigns ahead of next year's planned referendum on abortion. Colm O'Gorman, Amnesty's Irish CEO, claimed that the law was "flawed" and had been "weaponised" by opponents.

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/committee-expected-to-vote-for-unrestricted-access-to-abortion-up-to-12-weeks-36403852.html

December 4, 2017

Brexit : Breakdown of potential Brexit Irish border deal

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/i-was-surprised-and-disappointed-taoiseach-on-breakdown-of-potential-brexit-border-deal-36377250.html

'I was surprised and disappointed' - Taoiseach on breakdown of potential Brexit border deal

Brexit: No deal today between Ireland and UK on border
No agreement on the Brexit "divorce deal" European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has said
DUP leader Arlene Foster says: "We will not accept any kind of regulatory divergence"
Sources in Dublin say the UK government needs to hold further negotiations with unionists
British Prime Minister said she was "confident we will conclude this positively"

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he was "both surprised and disappointed" after Brexit talks on the Northern Ireland border failed to reach a deal today. A Brexit deal to solve the 'Irish question' was done until a last minute intervention from the DUP, the Irish Government has confirmed.

Hopes were high that the UK would sign off on commitment to maintain regulatory convergence in a post-Brexit era. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he was "surprised" by the UK's request for more time after initially being told an agreement had been reached.

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The agreed text between the UK and EU "gave us the assurance we need that even as an unintended consequences there would not be a hard border on the island of Ireland", he said.

However, UK Prime Minister Theresa May was on the verge of formally signing up to the deal but stepped back after a last minute intervention from the DUP.

"It is evident that things broke down during the lunch in the Brussels," Mr Varadkar said. "I am surprised and disappointed that the British government now appears not to be in a position to conclude what was agreed earlier in the day." "We did make substantial progress on a number of issues today," Taoiseach Varadkar continued. "But the most difficult issue is to maintain the agreement that there will not be a hard border on the island of Ireland. "This has been to the absolute forefront of Ireland's concerns since before the referendum.

"We do not want a border in the Irish Sea any more than we want a border between Newry and Dundalk, and Letterkenny and Derry."
The Taoiseach said it would not be useful to start pointing fingers. At the same time he noted that the DUP are "just one party in Northern Ireland". He said the Irish government was representing the attitude taking by the majority of people in the North.

December 4, 2017

SNL gets hit for "reinforcing stereotypes that are outdated and insulting"

https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/television/andrea-smith-some-of-us-are-deeply-disappointed-at-one-of-our-own-brightest-stars-reinforcing-stereotypes-that-are-outdated-and-insulting-36377684.html

Andrea Smith: 'Some of us are deeply disappointed at one of our own brightest stars reinforcing stereotypes that are outdated and insulting'

In the 18th Century, Edmund Burke famously wrote that, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Fast forward three centuries and I’m borrowing the essence of that sentiment to say, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of casual racism and distasteful disloyalty is for good people to do nothing.” Saoirse Ronan, I’m looking at you.
You’d have to wonder what was going through the talented 23-year-old’s head when she was in rehearsals for hosting Saturday Night Live? In case you missed it - and if so, lucky you - Saoirse took part in an Aer Lingus spoof that managed to insult, belittle and sneer at her homeland all in one fell swoop. Did she genuinely think that suggesting that our national airline’s name sounded like was cunnilingus was side-splitting stuff? Was she slapping her thighs with glee when the scriptwriters suggested that we’re a nation of peasants who only eat potatoes?

It’s hilarious to poke fun at the reminder that a million of our ancestors died because the potato crop failed during the Famine, isn’t it Saoirse? Gas that another million were forced to leave the country too, many of whom ended up in the US, where SNL is recorded.
It wasn’t even an amusing gag. “We’ve got purple potatoes and we’ve got salmon,” an attendant announced. “Sorry I misread that. The salmon is also potatoes.” Groundbreaking stuff.

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Maybe she cringed as much as the rest of us at the passengers dressed in Aran jumpers and the toe-curling stage Oirish accents on the rest of the cast. Mind you, while dressed as a flight attendant called Colleen, Saoirse’s own accent was bafflingly Oirish too. Perhaps she was as confused as we all were about the dogs that kept featuring in the sketch, although given the calibre of the rest of it, it’s surprising that it wasn’t a set of donkeys or pigs that were trotted out to shore up the abysmal stereotypes.

https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/television/tv-news/saoirse-ronan-hits-turbulence-as-not-funny-aer-lingus-snl-skit-nosedives-36376258.html

Normally, high-flying Brooklyn actress Saoirse Ronan cannot put a foot wrong.
But TV viewers were far from impressed when the Oscar nominee appeared in a less-than-funny parody of Aer Lingus.
The innuendo-filled skit on the US show Saturday Night Live has met with a decidedly mixed reaction on social media.

The 23-year-old star raised eyebrows when she dressed as an air steward called Colleen, complete with a bouffant hairstyle and a bottle green uniform, in the four-minute sketch. At one point, comedian Kate McKinnon comes on board to tell passengers that they cannot take off because there is a dog on the runway with "sad eyes and the soul of Oscar Wilde".