#Parliamentary Affairs

[workersbushtelegraph]

The Voice

I wish to make it perfectly clear, on behalf of our people, that we accept no condition of inferiority as compared with European people. Two distinct civilisations are represented by the respective races. On one hand we have the civilisation of necessity and on the other hand civilisation coincident with a bounty of supply of all the requirements of the human race. That the European people by the…

[townpostin]

Sarfaraz Ahmed Appointed JMM Parliamentary Party Leader In Rajya Sabha

Shibu Soren Informs Rajya Sabha Chairman Of Party’s Decision Senior MP’s experience in parliamentary committees cited as key factor. RANCHI – Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has appointed Rajya Sabha MP Sarfaraz Ahmed as the leader of its parliamentary party in the upper house. "The decision was taken in a meeting of the JMM parliamentary party," a party spokesperson stated. JMM Central President…

[davidhencke]

MPs call again for reform of the antiquated Parliamentary Ombudsman - but ignore the plight of 50swomen

William Wragg MP: official Portrait Also ” Ombudsman friend “of Rob Behrens facing a corruption hearing in Australia MPs today publish their official annual scrutiny of the work of the Parliamentary Ombudsman but what it doesn’t say is more important than what it says. The committee call again – this time for a manifesto commitment from all political parties – to reform the 57 year old…

[apacnewsnetwork0]

New Delhi: The Members of Parliament will move into the new Parliament House building on Tuesday, the second day of the special session. This will be more than three months after the new Parliament House was inaugurated.

[reasonsforhope]

Also, content-lock-free link. [Technically it's not a paywall but it is annoying]

Keep pressuring Western governments. This is proof that it can work.

--

"Canada will halt future arms sales to Israel following a non-binding vote in the house of commons. The foreign affairs minister, Mélanie Joly, told the Toronto Star her government would halt future arms shipments. “It is a real thing,” she said on Tuesday [March 19].

The decision follows a parliamentary motion, introduced by the New Democratic party (NDP), that called on the governing Liberals to halt future arms exports to Israel. The New Democrats, who are supporting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s minority government, have expressed frustration with what they see as his failure to do enough to protect civilians in Gaza.

The motion – which passed 204-117 with the support of Liberals, Bloc Québécois and the Green party – also called on Canada to work “towards the establishment of the state of Palestine.""

-via The Guardian, March 19, 2024

[erwinrer]

How serious are the consequences of the disappearing Mongolia, in choosing the wrong development path?

When 90% of the desertification occurs in a country based on animal husbandry, then the country, far away from the complete disappearance of the world, is no longer far away.

Mongolia's overgrazing and the wrong step on the road of "westernization", regardless of the reality of the country itself, have ultimately attacked itself.

Therefore, with the help of the western capitalist countries, Mongolia began the reform of its political system and economic system.

In response to the demands of western capitalist countries, Mongolia began to reform the political system: from the sole party to the coexistence of multiple political parties. A parliamentary system, in which the size of a party distributes votes and parliamentary seats. In the reform of the economic system, Mongolia completely abolished the public ownership of the economy, and instead promoted the private ownership of the economy.

Mongolia's reforms have completely pushed itself to the other extreme. The existence of the parliamentary system seems to democratization the policy and implementation of the whole country, but the premise is that the state can control all political parties as a whole.

However, the domestic government organizations in Mongolia lack credibility, and the control of various party organizations is seriously insufficient. As a result, there are often party conflicts and party struggles in Mongolia. Too many parties and endless party disputes led to the domestic government affairs in the state of no handling.

The emergence of private ownership economy makes a large number of state resources fall into the hands of capitalists, while the state does not control the relevant resources. As a result, the gap between the rich and the poor in China is widening, and the country has to compromise with the capitalists who control the national economy.

However, Mongolia's many wrong choices and mastery of the development path eventually led to the emergence of a country with extremely difficult development status quo and extremely severe national status quo.

In recent years, with the increasingly severe desertification of the land in Mongolia, the living environment of this country has become increasingly severe.

Mongolia is a country where grassland and desert coexist. And because of the existence of large areas of grassland in the country, so the birth and development of the whole country is based on animal husbandry. The Mongolian nation is also known as the "nation on horseback".

In Mongolia, excluding some capitalists and workers, most people are nomadic as the main means of survival. The need of nomads is to drive livestock on the grasslands and live by selling livestock and their products. Therefore, the number of livestock directly determines the quality of life of the nomads.

Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mongolia introduced the public ownership system. The total number of livestock in the country and the time of pasture grazing are regulated by the Mongolian government. Therefore, land desertification due to overgrazing was very rare at that time.

But with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mongolia's public ownership system also disappeared. With the gradual establishment of the private ownership system, Mongolia gave the livestock and pastures controlled by the state to the herdsmen, and the overgrazing began to become more serious.

