30 June - Netvibes - oldephartteintraining

CBC News

• Canada
• World
• Business

Canada 150: What the numbers tell us about our country - In honour of Canada hitting the big 1-5-0 on Saturday, here are a few other numbers to inspire some patriotic fervour, courtesy of Statistics Canada.6:49 PM

Officials go through final preparations for Canada Day event in Ottawa - Officials have been working for months to prepare for this weekend's events, which the government has billed as the largest in the nation's history, between the hundreds of thousands who are expected to be in downtown Ottawa to the countless others massing in more than 2,000 communities across the country.4:54 PM

New first-degree murder trial ordered for Ontario trucker acquitted in death of Indigenous woman in Edmonton - A new trial has been ordered for Bradley Barton, an Ontario trucker acquitted in the death of an Indigenous woman in an Edmonton motel room.4:29 PM

Retired soldier takes to life on the farm, with help from Prince Charles - Retired master corporal William Hawley had been anxiously awaiting the chance to meet Prince Charles and thank him for the Prince's Operation Entrepreneur program, a course that helped him transition from military life to life on the farm.4:02 PM

Three injured in Whale Cove after 5-year-old loads, fires rifle - Three people were treated for minor injuries in Whale Cove, Nunavut, after a 5-year-old loaded and fired a high-powered rifle, according to RCMP.1:35 PM

'The smell is not easy to get rid of': 1st right whale necropsy complete - A necropsy on a second right whale, one of six found dead in the Gulf of St. Lawrence this month, is expected to get underway Friday.12:00 PM

'He hasn't mowed it this year': Riverview man wants something done about neighbour's lawn - Riverview resident Kevin O'Brien wants his neighbours to mow the tall grass in their backyard. But the town's bylaw states they don't have to if they don't want to.11:39 AM

Wawa, Ont. celebrates Canada Day by unveiling new goose - History will be made tomorrow in Wawa. The northern Ontario town famous for its giant goose statue will unveil a new and improved landmark.10:59 AM

'We called it 'Prison Island': Inuk man remembers forced relocation to Grise Fiord - In the 1950s, 87 Inuit were persuaded by the Canadian government to leave their homes with promises of better hunting and the option to return home if they wanted. The promises were broken, and they were forced to stay in what is now Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord.10:39 AM

Ancient petroform in Manitoba's Whiteshell park destroyed - A sacred site to Indigenous peoples in Manitoba has been destroyed, sparking outrage from a woman who believes her mission is to protect the site.9:39 AM

China Digital Times (CDT) RSS Feed

Facial Recognition Spreads in Shopping, Surveillance - Facial recognition software is becoming ubiquitous in China as private companies partner with the government to use it for behavioral monitoring and as a form of cardless identification. Chinese startups, tech giants, universities, and government-funded research labs have been heavily investing in artificial intelligence research that includes facial and speech recognition. At The Wall Street Journal this week, Josh Chin and Liza Lin highlighted how facial recognition is being used to influence social behavior in China: Facial-recognition technology is one of the most powerful new tools in the surveillance arsenal. Fueled by advances in artificial intelligence, these systems can measure key aspects of a face, such as distance between the eyes and skin tone, then cross-reference them against huge databases of photographs collected by government agencies and businesses and shared on social media. China, however, stands apart in harnessing facial recognition as a cudgel to influence behavior. The Chinese Ministry of Public Security—its national police force—and other agencies called in 2015 for the creation of an “omnipresent, completely connected, always on and fully controllable” nationwide video-surveillance network as a public-safety imperative. In a policy statement, the agencies included “facial comparison” in a list of techniques to be used to improve surveillance networks. [Source] Among the more widely lauded examples of facial recognition tools is the proposed Smile to Pay feature of Alipay, in which a user can simply take a selfie to authenticate a mobile payment. A similar move toward replacing traditional identification cards with facial data includes ride-sharing app Didi Chuxing’s digital scanning of drivers’ faces to confirm that they are the same people with whom users are matched. E-commerce giant JD.com has begun to deliver packages via robots, giving recipients the options of using either QR codes or facial recognition to sign for delivery. On Wednesday, China Southern Airlines began allowing passengers at one Henan airport to use face scans instead of boarding passes. Use cases that target young people may be of particular concern. These include the installation of cameras with facial recognition capabilities in female college dormitories to ensure that only students access these buildings, and in classrooms to monitor students’ boredom levels. (Ordinary surveillance cameras are also a concern: before parents and students complained about a loss of privacy, they were briefly installed in the boys’ restrooms of a high school in Beijing to allegedly detect if students were smoking or bullying one another.) On a broader level, the cities of Shenzhen, Jinan, Jiangbei, Suqian, Chongqing, and Fuzhou have implemented facial recognition-equipped cameras meant to shame jaywalkers into breaking the habit. In Jinan, after a jaywalker is identified, their name, age, hukou registration location, state ID number, and headshot are sent to local police, as well as displayed on publicly mounted screens, in newspapers, and online. Other punishments include reporting these transgressions to a jaywalker’s employers and local community, the imposition of small fines, and requiring offenders to briefly work as auxiliary traffic police. Additional government-run services that make use of facial recognition for identification include social credit services such as the Shanghai municipal government-run Honest Shanghai app. The combination of social credit, facial recognition tools, and public shaming of scofflaws is recurrent in Chinese conceptions of future “smart cities” as sites where big data collection can track citizens’ behavior and cut down on crime. Most discussions of the widespread collection of facial recognition data have been short on considerations of privacy and security risks. Writing in the China Economic Review in 2015, Hudson Lockett identified a central issue that remains unresolved in the development of facial recognition technology in China today, namely that companies collecting sensitive user data have a long way to go to win official confidence: While regulators’ stated rationale for the requirements is preserving privacy and stemming systemic risk, they often seem more concerned with the latter. Professor Robin Hui Huang, executive director of the Centre for Financial Regulation and Economic Development at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Law, said China’s central bank didn’t have enough confidence in the online facial recognition technology being pushed by Alipay’s MYbank, and were pushing back for better biometric verification. “The more verification the better from the regulator’s point of view,” Huang said. Time will tell whether that holds true for the consumers forking over their identifying information, but neither Tencent nor Alibaba wants to wait around to find out. The competition is too fierce to survive standing still.” [Source] © anminda for China Digital Times (CDT), get_post_time('Y'). | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: alibaba, artificial intelligence, data security, facial recognition, jaywalking, privacy, social credit systemDownload Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall9:17 PM

Liang Jing: Guo Wengui and China’s Internal Crisis - In the fourth installment of his series of Radio Free Asia commentaries on billionaire gadfly Guo Wengui, Liang Jing looks at how Guo has accelerated the “internationalization” of China’s domestic crisis. Previous essays in the series have looked at other aspects of the Guo Wengui story; see installments one, two and three via CDT. Read more about Guo Wengui, who has become a target of Beijing’s wrath after taking to social media to lob a series of provocative accusations of wrongdoing against several top political and business leaders in China. The Guo Wengui Affair and Internationalization of China’s Internal Crisis Liang Jing, June 6, 2017 The Guo Wengui affair is the most important political event since the Lin Biao incident last century. While we cannot yet assess its political consequences, it will undoubtedly produce many long-term effects. One thing is clear: internationalization of China’s internal crisis is speeding up. China was the biggest winner of this round of globalization, but it came at immense cost. A major reason the June Fourth incident failed to force the CCP to carry out fundamental political changes 28 years ago was that Deng Xiaoping grasped the opportunity brought by globalization to launch the whole country into a competition to “get rich first.” The dilemmas of political and social reform could in this way be temporarily avoided, while the moral resources needed for changing China were further depleted. China has become wealthy, but its internal crises are more profound: not only a majority of the rich, but almost all of the power and cultural elites, are overseas, especially in developed Western countries, arranging their “escape routes.” For this to happen in a country of over a billion people is unprecedented. The logical result of this development is, on the one hand, to exacerbate China’s internal crisis of inadequate moral and social resources; on the other, a long-term trend of internationalization of China’s internal crises. The Guo Wengui affair is taking place against this background. Without it, it would be unthinkable that Guo Wengui could, with the strength of one man, “demand justice”—challenging the entire national machinery—and actually force the authorities to dispatch people to the U.S. to negotiate with him. How much justice he can get is still hard to say. For an important consideration in today’s world is that the balance of power between China and Western nations has undergone a historical shift, with the latter in crises of their own. Not only is the West finding its own strength checked, it is also loath to see China descend into a large-scale civil strife, further exacerbating the crisis of the global order. The issue is, regardless of how much justice Guo Wengui can achieve, the truths he has exposed have had and will continue to have a profound impact on the choices of the Chinese elite and even the middle class. That China’s political class and wealthy elite have shifted so much of their ill-gotten gains and children, including those born out-of-wedlock, to the West shows that they lack confidence in the future of the country and cannot take responsibility for it. For their own wealth and their children’s future, there will be more people trying to leave China, or at least leaving open a back-door. This trend has in fact grown very strong in recent years. In the U.S. alone, the number of Chinese students has already reached around 300,000 each year. This has had a systemic impact on American university education. Reaching West: Dreams of China’s New Generation, a documentary recently released by the American Public Television Network, shows clearly how the irresistible tide of overseas study has spawned a considerable industry in China. The authorities categorically terminating this development would trigger a serious crisis, while allowing it to grow rapidly would pose serious challenges. The crux of the matter is that the Beijing regime’s “reform” is unable to provide a sense of direction, or expectations, that convince. While the “cultural self-confidence” that Xi Jinping has come to emphasize has positive implications, his ideological control of universities stifles the liberation of thought and debates about values that China urgently needs. The recent storm over a graduation speech given in the University of Maryland, not to mention the Guo Wengui affair, and the ensuing latest developments—Hu Shuli and Pan Shiyi suing Guo Wengui in New York—demonstrate that China’s internal crisis of values, politics and even the justice system all manifest an obvious trend of internationalization. The internationalization of China’s internal crisis has accelerated thanks to Guo Wengui, and presents a huge challenge for both the Chinese and international communities. How China’s elites respond to this challenge will have a far-reaching impact not only on their own destiny, but indeed the world’s. [Chinese] Translation by David Kelly. Liang Jing is an independent commentator with a background in official policy research in the PRC, whose current affairs column has been running on Radio Free Asia’s Cantonese website for 20 years. © Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), get_post_time('Y'). | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: chinese abroad, Guo Wengui, Liang Jing, overseas Chinese, overseas Chinese studentsDownload Tools to Circumvent the Great FirewallJun 29

Minitrue: No Reports or Commentary on Liu Xiaobo’s Medical Parole - The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. The name of the issuing body has been omitted to protect the source. All websites: do not report, comment, or repost on Liu Xiaobo’s medical parole or related matters. (June 28) [Chinese] Chinese authorities confirmed on Monday that Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo is in hospital undergoing treatment for late-stage liver cancer. The San Francisco-based Dui Hua Foundation cautioned that "it is not correct to say that the prisoner granted medical parole is ‘free,’ nor is it correct to say that the prisoner has been ‘released,’" as some reports have done. Liu and his wife Liu Xia have nevertheless expressed hope that they will both be able to leave China to seek treatment for him, according to a statement posted by writer Liao Yiwu together with a photograph of a note handwritten by Liu Xia in April. David Cowhig translated both on his blog: Many journalists have been contacting me to ask if Liu Xiaobo and his wife Liu Xia really want to go abroad for medical treatment and how they can confirm it. I keep saying it over and over but explaining it over and over has been wearing me out. Currently Liu Xiaobo and Liu Xia are under strict police control. I feel compelled to release this handwritten note from Liu Xia. I also have another handwritten note from Liu Xia addressed to the Chinese Public Security Bureau National Security Detachment asking for permission to leave China. For now, I will not be releasing that letter. Journalists and everybody please believe this: their very pressing desire is to leave China to get medical treatment. Liu Xiaobo says it is absolutely true that if he is to die, he would rather die in the West! [Source] The New York Times’ Steven Lee Myers, however, reports that Liu will not be allowed to leave China: The authorities did not explain the rejection, according to [Liu’s] lawyer, Shang Baojun. The news undermined hopes among supporters of Mr. Liu, a writer and dissident, that he might be freed altogether, if not allowed to leave China. He remains under police guard in a hospital. […] Dozens of prominent writers have appealed directly to China’s president, Xi Jinping, to grant Mr. Liu unrestricted medical care, including the opportunity to leave the country if he chooses. The appeal, organized by PEN America, also urged the authorities to free Mr. Liu’s wife, the poet Liu Xia, who has been under house arrest since 2010 even though she has never been charged with a crime. Ms. Liu has appealed for her husband to be allowed to seek treatment abroad. “We applaud your decision to grant him medical parole, and hope that it will be accompanied with due regard for the steps necessary to ensure that, however much time he may have, he is afforded the dignity and autonomy that every human being deserves,” read the letter, which was signed by about 50 authors, including Martin Amis, Margaret Atwood, J. M. Coetzee, Philip Roth and Salman Rushdie. Freedom Now, an advocacy organization in Washington, released a similar appeal, signed by 154 Nobel laureates in each of the prize’s disciplines. [Source] Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Norwegian Nobel Committee, and Tiananmen student leaders Wang Dan and Wu’er Kaixi had already issued statements of support, calling for Liu to be allowed to choose how and where he would be treated. Similar statements have come from the French government, the Dalai Lama, and the U.S. embassy, Congressional-Executive Commission on China, and incoming ambassador Terry Branstad. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in response to the embassy’s comments that "no country has the right to interfere and make irresponsible remarks on Chinese internal affairs," and later warned Branstad that his duty is "to enable and enhance mutual trust and friendship between the two countries." These exchanges were reported by foreign media, but both were omitted from the ministry’s official press conference transcripts. Xi Jinping also ignored a reporter’s question about Liu upon his arrival in Hong Kong on Thursday. Amid these expressions of support, several commentators have noted the extent to which global attention had previously drifted away from Liu, reflecting a broader pattern of waning international pressure on China over human rights. One recent illustration of this was the E.U.’s failure to deliver a planned condemnation of Chinese rights violations last week. This week, British minister Mark Field declined to mention Liu’s case in an upbeat statement on a two-day Sino-U.K. human rights dialogue, adding fresh accusations of appeasement to several others in recent years. News of Liu’s illness also sparked a series of protests in Hong Kong, and a petition signed by over 500 Chinese intellectuals and activists demanding Liu’s freedom of movement, communication, and choice of treatment. The petition also urges transparency over his medical records, "so that those who are responsible for a delay in offering him timely medical treatment will be held accountable." Some suspect that this delay was intentional: activist Hu Jia has labeled Liu’s fate a "political murder," while deposed premier Zhao Ziyang’s former aide Bao Tong said that "some people have been talking about deliberate homicide, and I think that is a very frank way of putting it." Bao was reportedly then visited by police and warned not to comment further. In an apparent effort to counter such accusations, video has emerged of Liu exercising, receiving treatment, and meeting with his wife: see more details from Reuters. In addition to the prohibition on domestic reporting, authorities have cut transmissions on Liu’s case by foreign broadcasters: When BBC coverage of Nobel Peace Prize winner LiuXiaobo's late stage terminal cancer+ release from prison comes on in #China screen goes… pic.twitter.com/ZXHqGjNiTb — Stephen McDonell (@StephenMcDonell) June 26, 2017 The @CNN signal in China is cutoff by government censors, just as we're about to go live speaking about Nobel Peace Prize winner #LiuXiaobo pic.twitter.com/SR2bTVCe6Z — Matt Rivers (@MattRiversCNN) June 27, 2017 An editorial in The Guardian summed up Liu’s current situation: China’s Nobel peace laureate is no longer behind bars; but nor is he in any sense free. Liu Xiaobo’s lawyer, who has been unable to speak to him directly, says police are posted inside his room as he lies in hospital, terminally ill with liver cancer. Friends have been unable to visit him there. He is at least allowed to see his wife, Liu Xia. But her contact with friends is extremely limited too. In a brief but devastating recording of a video call, shared by one of their friends, she weeps as she says her husband cannot be given surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy, presumably because the cancer is so advanced. It appears that the couple want to return to their home in Beijing or go abroad. The authorities call this medical parole, but an eminent scholar of Chinese law calls it “non-release ‘release’” – transfer into another form of coercive control. [Source] That quote came from NYU’s Jerome Cohen, who commented on his blog on Tuesday: Given the increasingly frequent Chinese police practice of what I call “non-release ‘release’”, which usually means formal release from prison into another form of coercive confinement, one wonders how much freedom Liu will have to give us his final thoughts. The facts that it took a month for the news of his hospitalization to leak out and that he is confined in a Liaoning hospital rather than in Beijing suggest that he is far from a free man. Indeed his physical condition, as well as the conditions of confinement, may prevent access to the international and national media. […] Liu’s fate is a sad reminder of two things: oppression in China did not begin with Xi Jinping, and things have become even worse under Xi. [Source] AFP’s Allison Jackson and Joanna Chiu wrote this week that "Liu’s treatment offered little hope to lower-profile activists still in detention," such as rights lawyers held since the 2015 Black Friday crackdown. "The international community can see that China has no human rights when even Nobel prize winners have been treated like this," Beijing-based lawyer Yu Wensheng said, adding that when Liu dies it will be "a heavy blow" for China’s human rights movement. China has long been criticised for its harsh treatment of activists and dissidents but since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012 the controls on civil society have tightened. Campaigners say it is impossible to know the exact number of lawyers and activists in detention because many are held incommunicado with no access to legal advice or their families. […] In an annual report in March, Chief Justice Zhou Qiang cited the harsh punishments imposed on rights defenders as the legal system’s top accomplishment last year. [Source] Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. Some instructions are issued by local authorities or to specific sectors, and may not apply universally across China. The date given may indicate when the directive was leaked, rather than when it was issued. CDT does its utmost to verify dates and wording, but also takes precautions to protect the source. See CDT’s collection of Directives from the Ministry of Truth since 2011. © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), get_post_time('Y'). | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Bao Tong, censorship, Directives from the Ministry of Truth, Hu Jia, Jerome cohen, Liao Yiwu, liu xia, Liu Xiaobo, medical treatment, Nobel Peace Prize, Nobel Prize, United States, withheld medical treatmentDownload Tools to Circumvent the Great FirewallJun 29

Photo: China, by jose manuel gonzalez otero - China © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), get_post_time('Y'). | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: jose manuel gonzalez oteroDownload Tools to Circumvent the Great FirewallJun 29

Words of the Week: Go with the Flow (and Liu Xiaobo) - The Word of the Week comes from the Grass-Mud Horse Lexicon, a glossary of terms created by Chinese netizens and encountered in online political discussions. These are the words of China’s online “resistance discourse,” used to mock and subvert the official language around censorship and political correctness. suí Bō zhú Liú 随波逐刘 (Source: RFA) Coded support for the Chinese dissident and Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo. During his tenure as a professor of literature at Beijing Normal University, Liu Xiaobo served as a mentor to the student protesters in 1989. In and out of prison since, he was detained in 2008 after the release of the democracy manifesto Charter 08, which he co-authored. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010, just a month into his 11-year sentence for “inciting subversion of state power.” Liu was granted medical parole in June 2017, when the world learned that he is suffering from late-stage liver cancer. Liu’s name seldom appears in the Chinese press, and his books are all banned. In order to show their support for him, netizens changed the final character in the four-character idiom “go with the flow” (suí bō zhú liú 随波逐流) from liú 流 to Liú 刘, Liu Xiaobo’s surname. Conveniently, “wave” (bō 波) is also part of Liu’s given name, Xiaobo (晓波 Xiǎobō). The new phrase sounds identical to “go with the flow,” but on paper means “follow [the example of] Liu Xiaobo.” This subversive pun may have first appeared in a December 2009 article by Australia-based dissident Zhang Heci titled “Let Us Follow [Xiao]bo and Pursue Liu” (Ràng wǒmen suí Bō zhú Liú 让我们随波逐刘). The pun appears in users’ social media handles, such as on Weibo, the Quora-like Zhihu, and video streaming platform Miaopai. See also empty chair and Mayor Lymph. Can’t get enough of subversive Chinese netspeak? Check out our latest ebook, “Decoding the Chinese Internet: A Glossary of Political Slang.” Includes dozens of new terms and classic catchphrases, presented in a new, image-rich format. Available for pay-what-you-want (including nothing). All proceeds support CDT. © Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), get_post_time('Y'). | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Liu Xiaobo, word of the weekDownload Tools to Circumvent the Great FirewallJun 29

Photo: Hong Kong Storm, by Simon Clancy - Hong Kong Storm © Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), get_post_time('Y'). | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Simon ClancyDownload Tools to Circumvent the Great FirewallJun 28

Activists Investigating Ivanka Trump Factories Released - Three China Labor Watch activists who were detained while working undercover investigating abuses at two Huajian Group factories, which made shoes for Ivanka Trump’s brand, have been released on bail on Wednesday with a trial pending. Gerry Shih and Bernard Condon at AP report: After a month behind bars, three Chinese investigators who went undercover at a factory that made Ivanka Trump shoes walked freely out of the local police station Wednesday. But they still face an uncertain future and the threat of a trial. Chinese authorities released the three, who have been accused of breaking the law by using secret cameras and listening devices. They were freed on bail, which is extremely rare for individuals who have been detained for alleged crimes, a possible sign they won’t be formally charged and put on trial. […] NYU’s Cohen said he suspects the case now may follow the pattern of the one against Ai Weiwei, the dissident artist who was released on bail in 2011 and never faced trial. “I think this is face-saving way to get rid of the case,” Cohen said. “Formally, the case will exist for another year, then it will be dropped unless these people misbehave.” [Source] It was not clear why the three were detained given that China Labor Watch has investigated violations at Chinese factories for years without incident. It is believed that the factories’ ties to Ivanka Trump played a role in the men’s detention. From Emily Rauhala at The Washington Post: The group’s founder, Li Qiang, told The Washington Post in May that this was the first time his investigators had been detained. “This never happened before in my 17 years’ experience,” he said then. “The only reason we think this case is different is that this is Ivanka Trump’s factory.” Earlier that month, the organization issued an interim report on working conditions at factories that made Ivanka Trump-branded shoes. The report alleged that people employed by Huajian Group, a company that makes shoes for Trump and others, are forced to work at least 12½ hours a day and at least six days a week at a monthly salary of about 2,500 yuan, or $365. Li said his investigators found that workers were sometimes given only one or two days off per month. The factories offered no safety training, even though many employees come into contact with oils and glues, they reported. [Source] Company representatives have denied labor violations uncovered by the activists, which China Labor Watch contends were among the worst that the rights organization has ever seen in nearly two decades investigating labor abuses. The firm is reportedly preparing to  outsource its China-based factory jobs to Ethiopia to save on costs. From USA Today: Workers at the Huajian factory in Jiangxi province typically put in 15-hour days, with just two days off each month, according to a report by China Labour Watch, a group that since 2000 has investigated workplace conditions at Chinese plants that supply many of the world’s best-known companies and brands. Workers assigned to produce shoes for Easy Spirit’s brand were forced to remain at work until 1.30 am making changes in late May after a representative of the US company complained that the manufacturing work was of “inferior quality”, the report said. The factory’s employees were verbally and sometimes physically abused and had to wait until late April to receive payment for hours they worked in March, the report said. Additionally, the workers were paid roughly US$352 for 350 monthly work hours, below what China’s labour law stipulates, the report added. […T]he factory “is the worst among the dozens of factories we have investigated over the past year”, the report concluded. [Source] Although Ivanka Trump had been called on to speak out on behalf of the activists, she has made no public statement regarding the men’s detention and release. Keith Bradsher at The New York Times report: The Ivanka Trump brand declined to comment on their release on bail, and Ms. Trump has not commented on the investigators’ detention. She has been publicly urged to do so by the best-known Western expert on China’s criminal justice system, Jerome Cohen, a professor at New York University who has specialized in the subject for a half-century. Mr. Cohen has said that public comments from her would considerably help the legal prospects for the men and the conditions under which they were held. But Ms. Trump did call in a speech at the State Department on Tuesday for strong action against countries where human trafficking occurs, in conjunction with the release of a United States government report that labeled China as one such country. That report particularly criticized the treatment of migrants in China, however, and not necessarily factory workers. […] The Ivanka Trump brand has said that the last batch of its shoes to be made by Huajian was in March. China Labor Watch contends that further batches were scheduled to be manufactured for the brand at the end of May and in June, and that its investigators had been planning to document the production of those shoes but were detained by the authorities days beforehand. [Source] Meanwhile, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have been invited to China as Beijing seeks to build closer ties with the White House. From Benjamin Haas at The Guardian: Chinese officials have been scrambling to build closer ties with key members of the US administration after Donald Trump’s election victory surprised many in the leadership. The couple’s visit is unlikely to take place before October, as senior officials prepare for a twice a decade leadership reshuffle at a key Communist party meeting. Ivanka Trump is broadly popular in China where state media often lavishes her and her Mandarin-learning daughter with praise. Earlier this year a video of the two visiting the Chinese embassy in Washington for lunar new year went viral. Ivanka Trump frequently posts clips of her daughter singing in Chinese. The Global Times, a state-run tabloid, has described her as “balancing [Donald] Trump’s harsh posture”. But the couple have been criticised for their business ties to China, shining a spotlight on potential conflicts as the two prepare to engage diplomatically with the country. [Source] © cindyliuwenxin for China Digital Times (CDT), get_post_time('Y'). | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: activists, detention, donald Trump, factories, Ivanka Trump, labor conditions, labor rights, manufacturingDownload Tools to Circumvent the Great FirewallJun 28

