PanAmerican

@dkpseudo.bsky.social

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Not affiliated w/ the actual OAS | non-academic | Southern California | he/him

AN ILLUSTRATION of how these principles might be applied may help clarify matters. Without necessarily advocating such a change, let us consider how Congress might make some aspects of tax policy less political. An independent federal tax authority might consist of presi- dential appointees serving fixed terms and removable only for cause, much like the Federal Reserve Board. These political appointees would have a highly skilled technical staff of nonpolitical civil servants, most of whom could be drawn from what are now the Treasury's Office of Tax Analysis and the staff of the Congress could make Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation. Unlike the Federal Reserve, the authority tax policy less political would be required to explain in detail the reasoning behind its decisions, and to open its supporting materials to public scrutiny. The legislation establishing the authority should set its basic goals. Should the United States tax income, consumption, or something else? Should the authority strive for tax neutrality or should it seek to encourage particular activities such as saving, homeownership, or charitable contributions? What distributional goals should it seek? Congress now provides tacit answers to these questions through its actions. But these answers often form an unprincipled and inconsistent hodgepodge. One salutary effect of the proposed reform would be to make these clearly political decisions more explicit. Forcing politicians to take explicit stands on these general issues might even increase, rather than diminish, democratic accountability. Having set the basic goals and parameters, Congress could do one of two things. It could explicitly delegate certain limited policymaking powers to the authority while reserving the most basic decisions for itself. Or it could direct the authority to design all the details and then subject the whole package to a single up-or-down vote. Such a division of policymaking labor would improve policy design by …
The third candidate in the race is Barack D. Obama Shaw. No, that's not his birth name. He says he legally changed it in 2013. He also says he's a business communications consultant. He has little knowledge of city issues and has never run for office before. He told us he wants pay raises for school teachers and to keep children safe in school, which suggests that he should be runningbfor school board, not mayor.
In the village of Hula in southern Lebanon, a monument engraved with the names of almost 100 Lebanese killed here in 1948 just after the creation of the state of Israel lies covered in graffiti and smashed to pieces. While Lebanon is made up of a variety of religious groups, the majority in the south is Shia Muslim.
The new constitution also stipulates that marriage will no longer be a union of two people, but rather a union of a man and a woman. Analysts say this provision was introduced in the new constitution as a follow-up to a law banning what authorities view as “propaganda” of LGBTQ+ relations.
“What happened in Oman was not our choice. We have already told our armed forces to be careful about the targets they choose,” Araghchi said, adding that the Iranian army was acting on general instructions.
It was one dance move too many for Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro. Mr. Maduro in late December rejected an ultimatum from President Trump to leave office and go into a gilded exile in Turkey, according to several Americans and Venezuelans involved in transition talks. This week he was back onstage, brushing off the latest U.S. escalation — a strike on a dock that the United States said was used for drug trafficking — by bouncing to an electronic beat on state television while his recorded voice repeated in English, “No crazy war.” Mr. Maduro’s regular public dancing and other displays of nonchalance in recent weeks helped persuade some on the Trump team that the Venezuelan president was mocking them and trying to call what he believed to be a bluff, according to two of the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the confidential discussions. So the White House decided to follow through on its military threats.
Lauren: Various sources through Instagram and YouTube, just kind of like, whatever pops up. I’ve seen a lot of Alex Clark and Brett Cooper, and then kind of just going into the whole religious political space. I love Mark Driscoll, he’s amazing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Results_breakdown_of_the_2025_Canadian_federal_election
The bill enacts the Act to foster religious neutrality, in particular in the public space. The enacted Act prohibits the use of public roads and public parks for the purposes of collective religious practice without the authorization of the municipality. That Act sets out the f ines applicable in a case of non-compliance with that prohibition.
Maria Corina Machado, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October and is considered the opposition’s de facto leader, has recently amplified debunked claims that Mr. Maduro fixed elections in the United States, aligning herself closely with President Trump and his allies. “I have no doubt that Nicolás Maduro, Jorge Rodríguez and many others are the masterminds of a system that has rigged elections in many countries, including the U.S.,” Ms. Machado told Bloomberg News, referring to Venezuela’s president and the head of its National Assembly. Mr. Trump followed over the weekend by amplifying unproven assertions that Venezuela interfered in the 2020 election.
Hobbies Wu plays the piano, having started taking lessons when she was 4, and on her first day as mayor, had one put in her office at city hall.[264] In May 2023, she performed the second movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.[265] She took refresher lessons at Berklee College of Music prior to performing George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue as a guest soloist with the Boston Pops in September 2024.[266] In November 2025, she played Bach's “Ave Maria” alongside Yo-Yo Ma at Boston's Symphony Hall.[267]
General Mandon was responding to a long-standing invitation from the president of the AMF, David Lisnard. The Chief of the Defense Staff is fully legitimate in expressing himself on the threats that continue to grow, and it is indeed important for mayors to be made aware of the current context. His remarks, taken out of context for political purposes, reflect the military language of a leader who, every day, knows that young soldiers risk their lives for the Nation. Our responsibility is clear: avoid any confrontation but prepare for it, and strengthen the spirit of defense, this collective moral force without which no nation could hold firm in the face of trial.
