Tag: Project

We really listen to each other when we’re debating or arguing. And that exercise in listening is the essential element in building and maintaining civil personal relationships with those with whom you disagree. You have to make the effort to understand the experiences and values that shape another person's outlook. That's the objective of the Detroit Regional Chamber's Civility Project, which the two of us are hosting. We’re talking about how we deal, one-on-one, with someone who comes honestly to a different set of conclusions about politics, policy and the world. The idea grew out of a session we did two years ago for National Public Radio's Story Corps project. That informs his belief that the institutions of society, when challenged and held accountable, are the best hope for creating fair and equitable communities. We also came to the important realization that two people can look at the same set of facts, apply their individual experiences and values, and come up with different opinions. Most important, we've learned friends don't have to be ideological carbon copies. There's more to us than just our politics.

Opinion Modal Trigger Profligate politicians have never met a multibillion-dollar infrastructure project they didn’t like — except when it comes to President Trump’s border wall. Boston’s Big Dig black hole, the nation’s most expensive highway project, burned through $25 billion and was plagued by deadly engineering incompetence, endless cost overruns, leaks, lawsuits and debt. California’s high-speed rail boondoggle is a $100 billion bullet train to nowhere. Gov. Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown promised a 2020 completion date for the miracle transportation system. The latest estimates predict it won’t open until at least 2033, and the costs keep rising. Seattle’s ill-fated Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement topped out at $4 billion in local, state and federal funds for a 2-mile, bored-road tunnel that will finally open next month — nearly four years behind schedule and hundreds of millions of dollars over budget. What the Big Dig, bullet train boondoggle and Seattle squander all have in common is that political elites, lobbyists and corporate heavy-hitters trampled over grassroots citizen opposition to get their way. Too many government construction projects are built because these publicly subsidized gravy trains reward campaign donors, powerful public employee unions and assorted control freaks in the urban planning and transportation sectors. Another glaring example?

The warning from the Bank of England governor Mark Carney about the economic impact of a no-deal Brexit is all over Thursday’s front pages, with papers showing their Brexit colours in their reporting of the news. Economic forecasts strike blow to Theresa May's Brexit deal Read more The Telegraph has labelled Carney’s announcement “doomsday analysis”, and its story says: “Mark Carney has been accused of undermining the Bank of England’s ‘independence and credibility’ after publishing an analysis of the economic impacts of no deal so bleak it has been dubbed ‘project hysteria’.” The source of this “Project Hysteria” line is staunch Eurosceptic MP Jacob Rees-Mogg. (@Telegraph) The front page of tomorrow's Daily Telegraph 'Carney unleashes Project Hysteria' #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/VYKt7bUm2W November 28, 2018 The Daily Express also has Rees-Mogg’s quote in its splash: “Bank boss Carney’s ‘Project Hysteria’” and showed its leanings by leading not with the straight news of Carney’s comments but with the fact he “faced a furious backlash”. “MPs tore into the governor’s latest bleak prognosis, accusing him of meddling in politics by attempting to stoke up Project Fear once again,” said the paper The Sun runs the punny headline “Carnage”, under a picture of Carney’s face, leading with the impact of a “brutal no deal Brexit” on house prices, which Carney warned could crash by 30%. The Sun (@TheSun) Tomorrow's front page: House prices would plunge by 30% as Britain falls into recession in brutal No Deal Brexit, Bank of England warns https://t.co/qO0whglB5h pic.twitter.com/JuhTnk5S4l November 28, 2018 The Daily Mail ignores Carney’s comments, focusing instead on news that reflects more favourably on the PM. Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) Thursday’s Daily MAIL: “Key Cabinet Brexiteer: I’m Backing May’s Deal” #bbcpapers #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/BYkTHZjJxg November 28, 2018 The Guardian plays it straight: “Warnings over economy deal blow to May’s Brexit strategy”, citing the Bank of England’s warning and the “official Whitehall analysis [which] concluded that in all Brexit scenarios, including May’s final deal, the UK would be worse off”. (@guardian) Guardian front page, Thursday 29 November 2018: Warnings over economy deal blow to May's Brexit strategy pic.twitter.com/EDqFU5jzFc November 28, 2018 The Times follows a similar vein, and reports Carney’s comments: “No-deal Brexit ‘would be worst crash since 1930s’”. Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) Thursday’s TIMES: “No-deal Brexit ‘would be worst crash since 1930s’ “ #bbcpapers #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/MtrN8nXpQz November 28, 2018 The FT says “May forced to concede all Brexit roads will lead to a poorer Britain”. The i also lays things out pretty straight “Bank warns of worst economic slump since second world war”, adding “Labour now warming to a second referendum”. Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) Thursday’s Daily MIRROR: “May’s Deal Will Cost Us £100 Billion” #bbcpapers #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/v0lrtNQiMj November 28, 2018

