Podcasts about state secretary

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announces that her government will be challenging the constitutionality of the federal government's net-zero electricity regulations in court.   The premier also faces questions from reporters on her recently proposed legislation that makes it easier for Alberta to separate from Canada. The legislation was tabled on April 29, the day after the federal Liberals won a minority government in the 2025 federal election.   She is joined at the news conference in Edmonton by provincial ministers Mickey Amery (justice), Rebecca Schulz (environment and protected areas) and Nathan Neudorf (affordability and utilities). British Columbia Premier David Eby announces new legislation that aims to speed up building permit approvals to allow the province to deliver key infrastructure projects faster. Priority projects will include schools, hospitals and major transportation infrastructure. He is joined at the news conference in Victoria by Bowinn Ma, the province's infrastructure minister Peacekeeping Chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix today (24 Apr) told reporters in New York that the Peacekeeping Ministerial 2025, taking place in Berlin on 13-14 May, will be “a very important opportunity” for the UN and Member States to determine how to address challenges to ensure peacekeeping remains an “important, viable, credible and effective tool of the United Nations and multilateralism in the future.” Lacroix said another issue to be discussed will be “how we can make peacekeeping more cost effective, because we are aware that we are operating, and we will be operating under increasingly severe financial constraints.” He confirmed that Secretary-General António Guterres “will be participating in the Berlin meeting in two weeks' time.” Joining Lacroix, Germany's State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Defence, Nils Hilmer said, “we are convinced that UN peacekeeping has proven to be one of the most important tools the international community has an international crisis management. However, we still face many challenges with regards to changing conflict dynamics, disinformation campaign, or targeting missions. Hence, it is all the more important to discuss about the future of peacekeeping.” Hilmer said, “we want to provide a forum for Member States to discuss how we can continue making UN peacekeeping strong, effective and fit for the future,” adding that “by participating at the Berlin Ministerial, delegations can underline their political support for UN peacekeeping, contribute to closing critical capability gaps, and reinvigorate UN peacekeeping reform efforts.” The results of the discussions, he said, “will provide important input to the UN Secretary-General's review on the future of all forms of peace operations mandated in the Pact for the Future.” The goal of the Berlin Ministerial, Hilmer explained, will be to “ensure UN peacekeeping remains at a sufficient level of preparedness for both current and potential future missions, and we want to increase overall mission effectiveness while enhancing safety and security of our personnel deployed.” Germany's Director-General for International Order, United Nations, and Disarmament at the Federal Foreign Office, Katharina Stasch, said the Berlin Ministerial's aim, “is really to provide a follow up to the Pact for the Future. Actions must follow words.” Responding to journalists' questions, Lacroix said, “the United States is and has always been a very important part, and I should say, also a very important supporter of peacekeeping operation throughout the years. And we look forward to continuing cooperation with the United States. Now, when it comes to finances, I think that in any case, we are looking at times where financial resources will be limited. I think a very important challenge, to all of us really, is how we can improve the cost efficiency of peacekeeping.” He said, “we operate on mandates, you know, those mandates are given to us by Member States, by the Security Council. We keep telling our Member States, please prioritize those mandates. You know, make sure that, you know, we know what are the key mandated tasks from your point of view that we have to implement. And then please give us an adequate level of resources, and please pay on time and in full.” Leading up to the 80th anniversary of the United Nations and marking the 10-year anniversary of the Leaders' Summit on Peacekeeping, the 2025 Berlin UN Peacekeeping Ministerial is the latest in a series of meetings held at the Head of State, Government, or Ministerial level. The UN Peacekeeping Ministerial will serve as a high-level political forum to discuss the future of peacekeeping and for Member States to express and demonstrate their political support. It will also provide a platform for delegations to announce substantial pledges in support of closing capability gaps and adapting peace operations to better respond to existing challenges and new realities, in line with the pledging guide.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/policy-and-rights--3339563/support.

In this mega-episode, Stephen Donnelly goes on a whirlwind tour of Australia's most hotly-contested seats for Labor. He is joined by campaign experts (see below) from each state, who shine a spotlight on the candidates, the constituents, and the issues shaping each electorate.They share the betting odds and lay their predictions on the table. This is the ultimate election night primer.***Use the Chapter headings to jump to the seats that pique your interest - or listen to the whole episode like the absolute beast you are.***Can Labor get to 76 this Saturday night? Join us to find out. CHAPTERS:00:00 Introduction01:18 Welcome to NSW06:00 Bennelong12:42 Gilmore21:51 Paterson29:52 Hunter34:48 Robertson41:47 Welcome to QLD45:39 Leichardt54:39 Bonner01:03:23 Brisbane01:08:51 Longman01:14:16 Welcome to TAS01:15:44 Lyons 01:30:27 Bass01:35:49 Franklin01:38:22 Welcome to the NT01:39:20 Solomon01:48:18 Lingiari01:56:35 Welcome to SA02:00:42 Boothby02:10:19 Sturt02:19:41 Welcome to WA02:25:13 Bullwinkle02:29:32 Tangney02:37:16 Pearce02:42:47 Canning02:48:58 Welcome to VIC02:52:58 Chisolm 03:00:58 Menzies03:03:19 Aston03:07:50 Dunkley03:10:33 Bruce03:11:59 McEwan03:15:21 Hawke03:17:37 Mcnamara03:29:08 Wills 03:40:27 Wrap UpSPECIAL GUESTS:NSW - Todd PinkertonTodd is the director of campaigns and strategy at Unions NSW, a former federal and state Labor staffer, and he's been on every campaign cycle since 2011.QLD - Evan MoorheadEvan is the director of Anacta Strategies, former Director of Strategy for the Office of the Premier and Minister for Trade, former State Secretary for Queensland Labor, and former State Member for Waterford.WA - Priya BrownPriya is a partner at GRA Partners, the former Chief of Staff in the WA Government, a former Senior Advisor in the Vic Government, and the former Regional Field Director for the Community Action Network.TAS - Jack MilroyJack is a senior strategist and public affairs professional with more than 20 years of experience in progressive political campaigns in Australia and abroad.SA - Matt ClemowMatt is a former Senior Advisor and Chief of Staff in the SA Labor Government, to successive SA Labor Premiers and current consultant for Capetal Advisory in Adelaide.NT - Ryan NeveRyan has over 20 years of experience as an advisor in the NT Government, as well as stints in the UK and Victoria. Most recently he was Executive Director for the Finance, Communications, Policy, and Strategy Divisions within the Dept. of Environment, Parks, and Water Security in the NT. VIC - Jessie McCroneJessie is a managing partner at FMRS advisory, the former Deputy Chief of Staff to Daniel Andrews, and former ALP National Organiser.The presenting sponsor of the Socially Democratic podcast is Dunn Street. For more information on how Dunn Street can help you organise to build winning campaigns in your community, business or organisation, and Support the showNew episodes out every Friday.If you like the show leave a comment below or leave us a review on Podchaser: https://bit.ly/36uFbp8Support the show on Patreon. Follow us on YouTube, Facebook, X, Bluesky, and Instagram.

What does it mean to lead digital transformation when the stakes are high, and the playbook is being written in real time? Statesmanship shines in this Digital Government Podcast episode with Taimar Peterkop, Estonia's former State Secretary now with e-Governance Academy, and one of the architects behind the country's acclaimed digital governance model.  From navigating the 2017 ID-card crisis, to coordinating national responses during the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, Peterkop brings front-row insight into the real-world meaning of purposeful leadership. 

In this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Janis Sarts, Director of NATO's Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, about the current informational environment in Europe, and the threats now being posed to the West by Russia, China and others. BIO:Jānis Sārts is the Director of the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, a multinational, cross-sector organisation providing comprehensive analysis, advice, and practical support in strategic communications to the Alliance and its allied nations. Prior to that, he served as State Secretary of the Latvian Ministry of Defence for more than seven years, leading defence sector reforms during an economic crisis period, developing a new state defence concept, and encouraging regional defence cooperation within NATO and the EU. He has also led the Latvian Government's efforts to increase its security and defence in cyberspace. As Chair of the National Cyber Security Board, he was responsible for formulating and overseeing the implementation of Latvia's cyber security policy, as well as for overseeing the work of the National Information Technology Security Incident Response Institution.

Over the past decade, the idea of a Capital Markets Union (CMU) within the EU has been the subject of extensive discussions, with various proposals aimed at harmonizing regulations across member states. Despite these efforts, progress has been limited, and significant challenges remain. Speakers Johan Almenberg, State Secretary to Minister for Financial Markets, Government Stefan Ingves, Senior Fellow, Swedish House of Finance Kristin Magnusson Bernard, CEO of Första AP-fonden (AP1) Nicolas Véron, Senior Fellow at Bruegel (Brussels) and the Peterson Institute for International Economics (Washington) The seminar will be held in English and moderated by Pehr Wissén, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Practice, Swedish House of Finance.

The State Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources explores how national politics could impact South Dakota's farmers. And we meet a woman who's revolutionizing regenerative ag in the state.

Senate Votes to Advance Kash Patel's Nomination; U.S. State Secretary Rubio Finishes Talks in Riyadh | NTD Good Morning

My guest on this episode is Ivan Lesay. Ivan is a senior climate finance advisor at the National Bank of Slovakia and has served as the State Secretary of that country's Finance Ministry. In addition to his policy work, he has published two children's books, and writes lyrics for a hardcore band. His debut novel for adults, Topografia bolesti, was published in 2020, and was shortlisted for the Slovak National Book of the Year award. An English translation of the novel, The Topography of Pain, translated by Jonathan Gresty, was published by Canada's Guernica Editions in 2024. In its review of The Topography of Pain, The Miramichi Reader said that “Lesay is comfortable with data and figures, no doubt; he's also gifted with words.” Ivan and I talk about the (mostly) friendly rivalry between Slovaks and Czechs, and how that parallels Canada's relationship with the US, about suddenly adding a side-career as a novelist to his distinguished work in economic policy, and about how, thanks to COVID, his novel never got a proper launch event until the publication of the translated version last year. This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus. Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission.

On today's program: Tommy Tuberville, U.S. Senator from Alabama, discusses President Trump's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Pentagon's abortion travel policy reversal. Triszt

In this episode, Maria Varteressian, State Secretary at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, advocates for the irreplaceable role of the Arctic Council in promoting regional cooperation amid climate change and geopolitical tensions, emphasizing its function as the only forum representing the shared interests and concerns of Arctic communities.This speech was originally delivered at the 2024 Arctic Circle Assembly.Arctic Circle is the largest network of international dialogue and cooperation on the future of the Arctic. It is an open democratic platform with participation from governments, organizations, corporations, universities, think tanks, environmental associations, Indigenous communities, concerned citizens, and others interested in the development of the Arctic and its consequences for the future of the globe. It is a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization. Learn more about Arctic Circle at www.ArcticCircle.org or contact us at secretariat@arcticcircle.orgTWITTER:@_Arctic_CircleFACEBOOK:The Arctic CircleINSTAGRAM:arctic_circle_org

In this episode, Sec. Nash talks to us about this career to-date and his current role within the US state of Oklahoma. It has a legacy of aerospace innovation and success dating back more than a century, so Sec. Nash goes into more detail about this and talks about why aerospace and defence are Oklahoma's second largest industries. He shares insights into the work that goes on in Oklahoma, where it is home to more than 1,000 aerospace entities, including manufaturing, MRO, UAS, R&D and military. We hear more about the advantages of setting up business here, project highlights and what the state is doing to encourage the next generation of workers wanting to forge a career in aerospace.

