Podcasts about special committee

It is not a new problem but the housing crisis has gotten bad enough that the European Commission created a Housing Task Force and, in the European Parliament, the Special Committee on the Housing Crisis in the EU was born. In simple economic terms: there is too much demand and not enough supply. At least not enough supply to meet the demands of lower and middle income groups. Hotels, Airbnb, digital nomads, and golden visas have made the situation worse. What seemed like a sound economic policy back then ended up working too well and backfired in the faces of locals searching for affordable housing. In this episode of Policy Voices, host Catarina Vila Nova sits down with Irene Tinagli to address the housing crisis in the European Union. An economist by training, Tinagli is a Member of the European Parliament where she chairs the Special Committee on the Housing Crisis in the EU. Catarina asked her how bad the housing crisis is in Europe, how did we get here, and what is being done to fix this problem. If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail: press@friendsofeurope.org

Why does BC need to reform its Police Act? Guest: Adam Olsen, Member of the Special Committee on Reforming the Police Act and Former Member of the Legislative Assembly for Saanich North Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does ‘woke' actually mean? Guest: Dr. Valerie Fridland, Professor of Linguistics at the University of Nevada and Author of “Like, Literally, Dude” Which federal party has the most viable health care plan? Guest: Lindsay Hadden, Applied Health Services Researcher, Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar, and a Principal Investigator for the Health Systems Research Lab at SFU Can burger sales predict the new Prime Minister? Guest: Chris Geib, Manager at Burger Heaven in New Westminster What would living on Mars do to the human body? Guest: Dr. Kelly Weinersmith, Adjunct Faculty in the BioSciences Department at Rice University and Author of “City on Mars” Should the US ban artificial food dyes? Guest: Dr. Kathleen Melanson, Nutritional Scientist at the University of Rhode Island Why does BC need to reform its Police Act? Guest: Adam Olsen, Member of the Special Committee on Reforming the Police Act and Former Member of the Legislative Assembly for Saanich North Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thirty years ago, C-SPAN showed the Senate Whitewater Committee hearings. The Special Committee to Investigate Whitewater Development Corporation and Related Matters was created in May 1995. Hearings ran for 300 hours over 60 sessions across 13 months. Did anything concrete come out of those hearings seen on C-SPAN? Well – at least one thing. A hit murder mystery now streaming on Netflix called "The Residence." How do you get from a 1996 Whitewater hearing about possible corruption in politics to a 2025 Netflix series – created by Shondaland -- about possible murder in the White House? Find out in the latest episode of C-SPAN's podcast "The Weekly" – directly from "The Residence" creator Paul William Davies. Other than the biggest murder mystery of all – whodunnit – what secrets of creating "The Residence" can political and White House history junkies learn from the show's creator? Hear directly from Paul William Davies in the latest episode of C-SPAN's podcast "The Weekly." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

衆院政治改革特別委員会の理事会に臨む与野党の理事。 The Special Committee on Political Reform of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, decided at a board meeting Monday not to hold a vote the same day on bills regarding political donations from companies and other organizations.

The Special Committee on Political Reform of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, decided at a board meeting Monday not to hold a vote the same day on bills regarding political donations from companies and other organizations.

On the ‘Property Round-Up' show on iProperty Radio host Carol Tallon sits down with Ciaran Mullooly, MEP and Vice-Chair of the European Parliament's Special Committee on the Housing Crisis. Hear from the former broadcaster-turned-public representative about how the EU's innovative housing approach could impact Ireland, particularly in addressing the housing shortage and promoting positive rural living with a renewed sense of urgency. Ciaran shares his refreshing take on ‘minor' decentralisation, meaningful public engagement, and socially sustainable rural development. Might these policies finally realise the potential capacity of the construction and MMC industry to deliver, unlocking affordable housing at scale? Watch or listen back to understand how Europe's new approach to housing offers community-led, industry-informed sustainable solutions to Ireland's housing crisis, while recognising the need for a thriving rural Ireland. 

As Europe moves towards a fair energy transition, ensuring access to affordable, sustainable housing has never been more urgent. With the first-ever EU Commissioner for Housing, a dedicated Task Force within the European Commission, and the upcoming Affordable Housing Plan, housing policy is taking centre stage in Brussels.In our first episode for 2025, we're returning to a crucial question straight from the European Parliament: how can we achieve a fair energy transition while ensuring access to affordable, sustainable housing?This episode explores the intersection of housing and climate policies, examining how initiatives like Fit for 55 and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive impact low-income households. Our guests, MEP Brigitte van der Berg, a leading voice in the European Parliament's Special Committee on the Housing Crisis, and Julien Dijol, Policy Director at Housing Europe, share insights on the financial and regulatory solutions needed to scale up sustainable housing across Europe.As the voice of over 43,000 public, cooperative, and social housing providers in 31 countries, Housing Europe highlights the role of social and cooperative housing as a driver of innovation. One key example is syn.ikia, an EU-funded project developing plus-energy neighbourhoods—communities that generate more renewable energy than they consume.Enjoy listening!The syn.ikia project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 869918.

YCBN 123 - The Policies and Practices of Israel are Consistent With the Characteristics of Genocide Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories 20 September 2024 https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n24/271/19/pdf/n2427119.pdf Moment of Zinn - Martin Leahy - Not In Gaza YouCantBeNeutral.com MovingTrainMedia.com movingtrainradio.com

A Clare MEP insists a primary goal of evaluating the State's response to Covid-19 must be to determine if a decision was made that "some lives are worth more than others". The Cabinet has signed off on the terms of reference of a long-awaited examination of how the Government handled the Covid-19 pandemic, with work expected to begin in the coming weeks. It's been stressed that unlike what took place in the UK, it will be an "evaluation" rather than an inquiry, meaning it won't have statutory powers to compel witnesses or evidence. Scariff-based Independent Member of the European Parliament Michael McNamara, who was the Chair of the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response when it was in place, says if decisions were made that directly led to people's deaths, the facts must be laid bare.

In this episode of "The Free Lawyer," host Gary Miles interviews Kellam Parks, managing member of Parks Ziegler law firm. They discuss Kellam's journey from law school to managing a successful, paperless, and tech-driven firm. Kellam shares practical insights on the importance of systematic planning, effective delegation, and time management. He highlights his use of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) and the benefits of coaching. The conversation also covers work-life balance and technology integration in legal practice. Kellam emphasizes the value of continuous learning and offers practical advice that aspiring law firm owners can implement immediately. Kellam T. Parks is a managing member of Parks Zeigler, PLLC, headquartered in Virginia Beach. This paperless, technologically driven law practice has three offices in Virginia and North Carolina. Kellam is a Tidewater native who has practiced there for over 20 years. Kellam is active with the Virginia State Bar and is the former chair of the Special Committee on Technology and the Future Practice of Law Technology. Kellam frequently writes and speaks about the modernization and use of technology in law practice, including topics such as ethics, electronically stored information, and practice management/marketing. Decision-Making in Business (00:09:40)Kellam explains the difference between one-way and two-way door decisions in business. Transition to Managing a Law Firm (00:12:21)He discusses the challenges and rewards of shifting focus from practicing law to managing a firm. Desire to Help Other Lawyers (00:14:08)Kellam expresses his passion for coaching and supporting other lawyers in their careers. Benefits of Coaching and Learning (00:16:45)He shares insights gained from coaching and peer interactions at legal marketing conferences. Business Coaching Insights (00:19:29)Kellam discusses hiring a business coach to streamline operations and implement an organizational system. Mistakes in Firm Growth (00:20:49)Kellam reflects on early mistakes, including the need for a systematic game plan and core values. The Importance of Delegation (00:22:29)He shares lessons learned about the value of proper delegation and its impact on efficiency. Time Management Strategies (00:25:07)Kellam explains his regimented time management approach, including time blocking for tasks. Efficient Communication Practices (00:27:08)He emphasizes scheduling calls and managing client expectations to enhance efficiency. Advice for Aspiring Law Firm Owners (00:29:13)Kellam offers key questions and tips for lawyers considering starting their firms. Key Factors for Firm Success (00:35:11)He identifies integrity, reputation, and technology as crucial to the firm's success. Would you like to learn more about Breaking Free or order your copy? https://www.garymiles.net/break-free  Would you like to schedule a complimentary discovery call? You can do so here: https://calendly.com/garymiles-successcoach/one-one-discovery-call

Saul Anuzis, President, 60 Plus Association, American Association of Senior Citizen. Senate Special Committee on Aging Releases 2024 Fraud Book

After years of suggestions for constitutional reform, the Parliament Bill has been introduced. In a rare occurrence at Parliament, a special committee has been set up to examine the bill.

In this episode, we are joined by former MEP Dragoș Tudorache, co-rapporteur of the EU AI Act and Chair of the Special Committee on AI in the Digital Age. We discuss where we are in the EU AI Act roadmap (2:37), how to balance innovation and regulation (11:20), the future of the EU AI Office (25:00), and the increasing energy infrastructure demands of AI (42:30). The European Approach to Regulating Artificial Intelligence

Dragoș Tudorache is a Member of the European Parliament and chairs the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in the Digital Age. He began his career as a judge and later held key positions at the OSCE and UN missions. He managed strategic projects at the European Commission, including the Schengen Information System and VIS. On The Menu: 1. Twin objectives of fostering AI innovation and protecting societal interests. 2. Complexities and importance of global collaboration in AI development. 3. An open-minded approach to policymaking from varied legal and leadership experiences. 4. Essential strategies and tactics for achieving balanced outcomes. 5. Role of the Digital Services Act (DSA) and AI Act in mitigating fake news. 6. The transversal nature of AI affects all economic sectors and societal interactions. 7. Navigating geopolitical competition and standard-setting in AI. Click here for a free trial: https://bit.ly/495qC9U Follow us on social media to hear from us more - Facebook- https://bit.ly/3ZYLiew Instagram- https://bit.ly/3Usdrtf Linkedin- https://bit.ly/43pdmdU Twitter- https://bit.ly/43qPvKX Pinterest- https://bit.ly/3KOOa9u Happy creating! #DragosTudorache #EuropeanParliament #Outgrow #Cooperation #EuropeanGovernment #AI #MarketerOfTheMonth #Outgrow #Podcastoftheday #MarketingPodcast

In a 30-page document released Monday, the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit outlined a number of judicial misconduct allegations against Alaska U.S. District Court Judge Joshua Kindred, who abruptly resigned last Wednesday, including a Special Committee finding he carried out an inappropriate sexualized relationship with one of his law clerks who eventually became an Assistant United States Attorney. That story and more top news and weather on this Monday evening.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

July 3, 2024 - Nick Hoefly, co-owner of Astor Apiaries and a member of state's Apiary Industry Advisory Committee, discusses beekeeping in New York City and how the state solicits input on policing affecting beekeepers.

Mexico has a new president. Trump was found guilty and the mainstream is still fully erect over it. The offensive contemplates the meaning of Oligarchy. The EU is worried about the Far Right, while underplaying the far rights concerns. The information war rages on. France thinks Russia is dropping Banksy art around their country. The economy isn’t Biden’s fault, according to one of Biden’s appointees. And its PriDE MONth in the US of A.     Art #123- This piece by Robert H. perfectly highlights the rage I feel while talking about the absolute garbage product that is Word Press. Get Bent Wordpress.   Fiat Fun Coupon Donations: Wiirdo, Roast Beef Eater Sam S. of Bourblandia Emily the Fed (Not a Fed) Ethan Crawley Hempress Emily M.   Top Boosters: Comic Strip Blogger Boolysteed JonMcPain KattyKit Jasper89 Sandesinhgh   Shownotes   Trump Sentencing Speculation               Georgia                         Russian Anti-LGBTQ Law   Information Warfare Firehose of Falsehoods Anne Applebaum married to Radosław (Radek) Sikorski, Member of the European Parliament for his native Kuyavian-Pomeranian region, Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age (AIDA) and the Subcommittee on Security and Defense (SEDE), he also chairs the Delegation for relations with the United States.   Renee DiResta attended Stony Brook University and in 2004 received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science // Political Science.DiResta has stated that as an undergraduate student she worked as an intern for the CIA, but that her association with that agency ended in 2004. Until 2011 she worked in finance, as a trader at Jane Street Capital after which she worked in high tech venture capital firms until 2014. In 2015, DiResta co-founded Vaccinate California, an organization designed to promote vaccination in California. DiResta was Director of Research at Yonder, a company that specialized in information integrity. Yonder was called to testify before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence about possible Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election. Currently, DiResta is Technical Research Manager for the Stanford Internet Observatory.   Fauci Fauci on CNN   Israel Lebanon ICC Investigator Threatened               Oil Price                         Secret Plot to Keep Oil Prices High WTI Chart Why Biden’s Permit Surge Isn’t What It Seems   Pride Sioux Falls Churches   Voting Open Primaries in Alaska

Former MI6 Chief Sir Richard Dearlove gives his verdict on this week's biggest news stories—the surprise summer general election in the United Kingdom announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the shock death of Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi and the implications for the regime's succession plan. Julia Macfarlane and Sir Richard also sit down with the European Union's Dragos Tudorache MEP, Chair of the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence and one of the leading architects of the EU's new landmark legislation.

