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Good Sunday morning to you,I am just on a train home from Glasgow, where I have been gigging these past two nights. I've had a great time, as I always seem to do when I go north of the wall.But Glasgow on a Saturday night is something else. My hotel was right next to the station and so I was right in the thick of it. If I ever get to make a cacatopian, end-of-days, post-apocalyptic thriller, I'll just stroll through Glasgow city centre on a Friday or Saturday night with a camera to get all the B roll. It was like walking through a Hieronymus Bosch painting only with a Scottish accent. Little seems to have changed since I wrote that infamous chapter about Glasgow in Life After the State all those years ago. The only difference is that now it's more multi-ethnic. So many people are so off their heads. I lost count of the number of randoms wandering about just howling at the stars. The long days - it was still light at 10 o'clock - make the insanity all the more visible. Part of me finds it funny, but another part of me finds it so very sad that so many people let themselves get into this condition. It prompted me to revisit said chapter, and I offer it today as your Sunday thought piece.Just a couple of little notes, before we begin. This caught my eye on Friday. Our favourite uranium tech company, Lightbridge Fuels (NASDAQ:LTBR), has taken off again with Donald Trump's statement that he is going to quadruple US nuclear capacity. The stock was up 45% in a day. We first looked at it in October at $3. It hit $15 on Friday. It's one to sell on the spikes and buy on the dips, as this incredible chart shows.(In other news I have now listened twice to the Comstock Lode AGM, and I'll report back on that shortly too). ICYMI here is my mid-week commentary, which attracted a lot of attentionRight - Glasgow.(NB I haven't included references here. Needless to say, they are all there in the book. And sorry I don't have access to the audio of me reading this from my laptop, but, if you like, you can get the audiobook at Audible, Apple Books and all good audiobookshops. The book itself available at Amazon, Apple Books et al).How the Most Entrepreneurial City in Europe Became Its SickestThe cause of waves of unemployment is not capitalism, but governments …Friedrich Hayek, economist and philosopherIn the 18th and 19th centuries, the city of Glasgow in Scotland became enormously, stupendously rich. It happened quite organically, without planning. An entrepreneurial people reacted to their circumstances and, over time, turned Glasgow into an industrial and economic centre of such might that, by the turn of the 20th century, Glasgow was producing half the tonnage of Britain's ships and a quarter of all locomotives in the world. (Not unlike China's industrial dominance today). It was regarded as the best-governed city in Europe and popular histories compared it to the great imperial cities of Venice and Rome. It became known as the ‘Second City of the British Empire'.Barely 100 years later, it is the heroin capital of the UK, the murder capital of the UK and its East End, once home to Europe's largest steelworks, has been dubbed ‘the benefits capital of the UK'. Glasgow is Britain's fattest city: its men have Britain's lowest life expectancy – on a par with Palestine and Albania – and its unemployment rate is 50% higher than the rest of the UK.How did Glasgow manage all that?The growth in Glasgow's economic fortunes began in the latter part of the 17th century and the early 18th century. First, the city's location in the west of Scotland at the mouth of the river Clyde meant that it lay in the path of the trade winds and at least 100 nautical miles closer to America's east coast than other British ports – 200 miles closer than London. In the days before fossil fuels (which only found widespread use in shipping in the second half of the 19th century) the journey to Virginia was some two weeks shorter than the same journey from London or many of the other ports in Britain and Europe. Even modern sailors describe how easy the port of Glasgow is to navigate. Second, when England was at war with France – as it was repeatedly between 1688 and 1815 – ships travelling to Glasgow were less vulnerable than those travelling to ports further south. Glasgow's merchants took advantage and, by the early 18th century, the city had begun to assert itself as a trading hub. Manufactured goods were carried from Britain and Europe to North America and the Caribbean, where they were traded for increasingly popular commodities such as tobacco, cotton and sugar.Through the 18th century, the Glasgow merchants' business networks spread, and they took steps to further accelerate trade. New ships were introduced, bigger than those of rival ports, with fore and aft sails that enabled them to sail closer to the wind and reduce journey times. Trading posts were built to ensure that cargo was gathered and stored for collection, so that ships wouldn't swing idly at anchor. By the 1760s Glasgow had a 50% share of the tobacco trade – as much as the rest of Britain's ports combined. While the English merchants simply sold American tobacco in Europe at a profit, the Glaswegians actually extended credit to American farmers against future production (a bit like a crop future today, where a crop to be grown at a later date is sold now). The Virginia farmers could then use this credit to buy European goods, which the Glaswegians were only too happy to supply. This brought about the rise of financial institutions such as the Glasgow Ship Bank and the Glasgow Thistle Bank, which would later become part of the now-bailed-out, taxpayer-owned Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).Their practices paid rewards. Glasgow's merchants earned a great deal of money. They built glamorous homes and large churches and, it seems, took on aristocratic airs – hence they became known as the ‘Tobacco Lords'. Numbering among them were Buchanan, Dunlop, Ingram, Wilson, Oswald, Cochrane and Glassford, all of whom had streets in the Merchant City district of Glasgow named after them (other streets, such as Virginia Street and Jamaica Street, refer to their trade destinations). In 1771, over 47 million pounds of tobacco were imported.However, the credit the Glaswegians extended to American tobacco farmers would backfire. The debts incurred by the tobacco farmers – which included future presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson (who almost lost his farm as a result) – grew, and were among the grievances when the American War of Independence came in 1775. That war destroyed the tobacco trade for the Glaswegians. Much of the money that was owed to them was never repaid. Many of their plantations were lost. But the Glaswegians were entrepreneurial and they adapted. They moved on to other businesses, particularly cotton.By the 19th century, all sorts of local industry had emerged around the goods traded in the city. It was producing and exporting textiles, chemicals, engineered goods and steel. River engineering projects to dredge and deepen the Clyde (with a view to forming a deep- water port) had begun in 1768 and they would enable shipbuilding to become a major industry on the upper reaches of the river, pioneered by industrialists such as Robert Napier and John Elder. The final stretch of the Monkland Canal, linking the Forth and Clyde Canal at Port Dundas, was opened in 1795, facilitating access to the iron-ore and coal mines of Lanarkshire.The move to fossil-fuelled shipping in the latter 19th century destroyed the advantages that the trade winds had given Glasgow. But it didn't matter. Again, the people adapted. By the turn of the 20th century the Second City of the British Empire had become a world centre of industry and heavy engineering. It has been estimated that, between 1870 and 1914, it produced as much as one-fifth of the world's ships, and half of Britain's tonnage. Among the 25,000 ships it produced were some of the greatest ever built: the Cutty Sark, the Queen Mary, HMS Hood, the Lusitania, the Glenlee tall ship and even the iconic Mississippi paddle steamer, the Delta Queen. It had also become a centre for locomotive manufacture and, shortly after the turn of the 20th century, could boast the largest concentration of locomotive building works in Europe.It was not just Glasgow's industry and wealth that was so gargantuan. The city's contribution to mankind – made possible by the innovation and progress that comes with booming economies – would also have an international impact. Many great inventors either hailed from Glasgow or moved there to study or work. There's James Watt, for example, whose improvements to the steam engine were fundamental to the Industrial Revolution. One of Watt's employees, William Murdoch, has been dubbed ‘the Scot who lit the world' – he invented gas lighting, a new kind of steam cannon and waterproof paint. Charles MacIntosh gave us the raincoat. James Young, the chemist dubbed as ‘the father of the oil industry', gave us paraffin. William Thomson, known as Lord Kelvin, developed the science of thermodynamics, formulating the Kelvin scale of absolute temperature; he also managed the laying of the first transatlantic telegraph cable.The turning point in the economic fortunes of Glasgow – indeed, of industrial Britain – was WWI. Both have been in decline ever since. By the end of the war, the British were drained, both emotionally and in terms of capital and manpower; the workers, the entrepreneurs, the ideas men, too many of them were dead or incapacitated. There was insufficient money and no appetite to invest. The post-war recession, and later the Great Depression, did little to help. The trend of the city was now one of inexorable economic decline.If Glasgow was the home of shipping and industry in 19th-century Britain, it became the home of socialism in the 20th century. Known by some as the ‘Red Clydeside' movement, the socialist tide in Scotland actually pre-dated the First World War. In 1906 came the city's first Labour Member of Parliament (MP), George Barnes – prior to that its seven MPs were all Conservatives or Liberal Unionists. In the spring of 1911, 11,000 workers at the Singer sewing-machine factory (run by an American corporation in Clydebank) went on strike to support 12 women who were protesting about new work practices. Singer sacked 400 workers, but the movement was growing – as was labour unrest. In the four years between 1910 and 1914 Clydebank workers spent four times as many days on strike than in the whole of the previous decade. The Scottish Trades Union Congress and its affiliations saw membership rise from 129,000 in 1909 to 230,000 in 1914.20The rise in discontent had much to do with Glasgow's housing. Conditions were bad, there was overcrowding, bad sanitation, housing was close to dirty, noxious and deafening industry. Unions grew quite organically to protect the interests of their members.Then came WWI, and inflation, as Britain all but abandoned gold. In 1915 many landlords responded by attempting to increase rent, but with their young men on the Western front, those left behind didn't have the means to pay these higher costs. If they couldn't, eviction soon followed. In Govan, an area of Glasgow where shipbuilding was the main occupation, women – now in the majority with so many men gone – organized opposition to the rent increases. There are photographs showing women blocking the entrance to tenements; officers who did get inside to evict tenants are said to have had their trousers pulled down.The landlords were attacked for being unpatriotic. Placards read: ‘While our men are fighting on the front line,the landlord is attacking us at home.' The strikes spread to other cities throughout the UK, and on 27 November 1915 the government introduced legislation to restrict rents to the pre-war level. The strikers were placated. They had won. The government was happy; it had dealt with the problem. The landlords lost out.In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution of 1917, more frequent strikes crippled the city. In 1919 the ‘Bloody Friday' uprising prompted the prime minister, David Lloyd George, to deploy 10,000 troops and tanks onto the city's streets. By the 1930s Glasgow had become the main base of the Independent Labour Party, so when Labour finally came to power alone after WWII, its influence was strong. Glasgow has always remained a socialist stronghold. Labour dominates the city council, and the city has not had a Conservative MP for 30 years.By the late 1950s, Glasgow was losing out to the more competitive industries of Japan, Germany and elsewhere. There was a lack of investment. Union demands for workers, enforced by government legislation, made costs uneconomic and entrepreneurial activity arduous. With lack of investment came lack of innovation.Rapid de-industrialization followed, and by the 1960s and 70s most employment lay not in manufacturing, but in the service industries.Which brings us to today. On the plus side, Glasgow is still ranked as one of Europe's top 20 financial centres and is home to some leading Scottish businesses. But there is considerable downside.Recent studies have suggested that nearly 30% of Glasgow's working age population is unemployed. That's 50% higher than that of the rest of Scotland or the UK. Eighteen per cent of 16- to 19-year-olds are neither in school nor employed. More than one in five working-age Glaswegians have no sort of education that might qualify them for a job.In the city centre, the Merchant City, 50% of children are growing up in homes where nobody works. In the poorer neighbourhoods, such as Ruchill, Possilpark, or Dalmarnock, about 65% of children live in homes where nobody works – more than three times the national average. Figures from the Department of Work and Pensions show that 85% of working age adults from the district of Bridgeton claim some kind of welfare payment.Across the city, almost a third of the population regularly receives sickness or incapacity benefit, the highest rate of all UK cities. A 2008 World Health Organization report noted that in Glasgow's Calton, Bridgeton and Queenslie neighbourhoods, the average life expectancy for males is only 54. In contrast, residents of Glasgow's more affluent West End live to be 80 and virtually none of them are on the dole.Glasgow has the highest crime rate in Scotland. A recent report by the Centre for Social Justice noted that there are 170 teenage gangs in Glasgow. That's the same number as in London, which has over six times the population of Glasgow.It also has the dubious record of being Britain's murder capital. In fact, Glasgow had the highest homicide rate in Western Europe until it was overtaken in 2012 by Amsterdam, with more violent crime per head of population than even New York. What's more, its suicide rate is the highest in the UK.Then there are the drug and alcohol problems. The residents of the poorer neighbourhoods are an astounding six times more likely to die of a drugs overdose than the national average. Drug-related mortality has increased by 95% since 1997. There are 20,000 registered drug users – that's just registered – and the situation is not going to get any better: children who grow up in households where family members use drugs are seven times more likely to end up using drugs themselves than children who live in drug-free families.Glasgow has the highest incidence of liver diseases from alcohol abuse in all of Scotland. In the East End district of Dennistoun, these illnesses kill more people than heart attacks and lung cancer combined. Men and women are more likely to die of alcohol-related deaths in Glasgow than anywhere else in the UK. Time and time again Glasgow is proud winner of the title ‘Fattest City in Britain'. Around 40% of the population are obese – 5% morbidly so – and it also boasts the most smokers per capita.I have taken these statistics from an array of different sources. It might be in some cases that they're overstated. I know that I've accentuated both the 18th- and 19th-century positives, as well as the 20th- and 21st-century negatives to make my point. Of course, there are lots of healthy, happy people in Glasgow – I've done many gigs there and I loved it. Despite the stories you hear about intimidating Glasgow audiences, the ones I encountered were as good as any I've ever performed in front of. But none of this changes the broad-brush strokes: Glasgow was a once mighty city that now has grave social problems. It is a city that is not fulfilling its potential in the way that it once did. All in all, it's quite a transformation. How has it happened?Every few years a report comes out that highlights Glasgow's various problems. Comments are then sought from across the political spectrum. Usually, those asked to comment agree that the city has grave, ‘long-standing and deep-rooted social problems' (the words of Stephen Purcell, former leader of Glasgow City Council); they agree that something needs to be done, though they don't always agree on what that something is.There's the view from the right: Bill Aitken of the Scottish Conservatives, quoted in The Sunday Times in 2008, said, ‘We simply don't have the jobs for people who are not academically inclined. Another factor is that some people are simply disinclined to work. We have got to find something for these people to do, to give them a reason to get up in the morning and give them some self-respect.' There's the supposedly apolitical view of anti-poverty groups: Peter Kelly, director of the Glasgow-based Poverty Alliance, responded, ‘We need real, intensive support for people if we are going to tackle poverty. It's not about a lack of aspiration, often people who are unemployed or on low incomes are stymied by a lack of money and support from local and central government.' And there's the view from the left. In the same article, Patricia Ferguson, the Labour Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Maryhill, also declared a belief in government regeneration of the area. ‘It's about better housing, more jobs, better education and these things take years to make an impact. I believe that the huge regeneration in the area is fostering a lot more community involvement and cohesion. My real hope is that these figures will take a knock in the next five or ten years.' At the time of writing in 2013, five years later, the figures have worsened.All three points of view agree on one thing: the government must do something.In 2008 the £435 million Fairer Scotland Fund – established to tackle poverty – was unveiled, aiming to allocate cash to the country's most deprived communities. Its targets included increasing average income among lower wage-earners and narrowing the poverty gap between Scotland's best- and worst-performing regions by 2017. So far, it hasn't met those targets.In 2008 a report entitled ‘Power for The Public' examined the provision of health, education and justice in Scotland. It said the budgets for these three areas had grown by 55%, 87% and 44% respectively over the last decade, but added that this had produced ‘mixed results'. ‘Mixed results' means it didn't work. More money was spent and the figures got worse.After the Centre for Social Justice report on Glasgow in 2008, Iain Duncan Smith (who set up this think tank, and is now the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions) said, ‘Policy must deal with the pathways to breakdown – high levels of family breakdown, high levels of failed education, debt and unemployment.'So what are ‘pathways to breakdown'? If you were to look at a chart of Glasgow's prosperity relative to the rest of the world, its peak would have come somewhere around 1910. With the onset of WWI in 1914 its decline accelerated, and since then the falls have been relentless and inexorable. It's not just Glasgow that would have this chart pattern, but the whole of industrial Britain. What changed the trend? Yes, empires rise and fall, but was British decline all a consequence of WWI? Or was there something else?A seismic shift came with that war – a change which is very rarely spoken or written about. Actually, the change was gradual and it pre-dated 1914. It was a change that was sweeping through the West: that of government or state involvement in our lives. In the UK it began with the reforms of the Liberal government of 1906–14, championed by David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill, known as the ‘terrible twins' by contemporaries. The Pensions Act of 1908, the People's Budget of 1909–10 (to ‘wage implacable warfare against poverty', declared Lloyd George) and the National Insurance Act of 1911 saw the Liberal government moving away from its tradition of laissez-faire systems – from classical liberalism and Gladstonian principles of self-help and self-reliance – towards larger, more active government by which taxes were collected from the wealthy and the proceeds redistributed. Afraid of losing votes to the emerging Labour party and the increasingly popular ideology of socialism, modern liberals betrayed their classical principles. In his War Memoirs, Lloyd George said ‘the partisan warfare that raged around these topics was so fierce that by 1913, this country was brought to the verge of civil war'. But these were small steps. The Pensions Act, for example, meant that men aged 70 and above could claim between two and five shillings per week from the government. But average male life- expectancy then was 47. Today it's 77. Using the same ratio, and, yes, I'm manipulating statistics here, that's akin to only awarding pensions to people above the age 117 today. Back then it was workable.To go back to my analogy of the prologue, this period was when the ‘train' was set in motion across the West. In 1914 it went up a gear. Here are the opening paragraphs of historian A. J. P. Taylor's most celebrated book, English History 1914–1945, published in 1965.I quote this long passage in full, because it is so telling.Until August 1914 a sensible, law-abiding Englishman could pass through life and hardly notice the existence of the state, beyond the post office and the policeman. He could live where he liked and as he liked. He had no official number or identity card. He could travel abroad or leave his country forever without a passport or any sort of official permission. He could exchange his money for any other currency without restriction or limit. He could buy goods from any country in the world on the same terms as he bought goods at home. For that matter, a foreigner could spend his life in this country without permit and without informing the police. Unlike the countries of the European continent, the state did not require its citizens to perform military service. An Englishman could enlist, if he chose, in the regular army, the navy, or the territorials. He could also ignore, if he chose, the demands of national defence. Substantial householders were occasionally called on for jury service. Otherwise, only those helped the state, who wished to do so. The Englishman paid taxes on a modest scale: nearly £200 million in 1913–14, or rather less than 8% of the national income.The state intervened to prevent the citizen from eating adulterated food or contracting certain infectious diseases. It imposed safety rules in factories, and prevented women, and adult males in some industries,from working excessive hours.The state saw to it that children received education up to the age of 13. Since 1 January 1909, it provided a meagre pension for the needy over the age of 70. Since 1911, it helped to insure certain classes of workers against sickness and unemployment. This tendency towards more state action was increasing. Expenditure on the social services had roughly doubled since the Liberals took office in 1905. Still, broadly speaking, the state acted only to help those who could not help themselves. It left the adult citizen alone.All this was changed by the impact of the Great War. The mass of the people became, for the first time, active citizens. Their lives were shaped by orders from above; they were required to serve the state instead of pursuing exclusively their own affairs. Five million men entered the armed forces, many of them (though a minority) under compulsion. The Englishman's food was limited, and its quality changed, by government order. His freedom of movement was restricted; his conditions of work prescribed. Some industries were reduced or closed, others artificially fostered. The publication of news was fettered. Street lights were dimmed. The sacred freedom of drinking was tampered with: licensed hours were cut down, and the beer watered by order. The very time on the clocks was changed. From 1916 onwards, every Englishman got up an hour earlier in summer than he would otherwise have done, thanks to an act of parliament. The state established a hold over its citizens which, though relaxed in peacetime, was never to be removed and which the Second World war was again to increase. The history of the English state and of the English people merged for the first time.Since the beginning of WWI , the role that the state has played in our lives has not stopped growing. This has been especially so in the case of Glasgow. The state has spent more and more, provided more and more services, more subsidy, more education, more health care, more infrastructure, more accommodation, more benefits, more regulations, more laws, more protection. The more it has provided, the worse Glasgow has fared. Is this correlation a coincidence? I don't think so.The story of the rise and fall of Glasgow is a distilled version of the story of the rise and fall of industrial Britain – indeed the entire industrial West. In the next chapter I'm going to show you a simple mistake that goes on being made; a dynamic by which the state, whose very aim was to help Glasgow, has actually been its ‘pathway to breakdown' . . .Life After the State is available at Amazon, Apple Books and all good bookshops, with the audiobook at Audible, Apple Books and all good audiobookshops. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theflyingfrisby.com/subscribe

