Podcasts about state parties

In this episode, Dr. Yassin Brunger converses with Dr. Astrid Reisinger-Coracini (University of Vienna) about the challenges and implications surrounding the crime of aggression in international law.Dr. Coracini, a member of the Austrian delegation at the International Criminal Court Assembly of State Parties in 2023, discusses the significant gaps and potential reforms in the legal frameworks governing the crime of aggression, drawing insights from historical contexts and current geopolitical conflicts, particularly the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They explore how the international community addresses such crimes and the essential pathways for justice and accountability.

The West Australian government and opposition are pushing to boost the number of people living and working outside Perth.

Host: Tim Pool Guests: Caryn Ann Harlos @carynannharlos (X) | @PinkFlameofLiberty   Michael Rectenwald @RecTheRegime (everywhere) | Mrectenwald.Substack.com Jeremy Kauffman @jeremykauffman (X) Producers:  Lisa Elizabeth @LisaElizabeth (X) Kellen Leeson @KellenPDL (X) Connect with TENET Media: https://twitter.com/watchTENETnow https://www.facebook.com/watchTENET https://www.instagram.com/watchtenet/ https://www.tiktok.com/@watchtenet https://www.youtube.com/@watchTENET https://rumble.com/c/c-5080150 https://www.tenetmedia.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just Secretary of State Antony Blinken partying at a bar in Ukraine after delivering them another $80 BILLION.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the Daily Compliance News. Each day, Tom Fox, the Voice of Compliance, brings you compliance-related stories to start your day. Sit back, enjoy a cup of morning coffee, and listen to the Daily Compliance News. all from the Compliance Podcast Network. Each day we consider four stories from the business world: compliance, ethics, risk management, leadership, or general interest for the compliance professional. The 10th Conference on State Parties on Corruption. (Transparency International) There is no business-class travel for PwC, as it's not green enough. (FT) Nasdaq settles Iran sanctions violations. (WSJ) Why the GOP doesn't want diverse law firms. (WaPo) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's program, we hear from 3 fantastic community organisers about the work of demilitarisation, countering extractivism and building for peace, justice and the elimination of weapons of mass destruction. Zelda Grimshaw from Wage Peace brings us report backs from recent actions at Defence Minister Richard Marles office in Geelong and Thales Australia's headquarters in Melbourne and an invitation to join the upcoming event Blockade Thales, Finn St. North Bendigo at 11am Tuesday 5 December. Marisol Salinas fills us in on the Latin American Solidarity Network's upcoming conference Multinationals Out! from 8-10 December that will bring grassroots campaigns across Latin America, Australia & Asia Pacific Region to counter extractivism. Gem Romuld Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Australia will set the scene for the next chapter in the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as they prepare for teh Second Meeting of State Parties in New York this coming week.We finish the show with the worlds of the great peacemaker Arabunna Elder Kevin Buzzacott.Music featured is 'Tell the World' by Combat Wombat from their Just Across The Border album. 