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the expected nomination of Sen. Marco Rubio as state secretary under the administration of President-elect Donald Trump, at a meeting Thursday in Lima, Peru.

On Episode 431 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Surendra Mehta, National Secretary of the Indian Bullion and Jewellers Association as well as Dr Rajiv Kovil, State Secretary for the Research Society for the Study of Diabetes in India (RSSDI). SHOW NOTES (00:00) The Take (06:17) FIIs have now pulled out $12.5 billion since October, why market overhang will continue (08:11) The rupee hits a fresh low as strong dollar reigns (09:50) Crude oil markets are trying to make sense of the Trump victory (10:26) Gold prices are down, where could they go now? (16:56) Diabetes is the highest cause of deaths in Mumbai now, what does that mean for you? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Listeners! We await your feedback....⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Core and The Core Report is ad supported and FREE for all readers and listeners. Write in to shiva@thecore.in for sponsorships and brand studio requirements For more of our coverage check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thecore.in⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join and Interact anonymously on our whatsapp channel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to our Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠

For our first Policy & Practice seminar of academic year 2024-2025 we were joined by ex-Ambassador Simona Leskovar. The ex-Ambassador talked about her own experience both in trying to get Slovenia elected to the UN Security Council, but also more broadly about her experience in the UK and within the UN. The talk included a discussion as to why small states matter in international security. We are delighted that Sir Mark Lyall Grant  GCMG  joined us to give a response. Meet the speakersex-Ambassador Simona Leskovar Simona Leskovar is Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to the Court of St James's until August 2024. Prior to this appointment, she was State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia. Ambassador Leskovar is a career diplomat for 28 years of service in Slovenian diplomacy. She served as Slovenian Ambassador to Japan and Republic of Korea, was Deputy Permanent Representative of Slovenia at Permanent Mission of Slovenia to the United Nations in New York and member or head of several Slovenian delegations and missions to various conferences and events within the UN. Her first post as a diplomat was Washington DC.   Ambassador Leskovar holds a position of the EU adviser to Slovenian Foreign Minister during the first Slovenian EU presidency in 2008. She was later Director of Young Bled Strategic Forum and the national Focal Point for Responsibility-to-Protect. Simona Leskovar studied international relations at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, and at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael in The Hague. Ambassador Leskovar initiated the MFA programme 'Young Ambassadors', a mentoring project that was organized together with foreign female Ambassadors in Slovenia, and aimed at encouraging young women to consider a career in diplomacy and international relations. Ambassador Leskovar was appointed Program Director of Bled Strategic Forum at the end of August 2024. Sir Mark Lyall Grant  GCMG Sir Mark Lyall Grant served as the United Kingdom's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN from 2009 to 2015. During this tenure, he served as President of the Security Council four times. He subsequently served as a National Security Adviser during David Cameron and Theresa May's premierships. Following his retirement from the civil service, he is now a Visiting Professor at King's College London and a strategic advisor. Chair: Prof. Veronika Fikfakis Professor of Human Rights and International Law in the UCL Department of Political Science and School of Public Policy. 

00:00 Show open/ Holly Teegarden, Cannabis entrepreneur and founder of Mood RXtreats- a wellness program for women that incorporates responsible marijuana use for health benefits- on how to get started as a legal marijuana consumer. 16:17 Kelsey Goderwis- Pharmacy Team Leader for Kroger, on the importance of vaccines. 25:06 Face the State: Secretary of State Frank LaRose's efforts to ban foreign nationals and green card holders from contributing to state ballot campaigns. Findings of Governor Mike DeWine's juvenile justice working group. I-Gaming bill introduced. 32:51 Face the State: Unborn child tax credit with State Representative Gary Click (R- Vickery). House Bill 645 which aims to reduce property taxes for Ohio residents with Dani Isaacson (D) and Franklin County Auditor Michael Stinziano.

The Honourable Milton Dick MP, who is currently the Federal Member for Oxley, had the honouring in being elected as the 32nd Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives in July, 2022. With a strong focus on serving the community and helping whenever and wherever he can, Milton has had an association with the political landscape since he joined the ALP at the age of 18 as a university student and served as National President of Young Labor.  He's worked in a number of other roles, from Electorate Officer for David Beddall and a position working for Senator John Hogg, the President of the Senate at the time. In 2004, he was appointed as the ALP's State Secretary and Campaign Director, having served as a delegate to the national conference since 2001. He led the party's successful campaign in Queensland at the 2007 Federal Election and announced his resignation in December 2007 to stand for political office, which he was successful in being elected as the Brisbane City Councillor for the Richlands Ward. During his time as a Councillor, he held the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and then Leader of the Opposition from 2012 to the time of his resignation in 2016, where he he was pre-selected and elected as the Federal Member for Oxley, following the Hon Bernie Ripoll's retirement. During this episode, Milton's passion for people, for community and for increasing the level of what he calls Democratic Literacy is very evident. As the 32nd Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives, he takes huge pride in his position and the responsibility of the role is certainly not taken for granted.  It's a great conversation where he shares plenty of his thoughts, reflections and information on life, people and politics.   

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

State Secretary and Incoming State Deputy - Bou Gazley

Nasser provides commenatary on geopolitcial issues relating to Israel-led drone strikes in Iran, Australian politics and the dehumanisation of Palestinians, BDS campaigns affect on global corporations, and the upcoming A15 global economic blockades. Nasser also interviews Tony Piccolo, Asst. State Secretary Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), about the role of union solidairity with resistive and social justice movements. A15 Actions - Coordinated economic blockade to Free Palestine, Worldwide, Mon 15 Apr 2024. More info. Petition - End partnership with Elbit Systems. Sign petition.Film screening - The Lab by Yotem Feldman (AAWL fundraiser). CFMEU Construction, Tue 23 Apr, 6pm. More info.Free Palestine Melbourne rally, State Library Victoria, Sundays 12pm.The Sit-Intifada, Parliament House steps, every day 9am - 9pm.Updated info on upcoming events and actions via Free Palestine Melbourne Instagram.Daily broadcast updates via Let's Talk Palestine. Get Up, Stand Up / Bob Marley and The Wailers 

State Secretary of the CFMEU John Setka has slammed the "completely fabricated" claims by the Australia Workers' Union on Victoria's Big Build.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Ozark's corner of the country, the State Secretary has written a comprehensive missive to the Administration's Justice Department, urging them to cease the implementation of a significant executive order. This order, they fear, may pave the way for those legally ineligible to enter the voting roll, specifically convicts and unlawful immigrants. Our State Secretary, Michael Watson, recalls that the said order was enacted on March 7th, 2021. It was formulated to shift the Department of Justice from its longstanding law enforcement objectives towards a new goal of encouraging voter registration. Watson's letter addresses Merrick Garland, the country's Attorney General, highlighting this federal maneuver into state dynamics as an improper familiarity. As per Mr. Watson, the federal revenue and resources indulged in these endeavors are recklessly spent. More troublingly, the subsequent actions under the said executive order have begun to encourage voter registration, inclusive of potentially ineligible felons, which Watson believes to be an overreach of the federal jurisdiction. The controversial executive order was originated in 2021 with the intention to fight racial discrimination. Proponents touted it as a bold stride to protect democratic rights, charging government entities to devise ways that could increase public participation in electoral processes. Yet, some share the reservations of Watson, regarding the potential misuse of this directive.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

     Morning Light talks with Dan Moberg, State Secretary with the Idaho Knigths of Columbus. Dan is also one of the leaders with the American Wheelchair Mission.  Go to www.amwheelchair.org in order to learn more.  

Wojciech Przybylski discusses with the former State Secretary on EU Affairs of Sweden, Lars Danielsson, how there can be a democratic and market-oriented, free liberal Europe without enlargement and how Poland's experiment with reversing illiberal state capture can be a paradigm for other countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Weekly outlook link: https://visegradinsight.eu/navalnys-killing-shows-putin-senses-leeway-as-us-wavers-over-ukraine/

SummaryJoin host James Bell in this special episode of The Bentonville Beacon podcast featuring interviews with students from Bentonville Schools's Ignite Professional Studies Program. These conversations were live-recorded at the 2023 Northwest Arkansas Technology Summit, where the students were exposed to innovators, creators and leaders reshaping the world. At the start of the show, James also sits down with the program's Director, Jessica Imel, to learn how Ignite helps juniors and seniors gain valuable work-based experience, industry-valued credentials and high-quality classroom instruction across nine different career fields. Ignite Professional Studies upholds its commitment to excellence by creating a real, relevant learning environment that helps students make informed decisions about their futures and prepares them for challenges and opportunities ahead. This nationally recognized program represents the collaboration of education, business and community to provide students with unique and immersive involvement that results in highly skilled, adaptable global innovators and leaders. Tune in now to discover how one of Bentonville's unique educational programs is shaping tomorrow's leaders today!Show Notes(1:46) Introducing Jessica Imel(3:39) About Ignite Professional Studies Program(6:23) Jessica's #BecauseBentonville Story(8:06) What's Next for Ignite(11:12) Advice for Learning New Skills(12:20) Introducing Kaushal Dhumal(12:43) Kaushal's Project with the Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce(14:43) Kaushal's Northwest Arkansas Technology Summit Experience(15:43) Kaushal's #BecauseBentonville Story(17:21) Introducing Sarthak Chaturvedi(17:55) Sarthak's Experience with Ignite Health Sciences(19:32) Sarthak's Northwest Arkansas Technology Summit Experience(20:47) Sarthak's #BecauseBentonville Story(23:11) Introducing Aditya Sohaney(26:54) Aditya's Northwest Arkansas Technology Summit Experience(28:13) Aditya's #BecauseBentonville Story(29:57) Introducing Praneel Vakkalagadda(32:37) Praneel's Experience with Ignite Health Sciences(35:25) Pranee's #BecauseBentonville Story(36:57) Closing ThoughtsLinksJames BellBentonville Economic Development Northwest Arkansas Technology SummitJessica ImelBentonville SchoolsIgnite Professional StudiesKaushal DhumalSarthak ChaturvediAditya SohaneyPraneel VakkalagaddaQuotes“One year ago, the chamber offered us some complimentary tickets to the NWA Tech Summit, and it was over fall break so we weren't hosting class, but we offered this opportunity to students. We had a couple of students who took us up on it, even though it was fall break, and listened to a session and wanted to meet the speaker afterwards. And what ended up happening is they ended up getting on a call. He invited them to join his research project. They did. They spent nearly all summer working on it…Fast forward to this year's Tech Summit, they were invited to do a thirty minute session to share their findings. We have stories like that in all of the career strands that we offer, but it's just one of those things that you're like, only in Bentonville would something like that happen.” - Jessica Imel, (6:47)“One story that I have is Walmart. The Store 100 was opening a section of the store that would be directed to only fulfilling online orders. And it would be different because it would be very automated. Store associates wouldn't have to go inside the store and take up aisle space, taking up a lot of time. It'd be much more efficient. And we got to meet the CEO personally. I got to talk to John Furner, the CEO of Walmart U.S., and that's something that can only happen in Bentonville. Meeting the CEO of a Fortune 1 company in a store, that would only happen in Bentonville.” - Kaushal Dhumal, (15:43)“We were in DC for a hosted trip, and we got to go to the Capitol building and speak to our state senator. Many of the states had trouble getting access and speaking to their state senator, but Senator Boozman was so friendly with us and we were able to talk to him. And apart from that, just meeting government officials so easily. Like over at our Ignite building, we've had people like Lukas Walton come in, the Senator, the State Secretary of Education, the Walton Family Foundation that have toured our building. And I've had the opportunity to give them those tours. So having people of that level come into our school and try to see what Ignite is and what these different things that us students are doing is just something I believe can only happen in Arkansas. It's a small circle, but we're all tight together.” - Sarthak Chaturvedi, (20:57)“I moved from India here last year, to Bentonville. And I think it's the people in Bentonville, the kindness of the people and how grateful they are. I don't think I've ever made friends so fast and people being so nice to me ever like that. And I think in the past year I've made the best friend circle ever, got these internships, the high school program for Ignite, and I think it's just all these things together that make Bentonville as a whole.” - Aditya Sohaney, (28:25)“We're such a small community, right? But there's so much, there's so many companies and we're able to get those experiences more than somewhere in Dallas where there's so much competition. It's limited to what you can do…but with how small [Bentonville] is, we're able to meet so many people and they remember us too because it's not like they meet thousands of people every day. They remember our faces. So these opportunities to connect with people are helpful.” - Praneel Vakkalagadda, (35:35)