Israeli sources told local media that Trump spraying his branded perfume on al-Sharaa and his foreign minister during the White House meeting was seen as a symbolic gesture that had "provoked" Netanyahu's team and pushed them to organise a high-level tour of the occupied southern Syria. During Thursday's meeting of Israel's security cabinet, Netanyahu reportedly launched a fierce verbal attack against al-Sharaa. According to Israel's radio broadcaster Kan Reshet Bet, Netanyahu told ministers: "The Golan guy came back from Washington puffed up, and he has started doing things we will not accept."
dark blue - OECD member states light blue - OECD applicants
https://www.sws.org.ph/swsmain/artcldisppage/?artcsyscode=ART-20250930190641
https://electionstudies.org/data-tools/anes-guide/anes-guide.html?chart=vote_for_president_2_parties
I have resigned from the board of the Heritage Foundation. I could not remain without a full retraction of the video released by Kevin Roberts, speaking for and in the name of Heritage, on October 30th. Although Kevin publicly apologized for some of what he said in the video, he could not offer a full retraction of its content. So, we reached an impasse. Kevin is a good man. He made what he acknowledged was a serious mistake. Being human myself, I have plenty of experience in making mistakes. What divided us was a difference of opinion about what was required to rectify the mistake. I’m sad to be leaving the Heritage board. I have great affection and esteem for Barb Gaby, who chairs the board, and my other board colleagues. I wish them and the Heritage Foundation the very best. My hope for Heritage is that it will be unbending and unflinching in its fidelity to its founding vision, upholding the moral principles of the Judeo-Christian tradition and the civic principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. I pray that Heritage’s research and advocacy will be guided by the conviction that each and every member of the human family, irrespective of race, ethnicity, religion, or anything else, as a creature fashioned in the very image of God, is “created equal” and “endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights.” The anchor for the Heritage Foundation, and for our Nation, and for every patriotic American is that creed. It must always be that creed. If we hold fast to it even when expediency counsels compromising it, we cannot go wrong. If we abandon it, we sign the death certificate of republican government and ordered liberty.
Rules The leader of the Party must be a sitting MP. Conservative Party leadership elections usually consist of two stages: Stage 1 – Conservative MPs choose two candidates to put forward to stage two. Stage 2 – Party members are balloted. The candidate with the most votes wins. A leadership contest will occur if a sitting leader resigns or if they lose a vote of no confidence of MPs. A vote of no confidence in a sitting leader must be held if 15% of Conservative MPs write to the chairman of the 1922 Committee saying they no longer have confidence in the leader. The current 15% threshold is 54 MPs. MPs may withdraw letters at any time. The rules for votes of no confidence are a matter for the 1922 Committee and are not available in the public domain.
Vacancies When a vacancy arises, Labour Party leadership or deputy leadership elections consist of two stages: Stage 1: Nominations Candidates seeking to enter the ballot must be an MP. Candidates must be nominated by 20% of fellow Labour MPs. The current rules were last changed in 2021, when the Labour Party Conference agreed to raise the threshold for nominations from 10% to 20% of MPs. To progress candidates must also be nominated by: 5% of constituency Labour Parties (CLPs), or at least three affiliates of the Labour Party (at least two must be trade unions) where the combined membership of nominating affiliates should be at least 5% of affiliated membership Affiliates are groups or organisations which have interests consistent with those of the Labour Party; they include trade unions and co-operative and socialist societies. The nomination stage for CLPs and affiliates was added after a review of Labour leadership elections in 2018. In the 2020 leadership election, the candidates had to secure the required level of support from fellow MPs before moving on to the next round of securing the required nominations from CLPs and affiliates.
The ‘Joint Factsheet’—a product of South Korea-U.S. tariff and security negotiations—was finalized on the 14th. President Lee Jae-myung personally announced the final agreement on the factsheet’s contents at the presidential office in Yongsan, Seoul, that morning. It marked 16 days since President Lee and U.S. President Donald Trump reached a consensus on key tariff and security issues during their summit in Gyeongju on the 29th of last month. President Lee evaluated, “We successfully secured U.S. support for expanding uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing rights,” calling it “a highly significant advancement.” South Korea-U.S. shipbuilding cooperation has expanded to include collaboration on naval vessel construction. President Lee stated, “We agreed to explore institutional improvements to allow not only U.S. commercial ships but even naval vessel construction to take place within South Korea,” adding, “A foundation has been laid for both South Korean and U.S. shipbuilding industries to grow together.” He continued, “We reaffirmed the continued stationing of U.S. troops in South Korea and the extended deterrence commitment,” emphasizing, “Through strengthening defense capabilities and reclaiming the Operational Control Authority, we declared our proactive stance, and the U.S. strongly expressed its support and commitment.”