Good Sunday morning to you,I am just on a train home from Glasgow, where I have been gigging these past two nights. I've had a great time, as I always seem to do when I go north of the wall.But Glasgow on a Saturday night is something else. My hotel was right next to the station and so I was right in the thick of it. If I ever get to make a cacatopian, end-of-days, post-apocalyptic thriller, I'll just stroll through Glasgow city centre on a Friday or Saturday night with a camera to get all the B roll. It was like walking through a Hieronymus Bosch painting only with a Scottish accent. Little seems to have changed since I wrote that infamous chapter about Glasgow in Life After the State all those years ago. The only difference is that now it's more multi-ethnic. So many people are so off their heads. I lost count of the number of randoms wandering about just howling at the stars. The long days - it was still light at 10 o'clock - make the insanity all the more visible. Part of me finds it funny, but another part of me finds it so very sad that so many people let themselves get into this condition. It prompted me to revisit said chapter, and I offer it today as your Sunday thought piece.Just a couple of little notes, before we begin. This caught my eye on Friday. Our favourite uranium tech company, Lightbridge Fuels (NASDAQ:LTBR), has taken off again with Donald Trump's statement that he is going to quadruple US nuclear capacity. The stock was up 45% in a day. We first looked at it in October at $3. It hit $15 on Friday. It's one to sell on the spikes and buy on the dips, as this incredible chart shows.(In other news I have now listened twice to the Comstock Lode AGM, and I'll report back on that shortly too). ICYMI here is my mid-week commentary, which attracted a lot of attentionRight - Glasgow.(NB I haven't included references here. Needless to say, they are all there in the book. And sorry I don't have access to the audio of me reading this from my laptop, but, if you like, you can get the audiobook at Audible, Apple Books and all good audiobookshops. The book itself available at Amazon, Apple Books et al).How the Most Entrepreneurial City in Europe Became Its SickestThe cause of waves of unemployment is not capitalism, but governments …Friedrich Hayek, economist and philosopherIn the 18th and 19th centuries, the city of Glasgow in Scotland became enormously, stupendously rich. It happened quite organically, without planning. An entrepreneurial people reacted to their circumstances and, over time, turned Glasgow into an industrial and economic centre of such might that, by the turn of the 20th century, Glasgow was producing half the tonnage of Britain's ships and a quarter of all locomotives in the world. (Not unlike China's industrial dominance today). It was regarded as the best-governed city in Europe and popular histories compared it to the great imperial cities of Venice and Rome. It became known as the ‘Second City of the British Empire'.Barely 100 years later, it is the heroin capital of the UK, the murder capital of the UK and its East End, once home to Europe's largest steelworks, has been dubbed ‘the benefits capital of the UK'. Glasgow is Britain's fattest city: its men have Britain's lowest life expectancy – on a par with Palestine and Albania – and its unemployment rate is 50% higher than the rest of the UK.How did Glasgow manage all that?The growth in Glasgow's economic fortunes began in the latter part of the 17th century and the early 18th century. First, the city's location in the west of Scotland at the mouth of the river Clyde meant that it lay in the path of the trade winds and at least 100 nautical miles closer to America's east coast than other British ports – 200 miles closer than London. In the days before fossil fuels (which only found widespread use in shipping in the second half of the 19th century) the journey to Virginia was some two weeks shorter than the same journey from London or many of the other ports in Britain and Europe. Even modern sailors describe how easy the port of Glasgow is to navigate. Second, when England was at war with France – as it was repeatedly between 1688 and 1815 – ships travelling to Glasgow were less vulnerable than those travelling to ports further south. Glasgow's merchants took advantage and, by the early 18th century, the city had begun to assert itself as a trading hub. Manufactured goods were carried from Britain and Europe to North America and the Caribbean, where they were traded for increasingly popular commodities such as tobacco, cotton and sugar.Through the 18th century, the Glasgow merchants' business networks spread, and they took steps to further accelerate trade. New ships were introduced, bigger than those of rival ports, with fore and aft sails that enabled them to sail closer to the wind and reduce journey times. Trading posts were built to ensure that cargo was gathered and stored for collection, so that ships wouldn't swing idly at anchor. By the 1760s Glasgow had a 50% share of the tobacco trade – as much as the rest of Britain's ports combined. While the English merchants simply sold American tobacco in Europe at a profit, the Glaswegians actually extended credit to American farmers against future production (a bit like a crop future today, where a crop to be grown at a later date is sold now). The Virginia farmers could then use this credit to buy European goods, which the Glaswegians were only too happy to supply. This brought about the rise of financial institutions such as the Glasgow Ship Bank and the Glasgow Thistle Bank, which would later become part of the now-bailed-out, taxpayer-owned Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).Their practices paid rewards. Glasgow's merchants earned a great deal of money. They built glamorous homes and large churches and, it seems, took on aristocratic airs – hence they became known as the ‘Tobacco Lords'. Numbering among them were Buchanan, Dunlop, Ingram, Wilson, Oswald, Cochrane and Glassford, all of whom had streets in the Merchant City district of Glasgow named after them (other streets, such as Virginia Street and Jamaica Street, refer to their trade destinations). In 1771, over 47 million pounds of tobacco were imported.However, the credit the Glaswegians extended to American tobacco farmers would backfire. The debts incurred by the tobacco farmers – which included future presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson (who almost lost his farm as a result) – grew, and were among the grievances when the American War of Independence came in 1775. That war destroyed the tobacco trade for the Glaswegians. Much of the money that was owed to them was never repaid. Many of their plantations were lost. But the Glaswegians were entrepreneurial and they adapted. They moved on to other businesses, particularly cotton.By the 19th century, all sorts of local industry had emerged around the goods traded in the city. It was producing and exporting textiles, chemicals, engineered goods and steel. River engineering projects to dredge and deepen the Clyde (with a view to forming a deep- water port) had begun in 1768 and they would enable shipbuilding to become a major industry on the upper reaches of the river, pioneered by industrialists such as Robert Napier and John Elder. The final stretch of the Monkland Canal, linking the Forth and Clyde Canal at Port Dundas, was opened in 1795, facilitating access to the iron-ore and coal mines of Lanarkshire.The move to fossil-fuelled shipping in the latter 19th century destroyed the advantages that the trade winds had given Glasgow. But it didn't matter. Again, the people adapted. By the turn of the 20th century the Second City of the British Empire had become a world centre of industry and heavy engineering. It has been estimated that, between 1870 and 1914, it produced as much as one-fifth of the world's ships, and half of Britain's tonnage. Among the 25,000 ships it produced were some of the greatest ever built: the Cutty Sark, the Queen Mary, HMS Hood, the Lusitania, the Glenlee tall ship and even the iconic Mississippi paddle steamer, the Delta Queen. It had also become a centre for locomotive manufacture and, shortly after the turn of the 20th century, could boast the largest concentration of locomotive building works in Europe.It was not just Glasgow's industry and wealth that was so gargantuan. The city's contribution to mankind – made possible by the innovation and progress that comes with booming economies – would also have an international impact. Many great inventors either hailed from Glasgow or moved there to study or work. There's James Watt, for example, whose improvements to the steam engine were fundamental to the Industrial Revolution. One of Watt's employees, William Murdoch, has been dubbed ‘the Scot who lit the world' – he invented gas lighting, a new kind of steam cannon and waterproof paint. Charles MacIntosh gave us the raincoat. James Young, the chemist dubbed as ‘the father of the oil industry', gave us paraffin. William Thomson, known as Lord Kelvin, developed the science of thermodynamics, formulating the Kelvin scale of absolute temperature; he also managed the laying of the first transatlantic telegraph cable.The turning point in the economic fortunes of Glasgow – indeed, of industrial Britain – was WWI. Both have been in decline ever since. By the end of the war, the British were drained, both emotionally and in terms of capital and manpower; the workers, the entrepreneurs, the ideas men, too many of them were dead or incapacitated. There was insufficient money and no appetite to invest. The post-war recession, and later the Great Depression, did little to help. The trend of the city was now one of inexorable economic decline.If Glasgow was the home of shipping and industry in 19th-century Britain, it became the home of socialism in the 20th century. Known by some as the ‘Red Clydeside' movement, the socialist tide in Scotland actually pre-dated the First World War. In 1906 came the city's first Labour Member of Parliament (MP), George Barnes – prior to that its seven MPs were all Conservatives or Liberal Unionists. In the spring of 1911, 11,000 workers at the Singer sewing-machine factory (run by an American corporation in Clydebank) went on strike to support 12 women who were protesting about new work practices. Singer sacked 400 workers, but the movement was growing – as was labour unrest. In the four years between 1910 and 1914 Clydebank workers spent four times as many days on strike than in the whole of the previous decade. The Scottish Trades Union Congress and its affiliations saw membership rise from 129,000 in 1909 to 230,000 in 1914.20The rise in discontent had much to do with Glasgow's housing. Conditions were bad, there was overcrowding, bad sanitation, housing was close to dirty, noxious and deafening industry. Unions grew quite organically to protect the interests of their members.Then came WWI, and inflation, as Britain all but abandoned gold. In 1915 many landlords responded by attempting to increase rent, but with their young men on the Western front, those left behind didn't have the means to pay these higher costs. If they couldn't, eviction soon followed. In Govan, an area of Glasgow where shipbuilding was the main occupation, women – now in the majority with so many men gone – organized opposition to the rent increases. There are photographs showing women blocking the entrance to tenements; officers who did get inside to evict tenants are said to have had their trousers pulled down.The landlords were attacked for being unpatriotic. Placards read: ‘While our men are fighting on the front line,the landlord is attacking us at home.' The strikes spread to other cities throughout the UK, and on 27 November 1915 the government introduced legislation to restrict rents to the pre-war level. The strikers were placated. They had won. The government was happy; it had dealt with the problem. The landlords lost out.In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution of 1917, more frequent strikes crippled the city. In 1919 the ‘Bloody Friday' uprising prompted the prime minister, David Lloyd George, to deploy 10,000 troops and tanks onto the city's streets. By the 1930s Glasgow had become the main base of the Independent Labour Party, so when Labour finally came to power alone after WWII, its influence was strong. Glasgow has always remained a socialist stronghold. Labour dominates the city council, and the city has not had a Conservative MP for 30 years.By the late 1950s, Glasgow was losing out to the more competitive industries of Japan, Germany and elsewhere. There was a lack of investment. Union demands for workers, enforced by government legislation, made costs uneconomic and entrepreneurial activity arduous. With lack of investment came lack of innovation.Rapid de-industrialization followed, and by the 1960s and 70s most employment lay not in manufacturing, but in the service industries.Which brings us to today. On the plus side, Glasgow is still ranked as one of Europe's top 20 financial centres and is home to some leading Scottish businesses. But there is considerable downside.Recent studies have suggested that nearly 30% of Glasgow's working age population is unemployed. That's 50% higher than that of the rest of Scotland or the UK. Eighteen per cent of 16- to 19-year-olds are neither in school nor employed. More than one in five working-age Glaswegians have no sort of education that might qualify them for a job.In the city centre, the Merchant City, 50% of children are growing up in homes where nobody works. In the poorer neighbourhoods, such as Ruchill, Possilpark, or Dalmarnock, about 65% of children live in homes where nobody works – more than three times the national average. Figures from the Department of Work and Pensions show that 85% of working age adults from the district of Bridgeton claim some kind of welfare payment.Across the city, almost a third of the population regularly receives sickness or incapacity benefit, the highest rate of all UK cities. A 2008 World Health Organization report noted that in Glasgow's Calton, Bridgeton and Queenslie neighbourhoods, the average life expectancy for males is only 54. In contrast, residents of Glasgow's more affluent West End live to be 80 and virtually none of them are on the dole.Glasgow has the highest crime rate in Scotland. A recent report by the Centre for Social Justice noted that there are 170 teenage gangs in Glasgow. That's the same number as in London, which has over six times the population of Glasgow.It also has the dubious record of being Britain's murder capital. In fact, Glasgow had the highest homicide rate in Western Europe until it was overtaken in 2012 by Amsterdam, with more violent crime per head of population than even New York. What's more, its suicide rate is the highest in the UK.Then there are the drug and alcohol problems. The residents of the poorer neighbourhoods are an astounding six times more likely to die of a drugs overdose than the national average. Drug-related mortality has increased by 95% since 1997. There are 20,000 registered drug users – that's just registered – and the situation is not going to get any better: children who grow up in households where family members use drugs are seven times more likely to end up using drugs themselves than children who live in drug-free families.Glasgow has the highest incidence of liver diseases from alcohol abuse in all of Scotland. In the East End district of Dennistoun, these illnesses kill more people than heart attacks and lung cancer combined. Men and women are more likely to die of alcohol-related deaths in Glasgow than anywhere else in the UK. Time and time again Glasgow is proud winner of the title ‘Fattest City in Britain'. Around 40% of the population are obese – 5% morbidly so – and it also boasts the most smokers per capita.I have taken these statistics from an array of different sources. It might be in some cases that they're overstated. I know that I've accentuated both the 18th- and 19th-century positives, as well as the 20th- and 21st-century negatives to make my point. Of course, there are lots of healthy, happy people in Glasgow – I've done many gigs there and I loved it. Despite the stories you hear about intimidating Glasgow audiences, the ones I encountered were as good as any I've ever performed in front of. But none of this changes the broad-brush strokes: Glasgow was a once mighty city that now has grave social problems. It is a city that is not fulfilling its potential in the way that it once did. All in all, it's quite a transformation. How has it happened?Every few years a report comes out that highlights Glasgow's various problems. Comments are then sought from across the political spectrum. Usually, those asked to comment agree that the city has grave, ‘long-standing and deep-rooted social problems' (the words of Stephen Purcell, former leader of Glasgow City Council); they agree that something needs to be done, though they don't always agree on what that something is.There's the view from the right: Bill Aitken of the Scottish Conservatives, quoted in The Sunday Times in 2008, said, ‘We simply don't have the jobs for people who are not academically inclined. Another factor is that some people are simply disinclined to work. We have got to find something for these people to do, to give them a reason to get up in the morning and give them some self-respect.' There's the supposedly apolitical view of anti-poverty groups: Peter Kelly, director of the Glasgow-based Poverty Alliance, responded, ‘We need real, intensive support for people if we are going to tackle poverty. It's not about a lack of aspiration, often people who are unemployed or on low incomes are stymied by a lack of money and support from local and central government.' And there's the view from the left. In the same article, Patricia Ferguson, the Labour Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Maryhill, also declared a belief in government regeneration of the area. ‘It's about better housing, more jobs, better education and these things take years to make an impact. I believe that the huge regeneration in the area is fostering a lot more community involvement and cohesion. My real hope is that these figures will take a knock in the next five or ten years.' At the time of writing in 2013, five years later, the figures have worsened.All three points of view agree on one thing: the government must do something.In 2008 the £435 million Fairer Scotland Fund – established to tackle poverty – was unveiled, aiming to allocate cash to the country's most deprived communities. Its targets included increasing average income among lower wage-earners and narrowing the poverty gap between Scotland's best- and worst-performing regions by 2017. So far, it hasn't met those targets.In 2008 a report entitled ‘Power for The Public' examined the provision of health, education and justice in Scotland. It said the budgets for these three areas had grown by 55%, 87% and 44% respectively over the last decade, but added that this had produced ‘mixed results'. ‘Mixed results' means it didn't work. More money was spent and the figures got worse.After the Centre for Social Justice report on Glasgow in 2008, Iain Duncan Smith (who set up this think tank, and is now the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions) said, ‘Policy must deal with the pathways to breakdown – high levels of family breakdown, high levels of failed education, debt and unemployment.'So what are ‘pathways to breakdown'? If you were to look at a chart of Glasgow's prosperity relative to the rest of the world, its peak would have come somewhere around 1910. With the onset of WWI in 1914 its decline accelerated, and since then the falls have been relentless and inexorable. It's not just Glasgow that would have this chart pattern, but the whole of industrial Britain. What changed the trend? Yes, empires rise and fall, but was British decline all a consequence of WWI? Or was there something else?A seismic shift came with that war – a change which is very rarely spoken or written about. Actually, the change was gradual and it pre-dated 1914. It was a change that was sweeping through the West: that of government or state involvement in our lives. In the UK it began with the reforms of the Liberal government of 1906–14, championed by David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill, known as the ‘terrible twins' by contemporaries. The Pensions Act of 1908, the People's Budget of 1909–10 (to ‘wage implacable warfare against poverty', declared Lloyd George) and the National Insurance Act of 1911 saw the Liberal government moving away from its tradition of laissez-faire systems – from classical liberalism and Gladstonian principles of self-help and self-reliance – towards larger, more active government by which taxes were collected from the wealthy and the proceeds redistributed. Afraid of losing votes to the emerging Labour party and the increasingly popular ideology of socialism, modern liberals betrayed their classical principles. In his War Memoirs, Lloyd George said ‘the partisan warfare that raged around these topics was so fierce that by 1913, this country was brought to the verge of civil war'. But these were small steps. The Pensions Act, for example, meant that men aged 70 and above could claim between two and five shillings per week from the government. But average male life- expectancy then was 47. Today it's 77. Using the same ratio, and, yes, I'm manipulating statistics here, that's akin to only awarding pensions to people above the age 117 today. Back then it was workable.To go back to my analogy of the prologue, this period was when the ‘train' was set in motion across the West. In 1914 it went up a gear. Here are the opening paragraphs of historian A. J. P. Taylor's most celebrated book, English History 1914–1945, published in 1965.I quote this long passage in full, because it is so telling.Until August 1914 a sensible, law-abiding Englishman could pass through life and hardly notice the existence of the state, beyond the post office and the policeman. He could live where he liked and as he liked. He had no official number or identity card. He could travel abroad or leave his country forever without a passport or any sort of official permission. He could exchange his money for any other currency without restriction or limit. He could buy goods from any country in the world on the same terms as he bought goods at home. For that matter, a foreigner could spend his life in this country without permit and without informing the police. Unlike the countries of the European continent, the state did not require its citizens to perform military service. An Englishman could enlist, if he chose, in the regular army, the navy, or the territorials. He could also ignore, if he chose, the demands of national defence. Substantial householders were occasionally called on for jury service. Otherwise, only those helped the state, who wished to do so. The Englishman paid taxes on a modest scale: nearly £200 million in 1913–14, or rather less than 8% of the national income.The state intervened to prevent the citizen from eating adulterated food or contracting certain infectious diseases. It imposed safety rules in factories, and prevented women, and adult males in some industries,from working excessive hours.The state saw to it that children received education up to the age of 13. Since 1 January 1909, it provided a meagre pension for the needy over the age of 70. Since 1911, it helped to insure certain classes of workers against sickness and unemployment. This tendency towards more state action was increasing. Expenditure on the social services had roughly doubled since the Liberals took office in 1905. Still, broadly speaking, the state acted only to help those who could not help themselves. It left the adult citizen alone.All this was changed by the impact of the Great War. The mass of the people became, for the first time, active citizens. Their lives were shaped by orders from above; they were required to serve the state instead of pursuing exclusively their own affairs. Five million men entered the armed forces, many of them (though a minority) under compulsion. The Englishman's food was limited, and its quality changed, by government order. His freedom of movement was restricted; his conditions of work prescribed. Some industries were reduced or closed, others artificially fostered. The publication of news was fettered. Street lights were dimmed. The sacred freedom of drinking was tampered with: licensed hours were cut down, and the beer watered by order. The very time on the clocks was changed. From 1916 onwards, every Englishman got up an hour earlier in summer than he would otherwise have done, thanks to an act of parliament. The state established a hold over its citizens which, though relaxed in peacetime, was never to be removed and which the Second World war was again to increase. The history of the English state and of the English people merged for the first time.Since the beginning of WWI , the role that the state has played in our lives has not stopped growing. This has been especially so in the case of Glasgow. The state has spent more and more, provided more and more services, more subsidy, more education, more health care, more infrastructure, more accommodation, more benefits, more regulations, more laws, more protection. The more it has provided, the worse Glasgow has fared. Is this correlation a coincidence? I don't think so.The story of the rise and fall of Glasgow is a distilled version of the story of the rise and fall of industrial Britain – indeed the entire industrial West. In the next chapter I'm going to show you a simple mistake that goes on being made; a dynamic by which the state, whose very aim was to help Glasgow, has actually been its ‘pathway to breakdown' . . .Life After the State is available at Amazon, Apple Books and all good bookshops, with the audiobook at Audible, Apple Books and all good audiobookshops. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theflyingfrisby.com/subscribe