Fourteen Australians representing the disability community headed to New York City with the Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth attending the 16th Session of the United Nations Conference of State Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Ahead of the event held at the United Nations Headquarters from 13 to 15 June 2023 Dylan Alcott and Angus O'Loughlin spoke with Amanda to talk about its significance and it's involvement with delegations from countries that have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Amanda also answers your hard hitting questions sent in to us: Why did Amanda decide to take on a portfolio including disability Worrying about the next generations disability employment opportunities Disability support pensions mean testing and applications Watch our reaction to this episode on our YouTube where this episode is fully captioned: https://youtu.be/Pf6oAIGJDLQ Join the 10,000+ legends on Instagram: @ListenABLE_ Podcast https://www.instagram.com/listenable_podcast/ Share our guests stories on our Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/ListenablePodcast Grab our first merch release at our website From Your Pocket https://fromyourpocket.com.au/work/listenable/merchSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Itto Outini is an international journalist, Fulbright scholar, human rights activist, accessibility advocate, and author of the forthcoming memoir Blindness is the Light of My Life. She holds an MA in journalism and strategic media from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, has practiced print and radio journalism in the US and Morocco, and has been invited to speak for organizations including Cal Tech University, Verizon Wireless, and North Seattle College.  Her work experience spans the for- and non-profit sectors and includes a stint with the United Nations Development Programme. In 2021, she founded Fulbrighters with Disabilities, a global, virtual chapter of the Fulbright Association dedicated to supporting students and scholars with disabilities around the world. In June of 2022, she made history by co-chairing a panel at the 15th Session of the Conference of State Parties to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. That same year, her life story was featured on BBC Outlook, and she and her husband, Mekiya Outini, co-founded The DateKeepers, an international media platform committed to publishing independent journalism, showcasing untold stories, and highlighting well-lived lives, especially those of people with disabilities, advocates, and allies worldwide.  Mekiya Outini is a writer and co-founder of the DateKeepers, an international media platform. He earned his MFA in fiction from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and his short stories, essays, and poems have appeared in outlets such as Chautauqua Literary Journal, the Michigan Quarterly Review, and Willow Springs, respectively. His unpublished novel, Ashes, Ashes, has been selected as a finalist or semi-finalist in several contests, including the Chanticleer Somerset Awards, and its first two chapters were published in the West Trade Review. He lives with his partner in business and life, Itto Outini, in Kansas City, MO. Fulbright Scholar | Human Rights Activist | Founder of Fulbrighters with Disabilities | Co-Founder & Journalist at The DateKeepers | +1 (479) 502-3244 |