The latest news from home and abroad, with a close eye on Northeast Asia and the Korean Peninsula in particular

Officials from Egypt, the United States, and Qatar highlighted active measures being taken to resume the transfer of injured Gaza citizens and those carrying foreign passports via the Rafah crossing into Egypt. This critical humanitarian operation experienced a suspension after a devastating ambulance attack on Saturday. Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, used a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to underscore the need for an urgent cessation of Israeli hostilities. Despite being amidst a contentious scenario, Blinken's covert journey to the occupied West Bank revealed a strategic intent to prevent the conflict between Israel and Hamas from escalating. The Rafah traverse towards Egypt's Sinai peninsula is a crucial gate for Gazans as it's not under Israel's control. Up until now, aid trucks continued to deliver much-needed supplies into Gaza, say two Egyptian sources. The evacuation process had initially commenced on Wednesday thanks to an agreement facilitated by international intermediaries. As the dawn broke over the Maghzai refugee camp in Gaza, locals began desperately searching for survivors or the remains of those less fortunate. The Hamas-run health ministry's spokesperson accused the Israeli military of an incursion on the camp which reportedly caused the tragic death of 47 individuals. Furthermore, an entirely separate onslaught by the Israeli forces led to the tragic annihilation of 21 Palestinian family members, including women and children. Abbas asserted his message to Blinken with urgency, insisting he intervene to halt the 'crimes' being perpetuated. The Palestinian leader was insistent on securing an immediate ceasefire from Israel. Abbas painted a mournful picture of the 'genocide and destruction' being rained on Palestinians in Gaza via the unstoppable force of Israel's military machinery. He further emphasized that this military offensive had little to no regard for established norms of international law. His fervent plea for respite was echoed by foreign ministers from leading Middle East countries including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and the UAE, who met Blinken in Amman to ask him to convince Israel to agree to a ceasefire.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode, Slovakian politician and academic Martin Klus talks with us during a trip to Texas about the state of the Slovak Republic following the recent elections favoring a more Moscow-friendly government. Slovakia's move towards the pro-Russia camp in which Victor Orban's Hungary sits will make things difficult for its eastern neighbor Ukraine and easier for Putin in the European space. Per statistics that Dr. Klus cited as a fellow at the Bratislava-based think tank GLOBSEC, 55% of Slovakians believe that the war in Ukraine was started by an actor other than Russia, which is a direct effect of Russian propaganda through social media platforms, in particular TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The European Commission introduced the Digital Service Act which Dr. Klus hopes will help to mitigate the negative effects of free speech for trolls and hate speech-propagating bots. Thanks for listening! Related episodes: "Milan Rastislav Štefánik: The Slovak National Hero and Co-Founder of Czechoslovakia" https://www.slavxradio.com/stefanik ABOUT THE GUEST Martin Klus is a Slovak political scientist and theorist. Prior to entering Slovak politics and since leaving office recently, he worked as university lecturer and political analyst, providing political analyses and commentaries for renowned domestic and foreign media. Dr. Klus holds a PhD in Theory of Politics and an MBA. He entered communal politics in Banská Bystrica in 2014. Between the years 2016 and 2020 he was a Member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic, Vice Chairman of the NCSR EU Affairs Committee and member of the NCSR Foreign Affairs Committee, even the NCSR Deputy Speaker during last six months of his tenure. He held the position of Vice Chairman of the NATO PA Subcommittee on NATO Partnership, as the first Slovak appointee in such position. In March 2020, he served as the State Secretary for EU affairs at the Slovak MFEA as both the GAC minister and the Sherpa to the Prime Minister. Besides EU Affairs, his contemporary agenda and research consists of Disinformation and Hybrid Threats, Human Rights, Crisis Management and Consular Affairs. He is now returning to academia, to resume his post as associate professor at the Higher School of Economics and Management in Bratislava, Slovakia. PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded on October 19, 2023 in Austin, Texas. If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the show, please email slavxradio@utexas.edu and we will be in touch! CREDITS Host/Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana) Host/Supervising Producer: Nicholas Pierce Assistant EP: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy) Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar Assistant Producer: Taylor Helmcamp Production Assistant: Faith VanVleet Production Assistant: Eliza Fisher Recording, Editing, and Sound Design: Michelle Daniel Music Producer: Charlie Harper (@charlieharpermusic) - Main Theme by Charlie Harper and additional background music by Eme Hache, Joey Hendrixx. Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel (@MSDaniel) www.msdaniel.com DISCLAIMER: Texas Podcast Network is brought to you by The University of Texas at Austin. Podcasts are produced by faculty members and staffers at UT Austin who work with University Communications to craft content that adheres to journalistic best practices. The University of Texas at Austin offers these podcasts at no charge. Podcasts appearing on the network and this webpage represent the views of the hosts, not of The University of Texas at Austin. https://files.fireside.fm/file/fireside-uploads/images/9/9a59b135-7876-4254-b600-3839b3aa3ab1/P1EKcswq.png Special Guest: Martin Klus.

In the midst of the world's urgent call for clean energy, a new project in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana casts a contentious light on the line between economic progress and environmental destruction. At the center of this new project is the proposed liquified natural gas (LNG) export facility, which is projected to provide prosperity to some while posing environmental risks to others. Two corporate titans with ties to Oklahoma are behind the idea. Dr. Nick Alexandrov traveled to Louisiana to bring us the story.In 2015, the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing released recommendations on police reforms in response to unrest in Ferguson, Missouri that occurred after the police shooting of Michael Brown. Would those reforms, if embraced by state law enforcement officers, help deter police killings and help build community? Shonda Little brings us part two of her series. State Secretary of Education Ryan Walters recently announced that the Oklahoma Department of Education is partnering with right-wing advocacy group Prager University to provide educational resources to Oklahoma classrooms. On Monday, September 11, at a church event in Tulsa, Walters said PragerU Kids would be in every classroom as a part of “continuing the MAGA agenda” but many school districts have been opting out of using the material. Dr. Kristen Oertel, Chair of the Department of History at the University of Tulsa, shares details.In February, the US Department of Transportation announced the grant awardees for its new Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program. Oklahoma's only awardee is the North Peoria Church of Christ in Tulsa. Britny Cordera spoke with Oklahoma House District 73's Representative Regina Goodwin about what the congregation hopes to accomplish.Black Tech Street is ready to propel Tulsa to the top of the worldwide cybersecurity field. Who is their partner in this challenging project? IT giant Microsoft. By the end of the decade, Black Tech Street and Microsoft are providing Black professionals in the computer industry 1,000 new career opportunities. Anthony Cherry explores the revolutionary ideas that will revitalize the city's technical and cultural environment.Sonda Slade reports that, In 2014, Tulsa's 36 Street North corridor was rebranded the Phoenix District as part of an economic development plan. One entrepreneur is working to increase options to turn the neighborhood into a food destination and revenue generator.

A new leader behind the wheel driving economic growth in Indiana. We get State Secretary of Commerce David Rosenburg's insights on how he intends to sustain and grow Indiana innovation. New quarterback. New coach. New vibe. The Colts kick off their season at home, the impact on downtown Indianapolis businesses. And...Madison County gets in on the solution to helping Hoosiers who don't get enough to eat...how fertile soil in Anderson is playing a major role.

