Tag: Information technology

Buildings are going up. District 1 has one of the most contentious council races this year, a political scramble with seven candidates on the ballot. Political change This is the third election in a row that will bring a new council member to District 1. For example, Jefferson Park and Sunnyside both have absorbed about 700 new residential units since 2015, resulting in whole blocks of residential redevelopment, according to a Denver Post analysis. But, despite the district’s rapid growth, the election hasn’t turned into an all-out fight over development. ”I’m running for office because as a lifelong resident, just like you, I’ve seen the changes in our neighborhood. “Housing hasn’t kept up with growth. Mike Somma, 64, is a Denver Fire Department lieutenant running on a public service platform. He’s also skeptical of new development, saying that some new three-story residences don’t fit their surroundings. Acknowledging that the candidates share similar priorities, she argues that her previous council work and deep local roots will make her the most effective.

Jeremy Corbyn has urged Theresa May to “either listen and change course, or go” in a Brexit-dominated prime minister’s questions which appeared to lay down the most likely battle lines for a series of indicative Commons votes on seeking a consensus departure plan. Corbyn, in return, repeatedly urged May to embrace Labour’s idea of a customs union-based exit plan, and accused the prime minister of using intransigence as a means to force MPs into backing her deal in a likely third meaningful vote. “Why is she prepared to carry on risking jobs and industry in another attempt to, yet again, run down the clock and try to blackmail the MPs behind her in supporting a deal that’s already been twice rejected?” he asked. When May declined to say directly if she would back any plan that emerged from the series of indicative votes scheduled for later on Wednesday, Corbyn said: “I think the house, and perhaps more importantly the whole country, deserves to know the answer to that question.” He continued: “This country is on hold while the government is in complete paralysis. to knife crime, have been neglected. Instead she’s stoking further division, she’s unable to resolve the central issues facing Britain today, and she is frankly unable to govern. Corbyn set to whip MPs to back public vote as frontbench threatens revolt Read more “The prime minister faces a very clear choice, the one endorsed by the country and many of her party: either listen and change course, or go. Her Brexit plan, she also argued, would deliver “the benefits of the customs union while enabling us to have an independent free trade policy”. He said: “It’s a bit strange when a Conservative prime minister says she doesn’t want what the business community want. In the first PMQs question, Conservative Brexiter Andrew Bridgen said his constituents would “never trust the prime minister again”.

It painstakingly documented Russia’s criminal meddling in our election and led to the conviction of several of the president’s closest advisers and enablers. And it hardly provided the “complete and total EXONERATION” that the president claimed in a characteristically inaccurate tweet, as the report left open whether Trump obstructed justice. Still, for those who saw Mueller moving up the chain, closing in on the president and his family, the report – or at least what we know about it – must disappoint. It's too soon for that | Andrew Gawthrope Read more How are we to make sense of the disappointment? And while congressional Republicans might be too craven to place restraints on the president, not so federal prosecutors and judges. The Mueller investigation lulled us, then, into hoping that Trump’s essential unfitness for office would find objective confirmation by our system of criminal justice. The mistake, of course, was to seize on evidence of criminality as the standard by which to measure unfitness for office. For while proof of serious criminal actions may suffice to demonstrate a president’s unfitness, the opposite hardly is true: absence of clear criminality hardly resolves the question of fitness. But neither is American democracy. Alas being unfit for office is not a crime.

MPs will be asked to consider a range of alternative Brexit options after parliament seized control of the Commons agenda to force a series of “indicative votes”. The plan includes a comprehensive customs union with a UK say on future trade deals; close alignment with the single market; matching new EU rights and protections; participation in EU agencies and funding programmes; and agreement on future security arrangements, including access to the European arrest warrant. The motion proposes UK membership of the European Free Trade Association (Efta) and European Economic Area (EEA). Customs union This plan requires a commitment to negotiate a “permanent and comprehensive UK-wide customs union with the EU” in any Brexit deal. Malthouse compromise plan A A cross-party proposal calls for Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement to be implemented with the controversial “backstop” for the Irish border replaced by alternative arrangements. It has been signed by 28 MPs, including the SNP’s Angus Brendan MacNeil and the Tory MP Ken Clarke. The motion was also signed by Conservative MPs including former minister Nicky Morgan and head of the Brexit Delivery Group, Simon Hart. Consent of devolved institutions Backed by SNP MPs including Ian Blackford, Kirsty Blackman and Stephen Gethins, this motion requires an agreement that the UK will not leave without a deal, and that no action for leaving the EU will be taken without a consent motion passed in both the Scottish parliament and the Welsh assembly. How did your MP vote on the indicative votes amendment? Contingent reciprocal arrangements A similar group of Tory MPs have backed a proposal calling for the government to “at least reciprocate the arrangements put in place by the EU and or its member states to manage the period following the UK’s departure from the EU”, in case the UK is unable to implement a withdrawal agreement.