Liang Jing: Guo Wengui and China’s ‘Truth’ Revolution - In an article for The New York Times, Chris Buckley looks at the impact billionaire Guo Wengui is having on the political elite in Beijing as he fires explosive, but largely unsubstantiated, accusations of corruption and wrongdoing against them from his penthouse in Manhattan. As Buckley reports, Guo’s sometimes salacious allegations are the talk of the town, despite government efforts to censor them and the lack of hard evidence to back them up: But it is already near impossible to hold a private conversation with anyone in the Chinese capital who takes an interest in politics without talk turning to Mr. Guo and his unverified insider tales of elite corruption and power plays. People here have followed each unveiling of Mr. Guo’s often long-winded allegations by creeping around China’s barricade of internet censorship. “I don’t think the party has ever had a big businessman so boldly challenge it like this,” said Bao Tong, a former senior aide to Zhao Ziyang, a former party leader who was toppled from power during the 1989 protests. “How to respond is a dilemma.” […] Mr. Guo’s stories have caused a stir in part because he socialized with security officials before he left China several years ago and has shown a familiarity with who’s who in elite party families. But many of his recent claims are unverified and disputed, and Mr. Guo has sometimes left out important details needed to test the accusations. Yet even without confirmation, the allegations appear vexing for Mr. Xi. [Source] In the third installment in a series of commentaries about Guo, Radio Free Asia political analyst Liang Jing looks at why Guo’s words are resonating in China and igniting a “truth revolution,” even in the absence of confirmed facts. The first and second installments in the series have been previously posted by CDT; we will post additional related commentaries from Liang Jing in coming days. Guo Wengui and China’s “Truth” Revolution Liang Jing, May 23, 2017 Guo Wengui’s daily “Reporting Safe” hour-long live video program has become an internet media classic, drawing unprecedented attention not only in China, but across the world. Many wonder: what should we make of this? What will be its historical impact? Guo Wengui has in my view ignited a “truth revolution” in China, which has subverted the official version of “truth” as it dominates the lives of ordinary people, drawing China towards a new “politics of truth.” Guo’s “truth” may be far from all true, but he has given hundreds of millions of viewers in China and the world a glimpse of truths never visible before, changing their understanding as to the “truth” of China. The lethal threat to China’s regime and mainstream elite of Guo Wengui’s “truth” revolution is enormous. Not only has he revealed how the power elite plunder and steal huge amounts of China’s wealth, he has also revealed how China’s political and cultural elite have sunk into deep spiritual and moral decline in the process. People had long seen or felt this decline in real life, but the many details exposed by Guo Wengui still deeply shocked outsiders, and more importantly, some of these details have completely destroyed the “public image” of many of the power elite, meaning they “lack the face to see people,” not only publicly, but privately. We can imagine the desire for revenge Guo’s “truth” revolution has stirred up among those humiliated and dishonored, and the universal dread and anger it has caused among the elite, but the resulting social and political risks are difficult to estimate. Any cultural and political order depends on the concealment of certain truths. How was Western civilization, which also conceals a number of “truths,” able to establish a more advanced political civilisation than others? This is a question worth Chinese people considering. My view is that the power games and judicial practices of Western civilization embody a concept lacking in many civilizations: preventing personal humiliation and maintaining everyone’s personal dignity as far as possible, including for political opponents and criminals. Without this idea, Western civilization could not have achieved such break­throughs in the rule of law and democracy; and it is the lack of this idea that makes it hard for Chinese civilization to emerge from its cultural predicament of cyclical order and chaos. Reflecting on the case of Guo Wengui from this point of view, it’s not difficult to see that it reflects the individual logic of “disrespect begets disrespect, violence begets violence.” A famous American actress said this in criticizing Trump; pointing, I felt, to the key to political civilization, namely whether it can extract us from this vicious cycle of human nature. Faced with a situation in which “there is no official whose hands are clean,” the predicament of Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign is obvious to all. But does this mean that he must humiliate corrupt officials, and use anti-corruption to besmirch his political opponents? Has he absolutely no choice but to rely on such thugs as Fu Zhenghua? Guo Wengui’s opposition may, I feel, have a positive impact in forcing China’s top authorities to think about these issues. Many people are quite pessimistic, believing that the Chinese people have their own logic: you can treat someone as a person, but he may not treat himself as one. This is indeed a truth about China, but it is not the whole truth. Because China’s internal and external environment has made and is still making a historic change. ordinary people’s awareness of dignity and rights continue to awaken. If people are not respected, if a higher political and judicial civilization is not introduced, China’s economic and social problems can not find a way out. As capital takes flight, so will people. In the short term, an ant like Guo Wengui cannot shake the great tree of the regime, but seen from the trend of technological development, and on a scale of ten to 20 years, taking Guo Wengui’s remark that “everything has just begun” as a description of the renewal of Chinese political culture may turn out not too far off the mark. [Chinese] Translation by David Kelly. Liang Jing is an independent commentator with a background in official policy research in the PRC, whose current affairs column has been running on Radio Free Asia’s Cantonese website for 20 years. © Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), get_post_time('Y'). | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Guo Wengui, Liang Jing, truth, Xi anti-corruption campaignDownload Tools to Circumvent the Great FirewallJun 27

Minitrue: Delete Caixin Report on Causes of Deadly Landslide - The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. The name of the issuing body has been omitted to protect the source. Delete the article "Villagers Seek Accountability Over Ignored Reports of Large Fissure in Mountainside Before Maoxian Landslide." (June 26) [Chinese] A landslide hit the Sichuan village of Xinmo on Saturday, leaving ten dead and 93 missing. Only three survivors had been dug out by Monday, when rescue efforts were suspended and the site evacuated ahead of a second landslide predicted using radar observations. The targeted article, deleted from its original home at Caixin but preserved at CDT Chinese, included interviews with several locals. It focused on the lack of official response to villagers’ reports of a large fissure that had opened in the mountainside above them, and on their demands for accountability following the disaster. The crack reportedly first appeared in 2009 or 2010, soon after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. It eventually grew to a width of tens of meters and two or three hundred meters in length, filling with spring and rainwater as it disrupted drainage channels. The villagers reported this at least up to the county-level government, leading to an inspection by a township-level official. They say they were never offered relocation or warned about the possibility of landslides, and that nothing was done to drain water from the fissure. According to the report, the villagers reject the official judgment that the landslide was a purely natural disaster caused by seismic disturbance and heavy rain. Instead, they regard it as partly "man-made," with official inaction bearing some of the blame. Now, they want to know who is responsible. Official actions before and after disasters, and their designation as natural or otherwise, are often sensitive topics. "For China’s leaders, making sense of the senseless is a disruptive and dangerous act, because it nudges the mythically infallible foundations of legitimacy and power," China Media Project’s David Bandurski wrote in the aftermath of the 2015 Tianjin port explosions. "It is never the right or the proper time, according to official China, to seek the sense of tragedy." Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. Some instructions are issued by local authorities or to specific sectors, and may not apply universally across China. The date given may indicate when the directive was leaked, rather than when it was issued. CDT does its utmost to verify dates and wording, but also takes precautions to protect the source. See CDT’s collection of Directives from the Ministry of Truth since 2011. © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), get_post_time('Y'). | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Caixin, censorship, Directives from the Ministry of Truth, disaster relief, earthquakes, landslides, local government, local officials, natural disasters, SichuanDownload Tools to Circumvent the Great FirewallJun 27

Hong Kong Prepares for Xi Jinping’s Handover Anniversary Visit - Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to visit Hong Kong on Thursday for the first time since becoming president to mark the 20th anniversary of the former British colony’s handover to Chinese rule. The occasion will also coincide with the swearing in of Carrie Lam as the city’s new chief executive. Tony Cheung and Jeffie Lam at South China Morning Post report: Xi’s packed itinerary includes overseeing the swearing-in of the new chief executive, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, and her cabinet on July 1. Before flying out later that day, he is expected to make visits to one of the city’s two biggest and most controversy-plagued infrastructure project sites – either the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge or the high-speed rail link to Guangzhou. […] According to the official itinerary the president and his wife will land at Hong Kong International Airport on Thursday. Xi is scheduled to attend a banquet that evening with Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying at Government House. On Friday, he will inspect the local garrison of the People’s Liberation Army, as commander of China’s armed forces, before attending functions at the convention centre in Wan Chai. [Source] Xi’s upcoming visit has been greeted with protests by Hong Kong’s pro-democracy activists, who have draped a black flag over the city’s symbolic bauhinia statue that was presented to the territory as a gift from Beijing upon its return to China in 1997. From Al Jazeera: Joshua Wong, a prominent student campaigner, and a dozen demonstrators attached the black cloth to the giant golden bauhinia flower on Hong Kong’s harbourfront in an early morning protest on Monday as security tried to stop them climbing on the famous tourist attraction. “The black-cloaked statue symbolises the hard-line rule of the authoritarian regime over the past twenty years,” the protesters said in a statement. The sculpture of the bauhinia, which became the emblem of Hong Kong after the handover, was a present to the city from China in 1997 and stands outside the convention centre where Xi will attend anniversary events during a three-day visit starting on Thursday. Police were called to take the flag down while the protesters chanted “democratic self-determination for Hong Kong’s future” and “one country, two systems has been a lie for 20 years”, referring to Hong Kong’s semi-autonomous status. [Source] Joshua Wong is a former student leader of the 2014 pro-democracy “Umbrella Movement” protests who called for a fully democratic election of Hong Kong’s chief executive. Wong was charged along with two other protest leaders in 2015 for unlawful assembly and sentenced last year to 80 hours of community service. He currently heads the Demosisto political party that he and his fellow activists formed in 2016. The targeting of the bauhinia statue is the first of what is expected to be many protests around the handover anniversary. As part of the security arrangement for President Xi Jinping’s arrival, Hong Kong police have been instructed to shield Xi from seeing phrases and images banned in China, including those of the yellow umbrella symbolizing the 2014 protest movement and other iconographies with reference to June 4th. In an interview with Bloomberg, Hong Kong’s chief executive-elect Carrie Lam claims that the special administrative region will increase in global economic importance as a result of further integration with China, while shrugging off concerns that the city’s autonomy is eroding. Ting Shi and Betty Liu report: President Xi Jinping’s Belt-and-Road Initiative — along with a plan to create a Silicon Valley-like innovation haven by linking Hong Kong and neighboring Macau with the southern manufacturing powerhouse of Guangdong — would benefit the financial hub, Lam said in an interview in Hong Kong on Friday. “We’re now even more relevant,” Lam, 60, told Bloomberg Television on the sidelines of the Wharton Global Forum. “We will not only benefit from this deepening and opening up, we’ll actually be able to contribute to these major initiatives.” Lam’s five-year term begins on July 1 — the 20th anniversary of the former British colony’s return to Chinese rule — in a ceremony that Xi is expected to attend. She faces growing concern that Beijing is eroding Hong Kong’s reputation as a bastion of free speech and the rule of law rather than preserving the “high degree of autonomy” it promised for 50 years after regaining stewardship in 1997. In the interview, Lam brushed off such worries, saying that calls for independence, which gained traction in last year’s legislative elections, were a “sensitive flash point” that contravened China’s “one country, two systems” framework for Hong Kong. [Source] Regarding the 2015 kidnapping and detention of a group of Hong Kong booksellers who published works critical of the Chinese Communist Party, Lam maintains that the case is of no concern to the city’s government and that it should not meddle in mainland affairs. From Benjamin Haas at The Guardian: “It would not be appropriate for us to go into the mainland or challenge what happens on the mainland,” Lam said in an interview with CNN, adding that the booksellers case “has to be dealt with in accordance with the mainland’s system”. Hong Kong was handed to China by Britain in 1997 and was allowed to maintain many freedoms, including separate laws, legislature and government, under a framework known as “one country, two systems”. Under that framework the chief executive is supposed to represent the views and concerns of Hong Kong residents to Beijing, and Chinese police are prohibited from operating in the city. […] One of the missing booksellers, Swedish citizen Gui Minhai, was taken from his flat in Thailand and remains in custody. The four other detained men were later released. [Source] © cindyliuwenxin for China Digital Times (CDT), get_post_time('Y'). | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Carrie Lam, Hong Kong, hong kong chief executive, Hong Kong handover, hong kong politics, Xi JinpingDownload Tools to Circumvent the Great FirewallJun 27

The Eyeopener from CBC Radio Calgary (Highlights)

Eyeopener Podcast for June 30, 2017 - Today's podcast: Ian Tyson's Canada Day celebration; why Calgary is unaffordable if you're poor; beer picks for Canada Day; Paul Karchut's Outdoor Report for June 30, 2017.Jun 29

Eyeopener Podcast for June 29, 2017 - Today's podcast: Why police forces from across North America are coming to the RCMP dog training centre in Innisfail; Paul McLoughlin on the emergence of PACs in Alberta politics; we preview Canada Day celebrations; Stamps coach Dave Dickenson.Jun 28

Eyeopener Podcast for June 28, 2017 - Today's podcast: Hay fever season hits Calgary; Looking back at Canada's centennial year; Unconventionals on Canada 150 celebrations; Tsuut'ina Chief views the Treaty 7 documents for the first time.Jun 27

Eyeopener Podcast for June 27, 2017 - Today's podcast: Name changes at Camp Chief Hector; Pride flags torn down in Taber; Julie Van Rosendaal makes Canadian cuisine for Canada Day.Jun 26

Eyeopener Podcast for June 26, 2017 - Today's podcast: Katherine O'Neill on uniting the middle in Alberta politics; slate of candidates bands together in Calgary Board of Education election; Harry Potter turns 20.Jun 25

Eyeopener Podcast for June 23, 2017 - Today's podcast: The CBC's Tracy Johnson on the third anniversary of the beginning of the oil crash; Wildrose MLA Derek Fildebrandt; magician Darcy Oake; Peter Oldring from CBC Radio's "This is That".Jun 22

Eyeopener Podcast for June 22, 2017 - Today's podcast: Concerns over math scores in Calgary schools; why Chinese investors are indifferent towards Calgary real estate; we check out new helmets worn by the Stamps; Paul Brandt named to the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame.Jun 21

Eyeopener Podcast for June 21, 2017 - Today's podcast: Red Deer cleans up after storm; heat wave grips southwestern U.S.; carding concerns in Lethbridge; coyote problems in Calgary.Jun 20

Eyeopener Podcast for June 20, 2017 - Today's podcast: Rick Hanson on the estimated price tag for a potential Olympic bid; why coconut oil may not live up to the hype; Calgary set to get its first Indigenous radio station.Jun 19

Eyeopener Podcast for June 19, 2017 - Today's podcast: How the mission to save 70,000 Vietnamese boat people helped shape Canada's refugee policy; painted lady butterflies migrate to Alberta; cleaning up contaminated sites in CalgaryJun 18

di

• Intel
• Food
• Entertainment
• Fashion

GOP Moderates Seem to Be Winning the Negotiations Over Trumpcare - McConnell is reportedly giving moderates more opioid funding, larger subsidies, and fewer tax cuts while giving far-right dissidents little.2:43 PM

Gunman Dead After Shooting Multiple People at Bronx Hospital - The gunman was reportedly a former employee and physician at the hospital.2:32 PM

Manhattan DA Has a Plan to Curtail Criminal Prosecution of Turnstile Jumpers - A new initiative starting in September will offer a diversion program as an alternative to criminal penalties.1:31 PM

What Does Cuomo’s MTA ‘State of Emergency’ Declaration Really Mean? - It could strip away some of the red tape to help the MTA move faster. But it’s not a long-term solution.1:17 PM

GOP Moderates Declare Themselves Staunchly ‘Reticent’ About Gutting the Safety Net - The House’s budget draft would slash $200 billion from entitlement spending — 20 centrist Republicans say they’re “reticent” to support it.11:56 AM

Trump: ‘Patience Is Over’ With ‘Reckless and Brutal’ North Korea - Days after Trump was presented with military options against North Korea, he says Pyongyang’s aggression will be met with a “determined response.”11:35 AM

How Donald Trump Decides to Fire Someone - The sort-of method behind the apparent madness.11:32 AM

Daily Kos

Open thread for night owls: Will Joe and Mika ever apologize for making Trump look good in 2016? - Matthew Sheffield at Salon writes—Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski are angry at Donald Trump now — but they’ve never apologized for promoting him: MSNBC’s morning news duo Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski have become some of Donald Trump’s most vociferous critics in recent months. Amid all of their criticisms of him, however, they have yet to apologize for their own role in helping his presidential campaign be viewed credibly by the press and the general public. During Friday’s episode of “Morning Joe,” Scarborough flat-out stated that Trump had somehow, magically morphed into a different person from the guy he used to know. “The guy that’s in the White House now is not the guy we knew two years ago,” Scarborough told his panel  “Not even close,” Brzezinski agreed.[...] That’s their story and they’re sticking to it. Too bad it’s completely false [...] As Trump’s presidential campaign moved from sideshow to reality, the trio’s relationship became the subject of much mockery. Trump himself acknowledged Brzezinski and Scarborough’s loyalty during the night of the New Hampshire primary, telling them, “You guys have been supporters. And I really appreciate it. And not necessarily supporters, but at least believers.” A few days later, Trump and Scarborough were overheard in a surreptitiously recorded conversation discussing how to make him look good. That is indeed what the MSNBC co-hosts did for the better part of a year. For crying out loud. A different guy than two years ago? Good grief. The guy hasn’t morphed since November 8 from a swell fellow into the embarrassment and reckless endangerment of a leader he daily proves himself to be. Trump himself says he is the same now as he was in third grade.  • An Activists’ Calendar of Resistance Events • Indivisible’s list of Resistance Events & Groups TOP COMMENTS • HIGH IMPACT STORIES QUOTATION New world order is an old world lieFighting for peace, see how they dieDragging in God, as they turn violentGod says nothing, he just remains silentStop madmen from running looseMother earth woman can't take the abuseLiving right now is living for tomorrowTime is saying there's no more time tomorrowVampires drinking blood and oil cocktailsTheir violence works it hardly ever failsBombs over Baghdad Dancers of DeathMurder in the air with the next breath~John Trudell, “AKA Graffiti Man,” 1992 TWEET OF THE DAY x The Minneapolis City Council just approved raising the minimum wage to $15! That's such good news, I had to sing a song to celebrate. pic.twitter.com/puxBV8lA7G— Rep. Keith Ellison (@keithellison) June 30, 2017 BLAST FROM THE PAST At Daily Kos on this date in 2002—Other priorities: In what is shaping up to be an interesting administration leak, anonymous officials say that the pre-9-11 Bush Administration didn't have terrorism on its radar screen. Despite intense focus on the problem by the Clinton Administration, Bush's National Security Council discussed terrorism in only two if its first 100 meetings. So, while the Bushies were interested in restarting the Cold War with North Korea and China, terrorism was barely an afterthought. Missile defense was important. Al Queda was ignored. Restarting nuclear testing was a priority. Securing our airports was not. Lucky for the administration, the 4th of July weekend is coming up, giving it ample opportunities to sound the terrorism alarm bell. On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: We checked the Trumpmeter & he’s still nuts. Just in time for WSJ’s bombshell on Russian collusion, too. Kobach’s Krazy Kommission kicks-off. Still smouldering over NC-GOV loss, Rs seek to impeach Dem Sec. of State over the menace of… DACA notaries public. x Embedded Content YouTube | iTunes | LibSyn | Keep us on the air! Donate via Patreon or Square Cash9:01 PM

Donald Trump goes gift shopping for Vladimir Putin - What do you give an autocratic dictator who helped you land a plum job, when you are trying to keep up the slightest sliver of a pretext that you and the dictator don’t have … a relationship? Donald Trump is looking for an answer. President Donald Trump has asked National Security Council staff to come up with "deliverables" that he can offer to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Germany next week, The Guardian reported Thursday. Deliverables. It sounds marginally, but only marginally, better than “thank you gifts.” It is unclear what those "deliverables" would look like, but they could include an offer to ease sanctions — which the Trump administration has reportedly looked into at least twice since January — or to give back the Russian diplomatic compounds that President Barack Obama ordered evacuated in December.  Those would be the same compounds that Trump was looking at giving back before. The compounds that were expressly taken away from the Russians because of their interference in the election, that both Democratic and Republican senators don’t want Trump to return. The compounds that the Russians have demanded.  But what does Trump get in return? Nothing. Nothing but the sweet satisfaction of showing everyone, once again, that Trump can do what he wants and no one can stop him. It is unclear what Trump would ask for in return for such concessions, if anything. A former official familiar with the debate inside the White House told The Guardian that the NSC had resisted "offering anything up without anything back in return."8:31 PM

Senate Republicans fret over whether Trump will help them or hurt them - From his own blustering but ultra-generic statements, it has been apparent that Donald Trump has absolutely no idea what the Senate's version of a "healthcare" bill actually contains. Perhaps nobody bothered to tell him; perhaps they have tried to tell him repeatedly but he simply can't retain the information. Also, he is an mean-minded idiot. So now Republicans are debating whether to ask Trump for his assistance in selling the bill to the public or if they would prefer he keep his pie-hole shut. [S]ome lawmakers and congressional aides privately bemoan his thin grasp of the bill’s principles, and worry that his difficulty staying on message will do more harm than good. “You know, he’s very personable and people like talking to him and he’s very embracing of that, so there will be certain people he’d like to talk to,” said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. “But I’d let Mitch handle it,” he continued, referring to the lead role Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has played thus far. Ah, whether to unleash the shouting liar or chain him up in the basement for a while: It is indeed a dilemma. That said, it's not clear that Senate Republicans have any say in whether Trump attempts to "help" them, and they certainly won't have any say whatsoever in how he does it. You'll recall Trump went from holding a celebration with House Republicans in the Rose Garden over the passage of their own healthcare bill, only to blast it as "mean" during the drafting of the Senate version; his habit of changing his opinion to whatever would best impress his audience from one moment to the next has made him an unreliable would-be ally. And this, too, hasn't gone unnoticed. One Republican congressional aide said that comment left some lawmakers worried that the president — who had no real ties to the GOP before running for the White House — could turn on them if a bill passes but the follow-up becomes politically damaging. The official insisted on anonymity in order to describe private discussions.8:01 PM

Republicans are trashing Medicaid's success to justify slashing it - As Republicans scramble to justify their plan to give rich people a tax break by slashing Medicaid, they’re simultaneously claiming that their cuts aren’t really cuts and that Medicaid doesn’t work, anyway, so cutting it is good. Neither of these things is true—the cuts are cuts, and Medicaid definitely works, according to multiple studies and Medicaid patients themselves. Here’s a sample of what Republicans are claiming: At National Review, Oren Cass, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, writes, “in a randomized trial in Oregon that gave some individuals Medicaid while leaving others uninsured, recipients gained no statistically significant improvement in physical health after two years.” Here’s the reality of that Oregon study: … what it found, in short, was that Medicaid protected enrollees from catastrophic health costs; boosted the likelihood of people reporting they were in good, very good, or excellent health by 25 percent; cut depressive symptoms by about 30 percent; and increased both diabetes diagnoses and treatment. But the study also disappointed Medicaid’s backers: In particular, there was no evident improvement in blood sugar, blood pressure, or cholesterol levels after two years. How is that not an improvement? For two years of a small study, those are highly significant results—unless, of course, your priority is denying that Medicaid helps people. That’s not the only study out there, either: One study compared three states implementing large Medicaid expansions in the early 2000s to neighboring states that didn’t expand Medicaid, finding a significant 6% decrease in mortality over 5 years of follow-up. A subsequent analysis showed the largest decreases were for deaths from “health-care–amenable” conditions such as heart disease, infections, and cancer, which are more plausibly affected by access to medical care. Medicaid works. Expanding Medicaid works. Republicans are just looking for excuses to put the very healthy bank accounts of the very wealthy over the physical health of low-income people. The end of Medicaid as we know it? No exaggeration. The Senate version of Trumpcare has worse long-term cuts to Medicaid than the House version, to pay for tax breaks to the wealthy. Call your Republican senator at (202) 224-3121, and give them a piece of your mind. Tell us how it went.7:41 PM