Join Professor Werbach and Dragos Tudorache, co-rapporteur of the EU AI Act and one of the most essential AI policymakers in the world, to discuss the world's urgent need for AI regulation and collaboration. They discuss the nuances of the Act's attempt to balance mitigating risk and fostering innovation and dissect the legislation's approach to ensuring trust in AI through technology-neutral language and adaptable mechanisms. Next, they examine the Act's strategic focus on high-risk AI applications, filling gaps not covered by existing EU tech regulations like GDPR and the Digital Services Act. The conversation delves into the rapid integration of generative AI provisions into the Act, its enforcement challenges similar to those experienced with GDPR, and the critical importance of global coordination in AI policy. Tudorache contrasts AI policies between the EU and the US and offers practical advice for businesses preparing for the AI Act's implementation. The discussion also touches on the potential need for future regulations, providing critical insights for stakeholders in the AI sector. Dragos Tudorache, a Romanian member of the European Parliament and a key figure in European AI policy, has significantly shaped the discourse around AI regulation since his election in 2019. His dedicated leadership in chairing the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in the Digital Age (AIDA) set the groundwork for critical legislative efforts. As one of the two principal negotiators of the EU's pioneering AI Act, Tudorache played an instrumental role in crafting the first comprehensive AI law globally.  EU AI Act Washington Post calls Dragos Tudorache "The Smartest Politician on AI"    

A panel of Republican lawmakers met on Monday to discuss their concerns over what they've called “troubling judicial rulings.” Democratic legislators declined to participate.

In a fiery speech, Christine Anderson – German member of the European Parliament and stalwart defender of medical freedom – tells citizens they should “start rebelling” because “they are out to get you if you do not resist.” Anderson says the government's response to the COVID pandemic was just a test to “see how far they could go” before citizens pushed back. Christine Anderson MEP is a German member of the European Parliament and an advocate for medical freedom. A member of the Special Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic, MEP Anderson vocally opposes the WHO's plan to assume control over public health. She works to raise awareness of the dangers of centralized health authorities who are attempting to wedge politics between doctors and patients through a new treaty targeted for adoption in May 2024. Follow her at https://x.com/AndersonAfDMdEP 「 SPONSORED BY 」 Find out more about the companies that make this show possible and get special discounts on amazing products at https://drdrew.com/sponsors • TRU NIAGEN - For almost a decade, Dr. Drew has been taking a healthy-aging supplement called Tru Niagen, which uses a patented form of Nicotinamide Riboside to boost NAD levels. Use code DREW for 20% off at https://drdrew.com/truniagen • PET CLUB 24/7 - Give your pet's body the natural support it deserves! No fillers. No GMOs. No preservatives. Made in the USA. Save 15% at https://drdrew.com/petclub247 • GENUCEL - Using a proprietary base formulated by a pharmacist, Genucel has created skincare that can dramatically improve the appearance of facial redness and under-eye puffiness. Get an extra discount with promo code DREW at https://genucel.com/drew • PROVIA - Dreading premature hair thinning or hair loss? Provia uses a safe, natural ingredient (Procapil) to effectively target the three main causes of premature hair thinning and hair loss. Susan loves it! Get an extra discount at https://proviahair.com/drew • THE WELLNESS COMPANY - Counteract harmful spike proteins with TWC's Signature Series Spike Support Formula containing nattokinase and selenium. Learn more about TWC's supplements at https://twc.health/drew 「 MEDICAL NOTE 」 Portions of this program may examine countervailing views on important medical issues. Always consult your personal physician before making any decisions about your health. 「 ABOUT THE SHOW 」 Ask Dr. Drew is produced by Kaleb Nation (https://kalebnation.com) and Susan Pinsky (https://twitter.com/firstladyoflove). This show is for entertainment and/or informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. 「 ABOUT DR. DREW 」 Dr. Drew is a board-certified physician with over 35 years of national radio, NYT bestselling books, and countless TV shows bearing his name. He's known for Celebrity Rehab (VH1), Teen Mom OG (MTV), The Masked Singer (FOX), multiple hit podcasts, and the iconic Loveline radio show. Dr. Drew Pinsky received his undergraduate degree from Amherst College and his M.D. from the University of Southern California, School of Medicine. Read more at https://drdrew.com/about Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dragos Tudorache is a Member of the European Parliament and Vice-President of the Renew Europe Group. He is the LIBE rapporteur on the AI Act, and he sits on the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), the Committee of Inquiry to investigate the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware (PEGA), the Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE), and the European Parliament's Delegation for relations with the United States (D-US). He was the Chair of the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in the Digital Age (AIDA). Dragos began his career in 1997 as a judge in Romania. Between 2000 and 2005, he built and led the legal departments at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the UN missions in Kosovo. After working on justice and anticorruption at the European Commission Representation in Romania, supporting the country's EU accession, he joined the Commission as an official and, subsequently, qualified for leadership roles in EU institutions, managing a number of units and strategic projects such as the Schengen Information System, Visa Information System, and the establishment of eu-LISA1. During the European migration crisis, Dragos was entrusted with leading the coordination and strategy Unit in DG-Home, the European Commission Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, until he joined the Romanian Government led by Dacian Cioloș. Between 2015 and 2017, he served as Head of the Prime Minister's Chancellery, Minister of Communications and for the Digital Society, and Minister of Interior. He was elected to the European Parliament in 2019. His current interests in the European Parliament include security and defense, artificial intelligence and new technologies, transatlantic issues, the Republic of Moldova, and internal affairs. We have addressed the following questions around the new EU AI Act: Back story behind the final compromise on foundation models, and the chosen thresholds for a higher regulatory burden Interplay between AI models and AI systems The “open source” differentiator  How and why the AI Act overlaps with the GDPR, copyright law or product liability laws Impact of the Data Act on the development of AI References: The EU AI Act (EU Commission's proposal) Dragos Tudorache (EU Parliament's official website)

GUEST 1 OVERVIEW: June Slater is a businesswoman from North-West England, turned social media political commentator, is known for her fervent Brexit advocacy and outspoken opinions. GUEST 2 OVERVIEW: Francesca Donato is an Italian MEP and sits on the Special Committee on the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons learned and recommendations for the future

A senior official at Biden's CBP says that there is NO PLAN to remove razor wire at the border as of now. House Speaker Mike Johnson says Senate's Ukraine/Border deal is DEAD ON ARRIVAL in House of Representatives. Georgia State Senate votes to create a SPECIAL COMMITTEE to investigate Fani Willis over corruption, conduct questions. Fani Willis and her "LOVER" Nathan Wade will be questioned over the emerging scandal, could be DISQUALIFIED from Trump RICO case. A woman in Michigan allegedly committed one of the most bizarre crimes EVER. PLUS LIVE CALLS IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW! Join UNGOVERNED on LFA TV every MONDAY - FRIDAY from 5pm to 6pm EASTERN! www.rumble.com/LFATV www.LFATV.us www.Switch2USA.com www.OFPFarms.com 

1/23/2024 PODCAST Episodes #1146 - #1148 GUEST: Chris Hoar, Corey Lewandowski, Matt Schlapp, Rep. Andy Ogles, Sen. Greg Dolezal + YOUR CALLS! at 1-888-480-JOHN (5646) and GETTR Live! @jfradioshow #GodzillaOfTruth #TruckingTheTruth   Want more of today's show? Episode #1146 GameDay In NH! Episode #1147 It's Time For Everyone To Drop Out & Endorse Trump Episode #1148 Sen. Greg Dolezal Drops A Resolution To Form A Special Committee On Investigations In The GA State Senate   https://johnfredericksradio.libsyn.com/

Alexus reports on COJ plans to address homeless in Jacksonville, as the Special Committee on Homelessness and Affordable Housing will meet at noon today.

In this episode we pass the mic to Kristin Norse to discuss developing an appellate practice and women in the law. Kristin Norse is a partner at Kynes, Markman & Felman, P.A., where she practices exclusively in the areas of appellate practice, litigation support, and trial consulting in state and federal courts. Ms. Norse has over 30 years of experience in Florida trial and appellate courts. She received her juris doctorate degree from Boston University School of Law, and has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English, cum laude, from Boston University's College of Arts and Sciences. After law school, she joined Hampton, Stoddard, Griffin & Runnells, P.A., and later worked with the firm of Harris, Barrett, Mann & Dew, P.A. After seven years in private practice, Ms. Norse became a senior staff attorney for the Honorable Chris W. Altenbernd at the Second District Court of Appeal. She remained in that position until joining Kynes, Markman & Felman, P.A. Ms. Norse is the current chair of the Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration Committee and a past Chair of the Appellate Practice Section and a past Chair of the Appellate Court Rules Committee. She is a past president of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers and the Hillsborough Association for Women Lawyers. She has served on The Florida Bar's Citizen's Advisory Council as a lawyer member, and on the Special Committee on Gender Bias. She is also a mentor for Starting Right Now, and a mother to a law student and wife to an attorney who works for Bay Area Legal Services. Social Media Website: www.journeytoesquire.com Email: info@journeytoesquire.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dive... Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JourneytoEsq/ YT: https://youtube.com/@journeytoesquire Twitter: @JourneytoEsq                 https://mobile.twitter.com/journeytoesq Instagram: @JourneytoEsq  https://www.instagram.com/journeytoesq/ www.journeytoesquire.com info@journeytoesquire.com @JourneytoEsquire --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/journey-to-esquire/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/journey-to-esquire/support

NEWS: Marcos orders creation of special committee for LGBTQIA+ community | December 23, 2023Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net Follow us: Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital Check out our Podcasts: Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcherTune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein #TheManilaTimes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christine Anderson is a German member of the European Parliament and an advocate for medical freedom. A member of the Special Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic, MEP Anderson vocally opposes the WHO's plan to assume control over public health. She is embarking on the “Make It Your Business” tour in North America to raise awareness of the dangers of centralized health authorities who are attempting to wedge politics between doctors and patients through a new treaty targeted for adoption in May 2024. Follow her at https://twitter.com/AndersonAfDMdEP 「 SPONSORED BY 」 Find out more about the companies that make this show possible and get special discounts on amazing products at https://drdrew.com/sponsors • GENUCEL - Using a proprietary base formulated by a pharmacist, Genucel has created skincare that can dramatically improve the appearance of facial redness and under-eye puffiness. Genucel uses clinical levels of botanical extracts in their cruelty-free, natural, made-in-the-USA line of products. Get an extra discount with promo code DREW at https://genucel.com/drew • COZY EARTH - Trying to think of the right present for someone special? Susan and Drew love Cozy Earth's sheets & clothing made with super-soft viscose from bamboo! Use code DREW to save up to 40% at https://drdrew.com/cozy • PRIMAL LIFE - Dr. Drew recommends Primal Life's 100% natural dental products to improve your mouth. Get a sparkling smile by using natural teeth whitener without harsh chemicals. For a limited time, get 60% off at https://drdrew.com/primal • THE WELLNESS COMPANY - Counteract harmful spike proteins with TWC's Signature Series Spike Support Formula containing nattokinase and selenium. Learn more about TWC's supplements at https://twc.health/drew • PALEOVALLEY - "Paleovalley has a wide variety of extraordinary products that are both healthful and delicious,” says Dr. Drew. "I am a huge fan of this brand and know you'll love it too!” Get a discount on your first order at https://drdrew.com/paleovalley 「 MEDICAL NOTE 」 The CDC states that COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective, and reduce your risk of severe illness. You should always consult your personal physician before making any decisions about your health.  「 ABOUT THE SHOW 」 Ask Dr. Drew is produced by Kaleb Nation (https://kalebnation.com) and Susan Pinsky (https://twitter.com/firstladyoflove). This show is for entertainment and/or informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. 「 ABOUT DR. DREW 」 Dr. Drew is a board-certified physician with over 35 years of national radio, NYT bestselling books, and countless TV shows bearing his name. He's known for Celebrity Rehab (VH1), Teen Mom OG (MTV), Dr. Drew After Dark (YMH), The Masked Singer (FOX), multiple hit podcasts, and the iconic Loveline radio show. Dr. Drew Pinsky received his undergraduate degree from Amherst College and his M.D. from the University of Southern California, School of Medicine. Read more at https://drdrew.com/about Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pam Andrews, Mother of Two Children with Niemann Pick Disease Type C1, discusses how The Promising Pathway Act could help her children with an approved treatment; and Senator Mike Braun delivered marks about The Promising Pathway Act to the Special Committee on Aging. Promising Pathway Act United States Senate Special Committee on Aging Webpage: Braun – Patients deserve a promising pathway at the FDA The Firefly Fund Webpage  

Here's your local news for Thursday, October 26, 2023:We dig into the effects of BRT construction - as up to three dozen trees along Mineral Point Road may be removed to make room for the project,Interview a Menominee tribal legislator as four bills from the Special Committee on State-Tribal Relations get a public hearing,Talk open records law with an expert,Check in on fall-weather fishing conditions,Take a look at the Flamingos' playoffs performance,And much more.