 CLIMATE ACTION RADIO SHOWProduced by Vivien LangfordFebruary 20th 2023PACIFIC  PEACE  TALKS  DUNEDIN  NZ "NO ONE IS FREE 'TIL EVERYONE IS FREE " Father Walter Lini- First PM VanuatuINTERVIEWS AND SPEECHES FROM THE NUCLEAR  CONNECTIONS CONFERENCE AT OTAGO UNIVERSITY IN AOTEAROA NZ Speaker bios - Nuclear Connections (mailchimpsites.com) As Cyclone Gabrielle fuelled by  a marine heatwave,  brings more floods and damage to Auckland NZ, we watch anxiously in February 2023In November 2022, I was invited to a conference by climate activists in Otepoti Dunedin.Nuclear Connections Across Oceania (November 2022) | Te Ao O Rongomaraeroa (otago.ac.nz)  I wanted to hear about climate action from Pacific people. There are three interviews and a speech but honestly most of the people found it hard to focus on  climate action with the immediate problem of Fukushima waste water about to be discharged into their part of the world The Pacific. They are worried too about the militarisation of the Pacific through RIMPAC military exercises every two years which have a climate impact also. Behind this is a colonial mentality which is prepared to discount their lives and culture. The islands, which were coaling stations for  steam ships are now essential fuel  depots for a massive amount of trade. Some are still occupied like W.Papua or tied to the colonial powers like Tahiti. Supporting their struggles is something we can do to liberate them for climate action.Pacific Islands Forum and Japan deliver differing statements on plans to dump nuclear wastewater in ocean - ABC Pacific Report from Nic Mc Lellan February 9th 2023We Bleed Black & Red - YOUNGSOLWARA PACIFICTake Action (ourislandsourhome.com.au) Petition“My new home was a dream come true – then climate disaster struck” – Virginia, activist taking on Shell at sea - Greenpeace Aotearoa- DonateIn reality the climate action most needed is from countries like Australia, which are still profiting from the export of climate changing coal, oil and gas.N.Z Writer and Environmental Lawyer Teall Crossen had the  humility to say " New Zealand is stealing from the people of the Pacific. We are stealing their land, their homes, their water and possibly we may recolonise their future".GUESTS:Hinamoeura Cross from TahitiHinamoeura CROSS is a Polynesian woman.  Between 1966 and 1996, there were 193 nuclear tests in so-called French Polynesia. She refers to them as bombs as "test" hides the real meaning of what was unleashed.Since 1980, her family has been affected by thyroid cancer, first her great gradmother, grandmother, and in 1990 her aunty and her Mom. In 2000 her Aunty got a breast cancer also. In 2013, it was her turn: leukemia. In 2019, she spoke in front of the United Nations 4th Committee to denounce the nuclear legacy on her people. She shares the story of her family as an example of what thousands of Polynesian families face as a result of nuclear weapons. In June 2022, she was one of the two Polynesian invited to participate to the first Meeting of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Vienna, Austria. In October 2022, she was in New York to to denounce France's nuclear legacy and its failure to address the disastrous health and environmental consequences. She realises that the nuclear fact in Polynesia is inseparable from colonial history. This is why she wishes to alert the international community to what is happening in her country. SHE SPOKE TO CLIMATE ACTION RADIO ABOUT THE DIFFICULTY OF DECOLONISING ONES MIND IN ORDER TO TAKE CLIAMET ACTION  Ronny Ato Buai Kareni from West PapuaRonny Kareni is a Canberra-based Free West Papua activist, musician, cultural diplomat and bilingual health educator. He graduated in diplomacy studies at the Australian National University, and a honorary fellow at the University of Wollongong West Papua Project. He is also the co-founder and collaborator of Rize of the Morning Star, a musical and cultural movement, and Pacific representative for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP).RONNY SPOKE TO THE CLIMATE ACTION SHOW ABOUT THE 3CR RADIO PROGRAMME "VOICES OF WEST PAPUA" ABOUT THE NEED FOR WEST PAPUA TO BE FREE SO THE CLIMATE ACTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION SO SORELY NEEDED BY ALL OF US CAN BE STARTED. HE QUOTED FATHER WALYER LINI FROM VANUATU" nO ONE IS FREE UNTIL ALL OF US ARE FREE" WHICH WAS ECHOED THROUGH THE CONFERENCE AT OTAGO UNIVERSITY IN DUNEDIN /OTEPOTI NZ  Joy Lehuanani Enomoto from Hawai'iJoy Lehuanani Enomoto is a mixed Kānaka Maoli scholar, community organizer and visual artist,. She currently lives in Honolulu, Oʻahu and is the executive director for Hawaiʻi Peace and Justice, which focuses on demilitarizing and de-occupying Hawaiʻi and the Pacific.WE HEAR PART OF HER SPEACH ABOUT RIMPAC MILITARY EXERCISES WHICH HUGELY IMPACT THE CLIMATE CRISIS AND DEVASTATE CORAL REEFS TURTLES AND OCEAN LIFE.Her scholarship has been featured in several publications including Contemporary Pacific: A Journal of Island Affairs, Detours: A Decolonial Guide to Hawaiʻi, Routledge Postcolonial Handbook & PostModern Culture Journal. Her artwork engages issues currently affecting the peoples of the Pacific and has been featured in the exhibitions “Inundation: Art & Climate Change in the Pacific”(2020) Mere Tuilau from FijiI am Mere Tuilau, an anti-nuclear advocate, human rights defender, facilitator and youth leader from Fiji.  I believe in the value of a people-centered approach to weave our struggles together on self-determination, socio-economic, climate change resistance and nuclear justice. In 2017, my role expanded to coordinating and strengthening the Youngsolwara Pacific movement — a regional movement made up of Pacific students, artists, poets, writers, academics and activists, who are passionate in safe-guarding our Oceans and self-determination.  In 2022, I initiated the forming of the Pacific Youth for TPNW and led the conversation on our collective implementation paper at the 1st Meeting of State Parties' in Vienna. I am also involved with Youth for TPNW and Reverse the Trend Pacific.As stewards of the vast Pacific Ocean, I believe that we are called to safeguard, guide and determine our destiny, as well as to navigate our narratives until we the people of Oceania are fully free.. Mere contributed to the  “Pacific voices” session and “Stopping the wastewater discharge at TEPCO's damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant” panel. She spoke to CLIMATE ACTION RADIO about climate activism in the Pacific. Read her poem  here"The elephant in the room Diplomacy….Diplomacy? Swallowing my mixed em(Ocean),I stood up and saidExcuse me, I need some air.With thoughts rushing,Anger rizing,Feet rushing,Soul hurting,Face blushing,Heartbeat accelerating,I burst into tears on my way through the hallwaysand into the bathroom to hide myself…..in the name of “diplomacy” What is relationship without principles?Without it''s values?What is history without evidence ?What are humans without feelings ?What is hurt without its wound?What are lessons without learning?What are we, without each other? How can we  look at Britain, France and U.S in the eye and have historical amnesia?Or how can the devils empire look at us in the eye and say "For the Good of Mankind" ? Thoughts of my ancestors crying,Mother screaming in the delivery roomSisters dyingFathers blindBrothers displacedMy family in crisisMy emOcean drowning “Diplomacy” Not him, not her, not them, but us.US who carries the weight,the burden of proof,To prove the suffering,the biggest aggression of our lives. “Diplomacy”  Where our tears and sacrifices are being politicizedWhere Love is being testedWhere hearing is being testedWhere humanity is being tested “Diplomacy” Hear us in our rawest self.Hear us to hear our ancestors cry freelyHear us to let our generation live freelya future where we can dream freelyNa numa noqu Waitui. We look back to look forwardWe look back to pauseWe look back to set sailThe Ocean creates livesThe Ocean hubs livesAnd the Ocean is liveProtect our waitui.      

