Friday, January 13, 2017

In the news, Thursday, December 22, 2016


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DEC 21      INDEX      DEC 23
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Information from some sites may not be reliable, or may not be vetted.
Some sources may require subscription.

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from Anglican Communion News Service

A Christmas letter to churches around the world from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.

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from Asia Times Online

China is up in arms over Trump's position that the One China Policy is open for debate.

India's surprise demonetization has produced some winners, but mostly losers and the utterly devastated.

Allies and partners of the United States in the Pacific are pressing American President-elect Donald Trump to renege on his pledge to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on free trade and, more in general, keep the superpower committed to the region. This exhortation sounds perfectly logical from nations like Japan, South Korea, Australia and Singapore, which heavily rely on Washington’s regional engagement and protection. But also an ever more confrontational China ultimately appears to recognize the value of the US leadership (or, better yet, “co-leadership”) on global trade.

In Afghanistan the ‘new great game’ or ‘pipeline diplomacy’ as it is sometimes called, with regard to the control of energy resources in Central Asia and its distribution routes is shaping up. In recent years, the abundant energy resources in Central Asia, largely untapped, have triggered a race among the big powers for gas and oil pipelines in and around the region.

Congress leader's 'earth-shattering' revelation about prime minister causes few tremors

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from CNSNews.com (& MRC & NewsBusters)

Lawmakers Demand Changes as Cuban Migration to US Surges
President-elect Donald Trump and Congress are facing demands by lawmakers to end the special treatment given to Cuban migrants to the U.S., amid a surge of new arrivals on the border with Mexico following restoration of diplomatic relations with the island nation.

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from Competitive Enterprise Institute

A new trade deal with Britain is just one of the five ways that President Trump could jump-start economic growth.

How a US-UK free trade deal could revolutionise world trade
Done right, a US-UK trade deal could set the stage for a major rethink of trade policy that could set the stage for productive liberalization in the future.

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from CounterPunch
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

Lest We Forget, Clinton Wanted to Privatize Social Security
The collapse of the liberal media into a miasma of identity politics and guilt trips is fascinating to watch. After having been laid for a killer trip for how my support for Jill Stein is going to bring about the return of back-alley abortion, I think I have a bit of a right to just point out yet again that Hillary Clinton, if elected, wanted to put my parents in the poorhouse by privatizing their Social Security.

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from EUobserver

EU looks to trade treaty for better Turkey relations
The European Commission has asked member states to upgrade trade relations with Turkey, but said this would be conditional on respect for democracy. The proposal comes amid fraying relations with Turkey over its crackdown on alleged coup sympathisers and Kurdish separatists, as well as its ever-closer links with Russia.

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from First Things

RUSSIA, TRUMP, AND THE PROBLEM OF VALUES
Donald Trump’s friendliness toward Russia has the potential to reshape global politics. The prospect of a closer US-Russia relationship should be taken seriously, though any hopes for a durable partnership could founder on the problem of values—both Vladimir Putin’s and our own.

ADVENT IN THE DEATHWORKS
Our elites are characterized by their pursuit of de-creation—an unending total war against the sacred order and its adherents. With such gloomy thoughts for company, I listened to the chatter at a recent dinner party. The barbarism of the guests was hidden behind advanced degrees, prestigious university chairs, multiple languages, and well-appointed townhomes in fashionable zip codes. Doctors, attorneys, professors—privileged, comfortable, respectable, and free of any pangs of conscience.

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from The Guardian (UK)
[Information from this site may be unreliable.]

Killer comebacks to win every Christmas family argument – from Brexit to Bowie
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, struggling to eat sprouts while spouting ONS immigration figures to defeat an undiplomatic uncle. Here’s how to have the last word

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from The Heritage Foundation

What We Can Learn From Reagan About Celebrating Christmas
Looking around the nation and the world with all its problems and challenges, Reagan offered his final Christmas words: “For it is only in finding and living the eternal meaning of the Nativity that we can be truly happy, truly at peace, truly home.” He urged us to be grateful for our freedom to worship as we please and to “redouble our efforts to bring this greatest of all freedoms … to all the peoples of the earth.”