Ralph welcomes journalist and executive director for intellectual capital at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Hal Weitzman, to discuss his book “What's The Matter With Delaware? How the First State Has Favored the Rich, Powerful, and Criminal—and How It Costs Us All.”Hal Weitzman is Executive Director for Intellectual Capital at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and editor-in-chief of Chicago Booth Review. A former Financial Times editor and foreign correspondent, he is the author of Latin Lessons: How South America Stopped Listening to the United States and Started Prospering and What's the Matter with Delaware?: How the First State Has Favored the Rich, Powerful, and Criminal—and How It Costs Us All.We know that lawyers and investors in corporations hate political uncertainty because it might affect their profit-making process. And in Delaware they've perfected that system. They have completely bypassed any political uncertainty, and therefore also bypassed any oversight or regulation.Hal WeitzmanThe state of Delaware, the major law firms, the legislature, and the State Secretary of State over the years have created a very powerful embrace to make sure that Delaware stays #1 in terms of being a haven for these kinds of corporations, and in terms of making sure that the federal government interferes the least.Ralph NaderIn Case You Haven't Heard with Francesco DeSantis1. The Lever reports that in Delaware, The Company State, in a little town called Seaford, corporations may soon have the right to vote. The town has proposed an amendment to their charter granting LLCs, corporations, trusts or partnerships suffrage in municipal elections. Claire Snyder-Hall, executive director of Common Cause Delaware called this a "shocking...attempt to [give] artificial entities… voting rights," and characterized it as the “flipside [of voter suppression]." This proposal would require the blessing of both houses of the Delaware legislature, and while unlikely to pass, the corporate control of the First State is so powerful that passage cannot be entirely counted out either.2. Senate HELP Committee Chair Bernie Sanders has launched an investigation into safety at Amazon. Chairman Sanders wrote on Twitter “If Amazon can afford to spend $6 billion on stock buybacks last year, it can afford to make sure its warehouses are safe. If Amazon can afford to pay its CEO $289 million over the past 2 years, it can afford to treat all of its workers with dignity and respect, not contempt.” To further this investigation, the HELP committee has launched an online portal allowing “current or former workers, supervisors, medical staff, or anyone else in Amazon's warehouses,” to submit their stories of mistreatment.3. A troubling new report from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) highlights the rise in pedestrian fatalities in recent years. According to the data, over 8,000 pedestrians were killed on US roadways in 2022, more than double the number who were killed in 2010 and higher than any year since 1980. Regulators must take pedestrian safety as seriously as that of automobile drivers.4. Last Thursday, Indian Prime Minister and Right-wing extremist Narendra Modi addressed Congress, following his meeting with President Biden. A number of progressive Democrats boycotted the event, including Reps. Summer Lee, Cori Bush, Ilhan Omar, Jamaal Bowman, Rashida Tlaib, and AOC. In a joint statement issued by Bush and Bowman, the members wrote “by bestowing Prime Minister Modi…the rare honor of a joint address, Congress undermines its ability to be a credible advocate for the rights of religious minorities and journalists around the world.” This from the Hill.5. People's Dispatch reports that the New York City Council has passed a resolution calling for the United States to end the blockade on Cuba. New York City now joins Washington, D.C. and Chicago in passing such resolutions. This resolution notes “Every year since 1992, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly has adopted a resolution declaring the embargo a violation of both the Charter of the United Nations and international law”.6. In the recent Virginia primaries, reform prosecutors swept their respective elections, per Bolts Magazine. Steve Descano, Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, and Buta Biberaj, prosecutors in Fairfax, Loudoun, and Arlington each fended off primary challenges from the right, two of whom were endorsed by police unions and a third who was backed by none other than the local Republican Party. The reform prosecutors trounced these regressive opponents by margins of 10 to 13 points. Deghani-Tafti told the magazine “If this election was a referendum on reform, our voters emphatically responded that they will not go backward.”7. The Reykjavik Grapevine reports that no whaling will occur in Iceland this Summer, following months of protest. Interestingly, the article notes that “Whaling is not a traditional practice in Iceland. Not only is Hvalur hf. the one and only company in Iceland engaging in commercial whaling…it does so at a loss.”8. Martin Austermuhle of WAMU reports that Republicans in the House are once again seeking to meddle in the sovereign affairs of Washington, DC. Riders in a draft spending bill promulgated by the GOP include banning reproductive rights legislation, reversing the legalization of marijuana, and other conservative priorities that would never get off the ground in the district. The major concern here is that spineless Congressional Democrats will serve up DC on a silver platter in exchange for other Republican concessions. Just another reason DC statehood must be a top priority.9. A group of House Democrats sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen calling on her to ease the sanctions regime imposed on Venezuela, NBC reports. The authors include Reps. Joaquin Castro and Gregory Meeks, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, along with progressives like Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and Barbara Lee of California. The letter described how sanctions "have often been found to be ineffective in achieving their objectives," and "to purposefully continue contributing to economic hardship experienced by an entire population is immoral and unworthy of the United States.” Hopefully Secretary Yellen will heed these words.10. Finally, how much does a trashcan cost? A new report in Responsible Statecraft highlights price gouging at the Pentagon, including a trashcan sold to the Defense Department for $52,000. Must be one hell of a bin! Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

Michael Klett and Vince Vasquez are members of the Knights of Columbus.   In this episode, they speak with State Secretary of the Knights Greg Marracq.Made 4 More airs live weekdays at 4:30pm  Pacific Time go to spiritfilledevents.com website or download our Spirit Filled Radio App for Android or Apple Devices.Archives of shows from Spirit Filled Radio are available on podcast at spiritfilledevents.com

How might a background in politics, including as Minister of Education, shape an approach to public education? What significant initiatives or reforms from Government might spearhead successful and positive education reform in the public sector? Mr Olli-Pekka Heinonen became the 8th Director General of the International Baccalaureate Organization on 1 May 2021. Prior to joining the IB, Mr Heinonen was Director General of the Finnish National Agency for Education where he worked from January 2017. Mr Heinonen had an active career in politics in Finland between 1994 and 2002: he was Minister of Education and Science from 1994-1999; Minister of Transport and Communication from 1999-2002 and a Member of Parliament from 1995-2002. From 2002 to 2012, Mr Heinonen was Director of Yle, the Finnish national public broadcasting company, before joining the Finnish Prime Minister's Office in March 2012 as State Secretary, responsible for organizing and leading the office. He has also been responsible, as State Secretary, for the portfolios of the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Development and then as State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance of Finland. Mr Heinonen holds a Master of Laws from the University of Helsinki in Finland and has been awarded honorary doctorates by both the University of Jyväskylä and the University of Turku in Finland. He is married and has three children. Transcript available at thelearningfuture.com

Listen to the June 18th, 2023 daily headline round-up and find all the top news that you need to know.

NATO reinforcements started arriving in Kosovo this week, following violent clashes in majority-Serb north Kosovo in late May. Outbreaks of violence erupted following disputed local elections, which Kosovo Serbs boycotted, allowing ethnic Albanians to take control of councils in northern Kosovo. The unrest comes after an apparent breakthrough in March when Kosovo and Serbia agreed to an EU-backed plan aimed at normalising ties. On the Real Story this week we'll ask whether the latest crisis endangers those negotiations, and what needs to happen to defuse tensions in both the short and long-term. How do people living and working in North Kosovo deal with the complex issues of ethnic identity that have shaped the region for decades? What is the role of outside players like the United States and European Union? And how has Russia's invasion of Ukraine changed the West's approach to the Balkans? Shaun Ley is joined by: Misha Glenny, Rector of the Institute of Human Sciences in Vienna and a former BBC Central Europe Correspondent. Dr Gezim Visoka, Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies in the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University Dr Helena Ivanov, visiting fellow in the international relations department at the LSE and an Associate Research Fellow with The Henry Jackson Society, a London-based think tank that advocates the spread of liberal democracy. Also featuring: Albin Kurti, Prime Minister of Kosovo Nemanja Starović, State Secretary, Serbia's Ministry of Defence Jovana Radosavljevic, Executive Director at the New Social Initiative, a civil society organization based in North Mitrovica Guy Delauney, the BBC's Balkans Correspondent Image: Members of the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) stand guard in Zvecan, Kosovo, May 31, 2023. REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski Produced by Imogen Wallace and Rozita Riazati

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Thursday, June 1st, 2023. https://www.theepochtimes.com/chick-fil-a-faces-growing-backlash-over-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-efforts_5300643.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=BonginoReport Chick-fil-A Faces Growing Backlash Over ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ Efforts Some conservatives have suggested a boycott of Chick-fil-A after the fast-food chain was discovered to have a vice president of “diversity, equity, [and] inclusion,” or DEI. In a previously issued Chick-fil-A news release, the company said that Erick McReynolds serves as its vice president of DEI, saying: “Chick-fil-A restaurants have long been recognized as a place where people know they will be treated well. Modeling care for others starts in the restaurant, and we are committed to ensuring mutual respect, understanding, and dignity everywhere we do business.” DEI is a set of principles that large corporations, government agencies, and schools have increasingly incorporated into their work environments, often mandating employees receive such training. However, these principles are rooted in Marxism, according to prominent critics including Christopher Rufo and James Lindsay, that are essentially vehicles for “left-wing racialist ideology and partisan political activism.” “They are designed to replace the system of academic merit with a system of race-based preferences and discrimination—which, in many cases, explicitly violates federal civil rights law,” wrote Rufo for his Substack page earlier this year. The Chick-fil-A announcement was highlighted this week by several prominent conservative accounts. According to McReynolds’s LinkedIn page, he was hired as Chick-fil-A’s vice president for “Diversity, Equity [and] Inclusion” in late 2021. The chicken-based fast-food chain has been generally well respected among conservatives due to the company’s religious values and its prior support for religious groups. In the McReynolds DEI announcement, Chick-fil-A makes reference to its corporate purpose, which is “to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us” and “to have a positive influence on all who come into contact with Chick-fil-A.” In recent weeks, a number of companies have faced backlash for embracing what critics say are left-wing values or a pro-LGBT agenda. Since early April, Bud Light has seen a significant backlash after it produced a beer can with transgender activist and influencer Dylan Mulvaney’s face and as Mulvaney suggested a partnership with the brand. Sales of Bud Light have dropped significantly year-over-year, with consumers opting to drink brands like Coors or Miller in its place, according to data released by industry analysts. Data published by Bump Williams Consulting and Nielsen IQ shows that by the week ending May 20, Bud Light sales declined 29.5 percent year-over-year, while revenue is down 25.7 percent. The CEO of Anheuser-Busch has, on multiple occasions, said that Bud Light did not partner with Mulvaney, a man who identifies as a woman, and that only “one can” with Mulvaney’s face was produced. Local distributors in some areas also released advertisements saying as much in a bid to lure back customers, while Bud Light has marketed several deals to move cases of beer. Another major boycott was directed at Target after the company released a line of LGBT clothing for children—including onesies for infants—for its “pride collection,” according to its website. Other companies, like Kohl’s and PetSmart, have similarly been criticized for selling similar products. Last week, Target said in a news release that it would be moving its “pride” merchandise to other areas of the store. The company, meanwhile, has seen its stock drop considerably since mid-May, falling another 3.5 percentage points on Tuesday. https://www.dailywire.com/news/9-teenagers-arrested-over-brutal-assault-of-3-u-s-marines 9 Teenagers Arrested Over Brutal Assault Of 3 U.S. Marines Sheriff’s deputies in San Clemente, California, arrested nine teenagers over the brutal assault of three U.S. Marines last Saturday. San Clemente Mayor Chris Duncan announced that Orange County Sheriff’s Department had charged the teenagers, five of whom were accused of assault with a deadly weapon and the other four with misdemeanor assault and battery. “They think they have the people they are looking for,” Duncan stated. “Not to say that there might not be a few others out there. They feel pretty confident that they have the main perpetrators. … They had some videotape that wasn’t readily available to the public that had a lot better images of the individuals involved.” “In today’s age, you’re going to get caught — people are going to record it,” Duncan continued. “I hope this serves as a learning lesson for young folks in the community not to let themselves get out of control when something like this happens.” As many as 40 young people were involved when the three U.S. Marines near a California beach Saturday night were attacked in a horrific moment caught on now-viral video. The Marines were enjoying time off from their service at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside at approximately 10 p.m. along the beach in San Clemente. One of the Marines, Hunter Antonino, said a piece of debris hit him in the face, prompting him to ask the group to stop lighting fireworks. “They were lighting off fireworks, they were being belligerent and obnoxious and annoying other people, so I went up to them and told them to stop,” he recalled. Antonio said the group then followed the Marines as they returned to the pier, whereupon Antonio and another Marine informed the group that they were Marines so the group would leave them alone. Instead, the group savagely attacked the Marines. One individual punched a Marine in the back, prompting the Marine to turn and charge at him, sparking the melee. Video shows two of the Marines lying in the fetal position on the ground as the group kicked them and hurled racial epithets at them. The Marines were kicked in the head and upper body. Although the Marines were injured, they refused to go to a hospital, according to Orange County Sheriff’s deputies. Antonio thought he may have suffered a concussion. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/healthcare/anti-abortion-protesters-beaten-baltimore-planned-parenthood Two anti-abortion protesters beaten outside Planned Parenthood in Baltimore Two senior citizen anti-abortion protesters were attacked outside of a Planned Parenthood clinic in North Baltimore on Friday morning, sending one to the University of Maryland Medical Center. “Please pray for my dear friend, Mark Crosby,” President of the Baltimore County Right to Life organization Jay Walton said on Facebook Friday. “He was viciously attacked yesterday, May 26, 2023 while he was praying in front of Planned Parenthood in Baltimore City. He and another prolifer were attacked from behind and the thug ran away.” Mark Crosby and Dick Shafer have been confirmed as the victims in Friday's attack. Both men are over the age of 70, according to police reports. WMAR reported that surveillance video shows the suspect tackling Shafer, disturbing a large flower planter outside of the abortion facility. When Crosby came to Shafer’s aid, the assailant shoved Crosby to the ground, and the person was seen punching and kicking him in the face. Baltimore anti-abortion advocate John Roswell told LifeSiteNews that while Shafer is recovering well, Crosby “is bleeding from some unidentified area behind his eye and the bone eye orbit is completely shattered.” Walton said on Monday morning that Crosby, who had been released from the hospital, had to be transported back to the emergency room due to further complications. Roswell told LifeSiteNews that a Planned Parenthood escort, who guides abortion patients into the organization's facilities, was present at the scene and engaged with the assailant prior to the attack. In his experience, Roswell said that escorts are usually present in the rare cases that pro-abortion rights activists engage in violent altercations with anti-abortion advocates. Investigators told local news outlets WBAL and WMAR that they are searching for the suspect. https://www.theblaze.com/news/tony-holford-us-canada-border-explosives-sign Police open fire on driver at US-Canada border; truck had 'sign' indicating 'explosive device on- board' Police opened fire on a truck driver on Memorial Day as the driver aproached the U.S.-Canadian border with a sign indicating he had an explosive device on board. The motorist, 42-year-old Tony Holford of Providence, Rhode Island, faces charges of aggravated reckless conduct, a class B crime; terrorizing, a Class D crime, and failure to stop, a class E crime, the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit said in a press release. At 10:39 a.m. Monday, Maine State Police Trooper Denver Roy attempted to stop a vehicle heading north on Interstate 95 in Houlton, Maine. The driver did not stop, instead continuing north. Trooper Roy "observed a sign indicating that the operator had an explosive device on-board," the MSP wrote. It is not clear what sort of sign was displayed. When the vehicle eventually stopped between the U.S. and Canadian ports of entry, troopers commanded him to get out of the vehicle. When the vehicle's operator reportedly maneuvered the truck toward the Canadian port of entry, Corporal Eric Paquette shot at him. Holford, who was uninjured, surrendered to Main State Police troopers and was taken to the Aroostook County Jail after being medically cleared. MSP say the scene is contained and there is no ongoing danger to the public. Authorities in Canada and the United States are collaborating on an investigation into the incident. The Maine State Police Bomb Squad and crime scene technicians advised motorists to use alternative points of entry as they processed the scene. The Woodstock, New Brunswick, border crossing was reopened Monday night, according to a tweet posted by the Canada Border Services Agency's Atlantic Region. The Office of the Maine Attorney General and the Maine State Police will work together "in the coming days to continue the investigation and the events that led up to the officer-involved shooting." https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/education/virginia-eliminates-degree-requirements-most-state-jobs Virginia eliminates degree requirements for most state jobs Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Tuesday announced a change in state hiring practices that would eliminate requirements or preferences that applicants for most state positions have a college degree. A press release from Youngkin indicated that the change will take effect on July 1 and affect roughly 90% of state positions. The Old Dominion's myriad agencies post as many as 20,000 job listings per year. "On day one we went to work reimagining workforce solutions in government and this key reform will expand opportunities for qualified applicants who are ready to serve Virginians," Youngkin said in a statement. State Secretary of Labor Bryan Slater further, in the same release, indicated that the state was looking into heavily regulated private industries to streamline the professional certification processes. The move comes as American high school graduates increasingly opt against pursuing college degrees to due affordability and return on investment concerns. President Joe Biden has moved to lessen the financial burden of incurring debt to pay for college by offering up to $10,000 in repayment relief for most loan recipients and up to $20,000 for those who received a Pell Grant, though that plan has faced legal scrutiny and may well end up permanently blocked by the judiciary. The proposed deal to raise the debt limit facing Congress includes a measure to end a temporary freeze on student loan repayments.