rWotD Episode 2918: Austen Chamberlain Welcome to Random Wiki of the Day, your journey through Wikipedia's vast and varied content, one random article at a time.The random article for Wednesday, 30 April 2025, is Austen Chamberlain.Sir Joseph Austen Chamberlain (16 October 1863 – 16 March 1937) was a British statesman, son of Joseph Chamberlain and older half-brother of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for 45 years, as Chancellor of the Exchequer (twice) and was briefly Conservative Party leader before serving as Foreign Secretary.Brought up to be the political heir of his father, whom he physically resembled, he was elected to Parliament as a Liberal Unionist at a by-election in 1892. He held office in the Unionist coalition governments of 1895–1905, remaining in the Cabinet as Chancellor of the Exchequer (1903–05) after his father resigned in 1903 to campaign for Tariff Reform. After his father's disabling stroke in 1906, Austen became the leading tariff reformer in the House of Commons. Late in 1911 he and Walter Long were due to compete for the leadership of the Conservative Party (in succession to Arthur Balfour), but both withdrew in favour of Bonar Law rather than risk a party split on a close result.Chamberlain returned to office in H. H. Asquith's wartime coalition government in May 1915, as Secretary of State for India, but resigned to take responsibility for the disastrous Kut Campaign. He again returned to office in David Lloyd George's coalition government, once again serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer. He then served as Conservative Party leader in the Commons (1921–1922), before resigning after the Carlton Club meeting voted to end the Lloyd George Coalition.Like many leading coalitionists, he did not hold office in the Conservative governments of 1922–1924. By now regarded as an elder statesman, he served an important term as Foreign Secretary in Stanley Baldwin's second government (1924–1929). He negotiated the Locarno Treaties (1925), aimed at preventing war between France and Germany, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Chamberlain last held office as First Lord of the Admiralty in 1931. He was one of the few MPs supporting Winston Churchill's appeals for rearmament against the German threat in the 1930s and remained an active backbench MP until his death in 1937.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:18 UTC on Wednesday, 30 April 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Austen Chamberlain on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Amy.

pWotD Episode 2869: Justin Trudeau Welcome to Popular Wiki of the Day, spotlighting Wikipedia's most visited pages, giving you a peek into what the world is curious about today.With 251,499 views on Monday, 10 March 2025 our article of the day is Justin Trudeau.Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd prime minister of Canada, having served since 2015. He was the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2013 to 2025 and has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Papineau since 2008.Trudeau was born in Ottawa, Ontario, as the eldest son of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, and attended Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from McGill University and a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of British Columbia. After graduating, he taught at the secondary school level in Vancouver, before returning to Montreal in 2002 to further his studies. He was chair for the youth charity Katimavik and director of the not-for-profit Canadian Avalanche Association. In 2006, he was appointed as chair of the Liberal Party's Task Force on Youth Renewal. In the 2008 federal election, he was elected to represent the riding of Papineau in the House of Commons. He was the Liberal Party's Official Opposition critic for youth and multiculturalism in 2009; in 2010, he became critic for citizenship and immigration. In 2011, he was appointed as a critic for secondary education and sport. In 2013, Trudeau was elected as the leader of the Liberal Party and led the party to a majority government in the 2015 federal election. He became the second-youngest prime minister in Canadian history and the first to be the child of a previous prime minister.Major government initiatives Trudeau undertook during his first term included establishing the Canada Child Benefit, legalizing medical assistance in dying, legalizing recreational marijuana through the Cannabis Act, attempting Senate appointment reform by establishing the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments, and establishing the federal carbon tax. In foreign policy, Trudeau's government negotiated trade deals such as the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, and signed the Paris Agreement on climate change. He was sanctioned by Canada's ethics commissioner for violating conflict of interest law regarding the Aga Khan affair, and again with the SNC-Lavalin affair.Trudeau's Liberal Party was reduced to a minority government in the 2019 federal election. His government responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, announced an "assault-style" weapons ban in response to the 2020 Nova Scotia attacks, and launched a national $10-a-day childcare program. He was investigated for a third time by the ethics commissioner for his part in the WE Charity scandal, but was cleared of wrongdoing. In the 2021 federal election, he led the Liberals to another minority government. In 2022, he invoked the Emergencies Act in response to the Freedom Convoy protests and responded to the Russian invasion of Ukraine by imposing sanctions on Russia and authorizing military aid to Ukraine. His party signed a confidence and supply agreement with the New Democratic Party (NDP) in early 2022, which resulted in the enactment of the Canadian Dental Care Plan for residents that meet a certain income threshold and a framework for national pharmacare; in late 2024, the NDP opted to terminate the agreement. In early 2025, in response to the second Trump tariffs, Trudeau announced 25% retaliatory tariffs on $30 billion worth of U. S. goods.Following the sudden resignation of deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland in December 2024 and an ensuing political crisis, Trudeau announced on January 6, 2025, that he would resign as both the prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party. He advised the governor general to prorogue parliament until March 24, while the party held a leadership contest; Trudeau remained leader until Mark Carney was chosen, after which Trudeau will resign as prime minister. He will also retire as an MP when the 44th Canadian Parliament is dissolved.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:30 UTC on Tuesday, 11 March 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Justin Trudeau on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Gregory.