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from The Independent (UK)
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

Prince Charles issues veiled warning over Donald Trump and return to 'dark days of 1930s'
'We are now seeing the rise of many populist groups across the world that are increasingly aggressive to those who adhere to a minority faith,' warns Prince of Wales

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from Indian Country Today Media Network

Obama, Trudeau, Invoke Indigenous Rights in Curtailing Arctic Drilling
Environmental advocates are hailing President Barack Obama’s ruling that quashes offshore drilling in parts of the Arctic and Atlantic oceans and advocates deeper consultation with Native peoples on all development. He and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on December 20 jointly announced a new Arctic Policy Framework that includes extensive consultation with Indigenous Peoples.

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from Intellectual Takeout
Nonprofit Organization in Bloomington, Minnesota

Education in America Before the Education System
Before America’s public education system was created around 1840, the vast majority of Americans were illiterate and walked around with dirt on their faces.  At least, that seems to be the impression shared by most people today. But it turns out that education, like nature, abhors a vacuum. In the decades after the American Revolution—much like the decades before, and most of human history—a number of different educational options existed that did not depend upon a centralized, bureaucratic system. Before the creation of this system, beginning in Massachusetts, America educated its children through a variety of options: charity schools (run by either churches, town councils, or voluntary benevolent societies), pay schools, infant schools, dame schools (run by women out of their homes), grammar schools, academies, female seminaries, independent day schools, etc.

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from LifeZette (& PoliZette)

Trump Faces Colossal Challenges to Restoring U.S. Competitiveness
Incoming admin must navigate intransigent interests at home and foreign mercantilism to boost exports.

Obamacare Numbers Are Nothing to Celebrate
'Surge' of enrollees still doesn't mean there is affordable care for more people

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from Martin Van Creveld
[Information from this site may be unreliable.]

Blaming Obama
As Aleppo has finally fallen and a new Republican administration, supported by a Republican Congress, is about to take over, everyone is pointing fingers at outgoing President Barak Obama.

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from Mises Institute
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

Has the CIA Been Politicized?
The CIA, a tax-supported government-created organization, will always be "politicized" and seek to increase its own power and wealth.

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from New Statesman
"The leading voice of the British left, since 1913."

Meme's the word: what it's like to raise an internet-famous child
Have you heard of Gavin? You should have: he's internationally famous. For his parents, though, it can be a struggle.

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from New York Times

Coming to Newark Archdiocese: A Different Kind of Cardinal
Joseph W. Tobin drives himself around, lifts weights in the morning and is just the kind of leader Pope Francis wants as he works to reshape the Roman Catholic church in the United States with his priorities.

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from NPR (& affiliates)

Trump team asks State Dept. to name those working on gender equality
The State Department was asked to list its workers who focus on gender equality and ending violence against women, and to identify money allocated for such programs.

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from The Spokesman-Review

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from Washington Examiner

Trump team working right up to Christmas break
Reporters covering President Obama the week before Christmas have sent their dispatches from sunny Hawaii, but those covering President-elect Trump have spent their days recording the comings and goings of corporate executives, Pentagon brass and soon-to-be West Wing staffers as Trump conducts transition meetings from his Palm Beach estate heading into the holidays. It's just the latest sign that Trump plans to do things differently than his predecessor, whose affection for golf outings and leisurely beach trips stands in stark contrast to Trump's known avoidance of vacations.

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from The Washington Post

Trump vineyard seeks Labor Department approval to hire foreign workers
Federal ethics experts for former Democratic and Republican administrations warned Thursday that President-elect Donald Trump is creating a major conflict of interest by allowing his Virginia vineyard to seek special temporary visas for foreign workers.

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