Every year, nations from around the world gather for a meeting on climate change. It's called the Conference of State Parties, or COP, and this year it took place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. To speak about the big trends of COP 27 and the major takeaways for what happens next, we have Mark Nevitt, a professor at Emory Law School and an expert on climate change and national security.Show Notes: Mark Nevitt (@MarkNevitt) 5:17 Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif's remarks to the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 23, 2022 8:13 Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan's remarks at COP 27 on Nov. 8, 202216:10 NYU's American Journalism Online Program16:40 Mark's Just Security article previewing COP 27 Just Security's COP 27 tracker with notable moments and key themes  Lisa Benjamin's (@DrLisaBenjamin) Just Security article analyzing the future of loss and damage after COP 27Music: “The Parade” by “Hey Pluto!” from Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/hey-pluto/the-parade (License code: 36B6ODD7Y6ODZ3BX)

In episode 6 of Kofi Time, our special guest is Zeid Raad Al Hussein. Zeid discusses his friendship with Kofi Annan and how they worked together to protect human dignity and promote human rights. Through the creation of the Human Rights Council and International Criminal Court, Kofi Annan played a critical role in establishing the mechanisms that we have today to protect human rights and fight impunity. Zeid recalls Kofi Annan's ability to draw people in to fight for the common good, never hesitating to speak his mind and push back when necessary. How can we uphold Kofi Annan's legacy and ensure that respect for human rights is not just an abstract concept but a reality? About Zeid Raad Al Hussein: Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein is IPI's President and Chief Executive Officer. Previously, Zeid served as the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2014 to 2018 after a long career as a Jordanian diplomat, including as his country's Permanent Representative to the UN (2000-2007 & 2010-2014) and Ambassador to the United States (2007-2010). He served on the UN Security Council, was a configuration chair for the UN Peace-Building Commission, and began his career as a UN Peacekeeper in the former Yugoslavia. Zeid has also represented his country twice before the International Court of Justice, served as the President of the Assembly of State Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court from 2002-2005, and in 2005, authored the first comprehensive strategy for the elimination of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in UN Peacekeeping Operations while serving as an advisor to Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Zeid is also a member of The Elders, an independent group of global leaders working together for peace, justice and human rights, founded by Nelson Mandela. Zeid holds a PhD from Cambridge University and is currently a Professor of Practice at the University of Pennsylvania.