The Lowest Moral Denominator.By FinalStand. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels.Those who declare war are willing to kill as many as it takes to reach their goal.(The Lowest Moral Denominator)My first week at Havenstone, I'd biked to work alone on most days and I'd enjoyed that. I'd have treasure it more if I had glimpsed my future. I loved people, not crowds. I knew about violence, yet I had no affection for it. I was a confirmed bachelor. Now I was staring down both barrels of marriage. I had had also become a walking arsenal with a lethal omnipresent entourage.This situation was so fucked up that I had to stop by Caitlin's place just to see Aya. My favorite sprite gave me a hug and reminded me that I had to do what I could, not worry about what I couldn't do. She was my 9 year old Svengali. She was my little Valkyrie. In truth, she was the only woman knew I loved and that was the love of a father for his daughter.On the elevator ride up to the penthouse suite of the Midtown Hilton, I thought about Dad. What would Ferko Nyilas do in my shoes? It would be easy for someone who didn't know him to imagine my dad getting up on his high moral horse and telling me to just do the right thing, except that wasn't him. What he'd tell me was to not pass the buck. I had to deal with this, unless I knew someone else who could and would do it better.It wasn't about 'being a man'; it was being a member of the Human Race. We all pitched in and got the job done, or it didn't get done, and millions died because we refused to accept any responsibility for what was going on. That was my Dad, 'do what you can' and 'never be afraid to ask for help if you need it'. After the age of ten, he never told me I had to do anything. He'd tell me what needed to be done and leave it at that.So I wouldn't forget the pictures I knew I'd be seeing before too long, the innocent dead. If the sorrow broke me, it broke me. Until it did, I could not turn away. I had to 'do what I could'. That put me heading to a meeting at three o'clock in the afternoon in the penthouse suite.After my non-breakfast with Iskender, we had driven straight to Havenstone, where I demanded an immediate, private meeting with Katrina. This wasn't an info-dump and then out the door. No, I was part of the process now, one of those fools who were responsible for the lives of others. Katrina and I had argued about compartmentalizing my terrifying news.Her reasoning was clear. We were at war with the Seven Pillars. The basis of the 7P strength was China, so anything bad that happened to China was good for the Amazon Host. I nixed that. It was Katrina's job to think about our security. It was mine to juggle how we related to the rest of the planet. Absent the Golden Mare's opposition, Katrina couldn't stop me from doing my job as I saw fit.The Golden Mare was out of immediate contact, so we moved forward on my proposal. Katrina called Javiera, validated Vincent's call, and then suggested she bring in someone from the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Ft. Detrick. Katrina wouldn't tell her why.I dispatched Delilah to talk to her MI-6 guy while I made my way to Nicole Lawless's law offices. I need to talk to my Aunts. An hour later, I dismissed a somewhat piqued Nicole from the room, then laid out the upcoming crisis to my Mom's clones. I hesitated a minute before dropping the other bomb, Grandpa Cáel was back.Was I sure? I countered with, "Do you know who Shammuramat was?"Why, yes they did; Grandpa had a bust of her in his main office."Well, she's back, in the flesh and that spells all kinds of problems".The six aunts present agreed. They invited me to fly to Europe with five of them. Much to their surprise and joy, I agreed. I told them I would be a party of twelve with plenty of firepower. They were less pleased about that.I exited that scene, only to engage in another, somewhat unrelated, bit of diplomacy. I met with Brooke and Libra for lunch. They brought Casper, who was seeing a specialist in New York and had expressed an interest in seeing me again. Into that volatile mix, I placed my request: 'Could Brooke put up a friend for a couple of weeks while I made other arrangements?'Yes, this was a 'bizarre' friend. Yes, this was a violently bizarre friend. Yes, she walked around with enough weaponry to scare a seasoned SWAT officer. And yes, she was a mass murderer. Cool,, if I agreed to stop by and see how this 'friend' was doing, and gave Libra advance notice too, then they were fine with it.Thus Shammuramat, Sakuniyas, Saku became Brooke's roommate. Insane? Not really. Putting Saku inside Havenstone on a regular basis was going to result in a blood bath. Saku was abrasive and she was a criminal in the minds of her 'sisters'. This gave her an 'out', some space and time with a civilized person who she couldn't emotionally bowl over.If Saku got physical with Brooke, we both understood that House Ishara was going to cancel her return performance. Amazons could defend themselves, so we were fair game for her rude behavior. Brooke couldn't, so she was hopefully out of bounds. Saku had agreed to the arrangement without comment.She'd already figured out that no other Amazons wanted her around and there simply wasn't room at my place. With that chore done, I was able to see Miyako off before her flight to Tokyo by way of Seattle. Selena was with her, but not going. Miyako did have three Amazons in case things got rough.The Marda House guard woman looked mature and humorless. Her age wasn't a problem. She was a grandmother, yet if she thought she couldn't keep up, she'd have taken herself to the cliffs before now. It turned out she had been in Executive Services before returning to House Marda. My diplomat, I didn't know her, but she seemed eager enough. The member of House Ishara was a brand new recruit named Jenna.She was from Acquisitions and spoke seven Asian languages, including Japanese. She looked absolutely thrilled to be heading off into danger. I instructed the younger two to obey the Mardan. In private, I 'advised' the Mardan that our main mission was to be of aid to the ninja. Information gathering would be secondary. More Amazons were on the way. She gave me a nod.For this critical mid-afternoon meeting at the Midtown Hilton, Wiesława lead the way off the elevator. Buffy went next, then me and finally Saku. Delilah and Vincent had already arrived with their appropriate factions. Katrina took a separate elevator, with Elsa and Desiree. Pamela was, somewhere. After she'd pointed out a half-dozen people from four different agencies in the lobby, she told me to not wait while she went to the bathroom.At the door of the Penthouse were two familiar faces from the NYPD, Nikita Kutuzov and her partner, Skylar Montero. When Javiera's investigation followed me to New York, they had been drafted into the taskforce."Hey ladies," I smiled. My last meeting with Nikita hadn't gone well."Cáel," Nikita smiled back. "How have you been?""More trouble than normal," I shook her hand."We can tell," Skylar relaxed somewhat. As Nikita's partner, she had to know that our relationship had soured when she started investigating me. Katrina's group came up."I think you are the last to arrive," Nikita informed us. This time, Desiree was the first one through the door. I could hear the conversation trail off. Wiesława went next, then Katrina, me, Buffy, Saku and finally Elsa. I decided to toss 'civilized' behavior out the window seconds after entering. Virginia Maddox of the FBI, the initiator of the Amazon children's airlift, was here.I hugged her and after a moment, she hugged me back."Priya says hey and," she blushed slightly, "she's counting the days, all forty-five of them.""Don't forget, I owe you," I grinned then patted her shoulder. Javiera was next."Cáel," she headed my familiarity off. She was a Federal Prosecutor after all."This is the head of this taskforce, Jonas Baker (deep breath) Associate Deputy Undersecretary of Analysis for Homeland Security {ADUAHS} (deep breath)." I extended my hand, so he shook it. He looked somewhat annoyed by this whole encounter. Javiera was duly nervous because of his poor initial attitude. The introductions went around.Half way through it, Pamela showed up, from where, I didn't know. Delilah, her MI-6 boss and the British professional killer Chaz were there, much to the chagrin of the Americans. Vincent was there with Javiera. Cresky was representing the CIA plus there was ATF, ICE, Riki Martin (?) from the State Department and a man in a civil servant's salary suit and a military demeanor, Captain Moe Mistriano."Fine," Mr. Baker began. "I hope you aren't wasting our time." His gaze flicked between Katrina and me."May the Blessed Isis bring understanding to our meeting," I intoned, in old Egyptian."What was that?" Baker turned on me."Praying for guidance," I replied. Isis wasn't in the Amazon pantheon, but I could sure use her help at this point. Baker was going from put-out to pissed-off. If that is how they wanted to play it, their choice. "Are you the specialist from Ft. Detrick?" I asked the Captain."Yes, I am and I hope this is worth my time as well," he gave me a steady gaze. Oh, I really needed that."Anthrax, China," I stated and weighed his response. Oh yeah, I had his attention now, which meant his bio-warfare unit had some idea about what was happening in China."Care to enlighten me?" Baker inquired. He had gauged his medical expert's reactions as well and he didn't like what the biological warfare specialist was not saying."Mr. Baker," the Captain decided to go first. "Roughly fifty-five hours ago, we got wind that there was a massive Anthrax outbreak in Western China. Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia and Nei Mongol administrative regions have all reported outbreaks."Holy Shit!" Riki Martin gasped. Her dark, whip-like, Hispanic features noticeably paled."That sounds suspiciously like bio-terrorism," Jonas Baker turned on me."You'd be right about that," I refused to evade. "It is and it is about to get a whole lot worse.""The PRC has a robust vaccine program," the Captain stated. "That is why they aren't making a public stink about it. They have the problem well under control.""Damn, " I closed my eyes and lowered my head. In some deep section of my mind, I had fanned the feeble flames of hope that somehow, the Earth  and  Sky program had derailed. "That is the 'whole lot worse' I was talking about. The terrorists aren't terrorists. They, ""What do you mean they are not terrorists," Baker snapped. "They, ""Shut up and let the man speak," Katrina said calmly."Who are you again?" he glared at Katrina. "If you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem and I'm here to make sure this problem is dealt with. I am not here to play footsie with you. I am going to be asking some tough questions and you had better answer them.""I'm Cáel's boss," Katrina smiled. "Since we came here to help you and you don't want to let us speak, we are leaving. Cáel."The Amazons didn't turn and leave. No, we backed up toward the door."You can't start talking about an ongoing terrorist threat and then walk out the door," Baker argued."Javiera, I apologize," I looked her way. "Mr. Baker, Javiera's a smart cookie. I'm sure she's given you every bit of information that has come across her desk. That means you know we consider ourselves an independent nation-state without borders. You can't intimidate us. We feel no obligation to obey your legal system and we operate internationally," I kept going."Now, as we are trying to repay Javiera's kindness in our time of need, you are treating us like criminals currying favors. Blow it out your ass, you pompous bureaucrat" I concluded. "We aren't the problem here.""If that's the way you want it," he shrugged. "Javiera, arrest them." Pause."Sir, you do realize that if I give that order, there is a good likelihood they will resist with force?" Javiera replied calmly. Baker looked around the room."We outnumber them and these are law enforcement officers," he insisted. "Now, ""I wouldn't count on that 'outnumbered' thing," Delilah chimed in.Chaz and MI-6 dude didn't seem to be onboard with his plan. "I have reason to believe Cáel has information on a highly virulent weaponized Anthrax program. If our US allies aren't interested, Her Majesty's government certainly will be." That did interest the MI-6 senior officer."That is all the more reason to put these people into federal custody," Baker stated."Then what, Mr. Associate Deputy?" Chaz said. "Are you going to torture them for time sensitive data? In my military service, I've met some truly hard characters. Some people you can put a gun to their child's head and they'll tell you what you want to know. Not this group. They'll memorize your face and wait for a chance to make you pay, whether you kill the kid, or not.""That's my read on them as well," Agent Vincent Loire added."Mr. Baker, I worked under you when we were both in Counter-terrorism," Virginia spoke up. "I think you are mishandling this. Invoke the Patriot Act and all we get is a roomful of statues. I've fought beside these, Amazons and I'm reaffirming my report to Ms. Castello (Javiera), they do not believe their behavior is wrong.At some point in their fifties, they commit ritual suicide. They make their twelve year old daughters fight for their lives. They murder their male infants. Sir, they are an alien society, indoctrinated at birth to believe they are spiritual inheritors of the ancient Amazons mentioned by Homer during the time of the Iliad.They fanatically believe in a pantheon of goddesses and possess very little inclination for integration. They think they are superior to everyone in this room, except for Cáel, he's an oddity," Virginia pleaded."That legion of crimes is yet another reason to arrest them," Baker just wouldn't give up."What you have described, Agent Maddox is a right wing nut cult, like the Branch-Davidians at Waco. Arrest them.""What are the charges?" Javiera's face blanked out."Conspiracy to commit terrorist acts; aiding and abetting an international terrorist organization," Baker snapped."Everyone, put down your firearms and blades," Katrina ordered. I didn't have the status to give that order except to my own. For that matter,"Team, disarm," Elsa commanded her Security Detail people. Technically, Katrina couldn't order those girls to forego their primary mission, defend the Host. Out came the guns.The group of us went over to one wall, put our backs to it and sat down. Pro forma, Virginia, Vincent and the ATF guy drew their firearms. By this time, both Riki and the Captain looked ready to explode."Tell us what you know about this terrorist conspiracy and, " Baker said."We invoke our Right to Council," I raised my hand."You are being charged under the Patriot Act, smart-ass," Baker sneered. "We can hold you indefinitely if we can show a risk to National Security, such as a terrorist attack in China.""I apologize for dragging you into this," I turned to Katrina. "You too, Saku." Saku shrugged."I told you there is no benefit in helping 'these people'," Katrina comforted me. She meant non-Amazons and it was rather sad that it was looking like she was right and I was wrong."Unless you want to grow old and grey in Guantanamo, I suggest you start talking now," Baker threatened.There was no bravado on our part. We didn't zone out, or ignore him. We looked at him the same way we would a yappy dog while continuing to scan the room. Being disarmed didn't make us defenseless. It merely limited our options."Sir," Riki tapped Baker."If the People's Republic of China finds out we withheld details of a terrorist attack on their soil, that would be BAD, with a capital 'B'.""I have to call this in," the Captain shook his head."Wait until we have active intelligence," Baker said. The Captain completed his call."I don't work for you, Sir. I work for the Department of Defense and that man," the Captain pointed at me, "strung two words together he shouldn't have. Now, I don't know any of you people. I was told to come here, so here I am. I do know, Sir, that you are ignoring the advice from your experts about the expected results of standard interrogation techniques.You are acting on two assumptions which I find to be fictitious," the Captain was clearly furious. "First, you seem to think this won't get out, and you are wrong. Why? We have no idea who these people have talked with. We can only believe that any person outside of their organization can use that revelation for their own ends. Secondly, you haven't grasped the extent of the emergency.Chinese citizens are already starting to drop dead as we speak. This variant of Anthrax is highly contagious, fast-acting, and appears to be incredibly fatal. No nation on Earth has enough Anthrax vaccine on hand to protect their entire population, and that still implies that the vaccines we currently have will work on this new bacteria. Need I go on?"Then Captain Mistriano went back to talking softly with his companions back at Ft. Detrick. The MI-6 chief made his own call. This was his job after all. Before Baker could even start to threaten the Brit, Delilah and Chaz had their guns out, though pointed down. The US law enforcement operatives were far more leery of challenging agents of a friendly foreign power."I will make sure to tack on charges for all those deaths you are facilitating," Baker piled it on. "The US government might find it necessary to send you to the People's Republic of China to face charges there. After all, you claim to not be US citizens." None of us responded verbally. We looked at him. We certainly heard him speak, but his '

Concerned citizens of Adoagyiri-Nsawam in the Eastern Region are calling for a formal apology from Emeafa Hardcastle, Acting Chief Executive of the Petroleum Commission, over her disrespectful comments directed at Frank Annor-Dompreh, their Member of Parliament (MP) and Minority Chief Whip

Lord Peter Mandelson, born on October 21, 1953, is a prominent British politician and former Member of Parliament (MP). He is widely known for his active involvement in the Labour Party and his influential role within the UK government during the New Labour era.Mandelson first gained recognition as a key strategist and close ally of Labour leader Tony Blair. He played a crucial part in rebranding the Labour Party as "New Labour" and contributing to their electoral successes in the late 1990s and early 2000s.He was instrumental in shaping the party's policy agenda, focusing on modernization, economic reform, and closer ties with the business community.In 1997, Mandelson was appointed as the Minister without Portfolio, becoming one of the most powerful figures in the government. He later held several high-profile positions, including Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, and Skills. Mandelson played a significant role in shaping UK trade policy and promoting international business relations during his tenure.Despite his success, Mandelson faced controversy during his political career. He resigned twice from government positions. The first instance was in 1998, known as the "Lobbygate" scandal, which involved allegations of impropriety and influence-peddling. The second resignation occurred in 2001, following the "Hinduja passport affair," where he was accused of helping an Indian billionaire obtain British citizenship.After leaving front-line politics, Mandelson continued to be involved in public life. He served as the European Commissioner for Trade from 2004 to 2008, playing a vital role in European Union trade negotiations and advocating for global trade liberalization. Upon his return to the UK, he was appointed as a life peer in the House of Lords, taking the title of Baron Mandelson.Prince Andrew, born on February 19, 1960, is a member of the British royal family and the third child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He holds the title of Duke of York and has been involved in various public duties and charitable endeavors throughout his life.Prince Andrew served in the British Royal Navy and had a successful military career.However, he retired from active service in 2001. Since then, he has primarily focused on his royal duties and engagements, representing the Queen both domestically and internationally.Throughout his life, Prince Andrew has been associated with numerous charitable organizations and initiatives, particularly in the fields of entrepreneurship, science, technology, and education. He has played an active role in supporting and promoting these causes, often engaging with young entrepreneurs and advocating for their development and success.However, Prince Andrew's reputation has been marred by his association with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein was a wealthy financier and convicted sex offender who faced numerous allegations of sex trafficking and abuse. Prince Andrew's close relationship with Epstein came under intense scrutiny, and he faced allegations of sexual misconduct himself. In 2019, Prince Andrew announced his decision to step back from public duties and royal engagements indefinitely due to the controversy surrounding his association with Epstein.Since then, Prince Andrew has remained largely out of the public eye, with his official role within the royal family significantly reduced. The legal proceedings and investigations related to his involvement with Epstein are ongoing, and he has faced numerous legal challenges and requests for cooperation from authorities.In this episode, we hear how both men were offered advisors roles with Epstein, according to the email's revealed by the WSJ. (commercial at 7:39)to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:Epstein plan to make Andrew and 'Petie' Mandelson 'star advisers' in a new consultancy business | Daily Mail Online

Brian interviews Dr Ruby Dhalla. Ruby is a Canadian politician, businesswoman, and former Member of Parliament (MP). She was first elected in 2004 and served three terms as a Liberal MP, representing the riding of Brampton—Springdale in Ontario. During her time in office, Dr Dhalla was known for her advocacy on issues such as immigration, health care, and women's rights. Since 2011, Dr Dhalla has transitioned into the business world, specifically focusing on the hospitality industry, where she has successfully managed and led a hotel business. Her career reflects her ability to balance public service with entrepreneurship. Dr Ruby Dhalla talks about her candidacy for leader of the Liberal Party.