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Thursday, June 1st, 2023. https://www.theepochtimes.com/chick-fil-a-faces-growing-backlash-over-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-efforts_5300643.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=BonginoReport Chick-fil-A Faces Growing Backlash Over ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ Efforts Some conservatives have suggested a boycott of Chick-fil-A after the fast-food chain was discovered to have a vice president of “diversity, equity, [and] inclusion,” or DEI. In a previously issued Chick-fil-A news release, the company said that Erick McReynolds serves as its vice president of DEI, saying: “Chick-fil-A restaurants have long been recognized as a place where people know they will be treated well. Modeling care for others starts in the restaurant, and we are committed to ensuring mutual respect, understanding, and dignity everywhere we do business.” DEI is a set of principles that large corporations, government agencies, and schools have increasingly incorporated into their work environments, often mandating employees receive such training. However, these principles are rooted in Marxism, according to prominent critics including Christopher Rufo and James Lindsay, that are essentially vehicles for “left-wing racialist ideology and partisan political activism.” “They are designed to replace the system of academic merit with a system of race-based preferences and discrimination—which, in many cases, explicitly violates federal civil rights law,” wrote Rufo for his Substack page earlier this year. The Chick-fil-A announcement was highlighted this week by several prominent conservative accounts. According to McReynolds’s LinkedIn page, he was hired as Chick-fil-A’s vice president for “Diversity, Equity [and] Inclusion” in late 2021. The chicken-based fast-food chain has been generally well respected among conservatives due to the company’s religious values and its prior support for religious groups. In the McReynolds DEI announcement, Chick-fil-A makes reference to its corporate purpose, which is “to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us” and “to have a positive influence on all who come into contact with Chick-fil-A.” In recent weeks, a number of companies have faced backlash for embracing what critics say are left-wing values or a pro-LGBT agenda. Since early April, Bud Light has seen a significant backlash after it produced a beer can with transgender activist and influencer Dylan Mulvaney’s face and as Mulvaney suggested a partnership with the brand. Sales of Bud Light have dropped significantly year-over-year, with consumers opting to drink brands like Coors or Miller in its place, according to data released by industry analysts. Data published by Bump Williams Consulting and Nielsen IQ shows that by the week ending May 20, Bud Light sales declined 29.5 percent year-over-year, while revenue is down 25.7 percent. The CEO of Anheuser-Busch has, on multiple occasions, said that Bud Light did not partner with Mulvaney, a man who identifies as a woman, and that only “one can” with Mulvaney’s face was produced. Local distributors in some areas also released advertisements saying as much in a bid to lure back customers, while Bud Light has marketed several deals to move cases of beer. Another major boycott was directed at Target after the company released a line of LGBT clothing for children—including onesies for infants—for its “pride collection,” according to its website. Other companies, like Kohl’s and PetSmart, have similarly been criticized for selling similar products. Last week, Target said in a news release that it would be moving its “pride” merchandise to other areas of the store. The company, meanwhile, has seen its stock drop considerably since mid-May, falling another 3.5 percentage points on Tuesday. https://www.dailywire.com/news/9-teenagers-arrested-over-brutal-assault-of-3-u-s-marines 9 Teenagers Arrested Over Brutal Assault Of 3 U.S. Marines Sheriff’s deputies in San Clemente, California, arrested nine teenagers over the brutal assault of three U.S. Marines last Saturday. San Clemente Mayor Chris Duncan announced that Orange County Sheriff’s Department had charged the teenagers, five of whom were accused of assault with a deadly weapon and the other four with misdemeanor assault and battery. “They think they have the people they are looking for,” Duncan stated. “Not to say that there might not be a few others out there. They feel pretty confident that they have the main perpetrators. … They had some videotape that wasn’t readily available to the public that had a lot better images of the individuals involved.” “In today’s age, you’re going to get caught — people are going to record it,” Duncan continued. “I hope this serves as a learning lesson for young folks in the community not to let themselves get out of control when something like this happens.” As many as 40 young people were involved when the three U.S. Marines near a California beach Saturday night were attacked in a horrific moment caught on now-viral video. The Marines were enjoying time off from their service at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside at approximately 10 p.m. along the beach in San Clemente. One of the Marines, Hunter Antonino, said a piece of debris hit him in the face, prompting him to ask the group to stop lighting fireworks. “They were lighting off fireworks, they were being belligerent and obnoxious and annoying other people, so I went up to them and told them to stop,” he recalled. Antonio said the group then followed the Marines as they returned to the pier, whereupon Antonio and another Marine informed the group that they were Marines so the group would leave them alone. Instead, the group savagely attacked the Marines. One individual punched a Marine in the back, prompting the Marine to turn and charge at him, sparking the melee. Video shows two of the Marines lying in the fetal position on the ground as the group kicked them and hurled racial epithets at them. The Marines were kicked in the head and upper body. Although the Marines were injured, they refused to go to a hospital, according to Orange County Sheriff’s deputies. Antonio thought he may have suffered a concussion. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/healthcare/anti-abortion-protesters-beaten-baltimore-planned-parenthood Two anti-abortion protesters beaten outside Planned Parenthood in Baltimore Two senior citizen anti-abortion protesters were attacked outside of a Planned Parenthood clinic in North Baltimore on Friday morning, sending one to the University of Maryland Medical Center. “Please pray for my dear friend, Mark Crosby,” President of the Baltimore County Right to Life organization Jay Walton said on Facebook Friday. “He was viciously attacked yesterday, May 26, 2023 while he was praying in front of Planned Parenthood in Baltimore City. He and another prolifer were attacked from behind and the thug ran away.” Mark Crosby and Dick Shafer have been confirmed as the victims in Friday's attack. Both men are over the age of 70, according to police reports. WMAR reported that surveillance video shows the suspect tackling Shafer, disturbing a large flower planter outside of the abortion facility. When Crosby came to Shafer’s aid, the assailant shoved Crosby to the ground, and the person was seen punching and kicking him in the face. Baltimore anti-abortion advocate John Roswell told LifeSiteNews that while Shafer is recovering well, Crosby “is bleeding from some unidentified area behind his eye and the bone eye orbit is completely shattered.” Walton said on Monday morning that Crosby, who had been released from the hospital, had to be transported back to the emergency room due to further complications. Roswell told LifeSiteNews that a Planned Parenthood escort, who guides abortion patients into the organization's facilities, was present at the scene and engaged with the assailant prior to the attack. In his experience, Roswell said that escorts are usually present in the rare cases that pro-abortion rights activists engage in violent altercations with anti-abortion advocates. Investigators told local news outlets WBAL and WMAR that they are searching for the suspect. https://www.theblaze.com/news/tony-holford-us-canada-border-explosives-sign Police open fire on driver at US-Canada border; truck had 'sign' indicating 'explosive device on- board' Police opened fire on a truck driver on Memorial Day as the driver aproached the U.S.-Canadian border with a sign indicating he had an explosive device on board. The motorist, 42-year-old Tony Holford of Providence, Rhode Island, faces charges of aggravated reckless conduct, a class B crime; terrorizing, a Class D crime, and failure to stop, a class E crime, the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit said in a press release. At 10:39 a.m. Monday, Maine State Police Trooper Denver Roy attempted to stop a vehicle heading north on Interstate 95 in Houlton, Maine. The driver did not stop, instead continuing north. Trooper Roy "observed a sign indicating that the operator had an explosive device on-board," the MSP wrote. It is not clear what sort of sign was displayed. When the vehicle eventually stopped between the U.S. and Canadian ports of entry, troopers commanded him to get out of the vehicle. When the vehicle's operator reportedly maneuvered the truck toward the Canadian port of entry, Corporal Eric Paquette shot at him. Holford, who was uninjured, surrendered to Main State Police troopers and was taken to the Aroostook County Jail after being medically cleared. MSP say the scene is contained and there is no ongoing danger to the public. Authorities in Canada and the United States are collaborating on an investigation into the incident. The Maine State Police Bomb Squad and crime scene technicians advised motorists to use alternative points of entry as they processed the scene. The Woodstock, New Brunswick, border crossing was reopened Monday night, according to a tweet posted by the Canada Border Services Agency's Atlantic Region. The Office of the Maine Attorney General and the Maine State Police will work together "in the coming days to continue the investigation and the events that led up to the officer-involved shooting." https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/education/virginia-eliminates-degree-requirements-most-state-jobs Virginia eliminates degree requirements for most state jobs Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Tuesday announced a change in state hiring practices that would eliminate requirements or preferences that applicants for most state positions have a college degree. A press release from Youngkin indicated that the change will take effect on July 1 and affect roughly 90% of state positions. The Old Dominion's myriad agencies post as many as 20,000 job listings per year. "On day one we went to work reimagining workforce solutions in government and this key reform will expand opportunities for qualified applicants who are ready to serve Virginians," Youngkin said in a statement. State Secretary of Labor Bryan Slater further, in the same release, indicated that the state was looking into heavily regulated private industries to streamline the professional certification processes. The move comes as American high school graduates increasingly opt against pursuing college degrees to due affordability and return on investment concerns. President Joe Biden has moved to lessen the financial burden of incurring debt to pay for college by offering up to $10,000 in repayment relief for most loan recipients and up to $20,000 for those who received a Pell Grant, though that plan has faced legal scrutiny and may well end up permanently blocked by the judiciary. The proposed deal to raise the debt limit facing Congress includes a measure to end a temporary freeze on student loan repayments.