Saving America from smart schoolgirls: Afghan teenagers denied visa for robotics competition - An all-girl team from the city of Herat in Afghanistan has been invited to the United States to participate in the prestigious FIRST Robotic Competition. Despite great difficulty in obtaining both supplies and instruction, the girls have worked hard to design, construct, and program a robot for the competition. With the help of the first female tech CEO in the nation, they’re polished their skills and prepared. And they’ve literally risked their lives to be a part of the contest. To interview for their visas, the girls risked a 500 mile trek cross-country to the American embassy in Kabul – the site of several recent suicide attacks and one deadly truck bomb in early June that killed at least 90 people. Their application for a visa? Denied. The girls even made a second journey to revisit the embassy. Denied again. There is still a chance that their robot is coming to America. Back home in Herat, Team Afghanistan is racing against the clock, putting the final touches on their ball-sorting robot that will travel to the U.S. to compete against 163 other machines from around the globe. The students are screwing together joints, programming the machine's sensors, and still trying to find one chain. Of all the teams around the world, the Afghan team is one of only two that was denied visas to travel (the other was the Gambia, which is currently occupied by a coalition of African states after a constitutional crisis in January). 7:11 PM

Addiction experts warn McConnell's $45 billion bribe to moderates won't help with opioid epidemic - Campaign Action In order to bribe Republican senators from the Medicaid expansion states hit hardest by the opioid epidemic, namely Shelley Moore Capito (WV) and Rob Portman (OH), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has thrown $45 billion in treatment funds at them, $4.5 billion every year for the next decade. That's not going to cut it, say addiction experts, because they can't offset the drastic cuts to Medicaid in the proposal. Medicaid currently pays for about 1.2 million adults to receive opioid addiction treatment, according to an analysis from Harvard and New York University researchers. Repealing the expansion, those researchers found, would rescind about $4.5 billion in annual funds that currently cover addiction treatment. The solution, at least according to Portman and Capito, is to insert that money back into the system, albeit as a grant rather than within the Medicaid system. The number could still shrink, however, as Republicans spend this week hammering out many of the remaining provisions of their repeal plan. […] Addiction experts fighting the epidemic, however, said the senators’ proposal overlooks the complicated spiral in health issues that can be brought on by addiction. “Sure, yeah, you know, it sounds wonderful. Here’s billions of dollars to help combat this issue. But the issue is larger than that,” said Mark Drennan, the executive director of the West Virginia Behavioral Healthcare Providers Association. Senate Republicans are still talking Trumpcare, and plan to bring it back after July 4 recess. We absolutely MUST make sure they don’t have the votes. Keep calling your Republican senators at (202) 224-3121. Tell them “NO DEAL” on Trumpcare. Then, tell us how it went.6:41 PM

'Dreams on Wheels' tries to bring legal aid straight to undocumented immigrants in need - When it comes to immigrant rights activism, some of the most important and consequential work hasn’t happened in D.C. or even state houses, but in an RV with a handful of attorneys. Since 2014, Santa Fe Dreamers Project has provided legal aid to immigrant clients via fixed locations and a roaming RV office, assisting immigrants with complicated forms, applying for DACA, answering legal questions, and helping others facing deportation. While an immigration attorney can cost up to $2,000, Santa Fe Dreamers Project charges only $150. It can mean the difference between staying or being ripped away from your home: This catalyst for her mobile legal aid clinic came in 2006, before she was a lawyer. At that time [Sante Fe Dreamers Project founder Allegra] Love was a 24-year-old third grade public school teacher. She was teaching a class of 20 children in a small immigrant town in the Santa Fe school district when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted a raid on her school. The next day, her class was reduced to just three. “Kids just stopped going to school,” says Love. Appalled at the politics in play within her classroom, Love decided she wanted to advocate for these families whom she had grown to respect and cherish during her brief teaching career. “Why were we terrorizing these people?” she wondered. “They’re good people … They work hard.”6:11 PM

Cheers and Jeers: Rum and Resistance FRIDAY! - From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE… I feel pretty and witty and...oh, what's the word? Queer quotables as we head into the last weekend of LGBT Pride Month: “I could not be prouder of the transformation that’s taken place in our society just in the last decade. I’ve said before, I think we’ve made some useful contributions to it, but the primary heroes in this stage of our growth as a democracy and society are all the individual activists and sons and daughters and couples who courageously said, ‘This is who I am and I’m proud of it.’ And that opened peoples minds and opened their hearts.” ---President Obama, final news conference on Jan. 18 "It’s definitely different. The biggest change is that gay culture is more normative. It was really important to me as a kid coming out that there was a gay community with physical gay places in the world. People coming out today don’t feel they have a specific spot. They don’t have to go to a bar. They don’t have to belong to gay associations or use gay travel pathways. Kids are coming out on Facebook now." ---Rachel Maddow, Playboy interview “I say, you need to let people know who you are and you need to come on out. You don’t need to live your life in darkness---what’s the point in that? You’re never gonna be happy; you’re gonna be sick. You’re not gonna be healthy if you try to suppress your feelings and who you are.” ---Dolly Parton [A snippet from the Trump administration's Pride Month proclamation would've gone here, but they didn’t issue one.] "Effective immediately, transgender Americans may serve openly, and they can no longer be discharged or otherwise separated from the military just for being transgender." ---Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, one year ago today "To all those lawmakers out there who are so obsessed with who’s using what bathroom and what plumbing they got downtown: Newsflash---you’re the weirdos.” ---Stephen Colbert "I am young, I am gay, I am black. A true-blue Territorian. I am the nation's first openly gay, Indigenous parliamentarian. I am eternally proud of who I am and where I come from. I own it and wear it with pride." ---Chansey Paech, 28, the first Aboriginal and openly-gay politician in Australia “I had the experience with The Joy of Gay Sex, when it was being distributed in Canada, that a woman thought she was buying The Joy of Cooking. She went home and looked up "chicken" and was absolutely appalled. She created a tremendous fuss.”---Author Edmund White That was fun. Same time next year? Your west coast-friendly edition of Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]5:30 PM

Scott Pruitt goes beyond blocking climate change data—will use EPA to build new arguments for denial - Scott Pruitt is taking the EPA past simply refusing to act on climate change, and acting as an idea factor for climate change deniers. U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is leading a formal initiative to challenge mainstream climate science using a "back-and-forth critique" by government-recruited experts, according to a senior administration official. The program is designed to discover “vulnerabilities” in the scientific argument that can be exploited by climate change deniers. The program will use "red team, blue team" exercises to conduct an "at-length evaluation of U.S. climate science," the official said, referring to a concept developed by the military to identify vulnerabilities in field operations. Pruitt needs new ways to attack climate change, because he wants to go back to court and challenge the finding that rising levels of carbon in the atmosphere represent a danger that the EPA must address. The EPA is now engaged in spending millions to destroy its court-ordered function. Executives in the coal industry interpret the move as a step toward challenging the endangerment finding, the agency's legal foundation for regulating greenhouse gases from cars, power plants and other sources. Robert Murray, CEO of Murray Energy Corp., said Pruitt assured him yesterday that he plans to begin reviewing the endangerment finding within months.5:11 PM

'Rather go to jail than to die without Medicaid!' Disability activists arrested at senator's office - Colorado disability activists have been trying to meet with Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) to discuss the pending Republican healthcare bill, one Sen. Gardner had a hand in writing, that absolutely decimates Medicaid, leaving disabled citizens in terrifying limbo. Many will not be able to stay in their homes and could be forced into institutions if their Medicaid benefits are taken away.  Sen. Gardner’s staff refused to meet with them and these fearless activists decided to settle in for the night. Their reason for hunkering down and demanding a meeting is nothing short of heartbreaking: When asked why they would choose to spend all night in the hallway, Morris responded, “because they spend the night in a hallway in this building or they spend the rest of their life in an institution where they’re locked away.” x 3 ppl slept in their wheelchairs at @SenCoryGardner's office last night. Not leaving until he promises no cuts to Medicaid #ADAPTandRESIST pic.twitter.com/ADwlIakJBD— Dominick Evans (@dominickevans) June 28, 2017 The overnight protest stretched into two nights and was headed into a third when Sen. Gardner’s office and the Denver police showed up late Thursday to tell the constituents they were violating the lease by having people sleep in the building and they had to go or face arrest. They held their ground, chanting, “Rather go to jail than to die without Medicaid” and one by one, they were arrested.4:41 PM

Democracy Now!

Naomi Klein: The Worst Is Yet to Come with Trump, So We Must Be Ready for Shock Politics - Watch the Part 2 of our conversation with best-selling author and Intercept senior correspondent Naomi Klein about her book, "No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need." Watch Part 1: No Is Not Enough: Best-Selling Author Naomi Klein on Challenging Trump’s Shock Doctrine Politics6:35 AM

"Inaction Means Death": California Sees Groundswell of Support for Single-Payer Healthcare - As Republicans continue their push for their healthcare plan, polls show support for a nationwide single-payer healthcare system is growing. At least one poll shows a full third of Americans are now in favor of a national single-payer system, while 60 percent believe the federal government should be responsible for healthcare. In one state, the California Senate passed a single-payer bill, but the House speaker killed it in the Assembly. We get an update from Michael Lighty, with National Nurses United and the California Nurses Association.6:26 AM

Disability Rights Activist Arrested for Protesting Trumpcare: We Won't Be Silent While You Kill Us - With the deeply unpopular healthcare plan having failed to come to a vote before the Senate recessed for the holidays, demonstrators across the country flooded the offices of Republicans in what they’re calling a "last stand" to prevent a repeal of the Affordable Care Act. We speak with disability rights attorney Stephanie Woodward, who was shown in a viral video being pulled out of her wheelchair and arrested for protesting outside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office.6:15 AM

Headlines for June 30, 2017 - Trump Urges Obamacare Repeal as Congress Heads into Holiday Recess Trump Tweets Attacking MSNBC Hosts Spark Outrage, Charges of Sexism Trump Interaction with Irish Reporter Recalls History of Sexist Comments WSJ: GOP Researcher Sought Clinton Emails from Russian Hackers U.N.: Cut Emissions Sharply by 2020 or Face Climate Catastrophe German Chancellor Says Upcoming G20 Will Focus on Climate Change Dutch Bank ING to Divest from Canadian Pipelines over Tar Sands Oil Ireland to Ban Onshore Natural Gas Fracking Tacoma, WA Protesters Target Liquefied Natural Gas Plant Iraqi Army Claims Victory over So-Called Islamic Caliphate in Mosul France: Driver Arrested After Attempting to Strike Muslim Worshipers Protesters Arrested as Chinese President Xi Jinping Visits Hong Kong Top Vatican Official Charged with Sexual Assault in Australia House of Representatives Passes Anti-Immigrant Bills 10 Republican Attorneys General Threaten to Sue Trump Admin over DACA Trump Travel Ban to Exclude Grandparents, Cousins and Other Family Trump Election Commission Requests Voter Roll Data, Prompting Alarm German Lawmakers Advance Bill to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage6:00 AM

Trump Picks DAPL Lobbyist to Oversee EPA Water Safety in Same Week He Rolls Back Water Safeguards - As President Donald Trump announced this week that the Environmental Protection Agency will roll back an Obama policy that environmentalists say safeguards drinking water for one in three Americans, The Intercept reports that the person Trump has tapped to be the EPA’s water safety official is a former lobbyist with deep ties to a fossil fuel advocacy group that promotes the Dakota Access pipeline and offshore drilling. We speak with Lee Fang, investigative journalist at The Intercept covering the intersection of money and politics.Jun 29

Republicans Have Trifecta Control of 25 States & Need 6 More to Call for a Constitution Convention - Historian Nancy MacLean says much of the radical right’s agenda is being pursued at the state level. Republicans already have "trifecta control" in 25 states—control of the governor’s seat and both chambers of their legislative bodies—compared to six states for Democrats. "The ultimate Big Bang of this project is that they want to change our Constitution," Maclean says. "They are actually building towards a constitutional convention. So they have 28 states that have called for this constitutional convention. They need six more."Jun 29

Historian: Republican Push to Replace Obamacare Reflects Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America - As Republicans attempt to revive a bill to overturn Obamacare, we look at the radical right’s attempt to reshape the role of the federal government—from healthcare to education to housing. We speak with Duke University historian Nancy MacLean, author of the new book, "Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America." MacLean also uncovers the instrumental role the late libertarian economist James Buchanan played in the right’s campaign to eliminate unions, suppress voting and privatize schools.Jun 29

Headlines for June 29, 2017 - Senate GOP Leaders Scramble to Save Healthcare Bill Amid Revolt Protesters Flood Senate Offices in "Last Stand" on Healthcare Parts of Trump Travel Ban Set to Take Effect NATO to Send More Troops to Afghanistan Lawyer Who Authored Torture Memos Grilled at Confirmation Hearing CNN Reporters Resign After Network Withdraws Report on Trump Adviser WaPo: Trump Properties Displayed Fake Time Magazine Covers Associated Press: EPA Chief Met Dow CEO Ahead of Pesticide Approval EPA to Roll Back Drinking Water Safeguards, Protection for Waterways New EPA Water Safety Official Worked as Fossil Fuel Lobbyist Amid Deaths, Thousands of Migrants Rescued in Mediterranean Mexico: Journalists Call for End to Attacks on Media Workers Court Date Set for Trial of Alleged Leaker Reality Leigh Winner Minnesota: $3 Million Settlement Reached in Philando Castile Death Netherlands: Widows of Hanged Nigerian Activists Sue Shell Oil Arkansas: Driver Destroys Ten Commandments Monument Outside CapitolJun 29

Brazilian President Michel Temer Charged with Corruption, a Year After He Backed Ouster of Rousseff - In Brazil, President Michel Temer has been formally charged with corruption, a year after he backed the ouster of President Dilma Rousseff from office. Federal prosecutors accuse Temer of taking millions of dollars in bribes. Prosecutor Rodrigo Janot said Temer has "fooled Brazilian citizens." Temer, who rejected the allegations, is the country’s first sitting head of state to be formally charged with a crime. We speak with David Miranda, a journalist and the first LGBTQ member of the Rio City Council.Jun 28

D.C. Police Accused of Using "Rape as Punishment" Targeting Some Arrested During Trump Inauguration - A shocking lawsuit accuses the Washington, D.C., police of using sexual abuse as a form of punishment targeting people arrested during protests against President Donald Trump’s inauguration. A complaint by four plaintiffs charges officers stripped them, grabbed their genitalia and inserted fingers into their anuses while other officers laughed. We speak with Scott Michelman, a senior attorney at the ACLU of the District of Columbia and lecturer at Harvard Law School.Jun 28

John Perkins

From Astana to the Vatican: Molding Reality 2 - A few spots left for my writer’s webinar: click here to book Join me for my workshop “Prosperity Through Creativity” at Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY: click here to reserve your spot (For Molding Reality 1: johnperkins.org/global-politics/trump-vs-putin-molding-reality) By John Perkins I just left the Astana (Kazakhstan) Economic Forum. I had the opportunity to continue the discussions begun in St Petersburg at the conference there that included Russian President Vladimir Putin and UN Secretary General António Guterres on the need to end old, exploitative, unsustainable systems and replace them with ones that are just beginning to evolve. In Astana, I shared the stage with some of the world’s most forward looking government, business and thought leaders. I sat on panels and in roundtable discussions with President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstn, Prime Minister Bakhytzhan Sagintayev of Kazakhstan, Prime Minister Francois Fillon of France (2007-2012), Prime Minister Marek Belka of Poland (2004-2005), Prime Minister Djoomart Otorbaev of Kyrgyzstan (2014-2015) Nobel Prize laureates Sviatoslav Timashev and Raekwon Chung, and President Putin’s Economic Adviser Sergey Glazyev. And I received a few scathing emails and Facebook comments questioning why I would refer to some of these people as “thought leaders.” I was told that they are infamous for terrible human rights abuses. Yet, to most of the world what my country does in places like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Yemen are terrible human rights abuses – although they are not listed as such since they are not perpetrated within our borders. One of the Chinese speakers pointed out that while his country is criticized for all the pollution it causes, many of the goods that produce that pollution are bought in the US and America. “Yes,” he said, “we need to focus on nonpolluting technologies, and you who buy from us need to take some responsibility – be willing to pay more to help us make the transition.” Although many in the US have a very poor impression of the leaders in China and the former-USSR countries, I found them to be extremely concerned about the course our fragile space station — Earth — is taking. Their countries are moving rapidly into the digital, renewable resource age. One after another, they described the failures of current systems and called for reforms that will result in radical and positive changes. Many condemned yardsticks like GDP and advocated for alternatives, such as GGDP (Green GDP). During receptions and at less formal discussions, we spent many hours exchanging ideas on ways to transform business and government. This trip has pointed out to me the importance – indeed the necessity – of coming together in the recognition that we are one species living on a fragile planet. It is time to stop blaming “them” – the Russians, Chinese, terrorists, the Republicans, Democrats, the Conservatives, Liberals or whatever. We simply must end that divisive way of looking at the world. It is time to realize that blaming “the other” is part of a bygone era. Perhaps such combative and competitive attitudes served humanity in the past. Perhaps they helped us achieve miracles in medicine, engineering, computer technology, communications, transportation, the arts, and so on. Perhaps military research led to better radios, planes, computers, and more. But enough. The painfully obvious fact is that we are in the process of causing irreversible damage to our home, our space station, our Earth. To ourselves and all other life-forms. People around the world are waking up to the knowledge that this Death Economy has resulted in severe and unacceptable increases in environmental degradation, social inequality, political instability, and the threat that humans will destroy the world as we know it, that we will drive ourselves and many other species into a period of extinction like no other this planet has experienced since the end of the dinosaur age. Throughout these two forums, I was struck by the role that perception plays in molding political, environmental, social, and economic realities. Much of my writing and speaking these days focusses on this very subject, including my upcoming webinar, How to Write a Bestseller (In Times of Crises) – Using the Power of Story to Accelerate Change and my Omega workshop, Prosperity through Creativity: Shapeshifting into a Mindful Future. When we perceive “them” as the problem, our solution is to change them. Now is the time to awaken to the fact that “we” are the problem and we are the solution. We must work together. I flew from Astana to Rome. Here I am reminded that all great empires come to an end. The essential question is: What do we learn from that process? My hope is that we learn that there must be no more empires, that we need to come together as one species. We can speak many languages, honor many cultures, and yet at the same time dedicate ourselves to guiding this space station into a sustainable, peaceful future. Early one evening I snapped a photo of the Vatican. I did not realize until the next morning that there was a lone figure sitting there. That person appears to be either meditating or begging.  It strikes me as symbolic. While the sun is setting over a Vatican occupied by a new Pope, perhaps that lone figure symbolizes all of us and our need to meditate on and beg for a new way of perceiving, and thus changing, reality. Upcoming Events July 11 – September 29: Writers’ Webinar Learn how to write a bestseller in times of crises and use the power of story to accelerate change | 4 Sessions, Tuesdays, July 11 – September 29 September 8-10: Omega Institute Workshop – Prosperity Through Creativity  Tap into your deepest creativity, honor your passions, realize your true potential, and shapeshift your ideas into projects, books, works of art, successful businesses, fruitful relationships, and ultimately the life you want. October 12-13: The 2nd Love Summit Business Conference TED-style talks and workshops with some of the most progressive business, government and thought leaders of our time. Register today to get $200 off tickets: lovesummit2017.eventbrite.com. November 19-26: Mastery Course with Margot Anand & John Perkins A unique opportunity to study with two world renowned teachers, weaving together the magic of Tantra and Shamanism on the magnificent coast of Spain.Jun 25

Trump vs Putin: Molding Reality - We know from quantum physics, chaos theory, and modern psychology that perception governs human behavior. What we refer to as ‘mindfulness’ shares with shamanism the ability to be fully present in ways that allow us to use perceptions of reality to transform objective reality and bring us inner peace and true prosperity.  — From draft of John Perkins’ new book I’m in Russia, just finished speaking about the need to transform a Death Economy into a Life Economy at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, and listening to three days of amazing talks and discussions. I found the spirit of cooperation among people from many countries to be deeply inspiring. I was especially impressed by President Putin’s speech and his emphasis on the need to build bridges between countries in order to deal with the crises around climate change, nuclear weapons, terrorism, and internet crimes. On the other hand, Megyn Kelly, who moderated a roundtable discussion that included Putin and later broadcasted an interview with him over NBC, went on the attack. She sounded like an old-fashioned Cold Warrior as she tried unsuccessfully to get Putin to admit to rigging the US elections. Although I respect Kelly’s rights as a journalist to dig for the truth, she undermined that shortly after her session with him by her statements on an NBC broadcast that Putin had been “aggressive” and “defiant”. Yes, he was defensive when she attacked him, but he was not aggressive. Rather, he – like so many other business and government leaders at this forum – conveyed a perception of hope and cooperation, a perception that can facilitate a new reality in this world where divisiveness and rancor have pervaded for far too long. Does Russia spy on the United States? Absolutely. Am I defending Putin as a guy who wears a halo? Absolutely not. Does the United States spy on Russia? Of course; we even spy on our allies as we admitted when we were caught bugging Germany’s Chancellor Merkel and others – long before Trump even announced his candidacy. Do both countries hack other countries’ internets? What a silly question. All those actions are remnants of an old system, what I refer to as the Death Economy, a system that goes beyond economics, into politics and social structures. President Putin himself referred to the need to move from the old system to something much better when he discussed President Trump’s recent call for increased investment in NATO. Putin pointed out that NATO had been created as a counterbalance to the threats posed by the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. “There is no more Soviet Union, no more Warsaw Pact,” he said. “Why the need to increase NATO?” It is time to dump a system that results in constant strife, wars, terrorism, climate change, and outrageous inequality and injustice on every continent. What is needed today is a new system; in order to create such a new system, it is essential that we develop new perceptions of what it means to be human on this very fragile space station we call our home. Corporate executives and other economists and writers I talked to at this forum admitted that they find it challenging to be Americans at a time when the US president seems determined to increase the perception of a world divided, of an “us versus them” philosophy. And when major US media outlets like NBC hark back to attitudes that characterized the Cold War. At the same time, many were encouraged to hear President Putin, UN Secretary General Guterres, and many other business and government leaders try to reverse this perception by expressing hope that President Trump will come around in the next couple of crucial years, that he will change his mind about climate change and other issues – as he has done so many times before. Throughout this forum, I was struck by the role that perception plays in molding political, environmental, social, and economic realities. Much of my writing and speaking these days focuses on this very subject, including my upcoming webinar, How to Write a Bestseller (In Times of Crises) – Using the Power of Story to Accelerate Change and my Omega workshop, Prosperity through Creativity: Shapeshifting into a Mindful Future. I look forward to my next stop, another major economic summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, where I will speak and advocate the need to transform a Death into a Life Economy during a roundtable discussion with President Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan.What role will perceptions play? Stay tuned. . . UPCOMING EVENTS July 11 – September 29: Writers’ WebinarLearn how to write a bestseller in times of crises and use the power of story to accelerate change | 4 Sessions, Tuesdays, July 11 – September 29 September 8-10: Omega Institute Workshop – Prosperity Through Creativity  Tap into your deepest creativity, honor your passions, realize your true potential, and shapeshift your ideas into projects, books, works of art, successful businesses, fruitful relationships, and ultimately the life you want.October 12-13: The 2nd Love Summit Business Conference Hear TED-style talks and participate in workshops with some of the most progressive business and thought leaders of our time. Speaker lineup: dreamchange.org/speakers. $200 off until July 1st: lovesummit2017.eventbrite.com.Jun 5