RNZ Pacific Editor Koroi Hawkins discusses politics in Vanuatu, the intriguing story of a pair of Chinese scam artists wanted to turn a radiation-soaked Pacific atoll into a future metropolis; France ends a 10-year snub of the UN's Special Committee on Decolonisation and how are Pacific teams doing at the Rugby World Cup?

September 15, 2023 (prerecorded 9/13): 1976 was the last time the State of Vermont underwent an impeachment process. In May, a seven-member special committee for the House of Representatives began investigating whether to impeach two elected officials. The process has proved complex and raised questions about accountability. Chair of the special committee, Martin LaLonde, and Vice-Chair Michael McCarthy discuss impeachment on today's episode. The Special Committee on Impeachment Inquiry's memos, agendas, and other reports are here: https://legislature.vermont.gov/committee/detail/2024/381These documents are a good starting point...Memorandum - Information regarding impeachment: https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/House%20Government%20Operations/Bills/H.R.11/Drafts,%20Amendments,%20and%20Legal%20Documents/H.R.11~BetsyAnn%20Wrask~Memo%20to%20Speaker%20re%20Impeachment~5-5-2023.pdfH.R. 11 (House Resolution): https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/Docs/RESOLUTN/HR0011/HR0011%20As%20adopted%20by%20the%20House%20Official.pdfSpecial Committee's Rules and Procedures (don't worry, it's short): https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/House%20Impeachment/Documents%20and%20Testimony/Legislative%20Counsel/W~Jen%20Carbee~Special%20Committee%20on%20Impeachment%20Rules%20and%20Procedures~5-23-2023.pdfTheme music by Red Heart the Ticker: http://rhtt.net

It has been just over two years since I last created a piece of content focused on Thorne Healthtech, so it's probably long overdue for an update…especially considering something big just happened! Outside of that August 2021 IPO deep analysis on Thorne Healthtech, the only other YouTube mention of the company was in this year's annual outlandish supplement industry event prediction content. But if you read the headlines (and remember that prediction), you know that I was mostly correct. Thorne Healthtech was in fact undervalued by the public markets and I was correct that Thorne Healthtech would be acquired in 2023…but I was wrong about the buyer. On August 28, 2023, Thorne Healthtech announced that it entered into a definitive agreement under which L Catterton would acquire all outstanding shares of common stock of Thorne for $10.20 per share in cash. The transaction value of approximately $680 million represents a 94% premium to the unaffected closing share price. Now…shareholders will still need to approve, but Thorne's independent Special Committee and Board of Directors have each unanimously approved the agreement. There's the press release details, but you guys know just sticking to that basic information isn't my style. For this content, I want to get into the following items: why is the private equity firm acquiring Thorne…along with an update on the last two years of operational performance, and then what could the future look like together. Overall, I believe L Catterton is a great partner to fuel Thorne's long-term growth aspirations of being a major player within the next era of health…one that will certainly be data-driven and wellness-centric with a guiding focus on preventive care that extends the healthspan of each individual. FOLLOW ME ON MY SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS LINKEDIN - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuaschallmba⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ YOUTUBE - ⁠⁠www.youtube.com/c/joshuaschall⁠⁠ TWITTER - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.twitter.com/joshua_schall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ INSTAGRAM - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/joshua_schall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ FACEBOOK - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/jschallconsulting⁠ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/joshua-schall/support

If it is true, as Richard Weaver famously put it, that “ideas have consequences,” it is also true that bad ideas have victims. On no other contemporary issue today is the connection between a bad idea and its victims clearer than assisted suicide. In no other nation today are the bad ideas and their victims more aggressively embraced than in Canada.   In a lengthy and powerful essay at The Atlantic this month, David Brooks exposed just how monstrous Canada's so-called “medical aid in dying” regime has become since it was enacted in 2016. Originally, Canada only permitted the request for medical aid in dying to those with serious illness, in advanced or irreversible decline, unbearable physical or mental suffering, or whose death was “reasonably foreseeable.” The criteria are vague enough. Since the law went into effect, however, the number of Canadians killed annually has gone from 1,000 to over 10,000. In 2021, one in thirty Canadian deaths was by assisted suicide, and only 4% of those who applied to die were turned down.   Were all these people terminally ill or suffering from serious and irreversible conditions? Hardly. In fact, Brooks tells the story of a man whose only physical condition was hearing loss yet who was “put to death” over the objections of his family. Another patient had fibromyalgia and leukemia yet wrote that “the suffering I experience is mental suffering, not physical. I think if more people cared about me, I might be able to handle the suffering caused by my physical illnesses alone.” One otherwise healthy 37-year-old who suffers from schizoaffective disorder and is unemployed said, “logistically, I really don't have a future. … I'm not going anywhere.” As of Brooks' writing, that man was awaiting approval for assisted suicide.   Simply put, Canadians who need help are instead being helped to kill themselves because they're depressed, lonely, or mentally ill. And the slope keeps getting slipperier. Brooks described patients who have been pressured by doctors and hospital staff into killing themselves to avoid medical bills. Earlier this year, the Canadian Parliament's Special Committee on Medical Assistance in Death recommended extending the program to “mature minors” as young as twelve.  Brooks observed, this is what happens “when a society takes individualism to its logical conclusion.” The core question “is no longer, ‘Should the state help those who are suffering at the end of life die?'” It is now whether any degree of suffering is worth living with. He concludes, “The lines between assisted suicide for medical reasons … and straight-up suicide are blurring.”  Brooks clearly identified the bad idea behind these victims: what he calls “autonomy-based liberalism.” In its place, he proposed something called “gifts-based liberalism,” which acknowledges that each of us is a “receiver of gifts … including the gift of life itself.” That life, Brooks insists, is “sacred” because each of us is endowed with “dignity,” and society has a duty to say, “No, suicide is out of bounds. … You don't have the right to make a choice you will never be able to revisit. … We are responsible for one another.” At least, that is, in most cases, according to Brooks.  He is so close to getting this one right and articulating the sanctity of life in the way Christianity does. That's why it's frustrating that Brooks seems to think it's possible to climb back up the slippery slope and re-establish assisted suicide only for “extreme” cases. He writes, “I don't have great moral qualms about assisted suicide for people who are suffering intensely in the face of imminent death.”  But, David, the moment you begin setting criteria for when a life is no longer worth living, no longer sacred, and a person no longer deserving of love instead of lethal injection, you let the bad idea that led to all those victims right back in the cultural door! For all his admirable reporting on how bad it has gotten in Canada, Brooks never gets around to answering his core question: Why did Canada's “medical aid in dying” law–which supposedly limited victims to only those he agrees should have the right to die–become government-sponsored mass suicide in just seven years?   The answer is simple: because the value of human life is not based on any extrinsic quality. Period. It's instead based on the fact that humans are made in God's image. We belong to Him, not to ourselves. This is ultimately why the slope from accepting some suicides to all suicides is so slippery. It's also why “gifts-based liberalism,” until it acknowledges the one who gave us life, will never be able to keep its footing or help those intent on throwing away the very gift.  This Breakpoint was co-authored by Shane Morris. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, go to breakpoint.org. 

When Judge Pauline Newman helped create the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in 1982 to have exclusive jurisdiction over patent cases, no one could've guessed the drama that would follow almost 40 years after she joined the court herself. In April, Gene Quinn broke the news on IPWatchdog about a complaint filed by the Chief Judge of the Federal Circuit against Newman for being unable to effectively discharge the duties of her office.  Days later, Newman showed up and spoke at Fordham Law School's annual IP conference in New York in a way that completely undermined the foundation of that complaint.  Recently retired Federal Circuit Judge Kathleen O'Malley sat right next to Newman and looked towards her with admiration and affection.  Even if Hollywood's writers weren't on strike, they couldn't have scripted it better.  However, recent media interviews with Newman revealed that those events were only the tip of the iceberg of this drama.  Newman only discovered something was afoot when the Chief Judge - along with two other Federal judges of a Special Committee formed to investigate Newman – confronted Newman with demands that she resign or take senior status.  “Just go quietly or we'll make your life miserable,” Newman was told. A short time later, 88-year old Federal Circuit Judge Alan Lourie showed up at Newman's Watergate (yes, that Watergate) apartment to also try to convince her to resign.  By that point, he told her, the Chief Judge already managed to convince the rest of their colleagues that Newman was “totally disabled physically, and mentally incompetent.”  When Lourie said he “had no reason to disbelieve” that, Newman signaled for Lourie - her Watergate complex neighbor and colleague for over 30 years on the court– to leave.  The news of the complaint and Newman's appearance at Fordham crushed the plan for Newman to “just go quietly.”  Since that time, former Federal Circuit Chief Judge Michel and Rader have publicly sided with Newman.  Michel highlighted “the conflicted process” where “the Chief Judge and the Special Committee [ ] continuing to act as accuser, investigator, prosecutor, and judge” by requesting a request to transfer the investigation to another federal court of appeals. Yet, noticeably, all of judges on the Federal Circuit and most of her former clerks have remained silent and are avoiding getting publicly involved.  The one notable exception: Newman's former clerk Greg Dolin.  In his role as Senior Litigation Counsel at New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), he is leading the legal fight against ousting Newman from the Federal Circuit.  After Dolin filed a lawsuit in district court claiming that the Federal Circuit's efforts are unconstitutional and convinced Newman to take a cognitive test, both sides agreed to U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper's call for mediation. On this episode, Eli talks to Greg shortly before that mediation is to take place in August with retired D.C. Circuit Judge Thomas Griffith.  They talk about how and why this drama got to this point, how Newman has been able to emotionally deal with the fallout, why this fight is important beyond the Federal Circuit, what a potential resolution might look like, whether Greg and Judge Newman are preparing for impeachment proceedings, and much more!

In Episode 180 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg compares two demonstrations outside the UN on the same day—one in support of Puerto Rican independence, timed for the meeting of the Special Committee on Decolonization, and one in support of Russian anti-war dissidents, LGBTQ people and indigenous peoples, now all facing harsh repression. The police state tactics seen in Putin's consolidating dictatorship mirror many of those US colonialism has used in Puerto Rico. And Russia's indigenous peoples have been denied self-determination as surely as the Puerto Ricans. Yet the presence of "tankies"—pseudo-leftists in the camp of Russian imperialism—at the independentista rally illustrates how those who support freedom in Puerto Rico and in Russia have been pitted against each other. Yet another example of how a global divide-and-rule racket is the essence of the state system. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/countervortex Production by Chris Rywalt We ask listeners to donate just $1 per weekly podcast via Patreon -- or $2 for our new special offer! We now have 57 subscribers. If you appreciate our work, please become Number 58!

