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☆ David Cameron: Why Rishi Sunak has brought the former UK PM back to frontline politics
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Peter Wilkinson | Luke Mcgee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

London CNN —Ever since he became British prime minister a little over a year ago, Rishi Sunak has tried to bring calm to the chaotic government he inherited. That might all have changed on Monday when Sunak surprised the Westminster establishment by appointing former Prime Minister David Cameron as his new foreign secretary. He was very much from the center of the Conservative Party and led the campaign to remain in the European Union. David Cameron leaves 10 Downing Street after being appointed foreign secretary by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on November 13, 2023. British Prime Minister David Cameron resigns on the steps of 10 Downing Street in 2016.

Persons: London CNN —, Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Boris Johnson’s, Sunak, David Cameron, Suella Braverman, Cameron, Cameron’s, Carl Court, Braverman, Johnson, Toby Melville Toby Melville, Braverman’s, Matt Cardy, shouldn’t, it’s, don’t Organizations: London CNN, Conservative Party, European Union, Conservatives, Conservative, Britian's, REUTERS, Downing, European Liberal Democrats, Liberal Democrats, CNN Locations: British, Westminster, Brexit, London, Britain, Rwanda

☆ Opinion | The New Republican Party Isn’t Ready for the Post-Roe World
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( David French | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The difference between libertarianism and libertinism can be summed up as the difference between rights and desires. A libertarian is concerned with her own liberty but also knows that this liberty ends where yours begins. A healthy libertarianism can still be individualistic, but it’s also deeply concerned with both personal virtue and the rights of others. Not all libertarians are pro-life, but a pro-life libertarian will recognize the humanity and dignity of both mother and child. I don’t think the pro-life movement has fully reckoned with the political and cultural fallout from the libertine right-wing response to the Covid pandemic.

Persons: it’s, Donald Trump, Libertinism

Previously, Democratic governors who had backed school choice measures had done so in compromise deals with Republican-controlled legislatures. Vouchers have long been viewed in stark partisan terms: Democrats and public school allies say they drain critical resources from public schools. Republicans and school choice advocates say they give freedom to families who may not like their local public schools. That had motivated public school advocates and Democrats to demand billions more for the poorest public schools, a quest that Shapiro has said he supports. Those fluent in the history of school vouchers could think of no other Democratic governor who had embraced them.

Persons: Josh Shapiro —, Shapiro, ”, Robert Enlow, ’ ”, Matthew Brouillette, Christopher Borick, Jeffrey Yass, Jeff Yass, Charlie Gerow, ” Shapiro, Joshua Cowen, Peter Schweyer, —, recriminations, “ cowering, Shapiro shrugged, we've, Marc Levy Organizations: —, Republican, Pennsylvania, Democratic, Republicans, Roman Catholic, Muhlenberg College Institute of Public, GOP, Fox News, Michigan State University, Republican Party, Senate Republicans, Lehigh . Teachers, AFSCME, SEIU, AFL, House Democratic, Wall Street Locations: HARRISBURG, Pa, Indianapolis, Pennsylvania, statehouses, Yass, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, “, Philadelphia

☆ Slovaks choose between pro-Russian ex-PM Fico and pro-Western liberals
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Jan Lopatka | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BRATISLAVA, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Slovaks were voting on Saturday in a parliamentary election closely fought between former leftist prime minister Robert Fico, who has pledged to end military aid for neighbouring Ukraine, and pro-Western liberals. He has kept his options open but said this week his party was closer to Fico. Fico has ridden on dissatisfaction with a bickering centre-right coalition whose government collapsed last year, triggering this election a half-year early. Fico has pledged to end military supplies to Ukraine, and to strive for peace talks. But Fico was also a pragmatic leader in the past, which foreign diplomats and analysts say could tame his foreign policy turn.