The EU has pencilled in April Fools’ Day 2020 as a leading option for Britain’s first day outside the bloc, should the UK government ask Brussels for a lengthy extension of article 50 in three weeks’ time, it can be revealed. The date was to be offered at the leaders’ summit last week if Theresa May had followed through on her promise to request a short extension in the event of passing her Brexit deal, and a longer one should it be rejected again by the House of Commons. A one-year extension, ending on 31 March 2020, was, however, written into internal EU papers before the summit as an offer that could be made to May should she formally seek a longer extension, sources said. “That would safeguard our work during this year and basically allow us to turn to it again early next year,” the official said. So such a time limit is not a bad idea.” Play Video 6:17 Sources emphasised that no decision had been made and it would be the subject of intense debate among the leaders at a summit, likely to be held on 10 April in Brussels, should May come back again for extra time. We want to do other things and not have this dominate.” The source added: “It may be up to two years, but that is the span of the imagination of those who are talking about a long extension. It is not up to this October because we can’t do this all the time. The European parliament’s lead Brexit negotiator said he was very pleased MPs had voted to take control of Brexit from the government. This is the first time that there is a vote for something – cross-party cooperation. We have long called for that.

NEW YORK (AP) — To anyone who figured the path of legalizing recreational marijuana use ran along blue state-red state lines, a sudden setback for pot advocates in New Jersey may show the issue isn’t so black-and-white. But when a state Senate vote was abruptly put off Monday because it didn’t have enough support, the delay was a reminder that the politics of pot legalization aren’t purely partisan. The key question instead can be whether voters or legislators are making the decision, experts say. Several states where it passed — like Massachusetts, Michigan and Vermont — are less blue than purple, with governors and legislative leaders of different parties. The Democratic governors and legislature leaders of New York and New Jersey have been jostling to make their states next in line to legalize, but the effort hasn’t gone as smoothly as they might have hoped. Those are also among the sticking points that prompted the New Jersey Senate to postpone Monday’s planned vote, which would fulfill a campaign promise from Gov. Nine of the 10 states that have legalized recreational marijuana did so through voter referendums — not through their legislatures. “I actually see this as a populist-movement-vs.-representative (body) issue,” says Andrew Freedman, who helped set up Colorado’s recreational-pot program and now consults governments on doing so. For all that, lawmakers in 21 states at least proposed legalizing marijuana last year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. “States are talking about it in the rainbow of red, blue and purple.” ___ Peltz is a member of AP’s marijuana beat team.

NEW YORK (AP) — To anyone who figured the path of legalizing recreational marijuana use ran along blue state-red state lines, a sudden setback for pot advocates in New Jersey may show the issue isn’t so black-and-white. But when a state Senate vote was abruptly put off Monday because it didn’t have enough support, the delay was a reminder that the politics of pot legalization aren’t purely partisan. The key question instead can be whether voters or legislators are making the decision, experts say. Several states where it passed — like Massachusetts, Michigan and Vermont — are less blue than purple, with governors and legislative leaders of different parties. The Democratic governors and legislature leaders of New York and New Jersey have been jostling to make their states next in line to legalize, but the effort hasn’t gone as smoothly as they might have hoped. Those are also among the sticking points that prompted the New Jersey Senate to postpone Monday’s planned vote, which would fulfill a campaign promise from Gov. Nine of the 10 states that have legalized recreational marijuana did so through voter referendums — not through their legislatures. “I actually see this as a populist-movement-vs.-representative (body) issue,” says Andrew Freedman, who helped set up Colorado’s recreational-pot program and now consults governments on doing so. For all that, lawmakers in 21 states at least proposed legalizing marijuana last year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. “States are talking about it in the rainbow of red, blue and purple.” ___ Peltz is a member of AP’s marijuana beat team.