There's a lot to hear about from ICAN- International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons organisers, Gem Romuld and Jemila Rushton. We hear the latest about the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, including the upcoming first meeting of State Parties in Vienna. How ICAN, and the public, are working towards getting more MPs signing a pledge to work towards Australia signing onto this Treaty. Also, hear about local action at Port Kembla, against the proposal that it may be one of the sites to host the slated nuclear submarines. https://icanw.org.au/

Right now, the people running the State Parties aren't leaders. They aren't credible and they have no standards. SHOW NOTES: Music by: Intro = Epic Travel on Celtic Roads, by Lesfm Outro = Inspiring Journey Background Music for Videos, by Lesfm Both music selections are royalty free on Pixabay LINKS: https://flatheadbeacon.com/2022/04/08/rigging-the-vote/ DISCLAIMER: These podcasts are in no way endorsed by the creators of the media used within, nor are they intended to undermine or complete with any material existing or forthcoming material. Copyright Disclaimer under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976 - allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute, that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. No copyright infringement is intended. All audio clips used in these podcasts are not intended to infringe.

Sam Frank joins The Great Battlefield podcast to talk about his career in progressive political technology from working on The Women's March and March for Our Lives to his current role as Product Manager at Auth0. Stick around to the end to hear Sam's bone to pick with NGP/VAN Everyaction after their recent valuation.

On June 16, USIP, the Harvard Law School Project on Disability and their fellow co-sponsors hosted a conversation on the gaps and opportunities in disability-inclusive peacebuilding and steps for the greater inclusion and participation of people with disabilities. This event was an official side event to the 2021 Conference of State Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.   Speakers Professor Michael Stein, welcoming remarks Visiting Professor of Law, Harvard Law School; Executive Director, Harvard Law School Project on Disability Gerard Quinn, introductory remarks U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities  Rashad Nimr Conflict Advisor (Contractor), Youth and Social Inclusion, USAID Center for Conflict and Violence Prevention Fon Dieudonne National Coordinator, Think Big Association Emina Ćerimović Senior Researcher on Disability Rights, Human Rights Watch Professor Janet E. Lord Advisor to U.N. Special Rapporteur Gerard Quinn; Senior Fellow, Harvard Law School Project on Disability  Charlotte McClain-Nhlapo, co-moderator Global Disability Advisor, World Bank Elizabeth Murray, co-moderator Senior Program Officer, U.S. Institute of Peace For more information about this event, please visit: https://www.usip.org/events/disability-inclusive-peacebuilding

Plus: We start the hour with Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley.

We take listener calls on the future of both state parties, the coronavirus outbreak at the State House, and increasingly dire warnings about gathering for Thanksgiving.

Jay Parmley joins The Great Battlefield podcast to talk about his career in politics helping to build the Democratic state parties in Oklahoma, Alaska, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina. Jay also shares some insight in to Joe Biden's victory in South Carolina.

The Future of Ireland: Human Rights and Children's Rights Ireland's future sets before us a series of questions about constitutional and Church-State relationships. The vast majority of current Church members (around 84 percent worldwide and considerably higher in Ireland) were baptized as babies. For the Catholic majority in Ireland this has resulted in the imposition of onerous obligations on children long before they are equipped to evaluate them or agree to them. However, a more fundamental issue still lies unresolved and that is always allowing the right of parents to present their child for Baptism and raise the child in their faith, whether the child can, in international human rights law, be held to denominational membership and obligations entered when he or she was non sui compos. The has special significance for Ireland given the dominant position of the Catholic Church particularly in education and healthcare in Ireland but the general issues addressed have transferable implications for other denominations and faith systems. In this lecture, Professor Mary McAleese will explore how we define and vindicate a child's right to religious freedom, conscience, opinion and belief as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) to which Ireland, the United Kingdom and the Holy See are all State Parties. The Annual Edmund Burke Lecture is supported by a generous endowment in honour of Padraic Fallon by his family.

World Day for International Justice, also referred to as Day of International Criminal Justice or International Justice Day, is an international day celebrated throughout the world on July 17 as part of an effort to recognize the emerging system of international criminal justice. July 17 was chosen because it is the anniversary of the adoption of theRome Statute, the treaty that created the International Criminal Court. On 1 June 2010, at the Review Conference of the Rome Statute held in Kampala (Uganda), the Assembly of State Parties decided to celebrate 17 July as the Day of International Criminal Justice.[1] Each year, people around the world use this day to host events to promote international criminal justice, especially support for the International Criminal Court. The day has been successful enough to attract international news attention, and for groups to use the day to focus attention on particular issues such as genocide in Darfur, Falun Dafa, and serious crimes of violence against women.

