Tag: Information technology

From identity politics to immigration to the progressive surge in Congress, New York Rep. Alexandria Oscasio-Cortez has been a distinct voice and has become one of the most recognizable names in politics. Mr. Nye The Science Guy stepped up to the mic with his query like any other SXSW attendee. “I’m a white guy,” he started. “I think the problem on both sides is fear. So do you have a plan to work with people in Congress that are afraid? That’s what’s going on with many conservatives especially when it comes to climate change. People are afraid of what happens when we try to make these big changes.” After giving Nye her own standing ovation, she answered in front of the standing-room-only audience: “One of the keys to dismantling fear is dismantling a zero-sum mentality.” She continued, “It means the rejection outright of the logic that says someone else’s gain necessitates my loss and that my gain MUST necessitate someone’s loss. When we choose to invest in our system, we are choosing to create wealth. She urged the audience to do away with the “meh” mentality when it comes to politics, and dismiss cynicism, saying that it is seen “as an intellectually superior attitude.” Inspiration for progress and change flowed through the conversation as if we were listening to an audio book of AOC’s greatest hits: “We need to be really zeroing in on the malpractice of governance and how special interests have captured the only tool that we have to govern ourselves fairly and not at a profit,” she said. At another point, she urged: “We should distance ourselves and start getting away from this idea that we should only care about ourselves.” But there was one point in the session that stood out, when two young women from Linda Goldstein Knowlton’s documentary We Are The Radical Monarchs (which makes it world premiere March 10 at SXSW) stepped up to the mic and asked “What advice do you have for girls of color who want to break into politics?” The girls asking the questions wore Girl Scout vests, but they are really part of the Oakland-based alternative to Girl Scouts called The Radical Monarchs, a group specifically for girls of color between the ages of 8-13 who earn badges for participating in social justice causes such as Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ rights and disability justice.

[Courtesy Photo] By Daily News Staff and News Services The 911 SAVES Act’s aim is to reclassify the dispatch job from clerical to a protective service position in the White House Office of Management and Budget. Goodwin, a dispatcher for the Natick Police Department, joined Torres and other lawmakers to call attention to the 911 Supporting Accurate Views of Emergency Services (SAVES) Act. A dispatcher’s job has become more complicated, Goodwin said, with advances in technology. He was invited there, by none other than fourth-grader Sarah Balducci. “She loves politics,” her mother, Angela, told the Daily News. “She was like, ‘Oh my God,’” Angela Balducci said. During his visit, Kennedy asked his young constituents how they thought their schools could be made safer, according to Angela Balducci. Charlie Baker on one of their early session priorities: banning gay conversion therapy for minors. Clark is hosting an hour-long “tax town hall” from noon to 1 p.m. Friday at the Weston Council on Aging, 20 Alphabet Lane. Kate Flanagan, a veteran Beacon Hill operative, began working for Vigeant late last month, according to a report in Main Street News, a Marlborough-based weekly publication.

Jeremy Corbyn has downplayed the Brexit crisis by claiming that poverty and climate change are far greater priorities for Labour and the country. Addressing Scottish Labour’s annual conference, Corbyn said his party was not “obsessed by constitutional questions, like the others are. And fundamentally, the destruction of our climate is a class issue,” he said. “We believe that the real divide in our society is not between people who voted yes or no for [Scottish] independence. It’s not between people who voted to remain or to leave the EU,” he told party members in Dundee. [There] is no such thing as a Labour Brexit or a jobs-first Brexit”. The Scottish party has been beset by bitter rows over Europe after a conference statement by its two MEPs, David Martin and Catherine Stihler, was allegedly edited to remove remarks in support of a people’s vote. Corbyn said Labour would commit his party to a target of reducing carbon emissions to net zero by 2050, a goal many climate experts and campaigners say is not fast or ambitious enough to halt runaway climate change. It’s not just an ecological priority – it’s a socialist priority too.” Corbyn also addressed the antisemitism problems engulfing Labour, saying he was “utterly determined” to rid the party of the scourge. “The only thing that can hold us back is if we were to turn our fire on each other rather than on the Tory government and the wealthy establishment interests they represent,” he told delegates.