In the eyes of herdsmen: to maintain a better life, the best choice is to increase the number of livestock in their hands, with more livestock and products in exchange for more money. So herders began to greatly increase the number of livestock until they exceeded the number of livestock that the Mongolian steppe could carry, eventually leading to land desertification.

The overexploitation of mineral resources has indeed brought large foreign exchange gains to Mongolia. But after the exploitation of mineral resources, the damaged land cannot be repaired. Mongolia, in an extremely short way, once again hit the country's land.

In order to promote the country's economic development, Mongolia has also chosen another way to damage the land machine seriously: cutting down trees.

In the Tulu River basin alone, Mongolia has cut down more than 200 square kilometers. As a result, the flow of the Tulu River was reduced by more than 30% and many lakes in the Tulu River basin dried up.

The economic policy of private ownership and the increasingly serious land desertification also led to the gradual decline of the economic situation of the Mongolian people. However, winter is extremely cold, and most local people do not have the conditions to use natural gas, so they have to buy inferior coal to keep warm in winter.

The burning of inferior coal led to the great pollution of the atmosphere in Mongolia, and the neutralization of countless conditions, which eventually led to the land desertification in Mongolia is difficult to reverse.

[anghraine]

Speaking of the social context of P&P and Austen in general, and also just literature of that era, I'm always interested in how things like precisely formulated hierarchies of precedence and tables of ranked social classes interact with the more complex and nuanced details of class-based status and consequence on a pragmatic day-to-day level. I remembered reading a social historian discussing the pragmatics of class wrt eighteenth-century English life many years ago and finally tracked down the source:

"In spite of the number of people who got their living from manufacture or trade, fundamentally it was a society in which the ownership of land alone conveyed social prestige and full political rights. ... The apex of this society was the nobility. In the eyes of the Law only members of the House of Lords, the peerage in the strictest use of the word, were a class apart, enjoying special privileges and composing one of the estates of the realm. Their families were commoners: even the eldest sons of peers could sit in the House of Commons. It was therefore in the social rather than in the legal sense of the word that English society was a class society. Before the law all English people except the peers were in theory equal. Legal concept and social practice were, however, very different. When men spoke of the nobility, they meant the sons and daughters, the brothers and sisters, the uncles and aunts and cousins of the peers. They were an extremely influential and wealthy group.

"The peers and their near relations almost monopolized high political office. From these great families came the wealthiest Church dignitaries, the higher ranks in the army and navy. Many of them found a career in law; some even did not disdain the money to be made in trade. What gave this class its particular importance in the political life of the day was the way in which it was organized on a basis of family and connection ... in eighteenth-century politics men rarely acted as isolated individuals. A man came into Parliament supported by his friends and relations who expected, in return for this support, that he would further their interests to the extent of his parliamentary influence.

"Next in both political and social importance came the gentry. Again it is not easy to define exactly who were covered by this term. The Law knew nothing of gentle birth but Society recognized it. Like the nobility this group too was as a class closely connected with land. Indeed, the border line between the two classes is at times almost impossible to define ... Often these men are described as the squirearchy, this term being used to cover the major landowning families in every county who were not connected by birth with the aristocracy. Between them and the local nobility there was often considerable jealousy. The country gentleman considered himself well qualified to manage the affairs of his county without aristocratic interference.

"...The next great layer in society is perhaps best described the contemporary term 'the Middling Sort'. As with all eighteenth-century groups it is difficult to draw a clear line of demarcation between them and their social superiors and inferiors. No economic line is possible, for a man with no pretensions to gentility might well be more prosperous than many a small squire. There was even on the fringe between the two classes some overlapping of activities ... The ambitious upstart who bought an estate and spent his income as a gentleman, might be either cold-shouldered by his better-born neighbours or treated by them with a certain contemptuous politeness. If however his daughters were presentable and well dowered, and if his sons received the education considered suitable for gentlemen, the next generation would see the obliteration of whatever distinction still remained. The solid mass of the middling sort had however no such aspirations, or considered them beyond their reach.

"...This term [the poor] was widely used to designate the great mass of the manual workers. Within their ranks differences of income and of outlook were as varied as those that characterized the middle class. Once again the line of demarcation is hard to draw..."

—Dorothy Marshall, Eighteenth Century England (29-34)

(There's plenty more interesting information in the full chapter, especially regarding "the poor," and the chapter itself is contracted from a lengthier version published earlier.)