Ignoring the nuance that the European Parliament is, in fact, directly elected, he tried to reduce the importance of the vote, claiming that only "politicians of the past" voted against him, and the "pro-migration elites" are attacking him because they want to flood Hungary with migrants. Is this political game enough for him to win the European Parliament elections domestically? While Orban is increasingly open about his ambitions to become a serious European politician, there are five reasons why it seems it will be way more difficult than he thinks. The political forces that are supportive towards him now represent less than a third of the European Parliament. Second, immigration and the refugee crisis are not the only concerns of Europeans - as he assumes. Even Italy's Matteo Salvini is more diplomatic when it comes to this issue. Viktor Orban talks about defending Europe's borders, about protection in the countries of origin and investment in Africa, and I agree with him. An important takeaway of the European parliament vote was that Orban has many more supporters in central and eastern Europe, even from ideologically distant players (eg Czech communist and Slovakian socialists), than from western Europe. While he has popular supporters in big west European countries such as Italy (Salvini), France (Marine Le Pen) and Netherlands (Geert Wilders), it seems that in central and eastern Europe his message resonates better, and solidarity works more. While Orban looks for the upcoming European parliament election in May 2019 as a revolution that is coming, he will be dissatisfied with the results.

The Labour former home secretary David Blunkett has said the resignation of veteran MP Frank Field means the party faces irrelevance unless the situation is used as a “catalyst for seismic change”. The choice is his.” Profile Frank Field The veteran MP, who has resigned the Labour whip, was among those who nominated Jeremy Corbyn for the leadership in 2015, calling the other candidates 'thin post-Blair gruel' and saying the leftwinger would change the terms of the debate. Field, 79, has been MP for Birkenhead since 1979. He served as a minister under Tony Blair but is best known for his role as chair of the work and pensions select committee, taking robust positions on food banks, benefit sanctions, the gig economy and migrant workers. Most recently, his Euroscepticism has been in the spotlight, often voting against the party whip on Brexit, including recent votes where pro-Brexit Labour rebels saved Theresa May’s government from devastating defeats. The MP said his constituency Labour party was trying to 'misrepresent' his pro-Brexit vote. The comments came as Field said he would employ “the best legal minds” to dispute party rules that say he cannot return to the party after resigning the whip. Field, who has served as the MP for Birkenhead for almost 40 years, was told by Nick Brown, the party chief whip, that his decision to resign automatically meant he was no longer a member. Labour sources confirmed that by resigning the whip Field had “automatically opted to resign from the Labour party”. “I hope and I believe Jeremy will lead us into the next election and it is not true I’m a constant critic of Jeremy,” said Field.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee's Republican political leaders and candidates held a carefully choreographed news conference Saturday to project unity as they look toward competitive November elections after a rough primary for governor. Addressing reporters before multiple GOP unity events, term-limited Gov. Bill Haslam, Sens. No questions were taken from reporters at the news conference. There was no talk about loyalty to President Donald Trump after it was a main theme of the gubernatorial primary, and it remains to be seen how much candidates will focus on Trump in the general election in the state he won by 26 percentage points in 2016. Lee and Blackburn have competitive, open races. Alexander, for one, spoke generally about what Blackburn's race and keeping Republican control of the Senate mean for Tennessee. Blackburn said she will be campaigning with Lee, who topped his three leading opponents by more than 12 percentage points. He found a niche down the homestretch by not overtly making attacks while Black and Boyd were ensnared in a nasty ad war. The Democratic nominees, Bredesen and Dean, are both touting themselves as moderates and independent thinkers who say they would work across party lines.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone accused Republicans in the Legislature of playing partisan politics by blocking funding for key infrastructure projects. A $28 million bond vote recently would have funded street and sidewalk repaving throughout the county. The measure needed a supermajority vote to pass. “It is simply disingenuous for legislators to vote for a project on one hand, and then flip flop and say ‘I'm not going to support the funding for that project,’” said Bellone. It's inappropriate, it's wrong,” says Bellone. “He wants to bundle them all together so he can sneak his projects in, or anything he wants,” says Trotta. The bond resolution will be brought up for a vote again on July 17. Meanwhile, Kathy Darmanin described County Line Road in Amityville as a patchwork of pesky potholes that drivers often have to dodge. “A roller coaster ride. Nothing but bumps,” she said.