From 1982: Griffin interviews Dodd regarding the time he spent as the head researcher for the Reece Committee. Norman Dodd was a banker/bank manager, worked as a financial advisor, and served as chief investigator in 1953 for the Special Committee on Tax Exempt Foundations (commonly referred to as the Reece Committee), which was chaired by U. S. Congressman B. Carroll Reece. Dodd was known primarily for his controversial investigation into tax-exempt foundations.Email us: thefacthunter@mail.comWebsite: thefacthunter.com

Reimagining Public Safety Special Committee Report, HAYA Episode 7 Hosted by George Christopher

Pastor Aldo invited Pastor Kent Butterfield, First Reformed Presbyterian Church of Durham, NC (RPC) https://www.firstrpcdurham.org/, to discuss the mediatorial kingship of Christ. Discussing the topic in depth, there were a number of references to external supporting literature, here are links to some of them:Founding Sins: How a Group of Antislavery Radicals Fought to Put Christ into the Constitution, Joseph S Moore, https://a.co/d/7EYhdOD2020 Report of Synod's Special Committee on Christ's Mediatorial Kingship, http://reformed.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2020-synod-report-special-committee-cmk-and-paper.pdfMessiah the Prince Revisited, J.K. Wall, https://crownandcovenant.com/collections/christ-and-government/products/messiah-the-prince-revisitedJesus is King (a pamphlet), RPCNA Synod Special Committee, https://crownandcovenant.com/products/jesus-is-kingPolitical Danger, J R Willson, https://crownandcovenant.com/products/political-dangerFind past episodes of Gospel on Tap and Kingdom Polemics at https://reformationmiami.org/kp.

This week on Breaking Battlegrounds, we are honored to be joined by former Congresswoman Mia Love of Utah and current Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. We also check in with our friend Alexander Raikin for an update on Canada's assisted suicide program. -Mia B. Love is a former Representative of the 4th Congressional District of Utah. Love was elected to office in 2014. She is the first and only Republican black female to ever serve in The United States Congress. Love was appointed as the only freshman to serve on the Select Panel for Infant Lives, to investigate the selling of organs on the free market. She was also selected to serve on the Financial Services Committee (which handles regulation of our nation's financial institutions) Terrorism and Illicit Finance, Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy and Trade subcommittees.While in office, she was a champion for reducing burdensome regulations and sponsoring legislation that make it easier for small and community banks to lend money to individuals and families. That bill (part of S. 2155) was signed into law in August of 2018. Rep. Love was also a leader in the push for immigration reform, and adamantly works to protect life at all stages of development, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all. She was awarded the Marilyn Musgrave "Defender of Life Award" for her work in protecting life in Congress.Rep Love was a headline speaker at the 2012 RNC convention in Tampa FL. Prior to her work in Congress, Rep. Love served as a city councilwoman and mayor in her hometown of Saratoga Springs, Utah.Mia is currently a CNN correspondent and was recently appointed as a non-resident senior fellow at The United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.Mia is passionate about getting Americans out of government poverty programs that are meant to trap and destroy families and promoting free market principles. She has advocated for limited government, fiscal discipline and personal responsibility.Mia is currently a CNN correspondent and was recently appointed as a non-resident senior fellow at The United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. Most importantly, Mia is the daughter of legal immigrants from Haiti, a wife, a mother of three children and a proud American.-Marco Rubio has represented Florida in the United States Senate since 2010, where he has one guiding objective: bring the American Dream back into the reach of those who feel it slipping away.Senator Rubio's efforts have been successful and long-lasting. Non-partisan analyses by GovTrack and the Center for Effective Lawmaking ranked Rubio the Senate's number two leader and most effective Republican in 2020.Senator Rubio currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, where he oversees our nation's intelligence and national security apparatus. Senator Rubio is also a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, where he fights to promote human rights and America's interests around the globe; the powerful Appropriations Committee, which allocates funding for the federal government; and the Special Committee on Aging, dedicated to the needs of older Americans.In addition, Senator Rubio serves on the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, where works to help small businesses thrive in the 21st century. As former Chairman of this committee, Rubio authored the historic Paycheck Protection Program, which has been a lifeline to millions of small businesses and Americans workers as they battle economic hardship in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.Senator Rubio was born in Miami, after his parents came to the United States from Cuba in search of the American Dream. He lives there today with his wife Jeanette and their four children.-Alexander Raikin is a freelance journalist and a writer interested in medical ethics and bad statistics. His writings have been published in City Journal and The New Atlantis. Alexander is also a research fellow with Do No Harm. He can be found on Twitter at @AlexanderRaikin -Connect with us:www.breakingbattlegrounds.voteTwitter: www.twitter.com/Breaking_BattleFacebook: www.facebook.com/breakingbattlegroundsInstagram: www.instagram.com/breakingbattlegroundsLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/breakingbattlegrounds This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit breakingbattlegrounds.substack.com

DPOs must adopt a service mindset with Axel Voss (Member of EU Parliament) E079 S4 Axel Voss shares his views on successful GDPR and the importance of protecting the privacy of the citizens. Axel, a member of the EU parliament and part of creating legislation and laws, shares his perspective on the future of AI & privacy in Europe. He shares that businesses must go ahead with their ideas while DPO must adopt a service mindset. Let's listen to the conversation between Axel Voss and Punit Bhatia. KEY CONVERSATION POINTS GDPR in one word would be "successful" GDPR is essential for protecting the personal information of citizens AI must be trustworthy Businesses must implement their new ideas DPOs must adopt a service mindset ABOUT THE GUEST Axel Voss (CDU) - born in 1963 - studied law at the Universities of Trier, Freiburg, and Munich. Since 1994, he is working as a lawyer. From 1994 to 2000, he was a civil advisor at the EU Commission's representation in Germany. Afterward, he worked for nine years as a lecturer for European Affairs at the RheinAhrCampus of the College of Koblenz. He became a Member of the European Parliament in 2009, where he represents the Mittelrhein area, which includes the cities of Cologne, Bonn, and Leverkusen and the districts Rhein-Sieg and Rhein-Erft. Axel Voss is EPP coordinator for the Committee on Legal Affairs as well as deputy member of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and from 2020 to 2022 member and rapporteur in the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence. Besides questions of European Law, his main area of expertise is the digitization of our daily life. For the European People's Party group, he was among others (shadow-)rapporteur for the new Copyright Directive, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Passenger Name Record Directive (PNR) as well as the updated Eurojust Regulation. At the moment, he is a (shadow-)rapporteur for the AI Act and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. Axel Voss is also CDU chair of the regional section Mittelrhein, regional chair of the Europe Union Bonn/Rhein-Sieg, and Vice President of the Mérite Européen Friendship and Assistance Association, Germany. For more information: www.axel-voss-europa.de ABOUT THE HOST Punit Bhatia is one of the leading privacy experts who works independently and has worked with professionals in over 30 countries. Punit works with business and privacy leaders to create an organizational culture with high privacy awareness and compliance as a business priority. Selectively, Punit is open to mentoring and coaching privacy professionals. Punit is the author of books “Be Ready for GDPR” which was rated as the best GDPR Book, “AI & Privacy – How To Find Balance”, “Intro To GDPR”, and “Be an Effective DPO”. Punit is a global speaker who has spoken at over 30 global events. Punit is the creator and host of the FIT4PRIVACY Podcast. This podcast has been featured among the top GDPR and privacy podcasts. As a person, Punit is an avid thinker and believes in thinking, believing, and acting in line with one's values to have joy in life. He has developed the philosophy named ‘ABC for the joy of life' which passionately shares. Punit is based out of Belgium, the heart of Europe. RESOURCES Websites www.axel-voss-europa.de , www.fit4privacy.com , www.punitbhatia.com Podcast https://www.fit4privacy.com/podcast Blog https://www.fit4privacy.com/blog --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fit4privacy/message

