Tag: Party

It started off as a ‘60s-era protest against the Vietnam War, but over the past five decades, the Mifflin Street Block Party has evolved into something radically different — trading politics for drunken camaraderie. This year marks 50 years since the initial protest, which in 1969 brought hundreds of UW-Madison students to the 400 and 500 blocks of West Mifflin Street and resulted in a three-day riot during which police used tear gas and night sticks to try to break up the crowd and protesters hurled bottles and rocks at police. Instead the Madison Police and Fire departments closely monitor apartments and the thousands of partiers on the block to curtail the booze fest that’s become a tradition. At Saturday’s rendition of the party, about 7,000 students and other partiers gathered — a small number compared to previous years. Saturday’s temperatures were chilly, reaching just 45, with intermittent snow flurries paired with a winter storm warning from the National Weather Service. Koval, who has routinely lamented the annual event, calling it a “thorn (in) my side,” said the poor weather kept away the crowds. The first Mifflin Street Block Party was held May 3, 1969, despite the city’s denial of a street-use permit. Over the next three days, as police tried to break up the party, dozens of people were arrested — including former Mayor and then-Ald. Paul Soglin — and even more were injured. Now, the Mifflin party — held each year two weekends before graduation and known for massive crowds of drunken students — is seen more as a rite of passage for many UW-Madison students.

Railing against a “political class” who he said had betrayed the people of Britain, Farage claimed to more than a thousand supporters on Clacton pier that what was at stake was not just Brexit, but whether or not Britain was a democratic country. There would be uproar and they would be calling for the UN to be sent in … and yet it’s happening in our own country,” said Farage, who was introduced as “the godfather, the ‘guvnor’ of Brexit”. “So what would Brexit do for Clacton? It would make us proud of who we are again and you can’t put a price on that,” he said. Back in 2014, Farage had tucked into a McDonald’s McFlurry as he and a beaming Douglas Carswell strolled through the streets of the town after the latter had become the first Tory MP to defect to Ukip, then a rising force in British politics. “Here you are, one of the biggest leave towns in the country and yet you are represented by a remainer. Whether its considerable leave vote breaks in any number during the European elections either for Farage’s Brexit party or for Ukip – now led by Gerard Batten who has forged explicit links to far-right activists such as Tommy Robinson – remains to be seen, however. Michael and Janet Smith, former Ukip and Conservative voters, had driven down from Ipswich after learning of the rally on Facebook. They believed Farage’s party would win out over Ukip in the battle for Brexit supporters’ votes. “Ukip have been taken up with … how can I say this?

Feng Li/Getty The Communist Party of China (CPC) is making its members celebrate their "political birthday," or the day they joined the party. Celebrations are not like typical birthdays: Members are told to host study groups and discussions on CPC's politics. Applicants have to go through multiple background screenings, exams, and interviews in order to join the CPC. The CPC's new "political birthday" directive comes as it ramps up members' loyalty to the party and its leader, President Xi Jinping. The Communist Party of China (CPC) is telling its members to celebrate two birthdays a year: The day they were born, and the day they joined the party. "But for Chinese Communist Party members, there are two birthdays. At the top is Chinese President Xi Jinping, while many prominent Chinese people like Alibaba founder Jack Ma, whose membership was revealed last year, are part of the party. The CPC's push for loyalty The CPC's new "political birthday" directive comes as it ramps up members' loyalty to the party and its leadership. The country has also been on a massive anti-corruption campaign since Xi became president in 2012. Under his rule, the CPC has punished at least 1.3 million party members, many of whom are high-profile figures in the country, according to the South China Morning Post.

President Trump said Saturday that Democrats have allowed anti-Semitism to “take root in their party and their country” as the party’s base is pushing it to the left and to positions more critical of Israel. “They’ve allowed that.” Trump noted that in January, Democrats blocked legislation to confront the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel over its treatment of Palestinians. Democrats cited the ongoing government shutdown at the time for their opposition to the bill, saying that only legislation that would reopen the government should be passed. But Democrats have struggled with accusations of anti-Semitism, a controversy that blew up in March when Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., suggested that supporters of Israel were pushing for U.S. politicians to declare "allegiance" to that nation. “I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country," Omar said. “It’s all about the Benjamins baby,” she tweeted, a remark for which she later apologized. Those comments led to a broad resolution against bigotry that passed the House -- but that only indirectly condemned Omar’s comments, and did not mention her by name. At the beginning of his remarks on Saturday, Trump “thanked” Omar before issuing a mocking apology when the friendly crowd booed the reference. On the escalating migration crisis on the southern border, for instance, he said that some migrants claiming asylum are “the roughest people you’ve ever seen.” “People that look like they should be fighting for the UFC,” he said to laughs from the audience.

Marg Elliston, chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, lauded the party’s recent electoral wins and sought to prepare local party activists for 2020 during a visit to Roswell recently. Last year, she was elected chair of the state party. Michelle Lujan Grisham — many are long-sought legislative goals by progressives. New Mexico has demonstrated its Democratic leanings in recent presidential elections, with the party’s nominee carrying the state’s five electoral votes in five of the last six presidential elections. Elliston said she talked recently in Taos with a political scientist who described the state as not blue or red, but “violet.” Even within the party ranks, there is not unanimity. Unlike members of the House, the state Senate is only up for re-election every four years. Part of the diversity of opinion within the party and state politically, is between urban and rural areas. State Democrats in 2018 helped the Chaves County party invest in a campaign headquarters and sent volunteers to help energize voters. Democrats did not field a candidate in any of the state legislative or judicial races in Chaves County. The state party will be working with the county parties to try to encourage people to run in those areas that have been neglected by Democrats.