The current Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers, was originally Ms. Marvel, starring in her own comic book launched by Marvel in 1977 lasting a couple of years. It has become somewhat of a hot political potato amongst some – the allegation is that Marvel has taken a classic superheroine character from the seventies and used her for their identity politics and virtue signalling ends, betraying the original character – especially that her costume is from the most recent comics version of the character that doesn’t show off her navel anymore. And it’s been framed as some kind of modern politically correct, radically feminist diatribe against men and a betrayal of how the character was originally created in the good old seventies. Here are few letters from the first year the comic was published, from its letters column, Ms Prints. Literally, identity politics… This was echoed by Mary-Catherine Gilmore, who found fault with all of Marvel’s leading ladies on feminist terms – but who also rejected the Ms. title as it was too aggressive towards men. She would later be Mary Bierbaum, co-writer with Tom Bierbaum on Legion Of Super-Heroes. Longstanding letter writer Jana C Hollingsworth complained that Ms Marvel’s origin was too tied to that of Captain Marvel, the male Kree warrior Mar-Vell, a complaint that has been echoed of late, and dealt with very differently in both the movie and in the recent The Life Of Captain Marvel comic book mini-series. The discussion of Ms Marvel’s feminine identity continued, as further letter writers took issue with each other’s interpretation. Even back then, few it seemed could agree… And still more came, with Suzanne P Elliott, criticising the gendered use of language on the cover as an insult, while Tony Bole talked about initially not wanting to buy the comic because it had a woman in the lead. And Jo Duffy, comic book letter writer and now Marvel editor as of 1978.

When it comes to ‘90s-era Star Trek series, Voyager doesn’t always get its due, maybe because it couldn’t quite live up to the high standard set by The Next Generation or because it lacked the gravitas and daring of Deep Space Nine. (Or maybe it’s just because we’re all trying to avoid thinking too hard about the events of “Threshold.”) Still, Voyager stayed true to Star Trek’s overarching spirit of exploration and cooperation, forcing two very different groups of people to work together to survive and testing the characters’ utopian ideals by stranding them far from the safety of the Federation. Plus, the series was the first in the franchise to be led by a female captain, Kathryn Janeway, played by the dynamic Kate Mulgrew. The show’s lasting influence can be felt in two stories from this week about prominent Democratic politicians, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Stacey Abrams, both of whom are fans of Voyager and, in particular, its lead character. The first surprise nod to Trek in the political spherecame from the Daily Mail’s unexpectedly wholesome interview with Blanca Ocasio-Cortez, who described how Voyager became a portent of her daughter’s future success. “One of the last things she did with her dad before he died was sit with him and watch a Star Trek: Voyager episode on TV,” Blanca explained. “In one scene, Captain Janeway (a character played by Kate Mulgrew) appears and my husband, who could no longer talk, pointed at the captain then at Alexandria, and back and forth, to say to her he thought she’d be like Captain Janeway one day, someone in charge.” Years later, Mulgrew showed up at one of Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign rallies, apparently without warning, to endorse her candidacy and give her a communicator. The other Voyager shoutout appeared in the New York Times on Thursday in a story with the headline “Stacey Abrams, Star Trek Nerd, Is Traveling at Warp Speed.” In quotes from a previously unpublished interview from last summer, the former Georgia gubernatorial candidate says that while The Next Generation is her favorite series, she “reveres Admiral Janeway.” She also shows off her good taste in Trek by picking a Voyager episode, “Shattered,” as a favorite. It’s a deep enough cut that it doesn’t usually make the Top 10 lists, but it is still a well-respected time travel episode and one that’s more rewarding to diehard Trekkies rather than casual viewers. I’m no political strategist, but the 2020 presidential candidates should strongly consider “There’s coffee in that nebula” as a campaign slogan.

From the president’s checks to a resolution against hate, it’s been a busy week in American politics. Six such checks were provided to The Times, showing that the president was managing affairs of state while, allegedly, paying to keep his personal secrets out of the public eye. Mr. Cohen gave documents to the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday that he said backed up his claim that Mr. Trump’s lawyers helped to shape false testimony he delivered to Congress in 2017. The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee sent requests for information to 81 agencies, individuals and entities tied to Mr. Trump on Monday, opening a broad inquiry into possible obstruction, corruption and abuse of power. Mr. Trump signaled that he did not intend to cooperate with the requests, calling the investigation a “disgrace to our country.” Additional Reading • House Democrats Are Flooding Trump World With Demands. Representative Ilhan Omar again came under scrutiny for comments about Israel, after asking why it was “O.K. But a generational debate ensued between older Democrats in the House leadership and their young, more liberal counterparts, many of whom said Ms. Omar was being unfairly singled out. After much back and forth, the resolution became one condemning “hateful expressions of intolerance” against “African-Americans, Native Americans, and other people of color, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, immigrants and others.” It passed by a 407-to-23 vote on Thursday. Some join the 2020 race, others opt out (and one can’t decide). But Mr. Biden, who would give the Democratic field a clear front-runner, has yet to make a final decision.