Guest: Lim Sang Hyuk, Reporter1. Dispute between the ruling and opposition parties over President Yoon Suk Yeol's remarks, "the enemy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is Iran."2. Iran publicly protested President Yoon Suk Yeol's remarks.3. The National Assembly's Special Committee held a plenary session and received the report of the results adopted by the opposition party alone.4. Kim Sung-tae was taken to the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office shortly after entering the country through Incheon Airport5. The prosecution is also investigating the alleged corruption in the development of Wirye New Town and Daejangdong6. Presidential Chief of Staff Kim Dae-ki remarked "The dismissal of former lawmaker Na Kyung-won is based on the president's accurate belief of the truth."1. 외통위 'UAE의 적' 尹발언 공방…"외교참사" vs "표현상의 문제"2. 尹의 "UAE의 적은 이란" 두고 외교부 "언급할 수 없어"3. 이태원 국조특위, 野단독으로 보고서 채택…이상민 등 위증 고발4. 김성태, 오후부터 본격 조사받아…첫날 조사 밤까지 이어질 듯5. 검찰, 이재명 '이틀간' 소환 조사 할수도…수사량 방대6. 김대기 "나경원 해임, 대통령의 정확한 진상 파악 따른 결정"See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In part 2 of our 3-part retirement mini-series, Anne Ackerley, Head of BlackRock's Retirement Group moderates a live panel at the recent BlackRock Retirement Savings Summit, speaking to three leaders who are actively working to bridge the gender and race gap with regard to retirement savings.Source: Mercer 2022 “Stepping Up For Equity”Source: Hou, Wenliang, “Social Security is a Great Equalizer.” Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. January 2020;Source: ICI Global Retirement Report Q2 2022Source: Federal Reserve Economic Research Report Sep 28th 2020 Disparities in Wealth by Race and Ethnicity in the 2019 Survey of Consumer FinancesSource: AARP Payroll Deduction Retirement Programs Build Economic Security, July 2022Source: Aspen Institute Blog Oct 11th 2022 “We Can Advance Economic Equity Through Automatic Enrollment for Emergency Savings” Tim Shaw, Jason EwasSource: Ariel/Hewitt Study 2007 “A Study of 401(k) Savings Disparities Across Racial And Ethnic Groups”Source: United States Government Accountability Report to The Special Committee on Ageing, March 2019 “Retirement Savings”This material is intended for information purposes only, and does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation or an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell any securities, funds or strategies to any person in any jurisdiction in which an offer, solicitation, purchase or sale would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. The opinions expressed are as of the date of publication and are subject to change without notice. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the reader. Investing involves risks. BlackRock does and may seek to do business with companies covered in this podcast. As a result, readers should be aware that the firm may have a conflict of interest that could affect the objectivity of this podcast.In the U.S. and Canada, this material is intended for public distribution.In the UK and Non-European Economic Area (EEA) countries: this is Issued by BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered office: 12 Throgmorton Avenue, London, EC2N 2DL. Tel:+ 44 (0)20 7743 3000. Registered in England and Wales No. 02020394. For your protection telephone calls are usually recorded. Please refer to the Financial Conduct Authority website for a list of authorised activities conducted by BlackRock.In the European Economic Area (EEA): this is Issued by BlackRock (Netherlands) B.V. is authorised and regulated by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets. Registered office Amstelplein 1, 1096 HA, Amsterdam, Tel: 020 – 549 5200, Tel: 31-20- 549-5200. Trade Register No. 17068311 For your protection telephone calls are usually recorded.For Investors in Switzerland: This document is marketing material.In South Africa: Please be advised that BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited is an authorised Financial Services provider with the South African Financial Services Board, FSP No. 43288.In Singapore, this is issued by BlackRock (Singapore) Limited (Co. registration no. 200010143N). This advertisement or publication has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. In Hong Kong, this material is issued by Asset Management North Asia Limited and has not been reviewed by the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong. In Australia, issued by BlackRock Investment Management (Australia) Limited ABN 13 006 165 975 AFSL 230 523 (BIMAL). The material provides general information only and does not take into account your individual objectives, financial situation, needs or circumstances. Refer to BIMAL's Financial Services Guide on its website for more information. Before making any investment decision, you should assess whether the material is appropriate for you and obtain financial advice tailored to you having regard to your individual objectives, financial situation, needs and circumstances. In Latin America: this material is for educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice nor an offer or solicitation to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any shares of any Fund (nor shall any such shares be offered or sold to any person) in any jurisdiction in which an offer, solicitation, purchase or sale would be unlawful under the securities law of that jurisdiction. If any funds are mentioned or inferred to in this material, it is possible that some or all of the funds may not have been registered with the securities regulator of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay or any other securities regulator in any Latin American country and thus might not be publicly offered within any such country. The securities regulators of such countries have not confirmed the accuracy of any information contained herein. The provision of investment management and investment advisory services is a regulated activity in Mexico thus is subject to strict rules. For more information on the Investment Advisory Services offered by BlackRock Mexico please refer to the Investment Services Guide available at www.blackrock.com/mx ©2023 BlackRock, Inc. All Rights Reserved. BLACKROCK is a registered trademark ofBlackRock, Inc. All other trademarks are those of their respective owners.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On today's midweek show, Crystal welcomes Senator Manka Dhingra, Chair of the Senate Law & Justice Committee, to preview the tough issues her committee will take on in the upcoming legislative session. Senator Dhingra walks through her data-driven and community-informed approach to legislating and how this lens guides her thinking on revisiting the Blake decision fix, a temporary solution put in place by the Legislature in 2021 when the Washington Supreme Court struck down the state's drug possession law as unconstitutional. Despite widespread recognition of the need for a public health approach to substance use disorder, Crystal and Senator Dhingra lament the unfortunate political truth that the public is often ahead of elected officials and that the Blake fix will likely not be based on best practices.  The two then discuss the pushback from some in law enforcement interests in response to bills that restricted their use of high-speed vehicle pursuits and sought to hold officers liable for taking wrong actions. Senator Dhingra stands by these policies that solve the issues of unnecessary bystander deaths and community demands for reduction in police violence. Finally, the show wraps up with what a trauma-informed criminal justice system could look like, where implementation of the 988 crisis system is, and Senator Dhingra's delightful tradition of introducing legislation from teenagers in her district. As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com. Follow us on Twitter at @HacksWonks. Find the host, Crystal Fincher, on Twitter at @finchfrii and find Senator Manka Dhingra at @Dhingrama.   Senator Manka Dhingra Manka Dhingra is Deputy Majority Leader of the Washington State Senate. She brings two decades of experience as a prosecutor to her role as Chair of the Senate Law & Justice Committee. She also serves on the Senate Health & Long Term Care Committee and Senate Ways & Means Committee.  In November 2017, Dhingra was elected to the Senate by the constituents of the 45th Legislative District, the first Sikh legislator in the nation. Since then, she has sponsored and passed legislation addressing a wide range of issue areas, including: curbing domestic violence and sexual assault, preventing firearm violence, providing property tax relief for seniors and people with disabilities, prosecuting financial fraud, and reforming the criminal justice system with an evidence-based approach.  During her time in the Senate, Dhingra has helped pass legislation and funding to transform the Washington State behavioral health system, reorienting it around prevention rather than crisis response. She continues to strive to ensure that Washingtonians with behavioral health needs get the treatment they need and deserve. As a member of the Special Committee on Economic Recovery, she is helping the state craft an economic plan to lead an equitable recovery from the COVID economic downturn. She also serves on several task forces dedicated to reducing poverty, reforming the criminal justice system, improving equity in state government, and providing a sound and fair fiscal footing for the state.  Dhingra continues to serve as a Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney with the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. As Chair of the Therapeutic Alternative Unit, Manka helped develop and oversee the Regional Mental Health Court, the Veterans Court, and the Community Assessment and Referral for Diversion program. As a mental health and crisis intervention expert, she has also been an instructor at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission for the 40-hour Crisis Intervention Training for law enforcement officers to reduce the risk of tragedy and improve the response to people in crisis.  Outside the courtroom, Dhingra is a community leader and anti-domestic violence advocate on the Eastside. She co-founded Chaya, an organization that assists South Asian survivors of domestic violence and led the organization's work to end systemic violence through education and prevention. She also serves on the board of Hopelink.   Resources Senator Manka Dhingra | Washington Senate Democrats   “With Dhingra's Win, Democrats Take Control of the State Senate” by Hayat Norimine from SeattleMet   Q & A: The Blake Decision | ACLU of Washington   “In Last-Minute Move, Legislature Adopts New Approach to Drug Possession” by Paul Kiefer from PubliCola   “WA lawmakers try to thread needle on drug possession, to mixed reviews” by David Kroman from Crosscut   “Washington Voters Want to Decriminalize Drug Possession and Fund Substance Abuse Resources” by Anika Dandekar with Data For Progress   State v. Blake: ESB 5476 and behavioral health expansion | Washington Health Care Authority   “Not all crimes merit high-speed chases that risk bystanders' lives” by Manka Dhingra in The Seattle Times   “Pursuits and Fatalities in WA since 2015” by Martina Morris from Next Steps Washington and Washington Coalition for Police Accountability   2021-2022 Washington State Legislature Policing Bills Explainer | People Power Washington   “State leaders prepare for implementation of the 988 call line” by Shane Ersland from State of Reform   “Meet the students who fought for free menstrual products at Washington schools — and won” by Sara Gentzler from The Olympian   Transcript [00:00:00] Crystal Fincher: Welcome to Hacks & Wonks. I'm Crystal Fincher, and I'm a political consultant and your host. On this show, we talk with policy wonks and political hacks to gather insight into local politics and policy in Washington State through the lens of those doing the work with behind-the-scenes perspectives on what's happening, why it's happening, and what you can do about it. Full transcripts and resources referenced in the show are always available at officialhacksandwonks.com and in our episode notes. So today I'm absolutely thrilled to have joining us the Deputy Majority Leader of the Washington State Senate, Manka Dhingra. Welcome. [00:00:47] Senator Manka Dhingra: Thank you so much. It is such a pleasure to be here with you. [00:00:50] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely a pleasure to have you - have followed your work and admired your work for quite some time. So you are also the Chair of the Senate Law & Justice Committee, you've done a lot of work. I just wanted to start off with - what was your path to the State Senate and what have you been working on? [00:01:11] Senator Manka Dhingra: So I'll just say my path to the State Senate has been extremely unusual. I don't know anyone else who came into politics the way I did. I, as a young person, knew very early that I wanted to go to law school and that I wanted to be a prosecutor. I got involved in gender-based violence early on because my grandmother used to help survivors of domestic violence back in India. And so I went to law school, became a prosecutor with King County. I actually created and ran the first ever Therapeutic Alternative Unit where we really took a look at alternatives to incarceration, crisis intervention. I helped train law enforcement in the 40-hour crisis intervention training at the Criminal Justice Training Center. And I considered myself a good Democrat because I voted. And then we had our 2016 national election. And for the first time in my life, I was actually having an Election Night party at my house because I really wanted my children to see the face of the first U.S. woman president. Clearly the night did not go as I had planned. And so I went to my first Democratic Party meeting that December. And when I went there, I can tell you that the room was full - packed - with women. When I looked around that room, I recognized so many of the PTSA moms. And most of us were there, again, for the very first time because we felt we had to do something. And I didn't know what that something would look like. And a very good friend of mine who was on city council saw me there and she said, We have to have coffee. And so we sat down for coffee and her first question was, Do you want to run for office? And my response was, I don't think I'm qualified. And she literally fell off her chair laughing. And later I realized what a cliché my response was because apparently that's what all of us women say - we think we're not qualified. So she kind of worked on me and we had a Senate seat that was available. And February 14th, I announced I was running for the Senate. So my entire political engagement from the time from my first meeting to me announcing for Senate was two months. [00:03:25] Crystal Fincher: Wow. Well, and then you ran in a district where your victory was certainly not guaranteed - very competitive race - where you were successful and victorious and a first yourself, the first Sikh member of our state Senate. How did you use all of your lived experience in the Senate and how was your first term? [00:03:56] Senator Manka Dhingra: So the election was exciting because my seat actually flipped our State Senate. So our Senate was controlled by the Republicans and when I won, Democrats got in control. So the first session was actually pure chaos because we'd had gridlock in Olympia for so many years because we really couldn't pass meaningful bills. We had a session that would go into special session year after year because budgets couldn't be agreed upon. The year I was running, there were three special sessions and they still did not have all their budgets passed. And so when I won, normally people have orientation or some kind of onboarding. But when I won - because of the change - we had new Chairs, all this legislation that had been blocked for so many years like the flood gates had opened. So it was a very exciting time because I think we just passed such amazing progressive legislation and really were this beacon of light for the entire country on what a progressive legislation could look like or what a progressive state can look like. But I got to tell you, I was kind of lost in the mix there. But luckily I was able to hold my own and was very proud of the nine bills I passed my first session. [00:05:16] Crystal Fincher: And what were some of those bills? [00:05:17] Senator Manka Dhingra: So a lot of those bills were things that had really irked me for a very long time as an attorney and as a prosecutor. So there were a lot of bills around helping survivors of domestic violence, there were bills around sexual assault, around trafficking, and I had a Medicaid fraud unit bill, work around behavior health because I have been very concerned about mental illness and substance use disorder in our state. And normally when you're a first-time legislator, they do this thing on the Senate floor where your first bill - people actually kind of tease you a little about it or kind of give you a hard time. And when they looked at all my bills, they were all of such serious matters that they couldn't figure out which one should be my first bill. And so actually the Medicaid fraud unit was my first bill because that was the least serious about my other bills. But this was legislation that I knew that had to be fixed and we needed to do it. And frankly, I think the reason why I was so successful is because most of my bill ideas come from people who do the work and are able to really articulate what the problems are and then have the solutions because they're the experts in that field. And so I have maintained that manner of doing my work - is really making sure I hear from the people on the ground doing the work. [00:06:42] Crystal Fincher: And you have built that reputation of being very in touch with the community, of reaching out to stakeholders for your various bills, making sure that you speak with, inform, get feedback from people who are involved with and impacted by legislation you're proposing and the issues you're trying to address. One such issue was spurred by the Blake decision - that the Supreme Court found in our state - that essentially decriminalized personal use possession. And because of some challenges that that presented, like a potential patchwork of different laws passed by different cities all throughout the state, the Legislature decided to take action to try and pass one uniform policy all across the state. What was your approach to that and where did that end up? [00:07:30] Senator Manka Dhingra: Thank you. That is really the issue and the question that has been - people have been interested in for the last two years. Any time legislation is required, my question always is why? And what you gave in your question was really one of the reasons why we knew that legislation - is because we wanted a uniform way of making sure enforcement is the same for people, that they're not treated differently because they're using at a different intersection down the street. So that's why we wanted to make sure we had state legislation. This decision came out in the middle of session, so the timing was not optimal. And then it was very important to me to have a solution that is based on best practices and that is practical. So the original bill that I had was