The ex-UKIP leader is taking over from Catherine Blaiklock, who quit over what he said were "horrible and intolerant" comments on Twitter about Islam. Mr Farage said the party was currently a "virtual" entity but would mobilise at short notice if the UK ended up taking part in European elections. He said Leave voters "betrayed" by the political classes needed a voice. Mr Farage led UKIP three times over the course of 20 years but quit the party earlier this year, accusing its leadership of associating with the far right and condoning Islamophobic views. Mr Farage said he was unaware of Ms Blaiklock's Twitter history when they set up the party together and she was right to stand down for posting "angry, intolerant stuff". "She was never intended to be a long-term leader," he told Radio 4's Today. He said the Brexit Party would field candidates from across the political spectrum in the event that the UK failed to reach a Brexit agreement before the latest deadline and ended up taking part in European elections in May. "It is at the moment a virtual party," Mr Farage said. "It is a website. We haven't even launched... Our trust has been betrayed by politicians and if we fight these elections, it will be a chance to say what we think."

Kim Raff for The New York Times NEPHI, Utah — In the suburbs of Salt Lake City, Representative Ben McAdams, a freshman, was grilled by constituents about the “socialism” and “anti-Semitism” that they saw coming out of the new Democratic House. In Michigan, Representative Haley Stevens was asked about her ability to counter what one voter deemed the bigotry of some of her freshman colleagues — a concern fueled partly by remarks from her counterpart in nearby Detroit, Rashida Tlaib — and “the negative attitude they bring to Democrats.” And on a rainy Saturday in Spotsylvania County, Va., one woman stood up in a town hall to remind Representative Abigail Spanberger that while she was the first Democrat to hold that seat in nearly 50 years, the majority of the rural enclave had voted Republican. “Since the Democrats are now the party of death and taxes,” the woman said, as Democratic supporters scoffed and grumbled, “just how do you propose to effectively represent the taxpayers of Spotsylvania?” It was Democrats like Mr. McAdams, Ms. Stevens and Ms. Spanberger who secured the party’s House majority, political moderates who won districts often long represented by Republicans. Their talking points appear to be resonating with some voters the Democrats will need next year if they are to keep their majority — and the voters determined to flip the districts back. Richard Hansen, a Republican county commissioner and one of the two dozen constituents who attended the town hall in Nephi, a mountain town of 6,000, shared a wish with the Utah Democrat: “I hope they don’t corrupt you.” “They won’t,” Mr. McAdams pledged. I don’t know where the Democratic Party will go, but I tell you what, I will stay in the center. They also accuse Republicans of hypocrisy in their accusations of anti-Semitism in the Democratic ranks, set off by Twitter comments by Ms. Omar, who implied that American support for Israel was fueled by money from a pro-Israel lobbying group. “It didn’t come as a shock at all,” Ms. Stevens said in an interview after a town hall in Milford, Mich., a General Motors town, referring to the questioner who asked about anti-Semitic remarks. “We will see,” she added as she left. People can tell you anything.”

Brexit has re-defined the Conservative party - undoing all the efforts to modernise it. There will be times when we will support the government, for example, on measures to strengthen our economy, security and improve our public services. Yours sincerely, (@NickyMorgan01) Very sorry to read this from my principled and fearless friend @Anna_Soubry - any political party should be a broad church and we should regret losing three such talented women from the Conservative Party https://t.co/ird2MeCYIT (@joswinson) "a purple momentum is now subsuming the Conservative party... marching the country to the cliff edge of no deal"Kudos to the brave MPs who have left the broken Conservative and Labour parties. Exclusive interview on @bbcsoutheast at 1330 Theresa May has issued a statement in response to the news that three of her MPs have left the Labour party and will join the Independent Group of eight former Labour MPs in parliament. Of course, the UK’s membership of the EU has been a source of disagreement both in our party and our country for a long time. I am determined that under my leadership the Conservative party will always offer the decent, moderate and patriotic politics that the people of this country deserve. They say the Conservative party has shifted to the right. Over in Greece, Britain’s ambassador, Kate Smith, has welcomed the news that the rights of an estimated 45,000 UK citizens living in the country will be fully protected in the event of a no-deal Brexit. “There is a substantial Greek community in the UK and a sizeable UK community in Greece and we wish for both of them to continue to enjoy fully the benefits and privileges they had before withdrawal,” Katrougalos wrote in a letter to his British counterpart, Jeremy Hunt, published by the UK government this morning. Kate Smith tweeted: “Delighted that the Greek government has confirmed that in the event of no deal the rights of UK nationals already living in Greece will be fully recognised and guaranteed, in line with the reciprocity offered by the UK to EU citizens.” (@KateSmithFCO) The letter from Minister of Foreign Affairs G. Katrougalos addressed to Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt regarding UK nationals rights after the EU Exit, is available in English: https://t.co/mUxpT1Ri6y#UKnationalsinEU