Nearly three years after the EU referendum, I no longer feel the same connection. Then Brexit happened. People who were aware of my plan to move to Greece, people whose children are dating foreign nationals, how could they vote for Brexit? I don’t want to say I’ll never come back to the UK because I will always be British. I started to think about going back to Europe the next day. I stopped speaking to people who voted leave. Everyone keeps saying we don’t know what people voted for. We’re lucky – some of our friends here have only British passports and are worried that they will be told to go home. They are sad about Brexit, but have moved on. We’re sorry we asked you to do the same thing every other country was doing!” Maybe now the politicians will realise the world is bigger than Great Britain.

It wasn’t that long ago we were, uh, not having the best time with SANDAG. A tunnel instead: “If you want to build transit, build it where people live and work. That’s why I don’t think SANDAG is ready to go for a sales tax measure any time soon simply because we need to do the work first.” Cool with being fired: “You know, I might get into trouble, but I’ll tell you this, the worst thing is not being fired. That’s OK.” ??? Interlude ??? Ken Stone at Times of San Diego did a piece about how Andrew Keatts got the story of four men accusing Kevin Beiser of sexual misconduct and assault and a bizarre claim talk show host Carl DeMaio made about it. ??? End Interlude ??? Republicans in San Diego are having the opposite of a moment. He worked in politics until 2001 and then joined the Marines at age 27. About the deal between the city and SDSU in Mission Valley: “There is some concern that this is an adversarial process but SDSU West still has to uphold its side of the bargain and make sure it pays fair value for the land.” Batten’s consultant … will be Tom Shepard. Leventhal’s consultant … Will be Stephen Puetz, who was chief of staff for Faulconer and … worked for SoccerCity and Measure E. Yes, I am hinting there’s a kind of SDSU West vs. SoccerCity subtext here but I have no more evidence for it than that so I decided to recklessly just float it out there because this is my column and I can do whatever I want, especially when Andy is doing work on an apparently more important story than this, the most prestigious and important political newsletter sent out of downtown San Diego every Saturday. And the group decided to endorse Republican Steve Vaus for the county supervisor seat, District 2, currently held by Dianne Jacob. But the club has not picked a candidate in the San Diego City Council District 5 race.

The government has conceded it is likely to hold the third meaningful vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal next week, following intense pressure from MPs for more clarity on the next steps after the extension of the departure date. In an often difficult appearance in the House of Commons, the Brexit minister Kwasi Kwarteng initially rebuffed questions on when the vote might take place, saying the timetable would be outlined soon. Kwarteng responded: “The government fully intends to have a meaningful vote next week.” The secondary legislation needed to change the departure date would also be tabled next week, he said, but declined to give any further details on timings, adding: “On this Friday I’m not going to say the exact hour and time of when the meaningful vote will take place.” Separately, No 10 said the EU’s agreement to extend article 50 was contingent on holding the vote next week. “The consideration is to hold it when we believe we have a realistic prospect of success,” May’s spokesman said. “My understanding of last night is that the extension to 22 May was contingent on winning the vote next week.” May will meet cabinet ministers in Downing Street and spend the weekend working at Chequers, her country retreat. “But we have made a decision – voting down her deal twice, by historic margins,” he told MPs. “It’s just that it’s a decision the prime minister is clearly incapable of accepting. It is her intransigence, her pandering to the hardliners in her party, and her refusal to compromise that has brought us to this point.” He asked Kwarteng to say when the third meaningful vote would happen, as well as how the government would comply with the ruling by the Speaker, John Bercow, that a new vote will only be allowed under Commons procedures if it is a notably different proposal. He added: “Ministers have constantly told us that responsible governments prepare for all eventualities. Asked by Labour’s Karen Buck if the government still planned to seek a consensus way forward if May’s plan fell again, he replied: “I think that if the meaningful vote is voted down then it would be reasonable to have a wide debate in the house to find what the house would tolerate and how it sees things going forward.”