In conversation with Prof Frans Viljoen  The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights are key mechanisms within the regional human rights system. However, the African Union’s Executive Council’s June 2018 Decision 1015 raises concerns that the African Commission is being undermined, weakening the protection of human rights.  Looking at this moment of crisis, Professor Frans Viljoen (Director, Centre for Human Rights) provides an insight into the motivations behind the Executive Council’s decision; from the contention surrounding the African Commission’s granting of observer status to the Coalition of African Lesbians, to the historical tension between the AU’s policy organs and the African Commission. During the discussion the push and pull between the African Commission and the State Parties is contextualised, the assertion of state sovereignty explained, as well as how the replacement of the AU Assembly by the Executive Council in terms of receiving the African Commission’s report change the dynamic. We consider to what extent the autonomy and independence of the African Commission is threatened by Decision 1015 and what incorporating the African Commission as an AU institution could mean for the protection of human rights. Given Decision 1015’s challenge against the African Commission’s interpretative mandate, the discussion explores the relationship between the Commission and the Court and the potential implications of the decision. Prof Viljoen highlights how the debate surrounding the Commission’s mandate and role can be used to bring out the utility and role of the Commission, alerting states to the benefits it offers and to prevent limitations on the African human rights system. This conversation was recorded on Wednesday 27 February 2019. Music: Inner Peace by Mike Chino https://soundcloud.com/mike-chino Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/0nI6qJeqFcc 

John McKenna, host of the VALID Podcast, is chatting with Robert Martin, who was over from New Zealand attending the 20th anniversary of the VALID Having A Say Conference, which took place in February 2019.Robert is the first person with an intellectual disability to sit on a United Nations Committee. His role on the UN Committee is to monitor State Parties implementation of the Convention for the Rights of People with Disabilities.Robert led the charge to close institutions in New Zealand and took the fight all around the world. For more information about VALID, the website is www.valid.org.au

What challenges does the GOP face in attracting Millennials and younger Americans to the party?  Has Trump permanently changed things?  Are political parties even relevant anymore?   Who better to answer such questions than Matt Pinnell, who’s held high profile positions with both the state and national party?  Matt Pinnell was elected Oklahoma’s 17th Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma in the 2018 midterm elections.  But prior to winning elected office for himself, he was busy helping others do the same.  Matt met Saving Elephants host Josh when he was managing the campaign for a candidate for Oklahoma Lt. Governor—which is, serendipitously, the office he has just been elected to.   But prior to entering political office himself, Matt was instrumental in helping the Republican party recruit, train, and run successful candidates.  Matt took over as the Chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party when Gary Jones left that position to run for State Auditor.  At only 29 years old, Matt was the youngest leader of a state party in the country at the time.  He continued the work Gary Jones had begun and oversaw the tremendous shift of power from Democrats to Republicans to the point where all 77 counties voted for the Republican candidate for president in 2008 and again in 2012—earning Oklahoma the title the “reddest state in the nation”.   Matt’s work received national attention and he was appointed by Reince Priebus with the RNC to oversee all Republican state parties.  His title with the Republican National Committee was Director of State Parties, and he jokes he now has a doctorate in adult daycare.   With his relative youth, Matt has had a passion for involving young Americans in the political process and in sharing the values that conservatism can bring to the next generation of Republicans.  Matt believes millennials are the most caring and purpose-driven generation to come along, and he’s excited about finding ways to tap into that positive energy to restore the republic.

In this mobcast episode FPDN CEO Damian Griffis gives an update on FPDN representing at the United Nations in New York. Damian discusses his opportunity to address the UN and the issues he raised with regards to Aboriginal prisoners with disability, Evelyn Collins & FPDN Deputy CEO June Riemer presenting at the Women with Disability event and FPDN’s Paul Calcott at the 1st LGBTIQ+ people with disability event. There is also some exciting news about FPDN’s new national project!