We had a guy named Bootiegeot edge edge is the best way. Just say two edges like off the edge of a cliff, which is where they were taking us, by the way. Bootedge Edge was the Secretary of Transportation, and he spent billions of dollars trying to patch together our air, our air traffic control system. Which was a conglomeration of all different systems in all different cities. He spent, they had hundreds of companies working on it, and they were spending billions of dollars. And when they turned it on, it didn't work. It didn't even work a little bit. That's why you had a helicopter crashing into an airplane that if we had a great system, bells and whistles would have started going off. So we are now in the process. We're in final bids of getting the finest system. Anywhere in the world I've analyzed it. Sean Duffy has been working really hard on it, doing a fantastic job, by the way, and over the next 2 or 3 weeks we'll be handing out the finest air traffic control system anywhere in the world. All the towers will be equipped. They were going copper wire into glass wire into other types of wire, and if you knew anything, you know, copper wire doesn't work with glass. You know that glass doesn't work with other substances and They spent billions of dollars and when they turned it on, nothing happened. OK, we're getting the most sophisticated, all brand new, all brand new. Every control tower will have the same exact system. It will be the most sophisticated system by far in the world and what we've done. we've looked around other countries and we've taken the absolute best systems in every different form because there are different. You have lots of different companies like IBM and Raytheon and a lot of great companies. They're all bidding and we're going to pick the best one and it will get built relatively quickly and we're going to have the greatest air traffic control system anywhere in the world
TOKYO, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Japan must not make its public finances a target of experiment for lax financial management such as through "modern monetary theory", Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Friday. Aso made the comment at a regular news conference, when asked about a proposal by Sanae Takaichi, a contender in the ruling party's leadership race, for shelving a primary budget-balancing target until 2% inflation is met.
@Sec_Noem President Trump and I will always stand by law enforcement, and we are keeping our promise to always support them by making sure they are paid during the Democrats’ shutdown. More than 70,000 sworn law enforcement officers across DHS including those serving in CBP, ICE, Secret Service, Air Marshals and other critical mission areas will be paid for all hours worked during the shutdown period. By Wednesday, October 22, law enforcement officers will receive a “super check” –which covers the 4 days lost, their overtime, and their next pay period. Thank you to our brave law enforcement. Make America Safe Again! Oct 17, 2025
TAXATION WITHOUT OBFUSCATION An illustration of how these principles might be applied may help clarify matters. Without necessarily advocating such a change, let us consider how Congress might make some aspects of tax policy less political. An independent federal tax authority might consist of presi dential appointees serving fixed terms and removable only for cause, much like the Federal Reserve Board. These political appointees would have a highly skilled technical staff of nonpolitical civil servants, most of whom could be drawn from what are now the Treasury's Office of Tax Analysis and the staff of the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation. Unlike the Federal Reserve, the authority would be required to explain in detail the rea-soning behind its decisions, and to open its supporting materials to public scrutiny. The legislation establishing the authority should set its basic goals. Should theUnited States tax income, consumption, or something else? Should the authority strive for tax neutrality or should it seek to encourage particular activities such as saving, homeownership, or charitable contributions? What distributional goals should it seek? Congress now provides tacit answers to these questions through its actions. But these answers often form an unprincipled and inconsistent hodgepodge. One salutary effect of the proposed reform would be to make these clearly political decisions more explicit. Forcing politicians to take explicit stands on these general issues might even increase, rather than diminish, democratic accountability. Having set the basic goals and parameters, Congress could do one of two things. It could explicitly delegate certain limited policymaking powers to the authority while reserving the most basic decisions for itself. Or it could direct the authority to design all the details and then subject the whole package to a single up-or-down vote.
While a step in the right direction, these proposals are inadequate. To create a system where every vote counts equally, the Constitution must be amended. To do this, Congress should pass legislation reducing the size of Washington, D.C., to an area encompassing only a few core federal buildings and then admit the rest of the District’s 127 neighborhoods15 as states. These states — which could be added with a simple congressional majority — would add enough votes in Congress to ratify four amendments: (1) a transfer of the Senate’s power to a body that represents citizens equally; (2) an expansion of the House so that all citizens are represented in equal-sized districts; (3) a replacement of the Electoral College with a popular vote; and (4) a modification of the Constitution’s amendment process that would ensure future amendments are ratified by states representing most Americans.