Persons: Robert Fico, Fico, Fico's, Michal Simecka, Peter Pellegrini, Michal Vasecka, Viktor Orban, Jan Lopatka, David W, Cerny, Peter Graff Organizations: Ukraine, Democracy, European, Thomson Locations: BRATISLAVA, Ukraine, Slovakia, Hungary, European, Poland, Progressive Slovakia, Russia, Brussels, Prague, Bratislava

Protesters were thousands-thick in Tompkins Square Park in Manhattan’s East Village when the police moved in with horses and nightsticks. The tactics were described by a labor leader as “an orgy of brutality” and brought a public outcry demanding that police officials be fired. This was not a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020, or even the riot that erupted in the same park in 1988 as officers charged at protesters. This head-knocking happened during a demonstration by unemployed workers amid the financial panic of 1873. New York has long been one of the biggest stages for protest in the United States, with a vocal, sometimes volatile populace and a rich tradition of dissent.

Persons: ” Locations: Tompkins Square, Manhattan’s East, New York, United States

☆ YIMBY Movement Is Winning: Build More Houses, Lower Home Prices, Rents
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Eliza Relman | Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

The adherents of the "Yes In My Backyard," or YIMBY, movement believe that America's housing crisis comes down to the fundamental tension between supply and demand. Today, nearly 75% of residentially-zoned land in the US is restricted to single-family housing — detached homes designed for one family. Folks are like, 'Oh, we're in a housing crisis for the very first time. Ground zero for the modern YIMBY movement was California, where sky-high home prices forced people to reconsider their attitudes toward development. The city didn't allow new multiunit buildings to be taller or wider than the single-family homes they replaced, making construction less financially attractive to developers.

Persons: Nolan Gray, YIMBYism, Sonja Trauss, Trauss, YIMBYs, NIMBYs, Gray, I'm, —, Bill, They've, Tayfun Coskun, Muhammad Alameldin, Emily Hamilton, We're unwinding, Jenny Schuetz, Greg Gianforte, California YIMBY, Republican Sen, Todd Young, Democratic Sen, Brian Schatz, Eliza Relman, Kelsey Neubauer Organizations: San, San Francisco Bay Area, Urban Institute, Twitter, of Regional Planning, Public, Cato Institute, University of California, Berkeley Terner Center, Housing, George Mason University, Conservative, Brookings Institute, Republican, Todd Young of Indiana, Democratic, Hawaii Locations: California, San Francisco Bay, San Francisco, I'm, Los Angeles County, Florida, Utah, Minneapolis, Oregon, Austin, Dallas, Seattle, Portland , Oregon, Denver, New York, Texas, YIMBYism, We're, Bozeman, Montana, Miami

☆ The 6 Kinds of Republican Voters
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Nate Cohn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +15 min

But if the Republican Party is no longer in Reagan’s image, it’s not necessarily a populist-conservative MAGA monolith, either. But if the Republican Party isn’t quite a MAGA monolith, what is it? The groups were defined by how Republican-leaning voters felt on the issues — not how they felt about Mr. Trump. In fact, Mr. Trump leads Mr. DeSantis among every group of Republican voters identified in the analysis. They’re the smallest group of Republicans today, but this group of relatively moderate but anti-woke voters might play an important role in the Republican Party in the years ahead.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Ronald Reagan’s, it’s, MAGA, Trump’s, Mr, They’re, ” They’re, it’s Mr, ”, —, Trump’s MAGA, don’t, Ron DeSantis, Susan Collins, Charlie Baker, Chris Sununu, Reagan, Bush, Biden, John Kasich, Marco Rubio, DeSantis, Rick Perry, Tim Scott, Rubio, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Romney, Liz Cheney, Roe, Wade, Ted Cruz, Newt Gingrich Trump, It’s, likeliest, Cruz, Rudy Giuliani, Paul LePage, Lou Barletta, Michael Grimm Trump, ” Reagan, Rand Paul, Jason Chaffetz, Dave Brat Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy, President Biden, they’re, “ Organizations: Right, Libertarian Conservatives, Moderate, Republican Party, New York Times, Siena College, Republican, Times, Mr, Conservatives, Fox, Trump, Blue, Trump Republican Party, Freedom Caucus, Fox News, Trump —, Republicans, Radicals, ” Reagan Democrats, Obama, Trump voters, President Locations: Ukraine, Siena, America, New York City, It’s

☆ The genius plan that could bring down skyrocketing home prices
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

Not only did this help to slow down skyrocketing housing costs, it inspired a bipartisan, nationwide expansion of the policy. Home prices in Auckland, New Zealand's biggest city, doubled between 2009 and 2016 and prices across the rest of the country followed close behind. "A typical New Zealand city looks a lot like a typical US city," Gray said. There are three models of housing construction in US cities right now, Gray said. "In terms of an overall objective, I think bringing down house prices to construction costs is an ultimate sign of housing abundance."