actually based on what the policy of the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office was, along with a lot of the other prosecuting attorney's offices around the state. Because what we found at that time is - a lot of people doing this work had realized - that dealing with substance use disorder, it's not a criminal justice issue, it's a public health issue. And treating it like a criminal justice issue is what has really led us to where we are today. But you have to make sure you're focused on getting people into the treatment that they need. And so I was really trying to come up with a solution that said you have to have public health lead. And you also have to understand that while using the substance shouldn't be illegal, if there's criminal activity around that - like theft, criminal trespass, possession of weapons - that is still a criminal offense, but really being able to focus on treatment. So after a lot of negotiations, because I'll tell you, elected officials are very nervous of criminal justice issues. And I come from it differently because I practiced for 17 years. And we unfortunately did not get a bill that was based on best practices. We came close, but not quite. So what became the law of the land is that law enforcement was going to offer diversion the first two times that they came into contact with an individual. And then only after that would they refer that for a criminal case. And we took this opportunity to really provide a lot of resources for treatment - so we ensured that we had substance use disorder navigators who can help get people into treatment, we provided funding for treatment like Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, to wraparound teams like HOST - Homeless Outreach Stabilization Teams, PACT - these assertive community treatment models. So really making sure that those resources go hand-in-hand, because if people have no place to go and they don't have treatment, nothing's going to really work. I also wanted to make sure that because we were creating this in the middle of session, that we had an expiration date. So I insisted that this law expire in three years. And we created a committee or task force made up of a wide variety of individuals - people with lived experience, people in the treatment community, housing people, law enforcement, prosecutors, defense - everyone who deals with this issue to come together to come up with recommendations. So those recommendations have officially been made. And our law expires this 2023, so we as the Legislature have to actually pass another substance use disorder law to make sure that we're, again, pushing ourselves to doing things that are based on - with best practices. [00:11:16] Crystal Fincher: Now the bill did not end up - at that time what passed - was not what you were ultimately happy with and didn't earn your vote at that time. But you did say that - because of some of those things that were funded, you really wanted to focus on getting those implemented and working across the state, because it's important to - if someone is going to make a referral for treatment or for services, that those services be available. And we were in a situation where those were not available in sufficient quantities around the state and people may not have been able to get their needs met. Where do those stand today? How far have we made it in terms of implementation and availability of services? [00:12:02] Senator Manka Dhingra: So I'll just say - on paper - the funding, the availability of services looked amazing. And then COVID hit. And one of the biggest barriers became COVID, because we weren't really able to implement everything that we wanted to. We had inpatient treatment services that had to be dramatically reduced because of social distancing - they had to limit their bed capacity. And so it's very challenging to talk about how successful or not successful this program could have been because it was greatly hampered by COVID. And we know from years and years of data and just knowing how humans behave - that when there is a huge incident like COVID - people do tend to self-medicate because of anxiety and depression. And we saw that. We saw use of alcohol and drugs go up exponentially because people were dealing with trauma. And so the combination of factors made it a lot more challenging. And so the resources weren't able to be deployed as timely as we would have liked. Now we're in a position - with this summer, we were able to do statewide deployment of the substance use navigators, so now they're around. We have funded a lot more options for law enforcement assisted diversions. So we have this program set up, but unfortunately we also had a lot of inpatient treatments that actually closed - because of COVID and their not being sustainable. The other issue also became is - there are a lot of individuals who really feel that there has to be an option for court-directed treatment - the court has to force you to do treatment. And so one of the things we had talked about is - if you want the option of that, you still have that through Drug Court, Mental Health Court, Veterans Court - if people engage in other criminal activity in addition to substance use disorder. We also have a civil commitment statute - we have Involuntary Treatment Act - we have assisted treatment where if you really want it to be court-ordered, you can do it through the civil system. And so we were really hoping to ramp up our civil system to do that. And again, due to COVID and what happened with our judicial system, we weren't really able to get there. So I would say where we are now from when the bill was passed - not as far along as we would have liked. And we simply haven't had the time to give these programs the setup that they actually needed. So in an ideal situation, I would have liked to see one more year of us working under this bill to really see what's working and what's not, and then come up with a different solution. But unfortunately we don't have that time and COVID did make things more challenging in terms of implementation. [00:15:00] Crystal Fincher: So in terms of these programs and what was funded and addressing the capacity and now increased staffing issues with a lot of these services, is there going to be a push for increased funding? Does the existing funding already cover the implementation? What action needs to be taken from the legislature to ensure that in another year's time we are where we do want to be? [00:15:24] Senator Manka Dhingra: So absolutely the funding needs to continue and it will. The cities and the counties that do have the programs up and running - because it was a gradual start - have actually shown really positive results. We are seeing individuals getting the help they need. We have had law enforcement in those areas actually appreciate the resources that have been provided to the community to do this work. We also have to take a look at - how do we staff inpatient units? The way we pay them for per bed usage doesn't really work when you have pandemics because a third of the beds can't be used. So if you're only paying them for the beds, they can't do full staffing if they're not allowed to use a third of their beds. So we really have to rethink what that payment for treatment looks like. And there've been some really interesting ideas on integration, and paying for the whole person, and paying for programs rather than for each beds. And that's what COVID really taught us - being really creative on how we are supporting some of our community clinics, so I think you're going to see some really exciting stuff coming in on more integrated community-led efforts. Our federal government, in the last two years under President Biden, has really made a lot of federal dollars available for us to do this work. And Washington is really set up very well to take advantage of these federal dollars. I think it's still an exciting time and - it always gets darkest before the light, but I do think we are going to be turning the corner on the opioid epidemic. [00:17:06] Crystal Fincher: I hope so. And so now you're going to be taking up this legislation again - you're forced to - and many people were supportive of the sunset and revisiting of this legislation this session. It looks like there, once again, is a mixed variety of opinions on the right way forward this session. And it looks like there are a growing amount of people, supported by what looks like changing public sentiment, or absolutely a number of polls in support of a public health approach as opposed to a criminalized approach to substance use disorder and possession of personal amounts. Is there the opportunity this session to move towards a full public health approach and move away from criminalization of personal possession of substances? [00:17:59] Senator Manka Dhingra: I wish I could tell you there was. This is unfortunately the truth in politics that I've learned - is that normally the public is way ahead of elected officials. Over and over again, I've heard from the public that when they see their loved one, their neighbor, their friend, or even the stranger struggling with substance use disorder, they want treatment. The first response isn't to send someone to prison. And so the recommendation out of this committee - it's actually called SURSAC [Substance Use Recovery Services Advisory Committee] - was for decriminalization of personal use. And so the bill that I will be sponsoring is based on the committee's recommendation, because I think it's really important to honor that work. That work and their conclusions are based on best practices, it's data driven through looking at what has worked around the world - not just in the United States - because we know this is a worldwide problem. We don't have the votes for that in the Senate or in the House. So I'll have my bill, which is based on best practices and data. We are going to have another bill by Senator Robinson, who is going to take a lot of the treatment recommendations coming out of that group, but it does make possession of personal use a gross misdemeanor. It encourages diversion, but that's where it's at. We're going to have other individuals who may want to make it back as a felony - I don't think there's appetite at all to have it be a felony because that has failed so miserably. And I know there's some interest in making it a misdemeanor. All of those have issues, right? No one is going to agree on one version of it, but I think the best decisions are always the decisions that are made when they're data-driven. I don't think our legislature is there. I don't think the Blake fix is going to be evidence-based or data-driven. It will criminalize personal drug use with a lot of options for diversion. And the hope really is that the prosecutors, the judges are in a position to make those referrals. The hope really is that community resources come in and are able to help people outside of the criminal justice system. I'm a little disappointed, but that's human nature. All you can do is continue to make the case on trying to do things that work. [00:20:40] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. [00:20:41] Senator Manka Dhingra: But people are driven by fear. [00:20:43] Crystal Fincher: Yeah. And appreciate your continued work to continue to make the case and for standing by that when it comes to voting. Is there the opportunity with this to implement another sunset - for as you said, as we get more infrastructure set up around the state, accounting for the COVID delays and challenges, that maybe we get to revisit this in another couple of years? [00:21:08] Senator Manka Dhingra: You know, I'm not sure about that - we'll have to see how it works. The reality is you can have whatever laws you want - it depends on what implementation looks like. So when the Blake decision came out, the current individuals who were charged with drug possession cases - all those cases had to be dismissed. And if they were in custody, they had to be released. Now, I was very curious to know how many of those individuals currently existed, because I had heard and know that most of these cases weren't being prosecuted - that they were actually being deferred. And that was actually true. People thought the Drug Courts would close - they didn't. There were very few Drug Courts that actually had individuals that were only there for drug possession cases, because the culture of enforcement has changed so much. Because the people that do that work know that having someone go through the court system or look at incarceration does not improve the substance use disorder. It actually makes it worse. And so practically, there were not people in Drug Court to any significant degree when this decision came out. And that's why I tried to tell people - that there was already that recognition in our criminal justice system that said, We're not prosecuting these individuals, they're being offered diversions at the time of booking. Or they end up pleading guilty to a reduced sentence and finish that time in jail and leave. So there is a disconnect between the laws on our book and what is being implemented. And I think all we can do is actually make that community treatment program really robust and provide those resources, and destigmatize substance use disorder so that people can actually feel comfortable going for treatment and acknowledging that they have a problem. [00:22:56] Crystal Fincher: That makes sense. Another issue that has been an issue that has been talked about throughout the community has been those surrounding police pursuits. High speed vehicle chases - I suppose some may not be at high speeds - but pursuing people who they suspect of fleeing because of some crime or being wanted for a reason. And lots of talk in the community and data and evidence about the injuries and deaths caused by police pursuits - and really weighing whether the risk of pursuit is worth it in cases where someone is not wanted for a violent crime and people's health and wellbeing seem to be in immediate jeopardy, as opposed to a property crime or something else like that. What is the work that you've done on that? And do you anticipate that being an issue? Where do you stand on that? [00:23:53] Senator Manka Dhingra: I go back to the way I deal with legislation - I start off with what is the problem you're trying to solve? So when it came to police pursuits, the question was - what is the problem we're trying to solve? And the problem we were trying to solve is data that came out that said 50% of the people that are killed during police chases are individuals that have nothing to do with the incident. These are innocent bystanders who get killed. And that number is at 50% in the state. That is an unacceptable number. So we took a look and said, OK, how can we reduce that number? And so the police pursuit bill that was passed by the Senate and the House and signed into law is one that's actually based in best practices. It was based on a policy that very closely mirrored what a lot of our cities were already doing. So we do have some cities that had very similar policies and others that frankly were not good partners in doing this work. And so we passed that. There were a few cities who didn't really have to change their policies because that is what their official policy was. And there were others that were forced to change their policy. And this is exactly what you mentioned, Crystal - it is about doing that analysis. We made sure that if it's a domestic violence case, you can pursue the vehicle. If it's a case involving violence, you can pursue the vehicle. If it's a DUI, you can pursue the vehicle. But when it comes to property, we said, No, you can't - because there are other ways to catch an individual in today's day and age. And guess what? We haven't had innocent people dying since this policy was enacted. So did we solve the problem of not having 50% of the fatalities be uninvolved? We absolutely did. We do not have innocent people dying in vehicle pursuits. And I've heard criticism that, Oh, people are just fleeing and not getting caught. And I've asked the question, Are they not getting caught in that instant? Are they getting arrested the next day or a few days later? Guess what? They're being arrested, they're just arrested a few days later. And now they're being charged with a felony - attempting to elude - because they fled. So I know that there are cities and law enforcement agencies that want us to go back on our vehicle pursuit bill. And I have asked them for data - because I do tend to be data-driven - and I've said, Show me how many people have not been caught because of this data. The only data they can show me is the number of pursuits is up. And I'm like, And what happens the day after? Because when they share the stories with me, they always end with, Oh, yes, and we caught the guy two days later or the next day. And so again, I think for those who want us to change our policy, I come back with what is the problem you're trying to solve and where is the data supporting that? And I have not seen the data that tells me that this is the wrong policy. [00:26:53] Crystal Fincher: Well, and I appreciate the approach you take in being very data-driven because really - there's a lot of conflicting information out there. There's a lot of people who sometimes are scared just by change. And so looking at what the situation actually is based on evidence makes a lot of sense. This was an issue with a number of bills around public safety in prior sessions where there - in 2020 - where a number of accountability bills passed. And then following that, some seeming cold feet amid pushback from some law enforcement officials and others saying, Well, you have prevented us from being able to do our jobs and you're putting public safety at risk by holding us more accountable. What was your take on that, and on some of the legislation that rolled back some of the accountability progress that was made? [00:27:53] Senator Manka Dhingra: When people started saying - Oh, the Legislature prevented us from doing our work, my question was - No, we made sure you can be held liable for taking wrong actions. If they choose not to act because they're afraid of liability, that is not the Legislature preventing them from doing their job. It's that they have to relearn how to do their job. Or go back to best practices that they were taught - but over time, those practices have kind of gone away because you just kind of start doing what everyone else does and not really focus on best practices. And the bottom line is this. We had to do all of that work because of George Floyd. And the years and years and years of Black people telling us that they're being killed at the hands of law enforcement and frankly, the world not listening - until we had COVID, was stuck in our house, didn't have any new Hollywood movies coming out or new TV shows coming out - and we had to watch the video that was captured. And finally acknowledge and say, Yes, what people have been saying is true and real. We, as elected officials, have to do something about it. So it comes down to, again, what is the problem that we were trying to solve? And the problem is that Black and Brown men and women are treated unfairly with law enforcement. And when you see that so blatantly and so starkly that you cannot make excuses for it anymore, like we have been for decades, you have to do something