CBS News Political Correspondent Ed O'Keefe says these events are opportunities for candidates and other political hopefuls. “If there’s anything a presidential candidate needs, it’s to get in front of a crowd, whether it’s an early primary state, or a potential swing state like Texas, so I think they see this as a real opportunity to come, road test some messages," O'Keefe said. Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez echoes this. He was among the figures at the DNC's fundraiser and meet-and-greet Friday evening. “It’s become an iconic national event, and I wanted to make sure people understood what we’re doing at the Democratic Party to win," Perez said. This weekend, 2020 presidential candidates Julian Castro, Elizabeth Warren, and Amy Klobuchar are just some politicians holding events. O'Keefe says these appearances can help with fundraising efforts. O'Keefe says this is the most prominent politics have been at SXSW, due in part to Democrats seeing Texas as a possible swing state in future elections. “Texas is very much in play for Democrats. For a list of political event, you can visit the SXSW website.

That type of shock-jock identity politics may work in elections, but it doesn't offer clarity on what happened between the president and his former fixer or what any of that means for a congressional investigation into the matter. Anti-truthism On Friday, the president told reporters: "The Democrats have become an anti-Israel party. It must be pointed out that 23 members of the Republican Party voted against the resolution because they said the resolution wasn’t aggressive enough in critiquing Omar. And the same publication recently pointed out that there are now 34 Jewish members of Congress and “all of the Jews in the Senate are Democrats, as are all but two in the House.” Kelly breaks silence... and facts On Tuesday, President Trump's former chief of staff John Kelly, who finally broke his silence months after leaving the White House, blamed the fallout from the controversial "zero tolerance" policy of separating migrant children from their parents squarely on then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. On Tuesday, President Trump's former chief of staff John Kelly, who finally broke his silence months after leaving the White House, blamed the fallout from the controversial "zero tolerance" policy of separating migrant children from their parents squarely on then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Kelly's recent comments contradict his own arguments on behalf of the separation policy in the days after it was announced by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in which he argued it could be an effective deterrent to stem the flow of migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border. "It could be a tough deterrent — would be a tough deterrent," Kelly said in a May 2018 interview with NPR. Nielsen's truth ratings Appearing before a Democratically controlled House committee for the first time, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen falsely suggested that every migrant family who was deported during her tenure was given the opportunity to take their children with them. Jesus, a migrant from Honduras who requested his family name not be published, told ABC News he was tricked into being deported without his 6-year-old son, Ariel. The Department of Homeland Security would not comment on Jesus's claims, but that there could be as many as 471 cases in which parents who were removed from the country without their children and without being given the opportunity to elect or waive reunification.

Northern nationalists look to be locked outside the gates of power The SDLP is now scattered to the four winds. Its leader, Colum Eastwood joined Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin on stage at FF’s ardfheis last month, while former leader Mark Durkan raised some eyebrows by being unveiled during the week as a Fine Gael candidate for the Dublin constituency in the European Elections to represent, not Dublin, but Derry. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has suggested Durkan’s candidacy under the FG banner is partly about delivering on his promise of December 2017 that northern nationalists “will never again be left behind by an Irish government” . As the Labour Party sees it, there is another dimension to this. It is not a receptacle for the SDLP exiles, despite the Labour dimension to its title. As we look forward to these elections, it is clear that the true candidate for social democracy – for a social democratic and labour party – will not be the Fine Gael candidate, nor indeed the Fianna Fáil candidate, despite their recent alliance with the SDLP. One of the reasons the SDLP’s first leader, Gerry Fitt – who insisted on the inclusion of the word Labour in its title– parted ways with the party in 1979 was because he believed it had become too “republican” and he regarded himself as representing the “voice of concern”. A divided SDLP is now, it seems, a political flower withered beyond recovery, but the scattering of its petals is just one manifestation of weakened northern political muscle. Sinn Féin has also struggled in recent times to carve out a distinct space in the Brexit drama and has been left reacting rather than initiating. But the complaints of SF are also a reminder of a wider recklessness and lack of leadership in NI of which SF bears part responsibility at the very time when that leadership is needed most.

Their plans to compete in the national Division III swimming and diving championships have been complicated by New York State’s ban on unnecessary state-funded travel to North Carolina. Gov. Sen. Patrick Gallivan, R-Elma, has called on Cuomo to reconsider the order, but the governor has shown no interest in that. The students, for their part, seem to support the ban, even though it may hurt their chances of winning. Welcome to the 21st century. The unknown person saw the tickets last Thursday and turned them over to store. ••• Here’s to George Root III, the late reporter and resident of Lockport who died on Thursday before he could fulfill a final wish: seeing the new Godzilla movie. The film, “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” is scheduled to open in May, but Root, a lifelong Godzilla fan, had hoped to see an early screening. Sadly, it didn’t happen, but now an effort is afoot to add his name to the credits. It’s a wonderful idea.