Persons: Upzoning, Jenny Schuetz, Matthew Maltman, who's, Ryan Greenaway, Guo Lei, Maltman, There's, Auckland's upzoning, Vicki Been, Bill de Blasio, Schuetz, Nolan Gray, Gray, let's, Brett Coomer, that's, Allison Zaucha, Freemark, we're, Emily Hamilton, Eliza Relman Organizations: Brookings Institute, Auckland, Economic, University of Auckland, New, National Party, Housing, Economic Development, New Zealand, California YIMBY, Urban Institute, Houston, Montana Republicans, George Mason University Locations: New Zealand, Auckland, Australian, Zealand, Auckland , New, New Zealand's, New York, Europe, California, Zealanders, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Houston, Atlanta, Denver, Seattle, Washington, Portland , Oregon, Montana, California . Utah, Minneapolis, New York City

☆ Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia wants to make the rest of the country more like Long Beach, California
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Rep. Robert Garcia, a freshman Democrat from California, is a self-described urbanist. The former mayor of Long Beach has crowdsourced ideas for urbanist legislation. "I think a good city, good urbanism, is a dense core, it's walkable, it's bikeable, and there's also a focus on public transit," Garcia said in an interview. He wants to bring policies that have worked in Long Beach and California to the entire country. Garcia said he's made connections with fellow Democratic members who see eye to eye on housing, transportation, and other related issues.

Persons: Robert Garcia, it's bikeable, there's, Garcia, he's, Jake Auchincloss, Seth Moulton of, Greg Casar of, Sen, Brian Schatz, hasn't, I've Organizations: Service, Republican, DC, Department of Transportation, Democratic Locations: California, Long, Wall, Silicon, Long Beach, Long Beach and California, Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, Greg Casar of Texas, Hawaii

☆ A Conversation with Spencer Cox About Utah’s Teen Social Media Law - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Jane Coaston | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The effects of phones and social media on teenagers — and adults — continues to be at the center of public health, tech, civil liberties and more. In March, Utah’s Republican governor, Spencer Cox, signed an extensive package of laws intended to limit kids’ access to social media platforms, including time restrictions and requirements that parents and guardians have access to private messages and posts. Utah’s laws were among the first in a tranche of actions by state governments, like those of Montana and Louisiana, which have greatly limited access to certain social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, either for minors or all users. Some researchers have alleged that social media is responsible for increases in anxiety and depression. But the governor told me he wasn’t worried.

Persons: —, Spencer Cox, ”, balk Organizations: Republican, Utah Locations: Montana and Louisiana

☆ Kennedy, Condemning ‘Censorship,’ Hits Democrats and Courts the Disaffected
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Rebecca Davis O Brien | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Indeed, Mr. Kennedy, an environmental lawyer and scion of the storied Kennedy Democratic clan, is now a leading vaccine skeptic and purveyor of conspiracy theories. The idea that the press has a stranglehold on public information is a core, animating belief in the health freedom movement, which broadly opposes regulation of health practices, including vaccinations. Two political action committees supporting Mr. Kennedy were formed by people who knew him through this movement, which accounts for some of his most ardent support. Some are libertarians, searching for a standard-bearer; others are disaffected Democrats; some are Republicans looking for an alternative to Mr. Trump. Mr. Kennedy’s audience in New Hampshire of at least 250 people included at least one person wearing a Trump 2020 hat.