Brian interviews Sheila Copps. Sheila is a prominent Canadian politician and public figure who served as deputy prime minister in Jean Chrétien's Liberal government. Known for her dynamic and outspoken nature, she was a key member of the "Rat Pack," a group of young, energetic Liberal MPs who gained notoriety in the 1980s for their sharp criticisms of the opposition. Over the course of her political career, Copps represented her constituents as both a Member of Parliament (MP) and a Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP), demonstrating her commitment to public service at both federal and provincial levels. Sheila Copps talks about the Political situation in Canada today.

rWotD Episode 2768: Arthur Evans (politician) Welcome to Random Wiki of the Day, your journey through Wikipedia’s vast and varied content, one random article at a time.The random article for Sunday, 1 December 2024 is Arthur Evans (politician).Henry Arthur Evans (24 September 1898 – 25 September 1958), known as Arthur Evans, was a British politician.He contested the 1922 London County Council election as a Progressive candidate for Lewisham West but was unsuccessful.He was National Liberal Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicester East from 1922 to 1923 and Conservative MP for Cardiff South from 1924 to 1929, and from 1931 to 1945. At the 1945 general election he was defeated by the future Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:38 UTC on Sunday, 1 December 2024.For the full current version of the article, see Arthur Evans (politician) on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm long-form Patrick.

Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar is the Maharaja of Mysore. Born in 1992, he studied in Bengaluru and the United States, earning a degree in Economics and English from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is the head of the Wadiyar family and the custodian of Mysore State. In 2024, Yaduveer entered politics and became a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Mysore constituency, representing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He is known for his efforts to preserve Mysore's cultural heritage, manage royal traditions, and support charitable trusts associated with the Wadiyar family.In this episode, Vinamre and Yaduveer discuss:- Surprising rituals still practiced and what happens in the Darbar- His life before and after becoming the Maharaja and an MP of Mysore- The role of a Maharaja in modern India and the influence of social media- His vision for his empire as a Maharaja and a political leader- The significance of traditions and culture in today's world- The rich history of Karnataka and the Vijayanagar Empire- If you're curious about what it's like to be a king in India in 2024, don't miss this episode.If you're curious about what it's like to be a king in India in 2024, don't miss this episode. Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction 02:55 - His approach to political life as a member of a royal family 05:28 - Holding a private darbar: the rituals and traditions they still follow 11:05 - The curse of the old lady and the Doctrine of Lapse 13:39 - Why traditions and culture are most important now 17:37 - Surprising rituals that most people don't know 22:13 - Visiting the royal palace as a child 26:28 - Using social media after ascending the throne 30:43 - Conducting oneself as a politician and maintaining personal space 36:10 - Handling hate and criticism 39:26 - Experience of being an MP at a young age 42:45 - The great history of Karnataka 48:30 - Inspirational Roman Empire 52:39 - What he does for fun 55:17 - The Mysore Pak stereotype 56:30 - Goals as an MP of Mysore 59:21 - The coffee-drinking culture 1:03:35 - Conclusion 1:06:15 - Tour of The Mysore Palace ==================================================================== This is the official channel for Dostcast, a podcast by Vinamre Kasanaa. Connect with me LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinamre-kasanaa-b8524496/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vinamrekasanaa/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/VinamreKasanaa Dostcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dostcast/ Dostcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dostcast Dostcast on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557567524054 ==================================================================== Contact Us For business inquiries: dostcast@egiplay.com

Steve Baker is a former Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Wycombe, serving from 2010 until 2024. In this episode, we discuss pressing economic and political issues such as the challenges of government debt, inflation, and the often overlooked consequences of central bank policies. With a focus on the impact of taxation and government spending on individual freedoms and economic productivity. We also discuss the structural inefficiencies in politics and examine the growing disconnect between politicians and economic realities. Reflecting on his experience in Parliament, Steve emphasises the need for public education on economic fundamentals, a paradigm shift in policy-making, and personal financial resilience, exploring how Bitcoin and free-market principles could offer solutions to a system he believes is deeply flawed.

Dame Tracey Elizabeth Anne Crouch DBE (born 24 July 1975) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Chatham and Aylesford from 2010 to 2024. Crouch was appointed as Minister for Sport, Civil Society and Loneliness in 2017, but resigned in 2018 due to a delay over the introduction of reduced limits on the stakes of fixed odds betting terminals.In April 2021, Crouch was appointed to chair a review of English football following the controversy over the proposed European Super League and in response to long-standing concerns about club ownership and financial sustainability in the English game.Following the review, in November 2021, a final report made ten strategic recommendations for the future of football clubs (PDF). The main one was for the establishment, through legislation, of an Independent Regulator for English Football (IREF). Crouch is a qualified FA football coach and manages a youth girls' football team.[4][12] She is a keen Tottenham Hotspur fan.She didn't stand in the 2024 General Election and is now managing director of sport at Hanover Communications.Unofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conversations with a who's who of the global industry. To join our community of listeners, sign up to the weekly UP Newsletter and follow us on Twitter and TikTok at @UnofficialPartnerWe publish two podcasts each week, on Tuesday and Friday. These are deep conversations with smart people from inside and outside sport. Our entire back catalogue of 400 sports business conversations are available free of charge here. Each pod is available by searching for ‘Unofficial Partner' on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher and every podcast app. If you're interested in collaborating with Unofficial Partner to create one-off podcasts or series, you can reach us via the website.

pWotD Episode 2741: Kemi Badenoch Welcome to Popular Wiki of the Day, spotlighting Wikipedia's most visited pages, giving you a peek into what the world is curious about today.With 539,547 views on Saturday, 2 November 2024 our article of the day is Kemi Badenoch.Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke Badenoch ( KEM-ee BAY-də-nok; née Adegoke; born 2 January 1980) is a British politician who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Conservative Party since November 2024. She previously served in the Cabinet under Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak from 2022 to 2024. She has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Essex since 2024, and previously represented Saffron Walden from 2017 to 2024.In 2012, Badenoch unsuccessfully contested a seat in the London Assembly, but became a member of the London Assembly after Victoria Borwick was elected as an MP in 2015. A supporter of Brexit in the 2016 referendum, Badenoch was elected to the House of Commons in the 2017 general election. After Boris Johnson became prime minister in July 2019, Badenoch was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families. In the February 2020 reshuffle, she was appointed Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities. In September 2021, she was promoted to Minister of State for Equalities and appointed Minister of State for Local Government, Faith and Communities.In July 2022, Badenoch resigned from government in protest at Johnson's leadership; she stood unsuccessfully to replace him in the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election. After Liz Truss was appointed prime minister in September 2022, Badenoch was appointed as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade and was appointed to the Privy Council; she was reappointed Trade Secretary by Truss's successor, Rishi Sunak, the following month, also becoming Minister for Women and Equalities.In the February 2023 Cabinet reshuffle, Badenoch assumed the position of Secretary of State for Business and Trade following the merging of the Department for International Trade with elements of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Badenoch retained the responsibilities of Women and Equalities Minister. After the Conservatives' defeat in the 2024 general election, Badenoch was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government in Sunak's Shadow Cabinet and later launched her bid to become leader of the Conservative Party in the 2024 leadership election. She defeated Robert Jenrick in the members' ballot, becoming party leader and Leader of the Opposition.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:19 UTC on Sunday, 3 November 2024.For the full current version of the article, see Kemi Badenoch on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm generative Joanna.

State of Play Session: Ukraine ◦ Olha Stefanyshyna - Member of Parliament (MP), Parliament of Ukraine◦ Hanna Hlushchenko - CEO, Ukrainian Cannabis Consulting GroupHistorically, Ukraine was a significant producer of hemp, cultivating over 150,000 hectares by the 1950s - primarily for oil and fiber. In 2019, a petition to legalise medical cannabis garnered momentum and by 2020, a referendum demonstrated 64.88% public support for medical cannabis. In 2023, Ukraine's parliament approved the legalisation of medical cannabis, which was signed into law, February 2024. This panel discusses the state of play in Ukraine, concerning advocacy groups, pilot programs, medical professionals, and progressive politicians who have championed legislative change.Get tickets for 2025 at www.cannabis-europa.com#cannabisindustry #cannabisbusiness #europe

With the rest of the world swinging left and right, how do we make the progressive centre of politics more attractive, and its proponents sound less like 'pious schoolteachers'? Rory Stewart thinks Australia may hold the key...GUEST: Rory Stewart is the co-presenter of the hit podcast The Rest is Politics. He served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Penrith and The Border between 2010 and 2019, representing the Conservative Party.Rory is coming out to Australia at the end of October to discuss his political memoir Politics on the Edge.RECOMMENDATIONS:Geraldine: BBC podcast The Long History Of... IgnoranceHamish: ABC Rear Vision The Kamala Harris StoryGET IN TOUCH: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at global.roaming@abc.net.au

Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has called on the Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor to publish a list of all public lands. Mr Ablakwa has said a compilation will help Ghanaians know whether or not public lands are being sold

Nigel Farage is the Leader of Reform UK and a newly-elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Clacton. As the leader of UKIP (the UK Independence Party), he was the most influential voice in bringing about the UK's withdrawal from the European Union. He went on to lead the Brexit Party in order to advocate for a no-deal Brexit. He had previously served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 1999 until 2020. Sponsors: Direct Bullion. Download your free Guide to Gold Pensions Now. Click Here: https://trigger.directbullion.com/ Manscaped. Get 20% Off and Free Shipping with the code TRIGGER at https://manscaped.com Follow Nigel on X: https://x.com/Nigel_Farage Join our Premium Membership for early access, extended and ad-free content: https://triggernometry.supercast.com OR Support TRIGGERnometry Here: Bitcoin: bc1qm6vvhduc6s3rvy8u76sllmrfpynfv94qw8p8d5 Music by: Music by: Xentric | info@xentricapc.com | https://www.xentricapc.com/ YouTube: @xentricapc  Buy Merch Here: https://www.triggerpod.co.uk/shop/ Advertise on TRIGGERnometry: marketing@triggerpod.co.uk Join the Mailing List: https://www.triggerpod.co.uk/#mailinglist Find TRIGGERnometry on Social Media:  https://twitter.com/triggerpod https://www.facebook.com/triggerpod/ https://www.instagram.com/triggerpod/ About TRIGGERnometry:  Stand-up comedians Konstantin Kisin (@konstantinkisin) and Francis Foster (@francisjfoster) make sense of politics, economics, free speech, AI, drug policy and WW3 with the help of presidential advisors, renowned economists, award-winning journalists, controversial writers, leading scientists and notorious comedians. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Today's episode of Moment of Truth, Saurabh sits down with multiple British guests at National Conservatism including James Orr, Suella Braverman MP, Carl Benjamin aka "Sargon of Akkad," and Connor Tomlinson to discuss what actually happened in the recent UK Elections, the downfall of the Tories, the pending destruction of the UK by the Labour Party, and the future of Nigel Farage and the Reform Party.#UK #Election #Tory #Labour #Reform #Party #Results #Future #Britain #BritishPolitics #Parliament #MP #JamesOrr #SuellaBraverman #CarlBenjamin #ConnorTomlinsonDr. James Orr is Associate Professor of Philosophy of Religion at the Faculty of Divinity, a position he took up after four years as McDonald Postdoctoral Fellow in Theology, Ethics, and Public Life at Christ Church, Oxford.https://www.divinity.cam.ac.uk/directory/dr-james-orrSuella Braverman is a British politician and lawyer. She is a Member of Parliament (MP) for Fareham, a position she has held since 2015. She was Home Secretary under Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss. https://www.suellabraverman.co.uk/Carl Benjamin is the creator of the infamous “Sargon of Akkad” YouTube Channel. His is a right-wing British political commentator and former member of UK Independence Party (UKIP).https://www.youtube.com/user/SargonofAkkad100Connor Tomlinson is a writer and host of Tomlinson Talks at LotusEaters.com. He is a political commentator for GB News, Sky News Australia, and Talk TV, and has appeared on podcasts such at TRIGGERNnometry and Timcast IRL. https://www.lotuseaters.com/author/connor-tomlinsonBecome a 'Truther' or 'Statesman' to get access to exclusive perks. Watch ALL EPISODES a day before everyone else, and enjoy members-only bonus content: youtube.com/channel/UC4qmB5DeiFxt53ZPZiW4Tcg/join––––––Follow American Moment across Social Media:Twitter – https://twitter.com/AmMomentOrgFacebook – https://www.facebook.com/AmMomentOrgInstagram – https://www.instagram.com/ammomentorg/YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4qmB5DeiFxt53ZPZiW4TcgRumble – https://rumble.com/c/ammomentorgFollow Us on Twitter:Saurabh Sharma – https://twitter.com/ssharmaUSNick Solheim – https://twitter.com/NickSSolheimAmerican Moment's "Moment of Truth" Podcast is recorded at the Conservative Partnership Campus in Washington DC, produced by American Moment Studios, and edited by Jake Mercier and Jared Cummings. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

pWotD Episode 2621: Keir Starmer Welcome to Popular Wiki of the Day, spotlighting Wikipedia's most visited pages, giving you a peek into what the world is curious about today.With 1,912,405 views on Friday, 5 July 2024 our article of the day is Keir Starmer.Sir Keir Rodney Starmer ( ; born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and barrister who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024, as Leader of the Labour Party since 2020, and as Leader of the Opposition from 2020 to 2024. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras since 2015, and previously was Director of Public Prosecutions from 2008 to 2013.Born in London and raised in Surrey, Starmer attended the selective state Reigate Grammar School, which became a private school while he was a student. He was politically active from an early age and joined the Labour Party Young Socialists at the age of 16. He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Leeds in 1985 and gained a postgraduate Bachelor of Civil Law degree at St Edmund Hall at the University of Oxford in 1986. After being called to the bar, Starmer practised predominantly in criminal defence work, specialising in human rights. He served as a human rights adviser to the Northern Ireland Policing Board and was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 2002, later citing his work on policing in Northern Ireland as being a key influence on his decision to pursue a political career. During his time as Director of Public Prosecutions, he dealt with a number of major cases including the Stephen Lawrence murder case. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to law and criminal justice.Starmer was elected to the House of Commons at the 2015 general election. As a backbencher, he supported the unsuccessful Britain Stronger in Europe campaign in the 2016 European Union membership referendum. He was appointed to Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, and advocated a proposed second referendum on Brexit. Following Corbyn's resignation after Labour's defeat at the 2019 general election, Starmer succeeded him by winning the 2020 leadership election on a left-wing platform. During his tenure as opposition leader, Starmer moved the party back more toward the centre, and emphasised the importance of eliminating antisemitism within the party. Starmer led Labour to victory in the local elections in 2023 and 2024. In 2023, Starmer set out five missions for his government, targeting issues such as economic growth, health, clean energy, crime and education. In July 2024, Starmer led Labour to a landslide victory at the 2024 general election, ending fourteen years of Conservative government with Labour becoming the largest party in the House of Commons. He succeeded Rishi Sunak as prime minister on 5 July 2024, becoming the first Labour prime minister since Gordon Brown in 2010 and the first one to win a general election since Tony Blair at the 2005 general election.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 02:28 UTC on Saturday, 6 July 2024.For the full current version of the article, see Keir Starmer on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm standard Joey.