Creating Reality – Yours and the World’s - Join John at his “How to Write a Bestseller” webinar – a few spaces still available – and “Prosperity Through Creativity” September workshop at Omega. I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. – Michelangelo Michelangelo understood that creativity springs from perception. He perceived an image in the marble and – at other times – on the canvas; then he transformed that perception into artistic reality. My September 2016 blog was entitled “The Perception Bridge: Building a Better Reality.”  Since then, I’ve explored this concept – and the hope it offers for your future, our future – in great detail. I’ve discussed it with many writers, artists, philosophers, therapists, and scientists. It is the theme of the book I’m currently writing and it plays a large role in the Writer’s Webinar I’m facilitating that begins later this month, and the workshop entitled “Prosperity Through Creativity” I’ll be teaching at Omega Institute in September. The fact is that religion, culture, legal and economic systems, countries, and corporations are created and maintained by perceived reality. When enough people accept a perception or when it is codified into law, that perception changes objective reality. Before Copernican, it was an accepted “fact” that the earth was the center of the universe. The belief that we were the stewards, the lords, of a planet at the center of the universe had a profound impact on religion, science, philosophy, medicine – reality. When Copernicus proved that the earth revolved around the sun, people had to cross a new Perception Bridge. Overnight, our whole way of thinking about ourselves changed. Today our reality is molded by our perceptions of concepts expressed by words like success, sustainability, justice, democracy, capitalism, and prosperity. Individuals struggle with what it means to prosper in a world where that very word is generally understood in materialistic terms. Business executives define capitalism within very narrow and highly predatory limits and success as being solely about maximizing shareholder profits. People across the planet are challenged to envision what democracy and sustainability truly look like. Michelangelo’s genius lay in his ability to cross a Perception Bridge. His Objective Reality 1 was a hunk of marble. His Perceived Reality, the vision of an angel within the marble, transported him to Objective Reality 2 – the beautiful statue of an angel. My job as an EHM illustrates another Perception Bridge. Objective Reality 1 was that countries had resources US corporations wanted. We EHMs promoted the Perceived Reality that using those resources as collateral on loans to finance the building of infrastructure projects would create economic growth and prosperity for everyone in those countries. Government leaders used our econometric models and glowing forecasts of unfettered prosperity to sell this perception to their people. The Perception Bridge was crossed, into Objective Reality 2, a situation where economic growth did occur – at least at the statistical level, as measured by GDP. However, since GDP statistics are skewed in favor of big business and the wealthy, the fact was that only our companies and the wealthy families benefited. The rest of the population suffered. Money was diverted from education, health care and other social services to pay interest on the loans. National resources were exploited by foreign companies. In many cases this has led to political unrest, resentment, and the rise of various forms of radicalism and terrorism. I recently spent time with Dr. Deepak Chopra, a cardiologist by training who has gained world-wide fame as a philosopher and advocate of new ways to look at medicine and the world, and Dr. Menas Kafatos, a physicist who specializes in cosmology, quantum mechanics, and climate change. The three of us were teaching at the same venue in the Bahamas the week the book they co-authored, You Are the Universe, was published. We spent lots of time discussing the impact perception has on reality. A sentence in their book echoes Michelangelo: “Words aren’t stored in a physical state in brain cells; instead, they exist invisibly but ready at hand – in a virtual state. . .” When you come right down to it, just about everything we humans do originates in that virtual state – which is another way of saying that our words, art, ideas, and actions are driven by perception. Sculptures, books, music, medicines, computers, rockets that fly to other galaxies – they all are germinated by perceptions. Human perceptions have created the wars, pollution, species extinctions, social injustices and other crises that currently threaten our planet. Your perceptions have created the life you are currently living. Since writing that September blog, I’ve traveled to many countries and spoken at a variety of venues – ranging from a dinner for billionaire real estate executives at an outrageously plush California resort to a rock concert in the jungles of Costa Rica (and just about everything in between!). I’ve seen how perceptions are changing. We humans collectively are waking up to the realization that in order to survive we must rise to a higher consciousness. And we humans individually are waking up to the realization that we can in fact realize prosperity – however we define it – through our own creativity. All we have to do is look at where we want to go, at the angel hiding in our version of Michelangelo’s marble, our current objectivity, and then create and cross a Perception Bridge that takes us to the new reality we desire. You can do it for yourself. You and I can do it for the world. Upcoming Events Writer’s Webinar “How to Write a Bestseller”4 sessions, every Tues. from July 11 – Sept 29, 2017 // 7 PM – 8:30 PM EST Do you want to write a bestseller that accelerates change? In my upcoming writer’s webinar, I will share my experiences of many years of writing bestsellers to help you improve your skills, get published, and reach large audiences. This writer’s salon is limited to 24 participants and there are just a few spots left. Reserve yours today. Omega Workshop “Prosperity Through Creativity”September 8 – September 10, 2017 // Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, NY Tap into your deepest creativity, honor your passions, realize your true potential, and shapeshift your ideas into projects, books, works of art, successful businesses, fruitful relationships, and ultimately the life you want. To register, click here.May 17

Join Me This Fall at the #LoveSummit2017 - The Love Summit has the potential to be one of the most provocative, most transformational get togethers you have ever participated in. — Dan Wieden, Creator of Nike’s slogan “Just Do It”, Co-Founder & Chairman, Wieden+Kennedy This October 12-13, join me and my nonprofit organization, Dream Change, for our 2nd Love Summit business conference at LPK headquarters in The Queen City Cincinnati! We’ll be covering the latest trends in heart-centered enterprise—exhibiting how #BottomLineLove business practices can help solve the most pressing social, environmental and economic issues of our time. Join us for: Game-changing TED-style talks by some of the most pioneering business and thought leaders of our time; Interactive breakout sessions for hands-on, experiential learning; And fun networking events to build and broaden your network. The summit will sell out, so reserve a spot for you and your colleagues soon. I had the privilege of hosting the 1st Love Summit with my dear friend, Dan Wieden — creator of Nike’s slogan Just Do It, and co-founder and chairman of Wieden+Kennedy. As Dan says, “The Love Summit has the potential to be one of the most provocative, most transformational get togethers you have ever participated in.” I couldn’t agree more. Please join us for another amazing event! Save $200 by registering before July 1. Watch the short video below to hear Dream Change’s executive director, Samantha Thomas, and me explain more about the Love Summit conference and cause. See you in Cincinnati!May 13

Media Monarchy

#PumpUpThaVolume: June 30, 2017 - Media Monarchy plays Black Mekon, Girl Ray, Fawns Of Love and more on #PumpUpThaVolume for June 30, 2017. ♬3:11 PM

#MorningMonarchy: June 30, 2017 - American Pravda, Pixar politics and revolutionary records + this day in history w/Pearl Jam vs. Ticketmaster and our song of the day by The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart on your Morning Monarchy for June 30, 2017.12:00 PM

#PumpUpThaVolume: June 29, 2017 - Media Monarchy plays Mountain God, Heavy Blinkers, Dreamspook and more on #PumpUpThaVolume for June 29, 2017. ♬Jun 29

#MorningMonarchy: June 29, 2017 - Mystery mountains, digging up Dalí and denying parole + this day in history w/Baryshnikov defects and our song of the day by Three For Silver on your Morning Monarchy for June 29, 2017.Jun 29

#PumpUpThaVolume: June 28, 2017 - Media Monarchy plays Jason Isbell, Nathan Oliver, Slaid Cleaves and more on #PumpUpThaVolume for June 28, 2017. ♬Jun 28

#MorningMonarchy: June 28, 2017 - Cancer clusters, pink slime settlement and pets in pain + this day in history w/Franz Ferdinand and our song of the day by Little Dragon on your Morning Monarchy for June 28, 2017.Jun 28

#PumpUpThaVolume: June 27, 2017 - Media Monarchy plays Adult Karate, DJ brimLo, Super Furry Animals and more on #PumpUpThaVolume for June 27, 2017. ♬Jun 27

#MorningMonarchy: June 27, 2017 - Cyber strikes, Friendface terror and hungry hackers + this day in history w/Aum Shinrikyo attack and our song of the day by Clams Casino on your Morning Monarchy for June 27, 2017.Jun 27

#PumpUpThaVolume: June 26, 2017 - Media Monarchy plays Red Tail Hawk, Parsons Rocket Project, L.A. Witch and more on #PumpUpThaVolume for June 26, 2017. ♬Jun 26

#MorningMonarchy: June 26, 2017 - Ethics conflicts, leaker worship and insolvent banks + this day in history w/"Ich bin ein Berliner" and our song of the day by Ride on your Morning Monarchy for June 26, 2017.Jun 26

NATO Latest News

NATO and EU discuss future cooperation at sea - Policy experts, diplomats and military representatives met on Friday (30 June 2017) to discuss maritime cooperation between NATO and the European Union. The meeting, hosted at Norway House in Brussels, was designed to draw lessons for future cooperation at sea, building on NATO-EU experience in countering piracy in the Indian Ocean and working side-by-side in the Mediterranean. Participants discussed all aspects of maritime cooperation: from planning through execution and post-crisis management, as well as legal considerations and the contributions of industry.6:00 AM

NATO Allies strengthen cooperation in the munitions sector - NATO Allies are increasingly working to share the burden of acquiring expensive defence equipment. Today (29 June 2017), a new cooperation framework has been launched, promising more favourable terms for acquiring critical land based munitions.Jun 29

NATO builds on its support for Afghanistan - Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed on Thursday (29 June 2017) that NATO will increase its support for the Afghan security forces. NATO’s Resolute Support Mission helps train, assist and advise the Afghans to make their country more secure, and ensure it never again becomes a safe haven for international terrorists. The Secretary General said NATO was reconfirming its “enduring commitment to Afghanistan.”Jun 29

Defence Ministers review progress on fairer burden-sharing and NATO-EU cooperation - NATO Defence Ministers met today (29 June 2017), taking stock of the Alliance’s work towards fairer burden-sharing, as well as NATO-EU cooperation. Allies agreed to new capability targets, stepping up in key areas, including heavy equipment and air-to-air refuelling. Ministers also discussed enhancing NATO-EU cooperation, including in the fight against terrorism. Briefing media, Mr. Stoltenberg said he expects the 2018 NATO Summit will take place in Brussels next summer.Jun 29

NATO Allies move to replace aging maritime anti-submarine and patrol aircraft capabilities - Today (29 June 2017), six NATO Allies announced their readiness to work together in developing and fielding follow-on solutions for their existing maritime anti-submarine and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft.Jun 29

Germany and Norway join multinational fleet of tanker-transport aircraft - NATO has taken an important step in improving its ability to refuel aircraft in mid-air, with two Allies joining a European programme to acquire and operate new tanker transport aircraft.Jun 29

Defence Expenditure of NATO Countries (2010-2017) - NATO collects defence expenditure data from Allies on a regular basis and presents aggregates and subsets of this information. Each Ally’s Ministry of Defence reports current and estimated future defence expenditure according to an agreed definition of defence expenditure. The amounts represent payments by a national government actually made, or to be made, during the course of the fiscal year to meet the needs of its armed forces, those of Allies or of the Alliance. NATO also makes use of up-to-date economic and demographic information available from the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs of the European Commission (DG-ECFIN), and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).Jun 29

NATO Secretary General opens meeting of Defence Ministers, confirms Afghanistan troop increase - NATO Defence Ministers are meeting in Brussels today (29 June 2017) to address a wide range of issues, from fairer burden-sharing to the fight against terrorism and cyber defence. Ministers will also discuss NATO-EU cooperation, together with EU High Representative Federica Mogherini and ministers from Sweden and Finland. The ministerial will end with a meeting of nations contributing to the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission. Arriving at the meeting, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed that NATO will increase its presence in Afghanistan.Jun 29

NATO Defence Ministers to take forward decisions on terrorism and burden sharing - NATO defence ministers will meet tomorrow (29 June 2017) to take forward decisions to more fairly share the burden of our security and to fight terrorism.Jun 28

Visit to NATO by the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Estonia - NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg will meet with the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Estonia, Mr. Jüri Luik, at NATO Headquarters on Wednesday, 28 June 2017.Jun 27

National Post

• Top Stories
• Canada
• World
• Business

New era of collaboration for Hong Kong and Canada - Canadian entrepreneurs should take advantage of the deep and close links with Hong Kong to achieve a new era of co-operation between Canada and Mainland China. So says the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s (SAR) new Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who assumes duty today, July 1, on the 20th anniversary of the city’s reunification with China. Mrs Carrie Lam assumes duty as Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on July 1 “This is even more important now as Hong Kong is poised to play a pivotal role in China’s major economic initiatives, such as the Belt and Road and the Bay Area integrated economic zone in the Pearl River Delta,” said Lam. Covering the Hong Kong and Macao SARs and nine cities in Guangdong Province, the Bay Area is a key node in the China-led Belt and Road Initiative, an inclusive game-changing bid to revitalize international flows of trade and finance along the routes of the ancient Silk Road. Closer collaboration also echoes the views of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who visited Hong Kong and the Mainland of China last September, and has expressed hopes for “an era of greater co-operation and mutual benefit for both Canada and China in the coming years.” A global super-connector As a “super-connector” between the Mainland and the rest of the world, Hong Kong is very much part of the new era of collaboration, a role that is amplified by Hong Kong’s dual advantages under the “one country, two systems” formula. “One country, two systems” guarantees Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy, including negotiating its own free trade agreements with governments around the world. It is also the bedrock of Hong Kong’s long-standing reputation as a free and highly competitive economy,” said Lam. One such example is an investment promotion and protection agreement between Canada and Hong Kong that came into effect last September, providing investors on both sides with the guarantee of fair and equitable treatment of investment, as well as the means of settling investment disputes. It’s an important accord given the long history of engagement in each other’s economies, Canada being the 16th major source of inward direct investment into Hong Kong and Canada ranked eighth among the major destinations of Hong Kong’s outward direct investment in 2015. World’s freest economy Rated by the U.S.-based Heritage Foundation as the world’s freest economy for the past 23 years and ranked number one by the Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development in its World Competitiveness Yearbook 2017, Hong Kong boasts a low and simple tax system, with salaries tax capped at 15 per cent and maximum profits tax of 16.5 per cent. While maintaining these strengths, the new term of government has pledged to make Hong Kong’s tax system more competitive. A clean government, minimal red tape and the common law system underpinned by an independent judiciary attract more and more foreign and Mainland China companies to establish operations in the city, currently numbering nearly 8,000. Among them are more than 180 Canadian enterprises. Bilateral trade between Canada and Hong Kong in 2016 amounted to C$5.3 billion. This story was provided by Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Toronto) for commercial purposes.10:00 PM

Events capital in Asia - There is no better place than Hong Kong to pitch ideas, find investors or connect with buyers from across the region. Networking is made easy with the city hosting more than 300 major international exhibitions and conferences every year. Beyond the hugely popular wine and dine events, including the Wine & Dine Festival in October, Hong Kong hosts the world’s largest trade shows for the electronics, watch and clock, jewellery, lighting and gifts industries. Besides global business gatherings, sports and cultural events draw big crowds. Aside from the world-famous Hong Kong Rugby Sevens — where the Canadian team always gets a warm welcome — and Hong Kong Marathon, an international Cyclothon and the FIA Formula E Hong Kong ePrix are recently added to the calendar. In January next year, the Volvo Ocean Race will breeze into town for the prestigious event’s first Hong Kong Stopover. Hong Kong celebrates the 20th Anniversary of the city’s return to China Riding on the city’s eclectic cultural blend of east and west, a packed calendar of performing arts activities feature something for everyone, with offerings ranging from Chinese opera and Canto-pop to Broadway musicals and international orchestras. Top Canadian performers Bryan Adams, Carly Rae Jepsen and the dance group Ballet Jazz de Montreal are among the big international names that have delighted audiences in Hong Kong so far in 2017. And the cultural scene is poised to attract more world-class performances and art displays as the massive West Kowloon Cultural District prepares to open in phases, including a Xiqu Centre (Chinese opera), M+ museum for visual culture and Lyric Theatre Complex. Home away from home While Hong Kong is known as a bustling metropolis, the countryside is equally exciting and surprising. Did you know that around 40 per cent of Hong Kong is designated as protected country parks and special areas? In these treasured “green lungs,” people enjoy a lesser-known side of the city, exploring the hiking trails, wetlands areas, beaches and extraordinary biodiversity. With Hong Kong being home to around 300,000 Canadians, it is no surprise that all the comforts and conveniences of home are available in Hong Kong, such as a quality education system that includes the Canadian International School, great Canadian food and wine and even the chance to lace up the skates for a game of hockey at one of the city’s rinks. As Canadians around the world celebrate the 150th Canada Day they are also welcome to make it a “double happiness” and join the celebratory activities for Hong Kong’s 20th anniversary. Together we can create a new era of co-operation between Canada, Hong Kong and Mainland China. This story was provided by Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Toronto) for commercial purposes.10:00 PM

Smart city, smart opportunities - Today, Canadian firms are finding new opportunities in Asia as governments around the region focus on developing smart and sustainable cities for the future. They see Hong Kong as the ideal springboard to new markets. One such firm is renewable energy business Asia Clean Capital Ltd., which was set up by Canadian Bruce Hicks who arrived in the city in 1987 and who still regards Hong Kong as the most effective gateway to the Mainland. “There’s no question about the benefit of operating through Hong Kong for doing business in China. The legal system, the access to capital, the professional talent that’s available … it’s all first rate. Professionally and from a business perspective there’s no better place,” says Hicks. Canada’s renowned expertise in green technology is a natural fit for the fast-growing mega cities in Mainland China and Asia. But other tech-related business is also gaining fast traction. Arnold Leung founded the Vancouver-headquartered Appnovation Technologies in 2007, and in 2015 he set up a dedicated team in Hong Kong aiming to expand its digital services business in the region. “Having a presence here (in Hong Kong) enables us to enter the Asia-Pacific market, including Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan and south-east Asia. It also enables us to meet our customers on the Mainland, especially in Shanghai and Beijing, more conveniently,” says Leung. The HKSAR Government is also keeping pace with the rapidly changing technology landscape, setting up a new Innovation and Technology Bureau in 2015, and identifying the new central business district of Kowloon East as a smart city pilot area with state-of-the-art solutions for urban development. Other government-led initiatives include expanding the Hong Kong Science Park and supporting the Science Park to build an advanced manufacturing centre and a data technology hub. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is promoting smart finance through its new Fintech Facilitation Office. And to capitalize on the ever-present China advantage, Hong Kong is collaborating with the neighbouring city of Shenzhen to develop the Lok Ma Chau Loop into a new “Silicon Valley.” All this makes Hong Kong a smart choice for future-ready techpreneurs from Canada. This story was provided by Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Toronto) for commercial purposes.10:00 PM

Andrew Coyne: On Canada Day let us remind ourselves we have done well, even as we strive to do better - The orgy of self-loathing by which Canadians are marking this 150th anniversary of no one knows what reached its climax this week with the timely arrival of a flotilla of thinkpieces reassuring us that this is all healthy and normal. It is Perfectly All Right that a country should be entirely unable, on the anniversary of its founding as a state, to think of a single reason to celebrate it. It is Perfectly All Right, likewise, that it should be so devoid of fellow-feeling amongst its citizens that its government does not dare mention the reason for the generic celebrations it has ordered up, for fear of alienating one section of the population or another. The reasons for this bouncy nihilism vary: either because nationalism is icky, or because Canada’s lack of nationalism is in fact a kind of inverted nationalism, a way of distinguishing ourselves from other nations. Anomie is part of our unique cultural identity. Yadda yadda yadda never had a civil war blah blah blah we’re a shy, diffident country yadda yadda something about the wilderness, and we’re done. It’s interesting that this anti-nationalism, mostly on the left, should coincide with the rise of nationalism — mostly imported, in one of the many ironies of this debate — on the right. The ur-text among the latter is that interview Justin Trudeau gave the New York Times Magazine, in which he referred to Canada as the world’s “first post-national state,” inasmuch as it has no “core identity, no mainstream,” thus confirming populist suspicions of him as a treasonous stooge of globalist elites. John Robson: Canadians feel for aboriginals, but our patience for too many insults has limits Ottawa Canada 150 cevent has unprecendented security, performances, fireworks I find myself, as usual, despising both sides. Some degree of nationalism — a sense of being part of the same political community, an order of belonging that transcends, without erasing, the differences between us — is essential, if the whole is to be governed coherently. People will not consent to “others,” not part of their tribe, having a say in how they are ruled, nor will they make the kinds of sacrifices for each other — to pay taxes, to fight in wars, and so on — that successful nations depend upon. Canada has paid a price for its attenuated state of nationhood in the divisions and drift that inhibit it from acting decisively on the international stage or fully realizing the benefits of its own union. There’s a reason, for example, that we are still forced to endure hundreds of internal trade barriers, 150 years after the federation that was supposed to end them. But nationalism, in a country like Canada, cannot be grounded in identity. The nationalist right is making the same mistake in this regard as the nationalist left of a previous generation. Then, it was a kind of pseudo-ethnic identity centred on the state, in whose beneficence Canadians were alleged to believe innately, almost genetically, in a way quite unlike other nations, or at least unlike the Americans. Now, it often sounds something more like a genuinely ethnic state, or certainly one that looks upon immigrants from “non-traditional” cultures with suspicion. But what is common to both is its attempt to define the nation in terms of its identity: a body of characteristics, ethnic or cultural, said to typify its members, almost invariably in distinction to others, outside the group. Proponents of identity nationalism, like identity politics generally, tend to take this way of dividing humanity as natural and indisputable. When Lucien Bouchard said that Canada was “not a real country,” that’s what he meant: whatever its nationalists may have believed, Canada did not in fact possess a single, homogeneous identity. This is one of the many pathologies of identity, whose first definition, after all, is sameness. To emphasize the differences between groups that is its idee fixe, it must exaggerate the similarities within them. Not only does this lead to gross stereotypes of both — idealizing our own, and demonizing the other — but it makes those differences, and similarities, not interesting sociological observations that we can take or leave, but ends in themselves, to be enforced if necessary. But ethnicity or language are no more the “real” basis of nationality than any other. To fixate on them is a choice, nothing more. And as it is, we can make another choice: in place of identity nationalism, we can choose what is often called civic nationalism. Rather than endless existential agonizing over “who are we,” civic nationalism asks simply: what do we want to do together? What are the purposes we want to achieve, what are the ideals we want to stand for? Typically, these are best kept to a short list, the kinds of things nations put in their constitutions. This has many advantages. It frees us from the fixation on difference for difference’s sake: if we happen to believe in the same things as other nations, what of it? Let us be the best exemplars of those universal ideals. And if we find that we are falling short? Again, we need have no fear of admitting it, as if we would disappear if we did. We need only redouble our efforts to live up to our own ideals. An element of self-criticism, such as we are now going through, is therefore very much in order. So is a sense of proportion. Like any society, Canada has many sins to its name; foremost among them is the historic treatment and present condition of aboriginal Canadians, which is rightly the source of so much shame at present. But it is not the whole of the Canadian story. There is a reason why this country is so widely admired around the world: because of the immense good that it has done, not only for its own citizens but for those of other lands; because it stands, for all its faults, as one of the most successful societies on earth, or that has ever existed. On this Canada Day, let us quietly remind ourselves of this, even as we resolve to do better.5:57 PM

Escaped elephant strolls through Wisconsin neighbourhood - BARABOO, Wis. — The pachyderm was a startling sight for residents of one small Wisconsin neighbourhood. A full-grown elephant sauntered through Baraboo early Friday morning on a brief walk of freedom. The mammoth creature more suited for the ‘big top’ clashed with the quiet residential neighbourhood. Law enforcement officers quickly got in touch with the nearby Circus World Museum, home to the wandering pachyderm. A trainer arrived and led the elephant back to the circus complex. Circus World spokesman Dave Saloutos says the elephant, named Kelly, was freed by her pachyderm partner, Isla, who used her trunk to disengage a restraint. Saloutos says Kelly lumbered across the shallow Baraboo River and wandered into a neighbouring backyard where she unlatched a gate and munched on some marigolds during her couple hours of freedom.4:35 PM

Gary Clement’s 150 reasons to love Canada -4:20 PM

Prince Charles and the Duchess, in their element among the rain and the muck of the countryside - The vendors at the Wellington Farmers Market could tell Prince Charles was approaching from the crowd swirling around him. A woman selling hot sauce dashed up and leaned in to take a photo. She returned to her stall and showed her two young children a photo of the prince. “When that man comes around,” she said, “we all put on our best manners.” The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cambridge were at the market Friday as part of their visit to Ontario’s Prince Edward County, the second leg of their Royal Tour for Canada’s sesquicentennial. Prince Charles eats a strawberry shortcake with Camilla Duchess of Cornwall Friday June 30, 2017 while touring a farmers market in Wellington. The market tour was a chance for Prince Charles to star in one of his favourite roles, as gentleman farmer. By his own admission, he is most at ease in the countryside. “I just happen to love it,” he once told the BBC. It’s fitting then, that Prince Charles came here to Prince Edward County, which has seen its own influx of genteel farmers and winemakers, as well as investment and tourism dollars from Toronto and Montreal, where it has become the preferred place for a weekend sojourn. Lori Aselstine and her wife, Lorraine Schmid, brought a 1993 edition of a book on Highgrove, the estate the Prince bought in the 1980s and turned into an organic garden, along with the Duchy Home Farm nearby. “I’ve read the foreword at least 20 times,” Aselstine  said, referring to Prince Charles’ introduction to the book. Hundreds line the streets in Ontario to meet Prince Charles, Camilla The royals are here: Prince Charles and Camilla kick off Canadian tour in Iqaluit Prince of Wales, wife Camilla to honour soldiers who died in Afghanistan “We are avid consumers of everything he has to say.” His endeavours in organics and the farm-to-table movement have not always earned him praise. In the 1980s, he was cast as an eccentric — a portrait that was helped along by his embrace of naturopathy and his declaration that he spoke directly to his plants. “Very important to talk to them,” goes his famous quote from an interview in the mid-’80s.  “They respond.” With any luck, the Highgrove book would draw the Prince into the couples’ stall, where they were selling asparagus, garlic scapes, sweet potatoes and herbs from their own organic farm, Thyme Again Gardens, a 20-minute drive north of the market. It was raining before the Royals arrived and the rain was not welcome, not even for the vendors. Consistent rain in the region meant the heritage cattle at Thyme Again Gardens were in knee-high muck and an acre of arable land was underwater. One member of the local Rotary Club reported that his friend’s property was so flooded there were carp mating on the front lawn. By the time the Royals arrived, running significantly behind, the sun was out. It was a typical market, the organizer, Louise McFaul, promised. But it was not. All the regular vendors who show up each week were accounted for, yes. But looking closely, things seemed out of place. (McFaul herself wore a wide-brimmed cream hat with feathers out the top and a dress by a Canadian designer.)  There was a black RCMP boat lurking near the shore, metres from the market; and a man with a coiled earpiece standing facing the bushes on the perimeter; a former president of the local Elks Lodge, in a purple blazer and fez; and agents in loose-fitting trousers glaring at passersby. The market is also supposed to be held on Saturdays, not Fridays — a concession to meet the needs of the Royal Tour that seemed to perturb the Prince. “I’m sorry you’ve had to come on a Friday,” he told Natalie Piper, owner of Cloven Farm. He asked if her microgreens were grown in a greenhouse. “He was right,” Piper said, impressed. Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Charles, Prince of Wales meet members of the public outside Wellington Farmer’s Market. The Prince and the Duchess fanned out, one taking the left side of the aisle of farm stands while the other took the right.  A woman handed the Prince a bouquet of flowers. He smelled them and smiled at her, before passing the flowers to a handler. He stopped at a stand selling baked goods and tried a goat cheese and spinach scone. “Delicious,” he said. Time would not permit a visit at each stall. And as the procession continued, anxiety seemed to build among the vendors. Aselstine and Schmid, of Thyme Again Gardens, straightened their plate of samples. As the Prince approached, flanked by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, the couple stepped forward, with Aselstine cradling the book on the Highgrove Gardens in her arms. The Prince walked past slightly. He smiled and for a minute it looked like that was all. Then he stopped and turned towards them. He talked to them about their heritage cattle and pigs. He, too, raises heritage breeds. When he saw the book, he leaned in. “That’s an old version,” he told them. “It was our Bible right from the beginning,” Aselstine said.3:44 PM