Persons: Kennedy, John F, Kennedy’s, Trump Organizations: Kennedy Democratic, Silicon Valley . Tech Locations: Silicon Valley, New Hampshire

☆ F.B.I. Violated Surveillance Program Rules After George Floyd Protests and Jan. 6 Attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Charlie Savage | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The total number of queries for Americans — and the frequency of compliance incidents — appears to have dropped as a result. Among other things, an intelligence community report last month said that the F.B.I. While Congress did so in 2012 and 2018, the program faces stronger headwinds this cycle, as Republicans who have adopted former President Donald J. Trump’s hostility toward the F.B.I. and surveillance have joined with civil libertarians who have long been critical of the law. Against that backdrop, privacy advocates have revived a proposal to require the government to obtain a warrant from the surveillance court before it may query the Section 702 repository using an American’s identifiers.

☆ Proptech VCs and startup founders already struggling from the housing-market downturn are now reeling from the Silicon Valley Bank collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The overnight collapse of Silicon Valley Bank after a social media and group chat-fueled bank run is creating yet another set of problems for an already ailing venture tech environment. The proptech industry has suffered over the past year as higher interest rates have throttled both the real estate and tech worlds. Silicon Valley Bank was the go-to lender of so-called venture debt, or debt that startups can raise along with their equity rounds of funding. The Silicon Valley Bank collapse "just punctuated it," he said, of the financial duress. Real estate lending warningsBanks make up almost a third of all commercial real estate lending according to CBRE.

☆ David McCormick and the Search for a Republican Message
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Barton Swaim | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

PhiladelphiaVarious factions of the American right have in recent years become adept in the art of blaming each other for the Republican Party’s travails. Trump-influenced protectionists blame free-marketeers for selling out the working class to Chinese manufacturing. Pro-business establishmentarians fault the Trumpians for alienating suburban moderates. Libertarians and nationalists denounce “neocons” for entangling America in costly and futile wars.

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 frees platforms from legal responsibility for content posted online by their users. In a major case to be argued at the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, the nine justices will address the scope of Section 230 for the first time. A ruling against the company could create a "litigation minefield," Google told the justices in a brief. Some have targeted the way platforms monetize content, place advertisements or moderate content by removing or not removing certain material. A California appeals court dismissed the lawsuit, citing Section 230, because it sought to hold Twitter liable for content Murphy created.

"The worst governments are already going to suppress speech," said David Kaye, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine and the former free speech watchdog for the United Nations between 2014 and 2020. The free speech experts who spoke to NBC News on Friday said Twitter's actions could invite international attempts to manipulate Musk. Would some head of state say, 'Hey, can you do this for my country and prevent public reporting?' Kaye, the former U.N. free speech watchdog, said Musk's behavior reminded him in part of authoritarian leaders who enforce rules against challenging the government or criticizing powerful figures, such as royal family members or regime allies. Musk can talk about standing for free speech all he wants, but this should make it clear to everyone that what he’s doing is quite the opposite.

The Georgia voters who delivered Mr. Kemp a comfortable victory over his Democratic challenger, Stacey Abrams, in November did not show the same enthusiasm for Mr. Walker. Neither Mr. Walker nor Mr. Warnock cleared the 50 percent threshold needed to win outright, sending voters to the polls again for a runoff on Tuesday. The outcome of Tuesday’s runoff with Mr. Walker, who was pressed to run by Mr. Trump, will shed more light on Mr. Trump’s influence in Georgia. Mr. Walker has spent more time campaigning in Atlanta’s suburbs and has embraced Mr. Kemp as a surrogate. Mr. Warnock has sought to portray Mr. Walker as unfit for office and as an ally of Mr. Trump.

That plan quickly falls through — and Twitter decides to adopt a poison-pill strategy to fend off a hostile takeover from Musk. At this point, shares in Musk's automotive company, Tesla, began to decline; by mid-November, they will have lost close to half their value. “Musk’s conduct simply confirms that he wants to escape the binding contract he freely signed, and to damage Twitter in the process,” Twitter says. In the meantime, Musk and Twitter jockey for position ahead of the October trial — with Judge Kathaleen McCormick increasingly siding with Twitter in key pre-trial motions. Within 48 hours, the site was flooded with users who bought blue checkmarks only to turn around and impersonate official accounts, including Musk's.

Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire is running for reelection to a second term. 2022 General EmbedsNew Hampshire's Senate race candidatesHassan, a former state lawmaker and two-term governor, is aiming to secure a second term in the Senate. Bolduc — who served in Afghanistan and received two Purple Hearts and five Bronze Stars — is the Republican standard-bearer in this year's Senate race. During the 2020 US Senate election that Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen won, more than 18,400 voters — about 2.3% — cast ballots for Libertarian candidate Justin O'Donnell. What experts sayThe New Hampshire race was rated as "tilt Democratic" by Inside Elections, "lean Democratic" by The Cook Political Report, and "leans Democratic" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire ran for reelection to a second term. 2022 General EmbedsNew Hampshire's Senate race candidatesHassan, a former state lawmaker and two-term governor, secured a second term in the Senate. Bolduc — who served in Afghanistan and received two Purple Hearts and five Bronze Stars — was the Republican standard-bearer in this year's Senate race. During the 2020 US Senate election that Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen won, more than 18,400 voters — about 2.3% — cast ballots for Libertarian candidate Justin O'Donnell. What experts sayThe New Hampshire race was rated as "tilt Democratic" by Inside Elections, "lean Democratic" by The Cook Political Report, and "leans Democratic" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

☆ Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan vies against Republican Don Bolduc in the New Hampshire's US Senate race
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire is running for reelection to a second term. New Hampshire's Senate race candidatesHassan, a former state lawmaker and two-term governor, is aiming to secure a second term in the Senate. Bolduc — who served in Afghanistan and received two Purple Hearts and five Bronze Stars — is the Republican standard-bearer in this year's Senate race. Sununu was deeply critical of Bolduc during the GOP primary campaign and eventually endorsed state Sen. Chuck Morse, who narrowly lost to Bolduc in the September contest. During the 2020 US Senate election that Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen won, more than 18,400 voters — about 2.3% — cast ballots for Libertarian candidate Justin O'Donnell.

[1/2] The Truth social network logo is seen displayed behind a woman holding a smartphone in this picture illustration taken February 21, 2022. The involvement of the previously unnamed financial backers of Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) – parent company of social media app Truth Social – shows how Trump tapped his political supporters to launch an outlet aimed at political conservatives and libertarians after he was banned from Twitter and Facebook following the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on Congress. TMTG launched Truth Social in February in the Apple App Store and in Google’s Play Store in October. Truth Social has been downloaded 2.9 million times across both platforms, according to market tracker Appfigures. Trump had 4.37 million followers on Truth Social as of Oct. 27, compared to the more than 88 million followers he had on Twitter when the platform permanently suspended him.

[1/2] The Truth social network logo is seen displayed behind a woman holding a smartphone in this picture illustration taken February 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationOct 28 (Reuters) - Ever since former U.S. President Donald Trump launched a new media company aimed at rivaling Twitter, there has been a mystery over who provided the money. TMTG launched Truth Social in February in the Apple App Store and in Google’s Play Store in October. Truth Social has been downloaded 2.9 million times across both platforms, according to market tracker Appfigures. Trump had 4.37 million followers on Truth Social as of Oct. 27, compared to the more than 88 million followers he had on Twitter when the platform permanently suspended him.

☆ Liz Truss Brought Libertarians to Power in the U.K. and Quickly Out Again
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Max Colchester | David Luhnow | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON—A few days after Liz Truss first was elected to Britain’s parliament in 2010, she visited the Institute of Economic Affairs, a libertarian think tank in a cramped Georgian house a stone’s throw from Parliament in central London. There she met an old college friend, Mark Littlewood , director general of the IEA, and pitched an idea. “Mark, we are going to set up a caucus of free-market MPs,” Mr. Littlewood recalls her saying.

“I think it’s going to be significant,” Chuck Coughlin, an Arizona Republican pollster, said of the third-party impact on key Senate races. Angela McArdle, the chair of the Libertarian National Committee, said it’s not her party's job to protect Republican candidates who are alienating voters. "If Republicans fear that Libertarians are going to be spoilers, Republicans need to run more liberty-minded candidates," McArdle told NBC News. Much attention has been paid to the level of support third-party candidates can wrestle from the major party contenders in recent election cycles, particularly on the presidential level. "We have to wait to see the melt on these third-party candidates," he said.

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