Darrell Castle examines the questions of who poisoned the Skripals and where the evidence is that Russia did it. Transcript / Notes WHO POISONED THE SKRIPALS Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today's Castle Report.  Today is Friday, March 30, 2018, and more importantly, this is Good Friday, or the Friday before Easter.   This is good news day and if there is good news out there I will find it today.  First though, we have to talk and wonder, about the Skripals and who poisoned them.  Were they actually poisoned?  It's hard to be sure in our world because no government, and virtually no media, can be trusted to report the truth. Something that we can be certain of, is that on Sunday, March 18, Vladimir Putin was re-elected as the leader of Russia.  That's no surprise at all, because although Russia pretends to have Western-style democracy, there is always only one candidate with any chance to win.  Just before the election, the news about Sergei Skripal, age 66, and his daughter Yulia Skripal, age 33, being poisoned became Front Page news around the world. There are many questions that need to be answered about the Skirpals, and many things make the apparent attack on them seem very odd indeed.  I said apparent attack because it's best not to take anything involving government at face value.  The official narrative released to the press and to the people of the world, is full of holes and raises more questions than it answers.  The first question is why the government of Great Britain thinks that Russia was behind the attack.  Britain, through its foreign minister Boris Johnson and Prime Minister Teresa May, said it's “highly likely” that Russia did it. So if it is highly likely that Russia did it, why won't the British government allow the recovered nerve agent to be examined by Russian scientists and by the Convention for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to which all nations involved are parties?  Article 9 Section 2 of the Convention reads as follows: “Without prejudice to the right of any State Party to request a challenge inspection, State Parties should, whenever possible, first make every effort to clarify and resolve, through exchange of information and consultations among themselves, any matter which may cause doubt about compliance with this convention, or which gives rise to concerns about a related matter which may be considered ambiguous.  A State Party which receives a request from another State Party for clarification of any matter which the requesting State Party believes causes such a doubt or concern shall provide the requesting State Party as soon as possible, but in any case not later than 10 days after the request, with information sufficient to answer the doubt or concern raised along with an explanation of how the information provided resolves the matter.” That section says to me that when the evidence of an accusation of a breach of the Convention is requested, the evidence must be provided within 10 days.  Russia and Britain agreed to this Convention, and it required them to destroy chemical weapons stocks in order to be in compliance.  Russia says it destroyed all stocks under UN ,and even United States, observation.  Russia has denied the poisoning and requested the evidence, but no evidence has been forthcoming. Great Britain said to Russia and the world that these people were on British soil and were poisoned with a nerve agent called Novichok, which is made in Russia and nowhere else.  It's true that Novichok is very deadly, and that it was invented by Russia in the 1970's, but that was at least 30 years ago. Wouldn't it be very easy for someone else to have acquired it, including those involved in the destruction of the Russian chemical weapons stockpiles?  There even seems to be evidence that the Iranians were working on production.  We have seen that the Convention, which was set up and agreed to as a method for handling such disputes, requires that an accused nation be given the right to...

South Africa is set for high level negotiations with the Assembly of State Parties of the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands on Wednesday. Having given notice to quit the Rome Statute of the ICC last month -Pretoria is expected to state its case for its withdrawal from the ICC. This is against a backdrop of countries divided on how the treaty, to prevent impunity and protect victims of genocide and crimes against humanity, should be implemented. This global stage will present far more of a challenge than local efforts on the part of the Democratic Alliance and Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution to challenge cabinet's decision as Senior Political Reporter Busi Chimombe reports...

Dr. Mark Kersten gives a talk for the OTJR seminar series on 9th February 2015 at 5pm

The BACKROOM POLITICS Gang discusses immigration reform...Has the way American's look at immigration changed? Also, we look at the historic vote (and defeat) at the VW in Chatanooga, TN...is this a wake up call for the unions? FInally, are the State Parties Dead or can they come back and influence politics in America once again? Is political grid-lock real or a political weapon....and how many people does this REALLY hurt?  This and "TELL ME A STORY"....all on this week's BACKROOM POLITICS!!!