He reportedly is set to announce a plan that will guarantee a $15-an-hour job -- and health-care benefits -- to every American “who wants or needs one.” The plan, first reported by The Washington Post, would fund hundreds of government projects such as “infrastructure, care giving, the environment, education and other goals.” Sanders’ office said they have not yet done a cost estimate or devised how they would pay for the massive government commitment. A spokesman for Sanders did not respond to a request for more details from Fox News. As the Democratic Party aims to win the House in November and has an eye on the 2020 presidential election, it is looking a lot more like Sanders’ party than it did in 2015, at least when it comes to economic policy. She also called for "big, bold ideas to fix our economy." He urged Democrats to go bold with big visions in response to the election of President Trump. “Then we can negotiate the details.” Meanwhile Andrew Yang, an entrepreneur and a Democratic presidential hopeful, told Fox Business Network Monday that he is proposing $1,000 a month for all citizens between the ages of 18 and 64 as part of a universal basic income program -- even as Finland announced it is scrapping a similar proposal after a two-year test period. “The size of our economy is now $19 trillion a year. A number of Democrats have floated the idea of impeaching Trump should they take the House in November -- a move that has some more mainstream Democrats jittery. "It's 2022 and we are celebrating policy victories across the nation: Medicare for All and Free College, and next on the agenda is Reparations," Democracy Alliance said in invitation to the event. Yet, other Democrats are not there yet.

A politics expert and a choreographer have joined forces to produce a contemporary dance work inspired by Brexit. Stephen Coleman, professor of political communication at the University of Leeds, worked with Sharon Watson, artistic director of Phoenix Dance Theatre, to generate material for Taking a Position, which premiered recently at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds. Ahead of rehearsals, Professor Coleman conducted interviews with six local Remain supporters and six local Brexiteers who were willing to talk “at an impressionistic and affective level”. The performers listened to some of the interviews, some excerpts of which were woven into a soundscape created by Christella Litras. “I wanted to find a way of talking about politics without using the traditional language of politics,” Professor Coleman told Times Higher Education. “Emotive issues in politics are hard to quantify, despite a whole spurious industry around trying to do so,” he said, citing the recent scandal about Cambridge Analytica. “It is difficult to talk about moods and emotions in politics at a level of seriousness similar to the quantitative stuff.” Political scientists, Professor Coleman continued, lacked a vocabulary for dealing with feelings such as shame or the kinds of visceral reactions that, for example, led voters to turn against former Labour leader Ed Miliband after he was photographed eating a bacon sandwich. In his interviews, Professor Coleman explored what it was like for Brexiteers to be “accused of narrowness”, “arguments about how others had interpreted their position” and “how you deal with disagreement at an emotional level”. Ms Watson said that she hoped that “people find a way of connecting with it because it’s a story that resonates and will be with us for a very long time”. Their experimental collaboration had proved “immensely rewarding”, added Professor Coleman, in addressing “a different dimension of political communication – one that can help us to understand raw feelings that are too easily neglected in our political discourse”.

The Federal Transit Administration has been advising a New Jersey town on a project to develop a ferry service that would bring passengers to the doorstep of a resort co-owned by Jared Kushner. » Subscribe to MSNBC: http://on.msnbc.com/SubscribeTomsnbc About: MSNBC…