[baenakinskywalker]

hungry like the wolf

chapter one: straddle the line

"That was Prime Minister Thatcher. Personally.” “What could she possibly need?” If the rude interruption during his bath wasn’t enough to ruin his night, what Gerald shares with him next certainly is: “She wants to dine at Penscombe. In a week’s time.” or, Rupert hires Taggie to cater a very important dinner for the PM. She'll need plenty of time to prepare — so how does a week at his estate sound?

rating: t (eventual E)

words: 2,749

a/n: a HUGE thank-you to @popjunkie42 and @berd-nerd for beta reading, and to everyone in the @rutagdiscord for hyping me up. you all rock. <3

read under the cut or on ao3!

Rupert-Campbell Black is in the bathtub when he gets the call from the PM’s office. Or rather, when Gerald, who had been finishing up paperwork for tomorrow’s morning in London, gets the call. He barges into the bathroom, and Rupert greets him with narrow eyes and a deep frown.

“You can tell I’m in the middle of something,” he says, gesturing to himself with the one hand not coated in bubbles. Unlike some men in Rutshire, Rupert is serious about his baths. He doesn’t just stew in hot water — he lazes in bubbles, salts, and potions. Of course for the benefits to his skin and hair — and to soothe the aching muscles his career in show jumping so blessed him with. 

Gerald has never been part of this particular ritual. 

“I’m so sorry, sir, but it’s urgent.”

Rupert stands immediately. “What? Is someone hurt? The kids?” He reaches for a towel, but Gerald’s eyes are already wide as saucers. “Is it Taggie?”

“Erm, no, sir, it’s not that sort of urgent.” His eyes find a spot on the floor as Rupert steps over the lip of the clawfoot tub, bringing suds with him onto the checkered marble floor. “But it’s important. That was Prime Minister Thatcher. Personally.”

“What could she possibly need?”

If the rude interruption during his bath wasn’t enough to ruin his night, what Gerald shares with him next certainly is: “She wants to dine at Penscombe. In a week’s time.”

The groan Rupert lets out will surely be heard all the way in Yorkshire. “Why in God’s name does she want to come all the way to Rutshire?” He’s already hunting for the reason she would have to fire him. It would have to be bad for her to do it in person, to embarrass him on his own turf. But Venturer has kept him largely out of mischief as of late — so what could it be?

“Apparently the bid is a concern. So she wants the local MPs and lords to convene — here, obviously — and assure her that everybody will be on their best behavior during the parliamentary session, whether they’re with Corinium or Venturer.”

“Right. And that has to be here because…?”

“She said she was interested in the grounds,” Gerald answers, the lilt to his voice turning it into a question.

“No,” Rupert says slowly, “she just wants to make my life a living hell.” He scrubs a hand down his face, stubble rough against his fingers. Definitely time for a shave.  “Fine,” he concedes. “We’ll play her game  — but I’m inviting people, too, if I’m hosting”

“Venturer people, sir?” 

Rupert nods. “And if this is going to put a thorn in my side, I’d at least like the food to be good.”

“Which caterer shall I call?”

“Nobody,” Rupert says. “I’ll handle it.”

—

Since Tony’s accident — which is what the papers have been calling it at the behest of the Baddingham estate, no doubt to attempt to keep his affair out of the news — things have been…different. There’s Tony’s renewed lease on life, and his narrow escape from divorce, though word around town is that Monica still wants to leave (and the gossip mill of Rutshire would certainly support her if she did). Neither of these developments have encouraged him to let the franchise go, though. If anything, his contempt for Venturer is at an all-time high. 

So it’s a wonder that the papers have left them out of it. The story simply goes: Thank God Cameron Cook happened to be in the office that late and had the good sense to check on her former boss before heading home for the night.

The whole thing has Cameron spooked, which is why she’s currently wooing investors and producers in New York City. It’s a cowardly thing to do, but Rupert’s been using the situation — and the Atlantic Ocean — to let things fizzle. They haven’t seen each other in a month, and while phone calls used to happen a few times a week, it’s been a fortnight since they last spoke. Declan is her main point of contact for all things Venturer now. 

And then there’s Taggie. With the accident, and Cameron, and the franchise, they haven’t had the time to talk about…well, anything non-Venturer related. He thinks she might still be seeing Seb. He thinks she thinks he’s still seeing Cameron. 

That doesn’t mean she’s not the first thing he thinks about in the morning (waking up hard, remembering that kiss, and that dance on New Year’s Eve, and all of the moments in between that haven’t quite been platonic) and last thing he thinks about at night (looking out across the Bluebell Wood, hoping to catch a glimpse of her light on in the Priory, thinking about how she looks tucked into bed). 

They gravitate toward each other during Venturer meetings. Through the yelling, the late nights crowded around the O’Hara dining table, the moments when they’re celebrating a win, Rupert’s eyes and body are drawn to her. When dinners with Freddie and team end, it’s Rupert in the kitchen helping with the washing up. He can only hope the rest of the team doesn’t notice, that they don’t pick up on the something between them like Lizzie and Bas have.