Matthew Fisher: Canada’s top soldier talks about the Canadian Forces’ challenges in the years to come - These days, Canada’s top soldier is consumed with implementing the initial phases of the Defence Policy Review published by the government on June 7. But never far from his mind is how to defend Canada and its strategic interests. From where Gen. Jonathan Vance sits atop Canada’s military pyramid, the review and geo-strategic concerns were inextricably linked. The reason the policy review earned relatively little negative feedback after its release is, he believes, because Canadians understand the world is becoming a much more dangerous place, and the country needs to prepare for that by spending more on the armed forces. “I would not say a political consensus, because that is not my job to measure this,” Vance said during a recent interview at National Defence headquarters. “The only thing that is rattling around across Canada by those who think it is important to do so is to make comments about the funding, saying in one form or another, okay, good, but it better happen. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, seated next to Chief of the Defence Staff Jonathan Vance, unveils the Liberal government’s long-awaited vision for expanding the Canadian Armed Forces in Ottawa on Wednesday June 7, 2017. “That sounds to me like, despite the noise, there is consensus. In a back-handed kind of way there is actually enthusiastic endorsement.” Although it was hard sometimes to get a sense of it from the dry language and byzantine financial tables in the policy review document, the report was the result of careful consideration by the government and the Department of National Defence about how to respond to the security challenges that Canada faces today and will face tomorrow, Vance said. And what were those challenges? North Korea? Iran? Russia? China? Global terrorism? “At this juncture it is hard to pick just one,” said Vance. “The closest, most immediate challenge on a daily basis are non-state actors or state actors acting through terror or terror armies in physical space or cyberspace.” Terrorism is evolving into a trans-regional phenomenon that was “moving and morphing” into something even more dangerous, said the general, who served two combat tours fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. “The psychological distance for ISIL between Iraq and Syria and the Levant and the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa is getting smaller. What we security professionals, not just military but especially law enforcement and intelligence circles (must do) is to impede and disrupt the ease with which terror groups can move around the world and make them feel more isolated and less global to prevent their ability to inspire and attract people.” While confronting terrorism was “important for our temporal immediacy” other issues that may not manifest themselves until sometime in the future were “critically important to get right now,” he said. “Very high on my list — beyond the terror — is what appears to be a trend to abandon respect for the international, rules-based order. Where might is right so we will therefore change a line here or act unimpeded there. Appearing to retreat on previous claims, Liberals steer toward boost in defence spending 'A helluva shot': Canada's top soldier lauds record-breaking sniper Temporary vice chief of the defence staff named amid mystery over predecessor’s removal “States and non-state actors are flaunting the international rules-based order. The trends is that this will likely happen on a larger scale and have an impact on things that are incredibly valuable for Canada and the western world. Commerce, trade, the sanctity of sovereign space, respect for people from other countries, respect for embassies.” Asking himself rhetorically what Canada could do about such threats, Vance replied: “Well, you’ve heard the foreign minister. You’ve heard the defence minister. You’ve heard the prime minister. The instruments of power and influence will be used to best effect to try and encourage and support and where necessary use hard power to defend Canada and its interests. We are interested in the ability to trade and the ability to move goods, the ability for Canadians move around the world unmolested, air space free from threat. That is a big thing. That is what the next couple of generations of military people will be dealing with.” Of particular concern, he said, was “the rise of conventional power and the willingness to use it as a lever, with a hybrid grey area of threat that was used in Crimea and Ukraine and can be used elsewhere. It adds a set of challenges to how you respond effectively and how to stay proportional. So you have NATO with a more determined deterrent posture than it has had for many years. This is a job for us. You will see that in the policy, the ability to do things simultaneously.” The policy review adopted a more robust position on several looming procurement issues that will cost tens of billions of dollars than has been the case for several decades. For example, it calls for the first time for a fleet of armed drones and 88 new fighter jets rather than the 65 aircraft that had been previously envisaged. Given the global security situation, “nobody can poke a hole in that,” Vance said. To get from here to there is the tricky part, of course. Canada has had previous defence white papers and reviews that never came close to being fully realized. “The first thing is to build a plan because a policy is not a plan and while you are building the policy you can’t build the plan because it is created in a restricted environment and not approved until it is announced,” Vance said. What was of crucial importance was that the policy review for “for the first time in Canadian history lays the money out over time.” After that it was crucial to maintain “the cadence of delivery” according to the availability of funds and that “we have plans in place” when they become available. If Canadians were “paying attention, they should see significant fundamental changes in how we deal with people, manage their careers and manage their transitions out,” he said. “What was being created was “a very modern personnel process that takes care of families in a more material way.” The reserves would grow and be more capable of delivering a strategic effect that complements the work of the regular forces. He said he also expects a steep drop in the number of sexual harassment cases in the armed forces in the next figures produced by Statistics Canada. Although Canadians would not see it, military operations in the future would include a cyber element that would, if required, conduct active operations while at the same time the forces would maintain their conventional warfare capabilities. Vance feels deeply about the Canadian Forces. His father, the late Lt.-Gen. Jack Vance, once commanded the army. He grew up on military bases in Canada and Germany. While still a teenager he was named Canada’s cadet of the year before attending Royal Roads Military College. Since the policy review was announced Vance has been reaching out to journalists, academics, the troops and the greater defence community and would soon begin speaking to the public about it. But he took umbrage at the suggestion that he was out selling the policy review. “I would not call it selling, The CDS does not sell anything. I don’t defend, I explain,” he said. “It is a monster policy. It is huge. It is dense.” At a time when there were multiple, complex and fluid strategic concerns, his goal was to ensure that the defence policy review “can be executed as the government intends.” Twitter: @mfisheroverseas3:18 PM

Gunman dead after ‘several people’ shot inside New York City hospital: police - Police say ‘several’ people have been shot at a New York City hospital and that the suspected gunman is dead. The gunfire broke out Friday afternoon inside the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital in the Bronx. New York Police Department spokesman J. Peter Donald tweeted Friday afternoon that the shooter had died. At least two victims have been shot, and police tweeted “several” people were shot. UPDATE: The shooter is deceased. Several others are injured regarding the shooting at Bronx Lebanon Hospital. — NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) June 30, 2017 According to a law enforcement official, the shooter was wearing a lab coat and had the rifle concealed inside it. The official was not authorized to speak on an ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Police were still trying to identify how many people had been shot. Emergency crews had been kept from going inside the hospital while the shooter was at large. In this image taken from video provided by WNBC 4 New York, emergency personnel converge on Bronx Lebanon Hospital in New York, after a gunman opened fire there on Friday, June 30, 2017. Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center describes itself as the largest voluntary, not-for-profit health care system in the south and central Bronx. The 120-year-old hospital claims nearly 1,000 beds spread across multiple units. Its emergency room is among the busiest in New York City. The hospital is about a mile and a half north of Yankee Stadium.2:09 PM

‘Do I want to exonerate myself? Yes’: Martin Shkreli makes surprise visit to reporters - By Renae Merle Facing 20 years in prison for securities fraud, Martin Shkreli, 34, used the lunch break at his trial Friday to make a surprise appearance in the courthouse room where reporters gathered to handicap his case so far and ridicule prosecutors. “The case is going well,” said Shkreli, 34, who boasted his attorney Benjamin Brafman, “brought down the house” with his opening statement defending the outspoken hedge fund and pharmaceutical executive. In his opening statement, Brafman told the jury that Shkreli may be strange, but that was not enough to convict him. Prosecutors allege that for five years Shkreli lied to investors in two hedge funds and the biopharmaceutical company Retrophin, he founded. Shkreli told investors that he had a successful track record as a hedge-fund manager and sent them false performance reports and backdated documents to cover up his losses, prosecutors allege. Martin Shkreli exits federal court with his attorney Benjamin Brafman. Shkreli, who frequently took to social media to speak his mind before the trial, expressed disdain for the prosecution team from the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn, mocking them as the “junior varsity” to the federal prosecutors in Manhattan. “Do I want to exonerate myself? Yes,” he said. “I think the world blames me for almost everything.” Shkreli also said the media had not emphasized enough that the prosecution’s first witness, Sarah Hassan, an investor in one of his hedge funds, had made a significant profit. “It was kind of interesting that the victim of this case made 10 times her money. . .we should only be this victimized in life,” Shkreli said. He added that he made nothing from the transaction. Ex-pharmaceutical CEO accused at trial of cheating investors Finding untainted jury increasingly difficult as dozens of prospective jurors beg off Martin Shkreli case 'Pharma Bro' Martin Shkreli suspended from Twitter for 'targeted harassment' of a journalist The unusual encounter lasted just a few minutes. As he asked the assembled reporters, some of whom he seemed to know by name, how they thought his trial was going, his attorney appeared at the door. “Can I talk to you a minute?” asked Brafman, and Shkreli was gone.  2:04 PM

Greg Palast

Purger-in-Chief Kris Kobach DemandsDetailed Data On Every American Voter - The Al Capone of vote rigging, Crosscheck creator Kris Kobach, in his capacity as Vice Chair of Trump's so-called Presidential Election "Integrity" Commission, has demanded the personal information, voting history, and party affiliation of every US voter. The above is a letter Kobach sent to Connecticut Secretary of State Denise W. Merrill, which demanded: "Publicly-available voter roll data for Connecticut, including, if publicly available under the laws of your sate, the full first and last names of all registrants, middle names or initials if available, addresses, dates of birth, political party (if recorded in your state), last four digits of social number if available, voter history (elections voted in) from 2006 onward, active/inactive status, cancelled status, information regarding any felony convictions, information regarding voter registration in another state, information regarding military status, and overseas citizen information." According to Vanita Gupta, President and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, who first shared the letter on Twitter, every US Secretary of State was sent a similar missive. If all 50 states turn over their voter lists to Kobach, expect an additional 2 million voters, mostly citizens of color, to be purged. Even states not in his Crosscheck program will find their lists used for the lynching by laptop. Our elections would be safer giving this info to the Russians! For more on Kobach and his racially biased-by-design vote purging op watch the Amazon bestseller The Best Democracy Money Can Buy — available to view worldwide from just $2.99. Or get a signed DVD, signed companion book, or a combo pack and support our work with a tax-deductible donation to the Palast Investigative Fund. UPDATE: June 30, 5:08PM Well over 20 Secretary of States are refusing to fully comply with Kobach's request including, bizarrely, Kobach himself, in his capacity as Secretary of State for Kansas. The most forthright response so far has come from a Republican Secretary of State, Delbert Hosemann of Mississippi, who told Kobach & Co that: "They can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico and Mississippi is a great State to launch from." *** Greg Palast (Rolling Stone, Guardian, BBC) is the author of The New York Times bestsellers, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and Billionaires & Ballot Bandits, now out as major motion non-fiction movie. Stay informed, rent or buy the film on Amazon or get the signed DVD, a signed copy of the book companion — or better still, get the Book & DVD combo. Visit the Palast Investigative Fund store or simply make a tax-deductible contribution to keep our work alive! Alternatively, become a monthly contributor and automatically receive Palast's new films and books when they're released! Or support the The Palast Investigative Fund (a project of The Sustainable Markets Foundation) by shopping with Amazon Smile. AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your purchases to the Palast Fund and you get a tax-deduction! More info. Subscribe to Palast's Newsletter. Follow Palast on Facebook and Twitter. The post Purger-in-Chief Kris Kobach DemandsDetailed Data On Every American Voter appeared first on Greg Palast.12:25 PM

Voter Irregularities In The Last ElectionGreg Palast Speaks To San Diego - Come join your progressive San Diego community to hear Greg Palast, the man The Guardian calls "the best investigative reporter of our time." There will also be a screening of an edited and updated cut of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. Greg is the author of The New York Times bestselling books The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, Billionaires & Ballot Bandits, and Armed Madhouse. In September he released his movie about how Donald Drumpf and his cronies would steal the 2016 election. The film, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy: A Tale of BIllionaires & Ballots Bandits, became an Amazon.com Top 10 Bestseller after Palast predictions were, unfortunately, proven to be right! All proceeds for this event support the 89.1 KNSJ radio station and Activist San Diego. Co-Sponsored by KNSJ, Activist San Diego, First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego, and Social Justice Ministry Team. Friday, June 30, 2017 at First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego 4190 Front St., San Diego, CA 92603 (GPS: 298 West Arbor Drive in Hillcrest) Accross from the UCSD Medical Center. FREE PARKING | HANDICAP FRIENDLY! Reception to meet the author with refreshments — plus meet other SD activists. 6-7 PM / Tickets $45 Main Event: Greg Palast speaking — plus clips from his updated film. 7-9 PM / Presale Online Tickets: bit.ly/2surcNm For more information call: Martin Elder: 619 871 9354 Trish White: 760 638 6005 Buki Domingos: 626 425 7353 Planning on going? Can't make it, but wish you could? Help get the word out by sharing our Facebook event page! *** Greg Palast (Rolling Stone, Guardian, BBC) is the author of The New York Times bestsellers, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and Billionaires & Ballot Bandits, now out as major motion non-fiction movie. Stay informed, rent or buy the film on Amazon or get the signed DVD, a signed copy of the book companion — or better still, get the Book & DVD combo. Visit the Palast Investigative Fund store or simply make a tax-deductible contribution to keep our work alive! Alternatively, become a monthly contributor and automatically receive Palast's new films and books when they're released! Or support the The Palast Investigative Fund (a project of The Sustainable Markets Foundation) by shopping with Amazon Smile. AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your purchases to the Palast Fund and you get a tax-deduction! More info. Subscribe to Palast's Newsletter. Follow Palast on Facebook and Twitter. The post Voter Irregularities In The Last ElectionGreg Palast Speaks To San Diego appeared first on Greg Palast.Jun 23

Will new Jim Crow scam tip Georgia’s Ossoff-Handel Congressional Race? - GOP goons grab reporter when he asks how 40,000 minority voter registrations vanished by Greg Palast Catch Palast’s reports for Joy Reid, Thom Hartmann and Amy Goodman Karen Handel took a break from beating up Democrat John Ossoff to attack a reporter: me.  In the televised debate between the two candidates vying for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, Republican Handel claimed, “a reporter supposedly representing some very liberal Democratic organization almost literally accosted me.” In fact, is was a trio of galoots working for Handel who accosted me. Handel's handlers trying to prevent Greg Palast from asking a tough question But who accosted whom is less important than Handel promoting the dangerous new trend of attacking the press, sometimes physically, when questions are uncomfortable or challenging. Handel is afraid I’ll report what I began uncovering in my investigations in Georgia’s 6th.  I first came here in 2014 for Al Jazeera, when I interviewed an enthusiastic group of Korean-Americans based in the 6th, the Asian-American Legal Advocacy Center. When I returned to cover the current race, I found the Asian-American voting rights office shuttered and empty. Helen Ho from the Asian-American Legal Advocacy Center (photo by Zach D Roberts) Apparently, the group which had launched a “10,000 Korean Votes” registration drive discovered that many of their registrants simply never appeared on voter rolls. Their lawyers’ query about missing voters to the Secretary of State resulted in a raid by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and a threat of criminal charges. Voting rights attorney Nse Ufot told me what happened: “They were doing a campaign to register 10,000 Korean-Americans to vote, and had quite a bit of success. At some point during the campaign, they noticed that many of the folks that they were registering were not showing up on the voter rolls. So, they reached out to the Secretary of State to say, "Hey, where are our folks? Why aren't they showing up on the rolls?"  They never got an official response.  What they did get was the GBI kicking in the door and requesting all of their files.” While no charges were brought, the terrifying raid, was enough to put the Korean voter group out of business. And Ufot’s own group, New Georgia Project has seen the registrations of new voters of color suspiciously…vanish. Ufot told me, ‘We submitted 86,419 voter registration forms.  There are 46,000 of the folks that we've registered who have made it, and 40,000 of them are missing.’ So New Georgia Project contacted the Republican Secretary of State’s office. “You know what they told us? ‘We don't know what you're talking about. What forms?’  They did not disappear. We intentionally registered voters on paper forms so that we could make copies. We knew who they were. They were not on the voter rolls. When African-American activists raised a ruckus over the disappearance, they got the same treatment as the Korean-Americans: a Gestapo-style raid on their offices, threats of criminal charges and jail term. But the African-American organizers had long faced down Jim Crow intimidation tactics. I wanted Handel’s story—and not just as a candidate.  She herself was Secretary of State, and up to her chin in these vote suppression games. I started out by asking if the Democrats were stealing the election, and she was pleased to say, “They’re pulling out all stops!” But when I got to the subject of her office purging voters, one of her henchmen jumped in front of me, slammed me backwards and while two others grabbed and muscled me away.  She refused to answer to a question about the raids on voter registration groups, but the crowd answered for her, chanting “U! S! A! U! S! A!” – as if a journalist asking a question is the new enemy of America. And that’s frightening. Not the clowns who assaulted me. They were more buffoonish than threatening. I don’t want compensation, I don’t want to press charges. I want an answer to the question: Who will decide the race in the Sixth—the voters or Jim Crow? Please support our continuing investigation, as we move from Georgia’s 6th to follow Jim Crow’s trail into Virginia, Michigan, Ohio, Florida and North Carolina.  Greg Palast (Rolling Stone, Guardian, BBC) is the author of The New York Times bestsellers, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and Billionaires & Ballot Bandits, now out as major motion non-fiction movie. For more on the racially-biased-by-design Crosscheck vote-purging op, which is in play in Georgia to help Karen Handel, watch The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, you can rent or buy the film from Amazon or Vimeo or get the signed DVD, a signed copy of the book companion or better still - get the Book & DVD combo. Support The Palast Investigative Fund and keep our work alive. Become a monthly Contributor.Or support us by shopping with Amazon Smile. AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your purchases to the Sustainable Markets Foundation for the benefit of The Palast Investigative Fund and you get a tax-deduction! More info. Or simply make a tax-deductible contribution to keep our work alive! Subscribe to Palast's Newsletter. Follow Palast on Facebook and Twitter. GregPalast.com   The post Will new Jim Crow scam tip Georgia’s Ossoff-Handel Congressional Race? appeared first on Greg Palast.Jun 18

Palast on MSNBC – with Joy ReidVoter suppression accusations against GOP persist - Journalist Greg Palast tells Joy Reid that in his reporting he’s found many instances – usually driven by Republicans' initiatives – in which voters have been purged from rolls among other methods, allegedly to influence elections. *** For more on Kobach's racially-biased-by-design Crosscheck vote-purging op, which is in play in Georgia to help Karen Handel, watch The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. Rent or buy the film on Amazon or get the signed DVD, a signed copy of the companion book — or, better still, get the DVD and book combo by making a tax-deductible donation to the Palast Investigative Fund. Support the The Palast Investigative Fund (a project of The Sustainable Markets Foundation) by shopping with Amazon Smile. AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your purchases to the Palast Fund and you get a tax-deduction! More info. Or simply make a tax-deductible contribution to keep our work alive!  The post Palast on MSNBC – with Joy ReidVoter suppression accusations against GOP persist appeared first on Greg Palast.Jun 18

Democracy Now reporter assaulted for exposing Jim Crow tactics in Ossoff-Handel race - Greg Palast reporting for the Thom Hartmann Show and Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now! Watch the 8-minute broadcast—and get a full blast of weird. I was in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District to investigate strange doings in the race between Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel (who received an endorsement—and kiss on the lips—from President Trump). Handel was happy as a Smurf doll when I asked her if the Democrats were stealing the election. ("They’re pulling out all the stops!!") But when I asked about Republican Jim Crow tactics I’d uncovered, it got real ugly. First, a deep-fry-bloated goon jumped between me and the candidate then pushed me backwards. A second grabbed my arm while a third started muscling me around. Wow! And only because I asked—quite politely—if in her prior post as Georgia’s Secretary of State, she’d cleansed the voter rolls of voters of color. It was, honestly, more comical than threatening. Is this the new Republican method of answering uncomfortable questions? The bigger story in the report is my hunt to answer the question: How did tens of thousands of voter registrations simply VANISH? And why did Georgia Republican officials use Gestapo-style tactics to raid the offices of the Asian-American voter registration drive? You’ll hear Georgia Project leader Nse Ufot explain that 40,000 voters they’d registered never got on the rolls. The Republican Secretary of State denied they’d received the forms — but the Project had the photocopies! Now, Ufot faces criminal charges similar to the threats used to destroy the Asian-American vote drive. And behind it all is Trump’s new "Elections Integrity Commission" chieftain Kris Kobach, who created a 606,708-name voter purge list for GOP officials. You read that number right. As Dee Hunter of the Washington DC Civil Rights Center tells us, Ossoff already won. He fell just 3,700 votes short of an outright win in the first round of voting, but was denied victory by this onslaught of New Jim Crow tactics. If these tactics steal the Sixth, they’ll roll them out nationwide. *** Watch the clip, pass it on, then help me get back on the hunt for the missing voters. The report cost our foundation $27,000 to produce. A donor promised to cover the cost — then vanished like a Georgia voter. So my investigations team is deep in the hole. When the funding disappeared, we continued: the trail was too hot, the facts so chilling and important, we chose to continue and put the truth on credit cards. This ain’t no foolin’ around. Can you help by making a tax-deductible contribution to our continuing investigation? It continues in Georgia, but now we move to Virginia, Michigan, and Ohio. We are preparing an "Activist" update of our film, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy—a shortened version specifically designed to open action meetings. Our first outing was right there in Georgia’s Sixth, at the Eagles Nest Church, Lee Jenkins, Pastor. You saw him in the Democracy Now! report. He screened The Best Democracy Money Can Buy then hosted a confab with the NAACP, Common Cause, ACLU, Georgia Project and many luminaries of the new voting rights movement, organized by Hunter of The Civil Rights Center. This butt-kicking team is going on the road—to Virginia next month, then Michigan, Ohio and wherever votes and voters are at risk. We will be there with them, with the facts. So, please, right now, make your tax-deductible contribution for any amount no matter how large or small. Or become a monthly contributor today. For a tax-deductible donation of $1000 we’ll list you in the credits of the Activist version of our film as a Producer. For $500 become a Co-Producer. Or, get the combo of the full-length film on DVD, with the book, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, signed…and I’ll add in a link for you to stream it (in case you don’t have a DVD player). Already have the DVD and book? Well, get more, hand them out — and stir up trouble. The trouble I call "democracy." Excuse me while I answer the door. It’s the wolf, and I want to tell him to hold off because you are coming to our rescue. Palast Investigations Team can’t thank you enough. * * * * * Greg Palast (Rolling Stone, Guardian, BBC) is the author of The New York Times bestsellers, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and Billionaires & Ballot Bandits, now out as major motion non-fiction movie. Stay informed, rent or buy the film on Amazon or get the signed DVD, a signed copy of the book companion or better still - get the Book & DVD combo. Palast is also the author of the New York Times bestseller Armed Madhouse and BBC Newsnight book of the Year Vultures' Picnic. Visit the Palast Investigative Fund store or simply make a tax-deductible contribution to keep our work alive!  Become a monthly contributor today. Or support the The Palast Investigative Fund (a project of The Sustainable Markets Foundation) by shopping with Amazon Smile. AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your purchases to the Palast Fund and you get a tax-deduction! More info. GregPalast.com   The post Democracy Now reporter assaulted for exposing Jim Crow tactics in Ossoff-Handel race appeared first on Greg Palast.Jun 15