Gordon Birtwistle (born 6 September 1943) is a British Liberal Democrat politician and former MP. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Burnley, England, from May 2010 to May 2015. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2010 to 2012.From 2013, he was Government Apprenticeship Ambassador to Business

Voting has commenced smoothly at 204 polling centers in the Ejisu constituency where a by-election is been held to choose a new Member of Parliament (MP).

Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has resigned as National Assembly Speaker and member of Parliament (MP), but insists her decision is not an admission of guilt. Lester Kiewit speaks to Dr Oscar van Heerden | senior research fellow for African Diplomacy and Leadership at the University of Johannesburg.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

pWotD Episode 2495: George Galloway Welcome to popular Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of a popular Wikipedia page every day.With 392,626 views on Friday, 1 March 2024 our article of the day is George Galloway.George Galloway (born 16 August 1954) is a British politician, broadcaster, and writer who has served as member of Parliament (MP) for Rochdale since the 2024 by-election. He has been the leader of the Workers Party of Britain since he founded it in 2019. Between 1987 and 2010, and between 2012 and 2015, Galloway served as MP four constituencies, first for the Labour Party and later for the Respect Party, the latter of which he joined in 2004 and led from 2013 until its dissolution in 2016.Galloway was born in Dundee, Scotland. After becoming the youngest ever chair of the Scottish Labour Party in 1981, he was general secretary of the London-based charity War on Want from 1983 until his election as MP for Glasgow Hillhead at the 1987 general election. In 2003, he was expelled from the Labour Party due to his prominent opposition to the Iraq War. In 2004, Galloway became a member of the Respect Party, and then the party's leader by late 2013. He was elected as MP for Bethnal Green and Bow at the 2005 general election. After losing in neighbouring Poplar and Limehouse in 2010, he returned to the House of Commons after being elected at the 2012 Bradford West by-election; he lost this seat at the 2015 general election. After unsuccessfully standing as an Independent candidate in two seats in the 2017 and 2019 general elections, Galloway founded the Workers Party of Britain; he stood for the Workers Party at the 2021 Batley and Spen by-election, finishing in third place, and won the 2024 Rochdale by-election with nearly 40 per cent of the vote.Galloway testified to the United States Senate in 2005 over alleged illicit payments from the United Nations' Oil-for-Food Programme against Ba'athist Iraq. Among other international issues, Galloway has voiced his anti-Zionism and supports the Palestinians in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and was also involved in the Viva Palestina aid convoys to the Gaza Strip. He opposes India's role in the Kashmir conflict with Pakistan, and has voiced support for the insurgency in Indian-administered Kashmir. He voiced support for Jeremy Corbyn in the 2015 Labour Party leadership election and during Corbyn's leadership of the party. In the 2016 European Union (EU) membership referendum, he advocated a "Leave" vote, campaigning with the cross-party, pro-Brexit organisation Grassroots Out, while before the 2019 European Parliament election he announced, "for one-time only", he would support Nigel Farage's Brexit Party. He opposes Scottish independence and founded All for Unity, a party that campaigned on support for British unionism in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, where it captured 0.9 per cent of the vote. He has defined himself as socially conservative. Galloway hosted the TalkRadio show The Mother of All Talk Shows between 2006 and 2010 and between 2016 and 2019 until his dismissal. He then broadcast on Russia Today (RT) until 2022, defending Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, after which sanctions were imposed on RT. Galloway's talk show moved to social media platforms.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:48 UTC on Saturday, 2 March 2024.For the full current version of the article, see George Galloway on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm Niamh Neural.

rWotD Episode 2463: Jean-Léonard Touadi Welcome to random Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of a random Wikipedia page every day.The random article for Wednesday, 31 January 2024 is Jean-Léonard Touadi.Jean-Léonard Touadi (born 25 January 1959 in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo) is a Congolese-Italian journalist, author and politician. Touadi was raised in France and immigrated to Italy in 1979. There, he rose to prominence as a television journalist and as Rome's deputy mayor in charge of security.In the 2008 general election he was elected to the Italian Parliament with Italy of Values (IdV), becoming Italy's second black Member of Parliament (MP) and the first MP from sub-Saharan Africa. On 11 July 2008, few months after his election, he left the IdV and joined the Democratic Party (PD).He is married to Cristina Bacillieri and they have two daughters: Sophie-Claire (2005) and Sandrine (2007).This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:49 UTC on Wednesday, 31 January 2024.For the full current version of the article, see Jean-Léonard Touadi on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm Emma Standard.

In Singapore, the silent struggle of single mothers facing poverty often goes unnoticed. In a society known for its affluence, these women confront unique challenges that are deeply intertwined with societal norms and government policies. In the opening episode of the fourth season, host Liang Kaixin, Associate Director at the Institute of Policy Studies and a former journalist, engages in an in-depth discussion with two key figures in the field: Carrie Tan, Member of Parliament (MP) at Nee Soon GRC and founder of Daughters of Tomorrow, and Elizabeth Quek, Programme Manager at AWARE who managed the Support Housing and Enable (S.H.E.) project. They delved into the multifaceted issues faced by single mothers in Singapore, especially those who are unwed and divorced, and explore the complex intersection of poverty, single motherhood, and societal stigma. This episode sheds light on the economic hardships, support systems, housing challenges, and the impact of societal perceptions on these women. It also explores recent policy shifts aimed at providing better support to unwed mothers. Find out more about single parenthood in Singapore: AWARE (December 2016): Single Parents' Access to Public Housing Findings from AWARE's Research Project The Straits Times (25 March 2023): Struggles of mothers, lower-income women highlighted in new book The Straits Times (9 March 2022): Budget debate: MPs call for better support for single parents, low-income families About our guests: Carrie Tan, Member of Parliament; Founder, Daughters of Tomorrow Carrie Tan is recognised for her dual role as the founder of Daughters of Tomorrow (DOT), a charity aiding underprivileged women in Singapore, and as a MP of Nee Soon GRC. Her journey in politics is a natural progression of her commitment to community service, emphasising the representation of marginalised voices and advocating for inclusive policymaking. DOT's approach complements existing workforce-related agencies, connecting volunteers and community resources to each woman individually. By understanding their day-to-day constraints, the organisation provides tailored coaching and assistance, helping women achieve regular and sustained employment. In her political role, Carrie Tan continues this ethos, advocating for the representation of marginalised voices and inclusive policy-making. Her work spans critical areas including women's empowerment, mental health, and community care. Carrie has proposed initiatives like "Carefare" to support low-income full-time caregivers and tirelessly advocates for better mental health support in education and healthcare. In her constituency of Nee Soon South, she has established programmes like the Mental Well-being Committee and a Diaper Support Programme for the elderly, alongside an online show highlighting children's perspectives, all reflective of her dedication to mindful parenting and enhancing community well-being. Elizabeth Quek, Program Manager, AWARE Elizabeth Quek has had experience in the social service sector for over 15 years, with a focus on supporting single parents. As a Programme Manager at AWARE, she played a pivotal role in the S.H.E Project (Support, Housing and Enablement), a research-based service offering stable housing and transformational support for low-income families led by single mothers. This initiative, with its pilot program running from 2018 to 2021, aimed to provide these families with a chance to stabilise their lives and transition out of poverty. The S.H.E Project, addressing findings from AWARE's 2016 study on single parents' access to public housing, provided long-term housing stability, unlike typical transitional housing programmes. From July 2019 to April 2020, Elizabeth also managed the Community Childminding Network, part of Daughters of Tomorrow, focusing on building community support among mothers. This initiative created a "kampong of trust" to address childminding needs, allowing more women to work and support their families. More from On Diversity Season 3 Episode 9: Being Biracial in Singapore with Shane Pereira, Research Associate at IPS and Dave Parkash, Co-Founder at Fook Kin Restaurant Season 3 Episode 8: Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination with Sher-li Torrey, Founder of Mums@Work and Kalpana Vignehsa, Senior Research Fellow at IPS Season 3 Episode 7: Palliative Care for the Young and Old with Dr Chong Poh Heng, Medical Director at HCA Hospice Limited and Tay Jia Ying, an end-of-life doula and Founder of Happy Ever After Season 3 Episode 6: Social Worker Burnout with Louis Ng, MP for Nee Soon GRC and Cindy Ng-Tay, Director of Home at Children's Aid Society Season 3 Episode 5: Leaving the Law Profession with Andrew Chan, Partner at Allen & Gledhill LLP and Michelle Yeo, Of Counsel at LVM Law Chambers LLC Season 3 Episode 4: Racism at Work with Dharesheni Nedumaran, Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, APAC, at Mediabrands and Shamil Zainuddin, Research Associate at IPS Social Lab Season 3 Episode 3: Ableism at Work with Cassandra Chiu, a vision impaired counsellor and advocate for PWDs, and Justin Lee, Senior Research Fellow at IPS Season 3 Episode 2: Ageism at Work with Heng Chee How, Deputy Secretary-General of the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC), and Associate Professor Helen Ko of the Master & PhD in Gerontology Programmes at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS)    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this day in legal history, November 28th marks a pivotal moment in the advancement of women's rights in politics with the entry of Lady Astor into the British Parliament. In 1919, Lady Nancy Astor became the first woman to take her seat as a Member of Parliament (MP), breaking centuries of male-only representation in the UK's House of Commons. Her election was a landmark achievement not only for women in the United Kingdom but also for women's political participation worldwide.Astor's journey to Parliament was set in motion by a combination of societal changes and personal ambition. Born in Virginia, she moved to England after her first marriage and later married Waldorf Astor, a British newspaper proprietor and politician. When her husband ascended to the House of Lords upon inheriting his father's title, his Commons seat became vacant, and Nancy Astor decided to run for it.Her campaign faced numerous challenges, including skepticism and opposition rooted in traditional gender roles. Despite these hurdles, Astor's charisma, commitment, and the support of the women's suffrage movement propelled her to victory. Her election was a culmination of the long struggle for women's suffrage in the UK, coming just a year after women over the age of 30 were granted the right to vote.Lady Astor was known for her wit, her advocacy for women and children's rights, and her outspoken stance on a range of issues. Her tenure in Parliament, which lasted until 1945, paved the way for future generations of women in politics, setting a precedent that challenged the norms of political representation and gender roles in governance. Lady Astor's legacy continues to inspire and remind us of the importance of diversity and representation in democratic institutions.Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of Binance and a citizen of both Canada and the United Arab Emirates, is currently required to remain in the United States. This follows his guilty plea to violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws. U.S. District Judge Richard Jones in Seattle is reviewing whether Zhao should stay in the U.S. until his February sentencing. Zhao stepped down from his role at Binance, which also pleaded guilty and agreed to pay over $4.3 billion for breaking U.S. laws. Despite arguments that Zhao isn't a flight risk, the government expressed concerns about securing his return for sentencing, given the lack of an extradition treaty with the UAE. Zhao, facing a maximum of 18 months in prison, has agreed not to appeal any sentence of that length.Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao must stay in US for time being, judge says | ReutersA National Labor Relations Board judge ruled that Starbucks Corp. unlawfully terminated two workers at a Portland, Oregon store due to their union activities, among other unfair labor practices. The violations also involved discriminatory enforcement of dress code against union supporters and blocking union-related information on a store bulletin board. This decision is part of a series of cases where Starbucks has been found to breach federal labor laws, with numerous complaints still pending.The Portland store unionized in July 2022, prompting the ruling, which included sanctions against Starbucks for withholding requested information including company manuals and information the so-called “barista approach.” While the judge refrained from imposing all requested penalties due to judicial precedents, adverse inferences were made against Starbucks for failing to produce relevant information.Starbucks intends to appeal the decision, maintaining that their actions adhered to lawful policies regarding store appearance and safety, rather than being a response to union involvement. The judge's decision highlighted the significance of withheld documents and testimony in drawing adverse conclusions against Starbucks.Starbucks Illegally Fired Union Supporters, NLRB Judge Rules (1)The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) implemented a new rule on Monday, in line with the Dodd Frank law, designed to prevent traders in asset-backed securities from engaging in activities that mimic behavior seen during the 2008 financial crisis. This rule prevents "securitization participants" like underwriters, placement agents, and sponsors from engaging in transactions that involve betting against the same securities they sell to investors. Exceptions are made for activities like risk hedging.SEC Chair Gary Gensler highlighted that this rule specifically addresses a sector that played a significant role in the 2008 financial crisis. The rule has undergone modifications to include exceptions for affiliates not acting jointly with traders and for investors holding "long" positions, as opposed to those betting on securities' decline.Although four of the SEC's five members approved the rule, Republican Commissioner Hester Peirce, who had previously supported the proposal with reservations, voted against it. The implementation of this rule comes after instances, such as Goldman Sachs' 2010 settlement, where the bank faced allegations of misleading investors about mortgage-backed securities.The SEC plans to enforce compliance with this rule for asset-backed securities with closing dates occurring 18 months after its publication in the Federal Register.Wall St regulator adopts Dodd Frank rule against trader conflicts | ReutersIt's “Column Tuesday”, where we get to see what my co-host Andrew Leahey is working on at Bloomberg Law. This week, Leahey writes about the concerning prevalence of electronic sales suppression (ESS) – a form of tax fraud via software manipulation of transaction values. By way of very brief background, when a business makes a sale, they collect sales tax from the customer, which is meant to be remitted to the government. However, the business can alter or delete the transaction records, essentially erasing or reducing the reported sales. Think of your local restaurant that deletes large cash transactions from its records and pockets the sales tax collected on those transactions. Without the record of such sale, the government does not know that such sales tax was collected on behalf of the government by the business and the business is able to pocket that money. This manipulation allows them to underreport their earnings and evade paying the accurate amount of sales tax owed to the government. This fraudulent practice enables businesses to retain the tax funds that should rightfully go to the government, resulting in substantial revenue loss for tax authorities.A five-year probe in 2021 found electronic sales suppression, or ESS, devices in one-fifth of California restaurants. As early as 2003, Germany reported yearly tax revenue losses from ESS in the billions of euros, and there's no indication ESS has diminished since then.The UK's response to this issue, as outlined in guidance FS68, involves a harsh crackdown, urging ESS users to confess or face severe penalties. However, the defined scope of what constitutes an ESS system under this guidance is overly broad. It encompasses common business tools like Excel or Google Sheets, creating a risk of penalization for possessing such software.HMRC's approach raises global concerns, especially within the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5), a collaboration of five countries. Their coordination means actions taken by one member have repercussions for others, potentially impacting tax enforcement internationally.The UK's strategy significantly shifts the landscape of tax compliance, creating a gray area for legitimate software users and possibly shifting the burden of proof onto businesses to demonstrate innocence, rather than authorities proving guilt. This overreach poses risks of unwarranted audits, particularly burdening small and medium-sized enterprises that lack resources for compliance.Moreover, this crackdown might discourage the adoption of new technologies, as even AI-driven accounting systems could fall under suspicion. The fear is that HMRC's stringent policies could hinder technological innovation essential for business operations.Looking beyond the UK, Canada and Australia have implemented different approaches to combat ESS, utilizing technology and partnerships with businesses. However, the concern remains that the UK's expansive enforcement approach might influence global tax enforcement practices.Ultimately, while the intent of HMRC's crackdown on ESS is to protect revenue and competition, its execution risks unintentionally ensnaring compliant businesses, stifling innovation, and creating a climate of uncertainty. UK Electronic Sales Suppression Crackdown Shows What Not to Do Get full access to Minimum Competence - Daily Legal News Podcast at www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