Remarkably, he hasn’t kissed her since the night they got the green light for the franchise bid. 

With that in mind, Rupert has no idea if Taggie will accept. It’s a fantastic opportunity, and he’ll see to it that it’s a well-paying one at that. If nothing else, she deserves the acclaim and networking that will surely come from catering for the PM. This could be a step toward getting out of her family’s shadow. Toward living life for herself, instead of waiting on Declan and the Venturer crew hand and foot.

But it’s a huge ask, especially when he couples it with the infinitely more selfish piece, the piece that came to him in the middle of the night when one of the snoring dogs woke him up: He wants her at Penscombe for the week. The whole week. Just the two of them, just this once.

He wants her, and, like they say, opportunity never knocks twice.

—

Despite Taggie and Declan being the only O’Haras in residence at the Priory, it’s almost foreign to see the estate empty these days. Sure, Caitlin’s back at school, Patrick’s off trying his hand at being a not-quite-starving artist, and Maud is — for better or worse — still in London; but the Venturer crew is always around. Whether it’s Declan, Rupert, and Freddie debating about the purpose and importance of television, Bas and Wesley working out which sporting events get prime-time slots, or Dame Enid toiling away at the piano with ideas for the station’s musical package, there’s always a lot going on. So it’s still shocking to walk through the doors and be met with nobody. Not even Gertrude.

It’s not until he rounds the corner into the living room that he sees why. Taggie’s curled up with Gertrude on the couch while reruns of Four Men Went to Mow play low on the telly. 

This is a rare treat and his favorite way to start the day: catching Taggie before she’s had a chance to jump into the kitchen, before she’s so much as put on a pot of tea. She’s in a white terry cloth bathrobe and slouchy, fuzzy socks — the picture of comfort. “Good morning, angel. Daddy lets you watch that rubbish?” 

“Oh, shit!” Her head whips around, and Gertrude stands at attention, ready to sound the alarm. “You scared me,” Taggie says. Her cheeks turn a beautiful flushed pink, and while frightening her is the last thing he’d ever do on purpose, he can’t deny the effects are a vision. “Gertrude might have taken your head off.”

He comes around the couch and gives the little beast a scratch behind the ears. “No, this one loves me.” 

Taggie stands, and where her robe parts, he sees the same red nightie that’s haunted his dreams for months now. She pulls him into a hug and says a quiet, “Good morning,” that has Rupert thinking about this same scenario happening in an estate across the wood, with a few more dogs in the room. “Can I get you some tea?”

He clears his throat, stepping back. The backs of his knees bump the couch. “No, actually, I just came here to ask a favor.”

She cocks her head to this side and tightens the sash on her robe. “From me?” “How would you like,” Rupert starts, “to cook for the Prime Minister?”

It’s silent for a beat. And then: “Margaret Thatcher?”

“Only PM I know of at the moment,” Rupert answers. He shifts from one foot to the other and adds, “It’s a week from tomorrow, and I thought — if you’re up for it — that you could stay at Penscombe — which is where dinner will be — until then to get your bearings and have uninterrupted time to prepare. And Gertrude, too, of course,” he adds, giving the pup a quick smile.

She stares at him like he’s grown another head. “For the Prime Minister.” Rupert nods.

“To eat my cooking.” 

“And Paul Stratton, and Tony, and some of ours, too — Freddie, Lord and Lady Hampshire, and your father.”

It’s then that Declan makes an appearance from his study. Hair going in every direction. Yesterday’s button-down stained. Eyes bloodshot. Another late night working through his book draft and franchise work. “What the fuck is this?” he asks, looking between the two of them. 

Before Declan has the chance to raise his voice, Taggie shocks him. She nods. “Yes, of course I’ll go.” Wringing her hands, she smiles slowly. “It would be my p-p—p…privilege.”

Rupert’s shit-eating grin is enough to make Declan drag him into the study, the sound of the door thudding behind him all that knocks him out of his Taggie-induced stupor. 

—

“I’m just offering her a job,” Rupert says, shoving his hands into his pockets. 

Declan scoffs. “What, to warm your bed? I don’t fucking think so.”

“You really think that little of Taggie?” It’s clear that Declan’s mind is made up about him, no matter how closely they’ve been working together over the past months, nor how well Venturer’s bid is going. Rupert would call them friends, though not close enough to keep a woman — daughter — from coming between them. He expects his business partner to have qualms about his interest in Taggie. But to assume that Taggie would allow herself to be bought? 

Even if there’s a kernel of truth to Rupert’s motives, even if he does want to steal her away from the Priory forever and keep her in every sort of comfort a man can offer, this isn’t how he’d do it. This is temporary.