and you cannot do business as usual. There has to be accountability. And like you said, change is hard. People don't like making change. But unless they do it themselves, it is thrusted upon them and that is - the job of electeds and the Legislature is to make sure we are standing up for each and every human being. I represent cities like Duvall and Woodinville, Redmond, Kirkland - each and every one of these cities had a Black Lives Matter protest - down in Duvall, Woodinville, Redmond, Kirkland. I was there at all of them. This is something that our population demanded and the Legislature provided. And it's going to take a while for people to make the changes, but these are changes that are needed. We are an outlier in the United States when it comes to fatalities at the hand of law enforcement. No other country has that rate like the US does. And it's time we took it seriously and put in practices that are going to prevent it. [00:30:46] Crystal Fincher: Agreed. And as you talked about before, lots of times the public is more in tune with data and reality - because they're living it - than some of the elected officials. We just saw in these past elections in November where we had a county prosecutor race where people with two very different views were running. One focused on more punitive punishment measures, focused a lot on criminalization and focusing on that. Another one who's saying, Okay, we're not going to not follow the law, but we need to follow the evidence and start to pursue policies, or continue the path of pursuing policies like diversion that have been shown to be more successful in helping people get on a productive path to not commit any more crimes and to reduce the amount of people who are victimized. As you continue through this path of various legislation in this session, what is your message to people who do say that police accountability gets in the way of public safety? [00:31:54] Senator Manka Dhingra: And I just say that is absolutely not true. Holding someone responsible for bad actions has nothing to do with public safety. Public safety is about your perception of safety. You can talk about domestic violence and I can tell you, and I'm going to say mostly women - because we are talking mostly women who are victims or survivors - they have not felt safe in their house for decades. And people will not say that that is a public safety issue because they're thinking about what happens when they walk down the street, not what is happening in their own home. When we talk about sexual assault, it's a different concept of public safety. When we talk about trafficking, it's different. And so we have to - when we talk about public safety, it's not about property crimes. It's about individuals feeling safe - at home, in their school, or out in the street. And so we have to be focused on human safety and them feeling safe in whatever environment they're in. Right now when people talk about public safety, they're only talking about car thefts, and thefts from businesses, and graffiti, and seeing people using drugs on the street - that's not public safety. Those all tend to be public health issues and systems that aren't funded appropriately. And frankly, the systemic racism that has occurred in this country for generations that has allowed these wealth inequities. So we have to talk about public safety as the human feeling safe. And I can tell you - it is women, women of color who are most at risk of being victims of public safety, but we don't talk about that. I do. And that is how I frame these issues is - we have done a terrible job when it comes to investigating, reporting, prosecuting sexual assault. Same thing about domestic violence, same thing about trafficking. And when you take a look at the ills in our society, it comes down to gender-based violence. It comes down to our children being raised in households where they see domestic violence, the trauma that occurs through there. So public safety is a lot more complicated than seeing there's a rise in their concerns about public safety - because when you really take a look at the holistic concept of public safety, there isn't. And I'll just say for decades, crime in our country has been reducing. Then the last three years, because of the pandemic, you've seen a rise in violence and a rise in crimes, but overall, when you take a look at trend over decades, we are at a downward trend. It is still the best time to live in America right now than it ever has been. That is actually true. Technology is there to help us, we have more access to resources, there are more people being fed, and there are more people who are actually safe. So let's try to change that conversation on public safety because the sound bites are not based in reality. [00:34:55] Crystal Fincher: They really aren't. And it looks like by these - once again - most recent election results, the public recognizes that and wants to move towards more evidence-based solutions. I also want to talk about - you talk about who are most often victims of crime. And when we talk about victims, so often it's in the context of, Well, victims would want this person punished. And what are you going to say to the victims if this person doesn't spend a whole bunch of time in jail? But it seems like we engage less on - how do we actually best support victims? How do we do that? And how can we do better? [00:35:32] Senator Manka Dhingra: That is such a great question. Thank you so much for framing it the way you just did because that's absolutely true. People - because of TV shows - mostly have this image of this victim who's like this innocent, fragile, vulnerable person who has never done anything wrong in her life. That is not who the victim is. Victims are as complicated as any single human being. And many times when you take a look at a victim of crime, especially in our society, they're not strangers. You normally know the perpetrator of violence, and there's that connection. And so when you talk about what the victim wants, it isn't necessarily punishment or prison time for 20 years. It is much more nuanced and much more complicated. As I mentioned, I used to run the Therapeutic Alternative Unit, and we really used to make sure - we were the first in the country, actually, to not have any criminal history that's a bar to participate in this program. But I insisted that part of this program, we have a victim advocate. And that when there were crimes involving victims, that the victim's voice would be part of what the resolution is. And I cannot tell you - over and over again, when you provided victims the resources and the services and you explained the program, they wanted that defendant to go through that program. Because they want that person to get better, they want to make sure that what happened to them doesn't happen to anyone else. And when the victim feels supported and has resources on their own, they can actually deal with their own trauma and move on - because no one wants to hold on to that hurt and that anger. It is not good for anybody. But unless we as a society can provide those resources and that support, the victims aren't going to get better. And when they don't, you just have that cycle over and over again. And one of the bills that I'm really proud of - I passed a couple of years ago - and it was about making sure that if you are a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault or trafficking, when you are on your path to recovery, you can get your criminal history, your convictions expunged. And the reason I really wanted that bill is because - trauma exerts itself as a reaction, not just as a memory. And so there are so many people in the criminal justice system who are survivors - they're survivors of violence. And they're engaging in the criminal justice system because of that trauma. And we don't have a criminal justice system that is trauma-informed. We're trying to get there. But being trauma-informed means you have to understand that anyone coming into that system may and most probably has suffered trauma. And unless you deal with that underlying trauma, you're going to continue on that cycle. So I think there's a lot more work we need to do in being trauma-informed throughout our criminal justice system. [00:38:31] Crystal Fincher: Well, I appreciate that and appreciate your work. And also, your work on the 988 system. Can you explain what that is and where that stands in terms of implementation? [00:38:43] Senator Manka Dhingra: Absolutely - you're asking about my favorite bills. I've been working with the mental health community for a very long time in my other job as a Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney. And one of the things people have wanted for a very, very long time is a mental health crisis line. Because it's not illegal to be mentally ill, yet we call 911 and have law enforcement show up. And so 988 is a national number that went live in July. And we took this opportunity in the state of Washington to create an entire crisis system around 988. So right now, if anyone who needs help - if they're suicidal or in crisis, that's a mental health substance use disorder crisis - they can call 988. The 988 phone number is actually staffed by mental health professionals - individuals who are trained in how to deescalate and help with situations. And so we made sure that we provided funding for the people responding to the calls - that they had the credentials needed to do this work. We made sure that these hubs of 988 are actually going to - in the next few years, they are going to have a mobile response team that is made up of community mental health professionals along with peers. We are connecting 911 and 988 in the sense that there's cross-training - because a lot of the calls that come to 911 are actually mental health calls. So we want them to be able to transfer those calls through 988. And there may be times when a call comes into 988, but there's a weapon involved or a gun involved, and they need that help from 911. So we're working on cross-training and some kind of cross-mobilization. But what we have found is - from other states that have done some of this work - is that when you have a mental health professional answering these calls, 90% of the calls are able to be resolved. The 10% that need someone to show up for them - 7% can be handled with a mental health professional going out along with a peer, and only 3% need law enforcement. And so being a lot smarter about how we are responding to people in crisis - because they don't need to go to jail, most of them don't even need to go to an emergency room. We also took this opportunity to set up a structure where we can have more technology and data. We would love to do a bed tracking system, so someone who needs help - the 988 operator can take a look and know that there is a bed available for them, that they can connect them to treatment. Come January, our state mandates next-day appointments. So if you call the crisis line, your insurance or Medicaid - whatever it can be - is mandated that the next day you are going to go see somebody. And that's going to be a game changer because you're making sure people get the treatment they need when they need it. So I am super excited about this system. More work to be done on it, but we are well on our path to do it. We - normally, in the state of Washington, while we can be proud of so much, we are not the state that is in the top 10 for mental health services, but our 988 bill is the national model in the country. And I have to say, I was very proud - with Representative Orwall who sponsored the bill, and I - both of us got an award, actually a national award, recognizing us for our 988 bill. So very, very exciting time and so much more to come on this. [00:42:20] Crystal Fincher: Excellent. And what do you say to people who are concerned that - who are trying to avoid a situation that may be escalated, especially with some of the challenges that law enforcement have in responding to and deescalation, deescalating situations - whether it's people of color, or disabled people, or people in crisis - that calling 988 could result in a law enforcement response or an involuntary confinement for behavioral health treatment. [00:42:53] Senator Manka Dhingra: When I said the numbers on the percentage of calls and the manner in which they're dealt with, what you find is when you have the right resources right at the beginning, you don't need law enforcement, you don't need civil commitment because you are able to, again, use your motivational interviewing skills. You're able to offer people services and support. That next-day appointment is critical. Because if they're willing to go see someone - a doctor, a nurse, a mental health specialist, whoever that person may be - they don't need to be involuntary treatment, ITA'ed as they call it, because they're going in for treatment. So you have to make early intervention options available as much as possible. There are always those individuals who may need a high level of care, so you have to make sure that you are able to meet them wherever they are - but you got to make sure you're providing early intervention. I will have a bill next session that actually sets up these facilities called 23-hour facilities. And so the hope really is that those individuals who can't wait for the next-day appointment, that we are actually able to take them to these 23-hour facilities where the hope really is that they're there for 23 hours - because they can't stay there longer than that - and then you have to have a transition plan on how you're going to get them connected to other services and support. And that's what we have found is that - the right intervention at the right time - really, people want help, that's why they're calling. They're not calling because they actually want to kill themselves. It's because they're like, Help me, I'm afraid I'm going to do this. And so you have to provide the help that they're asking for. [00:44:31] Crystal Fincher: Much appreciated. I appreciate you taking the time to go through all of this with us today. As we close, I wanted to talk about one of my favorite things that you, or any legislator does - and that is working with youth. How do you do that? And what were you able to accomplish? [00:44:49] Senator Manka Dhingra: I love working with our youth. When I first ran for office five years ago - at that time, my kids were 13 and 15. And I used to coach Destination Imagination, and Math Team, and a lot of teams. And so I had to tell them that, Hey, I'm going to run for office, so I'm going to have to step aside from coaching these teams. And the teens were like, Can we help? And I'm like, Yes. So I had 250 teenagers helping me on my first and second campaign - no one had heard, seen so many teenagers working on a campaign. And so my promise to them was - I will continue engaging with them. So I sponsor bills that have been brought to me by teens every year for the last five years. And my favorite bill for next session is going to be one - is one - that's been brought to me by teens in my district. And that's around eliminating gender-based pricing. They literally went to Target and Costco and took pictures of a bike helmet that's pink in color and the exact same helmet - same company, same everything - that's blue in color. And the blue helmet is for $20 and the pink helmet is for $25. And they even did that with adult diapers. I didn't know this, but apparently women's adult diapers are much more expensive than men adult diapers - no clue why. So I'm going to have that bill next session - I'm super excited about it. But these teens are the ones that made sure we now have menstrual products in all our schools and college bathrooms. We no longer, in Washington, pay taxes on menstrual products. And it's not just this stuff they care about - they care about access to mental health treatment and services, and substance use disorder, and criminal justice reform. You name it, and these teens want to make positive changes. And I cannot tell you how excited I feel looking at the next generation. [00:46:44] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. And this isn't even the first bill that they've brought to you. In fact, we have better access to menstrual products because of youth bringing up legislation, correct? [00:46:54] Senator Manka Dhingra: Absolutely. They really want to make sure that they can change the world. And that bill came about because of a conversation I was having with some of the teens. And the teens in the Redmond High School said they have menstrual products in their school. And I knew that teens in Kent and Moses Lake did not. And they started talking about how that's just not fair - that our school districts in more affluent communities are actually providing menstrual products than schools that are not in affluent areas. And guess who needs it more? And so just the fact that these teens think about access - and think about who is getting services and resources and who isn't - is just heartwarming for me. And the fact that they're willing to fight for others. So yes, all schools in Washington and colleges provide menstrual products in bathrooms now. [00:47:51] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. And if people want to learn more about the work that you're doing or support legislation that you have, what's the best way for them to get engaged? [00:48:00] Senator Manka Dhingra: The best way is to email my office, or get a hold of me on social media, and subscribe to my newsletter. If anyone is interested in any particular bill or issue, my office can help you get connected to how to get more information. But check out our website, leg.wa.gov - they have a lot of resources on how you can follow a bill, how you can sign up to testify. Our hearings are all hybrid, so you can testify on an issue from the comfort of your home or your car - as long as you're not driving. And if you don't want to testify, you can send in written testimony or simply show your support for a bill or opposition to a bill - and all of that gets counted. And democracy is not an individual sport - it is a team sport. You got to play and you got to be part of a team - and that's the only way we make our world better. [00:48:56] Crystal Fincher: Well, thank you so much today, Senator Manka Dhingra, for joining us and for sharing all of the work that you're doing. [00:49:02] Senator Manka Dhingra: Thank you so much. This was a great conversation and I loved absolutely chatting about these tough issues with you. [00:49:09] Crystal Fincher: Well, thank you and we will stay in touch. Thank you all for listening to Hacks & Wonks. The producer of Hacks & Wonks is Lisl Stadler. Our assistant producer is Shannon Cheng, and our Post-Production Assistant is Bryce Cannatelli. You can find Hacks & Wonks on Twitter @HacksWonks, and you can follow me @finchfrii, spelled F-I-N-C-H-F-R-I-I. You can catch Hacks & Wonks on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts - just type "Hacks and Wonks" into the search bar. Be sure to subscribe to get our Friday almost-live shows and our midweek show delivered right to your podcast feed. If you like us, leave us a review wherever you listen. You can also get a full transcript of this episode and links to the resources referenced in the show at officialhacksandwonks.com and in the episode notes. Thanks for tuning in - talk to you next time.