Palast On Democracy Now!GOP Jim Crow Tactics Help Steal Handel-Ossoff Race - The most expensive Congressional race in history will be decided June 20. While most polls show Democrat Jon Ossoff ahead of Republican Karen Handel, civil rights leaders fear that racial vote suppression tactics could steal this special election. Here's my report, broadcast today on Democracy Now!, from Georgia’s 6th Congressional District. *** For more on Kobach's racially-biased-by-design Crosscheck vote-purging op, which is in play in Georgia to help Karen Handel, watch The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. Rent or buy the film on Amazon or get the signed DVD, a signed copy of the companion book — or, better still, get the DVD and book combo by making a tax-deductible donation to the Palast Investigative Fund. Support the The Palast Investigative Fund (a project of The Sustainable Markets Foundation) by shopping with Amazon Smile. AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your purchases to the Palast Fund and you get a tax-deduction! More info. Or simply make a tax-deductible contribution to keep our work alive!  The post Palast On Democracy Now!GOP Jim Crow Tactics Help Steal Handel-Ossoff Race appeared first on Greg Palast.Jun 15

Catch Palast on Democracy Now! From Georgia’s 6th CD - Thursday, June 15, 8am ET – Greg Palast will be reporting on Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman from the hot Georgia 6th Congressional District race. And on Friday 7pm ET an in-depth report with Thom Hartmann on RTTV. When Palast confronts GOP candidate Karen Handel with evidence that her party is using Jim Crow vote-suppression tactics, her thugs muscle reporter Palast. In the report Palast will expose the latest tricks to wipe out the voter registrations of African-American and Asian-American voters. Watch this space for the full report… * * * * * Greg Palast (Rolling Stone, Guardian, BBC) is the author of The New York Times bestsellers, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and Billionaires & Ballot Bandits, now out as major motion non-fiction movie. Stay informed, rent or buy the film on Amazon or get the signed DVD, a signed copy of the book companion or better still - get the Book & DVD combo. Palast is also the author of the New York Times bestseller Armed Madhouse and BBC Newsnight book of the Year Vultures' Picnic. Visit the Palast Investigative Fund store or simply make a tax-deductible contribution to keep our work alive!  Or support the The Palast Investigative Fund (a project of The Sustainable Markets Foundation) by shopping with Amazon Smile. AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your purchases to the Palast Fund and you get a tax-deduction! More info. GregPalast.com   The post Catch Palast on Democracy Now! From Georgia’s 6th CD appeared first on Greg Palast.Jun 14

Trump’s Chief Vote Suppressor Runs For Governor - By Zach D. Roberts for Nation of Change The man that well-coiffed racist, Richard Spencer, calls a “draconian illegal immigration enforcer” is now running for Governor of Kansas. That enforcer made his announcement just hours after the euthanasia of Governor Brownback’s “Kansas Experiment” by the state legislature. Secretary of State, Kris Kobach, stepping over the corpse of Brownback’s political career, took to the stage and announced that he would be starting his campaign for Kansas’ highest office. The Kansas Experiment, as coined by many, was a failed low-to-no business tax trickle down economics test that didn’t just not work, it nearly took the state's economy with it. Brownback, who got advice from the same right wing economists as Trump, in 2015 had “$44.5 million cut from public education” according to Vox.com. Kansas is, of course home to three things: yellow brick roads, the Koch Brothers and voter suppression laws. Here's a reminder of who Kris Kobach — a.k.a. "The Wizard of Crosscheck" — is: See full story on Nation of Change. For more on Kobach and his racially-biased-by-design Crosscheck vote-purging op, which helped Trump steal the White House in 2016, watch The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. Rent or buy the film on Amazon or get the signed DVD, a signed copy of the companion book — or, better still, get the DVD and book combo by making a tax-deductible donation to the Palast Investigative Fund. Or support the The Palast Investigative Fund (a project of The Sustainable Markets Foundation) by shopping with Amazon Smile. AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your purchases to the Palast Fund and you get a tax-deduction! More info. The post Trump’s Chief Vote Suppressor Runs For Governor appeared first on Greg Palast.Jun 12

Signed Kelly Slater Surfboard for Auction - Contact us with your bid Surfer Superstar Kelly Slater is offering a signed surfboard for auction to support The Palast Investigative Fund. Pick your choice of board and Kelly Slater will personally sign it and dedicate it to you. Opening Bid starts at $2,000  – or donate $5,000 and it's yours. Check out your choice of boards: Banana  |  Omni  |  Sci-fi The post Signed Kelly Slater Surfboard for Auction appeared first on Greg Palast.Jun 11

Handel’s handlers manhandle reporterto duck questions of her blocking Black voters - GOP Congressional candidate Karen Handel will do anything to duck questions about her role in purging Black and Asian voters in the Georgia run-off race against Jon Ossoff. Stay tuned for the full story of the Stealing of the Sixth CD — reports this week by Greg Palast for Thom Hartmann and Democracy Now! * * * * * Greg Palast (Rolling Stone, Guardian, BBC) is the author of The New York Times bestsellers, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and Billionaires & Ballot Bandits, now out as major motion non-fiction movie. Stay informed, rent or buy the film on Amazon or get the signed DVD, a signed copy of the book companion or better still — get the Book & DVD combo. Visit the Palast Investigative Fund store or simply make a tax-deductible contribution to keep our work alive!  Or support the The Palast Investigative Fund (a project of The Sustainable Markets Foundation) by shopping with Amazon Smile. AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your purchases to the Palast Fund and you get a tax-deduction! More info. The post Handel’s handlers manhandle reporterto duck questions of her blocking Black voters appeared first on Greg Palast.May 29

Public Intelligence » Feed

(U//FOUO) DHS Bulletin: Food Product Adulteration Within Reach of Violent Extremists and Insiders - (U//FOUO) Terrorist and violent extremist groups have long expressed interest in poisoning and adulterating food and beverage supplies in the West but rarely use this as a tactic. Nonetheless, recent incidents in Europe and Africa underscore the continued interest by some groups in targeting food products at point-of-sale, distribution, and storage. The mere threat of product adulteration in the Homeland almost certainly would cause psychological and economic harm. While we have not seen any specific, credible terrorist threats against Homeland food production and distribution infrastructure, we cannot rule out the possibility of inspired violent extremists or disgruntled insiders attempting to adulterate or poison food and beverages with commonly available toxic industrial chemicals or crude biological toxins due to the relative ease of product manipulation, especially at the last point of sale, which criminal actors have demonstrated consistently in the past. » (U//FOUO) Combative Anarchy/Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI/IRF), an offshoot of Greek environmental terrorist groups, threatened to poison food and beverages made by Nestle, Unilever, Delta Foods, and a named US business in late 2016, leading to mass recalls. The group probably never intended to poison or adulterate the products, but it was likely aware of the economic, safety, and political implications of making such threats. » (U) A South African farm worker in early 2017 added 20 liters of gramoxone—a dipyridinium-based herbicide—to a milk storage tank. While the contamination was detected prior to distribution, the level of gramoxone was likely sufficient to have killed or sickened at least hundreds of people. Separately, a Nigerian man allegedly introduced an unknown poison into the food at a restaurant in Ogoja, Nigeria in late March 2017, killing 2 and sickening 40 others. (U) Indicators of Possible Beverage or Food Tampering (U//FOUO) Some of these activities may be constitutionally protected, and any determination of possible illicit intent should be supported by additional facts justifying reasonable suspicion. These activities are general in nature and any one may be insignificant on its own, but when observed in combination with other suspicious behaviors—particularly advocacy of violence—they may constitute a basis for reporting. » (U//FOUO) Consumption and sharing of media glorifying violent extremist acts in attempting to mobilize others to violence; » (U//FOUO) Attempts to purchase restricted chemicals without proper credentials; » (U//FOUO) Purchase(s) of large quantities of hazardous, commercially available chemicals without reasonable explanation; » (U//FOUO) Parked, standing, or unattended vehicles in the same area over multiple days with no reasonable explanation, particularly in concealed locations with optimal visibility of potential targets or in conjunction with multiple visits; » (U//FOUO) Photography or videography focused on food storage facilities, security cameras, gates, barriers, or entry points, » (U//FOUO) Unusual or prolonged interest in or attempts to gain sensitive information about security measures of personnel, peak days and hours of operation, and access controls, such as alarms or locks; » (U//FOUO) Loitering or strange behaviors near buffets, salad bars, refrigerated cases, food production lines, or raw material/bulk food containers with no reasonable explanation; and » (U//FOUO) Damaged product seals, wrappers, or packaging of products on shelves or in transport that would indicate tampering.Jun 25

(U//FOUO) DHS Report: Ransomware Goals of Malicious Actors and Current System Vulnerabilities - (U) KEY FINDINGS (U) The most susceptible systems to ransomware attacks are personal computers and Internet-facing servers, in particular, those utilizing common, but outdated operating systems or security. (U) OCIA assesses that the Healthcare and Public Health Sector is one of the most prevalent targets of ransomware because of its reliance on immediate access to patient records. (U//FOUO) OCIA assesses that if specific industrial control systems (ICS) were successfully infected with ransomware, it could affect the ability of certain sectors to provide real-time management and control of large networks of geographically scattered equipment. Although security researchers have demonstrated the possibility of ransomware targeting control systems, OCIA assesses that such an attack is highly unlikely given the higher success rate against consumer and business systems, the likelihood that business and process control networks are segmented, and the ability for operators to take a control system out of service and employ manual overrides. … (U) Malicious Cyber Actors use Ransomware to Target Users and Organizations Most Likely to Pay (U) Malicious actors who employ ransomware are often focused on a very narrow goal, making money. Unlike other malicious actors whose goal is to steal or disrupt data integrity, those who employ ransomware are often focused on preventing user access to their data or systems. OCIA assesses that because data theft is not the ultimate goal, malicious actors using ransomware overwhelmingly seek out users or organizations that might pay the ransom. Malicious actors only need a few users out of numerous targets to pay in order for a ransomware campaign to be worthwhile. A recent report highlighted that the average ransom demand in 2016 had risen to $1,077, up from an average of $294 dollars in 2015. (U) Ransomware often targets a range of organizations that require immediate access to their systems and their data to operate. The 2016 Verizon Data Breach Report found that the top three industries targeted by ransomware were Public Administration, Healthcare, and Financial Services. (U) The number of ransomware attacks has increased year after year. Symantec found detections of ransomware against customers it protects increased from 340,000 in 2015 to 463,000 in 2016. Kasperky Lab found that between 2014-15 and 2015-16 the number of ransomware attacks targeting its customers had increased five times (131,111 to 718,536). Malicious actors are not limited to randomly targeting organizations with ransomware. Openly available Personally Identifiable Information (PII) allows actors to identify targets and potentially design a more believable email message (with a ransomware executable) that the user is more likely to open. In November 2016, a ransomware email phishing campaign targeted thousands of government workers who had information exposed during the 2015 Office of Personal Management’s breach of PII. ,,, (U) Disruptive ICS Attacks with Ransomware are Possible, but Unlikely (U//FOUO) OCIA assesses that if ICS were successfully infected with ransomware, it could affect the ability of operators to provide real-time management and control of large networks of geographically scattered equipment, and destabilize assets resulting in a loss of operator control and potential damage or destruction of critical operational equipment. Researchers from Georgia Tech created a proof-of-concept ransomware strain named LogicLocker that can alter programmable logic controller (PLC) parameters. Although security researchers have demonstrated the possibility of ransomware targeting control systems, OCIA assesses that such an attack is highly unlikely given the higher success rate against consumer and business systems, the likelihood that business and process control networks are segmented, and the ability for operators to take a control system out of service and employ manual overrides.Jun 18

(U//FOUO) Northern Virginia Fusion Center: Social Media Recommendations for Public Safety Personnel - (U) Overview • (U) Public Safety personnel are urged to use caution when sharing information via social media. With recent officer-involved shootings around the country, those who support attacks against public safety affiliates can gain access to information shared online and may use it to condone violence. • (U//FOUO) This Front Line provides recommendations for minimizing indicators of your public safety affiliations on social media to better protect you and your family’s identity. … (U) Remove all material from your social media accounts that reference your involvement or affiliation with the public safety sector. (U) Have all material that references your involvement with the public safety sector removed from family and friends’ social media accounts. (U) Do not list employment information on any social media websites. (U) Do not use your work email address to sign up for any social media accounts. (U) If signing into a social media account on a public computer, be sure the password is not saved after signing out. …Jun 11

Bilderberg Association Annual Report 2016 - 272706 – THE BILDERBERG ASSOCIATION Governing document CONSTITUTION ADOPTED 20TH DECEMBER 1976 Organisation type STANDARD REGISTRATION Where it operates THROUGHOUT ENGLAND AND WALES Registration history 24 January 1977 Registered Charitable objects TO PROMOTE THE STUDY OF, AND PUBLIC EDUCATION IN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, ECONOMICS AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES WITH REFERENCE IN PARTICULAR TO THE POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS AFFECTING THE DEMOCRATIC COUNTRIES OF NORTH AMERICA AND WESTERN EUROPE AND THE EFFECTS OF INDUSTRIALISATION UPON THE SOCIAL STRUCTURES AND ENVIRONMENTS OF SUCH COUNTRIES.Jun 4

Bilderberg Association Annual Report 2015 - 272706 – THE BILDERBERG ASSOCIATION Governing document CONSTITUTION ADOPTED 20TH DECEMBER 1976 Organisation type STANDARD REGISTRATION Where it operates THROUGHOUT ENGLAND AND WALES Registration history 24 January 1977 Registered Charitable objects TO PROMOTE THE STUDY OF, AND PUBLIC EDUCATION IN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, ECONOMICS AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES WITH REFERENCE IN PARTICULAR TO THE POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS AFFECTING THE DEMOCRATIC COUNTRIES OF NORTH AMERICA AND WESTERN EUROPE AND THE EFFECTS OF INDUSTRIALISATION UPON THE SOCIAL STRUCTURES AND ENVIRONMENTS OF SUCH COUNTRIES.Jun 4

American Friends of Bilderberg 2015 Tax Return - AMERICAN FRIENDS OF BILDERBERG, INC. C/O JAMES JOHNSON CAPITAL PARTNERS 607 14TH STREET NW WASHINGTON, DC 20005 (202) 347-9600 EIN: 51-0163715Jun 3

American Friends of Bilderberg 2014 Tax Return - AMERICAN FRIENDS OF BILDERBERG, INC. C/O JAMES JOHNSON CAPITAL PARTNERS 607 14TH STREET NW WASHINGTON, DC 20005 (202) 347-9600 EIN: 51-0163715Jun 3

2017 Bilderberg Meeting Participant List - The following press release and participants list was obtained from the official website of Bilderberg Meetings. Participant lists from nearly every Bilderberg Meeting since 1954 are also available along with a collection of thousands of pages of internal Bilderberg correspondence and meeting reports. 2017 Bilderberg Meeting Chantilly VA, USA 1-4 June CHAIRMAN Castries, Henri de (FRA), Former Chairman and CEO, AXA; President of Institut Montaigne   PARTICIPANTS Achleitner, Paul M. (DEU), Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Deutsche Bank AG Adonis, Andrew (GBR), Chair, National Infrastructure Commission Agius, Marcus (GBR), Chairman, PA Consulting Group Akyol, Mustafa (TUR), Senior Visiting Fellow, Freedom Project at Wellesley College Alstadheim, Kjetil B. (NOR), Political Editor, Dagens Næringsliv Altman, Roger C. (USA), Founder and Senior Chairman, Evercore Arnaut, José Luis (PRT), Managing Partner, CMS Rui Pena & Arnaut Barroso, José M. Durão (PRT), Chairman, Goldman Sachs International Bäte, Oliver (DEU), CEO, Allianz SE Baumann, Werner (DEU), Chairman, Bayer AG Baverez, Nicolas (FRA), Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher Benko, René (AUT), Founder and Chairman of the Advisory Board, SIGNA Holding GmbH Berner, Anne-Catherine (FIN), Minister of Transport and Communications Botín, Ana P. (ESP), Executive Chairman, Banco Santander Brandtzæg, Svein Richard (NOR), President and CEO, Norsk Hydro ASA Brennan, John O. (USA), Senior Advisor, Kissinger Associates Inc. Bsirske, Frank (DEU), Chairman, United Services Union Buberl, Thomas (FRA), CEO, AXA Bunn, M. Elaine (USA), Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Burns, William J. (USA), President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Çakiroglu, Levent (TUR), CEO, Koç Holding A.S. Çamlibel, Cansu (TUR), Washington DC Bureau Chief, Hürriyet Newspaper Cebrián, Juan Luis (ESP), Executive Chairman, PRISA and El País Clemet, Kristin (NOR), CEO, Civita Cohen, David S. (USA), Former Deputy Director, CIA Collison, Patrick (USA), CEO, Stripe Cotton, Tom (USA), Senator Cui, Tiankai (CHN), Ambassador to the US Döpfner, Mathias (DEU), CEO, Axel Springer SE Elkann, John (ITA), Chairman, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Enders, Thomas (DEU), CEO, Airbus SE Federspiel, Ulrik (DNK), Group Executive, Haldor Topsøe Holding A/S Ferguson, Jr., Roger W. (USA), President and CEO, TIAA Ferguson, Niall (USA), Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University Gianotti, Fabiola (ITA), Director General, CERN Gozi, Sandro (ITA), State Secretary for European Affairs Graham, Lindsey (USA), Senator Greenberg, Evan G. (USA), Chairman and CEO, Chubb Group Griffin, Kenneth (USA), Founder and CEO, Citadel Investment Group, LLC Gruber, Lilli (ITA), Editor-in-Chief and Anchor “Otto e mezzo”, La7 TV Guindos, Luis de (ESP), Minister of Economy, Industry and Competiveness Haines, Avril D. (USA), Former Deputy National Security Advisor Halberstadt, Victor (NLD), Professor of Economics, Leiden University Hamers, Ralph (NLD), Chairman, ING Group Hedegaard, Connie (DNK), Chair, KR Foundation Hennis-Plasschaert, Jeanine (NLD), Minister of Defence, The Netherlands Hobson, Mellody (USA), President, Ariel Investments LLC Hoffman, Reid (USA), Co-Founder, LinkedIn and Partner, Greylock Houghton, Nicholas (GBR), Former Chief of Defence Ischinger, Wolfgang (INT), Chairman, Munich Security Conference Jacobs, Kenneth M. (USA), Chairman and CEO, Lazard Johnson, James A. (USA), Chairman, Johnson Capital Partners Jordan, Jr., Vernon E. (USA), Senior Managing Director, Lazard Frères & Co. LLC Karp, Alex (USA), CEO, Palantir Technologies Kengeter, Carsten (DEU), CEO, Deutsche Börse AG Kissinger, Henry A. (USA), Chairman, Kissinger Associates Inc. Klatten, Susanne (DEU), Managing Director, SKion GmbH Kleinfeld, Klaus (USA), Former Chairman and CEO, Arconic Knot, Klaas H.W. (NLD), President, De Nederlandsche Bank Koç, Ömer M. (TUR), Chairman, Koç Holding A.S. Kotkin, Stephen (USA), Professor in History and International Affairs, Princeton University Kravis, Henry R. (USA), Co-Chairman and Co-CEO, KKR Kravis, Marie-Josée (USA), Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute Kudelski, André (CHE), Chairman and CEO, Kudelski Group Lagarde, Christine (INT), Managing Director, International Monetary Fund Lenglet, François (FRA), Chief Economics Commentator, France 2 Leysen, Thomas (BEL), Chairman, KBC Group Liddell, Christopher (USA), Assistant to the President and Director of Strategic Initiatives Lööf, Annie (SWE), Party Leader, Centre Party Mathews, Jessica T. (USA), Distinguished Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace McAuliffe, Terence (USA), Governor of Virginia McKay, David I. (CAN), President and CEO, Royal Bank of Canada McMaster, H.R. (USA), National Security Advisor Mexia, António Luís Guerra Nunes (PRT), President, Eurelectric and CEO, EDP Energias de Portugal Micklethwait, John (INT), Editor-in-Chief, Bloomberg LP Minton Beddoes, Zanny (INT), Editor-in-Chief, The Economist Molinari, Maurizio (ITA), Editor-in-Chief, La Stampa Monaco, Lisa (USA), Former Homeland Security Officer Morneau, Bill (CAN), Minister of Finance Mundie, Craig J. (USA), President, Mundie & Associates Murtagh, Gene M. (IRL), CEO, Kingspan Group plc Netherlands, H.M. the King of the (NLD) Noonan, Peggy (USA), Author and Columnist, The Wall Street Journal O’Leary, Michael (IRL), CEO, Ryanair D.A.C. Osborne, George (GBR), Editor, London Evening Standard Papahelas, Alexis (GRC), Executive Editor, Kathimerini Newspaper Papalexopoulos, Dimitri (GRC), CEO, Titan Cement Co. Petraeus, David H. (USA), Chairman, KKR Global Institute Pind, Søren (DNK), Minister for Higher Education and Science Puga, Benoît (FRA), Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor and Chancellor of the National Order of Merit Rachman, Gideon (GBR), Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator, The Financial Times Reisman, Heather M. (CAN), Chair and CEO, Indigo Books & Music Inc. Rivera Díaz, Albert (ESP), President, Ciudadanos Party Rosén, Johanna (SWE), Professor in Materials Physics, Linköping University Ross, Wilbur L. (USA), Secretary of Commerce Rubenstein, David M. (USA), Co-Founder and Co-CEO, The Carlyle Group Rubin, Robert E. (USA), Co-Chair, Council on Foreign Relations and Former Treasury Secretary Ruoff, Susanne (CHE), CEO, Swiss Post Rutten, Gwendolyn (BEL), Chair, Open VLD Sabia, Michael (CAN), CEO, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec Sawers, John (GBR), Chairman and Partner, Macro Advisory Partners Schadlow, Nadia (USA), Deputy Assistant to the President, National Security Council Schmidt, Eric E. (USA), Executive Chairman, Alphabet Inc. Schneider-Ammann, Johann N. (CHE), Federal Councillor, Swiss Confederation Scholten, Rudolf (AUT), President, Bruno Kreisky Forum for International Dialogue Severgnini, Beppe (ITA), Editor-in-Chief, 7-Corriere della Sera Sikorski, Radoslaw (POL), Senior Fellow, Harvard University Slat, Boyan (NLD), CEO and Founder, The Ocean Cleanup Spahn, Jens (DEU), Parliamentary State Secretary and Federal Ministry of Finance Stephenson, Randall L. (USA), Chairman and CEO, AT&T Stern, Andrew (USA), President Emeritus, SEIU and Senior Fellow, Economic Security Project Stoltenberg, Jens (INT), Secretary General, NATO Summers, Lawrence H. (USA), Charles W. Eliot University Professor, Harvard University Tertrais, Bruno (FRA), Deputy Director, Fondation pour la recherche stratégique Thiel, Peter (USA), President, Thiel Capital Topsøe, Jakob Haldor (DNK), Chairman, Haldor Topsøe Holding A/S Ülgen, Sinan (TUR), Founding and Partner, Istanbul Economics Vance, J.D. (USA), Author and Partner, Mithril Wahlroos, Björn (FIN), Chairman, Sampo Group, Nordea Bank, UPM-Kymmene Corporation Wallenberg, Marcus (SWE), Chairman, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB Walter, Amy (USA), Editor, The Cook Political Report Weston, Galen G. (CAN), CEO and Executive Chairman, Loblaw Companies Ltd and George Weston Companies White, Sharon (GBR), Chief Executive, Ofcom Wieseltier, Leon (USA), Isaiah Berlin Senior Fellow in Culture and Policy, The Brookings Institution Wolf, Martin H. (INT), Chief Economics Commentator, Financial Times Wolfensohn, James D. (USA), Chairman and CEO, Wolfensohn & Company Wunsch, Pierre (BEL), Vice-Governor, National Bank of Belgium Zeiler, Gerhard (AUT), President, Turner International Zients, Jeffrey D. (USA), Former Director, National Economic Council Zoellick, Robert B. (USA), Non-Executive Chairman, AllianceBernstein L.P. CHANTILLY, 31 MAY 2017 The 65th Bilderberg Meeting will take place from 1-4 June 2017 in Chantilly, Virginia, USA. As of today, 131 participants from 21 countries have confirmed their attendance. As ever, a diverse group of political leaders and experts from industry, finance, academia and the media has been invited. The list of participants is available here. The key topics for discussion this year include: The Trump Administration: A progress report Trans-Atlantic relations: options and scenarios The Trans-Atlantic defence alliance: bullets, bytes and bucks The direction of the EU Can globalisation be slowed down? Jobs, income and unrealised expectations The war on information Why is populism growing? Russia in the international order The Near East Nuclear proliferation China Current events Founded in 1954, the Bilderberg Meeting is an annual conference designed to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. Every year, between 120-140 political leaders and experts from industry, finance, academia and the media are invited to take part in the conference. About two thirds of the participants come from Europe and the rest from North America; approximately a quarter from politics and government and the rest from other fields. The conference is a forum for informal discussions about major issues facing the world. The meetings are held under the Chatham House Rule, which states that participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s) nor any other participant may be revealed. Thanks to the private nature of the meeting, the participants are not bound by the conventions of their office or by pre-agreed positions. As such, they can take time to listen, reflect and gather insights. There is no desired outcome, no minutes are taken and no report is written. Furthermore, no resolutions are proposed, no votes are taken, and no policy statements are issued. Media Contact: media[@]bilderbergmeetings.orgMay 31