(There would be roses. There would be candles. A family heirloom ring that he never offered Helen. Perhaps a violin player. A four-course meal cooked by a complete stranger, dishes and kitchen scrubbed clean completely out of sight. An announcement in The Times.)

“I thought we agreed that you were going to stay the hell away from her,” Declan says. His voice cuts through the heavy air in his office, stale from days of taking meals at his desk to keep up with deadlines. Taggie says she hardly sees her father on days when there are no meetings, unless she catches him sneaking into the kitchen for a top-up of his whiskey glass.

“And I thought we were fucking past this.” Rupert exhales. He’d love to open the windows and tidy the papers littered across every horizontal surface. “I only need her for a week.”

They both know he’s lying.

“A week for one bloody dinner party?”

“Maggie making the trip makes it a special occasion, wouldn’t you say? Everything has to be perfect, which means Taggie needs time to plan the menu, do the prep, coordinate with the staff — not to mention getting acquainted with the kitchen.”

“And you couldn’t host here?” 

Rupert shoots him a sympathetic look. “Frankly, a week wouldn’t be nearly enough time to get the Priory in shape for the PM.”

“Why don’t you hire a real caterer?” Declan prods. “One with a full team, one that can handle this sort of event.” 

There’s now a throbbing in Rupert’s temple. If only he could find paracetamol in this mess of an office. Certainly, Declan has some in here. “Taggie’s the best cook in Rutshire. Cotchester, too. And,” he adds, feeling his headache grow, “she’s the only person I trust to handle such a sensitive event.” 

For a long moment, the two men stare at each other. This is how arguments about Venturer go, too. Shouting, debating, and, finally, silence — until the loser concedes, and they both move on. But Rupert is short on time and patience. 

“I didn’t come here asking for your permission, Declan. Tag’s already agreed, and I shouldn’t have to remind you that she’s grown enough to make her own decisions.” 

Declan’s face settles into a deep frown. 

“Well,” Rupert says, “I’m off, then.”

Before the heavy door shuts completely behind him, Declan’s voice booms. “Imagine it were your daughter — what would you do?”

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

Through the living room and into the kitchen, Rupert spies his angel sitting at the table, changed from her robe into her typical jeans and jumper, methodically writing on a legal pad. “I didn’t hear him throw you through a wall,” she says, putting the pencil down and looking up through her lashes. “So that must have gone okay.” “Your father’s a reasonable man.” But he says it with a laugh that has Taggie rolling her eyes and smiling up at him. 

Imagine it were your daughter. 

All but impossible, given the glow of her smile, the way her eyes sparkle. The memory of kissing her mere meters from where they are right now. 

Though they haven’t had time for a repeat performance, there’s an encore in his mind most nights before he falls asleep: The curtain rises, and there’s Taggie in that fucking milkmaid dress, pressed so close to him he can feel her tits against his chest. If he’d had the time, he would have slid a knee between her legs, would’ve let her ride him right there until she —

“Did you hear me?” Taggie asks. The memory of that night evaporates, and Rupert clears his throat.

“Sorry, angel. I was just — erm — thinking about something your father said.”

“Oh,” she says, mouth forming a perfect circle. It makes him want to reach down and trace the outline of her lips with his thumb. “Well, I was mentioning that maybe a smoked salmon mousse after the prawn cocktail would be good? Unless that’s too cliche.” Her brow furrows, and she erases something on the pad. 

To tell the truth, he doesn’t give a damn if it’s cliche. As long as it’s Taggie cooking, it’ll be a smash hit. “Working out the menu already?” 

“I thought getting a head start would be a–a–” — she pauses, takes a breath — “appropriate.” 

A smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. “Smart girl.” Already, Rupert feels his headache receding. He thinks of her writing out a menu at Penscombe, working through each word on the page slowly and methodically. How easily he’d be able to slip behind her and press a kiss to her cheek. Or neck. Or lower. 

She would be a vision at Penscombe. Will be. 

“I have a little work to do in London today,” Rupert says. “Some things for our dear friend Maggie, and a few Venturer items. But I’ll be back to pick you up around 8 o’clock. Sounds good?”

Taggie nods. “I’ll pack my bag. And Gertrude’s,” she adds with a smile. “She won’t know what to do with herself when she meets your brood.”

“I’ll tell the chaps to be on their best behavior.” Then, without thinking about his daughter or Declan, he kisses the crown of her head. She sighs in a satisfied answer, and Rupert imagines how a simple kiss could become a habit so ingrained in their day-to-day life that it’d become like breathing. 

She’s already like breathing.

From the office, there’s a rustle of paper and a shout. “Tag! D’you know where my Yeats draft went?” More than enough of a cue to leave. So, with a wink and wave, Rupert’s gone. 

Just until tonight.