pWotD Episode 2386: David Cameron.Welcome to popular Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of a popular Wikipedia page every day.With 555,393 views on Monday, 13 November 2023 our article of the day is David Cameron.David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs since 13 November 2023. He previously served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016, as Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016, and as Leader of the Opposition from 2005 to 2010, while serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Witney from 2001 to 2016. He identifies as a one-nation conservative and has been associated with both economically liberal and socially liberal policies.Born in London to an upper-middle-class family, Cameron was educated at Heatherdown School, then Eton College, and Brasenose College, Oxford. From 1988 to 1993 he worked at the Conservative Research Department, latterly assisting the Conservative prime minister John Major, before leaving politics to work for Carlton Communications in 1994. Becoming an MP in 2001, he served in the opposition shadow cabinet under Conservative leader Michael Howard, and succeeded Howard in 2005. Cameron sought to rebrand the Conservatives, embracing an increasingly socially liberal position and introducing the "A-List" to increase the number of female and minority ethnic Conservative MPs.Following the 2010 general election, negotiations led to Cameron becoming prime minister as the head of a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats. His premiership was marked by the ongoing effects of the global financial crisis; these involved a large deficit in government finances that his government sought to reduce through austerity measures. His administration passed the Health and Social Care Act and the Welfare Reform Act, which introduced large-scale changes to healthcare and welfare. It also enforced stricter immigration policies, introduced reforms to education and oversaw the 2012 London Olympics. Cameron's administration also privatised the Royal Mail and some other state assets, and legalised same-sex marriage in England and Wales.Internationally, Cameron's government intervened militarily in the First Libyan Civil War and authorised the bombing of the Islamic State. Domestically, his government oversaw the referendum on voting reform and Scottish independence referendum, both of which confirmed Cameron's favoured outcome. When the Conservatives secured an unexpected majority in the 2015 general election, he remained as prime minister, this time leading a Conservative-only government. To fulfil a manifesto pledge, Cameron introduced a referendum on the UK's continuing membership of the EU in 2016. He supported the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign for the UK to remain in the European Union. Following the success of the Leave vote, Cameron resigned as prime minister and was succeeded in the 2016 Conservative Party leadership election by Theresa May, his Home Secretary. He served as president of Alzheimer's Research UK from 2017 to 2023. During the November 2023 Cabinet reshuffle, Rishi Sunak recommended a peerage be conferred upon Cameron, and appointed him Foreign Secretary. Cameron is the first former prime minister to serve in a ministerial post since Alec Douglas-Home in 1970. Cameron has been praised for modernising the Conservative Party and for decreasing the United Kingdom's national deficit. However, he has been criticised for his decision to hold the referendum on the UK's membership of the EU, which led to a period of political instability in the late 2010s. After leaving office, he was implicated in the Greensill scandal after lobbying government ministers and civil servants on behalf of Greensill Capital. In historical rankings of prime ministers of the United Kingdom, academics and journalists have ranked Cameron in the fourth and third quintiles, respectively.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 13:33 UTC on Tuesday, 14 November 2023.For the full current version of the article, see David Cameron on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm Nicole Standard.

In this week's Black World News, Kehinde Andrews rants about reparations washing, and the recent case in point of Lloyd's of London's "slavery" report; why he'd need to report himself under the new UK gov plans to criminalize dissent that also directly focuses on Muslims, which essentially conflates extremism with radicalism, and more on Israel-Palestine. - Check out the MIP YouTube Channel - In this week's guest interview, Kehinde Andrews talks with Dawn Butler Labour Member of Parliament (MP) about how she navigates work as a Black female MP. Since day she has managed to represent, talk the truth, and most importantly stayed Black while doing her job in parliament—one of the Whitest places—despite the advice when she first came into parliament of "not to be too Black."  She's therefore an amazing example of what we need to see more of from politicians in electoral politics. In this interview, she offers examples, like THE coup ran against her when she ran for deputy speaker, of how she manages and balances the impact of engaging with the constant gendered and racial reminders that arise for a Black Woman in one of the UK's Whitest and highest-profile workplaces.  - Dawn Butler a Labour Member of Parliament for Brent Central, London, the third Black woman to be elected an MP, the first ever to speak at the dispatch box and the first Black female chair of the women's Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP). She's the author of "A Purposeful Life: What I've Learned About Breaking Barriers and Inspiring Change" (2023). She was named the "most promising feminist under 35" by New Statesman magazine, honored as MP of the year at the 2009 Women in Public Life Awards, and was named one of the 25 most influential women in the UK by Vogue in 2020. - BLACK WORLD NEWS LINKS Lloyd's of London slavery review fails to settle heated question of reparations https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/nov/08/lloyds-of-london-slavery-review-fails-to-settle-heated-question-of-reparations The transatlantic slave trade https://www.lloyds.com/about-lloyds/history/the-trans-atlantic-slave-trade The materials are drawn from the collection of Lloyd's the Insurance Market https://underwritingsouls.org/ Revealed: plan to brand anyone ‘undermining' UK as extremist https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/nov/04/plans-to-redefine-extremism-would-include-undermining-uk-values?CMP=share_btn_tw - GUEST INTERVIEW LINKS Dawn's book "A Purposeful Life What I've Learned About Breaking Barriers and Inspiring Change" https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/456329/a-purposeful-life-by-butler-dawn/9781911709329 Alison Hammond responds to complaint about her ‘Rolex' on This Morning: ‘Sorry you felt uncomfortable' https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/alison-hammond-rolex-this-morning-b2436860.html Dawn Butler Talks Honesty, Purpose & Surviving Cancer https://blackballad.co.uk/people/dawn-butler-a-purposeful-life?listIds=62948f6b18dc9806e42955cf Teachers presenting White privilege as fact are breaking the law, warns minister https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIa4bvXjDhA - Guest: @dawnbutlerbrent (IG + T) Host: @kehindeandrews (IG) @kehinde_andrews (T) Podcast team: @makeitplainorg @weylandmck @inhisownterms @farafinmuso Platform: www.make-it-plain.org (Web) | www.youtube.com/@MakeItPlain1964 (YT) - THE PSYCHOSIS OF WHITENESS: Surviving the Insanity of a Racist World By Kehinde Andrews Buy the Book:https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/316675/the-psychosis-of-whiteness-by-andrews-kehinde/9780241437476

Priti Patel is a British politician who has been a prominent figure in the Conservative Party. As of my last knowledge update in September 2021, she held the position of Home Secretary in the United Kingdom, a role she assumed in July 2019.Priti Patel was born on March 29, 1972, in London, England. She has a background in economics and has been involved in politics for much of her career. She has served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for various constituencies, including Witham, since 2010.Patel is known for her conservative views on immigration and law and order. She has supported policies aimed at strengthening border control and reducing net migration to the UK. As Home Secretary, she was responsible for overseeing immigration and policing in the country, among other key areas.Her tenure in government has not been without controversy. She faced criticism and scrutiny for her handling of various issues, including the Windrush scandal, the treatment of asylum seekers, and allegations of bullying within her department.In this episode we get a look at her groveling apology to the King for causing "embarassment" over her Prince Andrew questions.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:Priti Patel apologises to king after email about Andrew's security leaked | Prince Andrew | The GuardianThis show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5080327/advertisement

Priti Patel is a British politician who has been a prominent figure in the Conservative Party. As of my last knowledge update in September 2021, she held the position of Home Secretary in the United Kingdom, a role she assumed in July 2019.Priti Patel was born on March 29, 1972, in London, England. She has a background in economics and has been involved in politics for much of her career. She has served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for various constituencies, including Witham, since 2010.Patel is known for her conservative views on immigration and law and order. She has supported policies aimed at strengthening border control and reducing net migration to the UK. As Home Secretary, she was responsible for overseeing immigration and policing in the country, among other key areas.Her tenure in government has not been without controversy. She faced criticism and scrutiny for her handling of various issues, including the Windrush scandal, the treatment of asylum seekers, and allegations of bullying within her department.In this episode we get a look at her groveling apology to the King for causing "embarassment" over her Prince Andrew questions.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:Priti Patel apologises to king after email about Andrew's security leaked | Prince Andrew | The GuardianThis show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5003294/advertisement

On today's show, George discusses the Israeli Palestinian conflict, both in terms of the historical context and what has led to the recent escalation by Hamas. GUEST OVERVIEW: George Galloway is a British politician currently leading the Workers Party of Britain. Between 1987 and 2010, and then 2012 and 2015, Galloway was a British Member of Parliament (MP) for four constituencies, first for the Labour Party and later for the Respect Party, the latter of which he joined in 2004 and led from 2013 until its dissolution in 2016.

Peter Mandelson, full name Peter Benjamin Mandelson, is a British politician and former member of the Labour Party. He was born on October 21, 1953, in London, England. Mandelson played a significant role in British politics during the late 20th and early 21st centuries.Mandelson served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1992 to 2004 and again from 2005 to 2010.He held various ministerial positions under the Labour Party governments led by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Mandelson was known for his close association with Blair and was considered one of the key architects of New Labour, a centrist political movement within the Labour Party.During his political career, Mandelson held influential roles such as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and European Commissioner for Trade.He was also appointed as the First Secretary of State, a senior position in the British government. Mandelson was known for his involvement in promoting globalization, free trade, and European integration.Jeffrey Epstein had powerful friends in many places and in at every level of government. The U.K. is certainly no different. We have previously discussed the relationship between Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein and now more about the time they allegedly spent together has been made public.In this episode, we dive right back in.(commercial at 8:14)to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:Bank report details Peter Mandelson's apparent contact with Jeffrey Epstein | Peter Mandelson | The GuardianThis show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5003294/advertisement

This episode features CPMA President, Ron Lemaire, CPMA Board Member, Kendra Mills of the PEI Potato Board, and the 2023 CPMA Produce Champion, Member of Parliament (MP) Kody Blois, in a discussion about opportunities and key challenges within the fresh produce sector in Canada, and how Members of Parliament can help advance the goals of the Canadian agriculture sector. MP Blois has been the Member of Parliament for Kings–Hants, Nova Scotia since 2019. He was recognized as the 2023 CPMA Produce Champion for his ongoing contributions to advancing the priorities of CPMA members and the broader Canadian agricultural sector. In addition, we've added a new segment to each of our monthly episodes called Industry Insights. Listen to the end of the podcast as Mike Mauti shares some current statistics from the Canadian consumer market. Play the Podcast Thank you to our podcast series sponsor, Nature Fresh Farms.

Member of Parliament (MP) for Dome Kwabenya, Sarah Adwoa Safo, has rendered an unqualified apology to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for her absence from parliamentary duties.

This week Aaron sits down with Member of Parliament Joyce Murray to explore her impactful journey. From her early work in reforestation to her pivotal roles in British Columbia Provincial politics and Canadian Federal Politics, this episode provides a deep insight into Joyce's dedication and service.Joyce Murray is a Canadian politician and Member of Parliament (MP) known for her diverse contributions to environmental stewardship and governance. Co-founder of a reforestation company in British Columbia, she transitioned into provincial politics, serving in various cabinet positions. Elected as an MP in 2008, Murray's dedication to sustainable development, climate change solutions, and community well-being has marked her as a significant figure within the Liberal Party. Her career illustrates a blend of entrepreneurial spirit and political leadership at both provincial and federal levels, reflecting a commitment to responsible environmental and social practices.Support the showwww.biggerthanmepodcast.com

Lord Peter Mandelson, born on October 21, 1953, is a prominent British politician and former Member of Parliament (MP). He is widely known for his active involvement in the Labour Party and his influential role within the UK government during the New Labour era.Mandelson first gained recognition as a key strategist and close ally of Labour leader Tony Blair. He played a crucial part in rebranding the Labour Party as "New Labour" and contributing to their electoral successes in the late 1990s and early 2000s.He was instrumental in shaping the party's policy agenda, focusing on modernization, economic reform, and closer ties with the business community.In 1997, Mandelson was appointed as the Minister without Portfolio, becoming one of the most powerful figures in the government. He later held several high-profile positions, including Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, and Skills. Mandelson played a significant role in shaping UK trade policy and promoting international business relations during his tenure.Despite his success, Mandelson faced controversy during his political career. He resigned twice from government positions. The first instance was in 1998, known as the "Lobbygate" scandal, which involved allegations of impropriety and influence-peddling. The second resignation occurred in 2001, following the "Hinduja passport affair," where he was accused of helping an Indian billionaire obtain British citizenship.After leaving front-line politics, Mandelson continued to be involved in public life. He served as the European Commissioner for Trade from 2004 to 2008, playing a vital role in European Union trade negotiations and advocating for global trade liberalization. Upon his return to the UK, he was appointed as a life peer in the House of Lords, taking the title of Baron Mandelson.Prince Andrew, born on February 19, 1960, is a member of the British royal family and the third child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He holds the title of Duke of York and has been involved in various public duties and charitable endeavors throughout his life.Prince Andrew served in the British Royal Navy and had a successful military career.However, he retired from active service in 2001. Since then, he has primarily focused on his royal duties and engagements, representing the Queen both domestically and internationally.Throughout his life, Prince Andrew has been associated with numerous charitable organizations and initiatives, particularly in the fields of entrepreneurship, science, technology, and education. He has played an active role in supporting and promoting these causes, often engaging with young entrepreneurs and advocating for their development and success.However, Prince Andrew's reputation has been marred by his association with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein was a wealthy financier and convicted sex offender who faced numerous allegations of sex trafficking and abuse. Prince Andrew's close relationship with Epstein came under intense scrutiny, and he faced allegations of sexual misconduct himself. In 2019, Prince Andrew announced his decision to step back from public duties and royal engagements indefinitely due to the controversy surrounding his association with Epstein.Since then, Prince Andrew has remained largely out of the public eye, with his official role within the royal family significantly reduced. The legal proceedings and investigations related to his involvement with Epstein are ongoing, and he has faced numerous legal challenges and requests for cooperation from authorities.In this episode, we hear how both men were offered advisors roles with Epstein, according to the email's revealed by the WSJ. (commercial at 7:39)to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:Epstein plan to make Andrew and 'Petie' Mandelson 'star advisers' in a new consultancy business | Daily Mail OnlineThis show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5003294/advertisement

Belinda Stronach- The biggest SportsBetting And business lesson is vertical integration Belinda Stronach is a Canadian businesswoman and former politician. She is from Canada: Dates guys like Bill Clinton Canada. Stronach is the daughter of Frank Stronach, the founder of Magna International, a major Canadian automotive parts company. Belinda Stronach first gained prominence in the business world through her involvement in Magna International. She held various executive positions within the company, eventually becoming its president and CEO. Under her leadership, Magna International grew to become one of the largest automotive parts manufacturers in the world. In addition to her business career, Stronach also ventured into politics. In 2004, she joined the Conservative Party of Canada and was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Newmarket—Aurora. She served as a member of the Canadian Parliament from 2004 to 2008. During her time in politics, Stronach held positions as Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister of Democratic Renewal and Minister responsible for Democratic Reform. Belinda Stronach's decision to cross the floor from the Conservative Party to join the Liberal Party in 2005 attracted significant attention and controversy in Canadian politics. She later ran for the leadership of the Liberal Party in 2006 but was unsuccessful. Since leaving politics, Stronach has been involved in various philanthropic activities and serves as the chairman and president of The Stronach Group, a company that operates horse racing and entertainment venues. She wants to become a major force in Horse Racing as her family owns 5 race tracks including Santa Anita, Del Mar, Pemlico, bought some horse tracks from the Bidwell family (Cardinals NFL) XBet Vertical integration in business refers to a strategy where a company expands its operations by acquiring or merging with other businesses involved in different stages of the same industry's supply chain. It involves combining multiple levels of production and distribution under a single ownership or control. There are two primary forms of vertical integration: Forward Integration: This occurs when a company acquires or merges with businesses that are closer to the end consumer or the distribution stage of the supply chain. For example, a manufacturer acquiring a retail chain to sell its products directly to consumers or a movie production studio owning a theater chain to exhibit its films. Backward Integration: This form of integration involves acquiring or merging with businesses that operate earlier in the supply chain, such as suppliers or raw material producers. For instance, an automobile manufacturer acquiring a tire manufacturing company or a coffee chain buying coffee plantations. The main motivations behind vertical integration include gaining better control over the supply chain, ensuring a consistent supply of inputs, reducing costs, improving efficiency, enhancing competitiveness, and capturing a larger share of the value chain's profits. By integrating vertically, a company can streamline operations, eliminate intermediaries, and exert more influence over the quality, pricing, and availability of inputs or outputs. However, vertical integration is not without challenges. It requires significant investments, expertise in different areas of the supply chain, and the ability to manage diverse business functions. Additionally, it may raise concerns related to monopolistic practices or anti-competitive behavior, as companies that control multiple stages of the supply chain can limit access to other players and potentially disadvantage competitors. Overall, vertical integration can be a strategic move for companies looking to strengthen their market position, gain control over critical resources, improve coordination, and achieve synergies across different stages of the supply chain.