Robert Murphy Steering Committee Correspondence Related to 1969 Bilderberg Meeting - File Contents Letter to American Members of the Bilderberg Steering Committee from Joseph E. Johnson, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, December 13, 1968 Letter to Robert Murphy from Joseph E. Johnson regarding potential attendees for the 1969 conference, November 14, 1968 Letter to Robert Murphy from Joseph E. Johnson regarding potential attendees for the 1969 conference, November 27, 1968 Letter to the “Members of the Steering Committee” from Arnold Lamping of Bilderberg Meetings, November 14, 1968 Letter from Max Kohnstamm to professor E.H. van der Beugel regarding potential attendees for the 1969 conference, November 5, 1968 Confidential list of suggested Bilderberg participants for the 1969 conference, November 27, 1968 Letter from Robert Murphy to Joseph E. Johnson regarding the steering committee meeting in October 1968, November 1, 1968 Letter to Robert Murphy from Joseph E. Johnson containing the minutes of the October 1968 steering committee meeting, October 30, 1968 Minutes of the October 1968 steering committee meeting at Soestdijk Palace Letter from professor E.H. van der Beugel to steering committee members regarding the upcoming meeting in October 1968, September 24, 1968May 29

Bilderberg Discussion Paper: Some Reflections on the Japanese at Aspen - The performance, or rather the non-performance, of the two Japanese participants in the technology conference has provided an epitome of the general difficulty we face in involving the Japanese meaningfully in international conferences of this nature. I am very glad that I extended this seminar, because it has been an eye opener, and a number of ideas as to probable cause and possible remedy have presented themselves to me in the course of living with this problem during the last four days. The difficulties the Japanese had were of a linguistic — and social — nature, not one of substantive capabilities. Both Hayashi and Tanaka were excellent choices in the two fields represented, respectively, by Panels I and IV, Hayashi being one of the leading scholars who has addressed himself to problems of technology and value change, and Tanaka being one of the bright your bureaucrats charged with the task of charting the future development of the Japanese economy. If we limit ourselves to the very few highly Westernized Japanese with really good English and genuine social poise, we shall be cutting ourselves off from the ninety-five percent of the Japanese cultural, political and business elite. We shall be getting the same people, good as they may be (like Michio Nagai, or Shigeharu Matsumoto) over and over again — to the exclusion not only of luminaries like Tanga the architect or Kawabata the (Nobel prize-winning) novelist, but also of a whole host of younger artists, writers, political scientists, economists, party leaders, and what have you, all of whom ought to be involved in a fruitful East-West dialogue.May 29

Sunlight Foundation Blog

Today in OpenGov: Putting a Facebook on open data - Yesterday, the Committee on House Administration hosted its annual Legislative Data and Transparency Conference at the U.S. Capitol. Many Sunlighters were on hand to learn about progress and initiatives, including the Library of Congress' App Challenge, the U.S. Government Publishing Office's new website, and much more. Check out our Facebook page and the #ldtc17 hashtag on Twitter for more from the event, and our blog today. Keep reading for more open government news from DC and around the United States! states and cities   An open data-fueled chatbot is helping Kansas City, Missouri's residents on Facebook. "On June 19, Open Data Kansas City officially launched a new bot on Facebook  to try to make its open data portal more accessible to non-technical users. The chatbot converses with Facebook Messenger users to help them find the most useful data on what they care about in city government." (Sunlight Foundation) Invest in the future of your community by adopting a tree in your neighborhood. "Launched this month, the D.C. Tree Watering Application has features to locate young trees that need a drink by entering an address. To track the trees, there’s also an option to take a photo and upload it to a story. If a tree needs a little special help, there’s a feature to report an issue to DDOT." (Technical.ly DC) Florida governor vetoes an attempt to hamstring state's technology agency. "In early 2017, Florida’s House Government Operations and Technology Appropriations subcommittee launched a legislative assault on the autonomy of the state’s centralized IT shop, the Agency for State Technology (AST). That affront, better known as House Bill 5301, did not survive Gov. Rick Scott’s veto June 23." (Government Technology) Building a culture of data sharing in Los Angeles. "Since then, Los Angeles has delivered results on Garcetti’s smart city vision, including the creation of one of the most innovative government data portals and ever-increasing support for data-driven governance within city departments. Lilian Coral, who joined Garcetti’s team in 2015, first as Deputy Chief Data Officer until she was appointed Chief Data Officer last spring, has been integral to taking Los Angeles’ digital efforts to the next level." (Government Technology via NFOIC) washington watch   U.S. Supreme Court will rule on whistleblower protections in Dodd-Frank this fall. "The Supreme Court announced Monday it will weigh whether corporate whistleblowers who don’t report wrongdoing to federal authorities are protected by anti-retaliation laws." (The Hill) Sunlight joins coalition calling for Senate Armed Services Committee to hold public mark up. "In recent years, several of the subcommittee mark-ups have been opened up at their members’ request. Last year, three of the six subcommittees held their work in public view, with no reported complications or problems from senators. This year, the committee added a new panel — the subcommittee on cybersecurity — and closed all seven." (Military Times) Does the information age mean the end of privacy? Julia Angwin doesn't think so. The ProPublica journalist took the stage at the Aspen Ideas Festival to "argues that those fighting to better protect privacy aren’t wasting their time, even as the Information Age accelerates." She urged her audience to consider and draw inspiration from reformers that successfully pushed back against the worst excesses of the industrial revolution. (The Atlantic) Securing U.S. elections would be relatively cheap, but no one seems interested in footing the bill. "What would it cost to protect the nation's voting systems from attack? About $400 million would go a long way, say cybersecurity experts. It's not a lot of money when it comes to national defense — the Pentagon spent more than that last year on military bands alone — but getting funds for election systems is always a struggle." (NPR) trumpland   Contractors push back on OMB attempts to reduce certain reporting requirements. "A group representing 400 services and information technology contractors has asked the Office of Management and Budget to revamp several of the 59 changes announced on June 15 in its memo on easing the reporting burden on agencies." (Government Executive) White House Office of American Innovation prioritizes government modernization. "On Tuesday, Matt Lira, special assistant to the president for innovation policy and initiatives, provided a blueprint of the Office of American Innovation’s efforts. First up: government modernization." (Nextgov) Paul Manafort registers firm as foreign agent, reports $17 million in income from pro-Russian Ukrainian party. "The firm headed by Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, made more than $17 million working as a foreign agent of a pro-Russian Ukrainian political party, according to newly filed disclosure reports." (POLITICO)  Trump to host campaign fundraiser at Trump hotel blocks from White House. "President Trump, who is fond of dining at his Trump International Hotel near the White House, will have some company Wednesday — a roomful of people who paid as much as $35,000 or $100,000 each to be there." (NPR) It's unclear how much the Trump International Hotel will make for hosting the event.  save the dates   June 29th: DATA Act Summit 2017 in Washington, DC. "The fourth annual DATA Act Summit, hosted by the Data Coalition and Booz Allen Hamilton, will bring together supporters of the open data transformation from across government and the private sector." Learn more and get your tickets here. July 5th, 10am EST: ICT-mediated Citizen Engagement: Voice or Chatter? Webinar. "In this webinar, IT for Change will present the results of eight empirical case studies of citizen engagement through ICTs they undertook. This research, funded by Making All Voices Count, explored in each case how new forms of participation were shaped by IT, how IT affected power relations between government and citizens, and how the interactions between different actors continuously shape governance. More information here: http://bit.ly/2rb4TJ3" July 19th, 5:30 PM EST. Book Discussion: When Your Job Wants You To Lie in Washington, DC. "Join us for a discussion that will help us deal with the kinds of situations we all encounter. Presented by the American Society for Public Administration, National Capital Area Chapter (ASPA NCAC). Refreshments start 5:30, and the discussion starts 6:00. Space is limited, so you must RSVP in advance." Learn more and RSVP here.  July 27th, 10 am: Chief FOIA Officers Council Meeting in Washington, DC. "OGIS and the Department of Information Policy (OIP) at the Department of Justice are happy to announce that the next meeting of the Chief FOIA Officers Council will be held on Thursday, July 27th from 10 am to noon. You can register to join the audience in the William G. McGowan Theater beginning on July 26. You can also plan on watching the livestream via the National Archives’ YouTube Channel." September 11th and 12th: TicTec@Taipei in Taipei. "TICTeC@Taipei is the first ever conference about the influence of civic tech to be held in Asia. We’ve invited members of academia, business, politics, NGOs, education to participate, and discuss their research. We hope through this event, we can build a global network of civic tech enthusiasts." The event is being held during #CivicTechFest 2017. Learn more, submit a session proposal, and register to attend here. September 13th: Civic and Gov Tech Showcase in San Jose, California. "Innovate Your State, in partnership with Microsoft and the City of San Jose, is bringing the 3nd Annual Civic & Gov Tech Showcase to the Capitol of Silicon Valley. The Civic & Gov Tech Showcase is an opportunity to connect with civic minded entrepreneurs, potential investors, and government leaders to showcase the great work that is being done to improve government and governance. The goal of the event is to encourage collaboration and the support of new technologies to improve government and public participation." Learn more and get your tickets here. September 14th – 16th: Digital Humanities and Data Journalism Symposium, in Miami, Florida. "Digital humanists and data journalists face common challenges, opportunities, and goals, such as how to communicate effectively with the public. They use similar software tools, programming languages, and techniques, and they can learn from each other. Join us for lectures and tutorials about shared data types, visualization methods, and data communication — including text visualization, network diagrams, maps, databases and data wrangling. In addition to the scheduled content, there will be opportunities for casual conversation and networking." Learn more and register here.   Tired of your boss/friend/intern/uncle forwarding you this email every morning? You can sign up here and have it delivered direct to your inbox! Please send questions, comments, tips, and concerns to todayinopengov@sunlightfoundation.com. We would love your feedback!  Jun 28

In Kansas City, residents have a new friend on Facebook: an open data chatbot - On June 19, Open Data Kansas City officially launched a new bot on Facebook  to try to make its open data portal more accessible to non-technical users. The chatbot converses with Facebook Messenger users to help them find the most useful data on what they care about in city government. Open Data KC’s chatbot isn’t the first bot designed for public policy data access — the Chicago advocacy group Citizens Police Data Project has a Twitter bot for officer complaint data — but it  is one of the first official efforts by a city government to make open data more accessible through Facebook. The new initiative in Kansas is a great example of Sunlight’s work on how cities can make open data easier to understand and use for the public. Kansas City’s piloting a new approach to addressing this challenge is promising. Eric Roche, Kansas City’s Chief Data Officer, had the idea to build the chatbot after discussions with city leadership during yearly reports on the city’s open data progress. “The Mayor, more than once, has said ‘open data is hard to use’,” said Roche in a phone interview. So Roche’s goal became to build a tool that’s easy for those who aren’t developers or data scientists to understand and navigate on a familiar platform. “The one user that keeps sticking out in my mind – it’s a home association president or neighborhood leader that knows enough to know there are 311 calls and code violations, and they want to know which properties in the neighborhood have those,” he said. “That’s a really difficult thing to find on open data if you don’t know the terms and lingo. But with this tool, they could type in code violations and find them by neighborhood. And connect with the right datasets and visualizations.” My test of the chatbot showed there’s both real utility to it and room for improvement.The chatbot excels at recognizing common data categories and directing users to potentially useful datasets. It readily recognizes queries like “building codes,” and more practically, presents a user with several useful choices within a category, such as “building codes,” “business licenses,” and “market value study.” This is by design – Roche says he hard-coded popular and “malleable” datasets – that is, ones that can answer a variety of specific queries – as default answers. The chatbot still can’t recognize more specific queries, however, such as “dog license.” When this happens, the program offers the user a choice to browse all datasets, use the Open Data KC website’s search function, or submit feedback. Roche acknowledges these current limitations to users: the chatbot’s introductory message  includes the disclaimer: “PS: I’m still very experimental and make a lot of mistakes. If you type ‘feedback’ you can leave me some advice,” along with a “smiley-face” emoji.  Just as the chatbot seeks to be user-friendly, its production, at least in its current stage, was developer-friendly. Roche didn’t need a team of software engineers or data scientists; he built it himself over the course of several weeks at “Code for Kansas City” meet ups in his free time. Roche usually works in the programming languages R and Python. But to build the chatbot, he used the platform Chatfuel, which makes it possible to build AI bots for Facebook messenger without the builder doing any explicit coding. For now, Roche’s primary goal is for it to automate common questions and inquiries that his office gets from Kansas City residents. “If you asked me for ‘crime data’, I’d ask, well, ‘raw data or map, etc.’ I wanted to script some of those conversations – and when I say script, I really do mean script! There’s no complex machine learning,” he said. So while building the chatbot was no small feat, production of similar bots may be in reach for other city governments whose open data departments have limited time and money. For his part, Roche sees the chatbot as a proof-of-concept. If Open Data KC sees consistent use of the chatbot from residents, Roche would like to make a major expansion of its capabilities. “If it was a big success, I’d go to local Code for America and data meet-ups and see if there’s a group of people who’d want to build out a ‘2.0’ that’s getting closer to a machine-learning model,” he said. In the meantime, Chatfuel makes it easy to track what users are searching for and not finding, and Roche is using Google Forms to organize suggestions that users make through the chatbot. Roche views the evaluation process as “totally exploratory” and acknowledges he doesn’t know where it’s going to lead. He doesn’t have an explicit marketing plan or a budget for the chatbot, but might put some Facebook advertising dollars behind promoting it. Given Facebook’s massive user base, Facebook chatbots could become a major new point of citizen access to open data – but only if these interested citizens find the chatbots on Facebook and like using them. If Kansas City’s chatbot and projects like it prove successful, they could prove a valuable tool for cities everywhere for facilitating community use of open data. “It’s a true experiment,” Roche said. We hope it’s not the last.  Open data isn’t always easy to find, access, and use. For the city hall open data programs to matter to residents’ lives, it needs to be.Jun 27

Today in OpenGov: Under pressure - Today we're getting an early start on our Independence Day celebrations with #TinyDeclaration, a contest co-sponsored by Slate and the National Archives to distill the Declaration of Independence down into a single tweet.  You have until Thursday at Noon EDT to tweet your ideas @Slate. The winner will be announced during the National Archive's 4th of July Celebration.  Read on for a full slate of open government news from Washington, around the U.S., and across the globe… Washington watch   Sunlight joins coalition calling on Congress to oppose dangerous DoD FOIA exemption. The groups called "for Congress to oppose the Department of Defense’s (DoD) proposal to alter the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in FY18’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The FOIA exemption proposed by the DoD would severely undermine the FOIA by creating an unnecessary secrecy provision at odds with FOIA’s goals of transparency and accountability." Read the full letter at OpenTheGovernment.org Meanwhile, more than $600 billion in Defense spending is being considered behind closed doors. If you agree that the National Defense Authorization Act should be considered in the open we urge you to contact members of the Senate Armed Services Committee and let them know how you feel.  House Ethics Committee looking into allegations against three Democrats. "Democratic Reps. John Conyers of Michigan and Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico are under scrutiny by the House Ethics Committee for alleged violations, although both men strongly deny any wrongdoing." The Chief of staff for Rep. John Lewis is also being investigated for allegedly serving in campaign and official roles simultaneously. The committee has 45 days to decide if full scale investigations are warranted. (POLITICO) Federal Investigators looking at Jane Sanders' involvement in real estate deal. "Federal investigators are looking into the finances behind a real estate deal for a now-defunct college put together by the wife of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, and she has hired a lawyer to look after her interests, a family spokesman confirmed on Monday." A Sanders spokesman dismissed the allegations as politically motivated (Bloomberg) How are agencies responding to the DATA Act? "On May 9, the DATA Act’s main deadline arrived. Every federal agency began reporting spending information to the Treasury Department using a new data format…" agencies have responded in four ways outlined in this article. (Nextgov)  trumpland The existing F.B.I headquarters in Washington, DC.  EPA Chief of Staff pressured scientific adviser to change congressional testimony. "The Environmental Protection Agency’s chief of staff pressured the top scientist on the agency’s scientific review board to alter her congressional testimony and play down the dismissal of expert advisers, his emails show." The requests came after the testimony had been officially submitted to Congress. (New York Times) Trump ties are complicating a development firm's bid to build the new F.B.I. headquarters. "A commercial real estate firm, Vornado is widely reported to be a finalist to build a new campus for the FBI somewhere in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. But its financial ties to President Trump are raising concerns about conflicts of interest." (NPR) How did this Russian bureaucrat end up with $8 million worth of Florida real estate? "Out-of-town money pouring into South Florida real estate is as old as Henry Flagler…But the tale of Igor Zorin offers a 21st-century twist with all the weirdness modern Miami has to offer: Russian cash, a motorcycle club named after Russia’s powerful special forces and a condo tower branded by Donald Trump." (Miami Herald) around the world Brazilian President Michel Temer Brazilian President charged by top prosecutor. "Rodrigo Janot has charged Temer with alleged passive corruption and stated there are indications of other crimes that need to be investigated, according to documents filed at the Supreme Court. The highly-anticipated charges need to be approved by two-thirds of Brazil’s chamber of deputies to proceed. It is not yet clear how long that process will take, but if the president is eventually found guilty he would be stripped of office and could be jailed." (Bloomberg) Open knowledge in Nepal. "Since February 2013, Open Knowledge Nepal has been involved in research, advocacy, training, organizing meetups and hackathons, and developing tools related to Open Data, Open Government Data, Open Source, Open Education, Open Access, Open Development, Open Research and others." They are now officially joining the Open Knowledge Network. (Open Knowledge) A $7 million boost for open data in New Zealand. "Statistics minister Scott Simpson has announced funding of $7.2 million over the next three years to speed the release of government data under the government’s open data initiative." (Computerworld New Zealand) save the dates   Today is the  Legislative Data and Transparency Conference in Washington, DC. "The Legislative Data and Transparency Conference 2017 (#LDTC17), hosted by the Committee on House Administration…#LDTC17 brings individuals from Legislative Branch agencies together with data users and transparency advocates to foster a conversation about the use of legislative data – addressing how agencies use technology well and how they can use it better in the future." Learn more here. June 28th, 10am EST: How Can Demand Driven & Bottom Up Social Accountability Tools Improve Health Services? The Experience of Rural Mozambique, Webinar. "This webinar explores how Concern Universal has managed to find the intersections in incentives and goals between government and rural communities while helping overcome some crucial gaps in health service delivery. It focuses on lessons learned through application of collaborative government/citizen’s approach. More information here: http://bit.ly/2sUtR0C" June 29th: DATA Act Summit 2017 in Washington, DC. "The fourth annual DATA Act Summit, hosted by the Data Coalition and Booz Allen Hamilton, will bring together supporters of the open data transformation from across government and the private sector." Learn more and get your tickets here. July 5th, 10am EST: ICT-mediated Citizen Engagement: Voice or Chatter? Webinar. "In this webinar, IT for Change will present the results of eight empirical case studies of citizen engagement through ICTs they undertook. This research, funded by Making All Voices Count, explored in each case how new forms of participation were shaped by IT, how IT affected power relations between government and citizens, and how the interactions between different actors continuously shape governance. More information here: http://bit.ly/2rb4TJ3" July 19th, 5:30 PM EST. Book Discussion: When Your Job Wants You To Lie in Washington, DC. "Join us for a discussion that will help us deal with the kinds of situations we all encounter. Presented by the American Society for Public Administration, National Capital Area Chapter (ASPA NCAC). Refreshments start 5:30, and the discussion starts 6:00. Space is limited, so you must RSVP in advance." Learn more and RSVP here.  July 27th, 10 am: Chief FOIA Officers Council Meeting in Washington, DC. "OGIS and the Department of Information Policy (OIP) at the Department of Justice are happy to announce that the next meeting of the Chief FOIA Officers Council will be held on Thursday, July 27th from 10 am to noon. You can register to join the audience in the William G. McGowan Theater beginning on July 26. You can also plan on watching the livestream via the National Archives’ YouTube Channel." September 11th and 12th: TicTec@Taipei in Taipei. "TICTeC@Taipei is the first ever conference about the influence of civic tech to be held in Asia. We’ve invited members of academia, business, politics, NGOs, education to participate, and discuss their research. We hope through this event, we can build a global network of civic tech enthusiasts." The event is being held during #CivicTechFest 2017. Learn more, submit a session proposal, and register to attend here. September 13th: Civic and Gov Tech Showcase in San Jose, California. "Innovate Your State, in partnership with Microsoft and the City of San Jose, is bringing the 3nd Annual Civic & Gov Tech Showcase to the Capitol of Silicon Valley. The Civic & Gov Tech Showcase is an opportunity to connect with civic minded entrepreneurs, potential investors, and government leaders to showcase the great work that is being done to improve government and governance. The goal of the event is to encourage collaboration and the support of new technologies to improve government and public participation." Learn more and get your tickets here. September 14th – 16th: Digital Humanities and Data Journalism Symposium, in Miami, Florida. "Digital humanists and data journalists face common challenges, opportunities, and goals, such as how to communicate effectively with the public. They use similar software tools, programming languages, and techniques, and they can learn from each other. Join us for lectures and tutorials about shared data types, visualization methods, and data communication — including text visualization, network diagrams, maps, databases and data wrangling. In addition to the scheduled content, there will be opportunities for casual conversation and networking." Learn more and register here.   Tired of your boss/friend/intern/uncle forwarding you this email every morning? You can sign up here and have it delivered direct to your inbox! Please send questions, comments, tips, and concerns to todayinopengov@sunlightfoundation.com. We would love your feedback!  Jun 27