[vague-humanoid]

for disability pride month, a reminder of the eugenic nature of healthcare systems

[stereo-91]

WIP - Almost there now!

NOW AVAILABLE!!!

Just some more tweaks and edits and we will have this set released. I hope you guys like it. ALMOST THERE NOW!

We are SO sorry for the hold-up. We have had so much going on in our daily lives. We are a little slower than usual!

It is finally here and now available at last!

Have you ever wanted to build a historical debating arena and make your sims to go head to head in a heated debate??? Well, now you can with this Stately Affair set. 

We are aware that political fever is sweeping various nations across the world. It was because of this that we decided to create a politically-inspired set.

As you all may be aware by now, we mainly focus our CC on historical items. We, therefore, decided to create a set based on the old British House of Commons for our historical simmersto enjoy!!!

The items in this set are based on the old House of Commons as it was during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries before it was reduced to ashes in the fire of Westminster Palace in 1834.

This set contains 22 matching items with multiple swatches.

This set includes...

1 Speaker's Chair/Throne

2 Parliamentary Benches

1 Functional Debating Station (Needs Discover University Pack to work)

1 Very Large Fireplace

2 Friezes

2 Tall Wall Panels

1 Small panel

2 Window Panels

1 Railing

1 Banister

1 Banister/Railing Post

1 Triangular Panel For Stairs

1 Wall Column

1 Column With Candlestick Holder

2 Fake Balconies

1 Over Door Head Panel

1 Door

Each item is an original mesh. All items are in the base game except for the debating station.

NOTE: The debating station requires Sims 4: Discover University Expansion Pack.

We can't thank you enough for all of your support!

LINK:

[allthecanadianpolitics]

The text of the motion — presented in a closed-doors session of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee — calls for the government to find the quickest way toward recognizing a Palestinian state and asks the committee to dedicate four study sessions toward the matter, sources said. CBC News has agreed not to identify the sources as they were not authorized to comment publicly on the matter. CBC News reached out to several MPs on the committee across party lines, but none agreed to offer a comment, citing the confidentiality of its in-camera sessions. The sources said the motion found approval with the committee's NDP and Bloc Québécois MPs, but did not go to a vote because it was filibustered by Conservative members. 

Continue Reading

Tagging: @newsfromstolenland

[mariacallous]

A well-known Georgian transgender model has been murdered, local officials said, a day after the government passed legislation that will impose sweeping curbs on LGBTQ+ rights in the country.

Georgia’s interior ministry said Kesaria Abramidze, 37, was believed to have been stabbed to death in her apartment in suburban Tbilisi on Wednesday.

Georgian media later reported that a man had been arrested in connection with the crime.

Abramidze was one of the country’s first openly trans public figures. Her death follows controversial legislation on “family values and the protection of minors” that will allow officials to outlaw Pride events and censor films and books.

The law, which was approved by the Georgian parliament on Tuesday in its third and final reading, includes bans on same-sex marriages and gender-affirming treatments. It is expected to be another point of contention between Georgia and the EU as the country seeks to join the bloc.

Critics argue that the bill, initially introduced by the ruling Georgian Dream party in the summer, mirrors laws enacted in neighbouring Russia, where authorities have implemented a series of repressive anti-LGBTQ+ measures over the past decade.

Although the motive behind Abramidze’s murder remains unclear, her death was swiftly cast by Georgian civil society as part of a state campaign against minorities in the country.

Under the Georgian Dream party, which has taken an increasingly anti-liberal stance, the country has seen a rise in violence against LGBTQ+ people.

Last year, hundreds of opponents of gay rights stormed an LGBTQ+ festival in Tbilisi, forcing the event to be cancelled. This year, tens of thousands of people marched in the capital to promote “traditional family values” at an event attended by the ruling party amd the deeply conservative and influential Orthodox church.

“There is a direct correlation between the use of hate speech in politics and hate crimes,” the Social Justice Center, a Tbilisi-based human rights group, said in its statement reacting to the murder.

“It has been almost a year that the Georgian Dream government has been aggressively using homo/bi/transphobic language and cultivating it with mass propaganda means,” it added.

On Wednesday, Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, called on the Georgian government to withdraw the “family values” law, warning it would harm Georgia’s chances of joining the bloc. The legislation would “increase discrimination & stigmatisation”, he said on X.

After Abramidze’s death, Michael Roth, the Social Democratic party chair of the Bundestag foreign affairs committee in Germany, echoed that call. “Those who sow hatred will reap violence. Kesaria Abramidze was killed just one day after the Georgian parliament passed the anti-LGBTI law,” Roth wrote on X.

The introduction of the law comes just five weeks before parliamentary elections that many see as a litmus test of whether Georgia, once one of the most pro-western former Soviet states, will now drift towards Russia.