Peter Mandelson, full name Peter Benjamin Mandelson, is a British politician and former member of the Labour Party. He was born on October 21, 1953, in London, England. Mandelson played a significant role in British politics during the late 20th and early 21st centuries.Mandelson served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1992 to 2004 and again from 2005 to 2010.He held various ministerial positions under the Labour Party governments led by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Mandelson was known for his close association with Blair and was considered one of the key architects of New Labour, a centrist political movement within the Labour Party.During his political career, Mandelson held influential roles such as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and European Commissioner for Trade.He was also appointed as the First Secretary of State, a senior position in the British government. Mandelson was known for his involvement in promoting globalization, free trade, and European integration.Jeffrey Epstein had powerful friends in many places and in at every level of government. The U.K. is certainly no different. We have previously discussed the relationship between Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein and now more about the time they allegedly spent together has been made public.In this episode, we dive right back in. (commercial at 8:14)to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:Bank report details Peter Mandelson's apparent contact with Jeffrey Epstein | Peter Mandelson | The GuardianThis show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5080327/advertisement

Peter Mandelson, full name Peter Benjamin Mandelson, is a British politician and former member of the Labour Party. He was born on October 21, 1953, in London, England. Mandelson played a significant role in British politics during the late 20th and early 21st centuries.Mandelson served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1992 to 2004 and again from 2005 to 2010.He held various ministerial positions under the Labour Party governments led by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Mandelson was known for his close association with Blair and was considered one of the key architects of New Labour, a centrist political movement within the Labour Party.During his political career, Mandelson held influential roles such as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and European Commissioner for Trade.He was also appointed as the First Secretary of State, a senior position in the British government. Mandelson was known for his involvement in promoting globalization, free trade, and European integration.Jeffrey Epstein had powerful friends in many places and in at every level of government. The U.K. is certainly no different. We have previously discussed the relationship between Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein and now more about the time they allegedly spent together has been made public.In this episode, we dive right back in. (commercial at 9:03)to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:Bank report details Peter Mandelson's apparent contact with Jeffrey Epstein | Peter Mandelson | The GuardianThis show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5003294/advertisement

Dr. Ginger Campbell is a Palliative Medicine Physician. Prior to Palliative Care, Dr. Campbell was an Emergency Physician. She earned a BSE in Electrical Engineering and an MSE in Biomedical Engineering prior to her MD. Dr. Campbell launched her podcast Brain Science in 2006 and was inducted into the Podcast Hall of Fame in 2022.What do we talk about in this episode?Dr. Campbell shares her experiences in palliative and emergency room medicine. She is in the process of moving from doing palliative care in the US to doing palliative care in New Zealand. She also talks about her podcast and the difference between podcasting in the early years of podcasting and podcasting now.What is palliative care and a palliative care doctor?A day in the life of a palliative care doctor and a day in the life of an emergency room doctor (it is not so much like the TV series ER).The importance of being able to communicate with people in a way they can understand especially at critical times such as end of life.Dying is part of living. The importance and honor of escorting people out of this world and preparing their family for the transition.What working with people at end of life has taught her for her own life.Her favorite podcast topic and guest.Music used in the podcast: Higher Up, Silverman Sound StudioYou can support my podcast on Patreon here: https://patreon.com/user?u=72701887ResourcesBrain Science Podcast has been exploring how recent discoveries in neuroscience are unraveling the mystery of how our brain makes us human. (https://brainsciencepodcast.com)Dr. Campbell's background is an important element in her success as a science communicator. Prior to medical school she studied electrical and biomedical engineering. In 2011 she was chosen one of 40 Engineers Making a Difference as a part of 40th Anniversary celebration of the School of Engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), where she was an assistant professor from 1985-1989.(https://www.virginiacampbellmd.com)Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. (Wikipedia)Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern (born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party from 2017 to 2023. A member of the Labour Party, she was a member of Parliament (MP) as a list MP from 2008 to 2017, and for Mount Albert from 2017 to 2023 (Wikipedia)Elizabeth Kubler-Ross - Her bestselling first book, On Death and Dying, 1969, made her an internationally-renowned author. Even today, her trail-blazing book is required reading in most major medical, nursing, and psychology programs. A 1969 Life Magazine article outlining her work gave further mainstream credibility and awareness to this new way of dealing with dying patients, although her conclusions were quite revolutionary at the time. (https://www.ekrfoundation.org/elisabeth-kubler-ross/biography/)Doc Hollywood is a 1991 American romantic comedy film directed by Michael Caton-Jones and written by Daniel Pyne along with Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman, based on Neil B. Shulman's book What? Dead...Again? The film stars Michael J. Fox, Julie Warner, Barnard Hughes, Woody Harrelson, David Ogden Stiers, Frances Sternhagen, and Bridget Fonda. (Wikipedia)

North Tongu Member of Parliament (MP), Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has built and commissioned a surgical block in honour of late former President John Evans Atta Mills. The newly-constructed facility located at the St Anne's Polyclinic at Tagadzi, Dorfor in North Tongu was opened in a colourful ceremony on Tuesday.

In this episode, Anthony talks with Scott Armstrong, former Editor-in-Chief of Arabian Business Magazine and mental health advocate launching the start-up consultancy, Mentl. They begin by discussing the human history of experiencing homelessness and the detrimental effects of this feeling on society. Scott then dives into his mission of mental health advocacy of fighting toxic work environments and promoting corporate leadership that supports mental wellbeing, as well as the wide range of benefits that come with it.Next, Oliver Bullough joins Anthony to discuss his latest book, ‘Butler to the World: How Britain Became the Servant of Tycoons, Tax Dodgers, Kleptocrats, and Criminals,' which provides an insight into money laundering in the United Kingdom. Oliver takes Anthony through the history of kleptocracy from the British Empire to today, and explores the corruption of shell corporations in the United States.Finally, Luciana Berger, a former Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom, joins Anthony only moments after Boris Johnson resigned as Prime Minister. Luciana shares her experiences in British politics before diving into the factors influencing Boris' resignation. They discuss the government's shortcomings, including scandals, parliamentary investigations, and rule-breaking, leading to over 50 MP's quitting and forcing the Prime Minister to resign.Follow our guest on Twitter: @Scottiehack@OliverBullough@LucianaBerger Subscribe on YouTube: //bit.ly/3ICdZXx Follow us:https://twitter.com/moochfm  https://twitter.com/scaramucci  Sign up for our newsletter at: www.mooch.fm Created & produced by Podcast Partners: www.podcastpartners.com 

In today's episode, I am delighted to be sitting down with Nadia Ahmad Samdin.Nadia is a Singaporean politician and lawyer. She is a Member of Parliament (MP) and has been representing the Cheng San–Seletar ward of Ang Mo Kio GRC since 2020. Nadia is the youngest sitting member of parliament at 30 years old. My path has crossed many times with Nadia through the years in my time at Common Purpose and I am always so struck by Nadia's passion – but more importantly her purpose.Connect with Common Purpose at:https://commonpurpose.org/LinkedinTwitterFacebookInstagramYouTubeThe Big Spark Cast is hosted by Adi Sengupta and produced by Kate Rintoul and James King.Our Music is supplied by Epidemic Sound.The Big Spark Cast is brought to you by the not-for-profit organization Common Purpose. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a segment of episode 316 of Last Born In The Wilderness “Demonic Metals: Cobalt & The Birth Of A Mining Superpower w/ Charlie Angus.” Listen to the full episode: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/charlie-angus Purchase a copy of ‘Cobalt: Cradle of the Demon Metals, Birth of a Mining Superpower' from Bookshop: https://bit.ly/3qnlmdy Charlie Angus, MP for the riding of Timmins-James Bay in Ontario, Canada, joins me to discuss his new book ‘Cobalt: Cradle of the Demon Metals, Birth of a Mining Superpower,' published through House of Anansi Press. He shines a light on how the fascinating, and disturbing, history of a small mining town in Ontario, aptly named Cobalt, is tied up in the genocidal, and ecocidal, history of the nation-state of Canada, and its outsized role in the global mining industry today. What does a small town in northern Ontario have to with Canada's rise to becoming the world's reigning mining superpower? How is cobalt, this "demonic" metal, tied to some of the most horrific crimes of settler-colonialism and financial, extractive capitalism in the modern era? “The tale of the early-twentieth-century mining rush at Cobalt has been told as a settler's adventure, but Indigenous people had already been trading in metals from the region for two thousand years. And the events that happened here — the theft of Indigenous lands, the exploitation of a multicultural workforce, and the destruction of the natural environment — established a template for resource extraction that has been exported around the world.” Charles Joseph Angus is a Canadian author, journalist, broadcaster, musician and politician. He has been the Federal Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Timmins-James Bay since 2004. He is a member of the New Democratic Party and currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics and is the NDP Critic for Indigenous and Northern Affairs (Youth). Charlie ran as a candidate in the 2017 NDP Federal Leadership Race. Charlie lives in Cobalt, Ontario with his family. WEBSITE: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness DONATE: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast / https://venmo.com/LastBornPodcast BOOK LIST: https://bookshop.org/shop/lastbornpodcast EPISODE 300: https://lastborninthewilderness.bandcamp.com BOOK: http://bit.ly/ORBITgr ATTACK & DETHRONE: https://anchor.fm/adgodcast DROP ME A LINE: Call (208) 918-2837 or http://bit.ly/LBWfiledrop EVERYTHING ELSE: https://linktr.ee/patterns.of.behavior

Charlie Angus, MP for the riding of Timmins-James Bay in Ontario, Canada, joins me to discuss his new book ‘Cobalt: Cradle of the Demon Metals, Birth of a Mining Superpower,' published through House of Anansi Press. He shines a light on how the fascinating, and disturbing, history of a small mining town in Ontario, aptly named Cobalt, is tied up in the genocidal, and ecocidal, history of the nation-state of Canada, and its outsized role in the global mining industry today. What does a small town in northern Ontario have to with Canada's rise to becoming the world's reigning mining superpower? How is cobalt, this "demonic" metal, tied to some of the most horrific crimes of settler-colonialism and financial, extractive capitalism in the modern era? “The tale of the early-twentieth-century mining rush at Cobalt has been told as a settler's adventure, but Indigenous people had already been trading in metals from the region for two thousand years. And the events that happened here — the theft of Indigenous lands, the exploitation of a multicultural workforce, and the destruction of the natural environment — established a template for resource extraction that has been exported around the world.” Charles Joseph Angus is a Canadian author, journalist, broadcaster, musician and politician. He has been the Federal Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Timmins-James Bay since 2004. He is a member of the New Democratic Party and currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics and is the NDP Critic for Indigenous and Northern Affairs (Youth). Charlie ran as a candidate in the 2017 NDP Federal Leadership Race. Charlie lives in Cobalt, Ontario with his family. Episode Notes: - Purchase a copy of ‘Cobalt: Cradle of the Demon Metals, Birth of a Mining Superpower' from Bookshop: https://bit.ly/3qnlmdy - Learn more about Charlie and his work: https://www.charlieangus.ca WEBSITE: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness DONATE: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast / https://venmo.com/LastBornPodcast BOOK LIST: https://bookshop.org/shop/lastbornpodcast EPISODE 300: https://lastborninthewilderness.bandcamp.com BOOK: http://bit.ly/ORBITgr ATTACK & DETHRONE: https://anchor.fm/adgodcast DROP ME A LINE: Call (208) 918-2837 or http://bit.ly/LBWfiledrop EVERYTHING ELSE: https://linktr.ee/patterns.of.behavior

Sir Vince Cable is a British politician who was the Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017 to 2019. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Twickenham from 1997 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2019. He also served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills from 2010 to 2015.Cable studied Economics at Cambridge and Glasgow, before working as an economic adviser to the Government of Kenya in the 1960s, and for the Commonwealth Secretariat in the 1970s and 1980s. During this period, he also lectured in economics at Glasgow. He later served as Chief Economist for Shell in the 1990s. Initially active in the Labour Party, Cable became a Labour councillor in Glasgow in the 1970s, during which time he also served as a special adviser to then-Trade Secretary John Smith. In 1982, however, he defected to the newly formed Social Democratic Party, which later amalgamated with the Liberal Party to form the Liberal Democrats.After standing unsuccessfully for Parliament four times, Cable was elected for Twickenham in 1997. He was quickly appointed the Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesman and was later elected as Deputy Leader in 2006. Cable resigned from both of these positions in May 2010 after being appointed as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills in the coalition government. He lost his seat in 2015, although later regained it in 2017. Cable subsequently stood in the leadership election to replace Tim Farron and was elected unopposed.In May 2019, Cable led the Liberal Democrats to their best national electoral performance since the 2010 election, gaining fifteen seats in the European Parliament election. This followed a campaign in which the party ran on an anti-Brexit platform. He subsequently announced his intention to retire from politics, and stood down as leader on 22 July 2019, upon the election of Jo Swinson; he stood down from Parliament at the 2019 general election. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dawn Butler is a highly committed, determined and focused Member of Parliament (MP) for Brent Central in North West London.She won't back away from a challenge. She is a fighter for justice, a fighter for equal rights.Dawn works tirelessly for the betterment of her constituents and others across the United Kingdom, walking in the footsteps of her late father who was always supporting and giving to others.She is one of six children, born and raised in East London to Jamaican parents. During her early years, she worked on a market stall and helped her family run a bakery. Dawn first became a Member of Parliament in May 2005 and later elected as the first African-Caribbean woman to become a Government Minister in the UK. She was re-elected to her parliamentary seat in 2015, receiving the largest vote swing in that election; and again in 2017, winning 73 per cent of the vote in her constituency.In this episode, the MP chats with Impacting Jamaica host Sinai Fleary about growing up in the UK and her work across the country. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Lara and Michael sit down with Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, Amir of the Royal House of Mandela, tribal chief of the Mvezo Traditional Council, member of Parliament (MP) in the South Africa National Assembly since 2009, grandson of the anti-apartheid revolutionary and former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela and a fierce advocate of Palestinian liberation. This episode is a deep dive into Apartheid South Africa, the parallels between South African Apartheid and Israeli Apartheid, and the deep bonds between Palestinian liberation activists and South African anti-apartheid activists. It is also a moment of education into what the Palestinian liberation struggle can learn from our comrades in South Africa. Nkosi Mandela speaks of the importance of armed resistance, BDS, and direct action, the politics and legacy of President Mandela, the importance of youth activism and more. Lara queries how far are we from liberation in Palestine by drawing from the history of South Africa and Michael asks Chief Mandela to set the record straight on letting the oppressor define modes of resistance and identity politics.  

On today's show Steve chats with Alistair Burt, a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Bedfordshire from 2001 until 2019. Alistair  was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State then Minister of State at the Department of Social Security from 1992 to 1997, and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 2010 to 2013. He was also Minister of State at the Department of Health from May 2015 to July 2016. First elected as a Conservative, Burt had the Conservative whip removed on 3 September 2019. On 29 October he was one of ten Conservative MPs to have the whip restored.[3] He retired at the 2019 general election.[4]In this fascinating interview the guys discuss his many years in Parliament, fellowship and friendship at Westminster an embarrassing night in a prison cell that almost scuppered his political aspirations, his greatest achievement in politics plus getting sacked, a recent heart attack scare plus new challenges. Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/stevelegguk)