Trump wanted to secure the release of the 48 Israeli hostages held by Hamas, end the war in Gaza and also keep alive his dream of brokering a grand rapprochement between Israel and Saudi Arabia. The timing was not arbitrary, said two Israeli officials involved in the talks. Trump made clear that he wanted the war to end by the second anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the conflict. The Nobel Peace Prize, which Trump covets, will also be announced this month.
ON NOVEMBER 13, 1934, NAHUM GOLDMANN, a diplomat representing three prominent Jewish organizations, met with Benito Mussolini, Italy's Fascist dictator, to request his assistance to avert some of the looming threats to Jews across Europe. At the end of the conversation Mussolini, a truculent opponent of democracy, asked Goldmann a pointed question: "Why have Jews everywhere always been such dogged supporters of formal democracy?" Acutely aware that this was "a very delicate point," Goldmann thoughtfully answered: "Democracy brought the Jews emancipation and civil rights, and they are naturally thankful to it."
Leadership challenges Labour MPs cannot formally hold a vote of confidence in the party leader. However, MPs may initiate a leadership challenge each year prior to the annual session of party conference. An MP wishing to challenge an incumbent leader must be supported by 20% of Labour MPs. If enough support is gathered to initiate a stage two membership ballot, the incumbent leader is automatically on the ballot paper, and they do not need to seek nominations from MPs. Elections for the deputy leader of the party follow the same format.
The Great Global Divider? A Comparison of Urban-Rural Partisan Polarization in Western Democracies This study is the first to measure urban-rural electoral divides in a way that facilitates comparisons beyond majoritarian democracies of the UK and North America. Based on national election results at the lowest available geographic level in fifteen countries covering roughly five decades, we present a measure for each election and political party, enabling comparisons over time and between countries with different electoral and party systems. We show that long-term increases in urban-rural divides have been most pronounced in the US, the UK, and Canada, but these divides have also emerged in several European multiparty systems in recent decades, largely because of growing smaller parties with predominantly urban or rural support. Overall urban-rural electoral divides remain lower in these systems due to continued presence of mainstream parties with geographically diverse support. Our contribution paves the way for a comparative research agenda on causes and consequences of urban-rural electoral polarization.
Polling for California 2026 gubernatorial election on wikipedia
Last year, the state Supreme Court dismissed the county GOP’s appeal and declined to weigh in on the underlying issue, whether local parties should be able to determine who can and cannot run under that party’s banner in elections. In a separate lawsuit in federal court, U. S. District Judge William Ray II seemed to indicate that they cannot in his ruling against the party. “Trying to limit who can run in a primary seems inconsistent with the purpose of a primary to start with,” he wrote. “Perhaps the Catoosa Republican Party doesn’t believe that the citizens of Catoosa County can for themselves intelligently decide which candidates best embody the principles of the Republican Party. The Court does not share such sentiment. It seems that our form of government is designed to allow citizens to pick their government leaders, not for insiders (of the local party) to pick the government leaders for them.” But the 11th Circuit found that Ray was in error. In its ruling, the court cited a 1992 decision keeping Louisiana white supremacist presidential candidate David Duke off of the Republican ballot in Georgia. “We noted that Supreme Court precedent recognized ‘the legitimacy of a political party’s exclusion of a candidate in the party primary in order to protect itself from those with adverse political principles,’” the ruling reads. “And we concluded that the party’s right to freedom of association ‘encompasses its decision to exclude Duke as a candidate on the Republican Primary ballot because Duke’s political beliefs are inconsistent with those of the Republican Party.’ Here, Plaintiffs have established an actual, particularized, and concrete burden on their freedom of association.”
The bottom line result is that the center-right bloc obtained 59.3% of the seats on 43.8% of votes–a classic majoritarian outcome. In 2018, for comparison, it had 42.1% of the seats on 37.0% of the votes. Its votes grew by 6.8 percentage points, but its seats by 17.2. Some of that is due to the bigger gap between the top two two blocs this time around, which in turn was a product of the center-left’s less complete alliance formation, but a lot of it is the lower number of single-seat districts resulting from the cut in the Chamber size.
The uninsured, people currently purchasing insurance in the Obamacare marketplaces, Medicaid beneficiaries, and newborns would automatically be enrolled into an improved Medicare program, which would continue to cover seniors as well. Employers could continue to offer private insurance, so long as it meets certain federal standards. Companies could also elect to send their workers to the public program and pay a contribution toward their employees’ costs. Likewise, workers could voluntarily leave their job’s insurance for the new public plan. Participants would be required to pay premiums, on a sliding scale based on their income; people with lower incomes would pay no premium at all. Out-of-pocket costs would also be based on income and capped at $3,500 for an individual or $5,000 for a family. Doctors would be paid Medicare rates, with an additional increase provided for primary care doctors and mental health services.
Basically, America is going to need a Protestant Frano @Byzness