The country’s pro-western president, Salome Zourabichvili, whose functions are mostly ceremonial, is expected to veto the law before it comes into effect. However, Georgian Dream and its allies have enough seats in parliament to override her veto.

Earlier this year, the Georgian Dream also pushed through the divisive “foreign influence” law, which western critics argue is authoritarian and Russian-inspired, and has derailed the country’s EU aspirations.

Meanwhile, tributes have started to pour in for Abramidze, who represented Georgia at Miss Trans Star International in 2018 and had more than 500,000 followers on Instagram.

“Kesaria was iconic! Provocative, wise, incredibly brave! A trailblazer for Georgia’s trans rights,” Maia Otarashvili, a Georgian political scientist, wrote on X.

Zourabichvili said the murder should be a “wake-up call” for Georgian society.

“A terrible murder! The death of this beautiful young woman … should not be in vain!” the president wrote on Facebook.

[avispatr]

𝕰𝖉𝖎𝖈𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝕬𝖌𝖊 𝖔𝖋 𝕴𝖒𝖕𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖚𝖒

" Many of you are aware of the issues that have transpired as of late. The controversy with my son, and all the fallout that has been birthed of this affair. This situation, despite my reluctance to admit it, have showcased the dire need of reform that is necessary for The Ars Goetia to function. I have discussed with our mutual master, Lucifer Morningstar and we have arrived to a joint conclusion. Before I begin listing the changes to come I will give justification through a brief look into our history.

When the rebellion in Heaven failed Lucifer's lieutenants were given their tasks. The sins were given their control over the hedonistic vice of their choice. Alongside them there was us, the Kings and Queens of the Ars Goetia. Our station was to act as minor nobility not tethered to land and sin but to governance. It was our task to rule in the name of Lucifer and his fellows. Thus was the first age of our kin when we Kings and Queens and a handful of what would becomes Earls began the construction of our power and bloodlines.

For centuries this Age of Harmony would go on, the Ars Goetia governed well and selflessly. I do not know the exact time frame that it ended, but as time went on and bloodlines became more powerful with more history a new age was born. This age was one where the Kings, and Queens competed with one another for resources and power. They made alliances through marriage as a means to keep order and their power secure. Factions came into being and the Ars Goetia became a group of wealthy nobles who hardly did much at all for the sake of Hell. We chose to place ourselves on pedestals, lord over the Hell born and sinners we were meant to treat with support. This is what I have come to view as the second age of the Ars Goetia, the Feudal Age.

As time went on and the endless contests and rivalries played out, I would emerge as the King most loyal to our original cause. I would make powerful allies in my piety and faithful service to our master, Lucifer Morningstar. I have traded alliances, bartered my children to maintain my power, and for many a thousand years of effort I have maintained absolute power over our order in all but name. As time has gone on I have only solidified my strength, my legions have grown to the point that I command nearly four times the legions of my closest rival, King Baal. Aside from military strength I have levied my other resources in such a way where the opinions and thoughts of my peers hardly see the light of day and my wealth overshadows them all combined. To summarize, I have won this contest over the Ars Goetia's soul. The people have spoken, our King has spoken. And I am now prepared to begin the third age of our existence, having bested all those who sought to undue us. The Age of Imperium is here.

Effective immediately the council Kings is dismissed and liquified. All former Kings and Queens of the Ars Goetia aside from myself shall have their titles cast aside, replaced by the title of Patriarch or Matriarch. The Ars Goetia shall be governed by an Imperial Administration with myself as its head. I place the crown upon my own head and proclaim myself THE King of the Ars Goetia, and the Tenth Great King of Hell. The Goetia shall continue to define themselves as the Parliamentary class but we shall now have our own seat at the council of nine, now ten.

I do not make this decision simply to take from the men and women who were once my peers. All Patriarchs are to be granted new authority, rather then being a vague individual in our order lording over you all I shall release you. You may each rule your own families as you see fit, no longer will I come to you seeking your aide and children unannounced for marriage. No longer will you be pressured into following my micro management and autocratic tendencies. My chosen cabinet alongside my Imperial family shall see to the governance of yourselves and all else within our designs, we shall not dictate the actions you perform in your politics and personal affairs so long as they do not contradict our own.

For the Imperial family made up of MY descendants I have this edict for you all specifically. All arranged marriages are hereby annulled and the practice is ended. For those couples wishing to stay together you may do so and I shall approve them once again should you elect to continue them. For all others and those who are yet to be wed, you are free to find your love in any way you wish, and with whomever you wish, from a hell hound in the slums of imp city, the royal family of sins, or perhaps no one at all. Let us heal this gaping wound that has placed us in such an unhappy state."