Are there any lessons learned from failing? Can we learn from it? Should we? How does one define success? Also, talking about the political strategy of Sarah Godlewski and what she

Stephen Sackur is in Berlin for a special interview with Niels Annen, Germany's State Secretary for Economic Co-operation. For decades Germany built its economic power on Russian energy and trade with China – that has left Germany looking vulnerable. So what is the new strategy? (Photo: Niels Annen, State Secretary for Economic Co-operation)

The first action plan on geographical balance was signed by the Director General of the European Commission (EC) for Human Resources and Security, Gertrud Ingestad, together with the State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, Andrej Stančík. Slovakia, along with 14 other EU Member States, is considered geographically under-represented. On the occasion of the World Water Day, the Slovak State Nature Conservancy launched two floating bird islands on the surface of the Sĺňava reservoir near Piešt'any. The unique project will replace the original nesting sites of endangered bird species.

Aidan Yoho is the 2022 State Star Farmer of Kansas FFA and the State Secretary.  He will hold both of those titles until July of 2023.  But back in July of 2022, Aidan was simply an FFA Member from Yates Center, Kansas who was attending his state convention and who had thrown his hat in the ring in these two categories.  As it turned out, state star farmer and the state officer team were both announced during the same session of the state convention.  So, within 20 minutes of Aidan's life he went from not holding either of these titles to holding both! So, where did this all start for him.  It started with a passion for farming that still exists on Aidan's land today, his great-grandfather.  Aidan's great-grandfather started farming with his brother on leased ground over 50 years ago.  Today, Aidan farms with his father and his great-grandfather, but unfortunately his grandfather passed away in 2021.  Being able to work with and learn from this great-grandfather has taught Aidan many valuable lessons about being successful in agriculture. One of those lessons is that there is money to be made doing things that nobody else wants to do.  Aidan listened to this advice, and that is how he got his start.  Both in cattle and forage production, he applied the same philosophy.  Aidan started out purchasing dairy cross calves that needed to be dehorned because they were cheap and not many people wanted them.  He also identified problem areas on the farm that nobody wanted to mess with and started growing hay on them. Today that has developed into an operation that allows Aidan to farm the more desirable hay ground and to purchase better cattle that end up making him more money in the long run.  He has his sights set on returning to the family farm and running it when the time is right, but for now he is giving his full focus to making a run at being the American Star Farmer in a couple of years!  