Today in OpenGov: White House officials may have something to Confide - After a long weekend away, we're back with the latest open government news from Washington, around the U.S. and across the globe.  Last week, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and the National Security Archive filed a lawsuit against President Trump and the Executive Office of the President arguing that they "appear to be violating the Presidential Records Act (PRA) and the Constitution’s requirement that the president “take care” that the laws be faithfully executed through the White House’s use of confidential messaging applications and other problematic practices including its destruction of the president’s tweets." Read more, including the entire text of the lawsuit, on CREW's website. washington watch Image Credit Linnaea Mallette Scott Pruitt wins the Golden Padlock Award. The dubious honor goes to " the most secretive U.S. agency or individual. Pruitt was selected for this honor for steadfastly refusing to provide emails in the public interest and removing information from public websites about key environmental programs." (Investigative Reporters and Editors) Other finalists for the award included Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, the entire Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, and more.   The House Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee unanimously supported public access to Congressional Research Service Reports. (Daniel Schuman) We're thrilled to see Congress taking steps to open publicly funded research. Jury selection begins in Sen. Menendez corruption trial. "Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, is accused of improperly seeking to help Florida doctor Salomon Melgen in a Medicare overb illing case, a contract dispute with the Dominican Republic and with visa applications for three girlfriends. Prosecutors say Menendez accepted nearly $1 million in campaign donations and luxury travel, including a Paris vacation, from Melgen." (Bloomberg) New audit finds 60% of federal websites fail on privacy, security, and consumer protection. The Online Trust Alliance "assessed approximately 1,000 websites for the 2017 Online Trust Audit & Honor Roll report and found that the number of government sites that made the “honor roll” dropped to 39 percent this year from 46 percent in 2016." (Executive Government) trumpland   The New York Times collected and published "nearly every outright lie" that President Trump has told since taking his oath of office in January.  Trump Organization's Indian partners have history of law enforcement attention. "In two deals signed before Donald Trump was elected president, the company aligned itself with Indian partners who were already attracting the attention of law enforcement authorities. One, called IREO, is under investigation by India’s Enforcement Directorate over the source of its funding, suspected violations in its land purchasing and the possibility of money laundering. The other, M3M India, has been the target of sweeping tax raids; on a different project, the company was recently accused in a criminal complaint of bribing officials to clear-cut land." (Washington Post) Recent Trump appointee is a registered lobbyist for Saudi Arabia. Richard Hohlt, who was recently appointed to the President's Commission on White House Fellowships "is a registered agent of Saudi Arabia earning hundreds of thousands of dollars to lobby on the kingdom’s behalf, according to U.S. Department of Justice records reviewed by the Center for Public Integrity." (The Center for Public Integrity) Leakers at increased risk under Obama and Trump administrations. "But since 2009, the federal government has grown increasingly hostile toward leakers and news organizations that have published classified information. As The New York Times noted in its coverage of  [Reality] Winner, President Trump, 'like his predecessor Barack Obama, has signaled a willingness to pursue and prosecute government leakers.'" (The Conversation) Meanwhile, over-classification runs rampant. "Part of the reason government secrets have ballooned is that government employees are incentivized to classify records—a decision to keep information unclassified can come back to haunt an employee but not so the reverse. The system is irrational and confusing because the same documents that are classified in one file are not always classified in another. Even a document available on the internet can be classified as 'top secret,' yet courts have refused to acknowledge the discrepancy in how documents are treated as a defense when people are charged with leaking classified information." (America, The Jesuit Review) states and cities   Bakersfield, California shares interactive street condition data. "The Bakersfield Public Works Department has unveiled its city street conditions data online at the request of Ward 4 City Councilman Bob Smith. Go to the interactive map and a colorful array of green, yellow, orange and red lines wiggle across your computer screen, telling you in how good or bad of shape experts think individual roads are. You can type in a street name to zero in on its condition." (Government Technology) Engaging government staff as a civic tech volunteer. Jesse Birosack, a product manager with the City of Boston, shared some good advice for people who want to work with local public officials to improve their governments.  New Jersey Supreme Court rules that electronic records are public records. "In what one lawyer called a 'very significant' decision, the court unanimously held that the state’s 16-year-old Open Public Records Act, which guarantees people the right to most government records, covers requests for information taken from emails, provided releasing it would not intrude on privacy rights or run afoul of any of the other 30 or so exemptions in the law. The court’s ruling reversed an appellate decision that had, for a time, made it harder to get such information, said John Paff, a well-known public records advocate who was the plaintiff in the case." (NJ Spotlight) around the world Russian President Vladimir Putin European countries ramp up long running efforts to counter Russian misinformation. Across Europe, "countries are deploying a variety of bold tactics and tools to expose Russian attempts to sway voters and weaken European unity," write Dana Priest and Michael Birnbaum in the Washington Post. Open data portal will bring unprecedented access to Denmark's energy data. "A revolutionary new online portal, which gives open access to Denmark’s energy data, is set to spark innovation in smart, data-led solutions for energy efficiency. The Energy Data Service, launched on 17 June 2017 by the CEO of Denmark’s state-owned gas and electricity provider Energinet, and the Minister for Energy, Utilities and Climate, will share near real-time aggregated energy consumption data for all Danish municipalities, as well data on CO2emissions, energy production and the electricity market." (Open Knowledge) Help research the EU's efforts to open up. " If you know of interesting initiatives within the EU institutions, or know people who would be interesting to talk to about their work within the EU institutions then please get in touch. Drop Mat an email on mat@demsoc.org with a few sentences outlining the initiatives or people that you know about." (Demsoc) save the dates Committee on House Administration   June 27th: Legislative Data and Transparency Conference in Washington, DC. "The Legislative Data and Transparency Conference 2017 (#LDTC17), hosted by the Committee on House Administration, will take place on Tuesday, June 27, 2017in the Capitol Visitor Center Congressional Auditorium. The #LDTC17 brings individuals from Legislative Branch agencies together with data users and transparency advocates to foster a conversation about the use of legislative data – addressing how agencies use technology well and how they can use it better in the future." Learn more here. June 27th: Boosting Government Efficiency in Washington, DC. At this event, hosted by Nextgov, "we’ll explore how agencies are using emerging technologies, advanced analytics, and big data to nurture practical innovation and deliver results.  Join us to hear best practices and case studies from the government leaders at the forefront of improving government performance." Learn more here.  June 28th, 10am EST: How Can Demand Driven & Bottom Up Social Accountability Tools Improve Health Services? The Experience of Rural Mozambique, Webinar. "This webinar explores how Concern Universal has managed to find the intersections in incentives and goals between government and rural communities while helping overcome some crucial gaps in health service delivery. It focuses on lessons learned through application of collaborative government/citizen’s approach. More information here: http://bit.ly/2sUtR0C" June 29th: DATA Act Summit 2017 in Washington, DC. "The fourth annual DATA Act Summit, hosted by the Data Coalition and Booz Allen Hamilton, will bring together supporters of the open data transformation from across government and the private sector." Learn more and get your tickets here. July 5th, 10am EST: ICT-mediated Citizen Engagement: Voice or Chatter? Webinar. "In this webinar, IT for Change will present the results of eight empirical case studies of citizen engagement through ICTs they undertook. This research, funded by Making All Voices Count, explored in each case how new forms of participation were shaped by IT, how IT affected power relations between government and citizens, and how the interactions between different actors continuously shape governance. More information here: http://bit.ly/2rb4TJ3" July 19th, 5:30 PM EST. Book Discussion: When Your Job Wants You To Lie in Washington, DC. "Join us for a discussion that will help us deal with the kinds of situations we all encounter. Presented by the American Society for Public Administration, National Capital Area Chapter (ASPA NCAC). Refreshments start 5:30, and the discussion starts 6:00. Space is limited, so you must RSVP in advance." Learn more and RSVP here.  July 27th, 10 am: Chief FOIA Officers Council Meeting in Washington, DC. "OGIS and the Department of Information Policy (OIP) at the Department of Justice are happy to announce that the next meeting of the Chief FOIA Officers Council will be held on Thursday, July 27th from 10 am to noon. You can register to join the audience in the William G. McGowan Theater beginning on July 26. You can also plan on watching the livestream via the National Archives’ YouTube Channel." September 11th and 12th: TicTec@Taipei in Taipei. "TICTeC@Taipei is the first ever conference about the influence of civic tech to be held in Asia. We’ve invited members of academia, business, politics, NGOs, education to participate, and discuss their research. We hope through this event, we can build a global network of civic tech enthusiasts." The event is being held during #CivicTechFest 2017. Learn more, submit a session proposal, and register to attend here. September 13th: Civic and Gov Tech Showcase in San Jose, California. "Innovate Your State, in partnership with Microsoft and the City of San Jose, is bringing the 3nd Annual Civic & Gov Tech Showcase to the Capitol of Silicon Valley. The Civic & Gov Tech Showcase is an opportunity to connect with civic minded entrepreneurs, potential investors, and government leaders to showcase the great work that is being done to improve government and governance. The goal of the event is to encourage collaboration and the support of new technologies to improve government and public participation." Learn more and get your tickets here. September 14th – 16th: Digital Humanities and Data Journalism Symposium, in Miami, Florida. "Digital humanists and data journalists face common challenges, opportunities, and goals, such as how to communicate effectively with the public. They use similar software tools, programming languages, and techniques, and they can learn from each other. Join us for lectures and tutorials about shared data types, visualization methods, and data communication — including text visualization, network diagrams, maps, databases and data wrangling. In addition to the scheduled content, there will be opportunities for casual conversation and networking." Learn more and register here.   Tired of your boss/friend/intern/uncle forwarding you this email every morning? You can sign up here and have it delivered direct to your inbox! Please send questions, comments, tips, and concerns to todayinopengov@sunlightfoundation.com. We would love your feedback!  Jun 26

Today in OpenGov: Senate healthcare secrecy is the wrong prescription for ailing democracy - Yesterday, Sunlight’s Executive Director John Wonderlich explained how unprecedented and dangerous the Senate’s secretive healthcare process has been. Many hot-button issues like ” the filibuster or the debt limit show how positions on legislative process are often dictated by party rather than principle, with the minority favoring transparency and obstruction, and the majority defending secrecy.” This process is fundamentally different with a procedure “designed, from start to finish, to minimize transparency. Republican leadership is hiding the healthcare bill, and thus preventing health care policy journalists and analysts from informing constituents, voters, and reporters about the impact of the proposals.” This is an an outrageous violation of our norms for policymaking in a democracy: that laws should be drafted in a way that allows for public scrutiny and bipartisan consideration. As John explained, this goes beyond the usual push and pull of partisan politics. even Senators on the team charged with writing the bill have not seen it. (Bloomberg) Meanwhile, “A trio of key conservative senators is publicly raising concerns about the GOP bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare, specifically questioning the decision to draft the legislation behind closed doors.” (The Hill) Read on for more open government news from around the United States and across the globe. trumpland Why the Trump Administration’s press access rollbacks matter. “The president’s anti-media defenders may support the administration’s approach, but it’s hard to justify the rollback in accountability. It’s not just the White House, either: the State Department and the Pentagon have all but stopped holding on-camera briefings, too…If you’re a Trump supporter and you’re OK with his secrecy, how would you feel if this were a Democratic administration?” (CNN) In meeting, tech executives urged President Trump to look beyond IT modernization. The group highlighted areas including the need for more open data, procurement, immigration reform, and the need for more federal research funding. (Nextgov) Trump budget would save housing subsidy that benefits his bottom line. “President Trump’s budget calls for sharply reducing funding for programs that shelter the poor and combat homelessness — with a notable exception: It leaves intact a type of federal housing subsidy that is paid directly to private landlords.” Turns out, Trump is one of those landlords. (Washington Post) This feels like a good time to remind you that we’re tracking Trump’s various conflicts of interest. In most expensive race ever, Republicans retain Georgia House seat. With roughly $55 million in spending, the race to fill Tom Price’s Georgia seat was the most expensive in history by a significant margin. (New York Times) states and cities Honolulu, Hawaii. Image Credit: Edmund Garman Honolulu lobbyists have more to report. “The city doesn’t require lobbyists to provide any details about how they spend money. About 85 percent of the lobbyists who filed reports said they didn’t spend anything last year. Nearly three dozen registered lobbyists didn’t submit any reports, even though mandatory forms were due six months ago.” (Civil Beat) Boston joins other cities in posting climate change data that disappeared from the EPA website. “Boston joined more than a dozen other cities to recently share climate change data from the Environmental Protection Agency that has been removed from the agency’s website. The seemingly harmless educational tool on a municipal website has political implications that did not go unnoticed by environmental advocates.” (Government Technology) San Francisco’s toolkit to manage security risks in their open data. “We already have a toolkit for privacy risks but we recognized a gap for managing the risks mentioned above. Privacy risks are specific to data about individuals. Security risks are about organizational risks related to property, business processes, etc. Plus, we heard from our data stewards that security risks need to be managed. Since the Privacy Edition was successful, we decided to develop the Security Edition.” (DataSF) around the world Participants in NDI’s Civic Tech Leadership Program with former Secretary of State Madeline K. Albright. Civic Tech Leadership Program connects young leaders from Middle East and U.S. “NDI brought 16 aspiring young innovators from Algeria, Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, and the United States to Washington, DC, and San Francisco, CA, in April to meet with policymakers, technologists, civic innovators and social entrepreneurs. The visit was the culmination of NDI’s Civic Tech Leadership Program — a unique bilingual program to cultivate young tech-empowered leaders in the U.S. and across the Middle East. Study mission participants had the opportunity discuss their ideas for technologies that address pressing political and social challenges.” (National Democratic Institute) Two French ministers resign their posts amid scrutiny. “Richard Ferrand, who helped Macron set up his political party, said Monday he would give up his role as regional development minister. Defense Minister Sylvie Goulard handed in her resignation Tuesday morning, saying in a statement she didn’t feel she could remain part of the government while investigators are looking into whether she and other European deputies from the centrist MoDem party misused allowances to pay for party activities.” (Bloomberg) Embracing open source technology enables governments to improve systems and services with the public they serve.“In open source, everybody can tap into everybody else’s ideas from around the world and learn from it, innovate on it. That creates this high speed of innovation. And today’s technology giants also understand that. That’s why Google, Facebook, Amazon Web Services are all configured on open source.” (OpenGov Asia) save the dates Committee on House Administration June 24-25: Random Hacks of Kindness, Washington, DC. “At a RHoK hackathons, the community comes seeking new technologies which are born, existing platforms are built upon, and innovative new ideas attract attention and support. The community of Coders|Hackers|Programers consider the requests and the determine which of the challenges are can be worked on and delivered in just two days. At the close of the hackathon, teams present the technologies they have developed and the community votes and prizes are awarded.” This edition is sponsored by INTERNEWS, the Help Earth Foundation, and CloudSploit. You can learn more and register to participate here. June 27th: Legislative Data and Transparency Conference in Washington, DC. “The Legislative Data and Transparency Conference 2017 (#LDTC17), hosted by the Committee on House Administration, will take place on Tuesday, June 27, 2017in the Capitol Visitor Center Congressional Auditorium. The #LDTC17 brings individuals from Legislative Branch agencies together with data users and transparency advocates to foster a conversation about the use of legislative data – addressing how agencies use technology well and how they can use it better in the future.” Learn more here. June 28th, 10am EST: How Can Demand Driven & Bottom Up Social Accountability Tools Improve Health Services? The Experience of Rural Mozambique, Webinar. “This webinar explores how Concern Universal has managed to find the intersections in incentives and goals between government and rural communities while helping overcome some crucial gaps in health service delivery. It focuses on lessons learned through application of collaborative government/citizen’s approach. More information here: http://bit.ly/2sUtR0C“ June 29th: DATA Act Summit 2017 in Washington, DC. “The fourth annual DATA Act Summit, hosted by the Data Coalition and Booz Allen Hamilton, will bring together supporters of the open data transformation from across government and the private sector.” Learn more and get your tickets here. July 5, 10am EST: ICT-mediated Citizen Engagement: Voice or Chatter? Webinar. “In this webinar, IT for Change will present the results of eight empirical case studies of citizen engagement through ICTs they undertook. This research, funded by Making All Voices Count, explored in each case how new forms of participation were shaped by IT, how IT affected power relations between government and citizens, and how the interactions between different actors continuously shape governance. More information here: http://bit.ly/2rb4TJ3“ July 19, 5:30 PM EST. Book Discussion: When Your Job Wants You To Lie in Washington, DC. “Join us for a discussion that will help us deal with the kinds of situations we all encounter. Presented by the American Society for Public Administration, National Capital Area Chapter (ASPA NCAC). Refreshments start 5:30, and the discussion starts 6:00. Space is limited, so you must RSVP in advance.” Learn more and RSVP here. September 11th and 12th: TicTec@Taipei in Taipei. “TICTeC@Taipei is the first ever conference about the influence of civic tech to be held in Asia. We’ve invited members of academia, business, politics, NGOs, education to participate, and discuss their research. We hope through this event, we can build a global network of civic tech enthusiasts.” The event is being held during #CivicTechFest 2017. Learn more, submit a session proposal, and register to attend here.   Tired of your boss/friend/intern/uncle forwarding you this email every morning? You can sign up here and have it delivered direct to your inbox! Please send questions, comments, tips, and concerns to todayinopengov@sunlightfoundation.com. We would love your feedback!Jun 21

Unprecedented secrecy in the Senate on health care bill is bad for democracy - The United States Senate is currently committing an outrageous violation of our norms for policymaking in a democracy: that laws should be drafted in a way that allows for public scrutiny and bipartisan consideration. The legislative process Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has created is fundamentally different from the ways in which previous fundamental legislation has been considered. He is using every procedural artifice available to prevent any public knowledge of the bill. Instead of holding hearings and markups, the Senate is legislating through secrecy and crisis, treating requests for public information by journalists and even Senators as the enemy of progress. This story is proving hard for many journalists to cover. National outlets are releasing analysis of the process that suggests the Senate’s secrecy is business as usual. In service of false balance, the struggle over access to the healthcare bill is portrayed as partisan wrangling, framing what’s occurring in Washington today as a natural extension of how the Senate has long operated. This is simply not the case. Evaluating legislative procedure generally involves subtlety and hypocrisy. Issues like the filibuster or the debt limit show how positions on legislative process are often dictated by party rather than principle, with the minority favoring transparency and obstruction, and the majority defending secrecy. That is not what is happening here. McConnell’s Senate procedure is designed, from start to finish, to minimize transparency. Republican leadership is hiding the healthcare bill, and thus preventing health care policy journalists and analysts from informing constituents, voters, and reporters about the impact of the proposals. This is not a mundane bill about a post office or a minor shift in rules or regulations. This legislation would make changes to the United States government’s health care system, which represents a sixth of the economy. Voters are extremely motivated. Whether they love or hate the Affordable Care Act, AKA “Obamacare,” shifts to health care laws that change access, subsidies or covered conditions are present, important, and personal. People’s lives literally depend on our elected leaders getting these answers right, and on understanding what to correct when we misstep. The Republican Senate Leadership is supplanting the institutions and traditions of the Senate, developed to help create a rational, participatory basis for public laws, with a vague mandate from a President who has privately undercut the House’s bill as “mean.” A bill as important as this should get the full benefit of informed reporting, input from industry and jurisdictions it will affect, and from the constituents whose lives it will affect. More fundamentally, Senate Leadership should be aspiring to protect a vital democratic institution: a Congress that represents voters’ will, through a fair, open fight over complex disagreements. Secrecy around the Senate health care bill is the opposite of how the legislative process in a democracy should work, much less the chamber populated with Senators who like to tout it as the greatest legislative body in the world. The larger that a gap between public knowledge and private legislative action is, the more impact upon trust in an institution will result. Every bill should be disclosed to the public online in a machine-readable format, marked up in open committee, and debated, much less a proposed reform that would affect the health care of tens of millions of Americans. The road to rebuilding public trust in Congress is paved with transparency and accountability to constituents, not secrecy. Every U.S. Senator should insist upon regular order, not sacrifice openness on the altar of naked legislative power. What is happening in the Senate is not complicated, even though it’s a change that is decades in the making.  It’s not a question of Senatorial discretion, private conversations, or empowering compromise. Sometimes, the value of transparency in Congress is tricky, subtle, and debatable. Now is not one of those times. McConnell is hiding the healthcare bill, at the country’s peril.Jun 20

Today in OpenGov: A bad six months for transparency and American democracy - The Washington Post confirmed our concerns that transparency and open government have had a bad six months in Washington, DC. "More and more in the Trump era, business in Washington is happening behind closed doors. The federal government’s leaders are hiding from public scrutiny — and their penchant for secrecy represents a stark departure from the campaign promises of Trump and his fellow Republicans to usher in newfound transparency." But the news isn't all bad. Read on for more open government news from around the country and across the globe.  states and cities The Stanford Open Policing Project Open data on more than 130 million traffic stops shows significant racial disparities. "When we apply the threshold test to our traffic stop data, we find that police require less suspicion to search black and Hispanic drivers than whites. This double standard is evidence of discrimination." (Stanford Open Policing Project) This project is an extraordinary act of public service and accountability.  We're proud to announce that there are now 100 open data policies from American cities in our database at opendatapolicies.org Tyler, Texas joins open data ranks. You can read and provide feedback on their new open data policy using Madison. Using data to fight the opioid epidemic in Ohio. "Before we can respond effectively, however, we need to know just what we're dealing with. We need data, presented in an analytical way that helps us target our limited resources. So we built an application for it. Deployed to the web with a mobile-friendly interface, the "Heroin Overdoses in Cincinnati" page is an integral part of our city's interactive dashboard." (Governing)  Fighting floods in San Francisco with civic technology. "Enter Adopt a Drain, an app that enables residents to find their closest storm drain, claim it, and agree to clear any debris in advance of storms, tapping into San Francisco’s greatest resource – civic-minded residents. To support these volunteers, SFPUC provides them with tools, supplies, and training. The app was developed in a partnership between SFPUC, the city data office, DataSF, and Code for San Francisco, an organization that brings together volunteers interested in finding technological solutions to the city’s problems." (Data-Smart City Solutions) trumpland   The White House hosted tech leaders to discuss modernization of government tech. The agenda called for "10 working groups to propose changes to major aspects of government IT and technology. Participants will 'collaboratively develop ideas for how government can operate like a modern technology enterprise' on issues ranging from cybersecurity and procurement to cloud strategy and better user-interfaces for public services." (Government Executive) Flynn failed to list foreign contacts on clearance form. "Michael Flynn didn’t list any interactions with foreign government officials on his application last year to renew his security clearance, despite indicating in a speech days after submitting the application that he had had extensive contacts in Saudi Arabia and other countries, according to a letter Monday from two senior House Democrats." (POLITICO) Chaffetz knocks Trump on secrecy as he leaves House Oversight Committee. "During an exclusive TV interview arranged after his surprise mid-May announcement that he will resign on June 30, Chaffetz told Sharyl Attkisson of the Sinclair Broadcast Group’s “Full Measure” that agencies under Trump are even less forthcoming in the transparency department." (Government Executive) washington watch   Chaffetz knocks endless fundraising responsibilities as he leaves Congress. In the same interview mentioned above, Chaffetz " lambasted the fundraising virus that plagues our elected representatives." (Issue One) New book explores how centralization of policy process and staff cuts in Congress fuels revolving door and lobbyist influence. "The shift on Capitol Hill to centralize much of the major policymaking in leadership offices, as opposed to committees, along with a reduction in legislative staff and their salaries has helped propel the revolving door in recent years, says Timothy LaPira, a James Madison University professor." (Roll Call) Sunlight joins group calling for discussion of digital best practices at the Congressional Budget Office. The bipartisan coalition outlined several topics for discussion including predictable URLs, bulk data, improved search functionality, and more. Read the full letter here. Supreme Court will hear landmark case on partisan gerrymandering. "The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether judges can throw out legislative maps for being so partisan they violate the Constitution, taking up a case that could put a powerful new check on gerrymandering." The Supreme Court has never struck down a map for being too partisan. (Bloomberg) around the world Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Image Credit: World Bank Group In Canada, Trudeau's transparency reforms don't live up to promises. "New legislation to update Canada’s access to information system fails to follow through on the promises made by the Trudeau government over the last two years. It will do little to expand the reach of the act, improve timelines, or limit wildly-used exemptions that frustrate the disclosure of information." (Vice News) Mexican Government using spyware to track journalists, critics. " Mexico’s most prominent human rights lawyers, journalists and anti-corruption activists have been targeted by advanced spyware sold to the Mexican government on the condition that it be used only to investigate criminals and terrorists." (New York Times) Our take? The Mexican government using spyware on journalists & human rights advocates undermines trust and open government.  Estonia, Luxembourg agree on deal to create worlds first "data embassy". "The idea behind the data embassy is to guarantee the digital continuity of Estonia in the event of any physical disruptions. The state will back up critical data and services outside its territory." (OpenGov Asia) save the dates   June 27th: Legislative Data and Transparency Conference in Washington, DC. "The Legislative Data and Transparency Conference 2017 (#LDTC17), hosted by the Committee on House Administration, will take place on Tuesday, June 27, 2017in the Capitol Visitor Center Congressional Auditorium. The #LDTC17 brings individuals from Legislative Branch agencies together with data users and transparency advocates to foster a conversation about the use of legislative data – addressing how agencies use technology well and how they can use it better in the future." Learn more here. June 28th, 10am EST: How Can Demand Driven & Bottom Up Social Accountability Tools Improve Health Services? The Experience of Rural Mozambique, Webinar. "This webinar explores how Concern Universal has managed to find the intersections in incentives and goals between government and rural communities while helping overcome some crucial gaps in health service delivery. It focuses on lessons learned through application of collaborative government/citizen’s approach. More information here: http://bit.ly/2sUtR0C" June 29th: DATA Act Summit 2017 in Washington, DC. "The fourth annual DATA Act Summit, hosted by the Data Coalition and Booz Allen Hamilton, will bring together supporters of the open data transformation from across government and the private sector." Learn more and get your tickets here. July 5, 10am EST: ICT-mediated Citizen Engagement: Voice or Chatter? Webinar. "In this webinar, IT for Change will present the results of eight empirical case studies of citizen engagement through ICTs they undertook. This research, funded by Making All Voices Count, explored in each case how new forms of participation were shaped by IT, how IT affected power relations between government and citizens, and how the interactions between different actors continuously shape governance. More information here: http://bit.ly/2rb4TJ3" July 19, 5:30 PM EST. Book Discussion: When Your Job Wants You To Lie in Washington, DC. "Join us for a discussion that will help us deal with the kinds of situations we all encounter. Presented by the American Society for Public Administration, National Capital Area Chapter (ASPA NCAC). Refreshments start 5:30, and the discussion starts 6:00. Space is limited, so you must RSVP in advance." Learn more and RSVP here.  September 11th and 12th: TicTec@Taipei in Taipei. "TICTeC@Taipei is the first ever conference about the influence of civic tech to be held in Asia. We’ve invited members of academia, business, politics, NGOs, education to participate, and discuss their research. We hope through this event, we can build a global network of civic tech enthusiasts." The event is being held during #CivicTechFest 2017. Learn more, submit a session proposal, and register to attend here.   Tired of your boss/friend/intern/uncle forwarding you this email every morning? You can sign up here and have it delivered direct to your inbox! Please send questions, comments, tips, and concerns to todayinopengov@sunlightfoundation.com. We would love your feedback!  Jun 20