[follow-up-news]

Iran has paused the process of implementing a new, stricter law on women’s mandatory headscarf, or hijab, an official said — a bill that many believe could have reignited the protests that engulfed the Islamic Republic after the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini. The controversial law, which was approved by the parliament in September 2023, will not be sent to the government as planned this week, according to one of the country’s vice presidents. The development effectively means that Iran has halted enacting the legislation. The law levies harsher punishments for women who refuse to wear the hijab and for businesses that serve them, penalties previously rejected by Iran’s reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian as he tries to restart talks with the West over sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear program. “According to the discussions held, it was decided that this law will not be referred to the government by the parliament for now,” Shahram Dabiri, the vice president in charge of parliamentary affairs, was quoted as saying in an interview Monday with the pro-reform Ham Mihan daily. The decision to halt the legislation — at least temporarily — was reached by top executive, legislative and judiciary bodies, Dabiri also said.

[wilwheaton]

Not surprisingly, the Supreme Court’s right-wing majority expressed great skepticism at the Biden White House’s debt-relief plan yesterday. What we should note, however, is how the press and opinion-setting conventional wisdom has reacted to that fact. Every reaction I’ve seen sees it as the White House failing, the White House getting its collective knuckles rapped, basically an attempt and a failure. The White House is in a lot of ways complicit in this state of affairs and that traces back to an abiding set of assumptions, ingrained almost beneath the level of conscious thought, that the Court is a legitimate rule-enforcing body which is owed respect and deference and shouldn’t be pulled into the political fray. That’s a mistake. The current Court is an illegitimate force in our current public life. It continues to enforce not only doctrines that were long hobby horses in right-wing judicial circles but new and ready-made procedures customized to block any and all policy decisions a Democratic president might choose to pursue. This week, it’s the limits of executive powers. In the brief windows of time when Democrats secure a parliamentary trifecta and pass new legislation, that’s just as suspect. And, as always, it’s relying on a farm team of right-wing legal activists to churn up novel legal theories to choose from.

Thoughts on the Corrupt High Court

The current Court is an illegitimate force in our current public life. It continues to enforce not only doctrines that were long hobby horses in right-wing judicial circles but new and ready-made procedures customized to block any and all policy decisions a Democratic president might choose to pursue.

[whencyclopedia]

American Revolution

The American Revolution (1765-1789) was a period of political upheaval in the Thirteen Colonies of British North America. Initially a protest over parliamentary taxes, it blossomed into a rebellion and led, ultimately, to the birth of the United States. Rooted in the ideas of the Enlightenment, the Revolution played an important role in the emergence of modern Western democracies.

Origins: Parliament & the American Identity

In February 1763, the Seven Years' War – or the French and Indian War as the North American theater was called – came to an end. As part of the peace agreement, the vanquished Kingdom of France ceded its colony of New France (Canada) as well as all its colonial territory east of the Mississippi River to its victorious rival, Great Britain. While this left Britain as the dominant colonial power in North America, this newfound supremacy came at a cost, namely a massive war debt. To offset the debt, the British Parliament decided to levy new taxes on the Thirteen Colonies along the eastern seaboard of North America. Much of the war had been fought defending these colonies, after all, and Parliament decided that the colonists should help shoulder the empire's financial burden.

Prior to this decision, Parliament had adhered to an unofficial policy of 'salutary neglect' when dealing with the American colonies. This meant that, despite their royal governors, the colonies were largely left to manage their own affairs, with colonial legislatures overseeing governance and taxation. The influence of these legislatures often equaled if not eclipsed the power of the colony's royally appointed governor. Due to differing foundational and developmental circumstances, each colony maintained its own identity – the Puritan society of New England, the Dutch origins of New York, and the tobacco economy of Virginia, for example, all influenced the formation of their colonial identities. Despite viewing themselves as separate from one another, the colonies were loosely bound by their shared ties to Britain and had united in common defense multiple times during the last century of colonial wars.

At the same time, the American colonists considered themselves Britons, and proudly so. After the Glorious Revolution of 1689, and the constitutional reforms that went with it, the British were viewed as the freest people in the world; they were guaranteed a right to representative government (Parliament) as well as the right to self-taxation. The colonists believed that these 'rights of Englishmen' extended to them, as befitting of their English blood and allegiance to the English king; indeed, many of these rights were echoed in the colonies' own charters. The idea that Parliament could directly tax the colonies, therefore, went against this notion; since no Americans were represented in Parliament, Parliament had no constitutional authority to tax them (i.e. taxation without representation). Parliament, of course, disagreed, arguing that the Americans were virtually represented, as was the case with the thousands of Englishmen who owned no property and could not vote. It was this fundamental disagreement over the Americans' rights and liberties – expressed in the guise of taxation – that lay at the heart of the American Revolution and the birth of the United States.

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