On this midweek show, Ryan Packer returns for a round-up of regional transportation issues with Crystal. Ryan's efforts to raise public awareness around traffic safety issues through in-the-minute reporting of cars hitting pedestrians and bicyclists sparks conversation about the Legislature's aim of changing driver behavior through bills currently under consideration and their funding of bike and pedestrian safety improvements in last year's transportation package. They then address the issue of the Columbia River Crossing Megaproject being pushed forward with a decades-old scope, an uncertain funding plan, and non-consideration of climate change or equity. Finally, Crystal and Ryan highlight the disconnect observed in two regional planning bodies with the Puget Sound Regional Council adopting a transportation plan unaligned with our 2030 climate goals and the Sound Transit Board making decisions uninformed by transit rider experience. 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 Ryan Packer at @typewriteralley.   Ryan Packer Ryan Packer has been covering transportation and land use at The Urbanist since 2015. Their work has also appeared in the Seattle Bike Blog, BikePortland, and PubliCola. They don't own a bike.   Resources “State Proposals Aim to Lower Traffic Deaths by Improving Driver Behavior” by Ryan Packer from PubliCola   “Navigating the Move Ahead Washington Transportation Package with Ryan Packer” from Hacks & Wonks   “Washington State Is Losing Control of the Columbia Interstate Bridge Replacement Megaproject” by Ryan Packer from The Urbanist   “Adopted Regional Transportation Plan Isn't Aligned With 2030 Climate Goals” by Ryan Packer from The Urbanist   “Elected Leaders Must Press Forward With Study of SR 99 and I-5 Everett Link Alternatives” by Stephen Fesler from The Urbanist   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. Today, I am excited to be able to welcome Ryan Packer to the show, who's been covering transportation and land use at The Urbanist since 2015. Their work has also appeared in Seattle Bike Blog, Bike Portland, PubliCola. They don't own a bike, but they cover transportation and related issues as well or better than anyone else in the region - an absolute impactful reporter that we have here. Welcome to the show, Ryan. [00:01:07] Ryan Packer: Thanks so much for having me. [00:01:09] Crystal Fincher: So what got you interested in the first place in reporting on these issues in particular? [00:01:16] Ryan Packer: Basically it was being a transportation user in Seattle. I worked for a restaurant company close to downtown and lived in Capitol Hill, and basically all the ways to get to work that the City was trying to encourage people to use - walking or transit - were unpleasant or infeasible basically. And once you start picking at threads as to why that is, you quickly learn all the different elements of the transportation system that most people aren't aware of - what I like to call the government ecosystem around transportation - and all the ways that it's very broken. [00:01:59] Crystal Fincher: Definitely very broken. One of the things that you've become known for is the unique style of reporting that you have for pedestrian-involved collisions by cars and other vehicles. How did you get started doing that? And what is the kind of feedback that you've received about your reporting there? [00:02:22] Ryan Packer: Yeah, so I basically started noticing that there wasn't a lot of in-the-minute reporting on people getting hit by cars, basically - people walking or biking. Essentially The Seattle Times, or daily newspaper even - in Washington or elsewhere - is only going to cover someone getting hit when ultimately it leads to someone's death. And I started to think about how this leads to a disproportionate - started to think about how this leads to a wrong perception in public at large, in terms of how safe it is to walk around and bike around. Obviously it's not intended to scare people or make people not want to walk or bike, but just to give people an accurate read of how often this is happening. Because the information is out there and once I started pulling it out and realizing this is happening right around the corner from me - I might not have even known this had happened - the reception has been pretty positive in terms of people wanting this information, wanting to know what's happening particularly on their own neighborhood streets. [00:03:41] Crystal Fincher: And there's a lot of action being talked about in response to the crisis that is pedestrian and bike safety. What is being talked about - I guess we'll start off at the state level - just in terms of safety, and then we can talk about general, other transportation-related issues, but what's on the docket there? [00:04:04] Ryan Packer: This session is not a big transportation year, but the traffic safety crisis is the big transportation issue. And so there are a number of bills that are being considered and most of them are trying to directly go after driver behavior. And so we have a lot of bills that are aimed at, say, specific types of drivers. There's a bill to lower the blood alcohol content threshold for a DUI from 0.08 to 0.05 - making people think a little bit more closely about how much they're drinking when they get behind the wheel of a car. There's a bill to target 18 to 25-year old drivers who don't have to take a driver education course - 18-year old doesn't have to take a driver's education course that their 17-year old sibling does. It doesn't make a lot of sense and it shows in the data in terms of the crash rates for young adults like that don't end up taking that course. There's a bill to target older drivers - a little bit less prescriptive - but there's some data that suggests that once you hit a certain age, your capabilities behind the wheel should be assessed a little bit more frequently. A bill to give people a warning label on their car, before they purchase it, in terms of - This vehicle is large and more likely to severely hurt somebody walking or biking if you hit them. And that bill would also impose an additional fine if you were involved in a crash like that. And so all these bills are looking at individual behavior, what I would call bad driver targeting. Ultimately this is just one aspect of the sort of national best practices that everyone's moving toward in terms of what's called a safe systems approach. But the important thing to note - while everyone's talking about driver behavior this session - last session was the transportation investment year. And you actually had me on the program to talk about the Move Ahead Washington package last year. But just to go through what we know about it since then and what it's going to do, it includes a lot of money for cities to ask for for bike and pedestrian safety. The problem with that is it is relying on people to raise their hands and also doesn't require that the funds go to the most impactful areas. So for example, a city like Kent doesn't have to request funds for the intersection, say, that the most people are getting hurt at. They can say, Oh, we want to do a project over here. And there's not a lot that the state can say, Oh, you should do something different. They have to pick the projects people are asking for. But there's another very important provision in that bill, which is a new complete streets mandate for state highways. And so we're getting into a mandate - sort of a blanket change - it's going to be much more impactful. It basically says that any time that the State Department of Transportation goes out to fix, or repair, or maintain a state highway - they have to look at whether or not that state highway is up to current standards - whether or not it has sidewalks, bike lanes, and whether drivers are currently driving really the appropriate speeds on that highway. So the Legislature allocated $1.5 billion in Move Ahead Washington to overall highway maintenance, so it's a lot of money but it's also not a lot of money in terms of how much maintenance our state highways need. But since the passage of that law, the State Department of Transportation has announced that they expect to use about half of that amount to upgrade safety infrastructure for people walking and biking on state highways - about $750 million, which if it ends up coming to pass would be the biggest investment in safe infrastructure in statewide history - possibly in a lot of states. [00:08:42] Crystal Fincher: And that was some positive news, hedged positive news. Seems like we're making progress but there is so much to do that sometimes it feels like we're trying to mop up the ocean a little bit. You talked about some of the best practices and some of the bills going after one dimension of that, which is driver behavior. What are the other recommended best practices? What are things that legislators should be talking about? [00:09:12] Ryan Packer: One element that has not quite made it to the Legislature is vehicle design in terms of - I talked a little bit about that warning label - but in terms of actually requiring that cars not be designed to hurt people is one aspect of this sort of safe systems approach - the actual design of our vehicles. It's gotten larger over the past couple decades - the trend toward SUVs, which has led to negative direction in terms of the pedestrian and cyclist injuries and fatalities. And so when you're talking about that, you're talking about something that would impact everyone on the road as opposed to the so-called bad driver. Even if you're putting a warning label - that's putting the onus on individuals like - Oh, you bought this car so you should know what it's like, as opposed to this car is on the market and it's a systemic issue in terms of offering these for sale. And so, but once you start to get into sort of how many different drivers would be impacted, the political will to actually make the changes is diminishing. For example, in terms of driver's education - when you talk about making drivers age 18 to 25 do the driver's ed course, that's one change but a 24-year old who is tested in another state can also just go ahead and transfer their driver's license into Washington without having to do that driver's ed course. Or a driver who's 35 and maybe needs to have that driver course again. Roger Millar, the State Secretary of Transportation, likes to note that the last time that he was tested for his driver behavior was in the 1970s and that there's been a couple of changes in state laws since that time - and that's true for a lot of people on our roads. But once again, that would apply to a lot of people getting back in the queue for driver's testing. [00:11:10] Crystal Fincher: Does road design play a role in the safe systems approach? [00:11:15] Ryan Packer: Absolutely road design plays a role. It's a key component, and that's what I was getting at with the complete streets requirement doing a systemic look at whether our state highways are designed to standards. There's not really a requirement for local jurisdictions to do that - cities like Seattle have complete streets ordinances, but there's a lot of ways that they can get around those. But you're talking about the need to - number one, make sure that people are driving at the appropriate speeds - one of the biggest factors in terms of whether or not someone is likely to be hurt or even killed in a crash is the speed that they're going. And you often have cities lowering speed limits, but the design speed - the speed that drivers feel like they can appropriately go on a road - may still be a lot higher. And so you have a lot of streets where those speeds remain very high. And then you also have the issue of distance for crossings for pedestrians - whether or not someone is likely to be able to safely cross that street is a big determinant of how safe it is, and whether or not there's safe infrastructure for people to walk along it or bike along it. One thing I like to always notice is - one of the biggest impacts that adding protected bike lanes to urban cities is - is the impact on pedestrians. You're often - one, separating cars from pedestrians with another lane in between them which is always great and makes things safer, but you're also adding protected turns - making sure the drivers aren't turning across the bike lanes - also great for people walking. So these kind of have these compounding effect, where it improves everything for everyone on the street not just someone on a bike. [00:13:15] Crystal Fincher: Now there are a few other things going on in the Legislature, even besides some of these pedestrian-related and safety-related enhancements. One of those issues is one that they thought they dealt with and maybe mostly wrapped up last year, but that has come back with a vengeance - that a lot of people are looking at with concern - and that's the Columbia River Crossing Megaproject. Where does that stand, and what has happened that they need to tackle now? [00:13:48] Ryan Packer: So this project has been around for almost two decades - it's a needed project to replace the two spans of the I-5, between Washington and Oregon - one of which was built in the 1910s. The previous attempt to replace this bridge, which is called the Columbia River Crossing, included seven miles of highway expansion, five interchanges, light rail as a component - several sort of huge projects within projects - that made the project very expensive and expansive. Ultimately in 2013, it was the Washington State Senate that didn't want to pony up the money for that project - in part because of light rail's inclusion, in part because of a opposition to having tolls from the Washington side to go into Oregon. That project languished for several years until it was restarted by Governor Brown and Inslee in 2019, and has been moving forward - but the key thing to remember with this is that we're still using the federal approval from the Columbia River Crossing, even though we've now rebranded it with a very flashy campaign called the Interstate Bridge Replacement, or the IBR. It has the environmental approval of the Columbia River Crossing and that includes the scope - and so the seven miles of highway, five interchanges - it basically is still in there. And we went through a whole process to look at how we might tweak that, whether or not we might include climate change as an actual purpose and need to address with this project, or whether we might want to include equity as an actual thing to address. Ultimately they decided that that would disrupt the project schedule - they're very intent on replacing this, starting construction by 2025 - it's not entirely clear that's going to happen, it being 2023 already, but that's what they're aiming for. And at the end of last year they just came up with a new project cost estimate based on all the new tweaks that they want to do to this thing, and it could end up costing about - $7.5 billion is the high end estimate. It would ultimately be the most expensive single highway project in the Pacific Northwest and among the top 10 in the nation. And so the question is whether the scope is too wide and expansive for - what we're talking about is a very needed bridge, not a highway. [00:16:55] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. And with that expanded cost estimate and the now inflated cost that we've seen, that puts them at least a billion dollars under budget - and there's a question about where that billion dollars is coming from. Where does that stand? [00:17:11] Ryan Packer: So they have a financial concept plan that assumes that they're going to get a lot of money from the federal government - the bipartisan infrastructure bill included a mega-grant program, kind of orchestrated by Washington Senator Maria Cantwell, that kind of had the IBR in mind when they were looking at this grant program. And so they're counting on an incredible amount of money from the federal government - around $2-3 billion - which is wild. They've already gotten $1 billion from the State of Washington in last year's Move Ahead Washington package, but they're banking on Oregon chipping in another billion dollars this year - which would get them to have that matching funds for the federal grants. Interestingly enough, new governor of Oregon Tina Kotek released her budget very early this year and didn't actually have a billion dollars in it for that project, which is very interesting because it was a very big priority of her predecessor, a very big priority of sort of her old colleagues in the Oregon Legislature - and so she clearly sees it as not one of the top priorities. She's currently allocating a lot of money for housing and not highways. [00:18:41] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, an interesting conundrum which has definitely been scrutinized and continues to be challenged - because of the broadness of the scope - does it require that many lanes, that much impact on the local area? You talked about equity being put aside in terms of - because they wanted to stick to their timeline. And certainly people in that region who are familiar with the impacts of the type of pollution that's created by cars being spewed in the neighborhood and what those health impacts, like asthma and other things, are for local communities and schools there in that area. [00:19:25] Ryan Packer: So that also gets into the issue of tolls, which I mentioned were a sticking point with the old project. They're banking on a lot of money also coming in from tolls. The first point with that is obviously we don't quite know what the actual impact on traffic volume on the bridge is going to be from those tolls, and so it has a - do we need to have all that capacity to - if we're going to put the tolling on the bridge, what is that relationship going to look like? But also, as we've seen in Washington with the SR99 tunnel and some of the other tolling programs that the state has undergone in the past couple years, sort of banking on a high number of toll users to pay back your project is not necessarily the most sound financial plan. [00:20:20] Crystal Fincher: It is not, as we have learned in those other situations that you referenced. I also wanted to touch on one of our regional bodies at the moment - the Puget Sound Regional Council. And we have a number of bodies that are involved in transportation planning, a number of regional bodies - this is one of them - but a number of these have also talked about their commitment to addressing climate change, to reducing greenhouse gases, setting targets and we have a 2030 target that they're attempting to hit. And recently they announced that they are not on track to hit the 2030 climate goal. Where do they stand on that, and are they talking about anything that will put us back on track to meeting those targets? [00:21:09] Ryan Packer: Yeah, so this is a body that not a lot of people pay attention to - it's the four county - King, Snohomish, Pierce, and Kitsap County - regional planning body. Its biggest role is figuring out where to allocate federal funds, and so it's a conduit for a lot of federal money - and so that's how it's how it gets the power that it does. Ultimately they have to approve a regional transportation plan that kind of looks at the entire region's goals around transportation. They did that last year, and originally it was just looking at the climate impacts by 2050 - sort of the long term goals around reducing transportation emissions. Thanks to a lot of the leaders on the regional council, including the president - King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci - they were like, Hey, we should actually be looking at 2030 to see if we're on track or we have to do a lot more work. And that analysis just came back and shows a pretty big gap in terms of where we're expected to be - 13%, which is a huge emissions gap. It doesn't sound huge, but it's - when you talk about the emissions of the entire region. And they also looked at sort of some models around how to fill that gap. And that's the frustrating thing about their models - which is basically they showed that transit, expanding transit, is not really going to close the gap. And in terms of - because our growth strategy as a region is not quite going to catch up to where we need to be by 2030 in terms of having actual people close to transit. First of all, should give some direction to our local leaders in terms of what they should be doing around transit access and station planning. But also the model seems a little bit behind the times in terms of being able to actually account for sort of the actual behavior of people. It also noted that if we put a hold on sort of the roadway expansions - which add capacity, add cars, add emissions - that it would - their models are showing that that wouldn't have an impact. And a lot of people are questioning that, including Claudia Balducci [00:23:48] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, a lot of us questioning that - with some of the justification that they're giving essentially being we add lanes but that's gonna help traffic. And if people spend less time in traffic, then that's going to neutralize the emissions that come from the increased traffic somehow. [00:24:05] Ryan Packer: The same arguments that we've been hearing for a couple of decades - just haven't borne out. [00:24:09] Crystal Fincher: Yeah - kind of challenging there. Also Sound Transit, another regional body that is very involved in our regional transit system - they operate our light rail and heavy rail Sounder system. Where do they stand in terms of climate goals and their kind of overall operation? [00:24:33] Ryan Packer: Ultimately, Sound Transit isn't really charged with making sure that the region's holding to its climate goals. They're being asked to build a regional spine to our transit network, which is - it's very expensive. It's gonna be a lot of years of work to get that sort of spine from Everett to Tacoma. And ultimately, it's not going to be as impactful as it could be if regional government - cities, counties - don't do the maximum to ensure that people are living by the stations, people can access those stations. And so that's one way that the sort of siloed system of our transportation ecosystem in central Puget Sound is not optimizing outcomes in terms of climate and also just all those other more immediate impacts - livability, air quality, things like that. Sound Transit is tasked with building the system, and the way that its political board is structured - the incentives are basically to make sure that your community is getting some transit and not that the region as a whole is set up for success. One way that that's epitomized is the planned deviation over to Paine Field in Everett - that a lot of people are questioning the sort of utility of making a detour on light rail to go to an airport that not a lot of people are really going to be able to utilize by the time it's done - and so, it's adding a couple like 10 minutes to every trip to Everett, as opposed to other ways to serve that. But it's seen as - taking away that would be seen as bad for Everett. [00:26:30] Crystal Fincher: And this is a challenge that we see with this board overall and some of the confounding decisions that are made. What is the composition of this board, and what kind of investment do its members have in - personal investment - in public transit? [00:26:47] Ryan Packer: The board is made up of local leaders from around the region, so ultimately you have people whose investment in transit is tied directly to their own performance as an elected official, not necessarily their own experience as a transit rider. It's not clear how many of our transit board members are actual daily transit riders or, in terms of their ties to the overall transit community. And so, like I said, it's all about making sure that you're delivering the projects for your city. And so there's just a lot of sort of bartering and siloing. [00:27:26] Crystal Fincher: Overall, with your perspective on transportation and transit in the region, what do you think are the most important things, I guess, on the docket for people to address and ways to address them? What would your words of wisdom be for those involved in the policy making? [00:27:45] Ryan Packer: I think the first thing I would say is that people involved in transit decision making should get out and ride transit - see what it's like - use that experience to actually make decisions. And get away from the map on the screen, in terms of looking at the actual impacts. I think a lot of people are getting very cynical about the decision making processes in central Puget Sound at all levels of government - from the City of Seattle to the highest echelons at Sound Transit - in terms of where the priorities of the decision makers are. I do think we see that party shifting a little bit, possibly - even at the City of Seattle level - toward people-centered projects, but ultimately the status quo bias is so embedded into - a lot of these - I don't want to say infrastructure, but the actual decision making processes - that it's very hard to turn that ship very quickly at all. [00:29:05] Crystal Fincher: Thank you so much, Ryan, for your time today. Thank you for just enlightening us - and your coverage - it's just been so impactful. I know that even for people who follow these issues and like you talked about - looking at the data, seeing maps on the screen and this happening - it's just impactful in a different way to see it reported in live time. And just the way that you get around our region and connect the dots on how what we do across the region impacts each other, and how we should be addressing transit and transportation overall. So thank you very much. [00:29:48] Ryan Packer: Well, thanks so much for all that you do, Crystal. [00:29:50] Crystal Fincher: 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.