Guest: Dahye Jung, Reporter1. The Special Committee on the Parliamentary Investigation into 10.29 Tragedy conducted their first on-site inspection2. Both parties have agreed on a national budget plan for next year, and it may pass at the plenary session this Friday3. President 윤석열 called for removing “deep-rooted evils”(적폐청산) that blocks the country's growth and pushing for reforms in labor, education, and pensions.4. The government announced that it will ease excessive and punitive real estate regulation to recover market demand,5. 오마이뉴스 and 한겨레 deleted their articles regarding the justice minister 한동훈's remarks in the controversial clip of YTN from the rehearsal of the president's town hall meeting6. Masks should not be mandatory any more, but instead it should be “recommended,”1. "똑바로 조사 안하면 죽는다" 유족 오열 속 시동 건 `이태원 국조2. 여야, 내년 예산안 잠정 합의안 도출…23일 본회의 처리 가능성3. 尹대통령 “노조 부패 척결해야…노동개혁 최우선”4. 다주택, 규제지역 주담대 해제… ‘징벌 과세' 푼다5. 한동훈 리허설 발언 보도 오마이·한겨레 "질문 받으니 떨린다" 부분 삭제6. "실내마스크 '권고'로…격리도 3일로 단축" 의견, 곧 당정협의See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

https://youtu.be/MYA-KAs9uZ0 -Play 0:00-0:27 Will there be war between China & Taiwan? That was Taiwan’s minister of foreign affairs, Joseph Wu responding, you’ll hear more from him in a moment. Happy Friday ladies and gentleman, this is Garrison Hardie, pinch hitting for Pastor Toby, for this Friday, June 17th, 2022. Today, we’ll be talking about the potential of war between Taiwan, and China, the U.S. is still supplying Ukraine with weapons, and urging its allies to not lose steam with regards to supporting Ukraine militarily, a big win for Republicans in a historically blue south Texas, and a university changes it’s mascot, because it wasn’t inclusive enough… Before we get to our news for the day, a word, from New St. Andrews! New Saint Andrews: Today’s culture shifts like sand. But New Saint Andrews College is established on Christ, the immovable rock. It is a premier institution that forges evangelical leaders who don’t fear or hate the world. Guided by God’s Word, they take the world back because they’re equipped with the genius of classical liberal arts and God-honoring wisdom, thanks to a faculty dedicated to academic rigor and to God’s kingdom.Find out more, at nsa.edu/ https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/13/world/asia/china-taiwan-ukraine-military.html So, back to Taiwan and China… ever since Russia began an assault against Ukraine, many have speculated that China may do the same to its neighbor Taiwan. Taiwan’s minister of foreign affairs, Joseph Wu, sees a lot of similarities between what’s happening in Ukraine, with Taiwan’s situation with China: https://youtu.be/MYA-KAs9uZ0 -Play 0:27-0:136 Did you catch that? He said, “China has said Taiwan is just another part of China.” That sounds pretty familiar to what Putin had said leading up to his invasion of Ukraine, where he was quoted as saying, “Ukraine is not just a neighboring country, it’s an integral part of our history, culture… modern Ukraine was created entirely by Russia. By Bolshevik Communist Russia to be exact.” Interesting. So what’s going on in Taiwan in preparation for a potential war? According to the New York Times, Taiwan’s defenses are, by many accounts, ill-equipped and understaffed. Its president, has vowed to defend the island, but she has struggled to impose a new strategic vision on the uniformed leadership. Taiwan spends billions on fighter jets and submarines, yet its conscripts barely get enough ammunition for training. The mandatory military service is seen by many as too short, and the reservist program, insufficiently rigorous. The military is building a professional force, but has struggled to recruit and retain highly skilled soldiers. On top of that… Taiwanese citizens are not allowed to be training with weapons of war… there are videos of them training with airsoft guns! Go look it up on Youtube right now. Not exactly the kind of preparation for all out war you want right? Thank God for the second amendment. I always hate the argument made by gun control supporters that say, “oh what do you think the average gun owner would have a chance against the federal troops?” Answer, yes, they would. We have 300 + million people in this country, about 42% of American households have guns in the home, and there are more guns than people here in the U.S… yes, they’d be a problem to those federal troops. Oh by the way, visit our friends at Armored Republic if you want to get armor that could stop bullets from the imperial troops… anyways. Underlying Taiwan’s defense dilemma is a question left unanswerable by design: Will the United States send military forces to Taiwan’s aid? In May, President Biden suggested he would, but the United States offers no explicit security guarantees, a strategy it hopes will avoid either provoking Beijing or emboldening Taiwan to declare formal independence. Mr. Xi has said he seeks a peaceful unification with Taiwan, and he may be deterred by the huge economic and diplomatic blowback China would suffer for an invasion. But China has also been pointed in its warnings. Its defense minister, Gen. Wei Fenghe, said over the weekend that Beijing would “fight to the very end” for Taiwan. It is sending fighter jets toward the island almost daily — including 30 aircraft in one day last month alone. The concern is that such maneuvers could, intentionally or otherwise, be a prelude to conflict. Now I mentioned Ukraine earlier, let’s see what’s going on over there. https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-sweden-finland-jens-stoltenberg-1feb3640d59b05aceca62766d7d4f74d According to the Associated Press, US sending $1 billion more military aid to outgunned Ukraine Oh well good, at least this won’t add to our inflation. The U.S. announced it will send an additional $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine, as America and its allies provide longer-range weapons they say can make a difference in a fight where Ukrainian forces are outnumbered and outgunned by their Russian invaders. President Joe Biden and his top national security leaders said Wednesday the U.S. is moving as fast as possible to get critical weapons to the fight, even as Ukrainian officials protest that they need more, faster, in order to survive. The latest package, the U.S. said, includes anti-ship missile launchers, howitzers and more rounds for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) that U.S. forces are training Ukrainian troops on now. All are key weapons systems that Ukrainian leaders have urgently requested as they battle to stall Russia’s slow but steady march to conquer the eastern Donbas region. The aid is the largest single tranche of weapons and equipment since the war began. Biden, who spoke by phone with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for about 40 minutes Wednesday, also said the U.S. will send $225 million more in humanitarian assistance to provide safe drinking water, medical supplies, food, health care, shelter and money for families to buy essential items. The U.S. remains committed, Biden said in a statement, “to supporting the Ukrainian people whose lives have been ripped apart by this war.” The aid comes as Austin convened a meeting in Brussels of more than 45 nations to discuss support for Ukraine. At the start of the meeting, he warned that the West must step up weapons deliveries to Ukraine and prove its commitment to helping the country’s military fight along a 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line in a grinding war of attrition with Russia. He told the participating nations, “We can’t afford to let up and we can’t lose steam. The stakes are too high.” Overall, since the war began in late February, the U.S. has committed about $5.6 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, including this latest package. Officials said that about one-third of the latest $1 billion will be from presidential drawdown authority, which means the Pentagon will take weapons and equipment from it’s own stock and ship them to Ukraine. The remaining two-thirds would be equipment and weapons purchased from industry by the U.S. and then transferred to Ukraine. Lies, Propaganda, Story Telling, and the Serrated Edge: This year our national conference is in Knoxville, TN October 6th-8th. The theme of this year’s conference is Lies, Propaganda, Storytelling and the Serrated Edge. Satan is the father of lies, and the mother of those lies is a government who has rejected God. We have especially been lied to these last two years, and the COVIDpanic has been one of the central mechanisms that our government has used to lie to us and to grab more power. Because Christians have not been reading their bibles, we are susceptible to lies and weak in our ability to fight these lies. God has given us His word to fight Satan and his lies, and we need to recover all of God’s word, its serrated edge and all. Mark your calendars for October 6th-8th, as we fight, laugh and feast with fellowship, beer and Psalms, our amazing lineup of speakers, hanging with our awesome vendors, meeting new friends, and more. Early bird tickets are available now, but will be gone before you know it! Sign up now at flfnetwork.com/knoxville2022 https://www.dailywire.com/news/republican-mayra-flores-wins-u-s-house-seat-in-south-texas-first-gop-win-there-in-150-years Republican Mayra Flores Wins U.S. House Seat In South Texas, First GOP Win There In 150+ Years According to The Daily Wire, Republican Mayra Flores has flipped a U.S. House seat in deep blue south Texas in what is a likely indicator of the coming red tsunami that could hit the Democrat Party this fall during the midterm elections. Flores beat Democrat Dan Sanchez in the special election for Texas’ 34th Congressional District. The seat was previously held by Rep. Filemon Vela (D) who stepped down earlier this year to become a lobbyist as all signs pointed to a brutal upcoming midterm election season for Democrats. Flores is now “the first GOP candidate to represent that area of the Rio Grande Valley since 1870,” the Houston Chronicle reported, adding that she is now “the first congresswoman born in Mexico.” To put this win into perspective for you guys, Hillary Clinton won Mayra’s county, Cameron County, by 33 points back in 2016. Biden won it by 13. The region has been devastated by Democrat President Joe Biden’s border crisis, something that has turned off many Hispanic voters that typically have voted for Democrats in the past. “Republicans have been eager to flip the seat as part of their new offensive in South Texas after Biden’s underperformance throughout the predominantly Hispanic region in the 2020 election. Flores and her allies spent over $1 million on TV ads in the special election,” the Texas Tribune reported. “The dynamic put Democrats into an unusual underdog position in a region of the state they have long dominated. Vastly outspent by Flores, Sanchez repeatedly compared the special election to a David vs. Goliath fight, with himself playing David.” MSNBC columnist Eric Michael Garcia panicked over the results of the election, saying that Democrats needed to be sounding the alarm immediately. Now for the topic that I love… sports! https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2022/06/15/george-washington-u-dumps-colonial-mascot-for-not-being-inclusive/ George Washington U. Dumps Colonial Mascot for Not Being ‘Inclusive’ George Washington University (GW) officials have decided to remove the school’s “Colonial” mascot following years of woke activists demanding the university ban it for not being “inclusive.” Students then suggested the university change its mascot to a “hippo” or a “riverhorse” instead. “After a thoughtful and deliberate process that engaged the university community for feedback, the George Washington University’s Board of Trustees has accepted the recommendation of a Special Committee to discontinue the use of the Colonials moniker,” GW announced in a statement. “The decision to change the Colonials moniker was not taken lightly,” the university added, before stressing that “a new moniker will help unify the university community and serve as a source of pride.” In a purported email shared to Twitter by Young Americas Foundation, the university went on stress that it is important for the new GW mascot to reflect “the values, strengths and diversity of our worldwide population.” The university added that choosing a new moniker “will require a deliberate and thoughtful process” that “will engage the entire GW community of alumni, students, friends, faculty and staff to ensure that everyone has the chance to be heard.” GW announcing that it has decided to scrap the Colonials comes after years of woke activists demanding the school change its mascot. The initial call to ban the university’s mascot began in 2018. In urging GW to end the Colonials, students argued the nickname may “discourage” the campus community due to it not being “inclusive.” Students then suggested the university change its mascot to a “hippo” or a “riverhorse” instead. Hippo? That is so not inclusive of fat people! I am sickened by these suggestions! The university said it will continue to use the Colonials mascot until a new nickname is chosen. The school’s new moniker is expected to be introduced by the 2023-2024 academic year. This has been your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief. If you liked the show, share it, and if you really like us, you should sign up for a club membership at flfnetwork.com/membership/. And as always, if you want to become a corporate sponsor of CrossPolitic, let’s talk. Email me at garrison@fightlaughfeast.com. For CrossPolitic News, I’m Garrison Hardie. Have a great day, and Lord bless.