Although the end of winter is approaching, the energy crisis will not end when flowers bloom in the spring. Policymakers around the world are hard at work and considering the actions that will ensure energy security at an affordable price for their country. In this episode of Switched On, Germany's Dr. Patrick Graichen, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, sits down in conversation with Emma Champion, Head of Regional Energy Transitions at BloombergNEF. They discuss Germany's approach to the energy crisis and the things we need to watch in the months, seasons and years ahead.Subscribers can read related research on the energy transition at BNEF on the Bloomberg Terminal, at bnef.com, or on our mobile app.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the face of a 'polycrisis' - an energy crisis, a climate crisis, geopolitical conflict and a potential economic recession, what's needed to ensure global cooperation on climate action continues? Learn more from this panel held at the World Economic Forum 2023 Annual Meeting 18 January with top voices, including: Julia Chatterley, Anchor, CNN; Jesper Brodin, Chief Executive Officer, Ingka Group (IKEA); Helena Gualinga, Co-Founder, Indigenous Youth Collective of Amazon Defenders; Anna Borg, President and Chief Executive Officer, Vattenfall AB; Jennifer Morgan, State Secretary and Special Envoy for International Climate Action, Federal Foreign Office of Germany; John F. Kerry; Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, National Security Council (NSC). This session was developed in collaboration with CNN.

At least 14 people died in the helicopter crash in Brovary, Kyiv region, on January 18, 2023. Among the dead were three children, as well as the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Denis Monastyrsky, his first deputy Yevgeny Enin and State Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Yuriy Lubkovich. - Утром 18 января в городе Бровары Киевской областиразбился вертолет госслужбы по ЧС Украины. При крушении погибли не менее 14 человек. Среди погибших — трое детей, а также министр внутренних дел Украины Денис Монастырский, его первый заместитель Евгений Енин и госсекретарь МВД Юрий Лубкович.

The transatlantic relationship, arguably the bedrock of the world's post-World War II international security architecture, came under significant threat during Donald Trump's tenure in office, as Trump complained about European untrustworthiness and talked about pulling the United States out of NATO. Yet in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the transatlantic relationship has widely been seen to recover its strength and to grow in military terms as Sweden and Finland are on a path to become NATO members. What is the state of the transatlantic relationship and why does it matter? This week on International Horizons, former State Secretary of Germany, Sigmar Gabriel, joins John Torpey to discuss European security policy and transatlantic relations in the face of Russian aggression in Ukraine. He discusses the motivations that led Putin into the war in Ukraine, as he saw an opportunity after the US withdrawal from the Middle East and doubts about NATO. Gabriel delves into the possibilities of a negotiated outcome in Russia's war in Ukraine, and analyzes the future prospects of geopolitical competition, where the US will look at the Pacific and will operate under systems of alliances and shared military burdens instead of subsidizing the security system of the West. Finally, Gabriel argues that China is often overestimated, and that a potential strategy for the US and Europe could be to offer alternatives to the Belt and Road Initiative, as China is now coping with domestic economic difficulties. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

The transatlantic relationship, arguably the bedrock of the world's post-World War II international security architecture, came under significant threat during Donald Trump's tenure in office, as Trump complained about European untrustworthiness and talked about pulling the United States out of NATO. Yet in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the transatlantic relationship has widely been seen to recover its strength and to grow in military terms as Sweden and Finland are on a path to become NATO members. What is the state of the transatlantic relationship and why does it matter? This week on International Horizons, former State Secretary of Germany, Sigmar Gabriel, joins John Torpey to discuss European security policy and transatlantic relations in the face of Russian aggression in Ukraine. He discusses the motivations that led Putin into the war in Ukraine, as he saw an opportunity after the US withdrawal from the Middle East and doubts about NATO. Gabriel delves into the possibilities of a negotiated outcome in Russia's war in Ukraine, and analyzes the future prospects of geopolitical competition, where the US will look at the Pacific and will operate under systems of alliances and shared military burdens instead of subsidizing the security system of the West. Finally, Gabriel argues that China is often overestimated, and that a potential strategy for the US and Europe could be to offer alternatives to the Belt and Road Initiative, as China is now coping with domestic economic difficulties. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

Despite the claims of voter fraud propelled by former President Donald Trump that were wholly unfounded, widespread distrust in the election process lingers in Wisconsin. Here & Now's Chris Bentley reports from Green Bay about the election officials and poll workers trying to restore trust in the system. Then, underserved communities were disproportionately impacted by hurricane Ian, and many wonder how disaster relief will get to them. Former Tampa emergency manager and CEO of the Institute of Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management, Chauncia Willis, joins us. And, OPEC+, or the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, announced plans Wednesday to cut oil production by 2 million barrels per day. This comes amid security concerns around the Nord Stream pipeline. Andreas Eriksen, Norway's State Secretary for Petroleum and Energy, joins us.

As we evolve Lawyer Talk to Common Sense Ohio, here's what we cover this week. State Secretary of State Frank LaRose's office announced the “public integrity division,” which it says “consolidates many of the office's current investigative functions, including campaign finance reporting, voting system certification, voter registration integrity, the investigation of election law violations, data retention and transparency and cybersecurity protocols.” https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2022/10/06/larose-announces-election-public-integrity-division/ Listen to our interview with LaRose https://player.captivate.fm/episode/59dbcf63-39da-471c-a8c9-d5e762fe7087 Tim Ryan vs. J.D. Vance opioid charity https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/jul/27/tim-ryan/gop-senate-hopeful-jd-vance-paid-political-adviser/ Team of fishermen accused of cheating by stuffing fish with weights https://www.today.com/news/sports/team-fisherman-accused-cheating-stuffing-fish-weights-rcna50605 Redistricting, QAnon, military scandal: Why all eyes are on one Ohio congressional race between Marcy Kaptur and J.R. Majewski https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/10/04/ohio-9th-congressional-district-marcy-kaptur-jr-majewski-face-off/69505889007/ Pike County murder trial: Jury hears from George Wagner IV's ex-wife as fourth week of testimony begins. https://www.wcpo.com/news/pike-county-massacre/live-pike-county-murder-trial-trial-enters-fourth-week-of-testimony Listen to our previous episode about this case. https://player.captivate.fm/episode/9290f4b4-d195-46d2-afc4-8d12727bcf4b Court rules Cleveland must refund municipal tax for Pennsylvania resident https://www.crainscleveland.com/kim-palmer-blog/court-rules-cleveland-must-refund-municipal-tax-pennsylvania-resident Submit your questions to http://www.lawyertalkpodcast.com/ (www.lawyertalkpodcast.com). Recorded at Channel 511, a production of 511 South High Media LLC. Stephen E. Palmer, Esq. has been practicing criminal defense almost exclusively since 1995. He has represented people in federal, state, and local courts in Ohio and elsewhere. Though he focuses on all areas of criminal defense, he particularly enjoys complex cases in state and federal courts. He has unique experience handling and assembling top defense teams of attorneys and experts in cases involving allegations of child abuse (false sexual allegations, false physical abuse allegations), complex scientific cases involving allegations of DUI and vehicular homicide cases with blood alcohol tests, and any other criminal cases that demand jury trial experience. Steve has unique experience handling numerous high publicity cases that have garnered national attention. For more information about Steve and his law firm, visit https://www.ohiolegaldefense.com/ (Yavitch & Palmer Co., L.P.A.)  You can also find Lawyer Talk on these platforms: Rumble: LawyerTalkPodcast Brighteon: LawyerTalkPodcast Gab: @LawyerTalkPodcast GETTR: @LawyerTalk Copyright 2022 Stephen E. Palmer - Attorney At Law

Europe is in the throes of a severe energy crisis, with oil, gas, electricity, and coal prices skyrocketing this year. As the continent braces for winter, its leaders face difficult questions about whether or not there will be enough energy to heat homes and power the economy into 2023 and beyond.  Meanwhile Europeans are contending with the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. As they try to pressure Russia economically, they're attempting to minimize how much they squeeze their own energy sectors.  This energy crisis is occurring against the backdrop of an unfolding climate crisis. It has taken a toll on Europe this summer, inflicting major heat waves and drought across much of the continent. European governments, which have accelerated their efforts to fight climate change through the European Green Deal, must now balance the need for reducing carbon emissions with the need to meet current fossil fuel demand.  How can Europe's leaders find a compromise? How can they meet the current energy demands of their constituents? And what does a long-term energy security plan look like for Europe? This week we are airing host Jason Bordoff's recent interview with Frans Timmermans from Columbia's World Leaders Forum. They sat down for a conversation titled, “Staying the Course in a World of Turmoil.”  Frans is the executive vice-president of the European Commission for the European Green Deal and the European commissioner for climate action. He has an extensive background in Dutch politics, serving as a member of the House of Representatives, the State Secretary of Foriegn Affairs, and, most recently, the Minister of Foreign Affairs.  Jason and Frans talk about how the European Union can balance decarbonization, affordability, and energy security in the upcoming months. They also discuss what this crisis means for energy planning in the long-term.